Beauty in the Billionaire's Bed

There was a short, stiff pause and Arlo felt his chest tighten. This was exactly the kind of conversation he hated. Taut, emotional, unpredictable... But, if anything, Frankie seemed even more uncomfortable with it than he did, so that he was more concerned with putting her at ease.

‘It felt wrong...you leaving like that.’

Her eyes found his. ‘I felt the same. It’s just that nothing like this...’ she swallowed ‘...like us, has ever happened to me before.’

His heartbeat was drumming inside his head. Nothing like this...like her...he thought silently, had happened to him either.

Looking down at her, he felt his shoulders tense. He had nothing to offer her in the long term. Even the idea of permanence induced in him a kind of vertigo, and he needed her to know that.

His eyes found hers. ‘I don’t do relationships, but I think we have something special. Something I’d like to explore.’

He held his breath. No polar region had ever excited him as much as the idea of exploring every inch of Frankie.

‘So when do we start?’ she asked.

She hadn’t moved, but the room suddenly felt smaller. She seemed closer, and she was breathing as unevenly as he was.

Arlo stared at her in silence, her words turning his groin painfully hard. This was why he’d gone after her: sex. Only it was more than sex. When he looked at Frankie there was fire, heat and hunger on a level he couldn’t remember feeling before—not even for Harriet.

His throat felt as if it was clogged with his hot, wet breath, and he was holding his body so tautly it felt as if it might snap.

A minute went by, then another, and then they both moved at the same time—his hand wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer as she leaned forward, her fingers sliding over his shoulders.

As her lips parted against his he forgot to breathe. Her mouth was hot, and the taste of her was making his head swim. Shifting closer, he deepened the kiss, her soft moan instantly taking him to the point where kissing was not enough.

She clearly thought the same.

He could feel her fingers tugging clumsily at the sleeves of his coat, and without breaking the kiss he unzipped the front of her jacket, pushing it off her shoulders and down her arms.

Now her hands were on his chest, pulling at his jumper.

‘Easy, Frankie.’ He caught her arms, his eyes finding hers. ‘We have time. We have plenty of time.’

‘Okay...’ Her fingers bit into his arm and she began pulling him towards the bed. ‘But let’s just get undressed...’

Her words were like petrol thrown on a bonfire.

Turning, he pushed the door shut and began to yank his jumper over his head. His T-shirt followed hers onto the floor, and then they both kicked off their boots and socks.

Now they were both just wearing jeans.

Dragging his eyes from the swell of her breasts, he drew her closer, his lips finding hers, and then he kissed her—kissed her until she moaned, and he felt her body start to soften.

Head spinning, he nudged her back

wards. As they toppled onto the bed he pulled her on top, so that she was straddling him. Her hands were everywhere, sliding over the skin of his back and shoulders and down his arms, as if she couldn’t quite believe he was real.

He understood that feeling. He couldn’t believe she was real...that he was free to kiss and touch her...

Capturing her face in his hands, he teased her top lip with his tongue. He wanted more. He needed more. He needed all of her. Everything.

Reaching up, he touched her small breasts, cupping them in his hands, grazing his thumbs over the nipples, and then he sucked one tautened tip into his mouth, feeling it swell against his tongue.

Her head fell back and his body tensed as she began to squirm restlessly against him, against where he was growing harder by the minute. He sat up and, using the muscles of his thighs, tipped her forward onto the heavy press of his erection.

* * *

Frankie breathed out shakily.