Page 15 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

He noticed she was holding the baby monitor in her hand. But that was not all he noticed now. Her robe was partially open and he could see she was wearing a vest top. The firm swells of her breasts visible under the fabric.

He leant a shoulder against the wall, something illicit and dangerous fizzing in his veins.

Lust. The urge to throw caution to the wind, in spite of everything that had transpired over the last couple of days, was overwhelming.

He needed to connect with this woman again on a level that he could understand when so much was veering wildly out of his control.

Then she said, ‘He’s fine. I just changed him and fed him and he’s asleep again. He’s the most—’ She stopped and then asked a little breathlessly, ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

It had never been in Dion’s nature to be coy or disingenuous. One of the reasons he’d done so well in business was because he was straightforward.

‘Because I still want you.’

Tara’s mouth opened and closed again. ‘I…well, I was not expecting you to say that.’

‘The truth is that the other night was…unprecedented for me. I told you it wouldn’t happen again but I was lying to myself. I would have wanted to see you again.’

* * *

That admission caught at Tara somewhere vulnerable. The shock of seeing him in the dimly lit corridor was receding and she couldn’t help but take in his tall, powerful form in a grey suit and white shirt, open at his throat.

There was stubble on his jaw. He still wanted her. She hadn’t considered for a second that that night had been anything but a passing diversion for him.

‘But…we can’t.’ The elephant was literally sleeping in the room behind her, legs and arms splayed out like a starfish.

‘Why not? We’re two consenting adults who want each other.’

‘Until this moment I was pretty certain it was just a one-night thing.’

He shook his head and all Tara could see was that thick hair and the hard angles and planes of his face. She wanted to go over and put her hands on his face, soften the edges for him.

The truth was that she didn’t just want him, he’d caught her on a much more profound level where her emotions lived.

And she knew—because of her family—that when she loved, she loved fiercely and unequivocally.

Like the way she already loved Niko. And to be thinking of Dion in the same vein was not a little terrifying.

‘Not true,’ he said. ‘I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman.’

It was also scary for Tara to acknowledge that, even after knowing him for only a couple of days, she trusted him enough to know that wasn’t a line. Her heart thumped and she went against every cell in her body when she said, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea. There’s too much…stuff between us.’

Like a baby. Their son. And what would happen.

‘I think we can keep the two separate. You know I’m not remotely interested in a relationship.’

A half-laugh came out of Tara’s mouth. She put her hand to it and then let it drop, saying, ‘You’ve made that more than clear by choosing to become a single father.’

‘So…we know where we stand.’

He made it sound so simple but Tara knew it wasn’t. For her. And yet…she really, really wanted to repeat what had happened that first night. Before the world had imploded around them with the bombshell of discovering who he was.

And something else struck her then, a very earthy primal feeling of connection.

This was her baby’s father. And they might not have conceived him in a conventional way but the fact that there was this chemistry between them—completely unexpected—was an unbelievable aphrodisiac.

The fact that in some alternate universe, they could have created him together.

He pointed out, ‘You’ve said yourself you’re not planning on leaving.’

Now Tara shook her head. ‘No, I want to be with my son.’

‘Then why don’t we let this…mutual chemistry run its course? At least then, when we go our separate ways, we won’t have any loose ends.’

Tara chafed at that. ‘I’d call Niko a pretty permanent loose end.’

‘We’ll come to an arrangement—I don’t intend to stop you being in his life, Tara. You have a point about his needing a mother.’

Tara had a strong suspicion he was just humouring her and that he didn’t trust for a second that she’d stay in Niko’s life, but he’d soon learn.

‘I know I have rights. There’s no question I’ll be in his life as his mother, for ever.’

‘For ever is a long way away. Why don’t we focus on the present moment?’

In spite of everything and Dion’s clear doubt that she would stay the course as Niko’s mother, her blood was hot and her heart was thumping erratically.

She wanted to alternately kiss Dion and then slap him for being so arrogantly cynical.

And then that made her think of how his own parents had treated him and her heart ached.

‘You want me, Tara.’

How she longed to dent that arrogant self-assurance. But it was hard to do when she was literally weak at the knees and already imagining what it might be like to have his mouth on her again.

‘Niko…’ she said weakly.

‘Niko is asleep, we have a baby monitor and we’re literally next door.’

We. Any paltry resistance dissolved. Dion straightened up from the wall and held out his hand. Before she could overthink it, Tara stepped forward and put her hand in Dion’s. His fingers curled around hers and he led her back down the corridor a little and into his bedroom.

Inside, there were some low lamps sending out golden pools of light. Tara could see the bed, massive. Dion pushed the door almost closed but not quite. He let her hand go and took the baby monitor, putting it on top of a chest of drawers. He asked, ‘Is it turned right up?’

Tara nodded. The bare flicker of lights on the monitor indicated that Niko was still fast asleep.

‘Come here.’

He was standing at the end of the bed. He’d taken off his jacket and was undoing the buttons on his shirt.

She lamented the fact that she wasn’t wearing some silky filmy negligée as she walked towards him.

He pulled off his shirt, revealing his broad, hard-muscled chest. It truly was a sight to behold.

Instinctively, Tara reached out and her put hand on it, splaying her fingers, feeling the soft springiness of his chest hair, the warmth of his skin. The hard nubs of his nipples, making him suck in a breath.

She looked up. He was staring down at her.

‘I need to taste you.’ He cupped her face in his hands and urged her closer while lifting her face to his.

Tara’s mouth opened on a sigh just as his covered it and their breaths mingled and tongues touched, tentatively at first and then with more intensity, exploring and tasting…

Dion’s hands moved down, fingers undoing her robe and pushing it from her shoulders, down her arms and off her body.

He drew back and looked at her. All she was wearing was a flimsy vest and sleep-shorts.

Plain and unadorned. At least the first night they’d met she’d been wearing the evening gown.

She ducked her head but he tipped her chin up and shook his head and said with a rough quality to his voice, ‘Don’t do that. You are beautiful.’

How could he say things like this to her and make her feel like the most precious thing, and then also be the man who had acquired a baby like an accessory to his life?

But she didn’t have time to think about that because he was lifting her vest from the bottom and she lifted her arms to allow him to pull it up and off completely.

Now she wore only panties. While he was still half dressed.

As if he were reading her mind, Dion’s hands went to his trousers and he undid them and pushed them off his hips, taking his underwear too, stepping out of his clothes.

Now he was naked. Skin gleaming in the half-light. A Greek statue brought to life.

He caught her by the arms and tugged her into him again so that their bodies were touching. The tips of her breasts against his lower torso, his rising erection against her belly.

She moved closer, trapping him against her, and moved delicately.

He caught her hair and pulled gently, tugging her head back, ‘You little cat.’

Tara felt like purring. She came up on her tiptoes then and wound her arms around Dion’s neck, finding his mouth and pressing hers against it in a desperate kiss, silently asking him to take control so she wouldn’t have to think about anything but these wondrous sensations that he sparked to life in her.

For someone who’d spent the last decade worrying about everyone else, it felt beyond decadent to indulge herself like this.

Dion obliged. He ducked a little and caught Tara under her legs, lifting her up and carrying her to the bed.

It made Tara feel emotional—just this small act—because it made her feel cared for, when she’d been the one who had done all the caring.

Dangerous. She had to push notions like this out of her head because it was an illusion.

This was just about sex . And she was catching up on lost time.

He laid her down on the bed and put his hands to her underwear, tugging it off. She lifted her hips. Now she was naked too. But she didn’t feel self-conscious. She felt hungry.

Dion was standing, looking at her, that dark gaze roving all over her body, making her tingle.

‘Dion…please…’

‘What, gattina ?’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Little cat. Do you want me to touch you?’

Tara liked that, too much. She nodded. ‘Yes, please.’

Dion smiled and it was wicked. ‘So polite. How can I refuse?’

He came down on the bed beside her, all six feet plus of rippling muscles and long powerful limbs.

He put a hand on her belly, splayed. She sucked in a breath.

And then he lowered his head and their mouths connected again in a deep and explicit kiss, as his hand left her belly and ventured down, over the curls between her legs.