Page 46 of The Billionaire's Temporary Governess (French Conquests 2)

A man who systematically tried to cut her off from friends and colleagues, starting with any straight male she might encounter, and then campaigning against her other relationships with girlfriends and other models. Hiding her phone. Deleting texts. Erasing voicemails before she had a chance to hear them.

William’s horror turned into anger. Not at her for leading this man here, but at this piece of crap for daring to threaten this woman. And yes, she was his woman.

He let a hand fall onto her shoulder. She still couldn’t face him. Her head was still bowed, but she didn’t try to get away from him. He found that reassuring.

“None of this is your fault, Naisha,” he reassured her.

She turned her head slightly, her expression telling him she didn’t quite buy that.

Instead of insisting, he said, “Give me a couple of minutes.”

It was well after midnight, but he dialed the number of his head of security. A woman’s voice answered—Juneau was a notorious playboy, so odds were even that he wouldn’t be alone on this night. The woman had the temerity to inform him, in her sharp, nasal voice, that he was asleep.

Obviously, you don’t know who you’re talking to,William thought. “Je m’en fous. I don’t care what time it is,” he snapped. “And I don’t care whether he is asleep or not. Get him on the phone.”

Before she even had time to comply, the phone was snatched away, and Juneau was there, alert, professional, and businesslike.“Oui, patron?”

That’s more like it,William thought. Quickly, he outlined the problem, telling his top man that he was expected in William’s office at nine in the morning with a plan to beef up security, as well as locate the offender. “I want the local police notified, and I’m going to send you a photo of this threat. I want a fifty percent increase in manpower by the end of the day, and one hundred percent by the end of tomorrow. Also, plan for tighter security on the perimeter,tu comprends?”

Juneau ensured him that he did indeed understand and confirmed his attendance at the meeting in the morning. Satisfied, William hung up.

He put his phone down to discover that Naisha had turned around and was looking at him with a thousand questions on her face. She looked so scared and vulnerable that all he wanted to do was protect her with everything he had. His own life, if need be.

He repeated himself. “This isn’t your fault. Naisha.”

She looked away, face reddening. “Those photos. I feel so–”

“Violated,” he continued for her.

She shook her head and said, “Ashamed.”

He stared in surprise. “Ashamed? Why?”

That’s when the tears started spilling. “He used to call me a whore when I so much as smiled at another man. There was nothing I could do that he didn’t judge me for—”

He drew her into his arms. “Shh,mon trésor.What we did, there is no shame in it. It was wonderful, and perfect and pure. Just you and me, giving in to each other.” He began to caress her, gently, soothingly. “You’re perfectly sweet. You are wonderful. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different.”

He pressed her head against his shoulder, expecting more tears. And come they did, but as he whispered to her, they quietened. When her sobs finally stilled, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her down on her back. He began to undress her, slowly and reverently, lightly pressing his lips to each body part as it was revealed.

Naisha lay there, eyes squeezed shut as if she couldn’t bear to look at him, but the rhythm of her breathing and her soft gasps let him know she was allowing herself to sink into the pleasure of his touch.

When she was naked and receptive, he undressed, then crawled into bed to stretch out alongside her, nuzzling her neck, leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw to her mouth.

When she languorously lifted an arm to place her hand at the back of his head, he felt a surge of joy. From then on, it washimsurrendering toher.He allowed her to control the pace of their lovemaking. It was slow and gentle, a far cry from the wild and vigorous erotic adventures they so often enjoyed.

He caught a glimpse of the Naisha of the past, the girl who had so sweetly surrendered her virginity to him all those years ago. And that made him feel like that young man again, so optimistic and hopeful and believing in love.

When it was over, every fiber of his being wanted to let his body conform to her curves and allow himself to drift into sleep, but he dared not, for fear that Willa might discover them there in the morning. There was no question about it, he had to go back to his room. But before he took his leave, he had to ask her one thing. “You aren’t leaving me, are you?”

She lifted her brown, sleepy eyes to his and gave him a tired smile. “I’m not leaving.”

16

There was no way four little girls would be able to eat these many cupcakes, Naisha realized as she and Yvette worked together to lay out themise en placefor the afternoon’s cupcake baking extravaganza. After hours of browsing baking sites and trawling through Pinterest, she and Willa had come up with a plan to bake two sets of cupcakes—red velvet and salted caramel—along with hand-tossed pizza. Yvette had happily agreed to open up her kitchen to the birthday cookathon, although she did mutter something under her breath about having to spend the next day scraping pizza dough off the ceiling when the pizza tossing inevitably went awry.

The afternoon’s festivities were to begin with horse rides around the estate, playtime with Willa’s rabbits, a sunset swim in the pool complete with floating tea candles in lily-shaped holders, and a treasure hunt in the maze. Following the baking session, the girls were to proceed to Willa’s bedroom where they would spend the night giving each other mani-pedis and facials.

It was the kind of party that Naisha herself would have killed for at any age. She was confident that all would be well, but Willa was swerving between excitement and anxiety. Poor kid, home schooled all her life, barely knowing these girls from brief social interaction; no wonder she was nervous.

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