Chapter 4
The ice around Simon’s heart cracked just a little as he watched the totally despondent, forlorn woman in front of him break down in tears, her hopeless sobs twisting in his gut.
Fuck! If he could locate her worthless roommate, he’d make her pay for every bit of pain Kara was suffering right now.
Unable to stop himself, Simon went to her and gathered her body against his own, lifting her into his arms with careful tugs until she came to her feet and put her arms around his neck, turning her face against his chest. He could feel her body quivering, her smaller form plastered against his own, keening her misery against his shoulder.
“Shhh…Kara. It will all be okay. I’ll take care of you.” Simon ran a hand down her silky black hair, knowing that he meant every word. It wasn’t just something he was saying to quiet her, take away her pain. He wanted to take care of this woman who had seen more than her share of bad luck and hardship, bearing it with admirable strength. She was special, and her tears nearly undid him.
He took a deep breath and tightened his arms around her waist, splaying one hand along her slender back, moving the hand in soothing circles to calm her. She felt so good, so right in his arms. His cock twitched as he breathed in her alluring scent. She smelled like spring and Kara-a natural, enticing smell that made his mouth water.
He cursed his twitching cock as he held her pliant, soft body against his. Now was not the time to get hard, but he wasn’t sure he could be within a mile of Kara and not get a raging erection. A warm sigh left his mouth, making a few tendrils of her hair flutter.
Simon wanted to make all of her problems go away, banish them like they had never existed. “We’ll deal with it, Kara. I’ll help you.”
She pulled away from him, swiping tears away with the fingers of both hands. “I got you all wet.” She hiccupped as she brushed at the front of his damp shirt.
Simon wanted to whine as she pulled herself completely from his arms. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I can’t bawl like a baby all day. I have to see if I can find a shelter. This has put me over the financial edge.” Her face was composed now, her expression lifeless.
“No shelter. You can stay here. I have plenty of space.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but he was ready to wrestle her to the ground if needed. She wasn’t going to a shelter. She might be broken at the moment, but she would recover. “Think reasonably, Kara. You need help. I’m willing to help you. You can finish your last semester and live here.”
“Why? Why would you want me here? I’m a complete stranger to you.”
He wanted to tell her that she had never been a stranger, not since the first moment he saw her. Something had clicked inside him, something raw, and something elemental. “You need help. Everybody needs help sometimes. I had my brother. I was lucky.”
“Simon, I can’t just take advantage of you.”
Oh yeah, you can. Anytime you want to. Simon plopped back into his chair to hide his growing erection. Thankfully, she sat and pulled her coffee cup toward her. “You aren’t taking advantage. You’re just accepting a little assistance.”
She snorted before taking a sip of her lukewarm beverage. “It’s more than a little. I still have more than four months of school left. No money. No clothing. Nothing.”
Even though he wanted to tell her to feel free to walk around naked, he answered, “Nina is getting you some clothes. No worries.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “I only have one condition. Otherwise, my assistance is unconditional.”
“What is it?” She looked at him cautiously over her mug.
“I want you to stop working while you’re in school.” He had to bite back a smile as her face turned up in a stubborn, implacable expression. This was going to be a sore subject, but he wasn’t going to lose.
“I can’t stop working. I need to live. I have nothing,” she told him adamantly.
“No work. I’ll help you financially. You already do forty hours a week at school and that doesn’t include study time. My offer, take it or leave it.” He wasn’t about to watch her continue to fade away. After just one night of decent sleep, the dark circles under her eyes had decreased. It would be nice to see them gone altogether and watch her eat decent meals. She might have an inner core made of steel, but damn it, her body was fragile.
“But, I-”
“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it?”
He watched her face turn red and her eyes clashed with his in a disgusted stare. Simon’s breath caught silently, and his heart began to race. It was a risky move, but where else could she go? What could she do? But for a moment, for an instant that felt like an eternity, he watched her face, certain that she was going to tell him to go screw himself.
*****
He was dictating to her, telling her how to run her life, and instinctively, she wanted to rebel. Kara let go of a frustrated breath. His gaze was immovable and inflexible. No compromise, then. It was his way or the freeway. Did she really have a choice? She could look for a shelter, but it would mean giving up school for now and messing up the whole program. “What about my insurance, my benefits? What about the restaurant?”
“Mom’s place will be fine. She has waitresses who want to be full-time.”
Kara flinched as he made the statement, knowing it was true. There were other employees who would be only too happy to step into her full-time position.
“And I’ll make sure that you stay on COBRA. You won’t lose your insurance.”
She searched his eyes, trying to read him, but Simon was a mystery to her. Why was he doing this? Did she trust him? She hardly knew him. She trusted Helen, and Helen adored her sons. “Okay. I’ll do it. But you need to keep track of the funds and I’ll pay you back.”
“No deal.”
“You said you only had that one condition.” She drained her coffee, trying to keep her hands steady by grasping both sides of the mug.
He shrugged. “It’s an add-on since you tried to change the original terms.”
“What are you getting out of all of this? I’m going to disrupt your privacy, take your money, and you get nothing?” She gaped at him, baffled by the whole arrangement.
“I don’t want your money. Can’t you just take the help without questioning my motives? I want to help,” he balked in an uneasy voice, finishing the last of his coffee, slamming the cup back to the table with an impatient whack.
“I want to do something, give you something for your trouble. I’ve always paid my own way.” Agitated, she stood and collected the cups. She took them to the sink and rinsed them before putting them in the dishwasher. Honestly, she should be kissing his feet in gratitude, but being in his debt somehow bothered her. She wasn’t used to taking. From anyone! She was a survivor, doing what she needed to do just to stay one step ahead of poverty. This was so foreign, so freaking confusing.
Kara turned around and slammed into Simon’s powerful body, a force that easily kept her body from advancing. The man was like concrete, fixed and immobile. She put her hands on his solid, muscular biceps to steady herself. “Sorry,” she mumbled, but he didn’t move away.
“There’s only one thing I want from you, Kara.” His voice was low and husky and he bent down and inhaled, as though he were breathing in her scent. He slapped a hand on each side of the counter, pinning her.
The man was like a seething kettle of testosterone, and every female hormone in her body was rising to happily meet the masculine lure. He surrounded her, holding her body in thrall, making her want to surrender to his dominance. Something inside her melted, wanting to sway into his powerful arms. “W-What?” What could he possibly want from her?
She shivered as he crowded her, feeling the heat radiating from his body. Kara was five foot eight barefoot, but Simon towered over her in height, strength, and power. He leaned his head down, his lips nuzzling her ear. “You. In my bed. One night. Anything I want, anything I need.” His sultry, low whisper sent fire careening through her entire body.
“Me?” She squeaked as his hungry lips trailed down the side of her neck, making her core clench tightly with need and her pussy moist.
“You. One night,” he repeated as his hands moved to her hips and stroked against the silk robe, exploring her body greedily.
Her head dropped to one side, giving him free access to let him explore the sensitive skin at the side of her neck. Oh Lord, he felt good, smelled good. She couldn’t think as his mouth descended on hers.
Simon didn’t ask; he demanded. His tongue pushed against the seam of her lips insistently and she gave way, letting him take her, his tongue owning her mouth with demanding strokes. She released an involuntary moan into his kiss, feeling ravished and overwhelmed, her response automatic and wanting. Pushing back, she entwined his tongue with hers, exploring him, tasting him.
Without releasing her from his impassioned embrace, his hands came up to spread her robe, running possessive fingers over the responsive flesh, the hardened nipples. He alternately pinched and stroked, heightening her desire until she was out of control. A strong, jean-clad thigh thrust between her legs and she pushed against it, desperate for the friction. Her hands plowed into his coarse dark hair, fisting as she rode a wave of erotic pleasure.
He pulled his mouth from hers, panting as though he had run a marathon. “God, you are so hot, Kara. So responsive.” Her body was pulsating as his hand moved over her stomach. “I want one night.”
She jerked as his fingers reached her saturated pussy, stimulating the pink, ripe flesh, moving his thigh back to explore her more thoroughly.
“So wet, so ready,” he husked as he circled her clit. “I can smell your arousal and it’s making me crazy. I want to taste you.”
“Oh, God. Please.” Kara was caught up in sensation, heat sizzling over every nerve ending in her body. Her hands went to his shoulders, needing the support to keep standing.
“So sweet,” he murmured in her ear before his tongue trailed over the side of her neck, flicking in a rhythm that mimicked what he wanted to do elsewhere, overwhelming her with white-hot desire to feel it there, making her want that velvet tongue between her thighs.
Her hips flexed, needing more contact, more of those talented, teasing fingers. “Simon, I need-”
“I know what you need. The same thing that I need! But for now, I can give you this.” His fingers zeroed in on her needy bud, slipping through her moist folds, finding where she needed to be touched.
She moaned as he increased the pace, the intensity. She was mindless with raw need and a whimper escaped from her lips as one hand continued his erotic torture of her breasts, while the other kept up a relentless assault on her inflamed clit. “Yes. Oh, yes.” Kara knew the passionate, hot voice was her own, but she barely recognized it. It was high-pitched, keening, begging for relief.
His mouth swallowed her moan, as though he wanted every bit of her pleasure. She responded, nipping at his lip, opening for his possession, surrendering completely.
Her channel clenched and she could feel the impending climax all the way to her toes. Ripping her mouth from his, she threw her head back and let out a long groan as a powerful orgasm took her over, making her ride on waves of pleasure that she had never experienced before.
Her head dropped against his shoulder as ripples continued to make her body shudder. “Oh, God. What in the hell was that?” She panted as Simon closed her robe and pulled her sagging body against his.
“Pleasure. Just a taste of what we could have in bed,” he replied quietly, his large body rocking her slightly as she recovered. “I’d like one night, Kara. Not because you have to, but because you want it, too. I’ll help you regardless. It’s your choice whether or not to give me what I want. But be warned…I like control.”
Still shattered, her mind in chaos, she asked haltingly, “What does that mean exactly?”
“Total surrender,” he answered in a low, hoarse voice that vibrated with barely-controlled passion. “Think about it. Say the word and I’ll give you every ounce of pleasure that I’m capable of giving.”
“I’m not really that experienced. I-I…you’d be disappointed.” She hadn’t had sex in more than five years and even then, only with one boyfriend. It had been her only sexual relationship, one that had lasted five years and ended badly.
“I don’t want sexual expertise. I just want you,” he replied abruptly as he moved back, giving her space.
Kara noticed the tense look on his face, the grooves around his mouth. Eyes dropping to his groin, she could see his large shaft straining against the denim.
He leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. “Decide later. You’ve been through a lot today and you need to get over your illness. Rest. Eat. Relax. I’ll be in my computer lab upstairs if you need anything. Nina will be here soon with your clothes. Feel free to keep the robe. It looks good on you. But just so you know…I’ll have a raging erection every time you wear it. I’ll remember every sweet sound, every delicious response from you while you were coming in my arms.”
Kara grasped the counter behind her, her knuckles white from the strength of her grip as he turned and sauntered away, muscles rippling in his perfectly formed ass and back as he casually left the kitchen.
“Did that really just happen?” she whispered in an astounded voice, hoping that this whole day was just a bad dream and she would wake up in her own bed, in her own tiny apartment.
Simon Hudson was a danger to her sanity, and she needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
Four months. Could she do it? She straightened her spine and wrapped the robe tighter around her body. She was a survivor; she would survive. Simon had mentioned that sleeping with him wasn’t a requirement. It didn’t have to happen.
Kara took a deep breath, trying to relax her body. She’d do whatever she could to help Simon except sleep with him. She could cook, clean, help him out with whatever he needed to have done. Not having a job was going to leave her restless. There had to be other things she could do to repay him.
You want to. You know you want him.
She shook her head, trying to silence her wayward thoughts. Getting involved with Simon Hudson was not a good idea. The billionaire genius was the type who would leave her devastated after one night of passion. He had just proved it by rocking her world, and she hadn’t even had sex with him.
But now you know it would be a one incredible night that you’d never forget.
And it would. That was her fear. It would be much too memorable.
Shaking her head, she suddenly remembered the clinic. She should have been there this morning.
Oh, shit. I have to call Maddie. How could I have forgotten?
Kara spent every Saturday morning volunteering at the free children’s clinic with Dr. Madeline Reynolds. It was something Kara had been doing every Saturday morning for the last year and although she wasn’t yet licensed as a nurse, she helped out by taking on every task she was capable of so that Maddie could see as many children as possible on clinic day.
Kara snatched up a cordless phone from the kitchen counter and hastily dialed the clinic number, explaining to Maddie what had happened and that she was sorry she didn’t make it.
“It’s not like you’re a paid employee, Kara, even though I appreciate the fact that you keep showing up to help. I’m fine for today. Are you okay? Do you need a place to stay?” Maddie’s voice was concerned and Kara’s heart lifted. Maddie was so generous, so caring…but she couldn’t impose on her friend. Kara knew that Maddie put every extra penny she had into the free clinic and she was fairly fresh out of medical school. Kara had heard Maddie say jokingly, more than once, that she would still be paying back student loans when she retired.
“Nope. I’m good. I have a…friend helping me out,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded normal.
There was a pause before Maddie told her sternly, “You call me if you need help, Kara. You will, won’t you?”
“I will. I promise. I’ll see you next Saturday.”
“Stay safe. If you ever find that bitch of an ex-roommate, feel free to call me. I’ll beat the shit out of her,” Maddie said, her voice indignant.
Kara laughed. “You’ll have to get in line. I’m pissed enough to do it myself.”
With a few more assurances to Maddie that she would be fine, Kara hung up with a sigh and headed through the condo, wanting to see what was left of her belongings.
You’ll make it. You’ve made it this far. Four months will be easy. Someday, you can replace whatever was taken.
A tingle went down her spine as she searched for the guest room that housed her meager belongings, sensing that the next four months would be more challenging than anything she’d ever faced before.
Poverty!
Loneliness!
Rejection!
Insecurity!
Fear!
They all looked like a piece of cake compared to several months with Simon Hudson.
Temptation was going to be a real bitch.
*****