Page 93 of Return Billionaire to Sender

We come very nearly together, or more, I come, and then he starts when I’m coming down—enough that I feel the exciting vibration of his orgasm inside me.

Afterwards, we collapse on the bed. And I look over at him. And I run one finger down his cheek.

And for a second we feel like partners, balanced evenly on a fulcrum, perfectly in sync in this one true moment.

22

Malcolm

Not wantingor needing things is a bit of a superpower when you’re a child, and even more so when you’re an adult—especially when you combine it with being a known bad guy.

But lying here with Elle, feeling this strange sense of peace with her, I have this troubling sense that I care very much about her.

An outlandish amount, actually.

She’s different from everybody else—better, somehow, or maybe just more interesting and exciting. Certainly hotter—no other woman is even in the same ballpark of hotness. And then there’s the easy way we fit. How is it that things can be so easy?

And there’s the way she looks at me. Like I’m somebody good.

I’m a bit conflicted about it. She’s dead wrong, yet at the same time, I’m soaking it in. I’m a pirate, hoarding the glittering jewels of her regard, burying them deep.

And it’s not enough. It may never be.

I can’t allow myself to be cut off from her—that’s what I’m thinking right now.

I love how I feel around her, I love the way she looks at me, I love the secrets in her eyes, and the hidden bravery in her heart. I love the way her nose curves and the freckle next to her mouth. I love the way she juts out her chin when she’s trying to be bold. I love the way her pale brown hair glitters gold in the sunlight. I love that she can’t be bought. As if she’s priceless.

She’s a bright thing that I didn’t know I craved, the essential cherry on top of my hierarchy of needs.

She’s also temporary. We’re well over halfway through her program. What happens when it’s over?

What happens when she goes back to Trenton. Or worse, takes on another client? Somebody else to create a ridiculous program for. Somebody else to believe in.

But for now, she’s here.

I plaster on a cool smile and turn to her, expecting to see her all sated and happy, being that we just had the best sex ever.

But she looks horrified.

Something unpleasant grips my chest.

“Oh my god.” She sits up and smooths her hair. “This can never happen again.”

“But it was so good,” I say, with a lightness I don’t feel. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that last I checked, I had a moral code that didn’t involve giving check marks in exchange for sexual favors!”

“Moral codes are so boring,” I say.

“Don’t do that,” she says. “Please, just don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know, your whole…enchanting darkly alluring thing.”

“You don’t like my enchanting darkly alluring thing?” I say.

“Don’t be funny, either. Don’t you see a problem here? Making you do sexual favors in exchange for check marks instead of making you watch the video?”

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