Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires Book 1) Read online

  He was right. But liking Eli Stone was not an option for me. If I did, I’d be totally screwed. “I’m here to be your survival instructor. I don’t have to like you.”

  He leaned forward and pressed his body against mine, his warm breath wafting across my ear as he said in a low, hungry tone, “You know what I think? I’m pretty sure you want a man who can instruct you for a change. I think you crave a guy who can actually make you submit and focus on nothing but pleasure.”

  “I don’t!” I exclaimed, trying not to notice how good it felt when his teeth nipped at my ear and he soothed it with his tongue.

  Heat raced between my thighs, and my heart was thundering as Eli moved back enough to look at me. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be satisfied, Jade. You should demand it.”

  My mind was racing, trying to figure out how Eli could instinctively know what I wanted.

  Maybe I did want to be with a man I didn’t have to worry about intimidating.

  And God, I really did want him to overwhelm me just like he was doing right now.

  “Admit that you want me. I already know you do, but I want to hear it,” he said in a persuasive tone.

  I glared up at him even though my body was pleading for me to let Eli do any damn thing he wanted. “Dream on. I refuse to stroke your ego. I’m not going to give in to some kind of crazy lust I don’t understand. It would never make me happy.”

  Okay. It might temporarily assuage my need, but I know I’d regret it if I let Eli get me into his bed for a one-nighter.

  He grinned, a wicked, sultry smile that made my body scream for his touch. “I think it would make you extremely happy,” he countered. “And the last thing I want you to stroke is my damn ego. I just want you to admit that you feel the same way I do. I know how to satisfy a woman, Jade. And I’d leave you so satiated that you’d never forget the experience. Give me a chance to show you how ecstatic you could be after you’ve been in my bed.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but forgot every word I wanted to utter as Eli swooped down and captured my mouth.

  For just a moment, I sank into the embrace that I craved, opening to him with a moan as his sensual kiss consumed me.

  He’d been right.

  I did want this.

  I did want him.

  I wanted him to take over so I could just feel the pleasure that was coursing through my body, enjoy the sensation of his mouth devouring mine.

  Eli didn’t do anything halfheartedly, and kissing was no exception. His embrace was breathtaking. And probably addictive.

  He lifted his head, the embrace nothing more than a tease of what could be if I’d just say the word.

  Yes.

  “Let me go,” I said as I pushed against his chest again. “I don’t want to be controlled.”

  “I don’t want to control you,” he said huskily. “I want to be the man that you trust to take care of your needs.”

  He stepped back and I scrambled to the trail, with Eli right behind me.

  My breathing was ragged, and I stopped for a moment to focus on getting air in and out of my lungs smoothly.

  Eli stepped in front of me. “I don’t want to hurt you, Jade. I never did. I feel the same things you do.”

  I looked up at him. “We don’t have to act on the desire. What’s the point? For just a little temporary relief? I can do that to myself.”

  Never in my life had I spoken to a guy about getting myself off, but Eli made me dare to say things I otherwise wouldn’t.

  Truthfully, I really didn’t masturbate very much. I’d always been so exhausted from school and work that the time I got to myself was mostly for sleep.

  “I’d like to watch,” he said. “And then I could show you how down and dirty really should feel.”

  “You’re assuming I don’t know.”

  He shook his head. “I know you don’t.”

  How in the hell does he know?

  In reality, I had no idea how to do dirty things. But dammit, Eli tempted me to explore every one of those options.

  My craving for him terrified me, and I wasn’t sure why. Lots of women were perfectly capable of jumping into a man’s bed just to satisfy an itch. And Eli Stone was much more than an irritation. He was a full-blown rash that I needed to scratch so hard that my skin would become raw.

  “Drop it,” I insisted. “I don’t screw a guy and walk away. It’s not my thing.”

  I turned and started making my way back to camp.

  “I wouldn’t let you walk away if you said yes, Jade,” Eli warned as he fell into step beside me. “Neither one of us would be satisfied with a one-nighter. I’d need to be inside you over and over again before I could get you out of my system. One taste would never be enough for either one of us.”

  “I’m cutting this trip short right now if you don’t stop,” I said desperately.

  Sweet baby Jesus! Eli needed to shut up before I did something I knew I’d regret.

  I wasn’t casual about sex.

  I’d only been with one man.

  And I knew I’d hate myself if I gave in to Eli Stone.

  Problem was, I could also end up regretting not experiencing what this man could do to me, even if it just happened once.

  Later, was I going to wish I’d felt what it was like to truly experience a mind-blowing orgasm like I instinctively knew Eli could give me?

  He was silent as we walked, and I didn’t trust myself to speak as we arrived back at camp.

  By the time we’d hiked back, my brain was finally functional again.

  Deep inside, I knew that I wasn’t really afraid of having a fling with a man who could bring me nothing but pleasure.

  But I was terrified that when it ended, I’d never be the same.

  CHAPTER 5

  JADE

  Later that evening, I realized that there was one good thing about Eli buying out all my spots in the class: it left a ton of s’mores for us to eat without other students around.

  Eli hadn’t said another word about our personal dilemma, and I certainly hadn’t encouraged him. In fact, I’d been relieved when he’d asked me about other methods of getting fire if there was no fire starter available.

  I’d taught him how to make a bow drill and a hand drill. Surprisingly, he’d been able to get an ember with both of them. By the time we’d finished, it was dinnertime.

  Since it was only an overnight beginner class, I’d pulled out the hot dogs and s’more fixings for dinner.

  “Mine is done,” I said as I watched my marshmallow turn a nice golden brown.

  Eli chuckled as he handed over the graham crackers and chocolate. “You like to eat,” he said with humor in his voice. “I think you’re the most unusual woman I’ve ever met.”

  Yeah. Okay. So I had downed several hot dogs before I’d started in on the s’mores. I’d stopped counting how many I’d inhaled after the first few.

  I turned my head and glared at him. We had a nice fire going, and I could see the glint of amusement in his eyes.

  I shrugged. “I do like to eat. I’ve never been a woman who could exist on salad and water. And I burn a lot of calories. But what’s so strange about that?”

  Expertly, I slid the marshmallow between the crackers to melt the chocolate, giving the treat a good smash after it was in place.

  “Nothing,” he answered. “I like it because I love food myself. I guess I’ve just never found a woman who liked it as much as I do.”

  I moved from a kneeling position and plopped my ass on the ground beside him. I’d noticed that Eli could consume more food than I could, and that was saying something.

  “I have four brothers,” I said, like the statement explained everything. “They all love to eat, but there was a time when we didn’t have enough money to feed all of us. Now that I have the money, I think I’m making up for lost time.”

  “What did you do when you couldn’t all eat?” he asked.

  “We survived. We rationed until we could get en
ough money to buy more groceries.”

  I took a big bite of my cooled-down s’more and closed my eyes as the sweet taste exploded on my tongue.

  After being poor and hungry, I guess I appreciated food more than most people.

  “What happened to your parents?” he said in a husky voice.

  I opened my eyes, only to realize he was watching me intently. I swallowed before I answered, “My mom died when we were young. Noah was barely out of high school, but he still managed to keep us all together. We never really knew my father.”

  It was still hard to talk about the man who had sired us. We’d gotten to know our father through Evan and his siblings, and none of it was good. He’d been a mean, abusive man, and I actually felt lucky that he’d never been around much.

  After I consumed the rest of my dessert, I licked my fingers until they weren’t sticky anymore.

  When I looked up, I could see the ravenous expression on Eli’s face.

  I held out the box of crackers and the chocolate. “Do you want more?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  The tension between us was still there, but the discomfort had eased for a while during the period that I was teaching him some new skills. Now it was back with a vengeance.

  I looked away from him, unable to keep my eyes locked with his without falling under his seductive spell.

  “So will you tell me about how you ended up sharing the same father with the East Coast Sinclairs now?” he asked huskily.

  I let out a quiet sigh, glad he was at least trying to make normal conversation. “Only if you can keep it a secret. It’s not like we’re hiding it, or that it’s in any way our fault, but gossip gets out of control. I already have every local guy in Citrus Beach trying to date me for my money, and some reporters have started hounding me for my story.”

  Now that Brooke had been home and found out about her inheritance, there wasn’t much danger in telling Eli the truth. It had already leaked. But I didn’t exactly want the whole world to know.

  “I’d never repeat anything you tell me in confidence, Butterfly.”

  Strangely, I believed him. “It’s not a pretty story. Martin Sinclair married his first wife and started a family on the East Coast. But he also married my mother after he already had a few children with his first wife.”

  “His first wife? He had two?”

  “My father was a bigamist. I have no idea why he married my mother when he already had a wife. But I don’t think my mother knew until he was already dead. She never told any of us the whole story before she passed away from an aggressive cancer.”

  “So none of you had any way of knowing that you shared blood with a rich and powerful family,” he concluded.

  I shook my head. “Not until I decided to do an ancestry DNA test. Since I love primitive survival, I wanted to see if I had any Native American blood. Really, we had no way of knowing my father’s ancestral origins. So I was curious about our heritage on his side. There was a sale on the test, so I decided to go for it.”

  “So you matched with one of your half-siblings?”

  “Evan. The oldest.”

  “I know him,” Eli revealed. “Not well, but we’ve had some business dealings together. He is a cocky bastard, but not a bad guy.”

  I finally turned my head and smiled at him. “I think most of it is bravado with Evan. He put his DNA on the sites because he had suspicions that he might have more family in the world somewhere. When he settled his father’s estate, he put a portion of our father’s fortune aside and kept it growing in case we were ever found. That’s a lot more than most rich people would ever do for their father’s bastard kids.”

  “Agreed,” Eli mused. “I guess he’s a lot nicer than I thought.”

  “And look who’s talking about being cocky,” I said. “You’re not exactly humble or considerate yourself. Is that a billionaire thing?”

  “Is your conclusion because I left you waiting at my office?”

  I nodded.

  “Believe it or not, I’m actually very punctual. I have to keep a tight, organized schedule. But we had a crisis that day that forced me to push your appointment back. A lot of people were about to lose their jobs. Sometimes emergencies happen.”

  “Somebody could have told me,” I argued.

  “I told them not to. I was afraid you’d leave if you knew I was going to be tied up,” he confessed with a mischievous grin.

  Dammit. He was giving me that panty-dropping smile again, and damned if I wasn’t ready to let go of my sensible cotton briefs because of it.

  “I really want that land, Eli,” I said in a hesitant voice, determined to change the subject. “I promise I’ll take care of it.”

  I didn’t want to get into an argument again about him leaving me in his waiting room for an hour. I had a feeling he was sincere about what held him up, and if he really had to save jobs, it was well worth the wait I’d had to deal with while he did it.

  But I had my opportunity to try to convince him to part with the backcountry property I wanted, and I was going to take my best shot.

  As a pained expression passed over his face, I was almost sorry I’d started up the conversation again. “I can’t, Jade,” he answered sternly.

  “Why?”

  “It’s personal,” he grumbled. “And I still don’t entirely understand why you want it.”

  I took a deep breath. “Like I said, it’s an important wildlife corridor. If the land gets developed someday, the wildlife could end up trapped, and they could start inbreeding because they don’t have access to a wider genetic pool. Tons of species use that passage to expand their territory, and the backcountry is important to me. I grew up exploring there. It’s what got me interested in ecology and wildlife in the first place.”

  He was quiet for a minute before he asked, “Inbreeding? Like the mountain lions in Santa Monica?”

  I was surprised he’d even paid attention to that, or knew about it. Most people outside the wildlife field weren’t aware of it. “That’s a very good example. Everything built up around the mountain lions, and they had no open corridors, so they were essentially trapped. Inbreeding can lead to congenital defects, and it threatens the entire population there. If there’s no genetic diversity, they’ll likely become extinct in that area.”

  “I’ll protect it, Jade. I’ll never develop it,” he answered hoarsely. “But I can’t sell.”

  He sounded so troubled that I dropped the subject. “Okay.”

  I wanted to push him for the reasons why he’d refused to sell, but the desperate tone of his voice told me it was something highly personal.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, but it wasn’t an uneasy quiet.

  Finally, I asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to learn before we head out tomorrow?”

  “A lot of things, actually,” he said in an earnest tone. “I’d like to pick your brain some more. You’re as intelligent as you are beautiful.”

  “I wish you’d stop saying things like that,” I blurted out.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’ve known far more attractive women, so it makes me uncomfortable. I’m okay with who I am, so I don’t need fake compliments.”

  “How do you know that you aren’t the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen?”

  I rolled my eyes, but he probably couldn’t see me since I was staring into the fire. “The A-list actress and the two supermodels you dated are pretty much a dead giveaway.”

  “I’m not with them anymore. I’m with you,” he stated simply. “Did somebody do a number on you, Jade? Because it sounds to me like someone made you feel like you aren’t perfect, which you are, whether you see it or not.”

  “I’ve always been a geek,” I shared. “In high school, I was the girl every guy avoided because I was a tomboy. But I didn’t really care all that much. I was happier just being outside alone.”

  “What about college?”

  I shrugged. “I was still a geek.
I had one boyfriend, and he ended up leaving me without a word after I helped him through his master’s degree.”

  “He was probably intimidated by you, and he’s a total idiot if he didn’t hang on to you. His loss; my gain.”

  What my brother Aiden had said about insecure guys just yesterday popped into my head. “I’m not really intimidating.”

  “You are,” he countered. “But I personally get turned on by a woman who can handle a knife better than I can.”

  A laugh escaped my mouth. “You’re crazy.”

  “At least I’m honest,” he said.

  I stood up. “I think I’d better get to bed. Are you pitching a tent, or do you want a bunk?”

  My conversation with Eli was getting dangerous. If I didn’t stop it now, I might start believing that he actually did see me as more attractive than the women he’d dated, and just the thought of that was ludicrous.

  Eli rose and blocked my way to the cabin. “Hey,” he said in a low, fierce tone. “Don’t ever let anybody make you feel like you aren’t a woman worth fucking fighting for. Your ex was an idiot, but that’s about him, not you.”

  I felt tears start to pool in my eyes, but I blinked them away. “It’s not just that,” I said quietly. “What guy wants a woman who would rather eat like a pig or spend the day outside instead of dressing up and going out to a club or something?”

  Eli stepped forward and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Me,” he said gruffly. “And I’ll take a bunk. It’s too damn cold to sleep outside.”

  I nodded and led the way inside, trying to ignore that nearly unstoppable desire to throw myself into his arms and beg him to give me the mother of all orgasms.

  For some insane reason, Eli Stone really did want me.

  And I was getting pretty tired of fighting my own insane attraction to him.

  CHAPTER 6

  JADE

  “I don’t really know how to be a billionaire,” I confessed quietly into the darkness.

  Eli and I had settled in, and he was in the bunk bed above me. I’m not sure why I’d uttered the words, but talking to the dark seemed safe.

  And I couldn’t sleep, an affliction that rarely happened to me.