"Just one goodnight kiss, my Juliet," he murmured, kissing his way over the sensitive skin her inner thighs. Heidi sighed as his mouth teased her with sweet, light kisses over the soft curls of her pubic hair. He made easy circles with his tongue, moving ever closer to her aching little c.l.i.t. She grew wetter as his mouth got closer to her center, finally settling into a little flicker over the sensitive bud.

"Oh yes," she whispered when his whole mouth finally covered her, sucking deeply, her flesh disappearing deliciously into his mouth, her c.l.i.t pressed gently, throbbing against his tongue. Her thighs trembled with the effort to hold them back now, without the help of her hands, and he spread her wide with his palms, rocking her hips back, her knees pressed toward her ears.

His thumbs pressed her c.l.i.t between them, pulling the hood back as he fluttered his tongue gently over her little b.u.t.ton. She gasped and arched, knowing her o.r.g.a.s.m was imminent, unable to stop it, and knowing, too, that he hadn't told her to come.

"Kaiser! Oh!" She managed that brief warning before she was overcome, her p.u.s.s.y contracting around the fingers he slid suddenly, swiftly inside her, the sweet throbbing revealing her furious climax even if she'd been able to attempt hiding it. "Oh G.o.d, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered as he rose up between her thighs, but he just rubbed his wet fingers over her lips, making her suck them, taste herself.

His c.o.c.k was free in an instant and pressing against the still-pulsing flesh of her opening. Heidi cried out as his fingers slid deeper into her mouth and he began to thrust. She gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting more, all of him, sucking the tangy taste of her p.u.s.s.y off his fingers.

"Ahhhh f.u.c.k, Heidi, you're so good," he murmured, pinning her already-restrained arms above her head, her wrists encircled in one of his large hands, followed quickly by the other, his full weight on her now, and she wanted him, all of him.

"More," she begged, digging her heels in. "Harder, oh, please, I want more, more!"

He grunted and thrust into her harder, faster, deeper, driving her back on the bed until her hands pressed, palms flat, against the headboard, trying to keep them both from sailing straight through the wall. And still, it wasn't enough.

"Give me everything!" she whispered into his ear, feeling his ragged breath against her neck. "All of it, please, I want you, I want you, I want-"

His mouth came down on hers, crushing her into silence, capturing her breath, her heart, in one swift motion. The moment it happened, he was hers and she swallowed his groan, forgetting herself and slipping her tied hands around his neck as his mouth slanted across her own with reckless abandon.

Their tongues tangled and she raked her nails through the hair at the nape of his neck, the kiss moving from pa.s.sion to soft wonder as she felt him trembling above her, his belly clenching, his hips thrusting deep once, again. He gave a shuddering sigh as he collapsed onto her and when he tried to move away, she kept him there with the hands he had tied, pressing his head to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He relented, pulled the comforter over them both, caught in the circle of her arms.

"I love you." She whispered the words, not even sure from the deep, even sound of his breathing that he was awake to hear her. She didn't care.

Nothing mattered-the show tomorrow, Lenny's ignored voicemails on her phone, Andrea Paxton's deception, Carvel's double-cross-nothing mattered but the man in her bed, in her life, and she held onto him tightly far into the night. Even when they moved to find a more comfortable position, she stayed bound and tangled in his arms.

Heidi was in tears. She'd called Andrea's cell phone at least a hundred times since that morning with no answer. Had she abandoned Kaiser already, then, and decided to pull out? Kaiser had kept close-mouthed about the "Andrea Paxton situation," as he dubbed it, and wouldn't tell her anything at all.

"Heidi, bella, this is Roberto Carvel. Call me! I can't find Andrea Paxton. Has she contacted you?"

She deleted the message, swallowing the lump in her throat, going to the next.

"Heidi, Lenny. Listen, I have to--" She deleted that one without listening to it.

"Coming through!" It was a model wearing one of the last dresses in the line just before Andrea's debut began, and Heidi went in the other direction, walking past models already dressed and ready to go out, wearing dresses based on designs Andrea had stolen from her. Heidi stopped and adjusted the feathery front on one of the dresses without thinking, something Andrea should have been here to do. Where the h.e.l.l was she?

"It should flow when you walk," Heidi explained to the model. "Like water."

The brunette raised her eyebrows in surprise and Heidi flushed.

"Heidi!" It was Kaiser. Oh G.o.d. What was she going to tell him?

"I'm sorry." She was apologizing before she even turned around to face him. "I don't-"

"Come with me," he ordered, taking her hand and literally pulling her with him. "I've been calling you for fifteen minutes! Don't you answer your phone?"

She looked down at the cell in her hand-the reception wasn't the best-it was blinking with more messages. She hadn't quite gotten that far. Kaiser led her up a flight of stairs-she nearly fell twice trying to keep up with his long strides-and down another hallway. The sound of the crowd was almost deafening as he pushed her in front of him down the front row, putting her into one of two empty seats.

"Stay," he directed, sitting beside her as the crowd applauded again enthusiastically. A model-tall, blonde and quite familiar-came out wearing one of Andrea's dresses and Heidi gasped. Daniella! She hadn't seen her since that photo shoot on the beach a million years ago. She was so surprised she almost didn't hear the announcer's words.

"Kaiser's debut line by new designer, Heidi Bauer!"

The crowd's applause turned thunderous. She turned to Kaiser, eyes wide, and he smiled, reaching for and squeezing her hand. Across the catwalk, Carvel sprang up from his chair, his face a cloud of anger, but it was too loud for anyone to hear what he might be saying. His wife, Eve, pulled him back to sitting and Heidi's attention shifted again as another of her designs, a stunning midnight blue, floated by.

"Happy?" Kaiser leaned over to ask.

"Beyond," she replied, the rest of the show a stunning blur, but she still didn't understand. When they announced her at the end and Kaiser led her down the catwalk-now she knew why he had insisted she wear the Rene Lacoste!-raising her hand in triumph, she looked up at him through tears.

She thought she couldn't be any more surprised, until Lenny appeared in an Armani suit, handing her a dozen red roses from the end of the catwalk. Leaning down to take them, she immediately understood and hissed, "You told him!"

He grinned, shrugged, and gave Kaiser a little salute as he stepped back into the applauding crowd. Just when she thought she couldn't take another flash bulb, Kaiser led her off the catwalk to more thunderous applause.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into her ear, hugging her close. "I wanted it to be such a surprise."

She laughed. "You succeeded!"

"Kaiser!" Carvel stormed toward them, red-faced. "What the h.e.l.l is this nonsense? Those are Andrea Paxton's designs!"

"I'm afraid they aren't," Kaiser replied coldly, keeping Heidi beside him even though she was trying to melt into the floor. "I received definitive proof that they were stolen from Miss Bauer. Andrea even admitted as much to me."

Both Carvel and Heidi stared at him, aghast.

"I a.s.sume this means you're sticking with Kaiser?" Carvel asked, frowning at Heidi.

"Like glue," she agreed, linking her arm through Kaiser's.

"She's a willing little wh.o.r.e, but not worth my time. You can have her," Carvel scoffed, turning to leave, and Heidi gasped when Kaiser grabbed the old man's shoulder. Neither she nor Carvel had any idea Kaiser had such a hard right hook, not until Carvel was picking himself up off the floor.

"You didn't have to do that!" Heidi hissed as Kaiser pulled her down the hall.

"I didn't have to," he agreed, grinning. "I wanted to."

She stopped then, throwing her arms around him, and kissing him wordless. When they broke off, both of them breathless, she whispered the words she'd said last night, this time looking into his eyes and knowing he heard them.

"I love you, Kaiser."

He blinked, frowning, touching her mouth with his fingers and then quickly kissing her again.

"You didn't have to say that," he murmured against her ear, pulling her close.

"I didn't have to," she agreed happily, letting him hold her so tight she could barely breathe. "I wanted to."

Epilogue.

"I think Paris must have been a dream."

"He hasn't said a word about it since you got back?" Lenny asked, incredulous.

"Nothing." Heidi sighed, pushing the "door close" b.u.t.ton on the elevator and crooking her cell phone against her ear. "It's like nothing ever happened. I'm still just... a secretary."

"But your designs, your dresses..."

"I know!" She pouted, leaning against the back of the elevator as she rode up. "I don't know what I expected. My own office, maybe? Something. I mean, there are things to do, decisions to make...I mean, I think there are..."

Honestly, she hadn't really thought much past the design aspect of her dresses. The business end of the business had never really interested her.

"Well... maybe he's got something else up his sleeve," Lenny said, giving Kaiser the benefit of the doubt. He'd been doing that since Paris and it was driving Heidi crazy! "He really isn't such a bad guy, you know."

"So you keep saying," she said, rolling her eyes. "Has Saint Kaiser knighted you yet for your selfless deeds?"

"Hey!" He sounded genuinely hurt and she was instantly sorry and said so.

"I really do appreciate what you did," she went on. Of course she did. Never in a million years could she have gotten into Andrea Paxton's apartment, found her old sketchbook, and smuggled it out. But somehow, Lenny had.

And then, of course, he'd presented it to Kaiser as "proof" of Andrea's deception.

"You better," he mumbled. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through. That Andrea is a wildcat in bed. She had me-"

"Lenny!" Heidi admonished. "Please! I really don't need the details."

He laughed. "All right, all right."

"Listen, I'm here, I gotta go." She clicked "end" on her cell phone and pocketed it as the elevator doors opened. She noted the time with a sinking feeling in her belly-nine-oh-five. She was five minutes late.

She barely had time to stash her purse under her desk before he called her.

"Heidi, come into my office."

Standing beside his desk, she waited as he finished writing something and turned toward her.

"Get on your knees."

Heidi sank down, head bowed, her heart hammering. What sort of punishment would this be? She felt his hand in her hair, stroking gently, and she looked up at him in wonder. He hadn't touched her since Paris-even to punish her. What was this, then?

"We have a great deal of work to do." His eyes were soft as he studied her face. "And I'm afraid the way we do it is going to have to change."

She blinked at him, giving him a puzzled look, but not speaking.

"This is where you belong, Heidi." His hand bowed her head, easily. "We both know it."

A lump grew in her throat, and she did, she did know. She would be on her knees for him, in front of him, worshipping him, forever if he let her. It's all she'd ever wanted, and she wanted it even now.

When Kaiser sank to his knees beside her, Heidi gasped, her eyes growing wide. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something delicate and beautiful-a silver choker.

"I want you to wear this."

She bowed her head, letting him put it around her neck and fasten the clasp. Her heart swelled when she realized his hands were trembling.

"To remind you, and me, whenever we have to stand shoulder to shoulder and work side by side. Do you understand?"

Tears filled her eyes and she nodded, touching the collar at her throat.

"I think it's the most important thing," he murmured, reaching into his pocket again. "Even more important than this."

The velvet box contained an antique platinum ring and Heidi's tears began to fall then, making fat, wet spots on her Marc Jacob skirt.

"Kaiser?" she asked, looking at him through her tears, questioning.

"I want you to become my wife."

It wasn't a question. Of course it wasn't. Kaiser didn't ask her questions. Kaiser gave her directives. And Heidi, the girl they said would do anything, did, as always, exactly what he told her to do.

The End.

ABOUT SELENA KITT.

Selena Kitt is a bestselling and award-winning author of erotic and romance fiction. She is one of the highest selling erotic writers in the business with over a million books sold!

Her writing embodies everything from the spicy to the scandalous, but watch out-this kitty also has sharp claws and her stories often include intriguing edges and twists that take readers to new, thought-provoking depths.

When she's not pawing away at her keyboard, Selena runs an innovative publishing company (excessica.com) and in her spare time, she devotes herself to her family--a husband and four children--and her growing organic garden. She does bellydancing and photography, and she loves four poster beds, tattoos, voyeurism, blindfolds, velvet, baby oil, the smell of leather, and playing kitty cat.

Her books EcoErotica (2009), The Real Mother Goose (2010) and Heidi and the Kaiser (2011) were all Epic Award Finalists. Her only gay male romance, Second Chance, won the Epic Award in Erotica in 2011. Her story, Connections, was one of the runners-up for the 2006 Rauxa Prize, given annually to an erotic short story of "exceptional literary quality," out of over 1,000 nominees, where awards are judged by a select jury and all entries are read "blind" (without author's name available.) She can be reached on her website at www.selenakitt.com.

The Billionaire's Command.

ByVictoria Villeneuve.

I stood in front of my bed, frowning at the suitcase I'd hoisted onto it, trying to decide which bathing suit I was going to take with me. I mean, I know, it's the ultimate first world problem. The red one piece with black polka dots that covered up more of my body, but would ultimately make me look like a bit of a prude who didn't dare wear a bikini, or the black and gold striped bikini that was undoubtedly s.e.xier, but definitely not me?