FREE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 16) (4 page)

He was fucking her deep, hard and fast.

But she felt so loved all at once, the way he was holding her, screwing her—and his body was everything, his body was taking her, forcing itself into her, filling her, encircling her now.

She cried out as her inner walls tightened around his cock and he slid faster inside, dipping in and out, pulling all the way out and then quickly pushing back through her folds and causing her to cry out yet again.

The slapping sounds got louder and quicker, and he was grabbing her hair now, bending her over and fucking her harder still.

“I’m coming,” she said, breathless, moisture dripping and beading all over her body as she came, crying out as he crashed into her yet again.

“Me too,” he said. “I’m coming all the way inside you, deep in that fucking pussy. I’m going to fill it up with come, and that pussy is going to drip,” he said, pounding her backside as he slid all the way up and in.

She felt him releasing, his cock pulsing again and again.

He was flooding her with his seed.

It felt so good.

“I love you so much,” she said, as he was still inside her, and he wrapped his arms around her yet again, pulling her torso up and against his chest, clasping her to his body as he pressed his face to hers.

His lips were on her neck and then trailing up to her ear. “I love you forever,” he said, still breathing heavily against her. “Forever.”

She nodded and smiled, closing her eyes, feeling the warmth.

Forever, she echoed in her mind.

C
alifornia
.

So different from the East Coast--so bright and beautiful--with vivid colors, and tan people with their perpetually white smiles.

People are friendlier here
, Lanie had noticed.

Or maybe I’m just friendlier now.

She certainly was smiling a lot more.

And it wasn’t just because the news had come out about Frida’s arrest and guilty plea. Both Frida and the potbellied man (real name Stan Praggar), as well as a few cohorts Lanie had never met, had all been caught and arrested for kidnapping, assault, and false imprisonment. And that didn’t even touch on the criminal allegations regarding the hacking and subsequent destruction of Brayden’s company.

Frida and Stan Praggar were going to jail for a long, long time. Knowing that had been a weight off Lanie’s shoulders these recent days.

Even Ivy noticed it, and said as much while the two of them were alone in the vast gardens of the estate where they were now strolling through, glasses of wine in hand.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw you this happy,” Ivy said. She glanced at Lanie, who took a sip of wine.

“I never had this much reason to be,” Lanie agreed.

“Do you mind if I make an observation?” Ivy asked, stopping and putting a hand up to shade her eyes.

Lanie was wearing sunglasses, which she adjusted, wondering what was coming next. “Sure, say whatever you want.”

“I always used to get the feeling that you hated me a little,” Ivy said, smiling awkwardly. “But I don’t get that feeling anymore. Not since…since everything that happened a few months back.”

“You know, it wasn’t the kidnapping that changed how I feel,” Lanie said.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to bring up anything painful.”

“It’s fine,” Lanie replied, and it was. She shrugged. “The kidnapping changed me, but it didn’t change how I felt about you. What changed that was falling in love with Brayden and him falling in love with me.”

“Why did that change how you feel about me?” Ivy asked, her brow wrinkling.

“Because, I stopped resenting you.”

Now Ivy looked truly confused. “Resenting me?”

Lanie glanced down, slightly embarrassed. “I always used to feel like you got everything I wanted. The whole time growing up, I wished my life was more like yours—I even wished sometimes that my mother was more like yours.”

“Oh, honey,” Ivy said, laughing and rolling her eyes. “You don’t want my mother. The stories I could tell. Ask Cullen sometime.”

“I know that now. I know that what you found with Cullen was about the two of you, not some gift that you got instead of me.”

Ivy smiled wider, and Lanie could see the tears glimmering in her eyes. “I’m really happy for both of you,” Ivy said. “For you to have found someone that makes you look so radiant, that makes you laugh and giggle and brighten up whenever he comes near…” She shook her head. “It’s truly special.”

Lanie laughed, walking forward and gathering her cousin into her arms, embracing her and both of them laughing and crying a little, too.

“Uh oh, the girls have clearly had too much to drink,” came the friendly male voice from behind them.

“Clearly,” said the other man.

Lanie and Ivy broke off their hug and wiped their eyes as their two men came striding towards them.

Lanie was caught off guard for a moment, struck by how much everything in her life had changed in such a short time. Not to mention Ivy, who was now locked in a passionate kiss with Cullen.

Brayden approached Lanie with a wry grin, grabbing her by the hand. “Should we try and outdo them?” he said, pulling her closer.

“Of course,” she told him. “I’m not going to let them show us up.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” he told her, and then his lips were on hers, and she felt all of the love, all of the hope, all of the emotion that had brought them together and sealed them together, like iron forged in the flames.

She forgot about the estate, where they were visiting to see if it would make a good location for their upcoming nuptials. She forgot about Cullen and Ivy kissing nearby, she forgot about everything but him.

Brayden.

Touching me.

Kissing me.

Just him and me, forever.

When the magical kiss ended, Cullen gave them a slow clap. “Okay,” Cullen said, “you’ve proved your point. Now can we go eat? I’m starving.”

Brayden laughed. “Lead the way,” he said.

Cullen arched an eyebrow. “Always,” he said, winking.

Brayden hung back a moment as Cullen and Ivy walked past, hand in hand, whispering and murmuring to each other as they made their way back towards the mansion.

“Is everything really okay between you two?” Lanie asked. She thought the whole rift between Cullen and Brayden was long since healed, but you could never be sure with men. After all, Cullen had punched him and they’d said some pretty awful things to one another.

“Me and Cullen?” Brayden asked, making a face as if the question was crazy. “Well, I just asked him to be my best man.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going to do that,” Lanie said, shocked.

“It just sort of hit me suddenly that I wanted to ask him,” Brayden told her, shrugging. “Ever since what happened with you and me, he’s kind of like an older brother or something. Sure, he can be an uptight dick sometimes, but maybe I need someone like that to reign me in once and awhile.”

Lanie laughed. “And what did Cullen say when you asked him to be your best man?”

“He said yes. And then he said he wants to invest in our new Dating App.”

“You’re kidding,” Lanie said. “I don’t think we should take his money.”

“We can discuss it,” Brayden told her. “He’s not doing it as a favor to us—it’s a good investment and he knows it. I’ve had more offers than I know what to do with, but Cullen actually has the kind of background that could help us get this new app off the ground the right way.”

Lanie sighed. “Something to think about.”

“Speaking of which,” Brayden said, checking his watch and starting to walk towards the house now, “we need to eat fast and get back to the hotel to change for our meeting with the board of directors and look over the new office space.”

Lanie nodded.

The sun filtered down through a few clouds and glimmered on the beautiful bushes and plants and trees in the gardens.

Everything was so gorgeous, including her new life.

But there was also a lot happening, and things had become even faster paced than before. They were getting married soon, and they were also now co-owners of a new dating app that was launching to a lot of fanfare.

Once Hookup had gone under, and the world heard about what Brayden and Lanie had done for each other, there had been a lot of interest in their romance. Which had led Lanie to mention to Brayden that perhaps he could leverage all the media attention on re-launching Hookup.

But Brayden hadn’t wanted to go back to working on an app that focused on cheap relationships and one night stands.

The new dating app was for people who wanted to find true love.

Virgil was even back on as President, and this new business model fit his worldview much better than Hookup had.

Still, Lanie thought. As exciting as it all was—this was an entirely new set of challenges for her to conquer. She was now speaking in public constantly, on television, giving interviews, talking to potential investors.

Brayden called her his muse.

She liked that the most, she supposed.

“Hey,” Brayden said, waving a hand in front of her face.

She blinked, realizing she’d been off in her own world. “Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking about everything.”

They started walking toward the house again.

“What exactly were you thinking about?” Brayden said holding her hand tightly as they walked.

“About us,” she said, “and how happy I am.”

He smiled. “Good,” he said. “Guess that means I’m doing my job right.”

“You are,” Lanie told him. “You really are.”

T
he surf pounded
the shore of the mostly empty beach. It was nearing sunset, and Lanie and Brayden had just finished up a wonderful meal that Brayden had grilled on the back deck—fish and grilled veggies that had tasted spectacular.

Now they’d come down to the private beach in their backyard, because Brayden had wanted to get the pictures before they lost the light.

“Sunset pictures will be perfect,” he’d assured her.

Now he was kneeling on the sand in front of her with his rolled up khakis, setting up the flip-flops just so, making sure they looked the way he wanted them to look.

Brayden was arranging the flip-flops next to one another on the beach, his idea for the pictures they’d been discussing to make their big announcement.

“Tell me when to take the picture,” Lanie said, holding the digital camera in one hand, while her other hand rested on her belly.

Lately, she’d become more and more aware of it, and she often liked to put her palm there and just feel. It made her smile.

Everything made her smile lately.

“Give me a second,” Brayden said, then shot her a look to let her know he wasn’t annoyed.

She still couldn’t believe that this was the same man who’d treated her so rudely in the beginning of their relationship. Sure, he still was rough around the edges—he wasn’t some soft guy and she didn’t ever want him to be.

She liked his rough edges.

She loved them, actually.

But his eyes were always kind, especially now, and especially when it came to her.

There were two sets of flip-flops, Brayden’s larger ones and then Lanie’s smaller pair. Now Brayden produced the final set of flip-flops, a third pair which he placed next to Lanie’s pair.

The last pair of shoes were tiny, and just seeing them there on the beach like that made her want to tear up.

But then again, everything made her emotional lately.

Still, she couldn’t help but picture the near future, when there really would be three pairs of shoes all over the house.

“Good,” Brayden said, touching the baby flip flops one last time, gently, his fingers delicate as he made sure they looked just so.

He got up, brushed the sand off his knees, and moved back away from the scene.

“Ready?” she asked, holding the camera up to her eye.

“Ready,” Brayden said, walking close and putting his hands on her waist.

She giggled and gave him a nudge with her elbow. “I can’t concentrate with you hovering,” she said, even though she liked it.

“I have to do this,” he said. “I need to see what the shot’s going to look like.”

“It’s going to be a Facebook announcement, not a Fellini film.”

“You’ve never seen a Fellini film in your life,” he retorted.

“Says you,” she replied, snapping a few pictures. Brayden had been right, she decided. The flip-flops looked cute as heck laid out in a row like that.

When she was done with the pictures, she turned and Brayden encircled his arm around her waist. His hand slid to her belly almost instinctively, and she put her hand over his.

“I can feel it,” Brayden said softly.

“No you can’t. It’s too soon.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I can feel our love, growing inside you.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the salt of ocean air, then let it out. Her lungs emptied.

She thought of another, tinier pair of lungs that would soon be drawing air, and another pair of eyes and a heart and a soul. This little soul was going to be so small and need so much love and care.

Luckily, we’ve got plenty of love to give, she thought.

And then they picked up the flip-flops, walking back to their home, talking and laughing and making plans for the future.