The Billionaire's Desire (A Billionaire BWWM Steamy Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

authoritative voice.

 

 
 
    Chapter Eight

 
    Carter

 
 
 
    She's even better up close.

 
    Sanniyah
is studying her surroundings like she has everything already figured out, her
chin lifted to show off the graceful swoop of her neck. In the waning light of
sunset, I first assumed her perfect skin was a smooth shade of caramel, but as
I move closer, I can see the different colors under the surface; the ebonies,
the siennas, the dark chocolates. I am staring at her, I can feel it. I have to
look away.

 
    She
doesn't know how hard this is for me. She can't possibly know that the very act
of allowing someone I don't know into my sanctuary is tearing me apart
internally. It's not her fault that she is gorgeous and unnerving and I am
already so on edge I feel like I might snap at any moment. So I keep
conversation to a minimum, though it is clear she is unhappy with how I am
avoiding talking about the wedding.   She doesn't know that the just allowing her near me is the biggest step.

 
    But she
seems unnerved too. When I steel my resolve and make to touch her, she goes
stiff and jumpy. I wonder if she can sense the damage inside of me. I wonder if
she knows I am not right inside.

 
    This
bothers me.

 
    "Come
down here," I tell her. I am being too abrupt, ordering her around. I
expect her to tell me to shove off, but instead she follows me, to my immense
surprise. "I want to show you something."

 
    She
hesitates at the bottom step, wavering. "Oh, I got that," I say,
reaching out to help her unbuckle her sexy, spindly heels. It's a problem I can
easily solve, unlike my inability to handle a normal conversation.

 
    She
lifts her foot. The instant my hand circles her ankle, I feel it again. That
bolt of possessiveness. That want . A fiery need I
haven't felt in...forever perhaps?

 
      I used to feel things. Hunger, drive.
Ideas would come to me like bolts out of the blue. Inspiration would take hold
of me and shake me like I am shaking right now. I am shaking so hard I can
barely get her buckle undone.

 
    My hand
looks like it belongs there, wrapped possessively around her. Claiming her as
my own. I know she is what I need. I know that she will make me whole again. I
don't question it, just like I never questioned any of the ideas that led me to
my incredible fortune. I just acted.

 
    Her
bare feet wiggle in the sand, and I feel another jolt. A different kind of
jolt.

 
    This
one goes straight a very different part of my anatomy...

 
    She's
standing on the half-buried last step, which means our eyes are level with each
other. "I'm glad you're here, Sanniyah," I say. And I mean it.

 
    She
looks startled for a minute. I can see a million different expressions flash
across her face until she finally settles on one.

 
    Delight.

 
    Her
eyes open wide; shocked and pleased.   Her beautiful, kissably plump lips curve into a megawatt smile. Her face
is so utterly transformed in that moment that I make a solemn promise to myself
right now.

 
    I want
to delight her. Again and again. I will spend the rest of my life trying to
make her smile the way she is right now.

 
    "I'm
pretty glad too," she laughs. Her voice is softer. "It's gorgeous
here."

 
    I look
down at the shoreline. The waves are gentle, sighing into the sand. It's low
tide. "Sometimes shells wash up," I tell her. "Over here."

 
    They
wash up everywhere, but I am using this as an excuse to take her hand. It slips
into mine like it belongs there. "Okay," she says, her voice barely
above a whisper. I'm not sure if she's saying it to me or to herself.

 
    Darkness
is gathering in the trees. "What was that?" she asks, startled by a
sharp cry from the branches.

 
    "Migratory
birds," I tell her, picking my way carefully along the waterline.
"This is a stop for a lot of them. Someday I'm going to learn all of their
names, but right now I just think of them as happy surprises. This place is
protected, you know. A