Bound by the Billionaire Read online

  After they swam off, her mother turned to her. “That was the most amazing thing ever. I can die a happy woman now. Wait until I tell Molly at the hair salon about this. She will never believe it.”

  Garon swam with them to the nearby coral reef. It was like an underground mountain range, except in gorgeous pastel colors of pinks and blue and orange. They watched a school of yellow and black fish eat from the coral. An eel was hiding in one of the many holes. Massive schools of fish in all sorts of colors from silver to neon blue swam around them, taking no notice of the humans in their home.

  Just as they were about to go back to the boat, a massive sea turtle appeared. Derek looked at Kim under the water and smiled. Seeing how happy the trip was making her family, Kim wished Robert was there too so she could thank him for this incredible experience. In any case, she would tell Debra and she would pass on the message when she got back to Chicago.

  ***

  After a delicious dinner of crab, Derek was exhausted from all of the swimming and sun and fell straight asleep. Kim and her mother had cocktails on the patio at the back, looking out over their private beach and the setting sun.

  “This was such an amazing day,” Kim’s mother said. “When we get back, I must send a thank-you gift to the company.”

  “Yes…” Kim hesitated, not quite knowing where to start. How did she explain her relationship with Robert to her mother? “Ma, I need to tell you something.”

  “Well, that sounds serious,” her mother said.

  “It’s about this trip.”

  “Yes?”

  “Well… you didn’t really win it. A friend of mine paid for it.”

  Her mother laughed. “Right! A friend of yours paid for this trip? Yeah, okay. Ha! You’re funny, Kim. What friend of yours could afford something like this? Ha!”

  “No, Ma, I’m serious. I met this man at Rive Gauche that first night I started working there. There was an exhibition opening, and Sonya was there. You remember Sonya from high school, right?”

  “Sure. I remember she helped you get that job.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. She’s a manager there. So Sonya was at the party, and she insisted I couldn’t clean until it was over and that I should just get into the party and drink some free drinks, eat some free food, and look at some lovely paintings. So I did. And that’s where I met this friend, the one who paid for this trip. Robert Miller.”

  Her mother sat up straight on her lounger. “Let me get this straight. You met this guy at the party and you became friends, and now he sent me a trip? Is that right?” Kim nodded. “Kimmy, that makes no sense.”

  Kim decided her mother was not going to understand unless she got the entire story. “I guess we were more than friends. And he’s more than a guy at a party. He’s the guy who sent the limousine to the house that night. He owns the gallery. In fact, he owns lots of galleries and hotels and other things. He’s rich, Ma, really rich.”

  “You mean the Millers from Alvita Hotels?” her mother asked. She was sitting up straight now in her lounger.

  “You’ve heard of them?” Kim asked.

  “Yes! Who hasn’t? I know the hotel chain was named after his wife, and they both died in a plane crash in South America.”

  “Yes!” Kim said. “That’s them. Robert’s their son. Their only child. That’s how he became so rich.”

  “Okay, Kimmy, spill. Something is not adding up here. Tell me what’s going on? There is no way a guy you met at a party and had one date with does this. What is going on?”

  “We were sort of… lovers. That night at the gallery, that first night, we had some connection. And then…” How did she tell her mother this? She spat it out quickly. “We had sex in the janitor’s closet. It was crazy and passionate and amazing. I’ve never in my life done anything like that—ever!”

  Her mother sat back and smiled. “Maybe that’s the problem.”

  “What?” She couldn’t believe what her mother was saying.

  “Yes. Kimmy, you’re a young, attractive woman. Why shouldn’t you be having sex in a janitor’s closet with a billionaire? Live a little!”

  Kim laughed. She was so surprised by her mother. How could her mother say such a thing?

  “But it was all too much,” Kim said after a bit. “I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. I had to leave the job at the gallery because of him; he kept leaving me gifts and trying to see me. Then he found me at Joe’s, and I had to leave that job too. The attraction between us is just too intense. It makes me act out of character. Anyway, he felt bad about me leaving my jobs and about the struggle we’ve been having with money since then. He just did this to apologize.”

  “Well, I like his sort of apology!” Her mother finished her cocktail, and before she could set the glass down, the butler, Jorell, was there offering her another one. “Sure, why not? You only live once, Jorell, especially like this!”

  Kim felt happy seeing her mother like this. The last time she saw her mother so happy was before her father died. She watched her sip at her new drink. They sat quietly listening to the waves lapping the shore, on the now dark beach.

  “I think you should think again about this Robert. He obviously cares quite a bit about you,” her mother said.

  “Maybe… I guess I’m scared. Everything between us is so intense. It takes over. I get lost and confused. That’s frightening. I don’t want to be lost like that again.”

  “You can’t compare what happened with Bruce to this. Bruce made your life hell. I don’t think Mr. Miller is Bruce in any way, shape, or form, at least from where I’m sitting. You know, sometimes being that taken over, as you describe, is really being in love—being head over heels in love. But Kimmy, you do what you think is right.” She stood up. “I’m off to bed. Between that whacking good day we had and these two cocktails, I’m bushed. I’ll soon be one of those old ladies that fall asleep in their chair and have to be carried up to bed.” She kissed her daughter. “You deserve happiness, Kimmy. You deserve it more than most women after what you went through. Be a bit kind to yourself sometimes.”

  Kim stayed sitting, looking out at the full moon over the sea. Was her mother right? Had she made the wrong decision about Robert? She guessed it was too late now—after two months of him keeping away from her, surely he’d found someone else. She had her chance and wasted it. Robert had given them this trip as a last goodbye present, she thought. Had she lost the love of her life? Kim looked out at the sea that encouraged her to run away, to go looking for a new exciting life, a new world waiting out there for her. Had she been offered just that and thrown it all away because she was afraid of being happy? Kim didn’t want to think it, but she suspected that she had.

  Chapter 17

  A few days later, when they were now becoming accustomed to their island life, nearly forgetting their regular lives still waited for them back in Chicago, Debra appeared at breakfast.

  “Good morning, Kim,” Debra said. There was a look between Debra and Kim’s mother that Kim didn’t quite understand. “So your mother and I were talking, and she said she’d really like to see the other side of the island where they have some historical sites and a petting zoo. So I’ve organized a tour for her and Derek, and I thought you and I could go shopping. There’s a dress store here where they tailor the dresses just for your body shape, and I thought you might be interested in going with me.”

  Kim was a bit surprised. She wasn’t much for shopping, but since it seemed everything was already mostly decided and Derek was already excited that there would be baby squirrel monkeys that he’d be able to hold, she didn’t feel she could go against the plan.

  The tour car came to collect her mother and Derek, and then she and Debra headed to the nearby town. Debra parked in a side parking lot, and they walked together to the front of a store that appeared to be closed. The blinds were down, and the door was locked.

  “Oh no, I guess we won’t see those dresses today,” Kim said.

  “Well, act
ually, I know the owner quite well, and she knew she had to be away today, and so she gave me the key. You know, people here are much more laid-back about things than us in the States. She’s actually left a selection of dresses for you to try on. You’re going to fall in love with them, I’m certain of it.”

  Debra unlocked the door, and they went in. She turned on a few lights, and Kim looked around. The walls were full of dresses in all sorts of colorful patterns.

  “Oh, Debra, you were right, these dresses are amazing. What’s this fabric? It’s so soft and light.” Kim held up the end of a cream-colored dress.

  “It’s a cotton blend that she orders especially from Taiwan. All of her dresses are made from it. It’s perfect for summer. You’re going to love the feel of it.”

  Just then Debra’s phone rang. She listened but said very little. After hanging up, she said, “Kim, I just need to dash out for a minute. The dresses she chose for you are in that first dressing room. Here are the keys to the store. Try on the dresses. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Lock the door behind me so no one troubles you.”

  Kim did as Debra instructed her. It seemed strange being alone in someone else’s store, but the person was Debra’s friend, so Kim guessed it was okay.

  She went toward the changerooms and opened the door to the first one. Her heart jumped—there was Robert.

  “Robert. You’re here,” she said, stunned. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she wondered if he could hear it. Her hands were shaking. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him until that very moment.

  “Yes. I’m here.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “I’ve missed you so much. God… Kim, I’ve missed you.”

  She kissed him back but said nothing. She couldn’t believe he was here, on Palm Island. Seeing him again brought back all of her feelings about him in a rush. Her body yearned for him. She realized at that moment all of these days and weeks, her body had been waiting only for this. For him to take her again and make her feel like he did the last time.

  She let her head fall backward, and he kissed her neck softly, up and down, whispering hot words in her ear. He softly nipped at her earlobes and her neck, then ran his tongue along the edge of her ear before pulling back to hold her head and kiss her, pushing his tongue deep inside. Each kiss pushed Kim further, further toward those feeling she yearned for, toward the wildness she craved. He was already excited, his hardness not hidden behind the thin summer pants he wore. It excited her to see the outline of his cock under the fabric. She ran her hand over it, and Robert moaned.

  He removed her top and took her bare breasts underneath into his hands, massaging them, licking and sucking them. She moaned. It was all too much already. The thought of Debra coming back at any time, or the owner of the store appearing and finding them here ravishing each other, excited Kim. Robert’s hands and mouth on her breasts were making her wet. Her cunt beat with anticipation of what would surely come.

  He pushed closer to her and rubbed his hardness against her stomach. She reached down to touch him, and he stopped her. They looked at each other; they knew what they wanted. Kim reached for a nearby dress on the bench and removed the sash. She handed it to Robert. He pulled her hands behind her back and tied them there firmly. She struggled only for effect; she wanted to be at his mercy. They both knew this. She knew what he could do to her when she was powerless, and she liked it, she wanted it. He wanted to control her—it drove him to a place only he could find with her.

  He ripped her shorts and panties off. She watched his wildness as he pushed his head between her thighs. He sucked her clit into his mouth and nipped at it. Each touch of his teeth against her, the danger of what could be, forced a moan up her throat. The line between danger and pleasure was one she relished now. The more dangerous the action, the more pleasure it brought. He grabbed her ass, pulling her cunt closer to him to push his tongue deeper inside of her. His hands on her ass were rough, and the pain of his fingers digging into her flesh, likely leaving marks behind, was welcomed. It added to the danger, the excitement, the sexual tension that she wanted and had been yearning for.

  He was ravenous for her. The intensity was too much, and she wanted to pull his head away but could not.

  “Take it,” he hissed. “Take all of it.”

  He licked her clit slowly and then fast, and then faster still. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. She was lost in the feeling, in the pleasure. He kept at it relentlessly. It was coming, and she could not stop herself. The first orgasm raced through her body, and she writhed in its wake. It rolled and rolled through her body, while he kept on licking and teasing her ravaged clit.

  He stood back as she recovered, leaning against the wall weak from what he had just done to her. He undressed, his cock stiff and ready. She looked at it.

  “Do you want this?” he said, holding his cock.

  “Please… don’t tease me. You know I do.”

  “On your knees, then,” he ordered. She submitted and her body was awoken again.

  He brought his cock near her mouth, and she opened to accept it, but he only knocked it softly against her cheek. He put it to her lips for a second and flicked it away. The refusal made Kim want it even more. He brought it near again, and she reached for it only for it to be gone again. He lifted it up and offered his balls to her, and she sucked them into her warm mouth gratefully. She rubbed them with her tongue while he held his cock up, his hand moving up and down the shaft, his moans growing in fierceness. Then he came, over his hand and her cheek. He wiped it away and pulled her to her feet, kissing her, all the while rubbing his cock back to life, ready for her again.

  He turned her around, both of them looking at their selves in the full-length mirror. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She leaned her head against the mirror to steady herself as he rubbed his wet, stiff cock head along her asshole, making it slippery and wet too. Kim couldn’t believe the surge that shot through her body. She groaned as he slipped inside of her asshole and out again—just the entrance, nothing more—and yet Kim was sure she would explode from the mixture of pain and pleasure it created.

  “I’ll have you. I must have you,” he whispered hotly into her ear. “Oh Kim…”

  He pushed into her cunt from behind, and she screamed out. It was too much. He was huge and throbbing inside of her. He rocked back and forth, his breath coming faster and faster. She leaned into him, wanting him deeper and harder.

  “Oh Kim,” he said.

  “Robert…”

  He held her at her hips, his strong hands keeping her in place as he took her, over and over, faster and faster, ramming into her as his moans tore through his body. He was lost in her, lost in the wildness, the intensity. Kim’s cunt tightened and pulled him even deeper inside to fill her completely. He reached around and cupped her cunt with his large hand, rubbing her clit with the heel of his palm. The rough pressure drove Kim insane. In seconds she was coming; like no orgasm before, it ripped through her, pulling her along. He came with her and they rode the waves together, ferocious and spectacular, coming together in an incredible crescendo of feeling and force. They fell into each other, spent. It was everything she needed, she realized. Everything she had ever wanted.

  He sat down on the bench, pushing the dresses to the side. He pulled her onto his lap, untying her hands, and held her. He kissed her, and he whispered, “I’ve never had a woman like you. You’ve ruined me for everyone else. You keep running away, and I can do nothing but run after you. For the rest of my life, I can do nothing except run after you.”

  “I can say the same about you. I’ve never had a man like you, ever.”

  Chapter 18

  Kim put on one of the dresses Debra had left for her. It was royal blue with a deep neckline, clinging to all of her perfect curves. Robert ran his hands down her body in the dress.

  “You feel amazing,” he said.

  “Most people won’t be feeling me, they’ll be looking at me,” she teased.

/>   “You look amazing too. Sexy. You must take that one. It’s nearly the same shade as your exquisite eyes. It was as if it was made just for you.”

  Kim looked at herself in the mirror. “Yes, maybe you’re right.”

  “I am right.”

  “Debra will be back soon. What are we going to do?” she asked.

  Robert smiled. Kim didn’t know that Debra had helped him organize this entire meeting. Even the store wasn’t real. He’d ordered all of the dresses and stocked the place just for this, all so he could take her in this fitting room. He’d chosen that exact blue color for her dress. It was an expensive exercise but well worth it. He felt weak from what had just happened. Weak and oh so happy. He could see that Kim felt the same way.

  “I’ll sneak out just now, before she comes. Don’t worry,” he said. “Are you enjoying the trip?”

  “Robert, you’ve been so generous. You didn’t have to do this for us. You’ve made Derek and my mother so happy. How will I ever repay you?” Kim said.

  He pulled her back onto his lap where he sat on the bench in the fitting room. He kissed her again, and the same surge of sexual tension pulsated in him. What was it with this woman?

  “You’ve already paid me back,” he said. “Do you know how sexy you are? I look at you and I’m immediately hard again, wanting you again. I’ve never felt like this before. I immediately ache for you when I’m away from you, Kim. This… this, what just happened… this was amazing.”

  Kim was suddenly shy. She was the mother of a young boy—how could she reconcile that with this wild woman she became around him, a woman who just let a man tie her up and take control of her body like that in someone’s store? A woman who enjoyed it more than any sex she’d ever had before? It was like she had a split personality, as if she were two different people. But she had to accept they were the same woman. They were her. She was this woman, and all these different sides were her.

  “Okay. I need to go.” Robert kissed her and went out the door of the fitting room.