Excerpt: At the Billionaire's Pleasure 5: Anything for Love

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting part 5 in At the Billionaire's Pleasure series. Well I can tell you that I will be releasing it the end of this week. For some reason writing this part of the story has been really hard. I think I'm reluctant to let the characters go. Carrie and David have meant a great deal to me. I've loved writing about them, I'll be honest and say that I have on occasion dreamt about them. Maybe that sounds silly but it's true. They are very real to me. I think I've probably put parts of myself into the character of Carrie as I was writing her. So that now when it comes to writing difficult things I feel for her, I want to protect her. But the one thing that has made it easy is knowing deep down the characters are made for each other. And that no matter how difficult things might get or how much time passes they will find a way back to each other... And that is what I'm giving you here in this excerpt. Many worried I had killed Carrie. But I honestly couldn't break David's heart like that, I don't think it is something he could recover from. The guilt alone would be crippling.

So without further ado I present to you the opening scene from book 5 in which Carrie finds her way back to David.

At the Billionaire's Pleasure 5: Anything for Love

The sound of beeping slowly roused me. My eyes felt heavy as though they were weighed down with lead. The second I opened my eyes I instantly regretted it. Everything about the room was far too bright. The white walls and bedsheets seemed to create a glare that made the pounding in my head so much more pronounced.

Someone groaned. It wasn't until I felt a hand grip mine tightly that I realised it was me making the small, groaning, whimpering noises. I sounded pathetic, like a wounded animal.

I opened my eyes again and this time I tried to keep them open. I wanted to be awake... It was the reason I had fought so hard to survive in the first place. I wanted to be awake for the person gripping my hand so tightly I was sure it would be covered in bruises.

"David..." The word came out on a half choked hoarse sob.

His face came into view above me. The concern and anguish that filled his eyes hurt my heart. I didn't want to see him so upset. He shouldn't have been so worried... Part of me wondered why he would be so worried... It didn't make any sense...

He ran his free hand down against the side of my face, cupping my cheek. It was such a tender gesture that I couldn't stop the tears from trickling from my eyes. I opened my mouth again but my throat ached and the words refused to form properly. I was so confused...

I tried to sit up and the world spun in sickening circles. Bright white lights exploded behind my eyes making me wince and forcing me to give up my attempt to sit up straight.

"Don't move, I'll get a nurse." He moved to release his grip on my hand. Panic flooded through me. I wasn't sure why but the last thing I wanted was for David to leave my side.

With a strangled sob of fear I grabbed at his arm and jacket. My fingers digging into his hard forearm leaving me feeling reassured. He was real. He wasn't just one of my dreams. I'd had plenty of them. Terrifying dark dreams filled with terror and pain. David had been my anchor but he had always disappeared just when I needed him most. He couldn't save me if he was a dream. But here in the white room he was very real.

"It's alright, Carrie, I'm just going to get a nurse to look at you. You've been out for three days. They were worried about your head trauma."

"Don't leave me, please..." The words finally left my tongue. The feel of the scalding tears running down my face made me feel alive. Everything did. Pain was both a blessing and a curse.

The door opened up and David turned relieved eyes to whoever had entered. "Aaron, she's awake. Can you get the nurse?"

"Of course." Aaron's tired voice met my ears. I tried again to sit up. The pain this time was a little less and I managed to push my body into an upright position. David spent his time moving the pillows around trying to find an optimum position for them. Even though I was weak I could tell he was nervous about something... But what it was I didn't know.

"What happened?" I asked when he had finally finished fixing the pillows behind me. My voice sounded coarse, as though I had spent days singing and shouting at the top of my lungs.

"You were attacked..." David's voice trailed off as he caught sight of my confused expression.

Attacked. It didn't sound familiar. I knew something had happened. David's mention of the word nurse and the injury he had spoken of let me know I was in hospital. But why? I had no idea. All I was certain of was that I didn't want to be left on my own. And I certainly didn't want David to leave my side.

"You don't remember?" He asked, his expression once again filled with concern. I wanted to brush the look from his face and tell him that everything would be alright. But I didn't know how. If I couldn't remember being attacked then how could I reassure him that everything would be fine?

The door banged open and I jumped, it made my head ache even more. Sudden movements were no good.

"You shouldn't be sitting up, Miss Grant." The nurse's business-like tone made me smile. She turned on David. "How long has she been awake?"

"Just a few minutes. She has just woken up. She doesn't remember anything."

The nurse turned back to me. "Where do you have pain?"

"My head and my throat and neck." I tried to lift my hand but my body felt tired as though I had run a marathon.

"That's to be expected. I'll get you some more pain relief and then I need you to get some rest." She checked the machine beside the bed before once more leaving.

"You gave us all quite a scare, Carrie." Aaron's voice broke through my thoughts and I turned to look at him.

"I didn't mean to..."

He grinned and sat in the chair near the bed. "This one hasn't slept since it happened. I've been trying to tell him that he needs to rest but he wouldn't listen."

I glanced over at David as Aaron spoke. For the first time I noticed that it wasn't just concern that was etched into his features. He looked exhausted. Where normally his clothes were immaculate the ones he wore were crumpled and ruined. They looked as though he had slept in them and judging from the tiredness on his face he probably had.

"Where have you been sleeping?" I asked him.

"It doesn't matter..."

Aaron's voice cut across David's dismissal. "He's been sleeping here. On the sofa under the window. Refused to leave your side."

David shot Aaron a dirty look shutting him up. The other man shrugged and closed his eyes, settling back against the chair he sat in.

"Take no notice of Aaron. I just did what I had to do... This is my fault..."

"David, I'm a little hazy on what actually happened, but what I am sure of is that none of this was your fault. You didn't do this to me."

"I may as well have..."

I tried to shake my head but the movement caused me to whimper and close my eyes until the pain subsided. The nurse hurried back into the room, she pushed a small trolley in front of her. On it I could see several vials and small sealed packages. Seeing the look of pain on my face she began immediately ripping open little packages and pulled a small vial from the collection. I watched through a fog of pain as she prepped the needle and injected the clear fluid into the saline drip that was suspended above me.

"You need to rest."

"I don't really, I'm fine..." The moment the clear fluid passed down the line and into my arm I felt its effects. It washed over me, chasing the pain away in front of it like the crashing wave on the shore. Something tugged at my memory. Something about the beach and the water.

Without thinking I reached up and took David's hand. He jumped and looked at me startled. He was used to initiating the contact. The fact that I had took his hand in mine spoke volumes. It was like a reassurance, he knew I didn't blame him. I never could. This wasn't his fault...

The nurse watched me for a few minutes more. She checked the machines beside the bed before turning back to me. "Does that feel better?" She asked.

"Yeah..." My voice was groggy and drugged. "I don't want to sleep though... I want to be awake..." Panic threatened to grip me and I held onto David's hand a little tighter.

He pressed his hand to my forehead and smoothed my hair back. "Sssh, I'll still be here when you wake..."

I smiled weakly and nodded before closing my eyes and letting myself drift away on the haze of drugs. The sound of David's voice tugged at me, I tried to stay awake to hear what he had to say but it was coming from very far away.

"They haven't picked him up yet."

"They will, David. Relax. He won't be back. What he did to Carrie was the last ditch attempt of a very desperate man."

"But I'd feel so much better if they had him in custody... Not knowing where he is, Aaron... What if..."

"He won't. stop thinking like that. She's safe. Just be glad you got there on time..."

"Aaron, if he had succeeded I don't think I could ever forgive myself... It's made me wonder if Carrie wouldn't be better off without me in her life. If I had left her alone none of this would have happened. Life would be normal..."

I stirred then. David's words penetrating the haze that filled my head with cotton wool. I wanted him to know that I was glad he hadn't left me alone. That without him in my life I would be a shell.

"We shouldn't be discussing this in here. We should take it out into the hall..."

I tried to open my mouth to call David back. I didn't want to be left on my own. The sound of the door closing let me know I was alone. With a sigh I let the medication take me. Rest was the only way to get back on my feet. I needed to be better so I could show David just how much he meant to me. There was no way I was letting him go now that I had found him.

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