Choice Matters (Southern Heat Book 1) (11 page)

Quietly, I followed him down the dirt trail toward the bank
of the lake. Situated on it was a small, non-descript fishing boat, an older
model, the type with an outboard motor.
Apolo
carefully maneuvered himself on board and checked the gas tanks for fuel.
Satisfied, he placed the one he had carried next to the back of the vessel. He
then turned to face me and take the tackle box and poles I stood holding before
assisting me onto the craft.

I gingerly sat on the center seat and awaited his
instructions. He started the motor then climbed off and freed the two mooring
ropes holding the boat in place. Jumping back on, he pushed us off and headed
us out onto the lake. Unable to hear a word he said over the roar of the
outboard, he motioned me to turn around and take in the sights of the beautiful
surroundings. The place he had in mind for our fishing expedition took only
minutes. A small cove, void of any human habitation. He navigated to one side
and shut off the motor.

Begging off having him take time to show me how, I sat and
watched as
Apolo
fished and was amazed how much he seemed
to enjoy the sport. This was a side of the man he allowed few, if anyone, to
see. The human one.

Having caught two good-sized bass, he released them back
into the murky water, and we headed to another area. The weather, however, had
other plans for us. Black, ominous clouds appeared out of nowhere.

Apolo
started the motor and
pointed the boat back toward his cabin in the woods. We had no more gotten the craft
situated and were entering the cabin when Mother Nature let loose with a
torrential downpour.

Chapter Five

Mother Nature wasn’t the only thing full of fury. After
removing our shoes at the doorway, we retreated to the bedroom. “Come, Caitlyn,
I know the perfect way to pass a rainy afternoon.”

As he led me by the hand, I hungrily followed him. He made
me stand in front of him at the foot of the bed as he slowly and methodically
took off each piece of my clothing. He started with my tank top.

Quietly, while watching my face, he pulled the skimpy
garment over my head. Bunching it in one of his massive hands, he let it fall
to the ground with ease. My bra came next. He unhooked the front closure,
allowing my breasts to fall from their prison. As he pushed it over my
shoulders, his lips sensually captured one of my nipples and began to suckle
and roll it into a hard point.

My instinct at that moment was to grab onto his shoulders,
but when I did,
Apolo
pushed them aside. “No touching.
Keep your hands to your sides. I’ll tell you when you can touch me.”

Our eyes locked for a second before he continued with what
he had started. Grabbing one breast, he ran the peak between his teeth, sucking
it before moving onto the other. My body was on fire. I caught myself moaning
in pleasure at the sensations running through me.

Then, he began kissing down, down toward my stomach, until
he reached my naval. Unfastening the clasp on my shorts and unzipping them,
Apolo
abruptly pulled them over my hips and let them fall
into a puddle around my ankles. I could feel the moisture that had seeped out
of me and onto my panties.

As if he knew this,
Apolo
prodded
me to part my legs as he rubbed his forefinger along the crotch of my soaking
wet underwear. He pushed the fabric aside and ran the digit lightly along my
mound, all the way to my pussy.

Glancing down at him, I noted how intense but sensual his
face looked. As though he could feel my eyes on him, he abruptly yanked my
panties off as well. I stood in front of him completely naked. I quivered in
need, wondering what he would do next.

“Lay on the center of the bed on your back.”

I obliged him without hesitation. As I made myself
comfortable, I noted he had moved to the dresser off to the side of the room.
He opened a drawer , and after a few seconds, pulled some items out. He held
whatever they were to his side so I couldn’t see them.

“Do you trust me, Caitlyn?”

“Yes, of course I do. Why?”

“Because what I’m going to show you requires your total
trust.”

“What exactly—”

“
Shhhh
. It’s nothing that will
hurt you. I would never hurt you. Let’s just call it a lesson in becoming aware
of your senses, okay?”

“As long as it’s nothing kinky.”

He laughed a lower, deep-throated sound. “I will show you
how to feel things you’ve never felt before.” He approached, taking one of my
hands. Wrapping a silk scarf around my wrist, he extended my arm toward the
headboard. I must have looked panicked because he flicked a sensual grin before
continuing. “Trust me Caitlyn. I’m not going to tie you. I’m merely going to
wrap the scarf around the post. You can pull yourself free at any time, should
you feel the need to.”

I nodded and allowed him to do the same with my other arm.
He spread my legs apart, but never restrained them. Instead, he stood there for
what seemed like an eternity as he looked hungrily at that spot between my
thighs.

Producing another scarf, he lifted my head, placing the
fabric around my eyes and gently tying it behind me. “What’s this for?”

“Trust me, Caitlyn. You will learn to see through touch.”

I heard clothes rustling. He was undressing, but neatly
placing his on a chair in the room. I made out the sound of him at the dresser
again and wondered what it was he was getting this time.

The next thing I felt was
Apolo’s
breath slowly tickling my clit. He had raised my knees and spread my legs to
his liking. It moved my already-spiraling-out-of-control desire to a few
notches from orgasm. Then, I felt his fingers as they parted the folds of skin
so he could blow more cool air on the normally unexposed skin.

“Oh fuck,
Apolo
.”

He chuckled. “What?”

“I feel like I’m going to come if you do that about one more
time.”

“You can’t come, Caitlyn. Not until I tell you
you
can.”

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold it.”

A quick swipe of his tongue over my swollen clit sent me
pushing my hips toward his mouth. Again, he let out a low laugh. With his
fingers still holding my flesh apart, he lightly began running his tongue
around and down but never touching the most sensitive spot. My final undoing
was when he took the hardened nub between his lips and sucked.

My body shook and rocked as I went over the edge in pleasure
I had never felt before. His hands were now under my buttocks, as his mouth did
things to me I’d only read in books. Wave after wave of orgasms exploded
through my body.

Straddling me,
Apolo
bent over and
covered my mouth in an all-passionate kiss. I could taste myself on his tongue
as he probed its depths. “Did that feel good? It must have, angel. You soaked
the sheets when you came. But we need to discuss your inability to follow my
instructions. When I say you can’t come until I say, you must show more
restraint. Understood?”

“Fuck me. I need to feel you inside me.”

“And you shall have me. But first, I want to watch you gush
again.” He thrust two fingers inside my pussy and quickly found what he was
looking for. I felt his thumb as it rubbed my aching clit. It took mere seconds
until my body bucked.

I wanted to see him. I wanted to touch him. But he kept me
restrained, even though I could have broken the bond. Instead, I felt the tip
of his engorged cock at my entrance as he teased me with it. Then, he thrust
himself deep and began to pump hard and furious. His hands held my buttocks
close to his groin as he pounded in and out.

“I can’t hold on any longer. I want you to feel my cock. I
want you to let yourself come with me. You know you can do it. Feel my cock.”

“I need to…”

“Tell me, angel. Tell me what you need. Anything but touch
me with your hands. Not yet.”

“Fuck me hard.”

I felt his body begin to quiver as I ground my hips against
him, my orgasm releasing just behind his. He groaned, saying something I didn’t
understand. He lay on top of me as we finished and began to quiet.

“That was fucking fantastic,
Apolo
.”

He burst out laughing in my ear. “I’m glad you approve. Do
you understand what I was trying to show you?”

“Oh, yes.”

He reached up and let the scarves loose He looked so damn
seductive as his mouth covered mine. I threw my arms around his muscular back,
feeling every sweaty inch of him.

We lay there in each other’s arms, listening to the sound of
the rain beating down on the old, tin roof. The storm seemed to have settled in
for the day. Awakened by the crack of thunder,
Apolo
pulled me closer. Outside of the morning’s fishing expedition in his small
boat, the day had rendered nothing but one sexual encounter after another.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting rather hungry. That
fine breakfast you cooked left me hours ago, Ms. White.”

“Hmmm. I was just thinking the same thing. What do you
suggest? You released the fish you caught.”

“As I always do. This rain has put a damper on any ideas I
may have had.” He chuckled. “I was going to grill us a couple of steaks, but
the weather seems to have ruined that.”

“You could always cook them indoors, you know.”

“True, but the oven is broken, and I hate pan-fried steaks.
Ruins a good cut of meat, don’t you think?”

“I suppose. What other options do we have?”

“There’s a barbeque place on the outskirts of town. They
serve great ribs and barbeque along with some of the coldest beer around. If
you’re game…”

“Sounds good to me. But we need to shower. You want to flip for
who goes first, Choice? Because I know that shower won’t hold the two of us,
and even if it did, we’d never get out of this cabin.”

“Point taken, Caitlyn. You go. I’m not sure I can walk that
far just yet.”

“You wish.” I snorted as I threw my legs off the side of the
bed and headed towards the bathroom.

* * * *

A short time later, we were inside his SUV headed through
the mud and rain toward the tiny town. I closed my eyes as I sat back, inhaling
the essence of his maleness and his cologne. Whatever doubts or anxieties I may
have had regarding getting close to
Apolo
Choice had
blown out the window hours ago. The man was becoming an addiction, a sex drug
my body craved.

The touch of his hand on my forearm brought me out of my
daydreaming. I flicked a grin his way and patted the top. “Where were you?”

“I’m sorry, I was mesmerized by the rain and the scenery. I
can see why you like to come here,” I lied. I wasn’t sure if he bought it, and
frankly, I didn’t care. The man was doing things to me, to my body, that sent
me over the edge. Just as he had promised just a few months prior. Mr. gray-eyed
sex god.

I caught a smug look cross his angular face as he refocused
his eyes on the pavement in front of him. We were heading down a country
two-lane, in the opposite direction we had arrived. Toward a small rural, town
with some of the best barbeque I would ever taste.

We were seated in the old gas-station-turned-restaurant, a
huge plate of ribs stacked in front of us, another piled high with steaming
French fries, and two bottles of cold beer. Dinner in rural Georgia at its
finest.

I placed my drink down on the vinyl tablecloth and reached
for another meaty rib. As I did, a question left my lips.
Apolo
had spoken little of his family. Yes, there was his brother, and I knew his
parents were both from old Atlanta money, but that was about it. “You mentioned
once that our mothers would get along famously. Do your parents still live in
the Atlanta area?”

He licked his fingers of the sticky barbeque sauce, a
seductive expression on his face. I knew that look well by now. The man was
incorrigible when it came to sex. He grinned and picked up another rib, holding
it in his hand.

“They still own their home on Blackburn, but they’ve been
spending the past couple of years traveling extensively. Something they didn’t
get to do a lot of until my father retired. Now, they revel in going to new
places. And Caitlyn, if you think I got my start from my family, think again.
Every penny, I earned on my own. I’m no trust fund baby, if that’s what you’re
thinking.”

“Never crossed my mind, Choice. As a matter of fact, I
believe I’ve read that somewhere in all the thousands of pages that have been
written about you. I take it your parents are off on an adventure right now?”
God the man could make your head spin once he got to talking. I often wondered
if it was a habit he’d developed to confuse his prey.

“Yes, New Zealand, I believe. Then Australia, I’m sure. My
father wants to go to Fiji and some of the small islands that dot the Pacific.”

“Sounds exotic. Do they know of your intended plans?”

“My father is aware of some of the talk. If things develop
as I expect, they’ll be back at just the proper time.”

“Can I ask one more thing?” I was getting the distinct feeling
he didn’t want to be taking up valuable time with me discussing his family.

“Ask away.”

“Outside of Anthony, any other siblings? I’ve only read
about Tony, but I suppose that’s because of his restaurants and catering.”

“No, it’s just the two of us. Thank goodness.” He picked up
his beer and drained what was left. “From what I know on the matter, Tony’s
birth was a difficult one, and mother was never able to have any more children.
I suppose his birth, in some small way, is a reflection on him—difficult.” He
flashed a lopsided grin at his own joke.