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STALKED BY THE BILLIONAIRE

EMMA BRAY

Copyright © 2021 by Emma Bray All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

CON TE N TS

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Epilogue

CHAPTER 1

Hunter

Stressed doesn’t begin to describe the day I’ve had. I’ve been in meetings all day dealing with a pack of morons, and I’m not in the mood for this shit.

“Sir, we just need a bit more time—“ my assistant, Martin, is babbling on the other end of the line.

Incompetent. I don’t know why I haven’t fired him yet.

“I don’t care what you need to do, Martin,” I interrupt him, “but get it done!” That last bit comes out as a growl, but I’m unapologetic, as always. I’ve about reached a ten on the pissed-o scale, and I’m ready to snap.

Running my company, Channing Enterprises, would be a hell of a lot easier if I could just do it all myself, but I am only one man. As the owner and self-appointed CEO, I’m in charge of every aspect of my business, but dealing with the top-dollar mergers and acquisitions keeps me wrapped up in meetings all the time. Is it too much to ask for my employees to do their damn jobs competently?

All of my days are busy with work. I’ve been doing it for so long it’s second-nature to me. I spend all day in the o ce

of my headquarters in the city, and then when I go home, I usually spend a good portion of the night in my o ce at home too before I finally crash. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I wasn’t constantly expanding my company.

It’s not that I need the money. I have plenty of that by now. I look down at the paper in my hand and scowl at my placement in the city’s top twenty-five most eligible bachelors. Being a billionaire is enough to land me a spot in this sorry excuse for a publication.

I guess I’m known for being a bit of an asshole, but I’m not usually as irritable as I am today. But today has just been one of those days. It was one thing after the other until I was struggling to keep from flinging my desk out of my twentystory-high o ce window.

Sure, I’m well-aware I could hire on more sta . I’m certainly not understa ed. I just don’t trust anyone to handle some of the tasks I’m intent on overseeing myself. I built this company from the ground up. It’s my company.

Call me a control freak, but I want everything within it to go exactly as I say it should.

And right now, I just want to get back to my penthouse and have a sti glass of brandy before calling it a night.

Unfortunately and irritatingly, I can’t control the city’s tra c either—one of the city’s top twenty-five most eligible bachelors or not.

I run a hand over my face in frustration before glancing down at my Rolex. I don’t even bother telling my driver to hurry it up. I know there’s nothing he can do.

Still scowling, I turn to my right to look out of the window willing tra c to move. My brows furrow when I’m floored by a pair of hazel eyes staring right into mine through the dark glass.

Well, they seem to be staring right into mine, but the girl isn’t actually looking into my eyes because I know the tint of

my limo is so dark no one can see in. I’d had it done that way on purpose because I like my privacy.

No, this girl—no, that’s not the right term—this goddess just so happens to be staring in the direction I’m sitting in, and I’m met with the full force of the most arresting pair of eyes I’ve ever seen on a woman.

I’m not the poetic or romantic type. I’ve never been the kind of guy to be rendered immobile by a woman before— much less by just her eyes, but this girl’s eyes…there is something about them.

I continue to stare at her, unable to look away, and then it hits me what it is.

Her eyes hold an innocence not found very often in this city. Everyone else wears a harried expression on their face.

Their eyes look tired or too old for their years, but not this angel’s.

Her eyes are pure. They’re beautiful. They make my chest clench painfully in a sensation entirely foreign to me.

I know she can’t possibly be looking at me, but from where she’s standing on the sidewalk staring out at tra c, her eyes are positioned so that it appears she is.

My own eyes sweep over her figure, taking in the faded tank top and cut-o jean shorts she’s wearing all the way down to her worn-looking sneakers. She’s thin yet somehow still curvy in all the right places with pert little breasts and just the barest flare of hip—just enough to make my blood start to race.

My gaze roves back up to those arresting hazel eyes.

They’re bright with an alluring mixture of brown, gold, and green flecks that almost make her look otherworldly, like a fairy from another realm. Framed by thick, dark lashes that make her look like a porcelain doll with honey-colored hair flowing down her face to caress the sides of her pink

cheeks. A breeze blows, whipping a lock into her face where it gets caught on sinfully pu y pink lips.

She moves a tiny, delicate hand up to push the strand away, and she blinks before she turns and walks into a building. I watch her small form enter a crummy-looking hotel, and I frown.

I contemplate getting out of my limo to follow her but stop myself, frowning some more yet dying to know more about her. Who is she? Where is she going? What is she doing? Why do I care? Why has she a ected me so?

I raise my phone up to my ear and dial a number.

When a gru voice answers on the other end of the line, I say, “I’ve got a job for you.”

Just like that—with one flash of mystical hazel eyes—all my stress is forgotten.

Maddie “You’re late,” my boss, Mr. Turino, eyes me from behind the check-in counter of his fleabag hotel.

I’m actually not late. I’m right on time, but I know better than to argue with him. If I argue with him, he’ll look at his watch again, and by that time, one minute will have passed and then he’ll justify his statement that I’m late.

My greasy-haired, pot-bellied boss is a prick, but he’s the only one in this city so far who’s been willing to give an eighteen-year-old girl barely out of high school a job and a place to sleep, so I have to put up with his crap.

“Sorry, Mr. Turino,” I tell him before grabbing my supplies and the list of rooms that need to be cleaned before heading over to the elevator.

He mutters under his breath about how could I possibly be late when he gives me a room there before he barks at me, “Start with room 220. Got someone coming in for that one soon.”

I have to bite my tongue not to answer back that just because he gives me the most run-down room in the place to sleep in doesn’t mean that I hang out here all day. In fact, it’s just the opposite. I usually jet out of here as soon as I wake up, walking the city and applying for better jobs, hoping I’ll get some sort of break anywhere. I stay out and away from this shithole as long as I can until I have to come back for work.

“Yes, sir,” I answer back instead—right before the elevator door closes and I roll my eyes. I don’t know why Mr. Turino is always such an ass. He just is. Still, I know not to bite the hand that feeds me.

I also know to be grateful for what I have. It could be a lot worse. Before Mr. Turino had found an ounce of pity in his heart and given me this job, I’d been wandering the streets.

The day I’d turned eighteen and could legally leave my childhood home I did. It wasn’t my home anymore. Not after my stepmom had taken it over.

I’d spent the last two years of high school living in hell with my stepmom who hated me because I looked like my mother—the woman my dad really loved. Dad, the man who’d raised me, had died a couple of years ago. A brain aneurysm. Unexpected enough to rock my world and cause tears to prick my eyes even now at the thought.

I don’t know where my mom is. She’d left my dad and me when I was baby, so I didn’t know her at all—only that Dad had never gotten over her. Yeah, he’d married my stepmom when I was in high school, but he still kept a box of mementos of my mom. His old wedding ring. Pictures of him and her in high school. All that stu was long gone now.

That was the first thing Veronica had done when Dad died.

She’d thrown out all his stu . I’m sure she’d have thrown me out too if I hadn’t been underage. There was no love lost between her and me. That’s why the minute I’d turned eighteen, I’d left, leaving the house at midnight. I’ve never looked back.

It’s hard out here in the real world on my own, but at least I don’t have to deal with that spiteful bitch anymore.

I yank sheets o the double beds, vacuum the floors, dust the furniture, and then finally make my way to my leastfavorite part of the cleaning: the bathroom.

Thankfully, whoever had stayed in this room hadn’t been as messy as some overnight guests. Still, I hate cleaning the bathrooms. It’s just cringe city.

But a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, I guess.

I think of the new diner down the street where I put in an application earlier today. It’d looked clean and decent.

Maybe I’d get called in for an interview there. Surely I’d be able to make more money in tips than I made here.

I just want enough of a break where I can get my own little apartment. I’m not greedy either. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just something clean. A tidy little studio that I can call my own. I’m so ready to get out of this dump that charges by the hour and has shady characters coming in and out at all hours of the night. Seriously, Mr. Turino has hourly rates.

I go from room to room, cleaning in silence, dreaming of one day having something better.

Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Hunter

Madison Dawson. That’s her name. My guy faxed over everything he’d found on her this morning. She’s eighteen.

Thank fuck.

I frown, not even sure where that thought came from. It’s not like I’m planning on pursuing her or anything.

Am I? I look at the pictures he’s already managed to snap of her.

Pictures of her walking down the street, the wind whipping her honey-colored hair back from her face, her walking into numerous businesses, looking for a job, he said.

He’s noted she works at that shitty hotel she’d walked into. Apparently she works there in exchange for a room. My frown deepens. That thought doesn’t sit well with me. One look at the dump, and it’s obvious what kind of establishment it is. I don’t like her being there alone. She could get hurt.

Hell, I don’t like her being there at all. She’s too beautiful for a place like that. She should be dressed like the goddess she is, in flowing silk and dripping in diamonds.

I sit back in my chair and sigh, running a hand over my face in frustration. I can’t get her haunting hazel eyes out of my mind. They’re there every time I close my eyes. I dream of them at night.

At thirty-two, I’m almost twice the girl’s age. I’m not seriously thinking about trying to meet her, much less do anything else with her. Me who doesn’t have time for dating or women.

Not that I’m a monk or anything. I’ve had my share of women in the past, but no one has ever held my interest for long, so I’ve just sworn them o . I have two hands to take care of business with, after all. And it’s much less complicated without a woman in my life.

I look back down at her picture, and my chest clenches up again. What is that all about? I can’t remember anyone ever

having this kind of e ect on me. I can’t remember the last time I was actually interested enough in another human being outside of business to want to learn more about them.

I don’t know how long I stare at her picture. Long enough that I start imagining things I shouldn’t.

I finally sit back in my chair again and run my thumb over my lip, deep in thought.

My PI said she was looking for another job.

I contemplate before I pick up my phone. As usual, my guy answers on the first ring. “What’s up, boss?”

“I’ve got another job for you,” I tell him.

CHAPTER 2

Maddie

“Are you serious?” My mouth is gaping open as I take in the well-dressed stranger standing in front of me.

“Yes, Miss Dawson,” he answers simply, awaiting my answer.

I continue to gape at him. I knew he didn’t look anything like the people who normally stayed in Mr. Turino’s hotel as soon as he walked in the door. For one thing, he’s dressed in a suit and looks well put together—nothing like the kinds of guys who check in for a room here. He looks to be maybe in his fifties, and he’s just given me the o er of a lifetime.

According to this guy, I can go work at Channing Hotel.

It’s only the most luxurious hotel in the city. It’s not just a five-star hotel. It’s o the charts. It’d be a ten-star if hotels were rated that way.

He’s o ering me a job as a cleaner there. I’d be doing exactly what I do here but for double the pay and in a much nicer environment. Plus, I’d even get a room to stay in—just like my arrangement here, only a gazillion times better. I’d

be in the more prominent part of the city. A less dangerous part of the city.

This is exactly the kind of break I’ve been hoping for, but I’m suddenly suspicious at how it all came about. This guy who totally looks like he doesn’t belong here just walks in o the street, spots me in the hallway, and o ers me a job out of the blue? It’s fishy to say the least.

“Why are you o ering me this?” I ask him warily, taking a step back.

He shrugs. “My boss has a position open. I thought you’d be perfect for it. If you’re more comfortable staying here…” he glances around the stained hallway and then turns like he’s going to walk away, like it’s no big deal to him one way or the other whether I accept it or not.

Panic blooms in my chest. What am I doing? I can’t pass up on this o er in case it’s real. Besides, what do I really have to lose? I certainly don’t want to be stuck here the rest of my life. So what if this seems too good to be true? Maybe I’m just too suspicious.

Regardless, I’m too curious to not at least see where this leads.

“I’ll take it,” I hear myself agreeing before I can talk myself out of it.

Maddie I still can’t believe it. It’s nearly midnight, and I’m sitting on my own private balcony looking down at the sprawling city below me, watching the lights twinkle in the night like so many stars.

It’s like I’ve landed into a fairytale—well, a fairytale for a girl like me.

The guy had waited for me to gather up my meager possessions, all of which fit in one suitcase, before he’d escorted me over here to Channing Hotel. He’d shown me to my room, which was higher up than I’d ever been in a building, given me the key, and told me a woman would be by tomorrow morning with employment paperwork for me to fill out before she’d show me what I was supposed to do.

The room is stunning, outfitted in high-end furnishings.

It looks nothing like a typical hotel room. It’s more like a luxurious apartment itself. And I’ve got a private balcony. A balcony! All my own! Even if I’d gotten one of the other jobs I’d applied for, I wouldn’t have been able to a ord something like this.

I pinch myself for the hundredth time to make sure I’m actually awake. I can’t believe I got this lucky.

But it looks like fate is finally smiling down on me, and I smile out at the city below me. The summer air in New York is warm, and I sit in the lounge chair with my knees pulled up to my chin.

I’d already soaked in the room’s huge bathtub before I’d put on the thin robe provided with the room and slipped out here to stare at the night sky. I know I probably need to get some sleep so I’ll be ready for the morning, but I’m just too excited to sleep. My heart is singing, and I’m thanking whatever forces out there worked to turn in my favor for my stroke of good fortune.

I don’t know how long I sit here listening to the sounds of the city before I finally start feeling a bit sleepy. I reluctantly get up and pad back into the room, sliding the door to the balcony shut behind me before I slip o the robe, throw on an oversized T-shirt that was my dad’s, and climb into the huge king-sized bed.

I sink into the pillows, savoring the feel of what must be at least fifteen-hundred thread count sheets. They’re crisp

and cool, and the pillows are like flu y clouds.

I’m sleeping the best sleep of my life in no time.

Hunter She’s here. It’s almost like I can feel her presence right below me.

Of course I placed her room right below my penthouse suite. I made sure to give her one of the nicer rooms with a great view of the city.

I watch her smiling down at the city below, her head on her knees, her hair falling to frame her face. There goes that clenching feeling in my chest. She’s so beautiful sitting there in the darkness with nothing but the soft glow of the light bathing her, shining down upon her like a halo. I can’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction that I caused her smile— however inadvertently.

Of course, I also had her room outfitted with cameras before she got here. Call me a bastard all you want. I need to see her.

Besides, I’d kept a smidgen of morality. I hadn’t had a camera installed in her bathroom or bedroom. Just on her balcony and in the living space. Just enough where I can check in on her and make sure she’s okay.

I don’t know why it’s so important to me to see she’s okay, but it is. I’ve developed some sort of insane protectiveness when it comes to her.

I sit at my desk and watch her on the monitor, sitting up with her until she goes to bed. I study every curve of her body, every expression that crosses her face. She’s like a silent movie, and I zoom the camera in so I can study her eyes.

They’re just as beautiful as I remember, only now they seem peaceful and hopeful. Again, I take satisfaction in knowing I’m the one who put that expression in them.

I watch the gentle sway of her hips as she walks over to her bedroom, suddenly wishing the robes I provided were shorter so I could see the shape of her legs again. I remember what they looked like in the cut-o jean shorts she’d been wearing that day I’d first seen her on the street, but fuck if I wouldn’t mind seeing her bare flesh again.

She disappears into the bedroom, and I sit back and run a hand over my face.

Jesus. What am I doing? Sitting here all night watching this girl like a voyeur or something.

I go to bed and tell myself I won’t watch her obsessively every night, that I only watched her tonight to see how she was doing since it’s her first night here.

But I can’t stop.

Every day like clockwork I watch her. I don’t just watch her when I get home either. I have an app installed on my phone, and I sneak glances at her throughout the day. While there aren’t cameras installed in any of the other rooms of my hotel, I can watch her as she makes her way down the hallway and when she goes back to her room for her lunch break.

The only times I can’t see her are when she’s cleaning a room, in her bathroom or bedroom, or when she goes out somewhere. Thankfully, she doesn’t go out much—just every now and then to get a few groceries. I don’t like the thought of her being out on the city streets alone, even if she is no longer in the shitty part of town. It’s still dangerous in the city for a beautiful girl like her all alone.

I watch her sitting on her balcony reading. The balcony seems to be her favorite place. She sits there every night,

sometimes reading, sometimes just staring out into the night with those beautiful, expressive eyes of hers.

I steeple my hands underneath my chin, deep in thought.

I’m the kind of man who’s a go-getter. When there’s something I don’t like, I come up with a solution for it.

Well, I don’t like not knowing where she is when she goes out into the city.

So I’m damn sure going to fix it.

Maddie I’ve been living in a dreamworld for a little over two weeks now. I don’t mind cleaning the rooms of this beautiful hotel near as much as I did cleaning the ones back at Mr. Turino’s crappy old place. All of these rooms have beautiful views, and they’re not ever near as dirty as those back at the old hotel were.

I take my time and make sure to do a good job, but my workload is never super heavy. I’m only given a handful of rooms to clean every day, and then I have the rest of my time o to spend in my own luxurious room.

I’m happier than I can ever remember being sitting on my private balcony overlooking the city. My wages are more than generous, and I finally have enough money to buy a decent amount of groceries every week and still have some money left over to save.

I love the routine I’ve gotten into, but it all changes one day when the head housekeeper knocks on my door one morning just as I’m getting ready to leave and report for cleaning duty.

She tells me the boss wants to see me, and my smile falters. “I thought you were my boss?” I ask her.

She smiles kindly at me and shakes her head. “I’m just your supervisor, honey. I’m talking about the boss, the one who owns this hotel.”

I look at her in horror, wondering what I could have done to have drawn his notice. Surely it can’t be good to be summoned by the owner of the establishment. Did I not tuck the sheets tight enough? Did I forget to scrub a bathroom?

Were some guests upset? It can’t be anything like that, I think to myself desperately. I’ve been making sure I do a really good job here because I don’t want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity I’ve been given.

My face must show my shock and worry because she pats my arms almost motherly as she says, “I’m sure everything is fine, Maddie. Just follow me. I’m supposed to take you to him first thing this morning.”

I gulp and without saying a word pocket the key to my room, closing the door behind me, before following Melinda to the elevator. I’m surprised when she flashes a key over the control panel and hits the button to the top floor.

The forbidden top floor. The penthouse suite of the entire hotel. The place where no one ever goes because it belongs to him. The man who owns all of this. I lick my lips nervously, again wondering what this could all be about.

When we reach the top floor, Melinda stays behind on the elevator as I step out into a huge foyer. I turn and look back at her quizzically.

“Straight ahead, hon,” she tells me. “He’s waiting.”

I feel a moment of panic at being left here all alone, but I take a deep breath, tell myself I’m being silly, and walk up to the door.

Before I can even raise my hand to knock on it, it swings open, and my god, but I’m standing in front of the sexiest man I think I’ve ever seen before.

I have to tip my head back to look up at him. He’s well over six feet tall, and his shoulders are broad and toned, as is the rest of him. He’s wearing a dark pair of slacks with a white button-up shirt tucked into them. The top buttons of his shirt are undone, and the sleeves are rolled up to reveal muscular forearms.

His hair is dark and looks casually messy like it was styled that way on purpose, although he probably rolls out of bed and it looks like that. His jaw is strong and clean-shaven, but what takes my breath away are his green eyes that hone in on me instantly.

“Madison Dawson,” he states my name. He doesn’t say it like a question. The way his eyes zero in on me lets me know that he knows exactly who I am. I find myself flushing under his scrutiny. I mean, of course he knows who I am. I work in his hotel, and he seems like the kind of man who makes it his business to know everything about what happens in his establishments.

“Mr. Channing,” I greet him back, my voice wobbly.

He smiles at me then, a breathtaking smile that belongs on the cover of magazines. “Hunter,” he tells me his first name before he steps back and motions me to walk into the room.

I pass before him and smell the woodsy scent of his cologne. I’m not familiar with men’s scents, but I think he smells of sandalwood. Whatever it is, he smells expensive and distinctively male.

The door shuts behind us, and I take in the area before me. It’s huge. I see a spacious living area and kitchen, a fireplace, and doors leading to what must be other rooms, but what most catches my attention is the huge wall of windows overlooking the city. His penthouse suite must span the entire floor, and while the view from up here is gorgeous

in the daytime, I can only imagine what it must look like at night.

Mr. Channing leads me over to the living area and motions for me to sit on the couch. He takes a seat in an arm chair and then looks at me for a moment, one arm resting on the chair arm while his elbow rests on the other arm, his thumb tracing over his lower lip as he studies me.

I try not to fidget, feeling distinctly out of place and underdressed in my cut-o jean shorts and tank top. We’re not required to wear any sort of uniform working here, so I just wear the same old comfy clothes I always wear when I’m working. It’s not like anyone sees me when I’m cleaning anyway. It’s a pretty solitary job.

“Madison,” he says my name again slowly, but I interrupt him.

“Maddie,” I tell him.

He quirks up an eyebrow, and I feel my cheeks heat.

“I go by Maddie,” I explain to him, feeling like an idiot for correctly him.

His lips tip up, his eyes never wavering from me as he continues, “I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to meet with you.”

I lick my lips nervously and see his eyes flash to them. I think I see his hands tighten on the chair arms, but when I look again, he looks relaxed. I must be so nervous I’m imagining things.

I don’t trust myself to speak, so I just nod.

He cuts right to the chase, “How would you like a promotion, Maddie?” He emphasizes my name.

I gawk at him before stuttering, “Um, what—what kind of promotion? And…and why me?”

I’m truly flabbergasted. I’ve only been working here a couple of weeks. I’m already lucky enough to have gotten

this job out of nowhere. Now, I’m being o ered a promotion out of the blue?

“I need an assistant,” he tells me.

“An assistant?” I repeat stupidly.

He grins at me before continuing, “Yes, an assistant. I’m going to be working here from home for a while, and I need someone to help me out in my o ce and around the house here.”

He tells me how much he would pay me, and I stare at him speechless. “What made you pick me?” I finally manage to croak out.

He eyes me intensely, but instead of answering, he asks me, “Are you declining the position?”

“No,” I answer, perhaps too quickly. His lip quirks up again at my quick denial. “I’m just surprised at the o er.

That’s all. I’m just a cleaning girl,” I add.

He studies me a moment longer before saying softly, “I think you’re much more than that, Madison.” His switch back to my full name doesn’t go unnoticed by me, and while I usually hate people using it, I don’t mind it when he says it.

It does something funny to my belly the way his voice seems to caress each syllable of my name.

“I don’t know the first thing about being an assistant,” I tell him truthfully.

He shrugs, “I’ll teach you. I’m not too demanding.” He grins at that last statement, and for some reason I feel my face heat even more.

He chuckles before he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone. He hands it over to me, and I take it wordlessly, looking up at him with big eyes.

“It’s yours now,” he tells me, “so I can get in touch with you whenever I need you. My number is already programmed into it. Of course, you’re free to use it for your personal use too.”

I run my hand over the slick screen, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, I don’t have to say anything because he stands and holds out a hand to me.

I place my hand in his, noticing how strong and firm his is when it engulfs mine as he helps me stand.

“You’ll start tomorrow morning. Be here at eight. I’m wrapping a few things up at the o ce today, but starting tomorrow I’ll be working from my o ce here,” he gestures to one of the doorways, “so I’ll expect you here then.”

“Okay,” I nod at him, my head spinning with this unexpected turn of events. I’ve gone from hotel maid to personal assistant to one of the wealthiest men in the city in a span of minutes. It’s almost too much to process. It finally occurs to me to thank him for his generosity. I might not know why he picked me or how I could have gotten so lucky, but I do know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Channing,” I tell him sincerely.

“Call me Hunter, Maddie,” he says. “We don’t have to be so formal when I’m working from home.”

“Okay,” I agree before adding, “Hunter,” after he looks at me expectantly.

I think I see something flicker in his eyes when I say his name, but then he’s leading me to the door and giving me a key to his penthouse suite so I can access it from the elevator like Melinda did.

“See you tomorrow, Madison,” he tells me before the elevator door closes, and I sag against the wall, my knees feeling like they’re going to crumble under me.

Whoever my guardian angel is definitely needs a raise.

CHAPTER 3

Maddie

I’m freaking out because I have no clue what I’m supposed to wear on my first day as Mr. Channing—Hunter’s— personal assistant. The only thing I know about personal assistants is what little I gleaned from movies like The Devil Wears Prada, but something tells me Hunter is no Miranda Preistly—even if he is just as intimidating.

I’m probably not expected to dress up in designer labels, but am I supposed to dress nicer than I do when I clean? I usually just wear a pair of shorts and a tank while I’m cleaning, but somehow that seems inappropriate for a personal assistant. Granted, we won’t be in an o ce. We’ll just be in his home, but I don’t want to look like a totally unprofessional idiot showing up in cut-o jeans and a ratty tank top.

I stand in front of my meager closet and finally decide to try to match how Hunter had looked yesterday. He’d been wearing business clothes, but he’d made them look casual.

While I don’t have anything near that nice, I grab a kneelength purple skirt and a cream-colored blouse. I don’t have

any stilettos either. I’ve always hated them and can’t half walk in them anyway. Plus, I never have any occasion to wear anything like that, so why would I buy them? All I have are some black shoes with a tiny kitten heel, so they’ll have to do. They’re certainly better than flip flops or sneakers, I reason.

The purple skirt is flowy and more casual, but I’m hoping the cream-colored blouse and kitten heels will dress it up a bit.

I eye myself critically in the mirror and frown at how immature I look with my hair flowing loose down around my shoulders. I brush out the thick mass and then twist it into a loose side bun at the nape of my neck. There, that’s somewhat better I suppose.

I don’t even contemplate wearing makeup. I have some, but I rarely wear it, and I certainly don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard.

When I’m finally done, I check the time on the phone my new boss gave me before taking a deep breath, grabbing the keycard to my room as well as the one to his penthouse suite, and heading for the elevator.

It’s a short ride up the elevator to Hunter’s penthouse since it’s the floor right above mine. I don’t really feel ready when I arrive, but when the elevator doors open up, I force my feet to move forward.

Just like yesterday, Hunter opens the door before I ever get the chance to knock, his green eyes zeroing in on me and almost knocking me down. “Good morning, Maddie,” he tells me, his eyes sweeping over me.

I can’t help the blush that stains my cheeks, but I try to ignore it as I answer him with my own, “Good morning, Mr. —“ He cuts me o with a raised eyebrow, and I correct myself, “Hunter.”

He graces me with his million-dollar smile before holding the door open for me. I’m forced to pass in front of him again, and this time I can feel the heat emanating o his body.

“My o ce is this way,” he leads me to his home o ce, which is just as breathtaking as every other part of his suite.

There’s a huge glass window spanning one wall, a huge mahogany desk and o ce chair that are obviously where he sits, and a smaller desk and chair catty-corner to it. He motions me to it.

“This is where you’ll be working,” he tells me.

I nod in understanding, but I keep standing there before him, waiting for him to tell me what to do.

He stu s his hands in his pockets and studies me for a moment before he asks me, “You like co ee?”

I furrow my brow, caught o guard by his question. “Um, yes, of course. Who doesn’t?”

He chuckles, still studying me, his green eyes intense.

He’s wearing slacks with a white button-up shirt just like yesterday, but again, he has the sleeves rolled up and a couple of buttons undone at the top.

His scrutiny makes me so nervous that my fingers absently play with the end of my skirt, an action that doesn’t go unnoticed by him. His eyes flick down to my skirt, and my hands still as his jaw hardens.

“Why don’t you go into the kitchen and make us a cup while I get everything set up in here?” he asks me. My heart is thumping in my chest, and I lick my lips nervously. His eyes zone in on them like a hawk. Gosh, he watches my every movement so thoroughly, missing nothing.

“Yes, sir,” I tell him before I turn and practically sprint from the room, grateful for the momentary escape.

I don’t know what it is about him that makes my heart race and my body flush when I’m around him. He’s so

attractive, and he seems so powerful and in charge. And the intensity in his eyes…I feel so nervous around him.

I don’t know how I’m going to sit—much less work—in the same room as him all day.

Hunter It’s obvious I didn’t think this through.

I didn’t consider the sweet torture it would be having her sit in the same room as me and not being able to touch her.

It’s obvious from the way she fidgets while in my presence that I make her nervous. There’s no way I can bend her over my desk and do the things to her my body longs to do.

I don’t really need a personal assistant. I’m perfectly capable of handling everything here in my home o ce on my own.

But this had seemed like the perfect solution to my dilemma at the time. I’d wanted a way to be able to know where she is at all times. It’s not unusual for a personal assistant to have a phone issued to her by her boss. Of course, I put a tracker on her phone.

Plus, I’d wanted an excuse to see her in the flesh. And my god, she’s even more beautiful up close. Those hazel eyes slay me every time they look up at me so innocently.

Her rich, honey-colored hair looks silky. I long to run my fingers through it. Her skin is lightly tanned and smooth.

She doesn’t wear makeup, but her cheeks and lips are naturally rosy. She has the kind of lashes women kill for, but hers are real.

She’s so pure, so perfect. I should be shot for the things I want to do to her.

I can’t keep my eyes from traveling to her every few seconds. I gave her some busy work to do. She’s just entering data into the system for me. It’s nothing I couldn’t do in half the time it takes her as she learns to navigate my software, but it’s something for her to do so she can sit in here with me.

She looks so prim sitting behind the desk I had brought in here specifically for her. Her little brow furrows sometimes as she focuses on what she’s doing, and sometimes she chews on her bottom lip. I have to bite back a groan when she does, wishing it was me nipping at her lips like that.

Every now and then she glances up at me and blushes when she sees me watching her. I want to see if that blush travels all the way down over her body.

She looks good enough to eat in that purple skirt and creamy blouse. Her breasts aren’t large, but they aren’t too small either. They’re perfect—like every other inch of her.

“Hunter?” my name falling from her lips is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.

“Yes, Maddie?” I give her my full attention.

She bites her lip again before saying worriedly, “I can’t figure this one column out. I can’t get it to reconcile.”

I get up from my chair and walk over to her desk. I stand behind where she sits and lean over her to peer at her computer screen, my hands on either side of her.

She smells like the lavender-scented shampoo my hotel provides along with something else that must be distinctly her. I fight to keep from dropping my lips to the exposed column of her neck. A few tendrils have escaped from her bun to curl along her tender flesh. I want to fist my hand in her hair and undo the rest until it tumbles down her back.

I force myself to look at the computer screen. I quickly spot the problem and tap at a few keys, showing her how to fix the issue.

“Oh,” she says when I reveal the solution to her. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“You’re no bother at all, Maddie,”I tell her, looking down at her with my arms still perched on the desk on either side of her.

She turns her head up to look at me, her eyes a glimmering pool of brown, green, and gold.

This is dangerous territory, and I know I should pull back, but I can’t. I’m captivated by her eyes. They’re pulling me in like a siren song, and I can’t look away.

She licks her lips, and my eyes drop to their wet plumpness. My face is drawing closer to hers. I’m so close I can feel her breath fanning against my chin.

And then my phone rings, breaking us both out of our reverie.

I stand up abruptly and stride over to my desk, snatching it up and answering it more roughly than I intend.

I frown as Martin tells me of the latest fuck up at the o ce. I pinch between my forehead in irritation before interrupting him. “Yeah, I’ll be there in twenty. I expect everyone on deck,” I warn.

I look over to find Maddie watching me guardedly.

“I’ve got to run to the o ce for a bit,” I tell her.

“Oh,” she says with surprise. “Well, do you want me to come back later when you get back?”

She’s already starting to stand, but I motion her to sit back down. “No, you stay and finish your task. When you’re done, you can straighten up around the house some if you want. Just stay until I get back, though.” I definitely don’t want her going away. If she’s here in my suite, I know she’ll be safe until I get back. No one can get up here without a keycard, and no one has one except me and now her. I’d had Melinda relinquish hers to Maddie once I hired Maddie as my assistant.

“Oh, okay,” she says with surprise.

“If you get hungry, help yourself to my kitchen. Take as many breaks as you need too,” I tell her. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but do not go anywhere until I get back.” My tone brooks no argument.

I see the slight confusion on her face, but she nods in acquiescence, and that’s all I need from her right now.

With one last look at her, I grab my suit coat and head out of the o ce, ready to murder whoever’s responsible for this debacle that interrupted my first taste of Madison.

Maddie It doesn’t take me long to finish entering in the data for Hunter. When that’s done, I sit there for a moment indecisively, wondering what to do. He’d told me I could straighten up around the house if I wanted. I don’t mind cleaning for him, but I’m not sure just how much he wants me to do. I glance down at my cream-colored blouse and purple skirt. Plus, I’m not really dressed for any heavy-duty cleaning.

Still, I get up from the desk and wander out into the kitchen where I load the dishwasher and wipe o the counters. I walk into the living room and flu the pillows. I would dust, but the place is already spotless, so I wander around a bit, checking out his furnishings.

Everything in Hunter’s suite is sophisticated and manly, from his black contemporary sofa and gray walls to his minimalistic fireplace. Any wood in the space is mahogany, dark and rich. He has a few tasteful paintings on the walls, and I’d be willing to bet they’re originals.

I finally walk over to the wall of windows and look out on the city below. The view from up here is breathtaking. I love the view from my balcony on the floor below, but with the floor to ceiling windows spanning the entire wall up here, the view is even more beautiful. I imagine Hunter sitting here looking out over the city like a king surveying his domain.

Hunter is like a king. He’s so authoritative and in charge.

Big and commanding. I flush as I remember his arms caging me in on either side of the desk as he’d leaned over me to show me where I’d messed up with the software. When I’d looked up at him, he’d been staring down at me with this look on his face I couldn’t decipher. I didn’t know what it was—only that it filled my tummy with butterflies and made my breath catch.

His face had been so close to mine, I’d almost thought he was going to kiss me. I think I’d wanted him too, but then his phone had rang and whatever had happened had pulled him away.

It’s probably for the best. I’m just some silly girl he hired because he needed someone to bring him co ee and help him with his paperwork. I’m probably just convenient since I happen to live on the floor right below him. He probably hadn’t even been meaning to kiss me. That was probably just my imagination running away from me.

I shake my head. I’ve been reading too many romance novels.

Hunter is my boss. He’s the billionaire who owns this hotel and countless other business. He doesn’t have time for a nobody like me. I’m just lucky he was nice enough to hire me—twice, once as a maid and now as his assistant. There’s nothing more to it than that.

I continue to stroll along his suite until I get to the sliding glass doors that lead out onto the balcony. I open them and

step out onto his balcony, my jaw dropping when I do so.

His outdoor space is huge. It’s more than a balcony. It’s like a huge outdoor oasis. There’s a swimming pool and a hot tub, along with a fire pit and huge patio furniture.

I feel the sun shining down on me. It’s hot out here, and I gaze at the swimming pool longingly.

I haven’t been swimming since before my dad died. We hadn’t had a swimming pool of our own, but when we used to go on vacations, Dad would always take me swimming at the hotel’s swimming pool.

I glance back over my shoulder into the suite. How long has Hunter been gone? He’d said he’d be there in twenty. I assume that meant twenty minutes, so if it took him twenty minutes to get to his o ce, it would take him at least twenty minutes to get back too. And then it will take him time to do whatever he has to do there.

Do I have time for a quick dip? I bite my lip in indecision.

It’s highly presumptuous of me. I can’t just help myself to my boss’ swimming pool. It’s completely unprofessional.

I start to turn back and go back inside, but then I stop and look at the glistening water once again. I’ve already finished my work, and there’s nothing else to do. Hunter’s place is spotless. Maybe I can take a quick swim and be dried o before he ever gets back. If he’s dealing with business that’s so urgent he had to go in at the last minute like this when he’d said he’d be working at home, then he likely won’t be home for a while. And he’d forbidden me to leave for some reason until he got back. Why should I have to sit here and be bored until he gets back? Besides, I’ll be quick.

Before I can talk myself out of it again, I pull my blouse over my head and then shimmy out of my skirt. I lay my clothes neatly over the side of a lounge chair so they don’t get wrinkled. I’m wearing nothing but my plain white bra

and panties, but they match, so it’s the same thing as a bikini, right?

I shrug. It doesn’t matter anyway because no one will see me but me. I undo my bun and feel my hair fall down my back before I flip my head over, gather it all on the top of my head and then tie it up into a messy bun on the top center of my head. As much as I’d like to get my hair wet too, that would probably be pushing it. It might not have enough time to dry completely before Hunter gets back, so this will have to do.

I walk over to the pool and dip my foot in. The water is the perfect temperature—not too cool but not too warm, so I step all the way down in it until the water is up to my neck. I splay my arms over the side of the pool and lay my chin on my hands, feeling the sun beat down on my wet back as I float bottom-up, supported by the edge of the pool.

Paradise. I’m living in paradise.

CHAPTER 4

Hunter

I get the issue at the o ce ironed out as quickly as possible.

Incompetence. I’m surrounded by incompetence. It’s an issue my employees should have been equipped to handle. I scowl as I make a mental note of everyone on my team I need to replace.

I’m on my way back home as quickly as I can get there. A quick look at my tracking device for Maddie’s cell phone shows that she obeyed. She’s still in my suite, and her obedience gives me a swell of satisfaction and relief.

The issue at the o ce didn’t taken nearly as long as I thought it would, but still, I’m sure Maddie is done with the work I’d given her by now, so I’ll have to find something else to keep her busy. I know how I’d like to keep her busy…

I stop my wayward thoughts right there. It’ll do me no good to think of her sweet lips wrapped around my cock or, better yet, being balls deep inside her tight pussy. I adjust my sti ness on my way up the elevator. I don’t need to walk in on her with a raging hard-on. She’s already nervous enough around me as it is.

I reach my suite and make my way to my o ce, already eager to see her in the flesh again. I frown when I walk into the space and don’t see her. I pull up the tracking app to confirm she’s here, though there’s no need because a moment later I see the cell phone I gave her still laying on her desk.

She’s probably cleaning since I’d told her she could straighten up a bit if she wanted to, though the last thing I want is her being my maid.

I stroll out into the living room, and then I halt in my tracks as I spy her through the sliding glass doors, all the blood in my body rushing straight to my cock.

She’s in my pool, her rounded bottom floating up on the surface of the water as she floats on her stomach with her hands supporting her against the side of the pool.

Her cheek is laying on her hands, and her eyes are closed, her hair tumbled carelessly up into a mass on top of her head.

I step closer to the glass doors. She’s facing away from me, so she doesn’t see me standing here ogling her supple young body. She’s in a white bra and panties. The water has made the panties almost translucent, and I clench my fists at my sides, my breath coming more raggedly.

God, the things I want to do to her…

My body has a mind of its own, and before I can stop myself, I’m sliding open the doors and stepping out onto the balcony, prowling over to her. I don’t know what my plan is at this point, only that I’m being drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

She must sense me because her eyes flutter open and then her brow furrows as she sees my shadow. She looks up at me and gasps before losing her grip on the side of the pool and going under the water.

She comes back up sputtering, her hair still up but dripping down in a wet mass. I fight the urge to laugh. She looks like a drowned kitten.

“Mr. Channing, I’m so sorry,” she’s fumbling over her words as she hurries to get out of the pool. Her face is red as she keeps trying to explain herself, “I finished all my tasks, and I didn’t know when you’d be back, and I haven’t been swimming in so long and I…” she trails o , and any amusement I felt is quickly replaced by pure lust as she steps out of the pool.

Water is dripping down her body, and I can’t tear my gaze from her. Her white bra and panties are so soaked and thin that I can see her mound and nipples through them. Christ, I want to fall on my knees and fucking worship her. Worship her.

Seeing my gaze, her cheeks heat even more, and she moves to cover herself, her hands fluttering between her breasts and pussy like she can’t decide which area needs to be covered more.

I make myself tear my gaze away from her body and focus on her face. Her wet eyelashes are spiked with water, and her lips are wet with water droplets as her eyes look up at me in fear.

“It’s okay, Maddie,” I instantly try to put her at ease.

“You can use my pool anytime. I don’t mind.” Fuck no, I don’t mind. She could use anything of mine she wanted.

Her eyes widen in surprise as she asks me, “You’re not angry?”

“Of course not,” I tell her. I grab a towel from the patio and walk over to her before I begin slowly patting her dry.

She’s still looking at me with wide eyes, and I can’t help the groan that escapes me. “Stop looking at me like that, Madison, or I won’t be held accountable for what I do.”

Her mouth drops open into a little “o,” and I take a deep breath, my hands shaking with the e ort not to pull her into my arms and devour her. I’m tempted. God, am I tempted.

But, it’s only her first day working for me, and I want her to be more at ease with me before I made any advances on her.

Hell, I shouldn’t make any advances on her at all. She’s too pure for a bastard like me.

“Get dressed, and I’ll meet you back inside.” I hand over the towel to her and head back inside, putting distance between us before I rip o her wet underthings and take her right there on the balcony.

Maddie Stop looking at me like that, Madison, or I won’t be held accountable for what I do.

His words are still ringing in my ears, and they send a delicious shiver up and down my spine every time I remember the low, husky way he’d said them.

I’d been mortified when he’d found me in his pool. He’d gotten back much sooner than I’d thought he would. I hadn’t even heard him approach.

I just knew he was going to fire me.

But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d told me I could use his pool anytime.

Not that I’m going to take him up on that o er. I’m still incredibly embarrassed he saw me practically naked.

When I’d sheepishly walked back into his o ce with my damp hair tied back onto my head, he’d been the epitome of professionalism. The only indication he’d given that he remembered what happened was when he commented on my pink skin. “Make sure you wear sunscreen the next time you

decide to go swimming, Madison,” he scolded as he’d frowned at me.

That comment had only made me blush even deeper.

Thankfully, he had let me go home shortly after my embarrassing spectacle.

Now, here I am sitting on the couch reliving those moments over and over again in my mind like a bad movie.

But the part where he’d said that, Stop looking at me like that, Madison, or I won’t be held accountable for what I do., and the heated look in his eyes when he’d said it…I couldn’t get that out of my head. What did it mean?

My cell phone pings, and I jump at the sound. I hadn’t used the phone at all for communication so far. I’d only used it to surf the net. I didn’t really have anyone to call or text.

I pick it up and see a message from Hunter.

Hunter: I’m having something sent to you. Open your door when you get a knock.

Before I have a chance to respond, there’s a knock at my door.

When I open it, a delivery man hands me a white box with a red bow on it before silently taking his leave.

I eye the box curiously, wondering what in the world my boss could have sent me.

I walk slowly back over to the couch and lay the box on the co ee table before undoing the bow and lifting the lid of the box.

My fingers move aside the red tissue paper to reveal a deep purple bikini. I lift the tiny pieces of fabric from the box, noticing the luxury look of the pieces. This isn’t anything like the cheap bikinis I usually wear. Before I can even process what this means, my phone pings again.

Hunter: Do you like it?

I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my lips, though I’m still somewhat guarded, wondering why Hunter sent me

this.

Me: It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept this.

Hunter: Nonsense. You need something appropriate to swim in. Why don’t you put it on and come on up?

I hold the phone in my hand indecisively, chewing on my lower lip as I contemplate what to do. Is this blurring the lines of our employee/employer relationship? I think back on earlier when Hunter had found me swimming in his pool in nothing but my bra and panties, and then I look back down at the phone and see how he told me I need something appropriate to swim in. I blush at the reminder that he’d seen me in nothing but my white bra and panties. Yeah, I think I crossed the line of inpropriety when I swam practically naked in my boss’ pool without his permission and got caught.

Amazingly, he’s not mad at me, though. He didn’t fire me. On the contrary, he’s sent me a bikini and invited me up for another swim.

I finally decide that it would be rude to decline. And besides, I really do like swimming.

That doesn’t make me any less nervous as I get into the elevator and scan the keycard to be taken up to his place.

Hunter I’m going to hell.

That’s all there is to it.

I know fucking better than to invite her up here in nothing but the flimsy bikini I’d had sent up to her.

But goddamnt, I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to her.

I just want to be near her. That’s all. I’m not going to touch her.

That’s the lie I tell myself.

It had taken everything within me not to touch her earlier when she’d gotten out of my pool, water dripping over her curves. I don’t know how I made it through the rest of the afternoon before I finally sent her home, pulled up the cameras to her room, and slacked my lust with my fist, watching her walking around her living room. She hadn’t been scantily dressed. She’d been wearing a big T-shirt and a pair of shorts, but just the sight of her walking, bending over, straightening up, just her existence was enough to drive me to the most powerful orgasm of my life.

I must be a sick fuck.

And I’m still watching her. Like I always do. Every damn night.

I can’t stop the rush of pleasure that fills me as I see her smiling when she opens her gift. I want to lavish her with a thousand more to see her smile like that.

I’m dying to see her in the bikini that I picked out for her.

When she frowns down at the phone, I think she’s going to decline my invitation. I release a breath when I get her text.

Maddie: Okay That one word from her has my blood rushing in my veins.

I’m already in a simple black pair of swim trunks. While I don’t usually use my pool much, I do have a habit of getting in the hot tub after a particularly stressful day and letting the jets soothe my tense muscles.

I’m at the door as soon as I see Maddie get o the elevator.

Her hand is raised to knock, but she drops it when she sees me, her eyes instantly widening as they travel down

over my bare chest.

It’s di cult for me to mask the smirk that wants to twist my lips at her blush.

I can’t stop my eyes from traveling over her form. The bikini top lifts her pert, little breasts up, presenting them in a decadent display, and the bottoms are a tiny triangle covering her sweet pussy.

She looks mouthwatering.

“Glad you decided to join me,” I tell her as I step back to let her pass before me.

“Thank you for the bathing suit,” she tells me with a shy smile. “And for inviting me to come swimming.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I tell her, never meaning anything more. It truly is my pleasure to have her here.

“Do you want something to drink?” I ask her as we walk through the kitchen on the way to the pool.

She pauses and glances at me. “Oh, um, okay, sure.”

I pull a beer out of the fridge for me and a wine cooler out for her. While I never drink the fruity little wine coolers, I keep them around for when my sister comes to visit. She loves the things. I figure Maddie will like them better than beer too.

I pop the top to hers and hand it to her. She hesitates a moment before taking a tentative sip of the drink. Her eyes widen in surprise, and she makes a little moan of approval that registers straight in my cock.

“Oh, wow, that’s actually pretty yummy,” she comments, smiling up at me.

My lips tip up as I regard her, “You’ve never had one before?”

“I’ve never had any kind of alcohol before,” she admits to me.

My eyebrows raise. I know she’s only eighteen, but that surprises me. I know most high school students sneak and

drink behind their parents’ backs. I know I certainly did.

“Well, I’m glad to provide your first taste then,” I tell her.

I want to provide so many of her firsts…

She smiles up at me again, her face angelic as she does so.

“I’m surprised one of your boyfriends never gave you some before,” I comment coolly as I lead her out onto the balcony. I realize I’m not so subtly probing for information, but I don’t really care. I’m dying to know if she’s ever had one. The thought makes my chest tight with jealousy. I don’t want to think of some fumbling boy pawing at her.

She giggles as she steps out onto the balcony. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, so no.”

I let out an exhale of a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding in, but then I stop in my tracks as the full implication of that statement sets in.

She’s a virgin.

That explains the pure innocence I see her in eyes as she looks up at me. My eyes rove over her face. Her hair is thrown haphazardly up in a messy bun again, but a few stubborn whips hug at her face, making her look adorably natural.

Christ.

I take a long swig of my beer to try to quell the swelling in my swimming trunks, the thought that I could be her first making me heady with lust.

Mine. She’s all mine.

She’ll only ever be with me.

She dips her toes into the pool, but I place a hand gently on her elbow.

She turns to me questioningly, and I nod over at the hot tub. “You want to try it out?”

She glances over to where I gestured.

“You already tried the pool out earlier,” I tease her, chuckling wickedly when she blushes at the reminder of her

illicit mid-day swim.

She nods and follows me over to the hot tub. I take her hand to help her step down into it, noting how tiny and fragile it feels beneath my grasp. It causes something primal and possessive to flare up within me. It makes me want to guard her, protect her.

She sits down in the tub, the water rising up to bubble over her breasts, and I follow and sit down beside her. I place our drinks in the built-in cup holders while she lets out a soft moan and tips her head back. “This feels heavenly.”

I grin at her as I settle my back against the jets. “Yeah, that’s why I tend to use this more than the pool.”

“I don’t blame you,” she says. “I would too.”

“And you can,’ I instantly o er her. “You’re welcome to wind down up here whenever you want.”

She pops open an eye and regards me curiously before she blushes. “Are you sure?” she asks me. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

I laugh at that. If she only knew how much I crave her presence. “If I minded, I wouldn’t have o ered,” I tell her frankly.

“Okay,” she says softly before smiling shyly.

Everything about her kills me, from her soft, shy smiles as she peeks up at me through lowered lashes to her sweet little voice.

If my business associates could see me now, they’d be shocked at how gentle I am with her. I’m known for my shrewd, no-nonsense manner, but I don’t ever want to frighten Maddie. I want to treat her with the utmost patience and tenderness, almost like she’s a timid little rabbit that could hop away from me at any moment.

I clear my throat to keep my wayward thoughts in order before I ask her, “So how long have you lived in New York?”

Of course, I already know the answer, but I ask her regardless, seeking to make small talk and set her at ease.

“All my life,” she answers, instantly relaxing into the conversation.

“What about you?” she counters back.

“Same,” I tell her, “though I also have a house in L.A.” Her eyes widen at that information. “Wow, I’ve never been to California before,” she admits.

“I’ll take you sometime then,” I tell her, draping my arm on the back of the hot tub behind her. If I just curled my hand, I could have it around her shoulder. But I don’t. I keep my hand laying against the edge of the tub.

Her eyes get even wider.

“For business,” I add to allay any fears she might have. “I fly out there for business a lot anyway. You can come with me the next time I go.”

She shakes her head and gives a soft laugh.

“What?” I ask her, wondering what’s going on in that pretty head of hers.

“I just can’t believe this is my life now,” she admits before her brow furrows. “I mean, I’m just a teenager who was scraping by, and then this guy who works for you o ered me a job out of nowhere, and now it’s like…too good to be true.”

She looks up to find my gaze on her and blushes again before covering her face, “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I said that.”

I absently wonder how many times she’s blushed since she’s been in my presence. I should have been counting them.

Before I can help myself, I reach out and gently remove her hands from her face.

Her eyes are large pools of honey, emerald, and chocolate, the colors intermingling and twinkling in an intoxicating

display. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” I tell her sincerely.

“But why me?” she asks with a little frown as if she truly can’t puzzle it out.

I shrug and try to play it o nonchalantly. “Why not you?”

She looks at me, that endearing innocence shining through, and then she smiles at my assessment before she laughs, a tinkling, magical sound that I want to record and listen to over and over again.

“Have you eaten yet, Maddie?” I ask her. I already know she hasn’t.

She shakes her head.

“Would you like to join me for dinner then? I can have something brought up. What would you like?”

“Oh, um, I dunno,” she says.

I know from watching her every night that she usually just pops a TV dinner in the microwave. I frown at that thought. She doesn’t eat hardly anything. I want to give her a good meal.

“I’ll order something for us,” I tell her as I help her out of the hot tub.

She takes my hand willingly, and I grasp it perhaps tighter than I should, but she makes no sign that she notices.

I grab a towel and wrap it around her shoulders, standing so close behind her, mere centimeters separate her back from my chest. I breathe in deeply, inhaling her flowery lavender scent before I force myself to step away from her and grab my own towel.

We sit in the lounge chairs on the balcony as I place an order for a sampler that has a little bit of everything on it.

That way I can find out just what she likes.

I study her from where I sit, my eyes trailing over her thin frame, her flat stomach, the slight curve of her hips, and

down over her shapely legs. She’s not very tall. I tower over her. Yet, her legs seem to go on forever.

“Hunter?” my name on her lips drags my eyes back up to her face.

“Yes, Maddie?” I ask her.

“Why did you choose me to be your assistant?” her eyes only show innocent curiosity. They show none of the calculated flirtatiousness any other woman would have had at asking that question.

I give her the same elusive answer as before, not wanting to lie to her yet also not wanting to reveal the depth of my obsession with her. “Why not you?”

She opens her mouth as if she’s going to say more, but I get a buzz on my phone letting me know that our room service has arrived. I go to retrieve the food, glad for the opportunity to drop that line of questioning.

When I wheel the cart out onto the balcony, her eyes widen again when she sees how much food I’ve ordered. “Is all that just for us?” she asks incredulously.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so just eat what you want,” I tell her honestly.

I make careful note of her preferences as nibbles on a little bit of everything. She eats more of the pasta and salad than anything else. I notice she doesn’t eat much of the steak.

I continue to talk with her over our dinner, asking her normal questions about her life and childhood.

It’s almost like a date, except I’m sure that Maddie in no way considers this a date. To her, this is just dinner with her boss being nice to her.

When I ask her about what she likes to do in her free time, she tells me she likes to read. I’m not surprised with how smart is. There’s intelligence in her eyes, and some of her favorite books are literary classics. I know I’ve seen her

reading mass market romance drivel out on her balcony, but she also reads works by Dante, Victor Hugo, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

She has a head for numbers, telling me that math had been her best subject in school.

Although I mostly try to keep the conversation on her, I allow her a few questions about me too. She asks about my family, to which I respond there’s only my sister. My parents both died when I was young. A boating accident.

Although that’s not something I usually like to talk about it, the admission was worth it when it causes her to open up about her father. I already knew he’d died unexpectedly of an aneurysm, but having her share it with me on her own fills me with a sense of satisfaction that the trusts me enough to open up that much.

Her stepmother was a bitch to her, so she’s practically all alone in the world. My hand clenches around my fork at the thought of anyone being mean to her, but I keep myself under control to keep from scaring her. It won’t do for me to start acting like an enraged psycho at the mention of her evil stepmother.

By the time we’re done eating, she’s much more comfortable around me and not blushing near as much.

While I’m glad she’s relaxed, I can’t help but miss the pink staining her cheeks.

I notice she’s getting tired when she tries to stifle a yawn.

The sun has finally gone down, and a breeze blows through that causes her to shiver. I see her nipples pebble underneath her bikini top and instantly feel the sensation register in my cock.

“Are you cold, Maddie?” I ask her huskily, fighting to tear my gaze away from her hard nipples, wanting nothing more than to push the thin fabric aside and tease the dusky peaks.

She doesn’t notice the reason for my question. Instead, she just shivers again as goosebumps break out over her skin as she answers, “A little.”

So fucking innocent.

I take her hand and lead her inside before I disappear into my bedroom to grab one of my sweatshirts. She’s still standing in the living room where I left her when I return.

She’s looking at me questioningly, but she raises her arms without protest when I start to slide the sweatshirt over her head.

“Thank you,” she says softly, her luminous eyes looking up at me as I finish pulling the shirt over her. The sleeves hang down over her hands, and the hem settles around her knees. I get a primitive sense of satisfaction seeing her cloaked in one my garments. Plus, I don’t like the thought of her being in the hallway for even a moment in nothing more than a bikini where another man might see her.

“You’re welcome,” I answer her, taking another step toward her.

“It’s getting late,” she says. “I should probably go so I’m not late for work tomorrow. My boss might not like that.”

Her lips tip up in a teasing grin.

I grin back at her and laugh at her wit before I tell her, “I don’t think you have to worry about him firing you.”

She’s already walking toward the door, and I walk with her, reluctant to let her go. She stops when she reaches the doorway and smiles up at me, “Thank you for inviting me up. Tonight was really nice.”

I try to swallow around the lump in my throat. My voice comes out gravelly as I tell her again, “The pleasure is all mine, Maddie.”

I’m dying to kiss her, to taste her sweet lips and feel her underneath my palms, but I don’t want to rush this and scare her away. I made myself her boss in a rash move to

keep her close to me, but in doing so I’ve complicated any type of relationship I want to have with her.

“See you tomorrow, Hunter,” she says as she walks over to the elevator.

“See you tomorrow, Maddie.”

Madison. My angel. My goddess. My obsession.

Being so close to her and not touching her…

It’ll be the death of me.

CHAPTER 5

Hunter

We get into a routine. Maddie comes up and works with me in my o ce during the day. She goes back to her room for a bit before I invite her back up to soak in the hot tub, then she ends up spending most of the evening here too.

She never comes up on her own, always waiting for me to invite her. And I always do.

I use the short time that she’s away to watch her over the cameras while I jack o , seeking to release some of the pentup tension of being in her presence and not touching her. I come intensely every time. I don’t even have to be thinking about her tits or ass to come. It can be her eyes or smile or just her.

I don’t think I’ve ever masturbated so much in my entire life. I half hate myself for doing it, but it’s either this or give in to my desire to pin her down on my desk and slam my aching sta into her, ruthlessly claiming her as mine.

And I know I can’t do that to my sweet Madison. When I claim her, I want it to be something special for her. I want

her to want it as much as I do. I don’t want to rut her like a rabid animal that can’t control itself.

A better man would wait. A better man would deny himself pleasure until he could be with the woman he wanted.

But I’m not a better man. I’m an asshole. It’s all I can do to sit in her presence every day, smelling her sweet scent, hearing her tiny laugh, enduring her mystical-looking eyes meeting mine without giving in to my baser instincts and ravishing her.

But it’s so much more than her beauty. She’s beautiful, no doubt, but now that I’ve spent so much time with her, it’s just her, everything that she is.

She’s light and laughter and innocence. She’s purity in my world of darkness. I’m lighter when she’s near me, not nearly as wound up and stressed out as I usually am. Yeah, I still take care of my business, but I’m not obsessing over things as much as I used to, and the company’s not su ering for it.

Instead, I’m obsessing over her.

I know every movement of her hands, every expression that crosses her face, the way she bites her bottom lip and tugs absently at a strand of hair when she’s studying something on the computer screen while she’s working.

I’m dying to touch her.

But she trusts me. She’s finally completely comfortable around me, and I don’t want to ruin that. I certainly don’t want her to give in to any advances on my part just because I’m her boss.

I’m at a loss of what to do. For once, I’m in over my head, but there’s only one thing I know.

I don’t know how it’s all going to come together, but I know that I’m never going to allow another man to touch

her. Madison is mine. Even if all I’ll ever be to her is her boss and silent protector, she belongs to me.

Maddie I never would have thought my billionaire boss would end up becoming my best friend, but he is. I spend practically every day with him. We almost always relax in his hot tub chatting every night, and we usually have dinner together too. I’m becoming spoiled to all the room service Hunter orders. I haven’t eaten a TV dinner in days.

For a girl who’d gotten so used to being alone all the time, it’s nice to finally have someone to spend time with—even if that someone is my insanely hot boss.

I can’t help but notice the way Hunter’s muscles ripple when his bare chest moves when we’re sitting in the water together. While it might be highly inappropriate for me to sit in a hot tub with my boss almost every night, he doesn’t seem to think it is, so I tell myself it isn’t. I think part of why it’s okay is because Hunter very obviously views me as nothing more than an employee. Maybe he’s just lonely too and likes spending time with me as friends and that’s why he invites me up to his place so much.

Whatever the case, it’s not because he has any romantic feelings toward me like I do him. He’s never once made a move on me.

My mind goes back to what he’d said that day he first caught me swimming in his pool.

Stop looking at me like that, Madison, or I won’t be held accountable for what I do.

I tell myself I’m reading too much into that comment because he’s never tried to kiss me or anything. Not that I

really know what it’s like to be kissed. I’ve never dated before at all, so I’ve never even been kissed before. Not really. I don’t think I can count a clumsy kiss from a boy on the playground when I was eight years old. That was back when I thought boys were icky and had pushed Josh o the monkey bars after he had pressed his lips against mine.

The microwave beeps, and I pull the TV dinner out, grimacing down at both the smell and look of it.

Yep, I’ve definitely gotten spoiled. I used to love this microwave meal, and now I’m repulsed by the sight and smell of it.

I leave it sitting on the counter and head over to the door.

I’ll take a walk through the city and maybe hit up a food cart.

I won’t be going up to Hunter’s tonight. He’d been called down to the o ce earlier today on business that he said would likely keep him until late tonight, so he’d given me the rest of the day o .

I’d tried not to show my disappointment.

It’s more than just the swimming and sitting in the hot tub. I look forward to evenings with Hunter when we relax and talk as friends. All day long, we interact as employer and employee with Hunter on the phone and doing video conference calls and me typing away at the computer, entering figures and doing any other tasks he had me do.

But our evenings were just us.

Even though Hunter had told me he didn’t use his pool much, I’d talked him into going swimming with me. We’d raced across the pool. Of course, he’d beaten me with his longer strokes, but it had still been fun.

I smile at the memory as I make my way lazily down the street. I know I’m moving much too slow for New York City pedestrians, and that fact is proven when someone in a rush barrels past me so quickly they knock me sideways into someone else.

“Whoa, there,” a deep voice says as hands come up to steady me.

“I’m so sorry,” I’m saying at the same time, and then I gasp as his eyes meet mine.

Wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes. He’s much older, but I can still see the little boy he once was in his face.

Recognition hits him at the same time it does me because he asks incredulously, “Maddie?”

“Josh?” I ask him just to confirm it’s really him. How ironic that I run into the boy I’d just been thinking about as being the only one to try to kiss me—and when we were kids no less.

“Wow,” his eyes sweep down over me. “You look incredible. You’ve grown up.” He raises an eyebrow at me.

I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles up out of me. He’s still the same silly boy he always was. “You have too,” I tell him pointedly.

He laughs, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Before things have a chance to get awkward, he asks me, “Hey, you wanna grab a bite and catch up?”

I hesitate. I haven’t seen Josh since we were kids. We’d gone to di erent high schools, and it’s not like we’d been really close when we were little or anything. We just used to play together on the playground. Actually, it was more like Josh used to pull my hair and tree me up the monkey bars like I was a cat and he was a dog—until that day he’d tried to kiss me.

He seems to know where my mind is because he adds with a wry grin, “I promise I won’t pull your hair or chase you.”

I laugh again before I agree, “Okay. That’s actually what I’m out here for. I came out for something to eat.”

“Awesomesauce,” he says, “I know a perfect place.”

Now it’s my turn to raise my eyebrows at him.

“Awesomesauce? Really, Josh?”

He cracks a full-tooth grin and looks down at me as he leads me along the busy street and into a pizzeria just a few steps away from us. “What? People say awesomesauce.”

I just shake my head, laughing again.

He gets us a booth and asks what kind of pizza I like.

“Just cheese,” I answer.

He orders us both a soda and a cheese lover’s pizza before he turns his attention back to me.

“So what are you doing nowadays? Gosh, we haven’t seen each other since what? Elementary school?”

We spend the next hour chatting and catching up. Josh is currently enrolled in NYU, unsurprisingly. I feel a stab of jealousy that he gets to go to college. I’d always planned on going, but then dad had died, and I knew my evil witch of a stepmom would never send me. Plus, I’d had to leave and make my own way in the world, so college was out.

Of course, I don’t burden Josh with all that. I just act like it’s my choice to do what I’m doing, and really how much better could it get than working for one of the city’s top billionaires?

Josh must think so too because his eyes about pop out of his head when he hears who my boss is.

“Wait, your boss is Hunter Channing?” he asks before he lets out a low whistle. “Is he as big of an asshole as everyone says he is?” he asks me while taking a huge bite of pizza.

I frown at him. “Hu—“ I catch myself just in time and correct myself before I reveal that my boss and I are on a first-name basis, “Mr. Channing isn’t an asshole. In fact, he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”

Josh raises an eyebrow and eyes me dubiously like he can’t believe me. “That’s not the word on the street.”

“What is the word on the street?” I ask, wondering what other people think of Hunter.

“That’s he’s a major hard ass. One of the most di cult bosses in the city to work for.”

I just shrug and take a bite of my own pizza. “I don’t know about that. He’s always very reasonable around me.”

Hunter gives me a knowing look like he knows something I don’t.

“What?” I ask him after I swallow my bite of cheesy goodness.

He just shakes his head and grins before he says, “Nothing.”

We finish our pizza, and when I o er to pay for half the check, Josh refuses. “It’s the least I can do for terrorizing you when we were kids,” he states.

“Okay,” I laugh and accept his generosity.

“Where do you live? I’ll walk you home,” he tells me with his hands casually stu ed in his pockets.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Josh,” I shake my head.

“I know I don’t have to,” he says, “but I want to. You shouldn’t be walking the city streets alone. It’s getting late,” he says pointedly.

Instead of arguing with me, I let him walk with me back to Channing Hotel.

“You live in your boss’ hotel too?” Josh raises another eyebrow at me.

“One of the perks of being his personal assistant,” I try to shrug it o nonchalantly.

“Cool. I’ve always wanted to see the inside of the place,” Josh says.

I hadn’t really intended on inviting Josh up, but I don’t want to seem rude now after he paid for dinner and everything, so I let him get on the elevator with me, and we ride up to my floor.

“Wow, you’re high up,” he comments. “One floor below the penthouse suite.”

“Yeah, the view is incredible,” I say lightly.

The elevator finally dings, and we step o into the hallway. Josh walks beside me until we get to my room, and then I turn to him to say goodbye.

“I had a great time tonight, Josh. It was nice catching up.”

Josh smiles down at me and then lopes his arms loosely around my waist. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Feeling uncomfortable with his hands around my waist, I lean back to put more space between us. “Sorry, I have to get up really early tomorrow,” I lie. Well, it’s not a total lie. It depends on how early you define early.

“Okay, Maddie,” Josh accepts my excuse readily before his face starts looming closer to mine.

I put my hands up between us and push lightly on his chest. “What are you doing, Josh?”

“I promised I wouldn’t pull your hair or chase you. I never promised I wouldn’t kiss you,” he grins boyishly.

I shake my head and push firmly away from him until I’m free and his hands drop from around my back. “I’m not ready for anything like that, Josh.” Again, I lie. It’s not that I’m not ready for a kiss. I’m just not ready for a kiss from Josh. One from Hunter, sure. Definitely sure. My face starts to heat just thinking about Hunter.

Josh is oblivious to my thoughts, though. He just grins again before he jokes, “You weren’t ready to be kissed when we were eight. You’re still not ready at eighteen.”

I just laugh o his joke before telling him goodnight.

Before I can escape inside the door, he asks for my number. I have no phone contacts except Hunter, so I recite it o for him, seeing no harm in giving my childhood friend my phone number.

He programs me into his phone and then sends me a text with his number so I can add him to my contact list.

“Goodnight, Maddie,” he finally tells me. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.” I can tell by the way he says it he’s not just saying it as one of those platitudes people say. Josh really does want to go out with me again.

“Yeah, sure,” I smile at him. It was nice catching up with my childhood friend, frenemy, whatever you wanted to call him, and while Josh had turned out to be an attractive guy, I’m just not into him that way. I don’t want to be more than friends with him. I still see the boy from the playground when I look at him.

But once I get in the safety of my room, my thoughts turn back to Hunter. I wonder if he’s home and how his meetings and everything went at the o ce. I pick up my phone and debate texting him, but what if he’s not back yet or is busy? I don’t want to distract him, so I place the phone back down on the co ee table, go into the bedroom, and strip down to nothing but my pink bra and panties before I put on the sweatshirt Hunter had covered me up with the first night he’d invited me up. I either sleep in it or cling to it every night, still smelling his scent on it. When I’d o ered to bring it back to him, he’d insisted I keep it.

I intend to take a bath, but I end up drifting o to sleep wrapped up in the warmth of Hunter’s sweatshirt, my phone still in the other room.

CHAPTER 6

Hunter

Red hot rage fills me as I witness the overgrown boy’s hands wrapped around her waist. I stare at the monitor, and my hands tighten around my glass of brandy so tight I’m surprised I don’t break the glass.

His face starts moving down to hers, and I explode, throwing the glass against the wall with a roar. The shatter does nothing to soothe my aggression. I ball my fists and press them against the desk painfully to keep myself from destroying my computer. That won’t do me any good.

I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly when I see her push him away before he can seal his lips over hers. That action by her soothes me somewhat. She didn’t permit him to kiss her.

I keep breathing in and out heavily until she’s finally in her room and that fucker is on the elevator leaving my hotel.

Who the fuck is he?

I’d seen her at a pizzeria earlier via the tracking app I have on my phone. Was she with him? I’d thought it unlikely she’d go out to eat alone.

My frown deepens. If I’d been here, she’d have been up here with me having dinner and lounging in the hot tub like we’d become accustomed to doing every night. Not out galavanting around with little pricks like that who aren’t worthy to kiss the ground she walks on.

I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m gone for one night and someone tries to pick up on her. She’s gorgeous. Of course, men notice her.

In all the time I’ve been watching her, though, I’ve never seen her engage with anyone. Where had she met this guy?

Did she already know him?

I watch her head to her bedroom. I contemplate sending her a text but decide against it. My mood is too volatile right now.

I stare sullenly at the monitor for damn near an hour before I figure she must have fallen asleep. I roll back in my o ce chair and pass a hand over my face before I force myself to stand and head to take a cool shower. Maybe that will douse some of the anger still roiling through me.

I doubt it, though.

Maddie I awaken in a panic and rush to get ready. I can already tell from the sun shining in through my bedroom window that I’m late.

I’d fallen asleep curled up in Hunter’s sweatshirt last night, and I never woke up, so I never got my phone and made sure the alarm was turned on.

I’m on the elevator in record time. When the elevator door pings open, I’m still twisting my hair up. I quickly secure it and then go to Hunter’s door.

For the first time ever, he doesn’t open it before I reach it.

My heart starts thudding harder in my chest. Is he angry that I’m late?

I raise my hand and knock on the door, but when there’s no answer, I try the knob and see that he’d left it unlocked for me.

I step tentatively into his space and make my way over to the o ce. He’s probably already working.

His o ce door is standing wide open, and I slow as I approach it, but his head snaps up immediately, his gaze zoning in on me.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I begin apologizing immediately.

“I left my phone in the living room and overslept.”

Hunter sits back in his chair and appraises me before he comments, “You must have been really tired. What’d you do with your afternoon o ?”

I shrug, “I just walked around the city a bit.” It’s not a lie.

I did walk around the city. I don’t know why I don’t tell Hunter about my childhood friend, but I don’t.

Hunter runs his thumb over his lower lip as he studies me for a moment, and I feel strangely nervous. I haven’t felt this nervous around him since I first met him.

Eventually, he sits up and pushes a stack of papers across his desk at me. He turns back to his computer and doesn’t look at me as he says, “You can begin entering these into the computer.”

My shoulders slump with a mixture of relief and disappointment. Relief that it doesn’t look like he’s going to scold me for my tardiness and disappointment that I’ve obviously disappointed him.

I take the papers and walk over to my desk to begin working.

Heavy silence settles between us, the only thing breaking it the clacking of our fingers on our keyboards. While it’s not

unusual for us to work in silence, there’s usually not this strain between us.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m feeling guilty about not telling him the whole truth or if it’s because he’s truly upset that I showed up late today. I certainly don’t want him to think that I’d ever take advantage of our friendship by slacking o at work.

“Um, Hunter?” I ask him cautiously.

He looks up at me, his green eyes piercing me, but his voice isn’t unkind when he says my name, “Yes, Madison?”

Slow heat unfurls in my belly every time he says my full name. Madison. The way he says it is erotic.

“I have a question about this column,” I confess breathily.

He stands and comes up behind me to peer over my shoulder at my computer screen.

Just then my phone chooses to buzz and a text from Josh flashes up on the screen.

Josh: Hey beautiful. You wanna grab a bite after work?

I can feel Hunter sti en behind me, and I know he saw the text.

I quickly reach out to click the side button of the phone, causing the screen to go black.

Without a word, Hunter reaches over me and taps on the computer keys to fix the issue.

“Thank you,” I say.

He merely straightens and nods, his jaw hard as he walks back over and sits behind his desk, his spine straight and his huge form looking imposing with his muscles taut.

Is he upset that I got a text while I’m at work?

We work in silence for a few more minutes until Hunter breaks it this time.

“Who’s Josh?” he asks, his voice cool.

I hesitate before answering, “He’s just a boy I used to know when I was little.”

Hunter’s jaw is hard, and his eyes are still trained on his computer screen.

“A childhood friend,” I add, “I ran into him yesterday— literally.”

Hunter doesn’t seem to appreciate the humor in the situation. His lips tighten into a thin line, and then he asks, “Is he why you were late today?”

I blink before I sputter, “No, of course not.”

He turns the full force of his gaze on me.

“I told you what happened. I forgot to make sure my alarm was where I could hear it. I’m so sorry I was late, Hunter. It will never happen again,” I tell him earnestly.

He laughs mirthlessly like he doesn’t believe me, and I flush in an uncomfortable mixture of embarrassment and indignation.

“What? You don’t believe me?” I ask him, my voice incredulous.

Hunter’s frown deepens, and his eyes seem to flash. I end up feeling guilty although I know I haven’t really done anything wrong.

I can’t take the scrutiny of his intense stare, so I get up from my desk and head for the door, just needing to escape from him and his probing gaze for a few minutes.

He’s up and around his desk so fast it startles me. Before I ever make it to the door, he’s there slamming it shut and pressing me up against it with his hips anchoring me in place and his hands on either side of my head.

I gasp and look up at him. His forest green eyes are blazing down at me. “Hunter, what are you—“ I start to ask him but then he silences me with a brutal kiss.

His lips crash down onto mine with ferocity, shocking me with their intensity. My first kiss is nothing like I thought it

would be. It’s not sweet and gentle. It’s rough and passionate and all-consuming. Hunter’s like a whirlwind that’s out of control, his tongue licking against my lips until I whimper, my lips parting just enough for his tongue to swoop in and claim my mouth.

He growls and his hands come up to angle my head upward to grant him better access to my mouth. One hand tangles into my hair, releasing it where it’s pinned until it tumbles down, cascading over my shoulders and all around us. His tongue begins stroking against mine, and I feel myself melting in his arms.

He moves one arm down around my waist and tightens it around me to hold me up as I feel my knees buckling. My hands move up between us to fist in his shirt and hold on for dear life.

He gentles his kiss until he’s tasting me languidly, his tongue licking my lips, sending fire shooting to my belly.

He pulls back to allow us to catch a breath, and I suck in a shaky breath, looking up at him and seeing the stark hunger in his eyes as he looks down at me. No man has ever looked at me that way before, and before I think about what I’m doing, I stand up on my tip-toes and press my lips against his again.

It’s like igniting a flame. “Jesus, Maddie,” he groans before he takes my lips again, lifting my legs and pressing himself against my core.

I feel his hard length pulsing against my most intimate of places through our clothes, and wet heat pools between my thighs. I notice how large and hard he feels as I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively.

He holds me in place with one hand on my thigh while the other travels up my waist to my neck to settle on my pulse while his mouth continues to claim mine in a primitive dance that leaves me hot and needy and breathless.

His lips eventually leave mine as he begins to trail wet kisses over my jaw and down to my neck where he licks and sucks and nips the sensitive skin there.

I can’t stop the moans that leave my lips or how my hips begin to rock against him, seeking friction between my legs.

I gasp when I feel sparkles of electricity shoot through me as I rock against him.

“Maddie,” he groans against my neck. “If you keep doing that, I’m not going to be able to control myself.” His shoulders are taut as his whole body seems to quiver with the e ort to hold himself back. The sight gives me a rush of feminine power knowing that I make him like this.

“I don’t want you to,” I admit to him in a whisper.

A shudder wracks through him before he suddenly hoists me up with both hands under my thighs. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on as he opens the o ce door and carries me through his living room and through another door to what must be his bedroom.

I barely take notice of the furnishings as he sits me down on the edge of his massive bed before he kneels before me so that he’s eye level with me.

He reaches out to cup my cheek with his big hand. His thumb strokes over my bottom lip tenderly, and he exhales a shaky breath before he tells me seriously, “If you want to stop, now’s the time to say so, Maddie. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

I look into his earnest eyes, appreciating that he’s thinking about me and what I want. He wants to make sure I’m okay with this.

“And I don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything just because I’m your boss,” he frowns. “That has no bearing on this. You know that, don’t you?”

I nod at him and then reach out with shaky hands to start undoing the buttons of his white dress shirt.

That’s all the encouragement he needs because he captures my lips in another kiss as he pulls my blouse up over my head and flings it to the floor, leaving me in nothing but the lacy red bra I put on this morning.

“Sweet Jesus,” he groans, taking a moment to appreciate my lingerie before his lips come down to meet my skin.

His lips trail kisses over my collarbone down to the swell of my breasts as I continue to work on the buttons of his shirt with fumbling fingers. He eventually has mercy on me and deftly undoes the rest of his buttons, shrugging his shirt o his shoulders.

My hands begin to trace over his hard muscles as he moves one of the cups of my bra away to flick his tongue over my hardened nipple.

I gasp at the sensation, and he grins up at me wickedly before reaching behind me to unsnap my bra, pulling it o me until my naked breasts are exposed to him.

I start to cover myself with my hands, but he intercepts them and raises them above my head, threading his fingers through them as he guides me to lay back on the bed while his mouth traces a line between my breasts, causing my nipples to harden and ache painfully before he finally takes one into his mouth, sending heat shooting straight to my swollen sex.

He begins trailing his lips down my stomach until he gets to the top of my skirt. He puts a hand under my hips to lift me so he can slide my skirt o , leaving me in the red lacy panties that match my bra.

“Sweet girl,” he groans like he’s in physical pain at the sight, his hand trailing over the top hem of the panties before he hooks his finger in them to begin pulling them down.

“Hunter,” I place my hand on his to still him, and he looks up at me with a torn look in his eyes like he’s afraid

I’m going to ask him to stop. “I’ve never—“ I whisper, my cheeks flushing as I’m unable to finish telling him I’ve never had sex before.

His expression softens and something in his eyes darkens.

“I know, baby. I’m going to give you your first orgasm.” He begins slowly slipping my panties from me, never moving his eyes from mine. “Do you trust me, Madison?” he asks me, his eyes looking into mine in that intense way of his.

I nod, “Yes, I trust you.”

“Then lay back, honey,” he tells me, pushing gently on my stomach to guide me back.

I do as he says, and then I feel his lips kissing my stomach again. I relax as he trails kisses over my hips and across the insides of my thighs, only tensing back up when I feel his hot breath over my most sensitive of places.

“Relax, baby,” he tells me. “I promise this will feel good.”

Before I have a chance to ask him just what will feel good, I feel him kiss me there. I gasp at the sensation, and then his hands are on my thighs holding me spread wide before him.

He licks me, and my back arches up at the sensation. He holds me still as he continues to lave at me with his tongue.

He finds this little nub and focuses on it, flicking his tongue over it again and again, sending tickles of pleasure flooding throughout me.

Eventually, I feel him inserting a finger into my wetness, and I initially sti en at the foreign invasion, but he increases the pressure on the point he’s licking, and all I can focus on is the intensity of the pleasure there.

I feel him slip a second finger inside me, and I feel so full I’m almost sobbing. “Hunter,” I whine his name, and he applies suction onto the nub, moving his fingers slowly in and out of me until a wave of pleasure so intense I see stars

crashes over me, causing me to cry out, my hands fisting in the sheets as I arch up toward him.

He continues to lightly lick me until I go lax on the bed, and then he climbs up to settle himself on top of me, kissing me again, fisting his hands in my hair as he does so.

“You taste so fucking sweet, baby,” he whispers against my lips.

I feel that hard part of him pressing against my hip, and I move my hand down between us, pressing my palm against him to feel him.

He’s like granite in my hand and so big he won’t fit in my entire palm.

“Fuck, Maddie,” he groans out before he leans back, his hands going to his slacks to unzip them and free himself.

He quickly shucks his pants, and then he’s towering above me in all his naked male glory.

My eyes are riveted on that hard part of him that’s jutting out from between his thighs. It’s thick and swollen, purple at the tip where moisture is leaking. I reach my hand out to touch him, my fingertips sliding on the flesh that is surprisingly smooth yet so hard.

His flesh jerks under my fingertips, and more liquid oozes from the tip. His stomach muscles clench, and he hisses in a breath before he grabs my wrist, stilling my exploration.

He leans over me and begins kissing me again, his tongue mating with mine, causing me to melt back into the bed. I’d never imagined that kissing could be like this.

I feel the tip of his erection teasing against my core, and I gasp as I feel him slowly pressing into me, stretching me impossibly wide until I feel so full. I whimper at the sensation, and he moves his lips down to lick and suck at my nipples. It’s like a live wire is connecting my nipples and my core because the sensation registers down there, and I become wetter, allowing him to slide even further inside me.

He groans, and I can feel his arms shaking where he’s propped on his elbows above me. He moves one of his hands down between us and begins to stroke that spot he licked earlier, drawing moans from my lips.

He continues to rub me there as he starts pushing into me again, the pressure becoming more intense until he finally grabs my hips with both hands and plunges into me.

My back arches up as I scream at the shredding of my innocence, but Hunter swallows the tail-end of it by kissing me deeply.

“That little pussy is so tight,” he murmurs against my lips. “So perfect, Maddie.”

He’s stroking his hands along the column of my throat, seeking to soothe me while he rains kisses along my jaw, coming back to claim my lips with little nips and sucks.

The pain starts to fade, and then I’m filled with this ache.

I squirm beneath him, causing him to push deeper into me, and his hands fist into the sheets, his muscles taut, as he lets out a croak.

“Not gonna last,” he bites out. “I’ve got to move, Madison,” he tells me before he pulls himself partway out before shoving back inside me again.

I gasp, my most sensitive nerve endings buzzing with a tickling sensation as he continues to pull out and slam back in again, his swollen length stroking something inside me that causes pressure to build within me like before when he’d been licking me except it’s so much more intense.

I moan and arch my hips up to meet his thrusts, seeking more of the sensation, and he wraps an arm behind my back, pulling me close to him. “Mine,” he growls as he looks down at me, his emerald eyes blazing with a possessive light that takes my breath away and causes my core to clench up.

“You’re mine, Maddie. No one else will ever touch you.”

I moan as the pressure within me builds and close my eyes, but he won’t let me succumb to it yet.

“Look at me,” he commands, and my eyes snap open.

“Say it,” he begs desperately, a crazed light in his eyes. “Say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I breath, meaning every word. He pulls me flush against his chest and begins pounding into me relentlessly, his breathing becoming more ragged.

“You’ve got to come for me, sweet girl,” he growls near my ear before he begins sucking and biting on my neck, branding me.

The pressure is building to an impossible crescendo inside me, and then Hunter moves his hand back between us to press hard on my little nub, and I scream, my world crumbling as my muscles contract around him in the most intense pleasure I’ve ever felt.

He follows right behind me, my release triggering his own. He announces his own release with a roar and a curse, and I feel his hot heat searing into my womb, branding me with every powerful blast.

The sensation is enough to cause me to ripple beneath him again, and he pushes into me deep, holding himself there as he continues to spasm, his stomach clenching and his arms shaking around me.

He finally falls onto his side, taking me with him, pulling me against his chest. He drops a kiss onto my forehead and pets me, stroking my hair as his breathing evens out.

I curl up against him, content to lay in his arms forever.

CHAPTER 7

Hunter

I keep her with me for the rest of the day. I tell Martin I’m not to be disturbed by anything relating to work unless it’s a dire emergency. I want to spend every second with her. We go swimming naked, and then I fuck her in the hot tub before I make love to her slowly on the lounge chair.

I can’t get enough of her, and thank God she doesn’t seem to mind. If the way she kisses me back and lifts her little hips up to meet mine when I’m balls deep in her are any indication, I’d say she loves surrendering to me.

Mine. She’s finally all mine.

“Stay here with me tonight,” I whisper against her ear.

She trembles, and I revel in the knowledge that I can make her breath hitch.

“I need to go get some clothes,” she says, putting a hand on my chest.

I place my hand atop hers, capturing it there. “Why? You won’t be wearing any.”

She blushes prettily, and I kiss her eyes, my chest swelling with protectiveness.

Fuck if I don’t want to hold her in my arms and never let her go.

“But I’ll at least need some clothes to wear tomorrow.”

“Maddie, you can work naked for all I care. In fact, I’d prefer it that way. In fact, I’d prefer to have you naked all the time.”

Her mouth drops open in a little “o,” and I laugh.

Her lips finally tilt up in a teasing grin as she says, “I don’t think we’d ever get any work done, though.”

I pull her into my lap and wrap my arms loosely around her hips, “True.”

She twists away from me and leaps from my lap, bending to scoop her clothes up from the floor. She starts putting them on, and I frown at her.

“I’ll just be a minute,” she reassures me.

I stand and slip on my pants. “You want me to come with you?”

She shakes her head. “No, that’s okay. I’m just going to run down really quick, grab what I need, and then I’ll be right back up.”

She stands up on her tip-toes to brush a light kiss across my lips, but then she flits away before I can deepen the kiss.

I growl in frustration, but she simply giggles. I let her go and walk into my o ce to watch her on the cameras and make sure she gets to her room okay. I realize she’s only one floor down from me, but I can’t stop my obsession. You’d think that finally claiming her would calm the beast within me, but it only made it worse. If anything, I’m even that much more obsessed and protective of her.

I’m watching her flit around her room adorably before she goes into the bedroom and I can’t see her anymore.

I lean back in chair waiting for her to reemerge, but then I curse when I see that boy get o the elevator. His pompous

ass is moseying down the hall, and I know exactly where he’s headed.

I’m up and out the door before I even have a moment to think about my rash decision.

She’s mine. Mine. And I don’t want this little fuck anywhere near her.

I’m down the elevator in less than a minute, but by that time he’s already at her door. She’s got the door open, and she’s talking to him. I can’t hear what they’re saying over the insane roaring in my head, and then he reaches out and touches her hip.

My vision goes red, and I’m upon him in a second, my hand grabbing the back of his collar and yanking him away from her.

“Hunter!” she screeches as I press him up against the wall, glaring down at him menacingly.

“Hey man, what’s your problem?” he asks, his hands splayed wide as if he’s innocent. As if he didn’t just have his horny hands on her.

“Hunter,” Maddie tentatively touches my arm, and I look down at her. “This is my childhood friend, Josh,” she explains.

“I know damn well who he is,” I snarl before I can check myself.

Her brow furrows. “How do you know that?”

Instead of answering, I release the fucker.

He frowns, looking between us. “Hunter?” he looks at her. “You’re on a first-name basis with your boss.”

Her face colors, and I take a step in front of her to block him from looking at her.

He takes a step back at my stony expression, and I step back to wrap an arm around Maddie.

His eyes widen slightly as he receives the message, and then he frowns before glancing at Maddie. “Well, uh, I’m

gonna go now. Text me sometime, Maddie.”

I growl, and he glances at me again before scurrying back to the elevator.

“What the hell was that about, Hunter?” Maddie’s eyes are flashing fire up at me, but I look back down at her, nonplussed.

“He had his hands on you,” I state simply as if that explains everything.

“He’s just an old friend,” she says stubbornly, and I just look at her knowingly.

“You know he wants to be more than that, Madison.”

Her cheeks color, and she doesn’t deny it.

I lift her chin up, forcing her hazel eyes to meet mine. “I won’t share you with anyone,” I warn her.

A shiver passes through her frame, but she doesn’t pull away from me.

I nod to her open door. “You got your shit?”

She frowns at my tone, but dammit, I can’t help it. My emotions are raw, and my aggression is still right under the surface at seeing another man’s hands on her.

“Maybe I should just stay here tonight,” she says carefully.

“Like hell you will,” I curse.

Her eyes narrow at me and she takes a step back, so I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“You’ll stay with me from now on, baby.” I’ll be damned if I was going to let her go now that I’d had a taste of her.

“Please,” I add when she hesitates.

I feel some of the tension leave my shoulders when she nods her acceptance. It hadn’t mattered whether she agreed or not. I was going to have her with me from now on one way or another, but I’d rather have her willing.

I walk into her room, pick up her small bag and sling it over my shoulder before I take her hand and lead her over to

the elevator to take her back up to my penthouse.

I’d have someone move all her belongings up tomorrow.

Maddie Hunter’s fierce possessiveness and volatility had frightened me. When he’d grabbed Josh and flung him against the wall like a rag doll, he’d been all menace.

Josh had come by to check on me since I hadn’t responded to any of his texts. Apparently he’d sent me others since that first one this morning, but I hadn’t seen them of course since I’d been otherwise preoccupied making love with Hunter all day.

Hunter had always been intense and a bit intimidating, but I’d never really seen that side of him that Josh had talked about him being known for until today.

I push all worrisome thoughts away, though. Hunter would never be like that with me, though. He’s always nothing but gentle and nice with me.

Until today that is when he’d fiercely kissed me. But that hadn’t been bad. It hadn’t been bad at all. It had led to him taking my virginity in the most delicious way. And now he wants me with him all the time—outside of work and friendship.

We’d barely gotten back through the door before Hunter’s lips were all over me again, claiming me with fierce possessiveness. I can’t say that I disliked the way he seemed to lose his head over me. Mine, he chanted as he drove into me over and over again before marking the inside of my womb with his seed.

He has me pulled up against him now, my back to his chest and his arm over my waist, holding me wrapped

securely up against him. His warm breath fans over my hair where he sleeps. I love the solid feel of him, how big he is around me, how safe I feel with him. I love being wanted by him.

I don’t want to get up, but my bladder is demanding my attention, so I slip from his arms as quietly as I can so as not to wake him.

He doesn’t stir as I get up and pad over to the bathroom to relive myself. When I’m done, I pull on the robe that’s hanging on a hook in his bathroom and regard myself in the mirror.

My lips are swollen from all his kisses, and my hair is mussed in a just-fucked way. I run my fingers through it and shake it out behind me, noticing the marks on my neck.

I pull the collar of the robe to the side and lightly run my fingers over the marks, my skin shivering with goosebumps at the remembrance of him licking and sucking me there while he’d been filling me.

Awake now and knowing I won’t be able to go back to sleep for a while yet, I slip out of the bedroom and go to Hunter’s o ce to retrieve my phone.

I don’t plan on texting Josh, but I’m curious about the texts he’d sent—not because I have any romantic feelings for him or anything. I just wonder what he’d said that had precipitated him showing up at my door unannounced.

When I step into the o ce to grab my phone, I see light shining from behind Hunter’s desk where his monitor is still on.

I walk over to his desk to turn his monitor o for him, but my steps falter when I see what’s on the screen.

It looks like a surveillance system, but the spaces being watched look eerily familiar. I stare in horror as the realization dawns on me.

That’s my living room, my balcony, my kitchen, the hallway leading to my room. My shaking hand clicks out of the window to reveal another open window. There’s a folder with my name on it, and I can’t help clicking on it.

Countless pictures of me pop up. Pictures of me unawares.

Pictures of me walking down the street. Pictures of me working at Mr. Turino’s hotel.

Cold terror laces down my spine. Hunter has been watching me all this time. No, he’s been stalking me.

Stalking. That’s what this is.

My mind races back to the man o ering me a job out of nowhere, Hunter pulling me up here and o ering me a job as his personal assistant. It was more than good luck.

This had all been planned. He’d manipulated every bit of this. He’d manipulated me.

How stupid and naive I’ve been to think the universe had just given me a lucky break.

He’d said he already knew who Josh was. That statement suddenly clicks. This is how he’d known. He’d already seen him.

I sense him in the doorway before I see him. When I look up at him, I can tell by his grim expression he already knows I’ve discovered him.

“How long?” I whisper, my voice shaky and tears pricking my eyes at his betrayal, at this huge breach in my privacy.

“Maddie…” he says.

“How long have you been watching me?” my voice raises in a half shriek.

He doesn’t answer, and I guess he doesn’t need to. The evidence is right in front of me.

I step back away from the computer, releasing the mouse like it had burned me. Hunter takes a step toward me, and I panic. I tried to race around him, but he moves quickly, grabbing my arms and turning me to face him.

“This changes nothing between us, Maddie. I’m still the same man you’ve known all these weeks,” his eyes bore down into mine with a feverish light.

I shake my head. No, I don’t know him at all. “Let me go,” I beg him, trying to twist out of his hold, but his hands only tighten on me.

“I can’t do that,” he rasps. “You’re mine, Maddie.”

A sob catches in my throat as my mind races with everything we’ve shared. Working in his home o ce together, swimming in his pool together, relaxing in his hot tub, chatting over dinners, him coaxing more pleasure from me than I ever knew my body was capable of.

“I don’t know you at all,” I sob.

“Yes, you do,” he tells me fiercely. “I’m the same man who can’t get enough of you. The same man who loves you so fiercely he’d do anything to protect you.”

I shake my head, my tears coming faster now. “Love? You can’t love me.” If he loved me, he wouldn’t have spied on me. He wouldn’t have invaded my privacy. He wouldn’t have broken my trust.

“I do,” he insists. “I’ve loved you ever since I first looked into your beautiful, innocent eyes, Madison. I knew I’d do anything to protect you, and that’s why I started watching you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That’s why I gave you a job here. I couldn’t stand the thought of you in that shithole. You deserve so much better than that, baby. I just wanted you to be safe. I just wanted more for you.” He looks down at where his hands are still gripping my arms and he relaxes his hold before his eyes come back to burn into mine. “But having you so close and yet so far away was torture. I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life, Maddie. I wanted you more than my next breath. I know that what I did might be conceived as morally

wrong, but I’m not sorry I did it, baby. I’d do it all over again to make sure you were safe, to have you be mine.”

I can’t stop crying, my heart breaking at his words, but my mind is telling me that this isn’t right.

“I love you, Madison,” his voice breaks at his admission, and that causes my heart to wrench painfully in my chest.

“I’ll do anything to prove it to you.”

“Just let me go,” I cry softly. “If you really love me, let me go.”

He stares down at me, the look in his eyes torn. “Maddie, I…” his throat works, and then he looks down. “I would never hurt you, Maddie.”

Something inside me knows that and recognizes it as truth, but I don’t tell him that. I need space. I need time to process this.

When I don’t say anything, he finally releases me, taking a step back from me. I feel a confusing mixture of relief and despondency at the loss of his touch. It’s like an ocean is separating us.

I stare up at him with tear-stained cheeks, and he stares back down at me solemnly, his expression torn and ragged.

Without another word, I turn and walk away from him. I don’t even bother grabbing my clothes. I head straight for the elevator and go to my room. I don’t remember seeing a camera in my bedroom, so that’s where I go. I close the door and slide down it until I crumple on the floor with my head in my hands, my shoulders shaking with sobs.

Hunter It’s been one day since she’s locked herself up in her bedroom. I know because I’ve been checking the cameras

almost nonstop.

I guess she noticed I don’t have a camera in her bedroom or bathroom, so she’s chosen to barricade herself up in there so I can’t see her at all.

It’s the cruelest form of punishment she could condemn me to. I’ve gotten used to seeing her whenever I wish, and now to be denied the sight of her is killing me.

My stomach is in knots, and there’s a persistent ache in my chest.

Maybe I’d gone about it all the wrong way. Maybe I should have whisked her away the moment I first saw her.

Maybe I should have asked her out like a normal man, but what if she’d said no? Would I have been able to handle it?

I’m a business man, a problem solver, a thinker. I devise a strategy and go after what I want to make sure I get it. I manipulate business dealings and situations to go my way.

I’d treated Maddie like another one of my business deals, trying to manipulate everything in my favor. No wonder she hates me.

That thought tears at my gut. I can’t bear the thought that my sweet Maddie hates me. What’s worse is the thought that I was the one to damage her innocent outlook on the world. She was so pure, so special, and I ripped her to shreds with my selfishness.

I frown as I continue to watch the empty screen. I’m seriously wishing I had put a camera in her room just so I could verify that she’s okay.

I had food sent up to her room all day yesterday, but she refused to come to the door and get it. When I see room service knock on her door and then go away without her answering again, something snaps within me.

I’ll be damned if she’s going to starve herself to death just to punish me.

I push up from my desk and storm to the elevator. Of course, I have a key to her room, and I have no qualms about using it now if she doesn’t answer the door for me.

I at least give her a chance first. I pound on her door loudly enough that I know she’ll hear me. Hell, it’s loud enough for people down the hall to hear me because a woman sticks her head out of her door and frowns down the hall at me.

“Stick your head back in your room and mind your own goddamn business,” I bark at her, in no mood to deal with anyone’s shit.

She sputters before she says indignantly, “I’ll have you know I will be taking this up with the manager.”

My mouth crooks up into a sardonic grin as I tell her, “You’re looking at him. I’m the owner of this hotel. Mr. Channing at your service.” I give her a mocking bow, living up to every ounce of my reputation as a notorious bastard.

Her face flushes crimson, and she sputters some more before she retreats back into her room and slams the door shut.

I turn back to bang on Maddie’s door again. Of course, nothing. I pull her key from my pocket, slide it over the door, and admit myself when the lock beeps open.

“Maddie,” I warn her as I stomp across her living room to her bedroom door, “I’m coming in.”

She doesn’t say anything, and I hear nothing from her side of the door, so I push the door open and walk in.

My eyes instantly hone in on her small form. She’s curled up in a ball on the bed, wearing my sweatshirt. She looks like a crippled bird.

All of my anger leaves me in a whoosh as I stalk slowly over to her. “Maddie,” I say her name gently as I crouch down to brush her hair back from her forehead.

Her eyes peer up at me brokenly, devoid of their pure, shining light they always had, and my heart clenches within my chest painfully. I did this to her. I crushed her.

She looks away from me, staring straight ahead of her at some unknown point on the wall. I continue to pet her, like I’m soothing a timid kitten, and she shudders under my hands. “You’ve got to eat something, baby.”

“There are cameras out there,” she says quietly.

“I know, sweetheart,” that ache in my chest increases.

“I’ll have them all removed if it’ll make you feel better.”

Her hands are balled up under her little chin, and she looks so frail and helpless laying there like that.

“I know you hate me, Maddie, but you’ve got to eat something, honey,” my voice breaks. I hate seeing her like this.

Her eyes finally come back to me, and her voice is small when she admits, “I don’t hate you.”

Despite myself, her small admission eases something within me.

I search her eyes, drinking in the glimmers of every color there. They’re constantly changing, sometimes the hints of emerald glowing more and sometimes the flecks of gold taking prominence.

I could watch the colors flicker and shift in them all day.

She cuddles deeper down into my sweatshirt, and I notice once again how it engulfs her. My little goddess is so tiny, and it causes my need to protect her to swell up within me again.

She begins to speak quietly, explaining, “I’ve been thinking about everything and I,” her eyes flick up to me, “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

My shoulders relax even more, my relief that she knows that palpable.

She moves to sit up, and I sit back, giving her space as she crosses her legs and sits on the bed facing me where I’m still crouching on the floor in front of her.

“You changed my life in a good way,” she continues. “I’d probably still be scrubbing toilets at Mr. Turino’s crummy old hotel if it hadn’t been for you. Am I still pissed that you’ve been stalking me all this time?”

I hold my breath as I await her answer.

“Kind of,” she admits before she licks her lips and goes on, “But I finally realized why your deceit hurt so much. It’s because…” she fumbles over her words and then takes a deep breath as if she’s bracing herself for what she’s going to say next before she continues, “it’s because I love you too.”

I search her eyes for a moment, trying to gauge whether she really said what I think she just did.

I speak very slowly, only hanging onto my control by a thin thread, “Think very hard about what you’re saying, Maddie, because if you mean what you say, there’s no going back. You will be mine. Forever.” I make my intentions clear to her, and I’m dead serious. “You’ll be staying with me from now on, and I’ll probably still be this obsessed with you years from now. I can’t help it though, baby,” My arms are shaking with the need to hold her, but I want to make sure she knows what’s she’s getting herself into. I can never go halfway with her. It will be all or nothing.

“You mean you’ll still stalk me?” she asks warily.

“I’ll still want to know where you are at all times to make sure you’re safe,” I clarify. “That doesn’t mean you won’t have any freedom. I’ll just expect you to keep your phone with you, so I can see where you are. It’s not that I don’t trust you, Madison.”

Her eyes seem to comprehend for the first time that the phone was a way to track her, but fortunately, the new

knowledge doesn’t seem to anger her. She doesn’t seem surprised by it at all.

“You’re so intense,” she whispers.

“About you, yeah,” I admit, still holding myself back.

She studies me for another moment before she bites her lip and then whispers them again, the words that make it so I can finally breath right again, “I love you, Hunter.”

And then I break. I gather her to me and crush her against my chest.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know, Maddie,” I croak out before placing a kiss on the top of her hair. I’ll do anything for her. Anything within my power to make her happy from here on out. She’ll never cry again, I vow.

She wraps her little arms around my neck, and I claim her lips possessively, putting all the love I feel for her in the kiss.

She melts beneath me and lets out a tiny mewl, and while I’d like nothing more than that take her right now, I’m more concerned that she hasn’t eaten anything for a whole day.

I pull back from her, silencing her whimper of protest with a finger to her lush lips. “Let me feed you, kitten.”

“Okay,” she agrees.

I pick her up and carry her out to the kitchen where I set her down on the counter before I open up her fridge and frown at the slim choices of food she has there.

“No wonder you’re so tiny. You don’t keep any food around,” I grumble.

I close her fridge and pull my phone out of my pocket to order something to be brought up, then I go to stand between her legs, putting my hands on her hips where she sits on the counter, craving the feel of her beneath my hands, drinking in the sight of her I’ve been deprived of for more than twenty-four hours. “I’ve missed you, baby,” I tell her.

“I missed you too, Hunter,” she confesses.

“Don’t ever lock yourself away from me like that again,” I tell her.

She raises her lips up and kisses me before she says, “I won’t. I missed the pool and hot tub too much.”

I throw my head back and laugh at the teasing smile on her face, thankful beyond words that she’s forgiven me enough to make jokes again. “Wait until I get you back in the hot tub,” I promise her darkly.

“I don’t know if I can goof o today. My boss might have a problem with that,” she flirts. “I missed work yesterday, you know. I might be in trouble.”

“I think he might be lenient on you,” I grin back at her before pressing my swollen length against her wet heat. “He might even give you a raise,” I let my voice drip with innuendo.

She raises her lips up to meet mine eagerly as I claim them in a way that lets her know in no uncertain terms that she’s mine.

Forever.

EPILOGUE

Seven Years Later Maddie

I watch my husband carrying our three-year-old son on his shoulders. Conner giggles with boyish delight, and my heart warms at the sight of my two men.

Hunter catches my gaze, and his eyes go verdant green, glinting with the look of a predator eyeing up its prey. That look never fails to send shivers racing up and down my spine.

He crouches and swings Conner o his shoulders, setting him down before telling him conspiratorially, “I think Vera was baking cookies. Why don’t you go check it out and see if she has any?”

Conner’s eyes go wide at the prospect of cookies, and he scurries o toward the kitchen where his nanny awaits.

Hunter stands and peeks into the kitchen to make sure Conner found Vera, and the gesture touches my heart. He’s just as protective of our son as he is of me.

Once he’s confirmed Conner is with Vera, he turns back to me, a wicked gleam in his eyes as she begins stalking over to the desk where I’m still balancing the company’s ledger.

Once I’d fully surrendered to Hunter and agreed to be his, he’d done his best to give me everything I ever wanted.

I’d wanted to go to college, so he’d made it happen. Of course, I hadn’t lived on campus or anything, and I hadn’t wanted to. I’d stayed with Hunter in our penthouse suite, and he had a driver take to me my classes. I took some classes online.

Turns out he’d never really needed a personal assistant.

That had all been a ruse just to get closer to me, but he did need a good accountant, and when college became a real possibility, that’s what I decided to major in. It was perfect because I got to indulge my love of working with figures, and I still got to keep working with my husband.

Maybe our relationship is a bit unconventional in the sense that Hunter needs to be with me so much, but I’m not bothered by that at all. Truth be told, I love how obsessed he is with me and how he wants to be with me a lot. I’d miss him if we didn’t work together every day. I do miss him terribly on those days he has to go into the o ce for meetings. But when he goes on business trips, he always takes me with him. I love it when we go to L.A. and spend time together as a family, Conner playing in the sand while Hunter and I walk hand in hand along the shoreline.

“What’s got that dreamy look in your eyes, Madison?”

Hunter asks me as he finally finishes prowling over to me and wraps his arms around me from behind, peering over my shoulder at the computer screen. “Surely balancing our ledgers doesn’t give you that much pleasure.” He chuckles before placing a hot kiss on my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

“I was just thinking of how much I love my sexy boss,” I admit.

I feel his grin as he chuckles again, “Well, I think he’s been working you too hard. It’s time for you to take a break.”

He spins my chair around until I’m facing him and captures my lips in a deep kiss as his hands find their way under my skirt to probe against my slick folds.

I moan at the contact, already wet and aching for him. He pulls back to grin down at me wickedly, knowing what he does to me, but I know how to make him lose control.

My hands reach for his pants, and he stands to give me access to what I want. I undo his belt and then unzip him to reveal his hard flesh. It springs into my hand, and he groans as I fist him in my palm.

I place a tiny kiss on the tip, my tongue just lightly flicking out to gather up the salty sweet moisture leaking from it. He jerks against my lips, and now it’s my turn to smile up at him wickedly.

His eyes are half-lidded with lust as he gazes down at me.

“You’re going to kill me, Maddie,” he growls.

I take mercy on him and slide him into my mouth, going all the way down on him until he hits the back of my throat, letting out a little hum of satisfaction when I feel him jerk within my mouth.

“Fuck,” he groans as he throws his head back, his hands fisting in my hair as I begin to slide my mouth up and down his hard length, sucking and slurping on him as I do so.

He only lets me do it for a few seconds before he jerks out of my mouth and yanks me up from the chair, his lips crashing down on mine.

“You’ve gotten too good at that, honey,” he whispers against my lips in between nips as he raises my skirt up to my waist, “but I want more. I need to be in my tight little pussy.”

The way he claims me before he ever enters me by saying my tight little pussy doesn’t go unnoticed by me. My sex clenches on open air in anticipation before he hoists me onto the edge of the desk and plows into me with one hard thrust.

I cry out and cling to him as he saws in and out of me desperately.

“Who do you belong to?” he asks in between ragged breaths as he continues to pummel me.

The pressure is building deliciously within me, and I know I’m on the verge of shattering. I can do nothing but moan, but that’s not good enough for him.

He stops moving in me, causing me to whimper in distress. “Whose are you?” he asks me again, his green eyes blazing down into mine with an almost feral heat.

“Yours,” I cry, half sobbing. “Hunter, please…” I beg, wanting him to move within me again and give me the release my body needs.

“Mine,” he croaks as he burrows his face against my neck and bites the sensitive flesh there. His possessive branding of my skin causes me to erupt, my sex flowering open around him, and he groans as his spills his own release into me, spurting long and deep.

Still sheathed inside me, he steals my o ce chair with me straddling him.

“You definitely deserve a raise,” he grins up at me, and I tighten my muscles around him, causing him to surge inside me once more. I feel him release another jet of seed inside me as he breaths in a hiss.

“Good because I’m going to need one with another mouth to feed,” I tell him with a smile.

He stills and stares up at me, comprehending my meaning before a huge smile breaks out his face. “You’re pregnant again?” he asks me.

I nod, my hair bouncing around my face.

Hunter grabs the nape of my neck and pulls my lips down to meet his for a bruising kiss not unlike our first one, and I go pliant in his arms, surrendering to him all over again.

THE END

More from Emma Bray The Stalker’s Obsession An innocent girl. A reclusive billionaire. One fateful collision.

She bumped into me on the street, and now I'll never be the same. I'm obsessed with everything about her, and now I can't stop watching her. She's innocent and all alone, and I'll do anything to protect her. Even if that means I have to watch her from the shadows.

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