The Escort Series (Billionaire Bachelors) - Complete Collection Page 12

  “You’re hurting. I can see that,” Lisa said kindly as she reached over the kitchen table to take Bea’s hand. “You went through a lot with those two, didn’t you?”

  Bea half-shook her head, half-shrugged. “They didn’t harm me or anything. In fact, they were the best guys ever. I mean, sure, the sex was like, kinky as hell, but I liked it. I liked it a lot.”

  “So why did you cut off from them? They sounded like they could make you happy.”

  “Depends on the definition of happy you mean,” Bea said wryly. “I think I want more from my men than just the wish for me to spread my legs any time they required.” And then she clapped a hand over her mouth as she realized she’d said “her men”. Sure enough, Lisa was staring at her with that same look of awe and envy.

  “You had two gorgeous billionaires panting for your sexy self and you still let that go?” Lisa teased, shaking her head. But then she sobered as she continued.

  “I have a confession to make, Bea. You know Adam Beaumont? The guy I went to Vegas with that weekend? Well, many times I got tempted to make him more than a client. He sure seemed ready to take things further between us if only I gave the go-ahead. But then I’d always sworn never to get emotionally involved with any of my clients. It was just business; I was never going to let it get any deeper, not even to the point of sex. But Adam...not only is he just a cut above being inhumanly sexy, he’s also a great guy. I mean sure, he’s this wild child property magnate with an insane amount of wealth but he was always so down to earth. He treated me like…oh, I don’t know. Better than I ever treated myself. I went to Vegas with him and I started to do the unthinkable. I started to fall in love with him. I thought it was just all the excitement; the glamorous life, the expensive living…But then I realized I didn’t care about that. Not his money or what he could offer me. I began to see him as a man and not just a client. I tripped hard and for a long time I was tempted to give in. But I didn’t.”

  Lisa sighed heavily. “I told him last week that I couldn’t be his escort anymore. That he had to find someone else. The next time he needed someone on his arm at some fancy “do”, or just some female companionship as he goes on his wheeling and dealing trips, then he would just have to replace me. I guess…I guess I did it to force his hand. I wanted him to make his move, give me a reason to stay. I was hoping he’d say he loved me and couldn’t let me go. But he didn’t.”

  Lisa shrugged, and for the first time, Bea saw the somber side of Lisa. She was always so fun, the life of the party. Nothing seemed to ever bring her down but Bea was getting a glimpse of the fact that Lisa had bitten off more than she could chew with this Adam guy and now she was hurting.

  “I don’t know,” Lisa finally sighed. “Maybe he’s actually married or something. Or maybe he doesn’t really like the idea of hooking up for real with an escort chick. After all, some women out there make the term ‘escort’ stand for more than just female company. Anyway…what I’m trying to say, babe, is that it’s better this way. At least, now I know. I could have been nursing hope in my heart where Adam was concerned but the moment I took the risk, I finally realized where I stood. He didn’t love me and never would. Or else, he’d have made me stay.”

  She squeezed hard on Bea’s fingers. “So basically…I’m trying to say that maybe you should have taken the plunge. Maybe you should have gone to Scotland with those two sexy billionaire brothers. Because not knowing, is almost as bad as trying it out and failing. I know which one I’d rather pick if I was in your shoes.”

  “Yes, well the decision may have well be taken from my hands,” Bea said with a shaky smile. “Because they haven’t tried to get in touch with me since that day. For all I know, they’re back in their Highland paradise with a more willing female seeing to their every wish. They’ve probably forgotten all about me.”

  Lisa regarded her thoughtfully. “I know you spent just a few days, give or take, around those two…but I don’t think they sounded like the fickle type. I don’t think this is the end, Bea.”

  “And what about you and Adam?” Bea asked gently. “What if it isn’t the end for you two as well?”

  Lisa smile was lop-sided. “I’m not going to hold my breath, sweetie. And unlike you, I see no qualms in using what’s available to make up for what’s unavailable. So I’m about to go get ready for my hot date with Ronaldo tonight. Not a client, but a real date. Sure you don’t want to come along? He’s got a hot best friend named Arman. Two Brazilian hotties with dark chocolate eyes that smolder for days.” She grinned when she saw Bea’s face. “Okay, okay, I’m just kidding. I know you’d rather stay home and daydream about your two Scottish gents.”

  That had happened days ago. Finding out that Lisa had fallen hard for one of her clients had made Bea feel less bad about her feelings for Ryan and Jason. Okay, they were never really her actual clients but it was almost the same kind of situation. Except there were two of them which made the pain of walking away and losing them doubly difficult to bear.

  Chapter Five

  Bea looked around in surprise as she stepped out of the elevator and into the reception area of her workplace. There were so many co-workers moving about in a rush that she was suddenly racked by alarm.

  She hurried up to Holly at the secretary’s desk. Holly’s hand was flying busily over the keys of her computer while her other hand was lifting the phone and talking quickly into it for a moment before threw it down and started working fast with both hands on the keyboard.

  “What’s going on, Holly?” Bea asked worriedly, and Holly barely looked up. Her normally well kept blond hair seemed ready to collapse from its heavy chignon.

  “I can’t really talk now. But you might as well go ask Kirk, your boss. Your former boss,” Holly said hurriedly, finally looking up to glance at Bea’s shocked face. “It’s nothing so bad, honey. NeuTech just got bought over by some new owners. No one’s getting fired but there’s some major restructuring going on. Now I’ve got a report to prepare in readiness for the new owners arriving this morning so excuse me if I can’t chat more.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Bea said slowly, turning around as if in a daze and almost getting bowled over by one of the guys from Marketing. He called out a “sorry!” before hurrying off. Shaking her head at what a crazy Monday it was turning out to be, Bea made her way through the equally busy corridors till she was in the section meant for the executive director for whom she worked as his assistant. She knocked on his door and heard him call for her to come in.

  “It’s total mayhem, Bea, but in a good way if one can call it that,” Kirk Barnes said, sending her a smile of encouragement as he gathered up some files atop his desk. “I didn’t find out about it myself till this morning. The management saw it fit to sell the company and now we’re having a total overhaul of the top executive positions. This means, my dear that you’ll be having new bosses.”

  “But Holly said you weren’t fired!” Bea protested, thinking about his wife and teenage kids. Kirk Barnes was a middle-aged IT whiz and she couldn’t imagine the new owners letting him go.

  “No, I’m fine. Just moving a few floors up. But you, Bea, get to stay and handle the incoming owners. Basically you’ll be working for them.”

  “Do we know who they are?”

  “Not yet. The sale was done through an investment company so we can’t know for sure till they arrive today. From what I hear they’re some big-shot entrepreneurs interested in breaking into the IT market.”

  Bea was too shocked to really process anything, but she suddenly shook herself into action as she stood up to lean helpfully over the disarray that was Kirk’s desk. “Do you need me to assist you with anything?”

  He was already waving her away. “No, I’ve got this, thanks. You just go into your office and try to get prepared for your meeting with the new owners. They’re arriving around 10 am.”

  ***

  Bea had no idea why the new owners would want to have a meeting with her. Sure, she’d worked fo
r a top-level exec but there were far more vital employees worthy of note so why her?

  She was summoned into the boardroom at exactly ten a.m. As always she was dressed elegantly if not somewhat primly. Her skirt suit was simple yet flattered her with its shade and style. Her long dark brown hair was swept in a delicate updo. She hardly wore makeup to work so her heart-shaped face was mostly bare. She felt she looked presentable enough. But when she walked into the boardroom and saw the other two occupants standing there, her feeling of poise vanished.

  Ryan and Jason Wallace rose from the table when she appeared. Two pairs of piercing eyes seemed to peel the very every inch of clothing from her trembling frame.

  “Shut the door Bea, and sit down. Please,” Ryan said calmly, indicating the chair opposite them at the boardroom table.

  Not thinking to argue but obeying first, Bea’s laden feet carried her to the chair and she fell back into it. She looked from Ryan to Jason and they seemed to be smiling at her obvious shock.

  “You bought Neutech,” she finally said accusingly to them both as they smirked at her. “But why?”

  “We told you. We’ve been broadening our US base. Real estate, engineering, stocks – and now, IT and software marketing,” Jason said mildly.

  They looked freaking hot in their impeccable bespoke suits, the total image of masculine panache. Having them in her own environment was so surreal and Bea still had a hard time connecting the dots.

  “Yes, but why?” she asked again, staring at them both.

  Ryan let out a breath, saying gruffly, “You didn’t call.”

  “Neither did you,” she shot back.

  “We wanted you to get all the time you needed.” It was Jason who spoke this time.

  “So why are you here now?” prodded Bea, before she exclaimed, “No, don’t bother answering that. I actually don’t believe this! You both will do anything to get your way. This is just another way of expressing your insurmountable need to control. You buy me a whole freaking trailer load of clothes without my permission. You intended to train me into your sex slave without a thought to what I wanted. And now, you buy over the company I work for just to get to me. Don’t you see this is just going to drive me further away?”

  Her outburst ended with angry tears misting her eyes. Damn they drove her crazy! She was wildly happy to see them and yet a part of her was feeling trapped, like they were closing her in their net and weren’t giving her the choice to stay or leave.

  “Okay, admittedly, we haven’t given you much say in the matter, not since the first day we met,” Ryan said wryly. “But at least now, as your bosses you’ll have to do what we ask.”

  Despite herself, a frisson of excitement trailed down her spine at Ryan’s words. As always the sight of them made her knees weak and the moisture drip in the apex of her thighs. They smiled at her in that knowing way of hers and she was sure they could tell how hard her nipples had become beneath her suit.

  “I may be good at taking orders from my superiors but if you think I’m just going to bend over for you two…” Her words were spoken quite seriously but she couldn’t keep the wicked glint from her eyes. Damn this irresistible pair! She couldn’t count how many times she’d picked up the phone only to throw it back down in regret. She’d felt so sure they’d have found her replacement already. Men as rich and gorgeous as them didn’t need to ask twice for any woman’s attention. They wouldn’t even have to ask, period.

  “I think you’ve taken orders from us – and bent over for us – quite well in the past,” Ryan reminded her, eyes narrowing to thin slits of carnal purpose. Right there and then, if she was asked to spread out on the desk to be taken by them, there was a part of her that would comply without delay. And yet…

  Coming to her senses, Bea shook her head with a start. “I don’t need to be told that you both are powerful enough to get anything you set your sights on. But I’m not about to do something that I don’t believe is in my best interests.”

  “Do you trust us?” Jason asked lightly.

  “You know I do,” she said, turning to him and replying with a fierce tone.

  “And do you think we’d ever want to hurt you?” asked Ryan, his voice kind. She sighed, her eyes spinning in his direction.

  “Maybe not intentionally. Maybe not in the way you’d think,” she said softly, her gaze falling to look down at her hands wringing in her lap.

  “Come here, Bea.”

  Ryan’s voice had the same kindness but with the steel of command at its edges. Oh no, I’m going. I’m actually rising to my feet and going straight to where they were sitting.

  Ryan reached out, and pulled her unto his lap, facing her towards Jason so she could view them both. Needless to say, she was just a mass of nerves thinking about how the time and place was far from appropriate. But maybe that was part of the thrill…

  “We could do this the hard way, or the easy way,” Ryan said mildly, his hands around her waist keeping her pinned to him. Her knees were brushing Jason’s as he was seated right next to them. Ryan had a look on his face that foretold dark, tingling tidings.

  “You have the choice of being bent over my knee and given a good, hard spanking. You knew we missed you, right?” Ryan asked.

  Bea’s lashes fell, her heartbeat accelerating as she said in a hushed voice, “I missed you both, as well. I wanted to call, but…”

  Ryan grabbed her chin and made her look at him. “If you can’t tell us exactly what you’re thinking, then how can we do anything to allay your fears?”

  Bea drew in a bracing breath, and then blurted out, “I was scared, okay? Of getting in too deep. You two…you could have any woman you wanted. And I…I was starting to place too much importance to what we shared when all I really am to you is your…”

  “Our what?” Jason asked, his left eyebrow quirking. Bea worried her bottom lip, forcing her brain to function even when she felt Jason lift one of her legs, clad in dark tights, upon his lap. He took her by the ankle, tugging off her sensible black pump and cupping her in sole. She hissed in a breath.

  “Your…your plaything, your…”

  “Sex slave?” Jason added, his firm, well shaped fingers pressing into her sole in a gentle yet sensual massage. Bea melted, clutching on Ryan’s shoulder for support.

  “Is that all you thought we wanted? You think that’s all you mean to us?” Ryan asked, a pained look on his face. “I could take my belt to you right now for believing so little in our feelings.”

  Bea gulped, and felt her chin being tugged so she could look into Ryan’s blazing gaze. “We could seduce you right here and we know you’ll give in to us. You’ve never been able to resist us, Bea. And it’s the same with us. Right from the start. And we’re determined not to let you go. The trip to Scotland…it was going to be more than just a pleasure trip. You weren’t going to come along as simply our little fuck toy. We were hoping you’d like to meet our family. Our mother and sister, for one, have been dying to meet the girl who’s made us so crazy we’ve neglected our business and family concerns back home for longer than we ever had.”

  What? Bea thought, staring at them both. Her head was just reeling from the very thought that maybe she’d been wrong after all…

  “Do you understand what we’re saying?” Ryan pressed. “You mean a lot to us. Much more than we can probably explain. Yes, we’re a couple of high-handed Scots but we’re hoping you’ll want to be with us in spite of ourselves.” Ryan’s lips quirked, and Bea couldn’t help but smile shakily.

  “Saying “no” was never an option, Bea,” Jason put in, his hand moving dangerously up her calf to where the hem of her skirt was snagged. “So we’re ready to do whatever it takes to convince you to give our little…triad another go.”

  Bea was shivering at the sensation of his fingers disappearing beneath her skirt, when she felt Ryan move his hands from her waist to reach up to cover to start to unbutton her jacket. “Wait…! I mean, we can’t…anyone could come in!” she squeak
ed, mortified that she could be caught in such a situation with her two new bosses. She’d never live it down…

  “The sooner you say yes, the sooner Ryan and I can postpone our little seduction ploy,” Jason told her sensibly, his eyes gleaming with dangerously carnal intent as his hand finally reached its destination between the apex of her thigh. Despite the risks involved, or maybe because of it, Bea felt arousal tweak her nerve-endings as she felt Jason’s fingers start to circle her mound beneath its lace covering. Gasping with delight, she turned pleading eyes to Ryan, who’d opened up her jacket to reveal her thin camisole beneath.

  “Hmm, nice,” Ryan said as he dipped his hand down the camisole to cup one lace-bound breast. She choked on a moan.

  “And wet,” Jason added, his fingers slipping past the panel of her panties to her hot, moist and tingling folds.

  “Aah…please,” Bea whimpered, wishing she could keep her knees from spreading wider as Jason rolled her clit beneath his index finger, while his middle finger traced the seam of her rapidly dripping pussy. Ryan’s hand squeezed her breast, his manly touch bringing her nipple into hard, hungry relief. He pinched it hard over its surface of lace, causing Bea’s eyes to mist over with pleasurable agony.

  “Not “please”, sweet Bea,” Ryan rumbled, his face lowering to nuzzle her arched neck. “You know the one word we want to hear…and once we hear you say it, and mean it, then we can take this little…party, somewhere more appropriate…”

  “Say the word, little one,” Jason murmured, and Bea was staring helplessly into his eyes as he pushed a finger deep, deep into her sizzling core. It was all Bea could do not to finally scream out the word already echoing throughout her quivering body…

  Chapter Six

  Yes.

  And yes…and yes. More than two weeks later and she still couldn’t seem to stop saying yes – and tonight of all nights, there was no other answer she wanted to give. Because for the first time, she was going to take that bold step her body had been secretly longing and hoping for.