COLD INNOCENCE (snowed in with the billionaire #1) (billionaire erotic romance) (3 page)

“Yes. I took the third room.”

Nathaniel’s lip curled and his eyes slanted.
“You didn’t.”

“What if I did?”

“But you didn’t,” Nathaniel said. “I told
you to take the second room.”

“Why would I listen to you?”

Stephanie felt flirty and sassy, her hands
resting on the back of a leather chair. The chair felt like a small
wall of protection, but as Nathaniel stepped towards Stephanie, she
watched his hands ball up into fists. He was wide, strong, and his
stare deadly.

Very deadly.

“Steph, I understand this is hard,”
Nathaniel said. “The snow. Your work affair being delayed,
postponed. But bear in mind, you came to this lodge to pay someone
to command you, correct?”

“Command me…?”

Nathaniel nodded. “That’s the point of it
all. Someone tells you where to sleep, when to eat, what to eat. We
pay for that. We call it relaxing. Don’t we?”

Stephanie didn’t reply.

“So, Steph, why don’t you relax? I’m in
control. Now, I need your stuff in the second room.”

Nathaniel was close enough now to reach out
and touch Stephanie’s hand. His fingers wrapped around hers and his
eyes were intent on her eyes. He stared at her like he knew her.
Like he knew everything about her. The wall of being a stranger
didn’t just chip away, piece by piece, falling into a nonexistent
world. It shattered. Nathaniel’s stare took that wall and crumbled
it in a matter of seconds.

Stephanie had to fight too many urges at
once and found herself staring down at Nathaniel’s hand on
hers.

“The second room,” he whispered.

Behind them the wood in the fire crackled
followed by a huge pop.

They both looked and saw a small puff of
sparks racing up the chimney flume.

Sparks…

Stephanie bit her lip and fought
moaning.

Nathaniel looked back to her.

Sparks…

“I’m in the second room,” Stephanie said,
succumbing to Nathaniel.

“You listened,” he said. “That’s good.
Listening will always get you somewhere.” He paused for a few
seconds and then said, “There’s a couple large trees that haven’t
been tended to in a while. If one of them would fall, they’d take
out the windows in three, four, and possibly five. I’d hate to
think of a tree crashing through the window and hurting you.”

Stephanie swallowed and had no reply.

Her mind raced, always coming back to one
question.

Who was Nathaniel Anders?

He spoke so calm, confident, knowing.
Stephanie thought he was being a jerk, demanding her into the
second room, but it was out of safety. He sought her safety… for
himself.

That was sexy. Pure and simple.
Sexy.

“Now, let’s eat,” Nathaniel said.

He moved but didn’t let Stephanie’s hand go.
He walked around the chair, holding her hand, bringing her with
him. She noticed his fingertips were curious, rubbing along her
fingers, her palm, and even touching her wrist. The front of her
wrist was a bit of a sexual spot for Stephanie. One touch, one
lick…

Stephanie’s body started to react.

Nathaniel opened the kitchen door and
stopped, letting Stephanie go in first. When she was near his
mouth, his hand shot around her waist and stopped her.

“Now,” he whispered, “you’re going to serve
us dinner and you’re going to tell me why you hate being called
Steph.”

Stephanie shuddered and slowly turned her
head. Her lips were inches from Nathaniel’s. Her bottom lip
quivered. She had been working so hard, so long, trying to be this
commander. This controller. This woman who was going to rule the
executive world. Not once had she let her guard down, to just be…
someone’s.

“Is that so?” she whispered.

“It’s what I’m telling you,” Nathaniel said.
“There are no options, no questions. Just what I say.”

Silence fell between them and the situation
proved its point a second later when a vicious gust of wind kicked
up, putting pressure against the windows as the wind whistled.

Just what I say…

(5)

Stephanie put a plate of food in front of
Nathaniel and a second plate in front of her spot. Nathaniel chose
a table near a window, leaving them able to watch the snow as the
storm moved in, getting fiercer by the second. The wind was such an
odd creature, forming snow piles on the small panes of the window,
making it look like something from a postcard.

When Stephanie looked at Nathaniel and his
intense, striking features, she felt like she was on a postcard or
in a dream.

There was no way any of this could be
real.

“I can’t believe they still cooked,”
Stephanie said, looking down at her plate.

It was a filling meal – turkey, mashed
potatoes, and corn. The kitchen looked mostly shut down, cleaned
up, except for one little section that held all the fresh food that
now lay before Stephanie’s hungry eyes, nose, and mouth.

“We need to eat, right?” Nathaniel asked.
“Can’t be snowed in without food.”

Stephanie nodded.

They ate in silence for a few minutes,
letting their stomach get somewhat full before Nathaniel spoke.

“So,
Steph
, tell me…”

“Don’t call me that,” Stephanie said. She
knew Nathaniel wasn’t going to listen to her but that didn’t mean
she couldn’t try to defend herself.

“Stephanie is a beautiful name, much fitting
to yourself. Stephanie goes well with a group of people. I see you
in a dress, hugging your body, introducing you as Stephanie.”
Nathaniel raised his eyebrows and smiled. “But Steph, she’s a
little vixen, isn’t she? She’s wild behind those eyes looking back
at me. Crazy under those casual clothes… desperate in her business
attire. Am I right?”

Stephanie swallowed hard, memories clogging
her mind. The name
Steph
meant so much more than Nathaniel
knew or thought he knew with his charming smile and sensual
words.

“You don’t know me,” Stephanie said.

Her appetite started on a decline and she
was happy she got what little in her stomach she did. Pulling along
the past sometimes felt like a four hundred pound weight. Thinking
about it only made it heavier. Talking about it made everything
worse.

“Tell me about Steph,” Nathaniel said.
“There’s no way you’re a Stephanie by heart or nature. I can see
through that. Maybe you’re Stephanie for this company you work for.
Try to impress the bosses with a proper, long name? I’d rather see
Steph… the wild executive with black laced stockings…”

“And who are you?” Stephanie asked. “Since
we’re stuck together, just tell me, who are you?”

“I own a
little
company,” Nathaniel
said. “Sometimes I just like to get up here, in the woods, and let
my mind relax. But I doubt there’ll be any relaxing going on this
weekend.”

He smiled and Stephanie turned her head. She
told herself to keep her guard up, keep the wall up high. Don’t
crack. Don’t mess around…

“I also find it in the best interest of
those around me to listen when I speak,” Nathaniel said. “To
actually hear me, understand me, appreciate what I’m saying.
Because, my Steph, I’m always right.”

“When are you going to stop calling me
Steph?”

Stephanie looked at Nathaniel with a serious
face. She was angry and wanted him to know it.

“Why would I stop? That is your name.”

“That’s not me,” Stephanie said.
“
Steph
is the little girl left by her family.
Steph
is the teenager who walked a lost path.
Steph
is the woman
who let the first man she saw into her life and had all innocence
shattered and taken away.
Steph…
”

Stephanie froze.

Had she really just said all that?

Did she really just have that kind of
outburst?

For no reason… to a complete stranger?

“Well I,” Nathaniel said, rising from his
chair, “am going to introduce you to a new Steph…”

He walked the table slowly, fixing his tie
and sliding out of his jacket. He threw the suit jacket to another
table. Silverware clanked off plates, then left the room in
complete silence. Stephanie’s eyes were drawn to him, to this
beautiful man, and she leaned back in her chair, knowing damn well
she could have gotten up too and walked away.

But she didn’t.

She didn’t want to walk away.

Nathaniel took Stephanie’s hand and smiled.
“My how fast we’re willing to speak when the right spot is touched,
isn’t it?”

“You own a small business?”

“Sort of small,” Nathaniel said. “Used to be
bigger. I sold a couple companies I owned last year.”

“Companies?”

“I’m a man of everything. I see, I want, I
get. Always, Steph, always. If something – or someone – doesn’t
comply, doesn’t listen, then it moves on. No matter the storm
waiting outside.” Nathaniel paused and his face turned to stone.
His eyes spoke louder than any words could have. He seduced
Stephanie with those eyes, her body feeling weak and in need.
“Would it turn you on if I told you I’m a billionaire?”

“Would it matter?” Stephanie replied.

“That’s the kind of answer I was looking
for,” Nathaniel said. “Nothing matters, Steph, you’re right. Not
your past, not who you think you are. All that matters is what I
think and what I want.”

Stephanie shook her hand away from
Nathaniel.

He was a stranger.

A sexy stranger.

A sexy,
billionaire
stranger.

Stephanie pushed back in her chair and
Nathaniel quickly slid his foot behind it, stopping her. She gasped
for air and then watched as he came down to her, his face close
enough that she could feel the heat from his body. His rough
cologne moved through her senses and body like a fire. His warm
breath along her face.

“You don’t know me,” Stephanie
whispered.

“I don’t need to,” Nathaniel replied. “I’ll
create what I need from you… and you’ll let me.
Steph
.”

Stephanie’s lips parted as she shuddered.
She felt herself wanting to whimper. It didn’t seem possible to be
this heated for a man, but she was.

Nathaniel took away that last little bit of
separation and kissed Stephanie.

His lips were there, and gone, leaving
Stephanie kissing the air, wanting more. The tip of his nose
touched Stephanie’s, his eyes staring into hers.

“You’re mine,” he whispered.

“So you say,” Stephanie replied.

In the few seconds that moved along in
silence, Stephanie let herself fall into the fantasy before her.
Snowed in at a lodge with a sexy billionaire. They were each
other’s only companions, sexually or not. She had come with the
intention of making a statement to her company, desperate for a
job, but now she just felt desperate for Nathaniel.

“You think your company would have hired
you?”

“I don’t know,” Stephanie said. “I had some
good work to show.”

“A hopeless temp worker trying to save
money?”

Nathaniel smiled and then kissed Stephanie
again. The kiss was as hot as the first one but Stephanie felt her
lip curling. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair.

“Hopeless temp…?”

“Sure,” Nathaniel said. “Coming an hour
early. Wanting to make an impression. You know, if that were me,
I’d shuffle temps in and out. I’ve done it. Let them handle the
grunt work while the real employees do the real work.”

“So I’m not real?” Stephanie asked.

Nathaniel put a hand to Stephanie’s face,
his thumb grazing her cheek. His other hand touched her leg,
cutting inside and moving up, dangerously close. Stephanie’s
instincts made her slam her legs shut.

“Oh, you’re real, Steph,” Nathaniel said.
“Real to me. I can use your lust this weekend.”

“Lust? You think I have lust for you?”

Stephanie tried to smile but Nathaniel’s
hand slid from her cheek to her mouth, holding it. His eyes went
wide and she took a deep breath. Her heart raced. At first she
thought it was fear but when Nathaniel tightened his grip on her
leg, she realized she was turned on by the action. The command in
his eyes, his grip. The desire that poured from him. It was a
controlled desire, the kind that made Stephanie feel like she were
the only woman in existence.

Technically, she was.

With the snow adding upon itself by the
second, the roads closed, the pending late afternoon turning into
night, there were only two hearts beating, miles upon miles away
from any other person or people.

“I don’t need to think when I know,”
Nathaniel said.

His mouth opened and moved towards Stephanie
again. His hand let her mouth go, leaving just his fingertips under
her chin. Stephanie opened her mouth, her tongue and body turned
on, wanting and needing Nathaniel. He was an inch away from
Stephanie when he stopped. That tiny space between them exploded
with erotic electricity. It was fed by Nathaniel, accepted by
Stephanie. Her right hand let go of the chair and started to reach
for Nathaniel. A move like that was unheard of from Stephanie. Her
fingers touched his pants and she moved up, hoping she was near a
sexual place on Nathaniel. She envisioned holding him, gripping
him, stroking him.

Nathaniel suddenly stood up, his lips far
away, his hands not touching Stephanie. She watched him slip his
hands back into his pockets and his face changed from the man
dripping with sexual need to the sexy man made of stone.

“You should find a place to relax,” he said.
“I have some business to tend to while we’re here.”

“Billionaire stuff?” Stephanie asked,
knowing that she sounded snobby and pissed off.

She may have sounded that way, but she
wasn’t. She was horny, every possible sensual spot on her body
throbbed and every erotic sense heightened to the max. Her nose
found a sniff of Nathaniel’s cologne and it attacked her, a
swirling heat inside and out.