Australian Affairs: Taken: Taken Over by the Billionaire / An Unlikely Bride for the Billionaire / Hired by the Brooding Billionaire

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Once he started on her, she wanted to do whatever he wanted to. Already she was wondering what it would feel like to be spanked.

Jess struggled to act cool when she was anything but. ‘I…I’ll think about it,’ she said. And of course that was another problem. Thinking about doing sexual things with him invariably turned her on. She was already turned on. Had been all evening. Now, her body temperature and her desire metre were zooming off the charts.

‘Come on,’ he said brusquely. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Jess hesitated. ‘But shouldn’t we say goodbye to people first?’

‘Who do you have in mind? We’ll see Glen and Heather in the morning before we leave. We can say goodbye to them then.’

‘But we won’t see the bride’s parents in the morning. We should say goodbye to them. It’s only polite.’

Ben grimaced. ‘You can, if you like. I can’t stand either of them. I’ll wait here for you. Don’t be long.’

She whirled away from him and raced back into the marquee, taking less than five minutes to say the appropriate goodbyes and collect her bouquet. He was still looking impatient when she returned to his side.

‘What took you so long?’ he growled as he steered her in the direction of the main house and her parked SUV.

She could not contain a surge of exasperation, shrugging off his bruising hold and grinding to a halt. ‘For pity’s sake, Ben, what’s got into you all of a sudden? You’re acting like a jerk.’

He sighed. ‘Sorry. Just impatient to be alone with you, that’s all.’

‘Oh.’ Trust him to say the one thing guaranteed to defuse her anger.

‘Do you have your keys with you?’ he asked when they approached her vehicle.

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Good. Now, get in and drive.’

She got in, tossed her bouquet in the back, then drove, all conversation between them ceasing during the five minutes it took to negotiate the short trip back to the cottage. By the time she pulled up in front of the small porch, her stomach was churning and her heart was pounding behind her ribs.

Was she really going to let him spank her?

Oh, Lord, she thought, and let out a panicky rush of air.

Ben heard her ragged sigh and recognised the reason behind it.

‘Don’t be nervous,’ he said gently.

‘I am a bit. I’ve never been spanked before.’

‘I gathered that. Have you ever been tied up before?’

Her eyes went like saucers. ‘No. I…I thought they only did things like that in books and in brothels.’

‘Lots of real people like to play erotic games. Which is all I’m suggesting. Nothing serious. I’m not into humiliation or pain. I just want to give you pleasure, Jess. You can say no at any stage to anything you don’t like.’

‘But…but I might not know that I don’t like it till you’ve done it.’

‘I see.’ God, but she was delightful. And delicious. And he wanted her like crazy. ‘I promise to take things slowly, then. Give you time to say no before things go too far.’

‘Oh. All right.’

‘Let’s go.’

He took her into the bathroom first where he undressed her—slowly, as he’d promised. The sight of her fiercely erect nipples revealed that she was genuinely enjoying herself. So far. She gasped when he tweaked one of the pink peaks, then groaned when he did the same to the other one.

‘Still a little tender?’ he enquired as he quickly disposed of his own clothes.

‘A little,’ she confessed shakily.

‘But not too tender,’ he said, and she shook her head.

‘Good. Here, I think I should take off that diamond pendant as well. We wouldn’t want it to get broken, would we?’

Her head whirled whilst he undid the clasp, then placed the pendant on the vanity along with his expensive looking wrist-watch. He hadn’t taken his watch off last night, she recalled. But then he hadn’t spanked her last night.

Oh, God.

Her heartbeat went up another notch.

‘We’ll have a shower together first,’ he said. ‘But no touching from you, beautiful. You are way too good with your hands.’

Ben turned her back to him whilst he washed her, making her moan when he rubbed the soapy sponge back and forth between her legs, her peach-like buttocks clenching tightly together when he moved his attention to them. By the time he switched off the water and turned her to face him, he knew she was ready for him to do whatever he wanted. Her eyes were glazed over and her lips had fallen apart as she panted for breath.

Ben thought she had never looked more beautiful or more desirable. He almost decided to bypass the foreplay in favour of straightforward sex but he suspected Jess was by now looking forward to the experience. Ben could only hope that he would be able to control himself during what was usually a lengthy game.

He stepped out of the cubicle and reached for the two white towelling robes which were hanging on the back of the door. After putting one on, he handed the other robe to Jess.

‘Put that on,’ he ordered.

When she did so without question, he wanted her all the more.

‘No, don’t do it up,’ he said, and reached for the sash, sliding it through the side loops before wrapping it around his left wrist.

He had to take her hand and lead her back to the bedroom. By the time they got to the side of the bed, she was trembling. But he felt certain it was no longer from nerves.

‘You should be dry by now. So you won’t be needing that robe.’

‘But you’ve still got yours on,’ she protested.

‘That’s the idea.’

When she hesitated, he bent and whispered in her ear. ‘Yours is not to reason why, Jess. Yours is just to lie back on that bed and let me give you pleasure.’

His breathing quickened as she obediently took off the robe and lay down on the bed, her head on the pillows.

‘No, not that way,’ he said and she just stared at him, sucking in sharply when he turned her over onto her stomach.

‘Just say no if you want me to stop,’ he said.

She didn’t say no, but she did bury her face in the pillow.

Gently, he took both her hands and placed them in the small of her back, then looped her wrists together with the sash from the robe. Not tightly, but enough so that she would feel bound and helpless. Which was the point, of course. That was what would excite her to fever pitch. Finally, he removed the pillow from under her face and slid it under her hips, raising her buttocks in the most erotic and inviting fashion.

When Ben stepped back to examine his handiwork, the sight of her like that took his breath away. Dear God, she was just so sexy looking. And totally at his mercy! It was a heady combination. And, whilst he was fiercely erect, all of a sudden Ben wasn’t so concerned about his own satisfaction but how Jess was feeling. He hated to think she might be afraid to say no at this stage.

‘Are you all right, Jess?’ he asked softly. ‘Do you want me to continue?’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

WAS HE INSANE? She would die if he didn’t continue. She’d never been so excited in her whole life!

‘I’m fine,’ she said, her voice high-pitched and raspy. ‘Please don’t stop.’

He laughed a short, sexy laugh. ‘Your wish is my command.’

Now that was a laugh, Jess thought. He was the one doing the commanding. But didn’t she just love it!

No touching from you, beautiful… Put that on… You won’t be needing that robe…. Just lie back on that bed and let me give you pleasure…

‘It’s just a game, Jess,’ he said. ‘You can stop me at any time. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ she mumbled.

The first crack of his hand on her right buttock brought a gasp of shock, rather than pain. Though it did sting. Jess buried her face into the quilt, determined not to cry out again. Another slap followed. Then another, his hand moving from left to right in a slow, relentless rhythm till both her buttocks were burning. And red, no doubt. Yet despite her discomfort—oh, yes, her whole bottom was stinging like mad—she didn’t want to tell him to stop. There was something exquisitely pleasurable in the whole experience. She held her breath between slaps in anticipation of his large palm making contact with her soft skin, biting her bottom lip each time it happened. The slaps began coming at a slower interval now, her time of waiting extended till she almost pleaded for more. When he finally stopped altogether, she groaned in frustration.

‘That’s enough,’ she heard him say.

But he didn’t untie her. Instead, the bed dipped as he lay down beside her. She saw he was naked now when she twisted her head to look at him.

‘So what did you think?’ he asked her.

‘I think,’ she choked out, ‘that if you don’t have sex with me in the next ten seconds, then you’re a dead man.’

He smiled. ‘You’re not really in a position to give orders right now, are you, darling Jess?’

‘Ben,’ she said pleadingly. ‘Please.’

‘If you insist.’

She couldn’t believe it when he didn’t untie her first, just spread her legs wide and moved around between them. She moaned when he rubbed his tip against her, her teeth digging into her lower lip to stop herself from screaming.

‘So wet,’ he muttered.

Ben was close to losing it. Time to get a condom on, he realised, before things got out of hand.

Thank God Andy had given him a good supply so he had one at the ready.

She cried out when he entered her, her bottom moving frantically against him with an urgency which betrayed a cruel level of frustration. He wasn’t much better, grabbing her hips with bruising fingers and setting up a savage rhythm, forgetting everything but what his flesh was feeling at that moment. The heat. The urgent need. The madness of it all. Her stunningly violent climax only preceeded his by a second or two, Ben thrilling to the way she cried out as she came.

Jess lay there afterwards, stunned yet totally sated. A draining languor started seeping into her limbs, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Ben was lying across her back, his own breathing now slow and heavy. She desperately wanted to stay awake. But sleep would not be denied. It came quickly, with Jess’s wrists still bound.

Ben fell asleep too, still slumped across her back.

He woke first, momentarily confused by where he was. And then he remembered. Everything.

He groaned as guilt consumed him. How could he possibly have left her that way? She didn’t wake as he carefully withdrew, then even more carefully untied her. She stirred slightly when he slid the pillow out from under her hips, but she didn’t wake, thank God, though she did curl herself up into a semi-foetal position. After throwing a sheet over her far too delicious derrière, he headed for the bathroom.

A quick shower later and he was back in the bedroom, standing at the side of the bed and staring down at her still body. Ben supposed he really had nothing to be guilty about; Jess had obviously enjoyed herself. Ben was never absolutely sure if his girlfriends went along with his demands because they were genuinely on the same sexual wavelength or because he was Morgan De Silva’s son and heir. He definitely had no such doubts with Jess. Damn it, but he wished she lived in America.

Maybe he would ask her to go back with him. He could get her a job and lease her a nice little apartment. Or she could even move in with him.

Ben frowned at this last thought. His father had warned him never to do that: have a woman move in with him. Not unless they were married. As much as Jess claimed she would never marry a rich man, she hadn’t seen his New York lifestyle. His thirty-square apartment overlooking Central Park had a lap pool on the roof plus a fully equipped gym and spa room. He had a wardrobe full of designer suits and hand-made shoes, a Ferrari in the underground car park and an expense account which allowed him to dine at all of New York’s finest restaurants. He also had access to the company’s private jet which flew him to Acapulco for weekends in the summer and Aspen in the winter.

That kind of lifestyle could corrupt even the nicest girl, especially if she’d never experienced such luxury. Which Jess obviously hadn’t.

No, best not ask her to go back to America with him. Best he do what he’d originally intended: have a holiday fling with Jess, then leave it at that. It wasn’t as though he was in love with her. He just liked and admired her a lot. And wanted her like mad. Already he had another erection, tempting him to climb back into bed and wake her. He didn’t think she’d mind.

Ben sensibly armed himself with protection first, then climbed in under the sheet and curved his body around hers, spoon fashion. She stirred immediately, stiffening against him when he began to caress her breasts. Obviously they were still sensitive from all the attention he’d been giving them, so he moved lower, stroking her stomach, then her thighs.

‘Yes please,’ she choked out when he pressed himself against her still-wet sex.

A wave of tenderness engulfed Ben as he slid into her. God, but he’d never felt anything like this for a girl before. She was just so sweet, yet so sexy at the same time. A girl in a million.

He took his time, setting up a gentle rhythm, loving the sounds she made, loving the way she wriggled against him as her excitement grew. And, when he knew he was close to coming himself, he touched her in a way that would guarantee her release as well.

They came together, Ben startled as another wave of emotion hit him. Not just tenderness this time, but something deeper. Much deeper. He held her tightly in his arms afterwards and wondered if he was finally on the verge of falling in love.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

JESS WAS WOKEN by Ben shaking her shoulder again, plus the sound of her phone ringing.

‘I was in the kitchen making coffee when it rang,’ he explained as he handed it to her.

Jess tried to take the phone, sit up and cover her bare breasts at the same time, but failed.

What the heck? she thought despairingly. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. Yet, strangely, she felt shy in front of Ben all of a sudden. Jess supposed it wasn’t every day that one woke to such memories. In a way, it didn’t seem real. Had she really let him tie her up and spank her? Obviously she had, if her still-tender bottom was anything to go by.

‘It’s my mother,’ she said, trying to look and sound cool. ‘Would you mind?’ She waved him away.

He smiled, turned and left the room. Thank God. The infernal man was stark naked. Obviously, he never suffered from shyness.

‘Hello, Mum,’ she said into the phone. ‘It’s a little early, isn’t it? I’ve only just woken up. Can I tell you all about the wedding when I get home?’

‘I guess so. But, before you go, I was also ringing to remind you that today is family barbecue day. I thought you might have forgotten.’

She had, actually. It was a once a month tradition where the family got together at her parents’ place.

‘I was thinking that you could ask Ben to come along. Your father and I would love to meet him.’

Meaning she’d like to see what he looked like. Her mother was a very intuitive woman and had probably picked up something from Jess’s voice.

‘I’ll ask him, Mum,’ she said. ‘But I won’t guarantee that he’ll say yes. He might just want to get home after such a long drive.’

‘I see. Well, how about you call me when you stop and tell me if Ben’s coming or not?’

‘Will do. Now, I must go, Mum.’

‘Before you go, did the wedding go off all right yesterday? No other Murphy’s Law disasters?’

‘Everything was perfect, Mum,’ she said. ‘I’ll ring you later. Bye.’

Rising, Jess dashed for the bathroom, where the sight of her pink bridesmaid dress draped over the bath reminded her of the submissive scenario Ben had insisted upon in there. That was where her loss of will-power had all started, of course. In that shower. By the time he’d turned off the water, she’d been so excited that he could have done anything to her and she would not have objected.

The speed with which he’d turned her into a submissive sex slave was quite shocking. So why wasn’t she more shocked this morning? Maybe it was because underneath all that S&M role-playing Ben was a nice man. A decent man. She felt confident that he would never hurt her for real. Look at the way he’d made love to her later in the night, so gently and rather sweetly. She’d enjoyed that time even more than all the other times so far. And there’d been quite a few already, Jess thought ruefully. Ben couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. In more ways than one!

After a rather quick shower, Jess rubbed some of the body lotion she found in the vanity into her buttocks. They were still a little on the tender side, but nothing major. Once her teeth were cleaned and her hair up in a ponytail, she hurried into the other bedroom where she took out some fresh clothes: a pair of three-quarter length white trousers and a navy-and-white striped top. Slipping white sandals onto her feet, she headed for the kitchen where Ben was thankfully now wearing the white bathrobe which had been on the bedroom floor earlier. He was sitting at the kitchen table with some toast and coffee in front of him.

‘I think your mother’s checking up on you,’ he said.

‘Possibly. It’s hard to put anything past my mum.’

‘Not for the want of your trying, though,’ he said, smiling at her.

Lord, but he was devilishly attractive when he smiled like that, even with slightly bleary eyes and a stubbly chin.

‘She wanted to know how the wedding went. And to invite you to our family barbecue tonight.’

His eyebrows lifted, then fell. ‘Do you want me to go, Jess?’

She shrugged. ‘I doubt you’ll enjoy it much. Mum will give you the once-over, then Dad’ll probably give you the third degree, if he thinks you’re interested in me.’

‘Which I am.’

It annoyed Jess, his saying that. Because he wasn’t really interested in her in that way. He just wanted to have more sex with her whilst he was here in Australia. Okay, so Ben was basically a good man, but he was also spoiled and selfish. It wasn’t all his fault, of course. He’d been born beautiful and into great wealth: both very corrupting factors. He’d probably developed his liking for kinky sex because he’d had so much sex in his life he’d got bored with straightforward love-making. Which was a pity. Because he did straightforward love-making very well indeed.

Jess sighed. ‘I honestly don’t think you should go.’

‘Why not?’

‘For the reasons I just told you.’

‘But I want to meet your parents.’

Jess rolled her eyes. ‘For pity’s sake, why?’

‘Because I want to ask them to give you this week off so we can go to Sydney and work together on Fab Fashions. I thought we might stay down there instead of driving up and down the motorway every day. Mum has a flat in Bondi we could use.’

Jess didn’t know what to say. She wanted to go, of course. Wanted the opportunity to do something about Fab Fashions. And, yes, she wanted to spend more time alone with Ben, especially some more of his very exciting brand of sex. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit that, especially to herself. But at the back of her mind, in that place reserved for difficult decisions, she knew if she did this, then she was sure to become even more emotionally involved with him.

‘I…I don’t know, Ben,’ she said hesitantly, turning away to make herself some coffee. ‘Like you said, there’s probably no fixing Fab Fashions. We’d just be wasting our time.’

‘I don’t agree. We’ll have that chat on the drive home and come up with a new name, one which will lend itself to a successful marketing strategy. Because you’re right, Jess. Companies like ours shouldn’t just bail out when things get tough. We can afford to ride some losses for a while, especially when the alternative means that people will lose their jobs.’

Jess wanted to believe he meant it. But she didn’t. Companies like De Silva & Associates were all about making profits. They didn’t give a damn about the little people. Which was what she was. One of the little people.

Jess finished making her coffee, then carried it over to the table. ‘I’m sorry, Ben,’ she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down, ‘but I’d rather not. I’m a mechanic, not some marketing expert.’

‘So you’re giving up on Fab Fashions?’

‘I’ve told you what’s wrong with the business. You’re an intelligent man. I’ll put my thinking cap on during the drive back and come up with a name which might suit. Then it’s up to you to do something with it.’

He looked at her long and hard, then shrugged. ‘Okay. If that’s the way you want it.’

What she wanted at that moment was never to have met Ben De Silva.

‘I still wouldn’t mind coming to that barbecue, Jess.’

‘No, Ben. I’d rather you didn’t.’

He frowned at her. ‘Why is that?’

‘I don’t want my parents knowing what we’ve been up to this weekend. And they will. Mum will take one look at us together and she’ll know.’

‘We’re consenting adults, Jess. Our having sex isn’t a crime.’

‘No, but it’s very unlike me, Ben, to hop into bed so quickly. Mum’s sure to jump to the wrong conclusion.’

‘Which is?

‘That I’ve fallen madly in love.’

Again, she was on the end of another long, thoughtful look.

‘I take it that hasn’t happened?’

‘You know it hasn’t. We’ve been having a dirty weekend, Ben. That’s all.’ It went against her grain to describe their weekend in such a crude fashion, but it was the truth after all.

‘I don’t see it that way, Jess. I like you. A lot. And I want to see more of you.’

‘You mean you want to have more kinky sex with me whilst you’re in Australia.’

He pursed his lips in obvious annoyance. ‘You make it all sound so tacky. Yes, of course I want to have more sex with you, but not just kinky sex. I enjoy making love to you in more traditional ways as well. I also want to spend time with you out of bed.’

Jess’s laugh was a little bitter. ‘Yes, I noticed you like having sex out of bed too.’

His blue eyes flashed with frustration. ‘Very funny. Just remember, you’re the one who knocked back my offer of our working together on Fab Fashions.’

‘I can live with that. I can’t live with you taking me for a fool.’

He sat bolt upright in his chair, his face furious. ‘I would never do that. I think you’re one of the smartest girls I’ve ever met. And the most stubborn. I suppose if I asked you to go back to New York with me, you’d say no to that as well!’

Jess could not have been more taken aback. Or more speechless.

‘Well?’ he snapped when she said nothing. ‘What would you say to such an offer?’

Jess gathered in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. ‘I would say thank you very much, Ben, but no thank you. My life is here, in Australia. I wouldn’t be happy in New York.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I just know.’

His eyes carried exasperation. ‘Most girls would jump at the chance. For Pete’s sake, Jess, you wouldn’t have to pay for a thing. You could stay in my apartment and have the holiday of a lifetime.’

The word ‘holiday’ reaffirmed what Jess already knew. He wasn’t seriously interested in her. Not the way she would have liked. But then, that was never going to happen. He’d already said he didn’t want to get married. She was just a passing amusement, one which he hadn’t grown bored with yet.

‘Couldn’t we just leave things the way they are, Ben? I’m happy to go out with you whilst you’re staying up on the coast. I like you a lot, but I don’t want to go to America with you.’

Ben should have been relieved, he supposed, that she hadn’t jumped at his somewhat impulsive offer. But he wasn’t. He was bitterly disappointed. He’d wanted to show her New York, wanted to give her the time of her life.

‘Fine,’ he bit out.