Darkness peaked between his lowered lids, and his look of desire mirrored hers. “You are exquisite, Celine. Perfection.” He ghosted his hands over her breasts, driving her crazy. She tried to push her heavy breasts into his hands, but he withdrew them and hummed. “Do you want me to touch you, Kitten?”She whispered urgently, “Yes.” His hands twitched to do just that, but he governed himself, and she whimpered. “Please. I want you to touch me.”“You want me to suck and bite your pretty nipples?” he growled out hoarsely, and she nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. “Come here.” He patted his lap, and she hurried to straddle him. He groaned when she lowered her dripping sex onto his rock-hard erection and grabbed her hips, grinding into her heat.Her breasts bobbed with the motion, and he said, “God baby, your tits are so fucking pretty.” He sucked one nipple into his mouth and swirled his tongue, and cupped the other with his hands, feeling its weight and rubbing her nipple with his thumb
Sipping a cup of bitter coffee Celine walked down the hall to her mother’s room. She hated hospitals. They smelled like disinfectants and body odors. And they all had the same vinyl floors that no matter how much you washed them, they held onto dirt embedded in tiny scratches and crevices.This place was depressing. She wanted to take her mom home so she could be comfortable, but Mom insisted on staying here. She said she didn’t want to be a bother. We only had her on this earth for a few more weeks. How could she be a bother?"Cold Blue. Code Blue. Room 2114. All available staff. Cold Blue.", a speaker blared, startling her and scalding the back of her hand with hot coffee.People dressed in scrubs erupted from stairwells or around corners and ran past her. Realization bloomed and she began running. Room 2114, that was their room.She heard the alarms getting louder as she ran. She was going so fast that she had to grab the molding of the door to control her swing into the room where
Two bodies twisted in ecstasy her husband thrusting into another woman on their bed. Bryson Tiller was singing in the background. “Pull up the skirt, get in the ride. Left hand is steerin’ the other is grippin’ your thigh.”This is what he has been doing when she needed him the most. This cannot be happening. Why? Why? Why? She ran to the guest bathroom in the hall and vomited until she was panting, her head hanging in the toilet. Then she stood washed her face and mouth and looked in the mirror. Anguish was etched into every atom. She was startled when her phone rang. It was her best friend, Kim. Automatically she picked up, “Hello.”“Honey, I heard. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Of course, you’re not; stupid question. Where are you? I’m coming right over.”Celine sat heavily on the cool tile of their bathroom floor. Glancing around she said, “I’m at home.”“Is Phillip there?”Celine hesitated then responded in a monotone voice, “Yeah.”“Let me talk to him.”, Kim said and there was si
The wine glass wobbled in her hand and a single red drop splashed onto their pristine white carpet in solidarity with the single tear that betrayed Celine and ran down her cheek. No longer able to keep her emotions at bay she asked, "How long have you been cheating?""I have never cheated on you.", Phillip said staring directly into Celine’s eyes. Celine’s eyebrows rose sharply, and she blinked heavily a few times."Pardon?", Celine asked surprised by his denial.I never cheated on you.” He repeated as if she was slow and hadn’t understood him. He pursed his lips. “It was just sex. Celine, I don't love anyone but you. Look, I am sorry you had to see this. Especially tonight of all nights, but I am a man with needs.", he said nodding as if he was a third person agreeing with himself.Heat rose swiftly like a torrent throughout her body and fueled her next words. “A man with needs? What more do you need? We have sex every day. Have I ever told you no?” Leaning forward she continued. “I h
For generations, every summer, wealthy families from New York City invaded New Jersey and overran the eleven towns that made up the Hamptons. Popular for its beautiful beaches and perfect weather. These Hamptonites were like an invasive species that had no natural predators and crowded out and took over everything. The actual residents of the Hamptons, the native species, decided let’s make lemonade out of lemons. Businesses sprouted everywhere to accommodate the Hamptonites’ every whim. Anyone can tolerate just about anything for two months.The truth was, the Hamptonites and the Townies disliked each other but they had been using each other for so many generations they became dependent. Like a dysfunctional symbiotic relationship. And it turned out they sometimes had common interests that united them. Like their mutual hatred of The Billionaires Club.The Billionaire’s Club was exclusive and had only two thousand members worldwide. The entry f*e? Be a billionaire. Members of the B-Cl
Tension summed up the mood in the conference room. Even the way they were seated was adversarial. She and her lawyer owned the real estate of one side of the conference table and Phillip and his attorneys lay claim to the other side. Celine thought it was childish, but so were the men in the room with her.To her left was the projection of a PowerPoint presentation stating Bloombard v. Bloombard. This was what her marriage amounted to now, how sad. She met Phillip’s eyes. He was seated across from her. It was the first time she had seen Phillip since the night her mother died, and since she entered the room, he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. He looked how he always looked, disinterested.They were meeting to discuss the divorce settlement. She dreaded this meeting. She heard when there were hundreds of millions of dollars involved negotiations became bloody. She had no interest in fighting with Phillip and had a plan. A plan she hoped not to use because there was still time to stop thi
After her divorce, Celine sat down and started a list of new rules. She learned her lesson. She was never going to make the same mistakes again. She wrote her first rule. Rule #1 No fraternizing with the Billionaires. Never ever fall in love with a billionaire. Over the months, she added things to the list. She was going to learn to cook. Become financially independent. Stop pleasing everyone. Wait until thirty to have a family. Read more books. Speak her mind. The only one she practiced, thought about and was determined to follow was Rule #1.“Come on. Please! Come with me. Are you afraid of running into Phillip?”, Kim asked. Celine rolled her eyes, she took the phone away from her ear and looked at the time. Kim’s voice was inaudible and for a second, she considered walking away. If it would get her out of this party, she would do it. Celine put the mobile back to her ear. Kim was still talking. “will have fun and I don’t want to go alone. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. I wo
Completely unprepared for her assault Sebastian did not get his arms up in time to stop Celine from smashing her face into his chest. A sudden remembrance of being in a horse stall burst like a bubble in her mind and made her even more flustered. He still smells good, she thought, but more masculine. Much more masculine.“Celine?”, Sebastian murmured. Was it her imagination or did his voice sound…husky? Recalling her surroundings, who this man was, and Rule #1 Celine leaped like a frightened feline straight back and into the table. She heard glasses rattle and Kim gasp. Her face immediately turns bright red.She can’t look up at him. He already had her so frazzled that she feared what she would do if she actually looked into his grey smokey eyes. “Sebastian.”, Celine said still looking down. Realizing that she looked like some submissive doll she forced her eyes up but looked past him. “I was just leaving, but it was good to see you.” Celine stepped to go around him, but Sebastian lean
Darkness peaked between his lowered lids, and his look of desire mirrored hers. “You are exquisite, Celine. Perfection.” He ghosted his hands over her breasts, driving her crazy. She tried to push her heavy breasts into his hands, but he withdrew them and hummed. “Do you want me to touch you, Kitten?”She whispered urgently, “Yes.” His hands twitched to do just that, but he governed himself, and she whimpered. “Please. I want you to touch me.”“You want me to suck and bite your pretty nipples?” he growled out hoarsely, and she nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. “Come here.” He patted his lap, and she hurried to straddle him. He groaned when she lowered her dripping sex onto his rock-hard erection and grabbed her hips, grinding into her heat.Her breasts bobbed with the motion, and he said, “God baby, your tits are so fucking pretty.” He sucked one nipple into his mouth and swirled his tongue, and cupped the other with his hands, feeling its weight and rubbing her nipple with his thumb
Her lips throbbed, and she lifted a trembling hand to her mouth to capture the memory of his possessive kiss. “You are mine now, Celine, and it’s time I claimed what is mine.” And oh, how she wanted to blindly follow him to the bedroom and let him, but nothing between them was simple.“Sebastian.” was all she could get past the emotions. He kissed her tears and gently led her to sit on the couch, where he held her, stroked her, and told her it would be okay.When the tears finally ceased, she shyly smiled at him, embarrassed because she had cried. “Let’s talk,” Sebastian said, letting her go so he could face her.They were silent for a spell, and she waited quietly for him, too afraid to speak. He was so angry when he found out about the contract cancellation. She knew she hurt him, and she didn’t know how to undo his pain or how to proceed.“The day you came to me about a contract marriage, I would have said yes to anything if it meant I could be with you again.” He gave her a wry sm
The door to Sebastian’s office was violently pulled open, and in strode a scowling, red-faced Sebastian with Kevin on his heels. He took one look at Celine sitting on the couch but did not stop until he got to his desk, where he splayed both hands on his desk and leaned forward. “What are you doing here?”Okay. The board meeting did not go well. She knew better than to respond to his snarky question and raised one eyebrow at Kevin, who mimicked a man hanging from a noose behind Sebastian’s back. Shit. What went wrong? Gale Hospitality was over-performing; the hotels and vacation destinations were booked solid and were bringing money in hand over fist.Was it because he had not secured the German hotels? That was because Sebastian needed Heidi Wolf. Gale Hospitality had a weak presence in Germany, and he needed the Wolf family’s established business lines and relationships. So, he was negotiating a partnership.However, a group of executives led by Yuri was undermining the deal. They
A throbbing, dull ache in her hip roused her early that morning, and she woke to the press of Sebastian’s body curled around her back. This was precisely why she did not want to sleep in a bed with him. She sighed happily. She loved everything about it—being his little spoon, warm and cozy, feeling his morning wood pressed against her backside. God, his smell. It robbed her of her reason.If things were different, she would be rubbing her ass against him and enticing him with morning sex. The kind where neither of them was awake as they fused, languidly chasing their climax. Fully waking mid-orgasm, screaming, then clenching and finally shuddering—good morning.Instead, Celine basked in his arms, fantasizing, and when that got old, she got curious and wanted to face him so she could watch him sleep. See his unguarded gentle features and maybe touch him without waking him. She hadn’t forgotten their fight or his harsh words, but it didn’t seem to matter when they were like this.She tu
She was seated at the table next to Sebastian like they were the reigning King and Queen of Gale Hospitality. At Sebastian’s right sat Heidi, followed by Sophia and John. To Celine’s left was the elderly couple whose daughter was her doppelganger. Directly across was Yuri and his date. The rest of the table was filled with people she did not know.Oddly, Jameson was at the next table over with Grace and her family instead of at their table with his family. What was that about? Were they a couple now? Was he the father of Grace’s baby? She tucked that thought away for later, but her gut was telling her she was right.“Where does your family originally come from, dear.” Mrs. Volkov asked, interrupting Celine’s musings.She tried to remember the stories her grandparents told her about their family. At the time, she had been bored and uninterested in the old-timey photographs of people who were long dead. “My father’s family was from somewhere in France. My mother’s was from Britain.“No
She saw red, and if it weren’t for Yuri guiding her around tables by the elbow, she would have marched over, grabbed Sebastian by the ear, and dragged him off like a naughty child. At least, that was what she fantasized about doing. How could he? It was supposed to be her by his side, not some…some…other woman. Why had he deviated from their plan, and why hadn’t he told her? He probably forgot all about her.Yuri got Celine a glass of Pinot Grigio and a whiskey for himself and sat in Sebastian’s seat to keep Celine company. She found out that Yuri was from Moscow and knew Sebastian from university. She hadn’t told him who she was, but he knew. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess. If their publicity or the seating arrangement hadn’t given her away, her watching Sebastian and the scarlet-haired harlot did.Yuri inclined his head toward Sebastian and asked, “Is that who you came with?”She sighed and sipped her wine. Celine was on her third glass and was a teensy-weensy bit tipsy
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Sebastian was called away to attend impromptu meetings, which left Celine to go to the suite without him. She wandered around, picking things up and putting things down. It was a pretty space with a nice view of the city. It had a small kitchen, and she cracked open a cold bottle of water that she found in the fridge.She wondered what she would do between now and the event and was looking at a menu of services that the spa offered when the bellhop arrived with their luggage. “Where should I put this, ma’am.” Celine snorted. Ma’am, she thought, this guy was probably the same age as she was.“Put these,” she pointed to Sebastian’s luggage, “in the master suite, and these,” she pointed to her luggage, “in the other bedroom.”Celine reached for the spa menu when the bellhop said, “There is only one bedroom in this suite.”Her fingers froze. One bedroom? She needed clarification. “Excuse me?” she asked.“Do you want me to put both sets in the bedroom?
The street outside Sebastian’s penthouse was packed with the hustle and bustle of New Yorkers getting off work. Usually, she liked to spend rush hour seated by a window with a nice cup of coffee, watching the flow of people go by. Far better than joining in the crush of humanity that made her pulse pound and her chest constrict. But today, avoiding what chased her outweighed her fear of crowds, and she looked forward to the obscurity of losing herself in a sea of people. Stepping off the landing, she merged into the current of bodies and let them carry her in the direction of her hotel and hoped one would notice her shame or the hot tears she reluctantly shed.At least, that was the plan. She hadn’t counted on Sebastian’s determination not to let her escape. She screamed when hands grasped her from behind and turned her around. She caught a brief look at his face and saw anger in his eyes. Then he crushed her against his body, encircled her with his arms, and held her while she sobbe
As soon as Celine saw the two gorgeous men stepping out of the elevator, she realized what Kim was up to and had to fight the urge to turn and run. She wanted no part of Kim’s revenge hookup because that was what this was. Kim was implementing the classic strategy of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.However, Celine would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted to see Sebastian and Matteo’s faces when they saw the two drop-dead hotties that had just walked into Sebastian’s penthouse. Maybe there was some merit to Kim’s plan…No, nope, just no. A nice bath and a text message update on the paternity test were what she needed, not a demonstration of large predator mating competitions.Unfortunately, it was too late to run because they were here, and Kim was exchanging cheek kisses. “Hello. Coucou, comment tu vas ?” One of Kim’s hidden talents was that she spoke fluent French, and always had her pick of French hotties. Kim was going nuclear, poor Matteo.One of the men had h