Alpha Billionaire Series
Coming Home Chapter 4

HOLDEN

A year and a half later...

Travis let out a loud groan.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

Travis held up his phone. "Mom just texted. Mak is headed into town. I have to entertain her."

I stretched back on the couch and closed the laptop in front of me. I suppressed a grin. For the past year and a half, Makenzie had been replaceing more and more reasons to visit New York. The excuses were for her family and for Travis. I knew exactly why Makenzie was coming to New York and it had nothing to do with shopping or museum research.

"She always shows up when I want to party. It's like she's psychic or something," he complained.

"Or something," I confirmed. Less like she had psychic abilities, and more like someone was telling her exactly when he would be out of the apartment for the weekend.

Travis still didn't know that Makenzie and I had been seeing each other. It started off as fun, especially the keeping it secret part. At some point we got serious. Really serious, and the keeping it secret part was for self-preservation. "She's trying to ruin my senior year experience," Travis said.

I let out a heavy breath. Travis had pulled some crappy stunts in regard to his sister. He was lucky Makenzie didn't have a vengeful bone in her body. She wasn't plotting ways to make Travis's life miserable; he was taking care of that herself. "I've got a big exam next week. I'll hang out with her and study. Stop being so dramatic."

Travis dropped his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "You are a hero among men. Thanks for taking one for the team."

I shrugged his hand off my arm. "Whatever."

The next day Makenzie arrived, and I had to pretend that I had no interest in her. All I could give her was a nod in greeting. It was a stab in my gut every time we did this. I could see her, I could sneak smiles and winks, but it was killing me that I could not pull her into my arms and cover her face with kisses.

"I'll help you with that," I said as I picked up her bag.

"She is capable of carrying her own shit. You can have my room. I won't be here," Travis said.

"You don't have to leave because I'm here. I can stay in a hotel. It's not like we can't afford it," Makenzie said.

"Where do you think I'm going? Look Mak, I promised Mom you could stay here. And we both know you don't need me to keep an eye on you. I mean, all you're doing is wandering around boring museums."

She reached out to try to take her bag from me. I shook my head. Doing my best to look like I wasn't interested, I left Makenzie and Travis bickering and hauled her bag to his room. A few moments later she came in and I locked the door behind her.

I pulled her into my arms and captured her lips with mine. I didn't need to say hello, I needed this. Her mouth was so pliable, so hot. Her tongue darted between my lips, and I twined my tongue with hers. I had Makenzie in my arms, and everything was better. "Hi," her voice was breathy, and her smile went straight to my cock.

"Hi yourself. I have to get out there before he comes looking for me. He's taking off for a party, he'll be gone. Dave unofficially moved out about two weeks ago, so it's just us all weekend."

"Excellent timing. It's almost like someone told me there was a party this weekend that Travis would be going to."

I unlocked the door and left her with one more quick kiss. I picked up my laptop and pretended to study. It was a fight to keep my gaze on the monitor in front and not watch Makenzie move around. "Will you have time for dinner together before your party?" she asked her brother.

He made complaining sounds that meant no.

"Look, we should at least send mom a picture of us together. Can you pretend to not hate me long enough to do that?"

I watched as they pasted fake grins on their faces and looked at the phone held in Makenzie's outstretched arm. They took the selfie and then Travis grabbed his keys and left without saying much. Makenzie stared at the closed front door.

I did too. I also held my breath and started counting. How long would it take for Travis to turn around if he needed something? How soon before we didn't have to worry?

"Makenzie?"

She looked over her shoulder at me and shook her head before returning to stare at the door.

"Ten minutes," she said.

I set a timer on my smartwatch before I got off the couch and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. If she needed to stare at the door for ten minutes, then we would stand there and watch the door handle until Makenzie felt confident that Travis had left us alone.

The alarm on my watch beeped, and Makenzie relaxed in my embrace. With a sigh, she turned and melted against me. I stroked her hair as the tension eased out of her body. She shuddered in my arms, and I hated that her brother did this to her, was doing this to

us.

"Promise me we can tell my family about us soon? I'm getting tired of sneaking around. At some point, my mother will call one of my professors at Mary Brooks and replace out that my grades are not the greatest, and that there are no research projects sending me into the city."

"I graduate in a few months; we can see how things play out over the summer. At the very latest, we wait until you graduate. It's only another year, and then we can be open with everyone."

She sighed and backed out of my arms. "I know, I get it. Travis can be such an asshole. And I wouldn't put it past him to purposely mess up your studies."

"Hey," I hooked my finger under her chin and tilted her head so that I could look into her eyes. "I love you. I promise this hiding behind everyone's back will not last much longer. It will be worth it. We are worth it."

"I love you, Holden, and I trust you. I cannot wait to see Travis's face when he replaces out and he can't do a damn thing about it." She let her arms lift over my shoulders and hooked her hands around my neck.

I let my hands skim down her sides and rest on her luscious hips. She wiggled in a little closer.

"He'll bust a gut," I chuckled. "I want to marry you, Makenzie. And I'm not going to let whatever stick Travis has up his a*s get in my way."

"You want to marry me?"

"Do you honestly think we are doing all of this for a few dates? Of course, I want to marry you. After you graduate, we can get engaged. We can do the whole marriage thing, and then have kids."

"But not yet. I would be honored to have your babies Holden." She sighed into me and lifted herself up on her toes.

Her mouth was on mine again. I was going to make her my wife, and it was going to piss Travis off. He'd get over it. I pulled her to me, letting my fingers dig a little deeper into her softness.

She moaned into my mouth and pressed her breasts against my chest. As she pressed into me, I backed up until my legs brushed against the edge of the couch. I folded back and pulled her down with me. She shifted and wiggled against my body as our mouths twisted and pressed together.

My body responded as it always did when we were together. She did things to my body, to my mind. I hitched my leg over hers and rolled. We spun and she was under me. I hitched her leg over mine, palming her a*s and thigh through the leggings she wore. I pressed my hips against her, and she ground against my erection. Making love to Makenzie was a deliciously satisfying endeavour. The way she responded to my kisses and my touch was magic. It was a gift that I hoped she would be willing to give me for a long time.

She tugged on the hem of my tee. I didn't want to stop kissing her, but I had to stop long enough to pull the shirt off. The look on her face as she looked over me made my c**k throb harder. Her fingers tickled over my skin. "Bedroom?" I asked.

"I love you," she said with a nod.