The Billionaire's Legacy. Reese Ryan

eyes still not meeting his. “This is bad. What would Delia say? And what would your parents think?”

      “My mother will never believe anyone is good enough, and my sister adores you.” Benji dropped a slow, lingering kiss on her lips.

      “Because I’m her friend, who she trusts not to blow into town and screw her little brother.” She jabbed him in the gut, but her lips parted to his tongue when he kissed her again.

      “You’re too young for me, Benji,” she whispered against his lips as he slid the silky, blue material down her shoulder.

      He kissed the shell of her ear. “Five years mattered then. It doesn’t now.”

      “I’m not looking for a relationship, Benj.” She pressed her hands to his chest, halting his movement as her gaze met his. Still, she hadn’t moved an inch. Her legs framed his as she awaited his response.

      “Neither am I,” he said finally. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be together. I want you, Sloane. And I know you want me, too.” He slowly tugged the zipper down her back. The silky, cobalt blue material slid from her shoulders, giving him better access. He trailed kisses down her shoulder and across the top of her breasts, exposed by a pale pink strapless bra. “Just for tonight.”

      She sucked in a deep breath and let the material slip down her arms and pool around her waist. Sloane unbuttoned his pants and inched the zipper down. The sound echoed off the solid oak floors and shiplap walls. She leaned in to kiss him. “Just for tonight.”

      * * *

      Usually an early riser, Benji refused to leave the warmth of Sloane’s curves. Her naked bottom was nestled against him, making him painfully hard. Which gave him hope they’d pick up where they’d left off just a few hours earlier when sleep had finally pulled them under.

      Starting at her neck, he planted gentle kisses to the shooting stars that tattooed the length of her spine. By the time he reached the stars inked between her shoulder blades, she stirred.

      “Mmm. Nice way to wake a girl.”

      He rolled her, so she was facing him. Her pebbled brown nipples betrayed her arousal. “I can think of an even better way to wake you.”

      “Bathroom first,” she mumbled through the hand clamped over her mouth.

      “Anything you need is in there.” He nodded toward the adjoining bathroom before dropping another kiss on her shoulder. “Just hurry back.”

      When Sloane returned, he was seated with his back propped against the padded leather headboard. Her bashful smile slowly gave way to a determined one. Her eyes locked with his as she straddled him. Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she leaned in and kissed him, tentatively at first.

      He fought the urge to take over. Instead, he let her dictate the pace and manage the heat building between them. Sloane palmed his face and angled her head, her tongue gliding against his and her slick folds gliding along his heated flesh. She swiveled her hips, the pace and intensity of her movements more frantic.

      Benji groaned with pleasure, losing all sense of control as he dug his fingers into the soft skin at her hip that bore a mandala tattoo with a rose at its center. He jerked her hips forward and then back. They were both getting closer to the edge, and he ached with the need to be inside her again. He flipped them over, so he lay atop her, and reached into the nightstand for a foil packet, fumbling to put it on.

      He was desperate to get his fill of the woman who’d haunted his dreams since puberty. The only woman he’d ever really wanted.

      Sloane wrapped her legs around him as he moved inside her. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders and her breath caught as she flew apart beneath him. His name rolled off her tongue as her muscles tensed, pulling him beneath the river of pleasure that washed over them.

      Benji tumbled to the mattress, his skin slick with sweat and his breathing labored. He pulled her to him and kissed her damp forehead. “Come to Japan with me, Sloane.”

      The words he’d whispered impulsively into her hair took him by surprise. They’d agreed to one night together, not a six-month-long commitment.

       Smooth, Benj.

      His brain urged him to revoke the invitation. But everything below his neck desperately wanted her to say yes.

      “Sure. It’ll be a blast. We can eat sushi every day, sing karaoke every night and ride the bullet train on the weekends. Besides, seeing the cherry blossoms in bloom is on my bucket list. Just give me a few hours to throw a travel bag together.”

      “You’ll come with me?” Abject terror and genuine excitement battled in his chest. The way they did during the seconds when a roller coaster made its painfully slow ascent to the summit before plummeting toward the earth.

      “Wait...” Sloane lifted her head from his chest and blinked, her head cocked. “You’re not serious, are you?”

      His shoulders tensed. “Dead serious.”

      “Benji, I can’t. I thought you understood that this was just...”

      “A game?”

      “Fun. A release. Two people being a little naughty for the weekend.” Sloane pulled the sheet around her, suddenly self-conscious. She sat up, her back against the headboard. “But us getting serious? That can’t happen. I thought you were clear on that.”

      “I am, and that doesn’t have to change. But it was nice to wake up to someone who made me want to spend the day in bed.” He shrugged. “I haven’t had that in a long time.”

      “Neither have I, but—”

      “Then why not keep doing it? In Japan,” he added.

      Sloane dragged her fingers through her messy curls and huffed. “And while you’re working every day, what am I supposed to do? Lounge around, waiting for my sugar daddy to get home? No thanks, Benj. I’m not interested in being anyone’s kept woman. Not even a billionaire’s.” She climbed out of bed, taking the sheet with her as she wrapped it around her body and rummaged on the floor for her bra and panties. “Besides, I have a job and responsibilities, and I don’t have a passport. Never needed one.”

      Benji dragged the remaining covers up to his waist. “I wasn’t thinking of the arrangement that way at all. We’d just be two friends hanging out.”

      “And screwing. On your dime.” She looked at him pointedly. “Plus, you just called it ‘an arrangement.’ So if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck—”

      She had a point.

      He had just turned into that guy. The one who thought he could buy anyone and anything. Even the woman he adored.

      “Point taken.” He cleared his throat. “Like I said, that wasn’t my intention.”

      “I know it wasn’t. And I’m flattered you asked.” Her tone and her gaze softened. She gripped her blue dress to her chest as she approached him and brushed a soft kiss to his lips. “If the situation was different...” Sloane wouldn’t allow herself to finish the thought.

      It was just as well. No point in musing about some alternate universe in which she would say yes.

      Benji did the only thing there was left to do. He tugged her to him. Her dress tumbled to the floor, quickly joined by the pale pink bra and panties.

       One

      Six months later

      Benji inhaled the scent of the roses, lilies and snapdragons overflowing his arms as he approached Sloane’s building.

      The edge of his mouth curled in a faint smile. Sloane had always loved the scent of the snapdragons his mother grew in their front yard.

      He halted