The Billionaire's Second Chance (45 page)

It
was too much and
still
not enough,
keeping Shannon on a knife’s edge of sensual agony as she writhed and moaned on top of him seeking relief from a torment she never wanted to end. Eight long years of heartache melted away with each passing moment. This wasn’t just sex – it was far too personal and deep to be only a physical act of release. She could feel his heartbeat in the part of him that was buried deep inside her while he was drawing a response from her soul that transcended all other feelings.

The French saying
la petite
mort
or
‘little death’ is a metaphor for the intensity of the perfect orgasm. Shannon doubted that level of intensity would be possible without the staggering depth of emotion they were sharing. A feeling of completion in her
soul rocked her to the core, making her
cry out from the beauty of the moment.

“Nick, please.” Shannon gasped. “I don’t think I can…” Her hips rocked but her arms lost their strength and she collapsed on top of him as he continued grinding against her. Shannon lost herself in a tidal wave of sensations and submitted to him totally.

Sensing her loss of c
ontrol Nick took the upper hand, immediately rolling
her so she was now underneath his plundering thrusts. He pushed her knees up with his hands and helped her grasp his waist between quaking thighs.

She arched and writhed in growing abandon while Nick continued hammering away
;
building his orgasm as hers began to clutch with increasing vigor at his invading shaft. With strong, steady arms he held himself upright
while
he flexed his hips against her twisting
,
rolling center. He wanted to shout with satisfaction at the incredible pleasure she was giving him
; the type of pleasure he hadn’t
known
existed.

On and on it wen
t
as they
buil
t
a bonfire of primal desire
,
higher and higher until it seemed they would both turn to ash from the sheer heat of their combined excitement.

Shannon leapt first.  Just at the moment when she was sure she couldn’t take the relentlessly stimulating pounding anymore Nick surged deep and sure and then held himself still
.  H
er womanly sheath replaced
his
rhythmic strokes with a heart stopping series of rippling contractions t
hat started deep in her core, radiating
outwards until she could do nothing more than flail in unrestrained ecstasy as she cried out to him in total abandon.

The sexy throbbing of her shimmering climax was still exploding deep in her core when Shannon felt Nick’s manhood swell to bursting inside her. A low rumbling grunt tore from his throat when his own completion rocketed through his sweat covered body. Shannon was overcome with a consummation of delirious satisfaction when he stroked in and out several times emptying himself in a series of heated eruptions that filled her soul as well as her womb.

When it was over they both sank into the mattress in an exhausted but sated tangle of trembling limbs and heated skin. Shannon didn’t think
anything could top the
memorable
passion
from their joining earlier. She was wrong
.
W
hat they’d just shared had been more deeply moving and satisfying than she could have imagined. A sense of deep contentment seeped into her bones
, feeling
for the first time as if she was truly where she belonged
. A
s long as they were together, they could overcome anything.

With that thought Shannon hugged his
still
heaving body even tighter and smiled a secret woman’s smile right before she gently nipped him on the shoulder.

“Hey!” he rumbled in a low laugh. “What the hell was that for?”

Gently disengaging from her luscious body, Nick rolled them to their sides in case his superior weight had been crushing her smaller frame. Her whimper at the loss of connection warmed his heart
.
Pulling
her close
he yanked
a sumptuous
,
fluffy blanket around them.

Smiling into his happy eyes Shannon giggled at the sight of his exultant face and knew a sense of peace that eclipsed whatever lingering doubts and fears she may have been clinging to. “I just wanted to see if you were real.” she shyly answered.

Snuggling her face into his chest Shannon sighed blissfully and said “You’re very sexy Mr. Barrett.”

“Speak for yourself Ms. Reynolds!” he
answered
back.

A soft contented smile appeared on Shannon’s face and would stay there throughout the long night ahead. She squirmed and wiggled against him trying to find the perfect snuggle spot until he swatted her rump and warned her to  be still lest he teach her a lesson or two about being a tease.

The contented smile bloomed into a shit eating grin when her head popped up from its place on his shoulder and she looked him squarely in the eye saying
,
“I
’m so very happy,
Nick.”

Whatever playful retort he may have been prepared with after he playfully thumped her butt evaporated in the face of those
simple
words and were replaced by what they did best. What was left of their evening would tick by in silence as they indulged in a long, deep, wet kiss that plundered and soothed while they whispered words of love and renewal deep into the night.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-
FIVE

Getting them both out of the house the next morning had been a monumental undertaking. Nick still couldn’t believe how late he’d overslept. He absolutely never stayed abed much past the break of dawn but this morning he’d been astonished when eight a.m. had rolled around and his eyes were just fluttering open for the first time.

Smiling absently to himself he acknowledged that the warm female body wrapped so beautifully around his had accounted for his deep sleep. Uh, that and the incredible intimacy the two had shared throughout the night. No wonder they both slept late! Each time one or the other had stirred while they were cocooned in Nick’s tremendous bed it would lead to multiple acts of bone-melting lovemaking and some pretty toe-curling acts of primitive mating that still had not been enough to satisfy
them
.

Even now, as they sped along the highway with Mr. Allen at the wheel, Nick was considering how soon he’d be able to have her bucking and moaning underneath him again. God, he felt insatiable and couldn’t conceive of ever reaching a point where he’d be satisfied; where he’d think he’d had enough if only for just a few hours. Shifting slightly in his seat he realized that some adjustments in
h
is work schedule were going to be necessary.

Until days ago he’d been living to work. That’s pretty much all there was to his empty life
. H
e never
considered
how much time he spent doing just that and only that.
Working.
Now however, everything was different. His world had been turned on its head and not in a bad way. For the first time ever, he didn’t feel like working. Didn’t want to think about business and really didn’t want daily operational issues to find their way into his mind.

J
ust like that he knew his PA
Claire was going to be handed the opportunity of a lifetime before the day was out because Nick had every intention of taking some serious time away from his C.E.O. duties. He’d make Claire an offer she couldn’t refuse, something flexible and accommodating so her new role as a parent could flourish too. They’d figure out how to coordinate what
ever
he needed to be involved in because from here on out, Shannon was his main priority.

Even though they had found a way to rise above the hurts from the past there was still a lot of healing to do. For both of them. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d laid out his vision of their future and meant every word he said about the house, the picket fence, the kids, the dog and the mommy van. 
Making all of that a reality would take time
,
a
lot of
attention and most of all, love.

With that thought Nick reached across the space between their plush seats and took the hand he found resting in her lap. When she looked over at him he raised her lovely, feminine hand to his mouth and gently pressed a soft kiss to her
the center of her palm
. He almost forgot all about going into the city when Shannon smiled in that sweet, shy way she had. He was losing himself in the deepening sensuality in her eyes when Mr. Allen buzzed with his customary twenty minute heads up.

Ordinarily Nick utilized the drive time for work and had a virtual ‘home office’ installed in the
limo
for his use should he need it. Today however all he could concentrate on was how inconvenient the individual seating was, no matter how comfortable and luxurious, if it made hauling her into his lap a challenge. He eyed the interior of the functional executive limo and imagined something decidedly more decadent. Suddenly he felt like a randy teen-ager planning on seduction in the back seat of a car.

Oh well, now was not the time for such thoughts Nick realized.  In just a few moments they’d pull in to the parking garage of the huge building that housed Barrett Global and Nick would have to at least try to put his game face on. He didn’t think carrying her caveman style into his private office and kicking the door shut would go unnoticed. Calling upon the gentlemanly manners that his southern mama had drilled into him he sighed in resignation
while reassuringly squeezing
the hand he still held.

She was so lovely
sitting there in a gorgeous designer suit that had surprised him when she walked out of the dressing room earlier. So far he’d seen her as a cowgirl, a yoga devotee, and a California girl. The serious business woman was unexpected and sexy as hell.

She’d tamed
her
glorious hair into a tidy chignon and hung delicate amethyst jewel
s from her ears.
The obviously designer
suit was a subtle copper color that beautifully highlighted
her coloring. What appealed to him most though was the feminine style which suited her perfectly; instead of the pseudo-man suits he’d become used to in todays’ business world.

In place of something severe and structured, the fitted jacket was a three quarter sleeve, collarless design meeting at a deep, open V before being gathered rather than buttoned by a contrasting silk ribbon.  The ribbon wove through the fabric appearing in a short segment at her waist before ending in a center bow. Underneath the jacket was a silky
,
low cut sleeveless top
which,
along with the upswept hair
,
accentuated her glorious long neck. A delicate silver chain dangling with a tiny tear-drop amethyst hung at her throat. He thought she looked amazing.

Ever since having her long, lithe legs wrapped around his hips he’d been able to think about little else and right this second was no exception. There wasn’t anything overtly sexy about the matching skirt but there was something about the way the copper colored fabri
c molded her voluptuous derrière
that
took his breath away. Ending a few inches above her knees, the short skirt and aut
umn colored L.K. Bennett pumps
completed the outfit
and
made
her legs look fabulous.

That he knew the designer of her shoes was hilarious
. E
ver alert to small details he had remembered the maker when, after having admired the shoes and calling them quite sexy, she had preened and pranced a bit showing her delight with her favorite ‘Duchess Kate’ footwear. When he’d admonished her to be careful teetering on heels with a still bruised ankle, she had presented him with a
moue pout and declared all men
t
hick
before grabbing her bag and flouncing out of the room.

In retrospect, he’d enjoyed the flounce quite a bit. The sight of her amazing rear end so beautifully outlined in the trim skirt as she sashayed past him had been nothing short of fantastic. The cute way her hips swayed when she got all full of herself was magnetic. He’d wanted to haul her back against him and hold her tight and fast. From there the images got wild and very hot making Nick rein in his wandering thoughts yet again.

He hoped his conservative business suit wasn’t too boring. There was certainly nothing shabby about his customary two button formal business suit and he was pretty sure he looked damn good in it. He
might not be
David Beckham
,
but he could hold his own in an underwear ad if he had to. Next to her graceful loveliness he just didn’t want to come off as an oaf.

Christ, but she brought out some very uncharacteristic
feelings of
insecurity in him.
Serves you right
, an inner voice sneered when he considered that he’d pretty much made her feel like an inferior nuisance that day he’d tried to kill her feelings for him.