Free Bidding on the Billionaire by JM Stewart Page A

lovemaking filled the room. Her quiet whimpers, the sloshing of the water over the sides of the tub. In no less than a dozen strokes, her body stiffened against him. A high-pitched cry tore from her throat, one he’d heard a dozen times in the last week. Her body clamped around him, and he lost his grip on what little control he’d had. His orgasm rushed up in a blinding, white-hot flash that had him moaning her name and shaking along with her.
    She collapsed back on his chest, and they sat together in stunned silence. Their harsh, erratic breathing filled the space between them. As his body came down from the high, the realization slid over him, like slamming into a wall at two hundred miles an hour. The condom. He’d forgotten the condom. He’d lost his head and emptied himself inside her.
    He swore under his breath, his limbs shaking for an entirely different reason. “Hannah, I…”
    The rest of the words wouldn’t come. Panic clawed its way through his chest. He never lost his head. He planned everything, for crying out loud, right down to their affair. He never got so lost in a woman’s touch he forgot everything but her, much less important stuff like condoms. He’d learned that lesson the hard way, and not once in the last thirteen years had he ever forgotten.
    Until Hannah. Twice now he’d done something out of character for him. He didn’t do flings with anonymous women, either, and he certainly didn’t fly to another state for the need to see them.
    “It’s okay.” She reached back, stroking his cheek, soothing and soft, as if she understood his sudden panic. Or maybe she could read his damn mind. “I’m on the pill.”
    He released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
    Hannah turned at the waist to look back at him. Brow furrowed, her gaze darted over his face, as if she searched for something specific. She sat up and shifted in the bath, turning around and straddling his thighs. “How many times have you been used?”
    Her question held a bold statement. It told him in no uncertain terms she saw him, really saw him, in a way no woman had in a long time. That prospect alone had his heart hammering his rib cage, but her words also showed him her heart in the process. Only someone who’d been used would know the ache it left inside. That she even cared told him a lot about her character and made him feel somehow closer to her.
    He shouldn’t tell her the truth. He should make up an excuse, talk his way out of this one. The truth left his mouth anyway. He wanted her to know where he stood, but deep down, he couldn’t help himself. Talking to her had always come easy. She never judged.
    “A few.” He drew a deep breath and released it, the faces flitting like ghosts through his memory. “Women throw themselves at me. Most of them want me for one of two things. They either want my name and the money that comes with it, or they want me to be their arm candy. Many of the single women in my world want rich husbands to help them maintain their lavish lifestyle. Some of the older ones want toys.”
    She studied him for a moment, her gaze this side of worried as it worked over his face. Then a playful grin bloomed. She slid a hand down his arm, squeezing his left bicep, and winked. “Can’t say I blame them there, GQ. You do make very pretty arm candy.”
    “Minx.” He leaned forward, scraped his teeth over her shoulder, and nipped his way up the side of her neck. “Are you telling me you’re using me?”
    “Oh, I plan on using this body to my full advantage.” She let out a little purr he found damn erotic and tipped her head to the side, giving him better access. Her hands slid down his chest, a slow, sensual slide of her slippery, wet fingers, then stopped. Her voice lowered to a vulnerable murmur between them. “Though I have no desire to show it off to anyone else.”
    Her unspoken claim hung in the air between them, catching Cade in that painful place in his chest. The