The Billionaire's Craving

“Conversation makes for a sweeter meal,” Colin replied breezily. His next words held all the command in his arsenal, subtle and impossible for most people to defy. “Tell me about him, Sabela.”

He was pleased when he saw her shrug slightly. One of many surrenders to come.

She stared at her plate. “I’m in so much debt because my older brother has hefty medical expenses, and I need to take care of him.”

“Why can’t he take care of his debt himself?” he asked.

What she said would be telling, and Colin wished he could probe her thoughts.

“He was in a car accident over four years ago,” she answered. “And now he’s wheelchair bound while he goes through physiotherapy and rehabilitation. Most days, he can’t even get out of bed because he’s in so much pain.”

He did his best to sound sympathetic. “Awful.”

“It’s taken everything I have and more to care for him. If it weren’t for your assistance, we would have been evicted and living on the streets by now.” She poked a fork at her food. “I thank you for the help you’ve given us.”

He leaned in for a little thrust. “My pleasure. And as you know too well now, nothing comes for free. All of which is to say I expect to get a return on my investment. I always do.”

Sabela gazed at him, eyes flashing in the romantic lighting. There was fire inside her. The thrill of a challenge lit in Colin’s blood and stimulated his attraction to her.

“What is it that you want from me, Colin?” she asked bluntly.

He placed his silverware neatly upon his plate. “I told you already. Over the next few days, I want you to accompany me as I go about my usual business. I want you to learn about me and get to know me better.”

“That’s all you want?”

“When my business associates come, you’ll use what you’ve learned about me to play the part of my girlfriend. You’ll charm them. You’ll make them believe I have a relationship any man would be envious of.”

“And what does girlfriend mean? Light touches on the arm? Kissing … sex?”

Sex. Sabela was a beautiful woman, and Colin was eager to take her to bed, but when that happened it would be of her own volition.

But he couldn’t help how his cock hardened at the thought.

“You keep bringing sex up, insisting that I must want it,” he remarked. “Just because I’ve given you money doesn’t mean you need to repay me with your body. Don’t make yourself into a whore, Sabela. You’re better than that.”

That was it, wasn’t it? Why else would she keep circling back around to the thought?

Sabela was silent for too long. Colin looked at her closely and was surprised to see tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I said that you’re better than a whore. You don’t have to spread your legs to repay me.”

Chapter Twelve

COLIN COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE woman was about.

“May I be excused?” She was already halfway up from her chair when she spoke, tears ready to fall and lips pursed tight.

“What’s gotten into you?” he demanded. Some emotion was acceptable, but her reaction was overwrought and mystifying.

“What’s gotten into me?” she asked, hand on the back of her chair. “Are you serious?”

He stood at his full height, deliberately looming over her. “I am.”

Sabela didn’t back down. “I just flew to a whole new continent without any notice, left behind everything I knew, and faced more uncertainty than you’ve ever known in your whole life, I bet, just so that you could get me in this chalet.”

“And?”

“And it’s a big deal! You tell me that I’m supposed to play your girlfriend, that we’re supposed to ‘do things’ together this week, but you’ve been damn well secretive about everything! How am I supposed to know you’re not going to change your mind and demand that I crawl into your bed?”

Irritation pulsed in Colin’s temple. “I told you I didn’t want a prostitute. Believe me, I could hire one far more cheaply than what I’ve paid for you.”

“There it is. You think you’ve paid for me, for the use of my body.” Sabela argued. “If not for sex, then you want me to hang on you, pretend that I love you, that I’m your girlfriend, that you’re so charming and funny and perfect when you’re really an insulting egomaniac who lives alone in a huge, empty chalet.”

“That’s enough, Sabela. You’re being unreasonable.”

She ignored his warning and charged onward. “There’s a reason you live here alone, and there’s a reason everyone on your staff is terrified of you. I’m starting to see it now. You had me fooled at first, but I know now that you’re a man who doesn’t care for anyone but himself.”

“What could possibly make you think that?” Colin was as taken aback by her courage as he was insulted by her accusations. She didn’t know him.

“I do. There’s a reason a man as handsome as you are lives alone. Think about it.”

Without waiting to be dismissed, Sabela stormed from the room. Colin watched her go, dumbstruck, then chased after her.

He quickly caught her at the foot of the main stairs, grabbing her arm and turning her toward him.

Sabela was practically sputtering with rage.

He kept his voice low, like he’d do with a skittish animal. “I didn’t mean to speak so harshly, Sabela, but you have to realize the situation you’re in. If you do as I ask, then everything will be fine. This doesn’t need to be so difficult.”

“You’re the one who’s making it difficult,” she said. “Set terms. Tell me what is expected of me, and I’ll do it.”

“I expect that you’ll do exactly as I ask, when I ask it. Nothing could be simpler.”

It was the wrong answer. Sabela clenched her fists, pulled her arm from his grasp, and charged up the stairs. This time he did not pursue her.

Instead, he called out after her. “Sabela, come back down here right now.”

She faltered for a moment, then rushed on up.

“I said,” he raised his voice slightly, “to come back down here. Now.”

Finally, she stopped and turned. Her expression was still stormy, but there was some doubt mixed in, too.

“I don’t wan

t to,” she said, her voice smaller than it had been.

“But you have to, because it’s what I want. It’s your obligation, Sabela. You must never forget what you owe me.”

Her response to his command would tell him what he most desired to know. A surge of adrenaline shot through him as he awaited her reaction.

“My obligation.” She nearly whispered it, and he hardly caught the words. He watched her bite on her lush lips.

He wouldn’t speak again. It was all up to her now. He put all his powers of persuasion into his gaze.

She blinked. And then, like the angel she likely was, she tentatively began to descend the stairs.

She was coming down, to him. Exactly as he’d told her to do.

Something twisted deep down in his gut as he watched the beautiful woman do his bidding. Another surrender. Fuck. It was everything he’d dreamed of. No, it was more. Disconcertingly more.

In a move that would give him pause later, he began to climb the staircase, matching the lovely woman step for step. They met halfway up the stairs and looked deeply into one another’s eyes.

With her usual directness, she said, “You didn’t make me come all the way down.”

“It wasn’t necessary. It was enough that you would have done so.”

He observed the way her delicate jaw and neck muscles flexed as she swallowed hard.

“Because that’s what you wanted,” she said.

“Exactly.”

“What else do you want?”

He moved in close to her, near enough that he could nuzzle her sweet-smelling hair. He wanted to lay a hand on her chest and feel her fluttering heartbeat. As it was, he satisfied himself with enjoying the sensation of her radiated body heat.

He chose his next words with care and spoke them low and gently. “Everything, Sabela. I want all of it. And you’ll give it to me, because it will be what you want, too.”

She shuddered, and he allowed a smile of victory to rush across his lips before he pulled back and looked down at his sweet captive bird.