Untamed Billionaires: Marriage: For Business or Pleasure? / Getting Red-Hot with the Rogue / One Night with the Rebel Billionaire

Her soft laughter echoed in the empty room, his favourite in the house. He had a lifetime of family memories here: making ravioli from scratch while his dad pored over the Sunday newspapers, Britt poking her tongue out at him from across the table as she lobbed a bread roll and feigned innocence.

Yeah, this room was a definite favourite and he was about to add another treasured memory.

‘Okay, apart from this place needing some light, what’s the prob—?’

Nick covered her mouth with his, cutting off her words and sliding his arms around her waist, marvelling at how right this felt.

Rather than protest and try to shove him off, she groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, opening her lips beneath his, teasing him to pleasure her, to taste her and come back for more.

He was more than willing to comply, deepening the kiss to the point where he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything beyond this incredible woman in this unforgettable moment.

She hung on tight, her hands stroking his neck, tugging him closer until he could feel the heat of her skin through his dress shirt, the sizzling, wicked heat urging him to back her up against the table and do what he’d wanted to do for weeks now.

Make sweet love to his beautiful bride.

He must’ve moved a fraction for she groaned, brushing her breasts against his chest, and he slid his hands around her ribcage, filling them with her full breasts, caressing them, skimming the peaks with his palms until she murmured incoherently, almost making him explode on the spot.

Alarm bells clamoured in his head—what happened to just business? What happened to getting her to make the first move this time? And he happily ignored them, allowing himself this one brief taste of pleasure before sanity returned and he’d be forced to apologise for making a complete jackass of himself.

She sensed his hesitation, for she broke the kiss, only to snuggle into his neck and playfully nip the sensitive skin there.

‘I can see your problem.’

‘What’s that?’

His hands glided over the slinky material of her dress to caress her butt, the heat of her scorching his palms through the thin silk of her dress.

‘You’ve got the hots for me.’

She chuckled, the small sexy laugh of a confident woman who knew exactly what sort of a schmuck she was dealing with.

‘It’s your fault. You’re irresistible.’

He kissed her again, softly, lingering, wondering how he’d ever had the will power to turn this amazing woman down all those years ago and wondering what the hell he was going to do when she walked out of his life this time around.

She had his libido firing on all cylinders but it was more than that. They’d reconnected on so many levels, their special friendship a thing to be treasured.

But what had changed?

Career-driven Brittany Lloyd would hightail it out of Noosa without a backward glance, leaving him cursing the day he’d been foolish enough to let her back into his heart, a heart he’d deliberately closed off from ever loving any woman too much.

He might’ve obliterated memories of his mum but he’d never forgotten the pain of abandonment, the intense loss that had clawed at his insides, the doubts that had plagued him for years that he wasn’t good enough to be loved for ever.

‘How irresistible?’

Now wasn’t a time for doubts or deliberating or questioning as he kissed her again, deepened the kiss, craving intimacy as the parched outback craved water to sustain life. The thought of losing her did it, prompting him to do all manner of crazy things like back her up against the table, wishing he’d had the sense to lock the back door.

Her hands dived into his hair, angling his head for better access to his mouth as she wrapped a leg around his waist, bringing him into delicious contact with her heat, and blind, raging need slammed through him to the point of no return.

He was out of his mind with need for her but he’d be damned if he took her standing up against a kitchen wall after all this time.

She deserved more.

She deserved the universe and then some.

Wrenching his mouth from hers with effort, he exhaled on a long, ragged breath as he broke the full-length body contact he’d been relishing so much.

‘Nick?’

‘Not now, not here, not like this,’ he said through gritted teeth, desperate to rein in his libido as he tried not to focus on her swollen mouth, on the lips he’d tasted, lips he’d savoured, lips he’d kiss all night long if he had his way.

‘Then when?’

Confusion clouded her eyes as he balled his hands to stop from hauling her back into his arms, silently cursed making a hash of this.

Desire pounded through his veins, untamed and undisciplined and uncontrollable, but he’d subdue his ferocious need for now, bide his time, for when they gave into this tempestuous passion he would stop at nothing less than making love to her all night long.

With great restraint he settled for trailing a fingertip down her cheek, along her jaw, enjoying the instant flare of heat in her sparkling eyes, the soft little smile playing about her lips.

He cupped her chin, his gaze not leaving hers. ‘Soon, Red. Very soon.’

Something fierce, something wild and something altogether terrifying flashed across her face before she nodded, slowly.

‘Good,’ she breathed on a sigh, setting his heart pumping with wild anticipation as he grabbed her hand and almost dragged her out of the door before he changed his mind.

Brittany hadn’t had this much fun in ages.

Sure, she attended swank parties in London and rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous thanks to her brilliant job, but those events were filled with pretentious flakes who spoke to you depending on which designer dressed you or how many millions you made a year.

She hated the way money talked, hated the way it divided people into classes and, while she understood Nick’s drive to gain acceptance into the privileged world she’d been born into for the sake of his business, she couldn’t help but wish he’d wanted to marry her for her all those years ago.

They’d both changed so much, yet when he touched her, when he kissed her, the last decade vanished on a wistful sigh.

They’d been too young back then; she could see it now. She’d romanticised what they had, had mistaken the throes of first love as being something to build a lifetime commitment on.

But Nick hadn’t been ready and, while his deliberate sabotaging of their relationship at the end had hurt, she understood.

His father had meant everything to him while she hadn’t been able to wait to escape hers. They’d had different dreams at the time, different goals.

So where did that leave them now?

Could two successful, career-driven people take a chance on love?

She collapsed onto a portable chair in a corner of the harvesting shed, her gaze homing in on Nick surrounded by a bunch of investors while images of the scintillating kiss they’d shared in the kitchen a few hours earlier replayed over and over, making her shiver anew.

That had been some kiss. Passionate, mind-blowing and way too intense, the type of kiss to pin hopes on, the type of kiss to give a girl ideas of how he felt. And on the heels of his admission on their wedding night, when he’d said he cared about her, way too baffling.

She’d been trying to tempt him, trying to seduce him, but he’d had nerves of steel.

Until tonight.

That kiss in the kitchen had changed everything.

He wanted her as much as she wanted him, so why had he stopped? Pulled away?

Damn, the man was infuriating and confusing the heck out of her.

Every time he touched her, she lost it. But that didn’t mean she had to lose her head completely.

Having fun and walking away was one thing.

Having fun and falling for him another.

No. This time, she’d be smarter than that. She’d come too far from the scared, confused teenager who’d bolted like a fugitive into the night to regress.

She didn’t need anyone. She’d been doing fine on her own for the last ten years, thank you very much, and getting involved emotionally with Nick would only lead to heartache for them both.

‘Hey, what’s with the look?’ Frida Rutger, Bram’s much younger trophy wife, flopped into a chair next to her and fanned her face. ‘Is it hot in here or what?’

‘Sure is.’

Brittany deliberately ignored Frida’s first question, glad for the interruption; anything to distract from her thoughts of Nick.

However, she should’ve known the astute young woman who’d hosted parties for world dignitaries wouldn’t let her off that easily.

‘So, why the glum look? Has that dishy new husband of yours done something to upset you?’

‘No.’

Unless she counted upsetting her equilibrium. ‘Just tired, I guess.’

Frida’s gaze bordered on jealous as it zeroed in on Nick. ‘I’m not surprised, married to someone like that.’

Uncomfortable with the woman’s frank admiration—and shocked by the urge to scratch her eyes out—Brittany aimed for distraction.

‘Your dress is gorgeous. Local designer?’

Thankfully, Frida’s greedy gaze abandoned Nick and focused on her stunning ochre and crimson layered chiffon dress, the bodice hugging her fake boobs until it reached her waist, where it cascaded in a fiery waterfall of riotous colour to her ankles.

‘I designed it myself.’

The thought of the wife of Queensland’s richest man making her own dress almost shocked her as much as Nick’s unexpected kiss earlier.

‘Wow, you’re a talented designer.’

To her horror, Frida’s bottom lip wobbled as she blinked frantically. ‘Pity Bram doesn’t think so.’ She sniffed, plucked at a chiffon layer in her lap. ‘He said it looked like a bottle of orange soda exploded all over me.’

Brittany watched Bram, paunchy and balding and florid-faced, slap Nick on the back, while his beautiful wife fought tears.

Searching for a diplomatic answer, she finally said, ‘Bram’s a great businessman, but maybe his fashion sense isn’t up to par?’

Frida dashed her tears away with an angry swipe, a smile twitching at her mouth.

‘He also said I need liposuction and another facelift.’

Outraged, she abandoned all sense of politeness. ‘Guys are jerks.’

However, when her gaze returned to Nick, drawn by the magnetic power he exuded by just being in a room, she knew her statement wasn’t entirely true. Not all guys…

‘You can say that again.’

‘Guys are jerks.’

Frida chuckled and she joined in, wondering how an attractive young woman could hook up with an overbearing ass like Bram.

It all came down to money and, once again, she thanked her lucky stars she’d escaped that world and all it stood for.

‘Aren’t you the lucky one? Here comes your delicious husband.’Frida jumped up and smoothed her dress, tears forgotten as she batted her eyelashes at Nick. ‘Nice to see you, Nick.’

Nick nodded, his gaze fixed on Brittany rather than the eye-catching figure sashaying away in a fiery dress, earning him more Brownie points than she could count.

He sat beside her, his aftershave teasing her to lean closer, to fill her senses with it, as she had earlier when she’d lost herself in the wonder of his kiss.

‘I don’t like it when women natter in corners. They’re usually planning trouble for us mere males.’

His frown didn’t work when accompanied by a slow, sexy smile that notched up the heat between them in a second.

‘Safety in numbers, I guess.’

Leaning towards her, he crooked his finger. ‘Looks to me like numbers are dwindling, and you know what that means?’

‘What?’

He sent her an exaggerated wink. ‘It means we’ll have to spike the band’s drinks so we get rid of the rest of the revellers pronto.’

She laughed while her heart stopped its jumping around and settled with a resounding thud.

For at that moment, she knew.

His promised ‘soon’had arrived and with his bow tie askew, his dark hair rumpled and light brown eyes blazing with an emotion she daredn’t analyse, she had as much chance of not falling in love with Nick again as flying solo back to London.

And the knowledge he still held that kind of power over her scared her beyond belief.

‘How much longer?’

She needed him to hold her, to erase her thoughts, to banish the yearning to be with him for ever. Surely they would make love tonight, would assuage the tension strumming between them? ‘Soon’ couldn’t come quick enough as far as she was concerned.

Sensing her eagerness, he slid an arm around her waist and cuddled her close.

‘I’ll get the band to announce this is the final number. How’s that?’

‘Perfect.’

‘Don’t move. I’ll be right back.’

Feathering a kiss across her lips, he strode away, leaving her to deal with her newly awakened feelings and how much they terrified her.

The time would come shortly for her to sort them out and she wasn’t looking forward to the wake-up call she knew was inevitable when she had to leave, not one bit.

CHAPTER TEN

BRITTANY paced the kitchen, waiting for Nick to see the last reveller off the property.

She shouldn’t be this nervous.

It wasn’t as if she’d never made love to him before.

Though as she watched him stride towards the house, broad shoulders squared, long legs eating up the distance, a full moon casting shadows across his face and glinting in his dark hair, she knew the man he was today was a far cry from the boy he’d been ten years earlier.

If she’d loved that Nick unreservedly, unashamedly and unabashedly, what hope did she have of holding back her emotions this time around?

As he neared the door she quickly dropped into the nearest chair and picked up a magazine from a messy stack in the corner, pretending to flip through it without a care in the world.

When he entered, she took a peek over the top of the magazine, confused by his wide grin.

‘Everyone gone?’

So much for casual. Her voice came out a high-pitched squeak and she cleared her throat, rustling the magazine, ready to duck behind it.

‘Uh-huh.’

He stalked towards her and she gulped, wanting to be in his arms so much it hurt, yet petrified once she was there she’d never want to leave.

‘A bit of light reading?’

‘Mmm.’

His muffled guffaw said he hadn’t bought her ruse for a second. ‘That’s interesting. I’d never have pegged you for a girl interested in cattle mating seasons.’

Heat swept her cheeks as she slapped the pages shut, flung the magazine back on the pile and folded her arms.

‘Because if you are, you can have those magazines. They were Papa’s and I’m in the process of doing a major cleanout before the sale, so be my guest.’

Seeing the funny side of it, she shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I’ll pass. Leave the cows and bulls to it.’

The twinkle in his eyes intensified as he held out a hand to her and gently pulled her to her feet. ‘You know, you don’t have to be nervous around me.’

‘I’m not.’

A quick rebuttal easily belied by her tumbling belly and wobbly knees and hands that shook ever so slightly.

He sent a pointed glance at the magazine and raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’

She sighed, placed her palms on his chest to anchor her before she wobbled any more and embarrassed herself further.

‘Okay, okay, I’m a tad nervous. Aren’t you?’

‘No.’

He slid his arms around her waist, creating a welcoming cocoon she could quite happily snuggle in for ever.

‘We’re not strangers. This is you and me, Red.’

‘But—’

‘No buts. Unless it involves this one.’

He gave her backside a playful pinch and she laughed, her nerves dissipating as he’d intended.

‘Tonight is about you and me. No second guessing. No overanalysing. No regrets. Okay?’

It all sounded very logical when he put it like that, but she knew come morning she’d be analysing every single second.

She’d always been this way around him, off course and off kilter, and now the moment she’d been anticipating had arrived she couldn’t quell the bundle of nerves knotting her resolve.

She wanted him. It should be simple, right?

But nothing was simple about her relationship with this dynamic, enigmatic man and the moment she started underestimating the power of his hold over her was the moment she’d lose control.

Not a bad thing entirely, but she was scared, terrified in fact, by the depth of emotion for a bad-boy rebel who still cradled her heart in his powerful hands.

‘You’re thinking too much.’

She nodded, her mouth kicking up in a wry grin. He knew her so well, knew she’d be analysing every angle of this momentous step.

‘Well, I’m done thinking.’

Before she could blink he covered her mouth with his, his commanding kiss obliterating every doubt, every thought, she’d just had.

As his tongue duelled with hers she lost herself in the mindless passion instantly ignited between them, the frantic flurry of eager hands and low moans and hot, bare skin.

‘I didn’t want it to be like this, not here—’

‘Don’t stop,’ she panted, arching into him, her pelvis melding to his, so hard and ready. ‘Please, Nick, now.’

His low, guttural groan raised goose bumps along her skin as his hands bunched her skirt up around her thighs while he plundered her mouth again.

Sensation after sensation bombarded her, from his mouth ravaging hers with fierce intent to his hands stroking her thighs and brushing against her mound.

Endless, mindless pleasure, which built and receded and built again until she could barely stand any more and when his fingers finally delved beneath the elastic of her thong and circled her clitoris she came apart on a long, drawn-out cry.

‘Nick, that was—’

‘Just the beginning.’

His wicked grin sent a tremor of excitement through her sated body and she gasped when he spun her around, his arm pinning her waist, her back in delicious contact with his front. His very aroused front.

‘Let me please you—’

‘You already have, sweetheart, by hearing you come,’ he whispered in her ear, his teeth grazing the lobe, nipping, nuzzling until she could do little but sag against him, boneless with longing and pleasure. ‘But just so you know, I’m calling the shots now.’

‘Ah…my forceful bad boy is back.’

With a faux growl, he hugged her tighter. ‘Then it’s time I showed you just how bad I can be.’

Her body shuddered as he slid his hands up her ribcage to cradle her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples until a veritable flood of mind-numbing need drenched her.

He didn’t stop there, oh, no, making good on his promise of being ‘bad’ as one hand braced the wall over her shoulder while the other played over her wet core.

Desire tightened within her, her hips rocking of their own volition as her inner muscles spasmed again and again as she threw back her head in absolute abandonment.

‘Nick…’

She cried out his name as a part-plea, part-warning; she couldn’t take much more of this, needed him inside her now.

‘I’m right here.’

With a swift rip of unzipping metal and a rustle of tearing foil, he was back, pushing against her, holding her hips and angling them forward as he nudged against her entrance.

‘Nick, please…’

He drove into her, hard and fast and heart-stoppingly long, the exquisite pressure filling her, tantalising her.

She’d waited so long for this, had dreamed about it, and when he started to pull out and thrust back into her, again and again and again, the sheer intense beauty of it robbed her of breath, of reason.

‘Britt, my Britt.’

His possessiveness thrilled her as much as his hands gripping her hips, tilting them to increase the tempting friction as he plunged into her repeatedly, his rhythm driving them both towards a shattering climax.

‘Wow,’ she breathed on a sigh, her entire body humming and thrumming and sated as she sagged against him, her head lolling against his shoulder.

His barely audible oath had her head jerking up as she spun around to face him. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘This. Here.’

He gestured around the kitchen before dropping his gaze to her bunched skirt and thong around her knees, shaking his head. ‘You deserve more than this.’

Mustering what little dignity a woman with her knickers around her knees could have, she wriggled back into her thong before jabbing him in the chest.

‘Don’t you dare apologise for the best sex I’ve ever had. It was perfect. Better than perfect, it was stupendous.’

The corners of his wickedly sexy mouth kicked up. ‘The best, huh?’

She nodded emphatically. ‘The best.’

His grin widened. ‘So you like a guy so out of control he can’t make it to the bedroom?’

Grabbing his lapels, she hauled him close until their noses almost touched.

‘Not just any guy, I like you, Nick Mancini. Every delicious bad-boy inch of you.’

‘I love it when you talk dirty to me.’

‘I didn’t mean—’

‘I know.’

He chuckled, rubbed noses with her as he stroked her back, long, languid strokes that relaxed her, and she rested her cheek on his chest, inhaling his seductive scent.

‘Do you think it’s ironic we’re back here where it all started?’

She pulled away, glanced up at him. ‘You mean my first time?’

He nodded, caressed her cheek with a tenderness that stole her breath and warmed her heart.

‘I wanted to make it special for you then too. So what happened? The oven was on the blink so the pizza was cold, the dessert wouldn’t defrost and I sprayed cola all over you.’

She smiled at the memories. ‘That night was special, and it was all because of you.’

Her fingertips skimmed his jaw, savouring the faint prickle of stubble before hovering over his lips, tracing their outline. ‘You were incredible, and I’ve never forgotten that night.’

Or the few months after it, when they’d sneak down to the river to make love underneath the towering eucalypts or beneath the beautiful jacarandas.

To this day, she couldn’t walk past a jacaranda without blushing, its unique fragrance a poignant reminder of Nick laying her on a carpet of purple blossoms and taking her to the heavens and back.

‘I say we recreate the magic. Though this time, we might even make it to the bedroom. You in?’

Excitement trickled through her body, fast becoming a raging torrent as she nodded and he swept her into his arms and headed for his old bedroom.

‘I’m definitely in,’ she said, laughing out loud when he twirled her around a few times before bumping the door open with his hip.

‘Good, because if you’d said no I would’ve dropped you.’

Nipping the skin beneath his jaw, she nuzzled him. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Never dare a rebel,’ he said, dumping her on the bed before joining her, their laughter surrounding them in lovely warmth.

‘Oh, wow.’

She glanced around the room, at the wooden shelves stacked high with trophies, several motorbike helmets in one corner, old leather jackets in the other.

‘This room hasn’t changed.’

He shrugged, somewhat embarrassed. ‘I never stay out here. My life’s in Noosa now. I guess Papa was too busy running the place when he was alive to worry about changing the bedrooms.’

Did he know his voice changed when he spoke of his father? Deepened? Softened? As if caught up in good times.

She envied him that, had always envied him the easy, close relationship he’d shared with his dad. It was one of the reasons she’d liked hanging out here so much; that and the mean lasagne Papa used to cook.

‘I love this place. Do you really need to sell?’

A momentary shadow clouded his eyes before he blinked and it vanished.