Unravel You: A Hot Billionaire Romance (Cole Brothers Series Book 1) Read online

  “Gentlemen, looks like we’ll have to reschedule for after lunch.” He sat back on his executive chair, his long fingers gripping the armrest. “Something’s come up. I need to tend to it immediately.”

  They all shot to their feet, assuring him it wasn’t a problem at all. I stood as well, hiding the label on my red folder. I had a way out, and I had to take it.

  “Valentina. Stay. I have a minute. If you can give me a quick update, I’d appreciate that.”

  “Sure.” I nodded and stepped back to let the men through. If the floor opened now and swallowed me, I’d be okay with that.

  Derek rose from his chair and sauntered toward the door to see his team out. When he returned, he leaned on the armrest of the long sofa in the lounge area of his office. I stalked over to him, and he extended his hand. “Let me see that.”

  “No.”

  “No?” He narrowed his eyes on me, a hint of a smile forming on his lips.

  I looked up and then down before I finally conceded and shoved the folder into his hands.

  He opened it and chuckled. “I thought I recognized this.” He tossed it on the coffee table behind him, shaking his head. “Let’s see it.”

  What was he thinking? “See what?”

  “You had a plan when you walked into my office five minutes ago. What was it?” He gripped the edge of the armrest with both hands, crossing his legs at his ankles.

  The tiny flame in my chest grew bigger and spread down to my core. “I had no plan.” I admitted because the extent of my thoughts when he texted was to come in here and have sex. All I could think of was touching him and feeling his weight on me again. But now I was a little pissed. He could’ve been more explicit. Like, hey, I’m just here to work, bring me the report. No sex. Get your mind out of the gutter. He could also wipe that knowing smile off his face.

  “What makes you think I had a plan?” I crossed my arms over my chest to cover my hardened nipples.

  He rubbed the side of his face. “The thigh-high stockings. You know how they drive me wild. Even if I can’t see them, I know that’s the only kind you own.”

  If that was true, why was he still five feet away from me? Why had he not ripped my clothes off already and had his way with me on the couch? “I have a meeting to go to.” I bolted to the door. Before I could open it, his large hand pressed against it, effectively blocking me from leaving.

  “I don’t think so.” His voice was deep and so full of meaning. He walked me back to the living area until my butt hit the back of the sofa. “You had a plan. Show me.” He gripped my waist and shifted so he was the one caged in.

  I could go, or I could stay and get what I came here for.

  I slipped my hands inside his suit jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. His dark gaze stayed on me as I removed his dress shirt. A low moan like a hiss escaped his lips when I ran my hands down his muscled chest. His pecs were harder than I remembered. It seemed Derek’s hard body was directly proportional to the amount of stress he had at work. The more they pinned on him, the more time he spent in his boxing ring. These past three weeks must have been hell for him.

  “Now you.” His voice sounded strained.

  Self-control was Derek’s superpower. I gave up all pretenses and removed my blazer and silky top quickly. My skin felt hot from needing him so much. His lips parted when I finally let my skirt pool at my feet.

  He cradled my face and kissed me hard. “Fuck. Valentina. You came to work wearing that underneath?”

  His mouth was warm, and he tasted of cinnamon gum. I melted into him, fumbling with his belt. “The door.” I panted in between kisses.

  “I locked it.” He gripped my ass and wrapped my legs around his waist as he strode around the sofa and sat with me straddling him. “Valentina. How do you do it? How do you make me forget about everything?” He freed me from my bra and sucked on my aching nipples, switching back and forth until I couldn’t wait anymore.

  “I need you now,” I whispered in his ear. I didn’t care that my voice was laced with desperate desire.

  He cupped my butt cheeks and lifted me enough to give him room to lie flat on the cushions with his head on the decorative pillow. My thighs rubbed his sides as I rested on top of him, topless and without a clue what to do next. My confusion must have registered on my face because he placed both hands behind his head and grinned at me. His biceps bulged on either side of him.

  “Your show.”

  “What?”

  He bucked under me to get comfortable, as if he were getting ready to watch a movie or something. The grin that twitched his lip was both infuriating and such a turn-on.

  “You want me inside you. Do it.”

  2

  This Was Us

  Derek

  I gripped the pillow under my head to keep myself in check. My self-control was slipping as it always did when it came to Valentina. Her innocence drove me to distraction. How did she not know how beautiful she was? Jesus, I almost lost my mind when she strode into my office in black stockings, ready for sex. If my team had not been sitting across from me, I would have taken her right there and then.

  She adjusted her weight on top of me, truly lost on what to do next. That was on me. Since we’d met, my desire for her had been so intense I never gave her a chance to explore her own needs. I could do better, starting right now.

  Keeping my hands off her was hell, especially when her full breasts swayed not a foot away, taunting me, driving me insane. She had those dark pink, pointy nipples that begged to be sucked. I squeezed the pillow tighter when the inside of her muscled thigh touched my side. My gaze followed the path from her leg, up her round hip, the dip of her waist, and her face.

  “You’re blushing. Why?” I asked to distract her and get her out of her head. I wanted her to let go and show me what she wanted.

  “I shouldn’t want you this much.”

  Long eyelashes touched her cheek as she lowered her gaze and watched her fingers slide down my chest and stomach. Jesus, my cock screamed for me to take her already when she ground her ass against my erection. I’d bet she didn’t realize she was doing it.

  “Tell me. Did you touch yourself while I was gone?” Her head snapped up at me, her lips parted. That was a fucking yes. “Show me.”

  Lines flashed across her forehead as she looked for the answer. If no hadn’t been her first thought, she was only a minute away from doing what I’d asked. Her hand inched past my navel, and I exhaled. The innocent look on her face was such a turn-on. Valentina was fierce and protective of everyone she loved, her son Max, her parents, and now me. But when it came to her own needs, she still felt she didn’t deserve much.

  When we’d first met, I’d hit rock bottom in my personal life and in business. She was the stranger at the coffee shop, who sat timidly in the corner, aching to break free, her soft skin just a few chairs away from me. It’d been hell to stay away from her the entire spring semester.

  But at the time, I had nothing to offer her. Until one day, she broke down over her latte because the deal on her lease hadn’t worked out. She was out on her own, along with her son. In a moment of weakness, I offered her my help. She denied me, of course. And then I realized how much I wanted, needed, her in my life. If I could, I’d give her the world.

  “You’re going to have to lose these first.” I reached out and pulled on the lace of her underwear. The back of my fingers grazed her smooth skin, and I almost lost it. With a deep breath, I placed my hand behind my head again and let her figure out the logistics.

  I got what I asked for and then some when she pushed off me and planted both feet on the plush rug underneath us. She looked down, her long hair covering half her face, and pulled off her underwear. Was it possible? She was more beautiful than I remembered. The last time she stood in front of me like this, I licked and nibbled every inch of her, ran my hands over her tan legs and smooth skin.

  Valentina shuffled her feet forward, her pussy bare and proud while my cock r
emained caged in my trousers. It was agony, but this was about her and not what I wanted. Her dark brown gaze fell on my chest and slowly inched down to my crotch. My erection steeled under her greedy eyes. Maybe she did need a little help. I reached down, unbuckled my belt, and shimmied my pants down to my knees.

  “Hey.” She smiled at me and dropped to her knees.

  “Nope.” I grabbed her arms and got her to sit on me like before, though in my mind her luscious lips were already sucking me hard. Her butt rubbed against me, and for now that was good enough. “Let me see you touch yourself.”

  Oh, she mouthed, making her lips pout.

  Oh, sweetheart.

  When she didn’t make an effort to oblige, I took her hand and placed her index and middle fingers in my mouth and sucked lightly. She squeezed her eyes shut. I felt as if I could take over the world every time she showed me how much I turned her on.

  “When I’m away from home, alone in my hotel room, all I can think of is you.” I released her hand. “I lie in bed in the middle of the night and fantasize about you rubbing your clit, making yourself come.”

  She swallowed and shook her head once. I got the feeling my fantasies were spot on. “Do you ever think of me when you touch yourself?”

  She nodded. Her sex trickled wet, and she still couldn’t make up her mind. I gripped her hips and moved her up toward me. The sudden change in direction made her fall back and expose her pretty pussy to me. A man could only have so much self-control. She lowered her gaze, a slight smile pulling at her lips. Looking away from me, she placed her palm on herself while bracing her other hand on my thigh and dug her nails into my skin.

  I puffed out a breath, placed an index finger under her chin, and lifted it toward me. Her lips parted when she met my gaze and increased the tempo of her strokes on her mound. She continued like this for several beats while I had my fill of her beautiful body. She didn’t break eye contact—not even when she shuddered at the onset of an orgasm and let out a quiet, sexy moan.

  “Now I can take this image with me anywhere I go.”

  For all her hesitation, now that she had started, she wasn’t going to stop until she was satisfied. I had died and gone to heaven. I watched her pleasure herself, rubbing the apex of her sex and pulling at her outer lip, then the inside one. Jesus, I picked her up by the waist and sat her down on my shaft. She sheathed me, wet and warm.

  “I want you so fucking much.” I wrapped my arms around and brought her mouth toward mine.

  “Me too.” She yelped but didn’t stop the rhythm she had going. I rocked my hips against her and kept up with her pace.

  This was us.

  I sat up and thrust hard into her. Three weeks without her in my arms had been pure torture. When she climaxed, she wrapped her arms around my neck. I kissed her before she screamed out my name, as she always did. With lips on hers, I plunged into her until I found my own release too.

  Since day one, I knew Valentina was the one for me. She had the ability to knock me off my feet and then make me find my center. My true center. If it weren’t for her, I would float away into some black hole in space. Yeah, it took me several months to find the courage to admit to myself I was in love with her, but now that we were here, no way in hell was I letting her go. Why the hell were we not married yet?

  “You’re so perfect for me.” I held her tight while her hot breath spread from the spot behind my ear and down my back. “Marry me.”

  “Hmmm?” She pulled back to look me in the eye. “We’re already engaged, remember?” She flashed the three-carat canary diamond on her finger in front of me.

  That wasn’t enough for me. I wanted all of her.

  “Engaged is not the same as married. It’s been a whole month, and you still haven’t set a date. Why?”

  “A month isn’t long. And it’s been crazy with Max’s school and my work. You’ve been traveling so much.” She scooted back and broke the connection. She was suddenly in a hurry to get dressed. She picked up her underwear off the coffee table and slipped them on. I caught her wrist and held her in place, away from the rest of her clothes and close to me.

  “Wait. Don’t you have an urgent meeting you have to go to?”

  I chuckled. “No, I made that up. When I saw you in those stockings and Max’s school folder, I texted Sam and asked her to call me with an urgent meeting.”

  “You knew the minute I walked in, didn’t you? You knew why I was here.”

  She was so easily embarrassed. I had my head so far up my ass today I didn’t think to take time off to be with her. I came straight to the office, for crying out loud. What kind of an asshole does that?

  “I’m glad one of us thought of it. But don’t change the subject.”

  “I’m not.”

  “I asked you a question. You answered with excuses. Why have you not set a date?” I met her gaze, and her pretty cheeks turned pink. My cock reacted again. Maybe she was right. We needed to be dressed for this. I let her go, pulled up my pants, and slipped into my shirt. “Okay, what is it? Are you having second thoughts?”

  “No.” She practically spun in place to face me. “Are you?”

  I scooted back on the sofa. She padded over, kneeled down on the cushion next to me, and sat back on her heels. “I want a life with you. That hasn’t changed.” She braced her elbow on the backrest.

  “And what has changed?” I’d been traveling a lot. After my divorce and being away from the company for a year, I had a lot of catching up to do, old executive decisions to revoke, and just undo the overall damage Bridget, my ex-wife, did when she was in charge. “The traveling should ease up in a month or so. Don’t give up on me just yet.”

  “It’s not that.” She inched closer and placed her palm on my bare chest. Her scent was still on her fingers. I took her hand and kissed it. “I’m not sure I’m what you need.”

  I barked out a laugh and leaned over until she was on her back and I was on top. “I spent three weeks away from home. That was all it took for me to be back to my old self, forgetting to live, and do nothing but kill myself working. It took you less than five minutes to undo all that. I need you like I need air. Marry me.”

  Her eyes watered, and she cupped my face. “I want that. More than anything. I want you. I want all of you to be mine.”

  I pressed my lips to hers. “Then pick a date.”

  “End of summer.” She ran her hand down my front.

  “You need to be more specific than that.” I raised an eyebrow.

  “September twenty-first.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Done.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “I like that date. It’s only a little over a month away. I can live with that.”

  “Why do I feel like you tricked me into that?” If her pretty eyes could shoot daggers, they would right about now. She slapped my shoulder, then met my gaze, the panic written all over her face. “We’re doing this?”

  “We are.” I stood and buttoned my shirt before I tucked it into my pants. “Now first things first.” I sauntered to my desk and picked up the phone. “Sam, I’m taking the day off. Cancel my meetings for the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Um. Of course. Should I cancel Valentina’s calendar as well?”

  I bet she was smiling from ear to ear. Could she hear us through the wall? Who cared?

  “Yeah, good thinking. Go ahead and cancel Valentina’s meetings.”

  “Don’t do that.” Valentina rushed to my side.

  “Sam, let me call you back in a minute.” I hung up. “I can do better. I’ve left you alone for weeks now. That’s not what I want our lives to be. It’d been weeks, and you still haven’t picked a wedding date.”

  “I just did.” She gestured to the sofa as proof.

  “I know all this is my fault. Now this is me fixing that. Let’s go on vacation and figure this out.” It was now or never. I’d put off the visit to my parents’ house because I wasn’t sure how Mom would react. The last time we saw each
other, we didn’t leave things on good terms. But that was the old me. That was before I met Valentina. “What do you have on your plate? Can it wait until tomorrow?”

  She combed her hair away from her face. “Just the year-to-date acquisitions report.”

  “I know. That was my priority today too. But all that can wait a day.”

  “What happened?” She shuffled back with an intense look in her eyes, which I’d come to know as her work-mode look.

  “Bridget approved a proposal to the client that cut corners in an area where there were no corners to cut.”

  She’d done it because at the time she was sure she could sell my company for spare parts and cash out. Bridget was smart. She knew none of it would fly, especially from a legal standpoint. But she’d convinced the customer she could do it faster and cheaper just so they would sign the contract and fund her goddamn addiction.

  “I saw that.” Valentina grabbed her mobile off the coffee table and started scrolling. “Why did she do that?”

  “She wanted to make the company look lean on paper and attract buyers.”

  “So what? She just conned our customers out of millions for something she never intended to do?”

  “Exactly.”

  First, I had to fall on my sword with our client. Then I had to agree to deliver what we promised at cost. At this point, making no money on the deal meant winning. I had Bridget to thank for that. Rubbing a hand over my cheek, I leaned on the edge of my desk. I suddenly felt tired. “Anyway, that’s on me, but I can fix it.”

  “Hey.” Valentina kissed my shoulder. “You had no way of knowing what she was up to. Her gambling thing is not on you.”

  A warmth flickered inside me at her words. She smiled at me, and I returned the gesture effortlessly. She was so afraid of wanting me. What would she think if I told her I was terrified of losing her? Would she still look at me the way she was looking at me right now? Probably not. She would finally realize I wasn’t the knight in shining armor she thought I was. I needed her with me. Always.