Claimed by a Soldier Billionaire: A BWWM Instalove Romance Read online

  Claimed by a Billionaire Soldier

  Simone Rivers

  simonerivers.com

  Contents

  1. Ethan

  2. Penny

  3. Ethan

  4. Penny

  5. Ethan

  More from Simone Rivers

  1 Ethan

  With a sigh, I stuck my hands in my pockets and stared into the storefront windows. I wasn't sure why I'd let the guys convince to me tag along with them on leave, but it wasn't like I had anywhere else to be. Outside of the Marines, I didn't really have anyone.

  I'd left home and enlisted at eighteen, never once looking back. And why would I? There was nothing back there for me. Nothing but an alcoholic mother and an abusive step-father. I'd gotten out of the life. I didn't want to go back to it for any reason. Cutting those ties was the best thing I'd ever done.

  And yet, that left me here, in a small town in North Carolina, freezing my dick off on leave. I'd planned on just staying on base, catching up on some sleep and maybe binge-watching Netflix for a while. But Kade and Owen, my two best friends, men who had saved my ass out in the field more times than I could count, talked me into coming back to their hometown with them.

  So here I was, in a tiny town I'd never been to before, just a couple weeks before Christmas. We couldn't get leave actually during Christmas, but this wasn't bad. At least for Kade and Owen. They'd get to see their families and friends over the holidays, and I'd at least get some time off base to clear my mind.

  I liked being in the service, don't get me wrong, but being here for only a day has shown me just what I'm missing - a life. Up until now, I hadn't realized just how much I'd devoted to the Marines since I'd joined. Outside of that, I didn't have much going for me.

  I had some good friends, sure, but they were all fellow soldiers. Only times I went off base were if the guys dragged me along to a bar or a football game or something. Shit, I didn't even really have any hobbies to speak of ever since I'd joined up.

  When I'd been a kid, I hadn't been able to sit still. I'd always had to be doing something. And if that something got me out of the house, then all the better. Now though.... What did I do for fun? Drinking, certainly. Watching movies and TV. Other than that though....

  Christ, I couldn't think of anyone more bland than me.

  Which was why I was wandering around downtown, considering getting out of the service for the first time in my life. I may not have been a spring chicken anymore, but I still had plenty of time to do something with my life, to really figure out who I was.

  If doing that meant leaving the service, then that was what I was going to do. Either way, I was overdue to make some changes in my life.

  One of the small stores caught my eye, and I stopped, looking in through the window at what looked like endless rows of books. Something inside me stirred up. I remembered all the times I'd spent in libraries growing up, carrying home stacks of books to read. At least, until my mother married that fuckhead.

  Reading wasn't manly enough for him. Spending time in my room with my nose buried in a book meant I was a sissy. Real men were outside, playing football or working on cars. Real men didn't dream about fantasy worlds or knights saving princesses.

  Didn't stop the fucker from trying to get his hands on the money my grandfather had left me after he died. Thankfully, his lawyers had made sure the fortune he'd left me stayed completely wrapped up in red tape until the day I turned eighteen. And not long after that, I'd told the bastard to fuck off and joined the Marines, never to hear from him again.

  I let out a snort and shook my head. If I was going to make some changes in my life, why not start here? I'd always loved to read growing up, so why not revisit that love? Now, I didn't have fuckhead berating me for staying up passed my bedtime with a book and a flashlight.

  And since I didn't have a damned thing to do this week while I was here, it seemed like the perfect time to rekindle a lost love. No one would be able to tell me to knock it off and go to sleep now!

  Grinning, I opened the door to the shop, the little bells overhead jingling as I walked in. The scent of paper and ink hit me, and I took a deep breath, letting it wash over me. Energy buzzed through me, like it had awakened something kept dormant for so long I'd completely forgotten about it.

  "Good afternoon!" a cherry voice said, coming from somewhere down one of the aisles of books. A few seconds later, a woman walked around the corner, grinning as she greeted me. "My name's Penny. Is there anything I can help you find?"

  The scent of books had definitely awakened something in me, and now my heart was pounding as I stared at this woman. She was about a foot shorter than me, with her near jet black hair tied back in tight braids. A pair of black glasses sat perched precariously on her nose, highlighting her deep brown eyes.

  The moment I laid eyes on her, it was like I'd been transported to a whole new world. Finally, I knew exactly what had been missing from my life. Sure, it sounded cliched and outrageous, but I had no doubt this woman was the one person I was meant to be with.

  It was like she'd set off a spark, sending a chain reaction cascading through me. I wanted to walk over, scoop her into my arms, and explore every inch of her smooth brown skin.

  "Are you okay?" she asked, stepping forward. Her brow was crinkled in concern, and she glanced over toward the front counter at the phone.

  "Uh, yeah," I said, snapping out of my fog. God, I probably looked like the biggest idiot on the planet. "I'm uh... looking for a book." Could I sound any lamer? I thought to myself.

  The girl smiled, looking like she was trying to hold back laughter. "Just any old book? Or a certain book in particular?" Her voice was light and melodic, sending jolts through me every time she spoke.

  "Uhh... The Phantom Tollbooth," I said, naming the first book that came to mind. It'd been a favorite of mine as a kid, and though I hadn't read it in a couple decades, I still could've told you the story from memory. Okay, so maybe I had been a geek when I was little. So sue me.

  Penny's eyes lit up and she nodded, waving for me to follow her. "We've still got a couple copies in stock, I believe. It's a pretty popular one, since some of the local schools read it."

  I watched her as her eyes scanned up and down the shelves as we headed down the aisle. About halfway down it, she came to a stop and looked the shelf over. Seconds later, she let out an "aha!" and pulled a paperback copy off the shelf, handing it to me.

  I couldn't have told you how many times I'd laid awake at night, reading this book over and over again. Seeing it again after so long, it looked so tiny in my hands. Talk about a shock to your system, I thought as I stared at it. That little book was the physical embodiment of how much I'd changed since I was a kid.

  Right then, I realized just how much of myself I'd lost over the years. First, parts of me had been stripped away by my step-father. Then, I'd abandoned other parts when I'd joined the Marines, trying to shape myself into the perfect soldier.

  Now, I had a chance. A chance to rediscover those parts of myself. And, if I was lucky, maybe find a bit of happiness along the way.

  "Anything else I can help you find?" she asked, still smiling at me.

  I shook my head, still processing everything going through my mind. When she lead me up to the register, I followed her on autopilot. She punched everything into the register, and I handed her my credit card to pay.

  "New in town?" she asked as she waited for her system to process the sale.

  "Just visiting. I'm on leave with two of the guys from my unit."

  "Kade and Owen?" When I nodded with a rais
ed eyebrow, she smirked at me. "It's a small town. Everyone kinda knows everyone here. Here's your book and your receipt!"

  "Would you like to grab dinner tonight?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

  She blinked at me in surprise. When she smiled again, even I could tell it was forced. "Sorry, I appreciate the offer and all, but no thank you."

  Glumly, I nodded. I should've expected it. After all, what kind of girl agrees to go out with a guy she's only ever said five words to? But, at least she'd been polite about it. That was about the best I could've expected. I nodded, then took my book and left.

  That should've been the end of it. But as I sat with Kade and Owen at the bar later that night, she was still all I could think about. No matter how many times I tried to put her out of my mind, every time I closed my eyes all I could see was her smiling face.

  "Why so glum?" Kade asked, patting me on the back. "You look like someone just shit on your dog!"

  I stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised. "I... I'm pretty sure that's not how that saying goes," I said at last, wondering if I'd had too much to drink or if he had.

  Kade burst out laughing, and I rolled my eyes. Yep, it was definitely him that'd had a bit too much to drink. That was the downside to tagging along when guys were on leave. All most of them ever thought about was drinking and fucking, not wanting to miss a moment of their time away from base.

  "I think you've had a bit too much to drink," I told Kade with pursed lips. I tried not to act like their mother whenever we went out drinking, but if I didn't, somehow I always ended up being the one carrying their drunk asses back to the hotel or the barracks or wherever we were that night.

  That was not how I wanted to spend this leave, thank you very much!

  "Nah, I'm perfectly fine." Kade grinned at me, flashing his perfectly white teeth. How he'd made it this long in the Marines with his teeth still looking perfect, I wasn't sure. But there he was, looking like a damned model. Even drunk off his ass, he'd no doubt be between the legs of some broad soon enough. "I think we need to dance!"

  Oh yeah, he was definitely drunk. Kade never wanted to dance unless he was drunk. Though I figured it was good he was only at the dancing stage of drunk. Once he got to the singing stage, all hope was lost.

  I looked over at Owen for help, but he just shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm not his keeper this week."

  "Asshole," I grumbled as Kade dragged me out toward the dance floor.

  We'd gotten half way there when I froze in my tracks. There she was, talking with another black woman, this one a couple inches taller than her. Even though the music drowned everything out, I could still hear her laughter as the two of them joked.

  Kade turned back to me and frowned. Then, he followed my gaze and started grinning. "Right or left?"

  "Left," I said, the word leaving my mouth before I could stop them. Then, I winced and cursed myself. When was I going to learn to think before I spoke?

  Kade's grin grew even broader as he nodded. The man looked like he'd just hit the damned jackpot. "Excellent. Because I've wanted a piece of the on the right since I was a kid! Come on, let's get them out onto the dance floor. Maybe I'll finally get lucky with her!" Before I could stop him, he dragged me over to the women. "Libby! It's good to see you again!"

  "Oh, Kade! I heard y'all were in town!" She flung her arms around his neck, then kissed him on the cheek. "Damn, I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen you! You got big since you left home."

  "In more ways than one," Kade said with a wink. Libby laughed at his raunchy joke, and Penny just rolled her eyes. "Guys, I want you to meet Ethan. He's in our unit. Ethan, this is Libby, Owen's little sister, and her friend Penny."

  Shit, this was the sweet baby sister Owen was always talking about? She was only an inch or two shorter than my six foot with a lithe runner's body. One look at her was all you needed to know she wasn't little miss innocent like Owen always tried to claim.

  Libby laughed and gave me a quick hug while Penny and I just nodded at each other. "Is my stick-in-the-mud brother here too? Or does Mom have him doing four years’ worth of moving heavy things?"

  "He's over by the bar, nursing a beer like usual. I'm sure he'll be there all night until one of us drags him away. But there'll be plenty of time for that later. Why don't we go hit the dance floor and see if we can work up a sweat?" Kade flashed that toothy grin again, and apparently Libby ate it up. She giggled and let him lead her away, leaving Penny and I together.

  "Feel like dancing?" I asked her, hopeful. She'd rejected me without a single hesitation earlier today, and part of me waited for her to do it again.

  Instead, she shrugged and nodded, and the two of us headed out onto the dance floor together. The music was loud and fast, and it only took a couple seconds for the two of us to get into it. For a nerdy bookworm, she sure knew how to dance, I thought as she rubbed her body against mine.

  I fought to keep my hands under control, resisting the urge to grab her by the hips and pull her tight against me. Even just the little bit of contact we made as we danced around each other had my cock hard as a rock inside my jeans. Hell, just breathing in her scent was enough to almost give me a contact high, even over the smell of smoke and beer that permeated the small bar.

  When she looked up into my eyes, there was a fire there, one I felt keenly inside myself as well. There was no denying she felt the spark between us. The way she gyrated against in time with the music would've been enough to tell me that, but her eyes just made it even clearer.

  By the time the four of us left the dance floor we were all laughing and sweaty. Kade and Libby headed back toward where we'd left Owen sitting at the bar, but I pulled Penny over to me, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Why don't we head out?" I offered. "The hotel I'm staying at isn't far from here."

  She looked into my eyes again, and that spark was still there. But that didn't stop her from standing on her toes and kissing me on the cheek before whispering a "sorry, no thank you" and slipping away from me.

  2 Penny

  God, it felt so damned good to get the stench of that bar off me. Between the sweat and everything else in there, I couldn't wait to get in the shower after I'd left. As much as I'd been dreading washing my hair, there was no way I could sleep smelling like a bar.

  Which was one of the reasons I rarely went to the places. That, and I just wasn't interested in quickies and one-night stands. But the moment Libby heard her brother and Kade were hitting the bar tonight, she'd begged me to go along with her. So, even though I hadn't really wanted to see Ethan again, I'd gone along with her, knowing she'd have done the same for me if it had been my childhood crush in town.

  "Surprised you came home," I said when I saw Libby laying on the couch. I'd left before her, tired from all the dancing and needing more than a little space from Mister Soldier Man. I'd figured she would've gone back to the hotel with Kade instead of coming back to our apartment.

  Libby sat up and smirked at me. "I could say the same about you. Didn't feel like going back to Ethan's hotel room for a bit of fun?"

  I rolled my eyes, trying not to let her see just how badly I'd wanted to do just that. If I hadn't left right after Ethan had invited me to his hotel, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to stop myself. There was just something about the tall, tanned, muscular man I couldn't stop thinking about. "Please. You know I'm not getting involved with a soldier, no matter how hot he is."

  But damn, even if he was a soldier, he was hot. Just dancing with him at the bar had my entire body tingling. I could only imagine what it'd have been like if I had gone back to his room with him. Just thinking about it made me shudder. But I'd promised myself years ago that I'd never date a solider. Not after losing my father overseas.

  I'd experienced that loss once, and that was more than enough for me.

  That didn't stop me from having that man stuck in my mind though. Every time I closed my eyes, there he was, grinning like a fool,
his muscles barely contained beneath his clothes. I could only imagine what a night with him would be like.

  But no good could come from that. Even if I ignored my solemn oath to never date a soldier, I also didn't do random hookups or one night stands. He was only here for the week. And while I'd never gotten any complaints from the men I'd dated, I doubted sex with me was enough for him to move across the country to be with me.

  Nor was I going to just pack up and move with him. I had a life here. I had friends, family. I had my bookstore. There was too much here for me to even consider that an option. So, no matter how badly my libido screamed for me to ravage him, I wasn't going to give in to that temptation.

  It just wasn't worth it, no matter how I looked at it.

  "So, why didn't you go back with Kade?" I leaned against the back of the couch and smirked. Libby had been crushing on Kade as long as I'd known her. She'd been heartbroken when he'd joined the Marines right out of high school, alongside Libby's older brother.

  Libby let out a dramatic sigh, then flopped backward onto the couch again. She threw her right arm over her eyes to emphasize the look.

  Lips pursed, I rolled my eyes. Libby still hadn't quite given up her dreams of being a broadway star. But she was my best friend, and I learned long ago to just ignore her when she started being overly dramatic.

  When I didn't respond, she moved her arm and looked up at me again, pouting. Still, I kept quiet, just waiting for her to get on with it. She sighed and shook her head. "You know Owen would kill me if I ever did anything more than dance with the man."

  "Oh please. Owen's not a high school kid anymore. And neither are you. You're free to date whoever you want and so is Kade."

  It was hard to believe just how much Libby liked Kade. But of course she'd never acted on it, too scared of what her brother would think. And it wasn't a completely unfounded fear, since Owen tended to be over protective of her. Libby had been adopted out of foster care when she was only five or six, and ever since then, Owen took his role of big brother seriously.