The Billionaire's Hidden Heiress

"If you tug at that dress one more time, I'm going to slap your hand." My finger stilled halfway to the silver fabric clinging to every curve of my body, Celine took a champagne flute off the tray of a passing waiter and pressed the champagne flute into my palm accompanied by a look that said she was two seconds away from giving me a full lecture on self-sabotage and faking confidence. "I look ridiculous," I muttered, taking a sip of the champagne that probably cost more than my rent. "You look hot, you're just not used to being this sexy." She adjusted my mask to cover my flaming cheeks, the delicate silver covered just enough of my face to make me feel like someone else who belonged at a charity gala in a borrowed Valentino gown. If only I can act as reckless and sexy as I look. "Tonight you're not Martina Royce who survives on overthinking every bill, Tonight you're mysterious, you're gorgeous and you're going to have fun even if it actually kills me." The Blackwood Estate ballroom was big and gorgeous; it looked like something out of a movie I couldn't afford to watch. Crystal chandeliers threw light across women dripping in rare stones and diamonds waltzing with men whose net worth could buy a small country. I didn't belong here and every single cell in my body knew it. "When's the last time you did something completely insane?" Celine asked, her emerald dress catching the light as she turned to face me fully, she sounds tipsy but with celene you can't differentiate between her moods. "I don't do insane." I said gently as she turned me around to match the beat. "Which is exactly why tonight you're going to." She squeezed my hand, her excitement infectious despite my rising panic. "Just for one night, be someone different, I promise you'll enjoy it." What happened is that I'll make a fool of myself, I thought, but Celine was already disappearing into the crowd, probably hunting down the appetizer table or the next available tequila. I stood there alone, surrounded by Manhattan's elite while I felt like an imposter in my own life. The more expensive looking women I see the more choked up I feel by my poverty, I needed air before I suffocated on my own inadequacy. Thankfully the terrace was cooler and more quiet in comparison to the noise I just escaped from. The view of the city was so beautiful it made my chest ache, I gripped the marble railing and let myself breathe in the beauty of it all for what felt like the first time all night. "Running away already?" The voice came from behind me, deep and smooth like it belonged in a pornographic movie, I turned to find a man standing in the doorway. He was tall enough that I had to tilt my head back to see his face, my eyes roamed downward in appreciation towards his broad shoulders filling out his tuxedo in a way that should be illegal. I went back to his face to see him watching me with gorgeous blue eyes that stood out despite his simple black mask. "The party," he clarified, stepping onto the terrace with the kind of confidence that came from having loads of money and prolly being sexy as hell. "You looked like you were plotting an escape." I smiled despite myself. "Was it that obvious?" "Only to someone who's considering the same thing." He moved closer but stopped at a respectful distance, his gaze sweeping over me in a way that made my skin tingle all over. "These things are torture, everyone is stuck performing like they are here to enjoy meanwhile they all want something from each other." "Even you?" "Especially me." Something shifted in his expression, it was subtle but I noticed it. "But the masks help make things easier because tonight I'm a man on a terrace with a beautiful woman." My face heated and I was grateful for the mask hiding some of my reaction. Men like this didn't call me beautiful, hell men like this didn't even notice me on a normal day. "What brings nobody to a charity gala?" I asked, surprising myself with how steady my voice sounded despite my n*****s hardening beneath the dress. "Guilt or maybe obligation or any other reasons people torture themselves with stuffs like this" He turned to look at the skyline, his profile sharp and perfect in the dim light I couldn't look away. "And you?" It took me a minute to realize I've been asked a question. "A friend who doesn't understand the word no." "Good friend." "The best," I admitted. We stood there in silence and I waited for it to feel awkward, for that horrible moment when you realize you have nothing to say. But it never came. Instead I felt at peace like I'd finally stopped holding my breath after holding it for years. "Dance with me." I blinked at him. "What?" "Before you disappear and we both go back to being whoever we really are." He offered his hand and I could see something that looked almost like longing in his eyes. "Just one dance." I should have said no, I should have probably thanked him politely and found Celine then gone home to my safe, boring life. But my hand was already moving and sliding into his, and we were walking back into the ballroom where the orchestra was playing something slow and hauntingly sexy. His hand found my waist and for a moment I forgot how to breathe properly as he pulled me close enough that I could smell something expensive and woody in his cologne. We started moving and I realized he was an incredible dancer, with the way he glided smoothly on the floor like someone who has practiced daily for years. “You're shaking," he murmured, his breath warm against my ear. "I don't usually do this." My heart was pumping wildly against my chest. "Dance?" "Any of this." I met his eyes and felt the urge to give him a shred of truth about myself. "This isn't my world." "Thank God." He breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers pressed lower into my back, anchoring me against the firm hardness of his body. "This world is full of liars and people who want things but I could tell from onset that you're different." We danced through three songs, maybe four. Honestly, I lost count as well as track of time and Celine and every single reason this was a terrible idea. There was only the music and his body against mine and the way he looked at me like I actually mattered. When the song ended, he didn't let go, not that I wanted him to actually. "Come with me," his voice was low and tempting and that was all it took to make me lose my mind. I knew I should say no like any reasonable person would and I was aware that this was a reckless and stupid decision completely unlike me. But when I opened my mouth, what came out was, "Okay." He led me through corridors we definitely weren't supposed to be in, up a staircase that felt like climbing into a different world. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might break through my ribs. This was insane, I was following a stranger through a mansion to God knows where. This was reckless but I didn't want it to end, the thought of his full warm body against mine had me clenching and unclenching my already wet p***y. We finally got to the suite and you can tell every single thing in the room was luxurious and would definitely cost more than my booking fee. He turned to face me, his eyes holding mine as he slowly removed his mask. I stopped breathing. He was even more handsome than the picture my wild imagination painted earlier, f**k, a man shouldn't be this fine, it should be illegal to be this hot and there's something oddly familiar about him but right now my n*****s and my drenched p***y are the ones doing the thinking not my brain. "Your turn," he said softly. Wait. My turn to what? I couldn't possibly compete with this level of beauty. But before I could voice my thoughts, His fingers were already lifting the mask gently away. When he saw my face fully, his expression shifted into something similar to wonder and admiration. "I don't even know your name," I whispered. "Good." He cupped my face in his hands and I felt it in every single bone of my body, that simple touch lighting up every nerve ending I had. "Let's keep it that way." His lips devoured me, erasing every shred of doubt in me as his obviously skilled and hungry lips claimed mine intensely,I fisted his hair, pulling him deeper like I couldn't get enough of him. Our clothes fell away in frantic tugs and his hands worshipped every inch of my body accompanied by his tongue. When he finally thrust inside, it was slowly, his d**k filling me up. My already sensitive core shattered around him instantly.