Billionaire's Pursuit of Love: Destiny Romance (11 page)

It took Sarah five minutes to master the controller, but once she did, the mechanics of the game came easily. And it was fun. Great fun. God, when was the last time she’d had unadulterated fun? She was out of practice in the fun department.

It took Blake no time at all to whip her arse. She clicked the ‘play again’ button.

‘So what happened today?’ Sarah asked, surprised at her calm voice.

‘Something pretty serious.’

‘What?’

‘An issue with production.’ He misjudged a jump and his character fell to a vulnerable position. By some miracle, her character hurled Blake’s from the tree and she scored ten thousand bonus points. ‘Got ya,’ she said, laughing. It felt like the first real laugh she’d had since she’d left Brunei. Her cheeks flushed with a surprise rush of endorphins.

Blake grinned at her, his eyes glittering with challenge. He studied the screen and expertly manoeuvred his character to retaliate.

A strange competitive streak bubbled up in Sarah. She blasted Blake’s character with a barrage of the spiky fruit. ‘Take that.’ Blake’s character fell from the tree and Sarah won.

‘No . . . no way.’ Blake tugged the controller from her and pinned her down with his body. ‘Now you’re going to get it.’ He drew both her hands over her head and held them there easily with one his own. He poised his other hand over the sensitive skin under her arms.

‘No!’ she screamed. ‘Please, Blake. I’m really ticklish.’

‘I know,’ he said, his voice low and wicked and provocative. ‘I remember.’ He slid his finger lightly up the side of her chest. His touch left a trail of desire that radiated across her breasts and settled hot and wanting in her nipples. They begged for his touch. For his fingers to brush and circle and caress.

‘Stop, stop.’ But she didn’t mean it. This felt good, too.

‘On one condition,’ he said, holding his hand threateningly close to the tickle zone.

‘Anything,’ she breathed.

‘Kiss me.’

She didn’t argue. Blake waited but no protest came. His body already ablaze with longing, he needed no more encouragement, thought or invitation. He took full possession of her mouth like a man starved. And he had been starved. No woman had come within a thousand miles of what he’d felt with Sarah. He released her arms and placed his hands on her cheeks. He delved deeper with his tongue, tasting her sweetness. She whimpered under him, driving him wild. He didn’t trust himself to move. He wanted her closer, deeper . . . to brand her as his own. His. Forever.

Her hands ran up his back, bringing their bodies closer. He shuddered with need. He trailed his hand down her neck, her chest. Slowly, slowly. He didn’t want to rush her, but an urgent fire raged inside. He skimmed the side of her breast with his fingers and she pulled away from his lips with a gasp. Her breath came hot and fast and ragged.

He pulled back and dealt quickly with the top three buttons of her dress. She watched him, her eyes half closed, her face flushed.

‘You’re so beautiful.’ God, he wanted her.

He slid his hand under her bra and blood and lust rushed to his groin.

‘Mum.’ Daniel’s small, frightened voice siphoned the sensuality like a midwestern American twister. Sarah snapped rigid. She roughly pushed Blake from her body and fumbled with her buttons. He understood her reaction, but it hurt all the same.

Daniel stood in the entrance to the hallway.

‘Mum,’ he called again, his voice heavy with sleep and dismay.

Sarah ran to him and cuddled him close. ‘Yes, darling. I’m here. What’s wrong?’

‘I had a bad dream.’

‘Oh, darling. It’s okay.’

Blake quickly walked to his son and knelt down beside him. He didn’t know what to do. Would he scare the child if he touched him? To Daniel he was still a relative stranger.

‘Everything okay, Daniel?’ He felt clumsy and inept.

‘Giant spiders,’ Daniel moaned.

‘Daniel’s terrified of spiders,’ Sarah whispered. ‘We have a few in Brunei,’ she said, making it clear this was a gross understatement.

‘No, these were computer spiders,’ Daniel mumbled.

An invisible rope coiled tight around Blake’s chest.
Oh no.

Sarah stiffened. The temperature plummeted. Blake braced himself.

‘They were from a game we played at Robert’s.’

Great.

Sarah’s thunderous look had Blake backing away. She led Daniel up the hall. He followed.

‘Sarah, what can I do?’ he asked.

‘I think you’ve done enough.’

The words tortured him like lit matches on his skin. Each time he thought he’d broken through, had established some connection with Sarah, it disappeared faster than Daniel’s first ice-cream.

She tucked Daniel into her own bed and then proceeded to shut the door with a quiet click.

Blake walked back to the living room, ripped the console’s cord from the socket and flung it to the floor. This
everything in the real world is bad
stance Sarah held was starting to wear very thin.

But he knew that wasn’t what tormented him. He wanted her. He wanted her so much the ache was physical. He walked to the bar and poured himself a generous dash of whisky. Next time he held Sarah’s body beneath him, he didn’t think the world exploding would prevent him from having what he craved.

Blake noted Sarah took a seat at the furthest point from the head of the boardroom table. The trip to work that morning had been a silent affair. Sarah had turned on the radio and stared out the window. He’d decided not to push her into conversation. Hopefully, after this morning’s presentation, things would put them on a smooth path forward rather than their current train wreck.

Sarah flicked open a notebook and wrote a couple of notes. She looked hot, damn hot. The patterned dress she wore certainly wrapped her up into a sensual package but left tantalising hints of what lay beneath. She’d clipped up the front strands of her hair, which accentuated those eyes. Clear, brilliant eyes that shone with vitality and temptation. His own personal addiction.

Katie from PR walked into the room and took the seat next to Blake. He’d invited the top people from all his key departments. Except for Katie, they were all loyal, long-term employees. Despite this, Henry was the only one to whom he entrusted his plan about using
Orangutan Food Fight
to throw off the competition. His conscience niggled at the corner of his mind. He’d be using Sarah and the Sanctuary to hide
Everest
, but the incredible benefits they’d both derive would eradicate any ambiguous motivation Sarah might attribute to him.

‘Right, let’s get started,’ Blake said. He introduced Sarah to the people at the table she hadn’t already met.

‘We’ve hit on something special,’ Blake said. He outlined the
Orangutan Food Fight
concept. ‘Our research shows environmental games could be big business. I want to take this big. I want to take this global. And I want to do this right now.’

During his speech, Sarah’s lips had parted and her face now held an expression of delighted shock. He’d known this was the right move.

‘We’ll launch on 14 September. Eight weeks from today,’ he continued.

Katie scribbled furiously in her notebook but looked up sharply at the mention of the date.

‘I’ll run you through the prototype.’

Katie looked as though she’d been handed the patent rights for the next generation iPad.

‘Then, I want each of you to outline your thoughts for the launch,’ Blake said.

‘Blake, this is a ridiculously tight deadline.’ Hunt-F Tech’s head of manufacturing’s face was creased with concern.

‘This is new. I want us out first and out now. We’re already well into the testing phase. We’ll make it.’

Blake hit play and walked the team through the game and how to play it. He handed Katie the controller and let her win a couple of rounds.

‘That’s brilliant,’ Katie said. Was her excitement due to the game or the fact that she now had everything she needed to inform the competition of Hunt-F Tech’s best-kept secret? He’d know within the hour. Henry’s monitoring would provide the answer.

‘If we could go around the table for everyone’s thoughts on the launch. Let me know anything special you might need to get this done. Katie?’

Blake hoped he wouldn’t have to lead her too much to achieve his desired outcome.

‘Well, being a nature-based game, I think we should launch at the London Zoo,’ Katie said. ‘I’ll ring to see if they have an orangutan enclosure.’

‘They don’t,’ Sarah said. Everyone looked in her direction. ‘I keep a register of which zoos have orangutans. I like to keep up-to-date on the global population numbers.’

‘Oh.’ Katie looked as though she’d emptied her ideas bank.

Come on, Katie.

‘There are orangutans at our sanctuary,’ Sarah said.

Katie’s eyes lit up like a forest fire. ‘We could launch in Brunei. That would be pretty unique.’

Brilliant.
Sarah had led the traitor straight to the gallows.

‘The Sanctuary’s a one-hour drive through rainforest – would journalists come that far?’

‘Maybe not,’ Katie said slowly, tapping her pen on her notepad. ‘But . . . we could launch in Brunei and then take in a select group of journalists. That would add to the exclusivity of the story. Journalists would be fighting to get a spot on the trip.’ Katie sat back, satisfied she’d delivered a piece of PR genius.

Blake planted an appreciative smile on his face. He couldn’t have scripted a better outcome.

‘We can really do that?’ Sarah asked, turning her fervent gaze to Blake. The hope in her voice threatened to unlock his guilty conscience. Why should he feel guilty? The success of the game would put the Sanctuary’s finances on the first solid footing since its inception. And take its story to the world.

Blake pretended to consider it for a moment. ‘I think that would work. Can you pull all that off in eight weeks, Katie?’

‘Absolutely I can,’ she gushed. ‘I’ll need all the information immediately in order to get to work.’ Her greedy gaze feasted on the treasure chest of files stacked on the table in front of Blake.

Blake slid the files down the table. ‘Here’s everything you need on the game to get started.’ Katie eagerly grasped the file as though she’d been handed a one-way ticket to the Bahamas.

Blake chanced a look in Sarah’s direction. Oh hell, were those tears? A hollow feeling gripped his stomach. He turned back to the screen. He wouldn’t let his personal life interfere with business.

‘Okay, next.’ He turned to his head of packaging development. ‘What about distribution?’
Get your head in the game.
‘Sorry, I mean packaging. Thoughts?’

The meeting took another hour. His team nailed every part of the launch, as he knew they would. The game would do well. Probably very well. A nice bonus to keeping the real treasure a secret.

‘Thanks, everyone. Let’s get to it,’ Blake said, wrapping up the meeting. ‘Same time next week for an update meeting. Just remember, Sarah must be consulted on all aspects of the game and its marketing. She’s the expert. Use her.’

Katie hastily gathered up her papers and bolted from the room. She’d taken the bait, hook, line and stinky durian. She’d be feeding the details to Hunt-F Tech’s competition within the hour. He was sure of it. He hoped it was enough to dazzle the competition and keep
Everest
shadowed in the mist.

The room cleared. Sarah remained, staring at the screen holding the still image of Daniel with Sultan. Blake couldn’t read her expression. She stood slowly and walked towards him. He braced himself for another barrage.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered, as if she was too fragile to speak any louder. She kissed him lightly, lovingly, longingly.

Desire exploded like a bomb. Blood pounded from his heart straight to his groin. He’d been living on a lustful knife-edge since last night. He ran his hands through her hair and crushed her lips to his. He kissed her hard, wanting so much more.

‘Let’s go,’ he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door. ‘I can’t take this any more. Being so close to you. Not touching you. We’ll get a hotel.’

‘Don’t be crazy.’ She slipped her hand from his.

‘Why?’ His tone was all wrong. Too demanding. Too loud. Too emphatic.

‘I don’t want this.’ But her voice was breathless, the sound driving his desire to the ranks of unbearable.

‘You could’ve fooled me.’ Wrong tone. Wrong words. But damn it, this was where their relationship should be heading. She wanted it, too. ‘The other night . . . Before Daniel . . . You . . .’

‘Quickie in a hotel?’ Her disdainful words doused his desire. ‘It didn’t work out very well last time.’

‘I think we can manage the contraception side of things this time.’

‘And then what?’

Was she trying to kill him?

‘Let’s talk about that later.’ He reached for her again.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Things are complicated enough without adding sex to the equation. We owe it to Daniel to work things out as adults, not stupid sex-crazed adolescents.’

Sex. Sarah.
It didn’t sound very complicated. He thrust his hand roughly through his hair. He was certainly craving.

‘What do I have to do?’

‘Blake, we haven’t even talked about custody. How this will work.’

‘I’ve just solved the Sanctuary’s financial problems. In about eight weeks you’ll have all the money you need for repairs and more. There’s nothing to stop you from moving here now.’

Her chest and neck flushed red. ‘We’re not possessions you can buy.’

‘I never said that.’ Why did she have to manipulate every view he expressed?

‘Let’s get the game launched and the Sanctuary’s problems sorted.’ She pulled out a chair and sagged into it. ‘I can’t face any more stress at the moment. We had a deal.’

Why did she have to make this more difficult than it had to be? Why couldn’t she see how simple this was? They go home. Sit Daniel down and tell him the truth?

‘Nine weeks,’ he said. In that time
Food Fight
and the
Everest
project would both have been launched. He could take Sarah and Daniel to neutral ground. Bora Bora, the Maldives, Barbados . . . somewhere away from prying eyes and work responsibilities. They’d have time and space to work things out. ‘We tell Daniel in nine weeks. The game’ll be launched and you’ll have had time to think how you want to play this.’ He put his finger under her chin and raised her face. She needed to hear this message loud and clear. ‘That’s the deadline. After that, I take things into my own hands. Are we clear?’

She jerked her chin from his grasp. ‘Crystal.’ She stalked from the room.

Damn. How had they gone from kisses to ultimatums in just a few minutes? In business everything was so easy and straightforward. He developed strategies and ideas, briefed his team and things got done.

He unplugged his laptop from the projector.

He’d been more than fair. Nine weeks was a lifetime. If Sarah couldn’t work out what she wanted by then . . . He paused and rubbed his chin. Then . . . that’d be fine. His body eased back to calm. She knew the deadline, it was sure to pass and then he could step in and create order. He flipped his laptop closed and walked out the door. This’d play out to perfection.

‘Tea or coffee, Ms Walker?’ asked the bright flight attendant who’d looked after them all the way from London.

Sarah looked up from her delicious breakfast of wholegrain toast with ricotta, slow-roasted capsicum and extra-virgin olive oil.

‘Coffee, thank you.’ The flight attended poured coffee from a bright silver pot into her cup. It was a whole new experience drinking her coffee on a plane from real china instead of throwaway plastic. She sipped the delicious liquid and glanced over at Blake. He still slept. She’d woken up twice during the night and he’d been working.

Sarah looked out the window of the British Airways 747. Later that day they’d launch
Orangutan Food Fight
and nerves already circled like vultures in her stomach. If everything went well, the financial troubles of the Sanctuary would be history. Well, at least for the foreseeable future.

If Blake’s finance team was to be believed, the game would net the Sanctuary hundreds of thousands of pounds from the twenty-five-cent donation it would receive from the sale of each game. She didn’t really believe they could earn that much money from the game, but the publicity of the event would hopefully bring in a few new donors.

The aircraft began its descent into Brunei’s capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan. The golden domes of the sultan’s palace glowed in the distance, lit by the first rays of the morning sun. She couldn’t believe they were here. The flight attendant returned and cleared away her breakfast.

She drew her hands over her head and stretched. First-class had certainly delivered her in better shape than economy had dumped her in London all those weeks ago.

‘Morning.’ Blake’s smooth voice sounded as sweet as the chocolate petit fours they’d been served last night with their after-dinner liqueur.

‘Morning. You missed breakfast.’

‘Doesn’t matter. The crew looked after me well last night. Sleep well?’

‘Very. I didn’t know it was possible to sleep so well on a plane,’ she said.

‘Stick with me, baby, and it’s first-class all the way.’

‘There you go again, throwing money everywhere.’ But she said it with a smile. Over the weeks a series of small barriers between them had been breached. ‘Any more news about that panda game?’ she asked. One of Blake’s major competitors had launched an environmental panda game a few days earlier. ‘Will it impact our sales?’

‘Looks like it bombed.’

‘Really?’

‘Gamers aren’t stupid,’ Blake said, unclipping his seatbelt. ‘The game lacks authenticity. In fact, it’s probably done us some favours as we’ll come out with
Food Fight
and can play the authentic card to the max.’

‘Quite a coincidence their launching that so close to ours.’

‘It happens.’ He stood, leant over and kissed her softly on the lips. ‘Back shortly.’ He headed for the bathroom.

She watched his tall, broad frame walk up the aisle. Being with Blake was now so easy. They’d settled into a busy routine over the past couple of months. She’d been surprised by how much she’d enjoyed working each day at Hunt-F Tech. She’d learned so much about computers, financial projections, business planning. They’d both been busy. Long days and not much sleep.

Daniel had taken to his school like an orangutan to fresh durian fruit. In fact, he was quite the celebrity with his classmates. No one else at the school had lived close to wild animals in a jungle. He had enough spider, snake and insect stories to keep the kids entertained for months. She crossed her legs and shifted to a more comfortable position. So different from her own school experience.

Daniel and Robert were now inseparable and spent hours at each other’s homes. But she’d been so busy, she hadn’t set her mind too far into the future. She didn’t know how to resolve the custody issue. No version of events she’d conjured up seemed workable. She sipped her coffee. Each time she thought about it she ended up frustrated and feeling hopeless. There was no easy answer. But Blake hadn’t pushed her, so she’d let it slide.

‘Good morning, everyone. This is Captain Stevens. I hope you slept well. As you can see we are coming into land so it’s time to take your seats and I’ll be turning on the fasten-seatbelt sign. It’s a balmy twenty-seven degrees and you can expect sunshine all day. The crew and I wish you a great stay or welcome home.’