Billionaire Season 2 (5 page)

“Oh… well then…” he said, at a loss for words for the first time in his life which made Hawk and Allie and even Ginny snicker and then howl with laughter.

Chapter Four

The morning light streamed through the arched windows in William’s bedroom and fell like a golden veil over the decadent canopy bed. When William’s eyes opened the first impression he had was of warmth, and it was not because of the summer sunshine. It was the enfolding warmth and the exact rightness he felt as he held his darling fair-haired girl in his arms. He had all the money and resources a man could dream of within his grasp but he’d never known the simple pleasure of waking up with a woman in his bed, or anywhere else for that matter. Allie smelled of the lavender sea salts she had bathed in the night before and the fresh ironed linens on the bed, and her own dewy fresh scent. Her intoxicating smell along with the satiny perfection of her skin combined with her beautiful face and tender heart drew him to her like a magnet.

“G’morning darling girl.” He murmured and the softness of his tone was unfamiliar to him but it felt so good and right and somehow it eased an ancient ache hidden deep inside him.

“Mmm, hey handsome. Good morning to you,” she said, her eyes taking in his face as soon as they fluttered open. She pulled his mouth to hers with the thought that he was as beautiful as a lost-in-time prince from a fairytale, too perfect to be real. But he was real and every cell in her body sparked to life with a hunger for him, for the magic of his touch on her and in her, making her feel alive and more than that, immortal. Without even thinking a prayer formed in her heart that he should be hers to love forever, that what they felt in the newness of their union would never diminish and it would lead them to their happily ever after.

They were both late to work that morning and most mornings after that and neither one of them cared. William simply shrugged off Tanya’s twinkling smiles when he strolled into his office and Allie ignored Thelma Maguire’s glaring Arctic-cold stares. They were happy and that was all that mattered. Fate or destiny had thrown them together with a little bit of help from William’s unsuspecting father.

Later in the week Allie walked to the Roasted Bean and had her café au lait and she lowered her head but peeked up through a swath of fringed lashes as she passed by The Cathedral. She felt a powerful urge to turn her gaze up to the roof of the building where she was certain that Walden would be watching as she walked by. William swore he no longer concerned himself with his brother’s wellbeing, but Allie did, she wondered and worried about him more than she should. She had the odd sense of Walden watching her, and not only when she passed through the shabby streets of the warehouse district. The night before she had awakened and stepped onto the balcony outside the bedroom and she caught a glimpse of a tall, broad-shouldered figure whose face was obscured by the shadows. As he turned his back and walked away she had the strange sensation of fireworks igniting down low in her belly.

When Allie returned to her office from the coffee shop William was waiting to whisk her off for an early lunch but once they were in his new Maserati (Walden had never returned the one he borrowed) winding through the streets of the Quarter they had a terrible fight.

“Walden’s a complete wildcard, Alaina, and he’s utterly unpredictable. Why do you constantly put yourself in danger by going anywhere near him?” William yelled, enraged by her careless attitude toward her own safety.

“You’re a relentless control freak, William. Just so you know, I’d rather have you as my lover than my jailer but I’ll let you decide which role you choose to play,” Allie spat the words at him, disgusted by his obsessive desire to track her every move.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be controlling, Allie. I want to be the man you can’t live without and I suppose I’m still reeling from seeing you and Walden together. My brother has changed and I should be glad of that. He’s more reasonable and self-assured, he seems to have sorted out his life and he wants you to be part of it. You’re attracted to him, that was blatantly clear to me….” He faltered then as his mind flashed again to the scene of Walden and Allie on the stairs. He was shocked by the change in his brother, the calmness and authority with which he spoke and the confident way he’d touched her. It was all too possible for Walden to slip between them and take away this happiness he’d found with Allie.

“William, you can put that right out of your mind. There’s no cause for you to worry about me falling for your brother. I’m here with you because I choose to be, so trust me, okay? I’m sorry too, and I’ll be more careful from now on. No more wandering the streets and I’ll find a different coffee shop, I promise.”

They ate lunch and exchanged inane facts concerning work and the health of William’s father but the argument in the car lit a fire of need that could only be quenched in one unmistakable way.

She led him by the hand down the hallway at the Literary Society and then she gave him a brief tour of the hidden courtyard outside her office. William stopped her with a heated kiss and sank to his knees and lifted her short pleated skirt and kissed her again, more deeply and far more intimately and all was well between them once again.

“Oh the saints save me! Excuse me, excuse me, oh dear Lord!” Thelma Maguire screeched as she stood frozen in the open French doors that looked out from Allie’s office to the quaint little courtyard. The sight of William on his knees and Allie with her clutching his hair with her head thrown back in ecstasy was more than she could stand. “Out, the both of you this very moment and I don’t care if your father evicts the Literary Society from these offices, William. I will not have such obscene vulgarity flaunted in the plain light of day. Please vacate your office Miss Darling and Mr. Warfield I’m utterly speechless at such tawdry behavior from a fine upstanding man such as yourself. Honestly, a pillar of the New Orleans community, William, engaging in a scandalously pornographic act for all to see. I do believe I need a nerve pill…. ”

“You’re speechless Mrs. Maguire? You could’ve fooled me,” William said, standing and pulling Allie into his arms as he faced the older woman. “You can keep the lease on the building, Allie doesn’t belong here in the first place. I will expect you to give her all the time and space she needs to peruse your files as it suits her. And by the way, perhaps you could forgo your nerve pills if you found a nice man to indulge a few of your own scandalous fantasies with, either in the light of day or in the musty gloom of your bedroom. Gather your belongings, Allie, I’m sure some arrangement can be made so that you gather the research you need when Mrs. Maguire isn’t in the office.”

“Mrs. Maguire, I’m sorry….” Allie began but William assured her there was no reason to apologize and he helped her clear her desk.

He picked up the framed picture of Allie and her mother and scrutinized the face of the woman who had monopolized his father’s affection for more than thirty years. Like Allie, Liza was uniquely beautiful, she had an innocent allure that captivated and held the eye of the beholder. Allie was a child of probably six or seven in the photograph but she’d grown into nearly the exact image of Liza. And William knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why his father spent his life pining away for his lost love. Allie had unwittingly ensnared William’s heart in the same web of joyful enchantment that filled him with a richness of spirit he never wanted to be free of.

“Alaina, will you make a copy of this photograph for me?” He asked, as she reached to take it from him and he caught her small thin hand and held to his cheek and smiled to think what a fool for love he had become.

“Of course I will, although I don’t know why you’d want a picture of my mother. Seems like she’s caused way too much sadness for your family, William, and I hate that.” Allie said when they settled into the Maserati and drove out of the city. “Where are we going?” she asked absently, thinking back on the look of disgust on Thelma Maguire’s face when she’d caught them in the courtyard. Hadn’t the woman ever felt the overwhelming thrill of a man’s touch, the hot wet heat of his tongue and his strong nimble fingers in the most tender reaches of her body? Evidently not or the old cow would have quietly stepped away from the scene and smiled to herself while she dialed up a few of her cronies and shared the shocking news.

“I have to work… somewhere,” Allie said and her voice was laced with a dose of worry now that the gravity of the situation took shape in her mind.

“Tanya will get an extra key for you from Mrs. Maguire or Brodie and as I mentioned before, you can do your research when that old battle axe isn’t in the office.”

“Thank you for that, William, and I do need to be able to look through some of the documents they keep there. But I need to work, I’ve worked since I was twelve years old, babysitting and then other miscellaneous jobs. I’m used to taking care of myself, my mom was loving and devoted to me but she wasn’t good at holding a steady job,” Allie said.

“You don’t need to work, Alaina, I’ll take care of you in every way and for that matter I feel completely responsible for what happened today. I was the one down on my knees lifting up your… if memory serves,” he said with a wicked grin that he hoped would lighten her mood.

“Well I didn’t fight you did I? No, I didn’t resist at all, William Warfield and sex— not a combination I’m able to resist. And yes, I know you have enough money to take care of me and probably everyone within a thousand mile radius, but I can’t let you do that. “Where are we going?” She asked realizing they’d been driving for a while and they were crossing the seemingly endless bridge over Lake Ponchartrain.

The high mid-day sun sent fragments of brilliant light careening off the surface of the water and it brought to mind the day they had spent eating catfish at a rickety table under an elegant oak tree. She felt lazily satisfied just cruising along seated next to William. Her body still vibrated with need for him since she’d been on the verge of a mind-numbing orgasm when Thelma had so rudely interrupted. As if William had read her mind, his hand slipped between her legs and pushed past the thin barrier of her panties. She caught her breath and whispered his name feverishly as she slid her own hand into his lap and grasped his erection through the smooth fabric of his suit pants. As soon as her fingers curled around the hot thick girth of his cock she was shuddering and quaking and she begged him to find a country road where they could pull over so she could feel him inside her.

*

William smiled as he drove along the Bayou Teche toward his father’s estate. He couldn’t help smiling like a lunatic when his thoughts and senses were filled with Allie. He veered onto a narrow dirt road just North of Lake Ponchartrain and he’d barely stopped the car when she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed on his lap. She shouted with pleasure as soon as she freed his raging erection and sheathed it in her magnificent little pussy. They drove back into town after that and she had to fight to keep from shouting when he dropped her off at the townhouse and handed her the keys to a white Maserati Gran Turismo convertible of her own.

“Like I really need a car, William, and I sure as hell don’t need a car that costs more than the house I grew up in! I know you don’t like for me to wander around the French Quarter on foot but isn’t this taking it a little too far?” She had argued but he wasn’t interested in hearing any of it. He put her in the car, kissed her so deeply that she stopped talking and clung to his neck and then he spoke an address into the car’s GPS.

“Allie, if you insist on working I know of an enchanting historic bookshop in the heart of the Quarter. It’s tiny and as old as the city itself, somehow its defied demolition and continues to do a brisk business despite the large chain stores taking over. Anyway, the young woman who runs it is a distant relative to my assistant, Tanya. Her name is Emmeline Lesairre but she’s called Remy and she’s a strange and reclusive sort. You’ll love her little shop, it’s near the French Market and close enough to Café Du Monde for you to safely walk there for a cup of coffee and a plate of beignets. Follow the directions on the GPS and since you insist that you simply must have a job just tell Emmeline that I sent you and I think we’ll all be pleased. Now, I have to go out to Greenlea, my father has his attorney with him and there’s no telling what sort of shit storm he’s stirred up. Don’t wait up for me, I’m sure I’ll be late coming home,” he said and when he left her she looked both annoyed and ecstatic as she ran her hands over the steering wheel of the luxurious car.

William’s good mood faded as soon as he pulled up to his father’s house and parked next to his former car. He honestly hadn’t expected Walden to show up for the meeting their father and his lawyer had requested, but obviously he had. William walked slowly around the car checking for the expected scrapes and dents from Walden’s erratic driving but there were none. That was a surprise, Walden behind the wheel in his usual manic state of mind was never a good thing. Perhaps he had managed to clean up his act and was beginning to get his life in order, but William rather doubted it.

“I’m glad you’re here, William, interesting goings on in this house nowadays,” Mae whispered, raising both eyebrows and pursing her lips as she pointed down the wide center hall and out toward the swimming pool. “Those two have practically taken up residence here since your daddy came home from the hospital. Miss Marilyn and that phony-ass shifty-eyed daughter of hers think they got the run of the place and both of ‘em lazy and as good for nothin’ as bat shit!”

“Where’s Walden? Marilyn and Hannah don’t worry me nearly as much as my brother. Is he sober, Mae, can you tell if he’s been over indulging in alcohol or drugs of any kind?” William asked the maid who had been like a dear aunt to him and Walden for longer than he could remember.