Billionaire Undaunted:The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Zane(24)

"Monogamous?" she questioned, making sure she understood what he wanted.

He nodded sharply. "For both of us."

She smiled. "I didn't wait this long to toss you away for another guy."

"I don't know what I'd do if you did. I've never felt like this before.  Jesus! I'm jealous of any other man who even gets your attention."

"Because of what happened to me?" she queried softly.

He hesitated before answering. "I'm not sure. It's like when you  disappeared, I realized that I might have lost something that I should  have pursued a long time ago. I've always been attracted to you, but I  thought you deserved a hell of a lot more than the mad scientist who  knows nothing about a real relationship or romance. And you were Chloe's  best friend. Hell, my entire family is almost like family to you. It  could have ended up awkward if you weren't interested."

Tears welled up in Ellie's eyes as she watched Zane make himself so  vulnerable. How could he have ever assumed she wouldn't want to go out  with him? "I was infatuated with you when I was in high school, and it  never went away, even when you came back to visit when you were in  college. But you were so smart, so handsome, and so rich. I told myself  that someone like you could never care about a chubby, plain, and  desperately poor woman like me. So when you were home, I kept my  distance when I could so I didn't make a fool out of myself." Her heart  felt like a fist was tightening around it, and her tears flowed faster.

"You were curvy, something that got me hard every time I looked at you,  sweetheart." He pulled her into his lap and held her like he couldn't  let go. "I loved your beautiful blue eyes and crazy sexy blonde hair.  You're beautiful, Ell. You always have been. But what I've always liked  about you is that you accept me the way that I am. Hell, I'm thinking  you even like me the way I am." Zane took a deep breath before he asked,  "So can we try this? Can you be happy with a guy who isn't exactly  polished with romantic words or one who doesn't always know what to do  when you cry like you're doing right now? Oh hell, why are you crying?"         

     



 

She smiled at him through her tears. "Because, even though you profess  not to be a romantic guy, I think what you just said was probably the  sweetest thing I've ever heard."





They stayed in Denver for the next few months, and Ellie was happier  than she could remember being in her entire life. Most of the day, she  worked at her own desk in Zane's enormous office that he never used.  Most of his time was spent in the secured research area of the enormous  building.

Strange, but she'd never quite realized just how big or multinational  his laboratories actually were, or just how much responsibility he took  onto his broad shoulders. Occasionally, she had to remind him that he  alone wasn't responsible for curing or preventing every health issue in  the world.

Lately, he'd smiled and laughed more than she'd imagined possible. She  cherished every naughty grin and amused bark of laughter that left his  mouth, because she thought he took himself way too seriously.

With ongoing counseling, not only was Ellie starting to recover from her  traumatic imprisonment-although there were some things that might never  quite go away-but she was also starting to see herself differently. No  longer did she look at herself and see a woman who wasn't the least bit  interesting or attractive. She saw herself as a woman who was trying to  improve herself, be what she should have been before she'd been  kidnapped.

With Zane's permission, she'd put a workshop in his finished basement,  using the downstairs kitchen that he'd never even touched to set up  shop. Slowly, her Internet business was growing, and Ellie was studying  and experimenting every chance she got. Her products were beginning to  catch on, and suddenly everybody wanted to try some of her aromatherapy  fragrances.

Every weekend, she and Zane would go somewhere she'd never been before,  and she'd started to actually explore the world outside Rocky Springs  and even beyond Denver. Even though she'd always love her beautiful  hometown in the mountains, she loved the fact that Zane surprised her  with a new destination to see at the end of every week.

Last weekend, he'd flown them to California so she could see the Pacific  Ocean, and they'd played like children for two days on the beach.

The nights belonged to them, and Zane had made it his mission to see how  many ways he could pleasure her body. Turned out, he really did have  very dirty fantasies about her, and she had cried out with pleasure  through every one of them.

Ellie had reached her goal for weight gain, so she tried to spend as  much time getting off her butt as possible. Zane had an indoor pool in  his Denver mansion just like he had in Rocky Springs, so she tried to  swim every evening, and tried to do some time on the treadmill as often  as possible. So far, her weight had stayed steady.

Though, if she were honest, the workout Zane gave her in bed every night  was probably why she wasn't gaining weight. He'd taken her to just  about every restaurant in the area that he personally liked, every  single one of them fantastic.

Her only complaint was that he wouldn't let her settle her old debt with  him. He refused to let her pay for anything, nor would he take any part  of her paycheck as his assistant to try to pay him back for all that  he'd done for her in the past. In fact, he refused to even acknowledge  that she owed him anything.

It was the only thing they ever really fought over.

Unlike some couples, the remote control was never an issue. She loved  watching the science channels with him, and he'd become almost as  addicted to her crime shows as she had always been. They rarely missed  an episode of Supernatural, but if they did, they were quick to pick it  up on demand. It seemed they were equally quirky about what shows and  movies they watched.

Tonight, she'd left him watching a documentary on TV to go down to her  workshop and pack some products. Ellie made it a point to make sure her  orders got out for delivery quickly.

"I missed you," Zane's voice said huskily from behind her.

She'd heard him coming downstairs, but hadn't expected to suddenly feel  his hard body pressed against her back. She startled, nearly dropping  the candles she was packing.

He stretched out his hand and caught the box expertly, setting it back on the counter.

Ellie's heart still racing, she turned around in his arms. "You scared  me," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Totally unintentional," he said remorsefully.

"I know. It's not you. I guess I still have some involuntary reactions  that I can't control." Ellie hated it when her rational brain didn't  connect with her body sometimes.         

     



 

Zane took her hand and led her over to the media area with a sectional  couch. He dropped onto the middle of it and pulled her into his lap. "Do  you want to talk about it?"

No! No, I don't.

Any time it came to really discussing her experiences during her  horrific months in captivity, she preferred to pretend it never  happened. Natalie never let her get away with avoiding it for long, and  some of those sessions were brutally difficult, but Zane hadn't ever  pushed her.

She shook her head, but answered, "I don't know. Sometimes I think I'm  over it and moving on, but once in a while I still feel the scars inside  me that haven't quite healed. I'm not quite sure I'll even have  complete closure because he's dead, and he died while I was still in the  cabin."

"The bastard took the coward's way out. You never got to see him in  court, and you never got to see him pay for what he did," Zane replied  angrily.

She nodded. "Exactly. It's like he never existed. It's weird because I was relieved he was dead, but I was angry, too."

"It's not weird, sweetheart. I think it's natural to feel that way."

Ellie sighed, knowing she'd never feel as close to anyone as she did to  the man comforting her right now. She didn't want to close him out, and  she wouldn't want it from him if he'd gone through something traumatic.  "I don't even know where to start."

"Wherever you want," Zane said gently. "Tell me the things that haunt you the most."

"The fact that I didn't get away with his laptop the day it happened. I  think about what I could have done differently. Maybe I should have  gotten out of the office quicker. Maybe I didn't fight hard enough  because I was hoping I could talk him down. Maybe I shouldn't have run,  and I could have pretended I didn't know until I had the opportunity to  steal his computer from him. There's so many things I could have done  differently that might have saved both me and Chloe some pain."

Zane absently stroked his hand over her curls as he answered, "You did  the best that you could under the circumstances. Any of those  alternatives might have failed."

"Possibly," she agreed. "But I'll never know. There was no opportunity  after that to escape. I think I was unconscious during most of the drive  to the cabin, so I had no idea where I was. It was disorienting, and he  had me chained before my head could clear."