His presence was so strong—his scent, the warmth surrounding him, his smile, and most of all, his penetrating gaze. I squirmed on the bed, kicking my feet in annoyance, and squeezed my eyes shut. What the hell was wrong with me? The sexual frustration outweighed any hesitation I’d had before about getting involved with him. I didn’t even care about all that, and I certainly wasn’t thinking about the right or wrong of it. All that mattered was the damn ache between my legs. I flopped onto my back and groaned in frustration.
“Fuck,” I cursed, and then sighed because I wanted to do exactly that. With Leo.
“What’s wrong?”
I jerked at his words and opened my eyes. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed; perfectly at ease while I was a mess.
Why is this so easy for him?
I leaned up on my elbows and sent him a defiant stare.
“Nothing!” I winced at the screech in my voice. My “nothing” sure sounded like something. Softer, I said, “Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking about…nothing.”
“If you say so.” He pushed away from the wall and sauntered up to the foot of the bed. He paused, and I wondered what passed through his head that remained unsaid. Then he brushed the canopy aside and crawled up beside me. He didn’t touch me—
damn it
—and instead rolled over to lie on his back, resting his head in his hands.
I settled back into the covers and stared up at the ring hanging from the ceiling, holding the canopy fabric together. I couldn’t even say I wanted nothing to do with him anymore; it was so far from the truth. He clouded my senses. Every breath I sucked in was Leo.
I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were now closed and it gave me a moment to study him without him noticing. “What are you doing here, Leo?”
“Taking a nap. You?”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. What are you doing here
right now
. On this island?” I rolled to my side and reached for the wine bottle I’d opened earlier, pouring the rest of the contents into the glass on the nightstand. The wine was a necessary distraction while I waited for his answer. The silence would have been deafening if it weren’t for the soothing sizzle of rain outside.
After a few long moments, he said, “I didn’t want you to be here alone.”
I swallowed the wine in one gulp and set the glass down, my hand shaky. “Yeah, well, I don’t know why you care.”
I wasn’t sure why those words fell from my lips. I wasn’t mad at him, I was mad at myself for wanting him so much. I wasn’t ready to fall in love again, and I wasn’t ready for the falling out of love part, either. Still, from somewhere deep down inside there was a need to hear he still cared. I needed to know
someone
cared about me, that I wasn’t just a throwaway piece of garbage. I curled up on my side, away from him. The rain falling on the patio had slowed to a sprinkle.
When he placed his hand on my waist, I squeezed my eyes shut against the turmoil burning inside of me.
I don’t want you,
I thought to myself, but I didn’t say the words out loud. I couldn’t, because it wasn’t true. Because I didn’t want to open my mouth and ruin this moment—he’d take his hand away and leave, and I didn’t want him to go. I needed him to stay.
I needed him.
“Lexie, look at me,” he whispered, and I rolled to my back.
My heart was in my throat as he gazed down into my eyes. My lips trembled when he brushed his thumb against the tears on my cheek. Sex with him wouldn’t be so simple; it would be so hard for me to stop at only giving him my body when I’d once offered him my whole heart.
And it’s only been a couple of weeks since Jeremy.
All of these emotions, these thoughts, and yearning for Leo’s touch filled me with guilt.
He smoothed away my tears. “I hate seeing you like this.”
“Why?” I hated how I’d pushed this conversation, hated how I needed him to soothe my wounded soul.
“Because it hurts.” He leaned closer, and I held my breath. “Ask me.”
I shook my head. I wanted more than anything to say the words he wanted to hear, what I wanted to say, but was filled with hesitation.
“Yes.” He rested his forehead against mine. “Ask me. Please. I need to know you want this.”
My heart slammed against my chest and I pressed my eyelids together. Four words, that was all that stood between his body and mine—
make love to me
. I sucked in a breath when his hand rubbed down the length of my side; the thin cotton of my dress bunched at my waist where his hand settled.
“Lexie,” he whispered. The need in his voice matched the need tearing through me, the heat of it pooling low in my belly.
My gaze caressed the contours of his face to the small cleft in his chin. I touched my finger to the indent—a long-ago habit I seemed unable to break. My gaze traveled up to his. The question there reminded me of the less confident teenager I had once been so in love with.
He and I were like an old song, I supposed. Even when the radio no longer played it, I could still hear the tune, I could still sing every word—it had been my favorite song for so long. The thought of losing this moment made my chest constrict.
I pressed my hand against his cheek. “Kiss me, please.”
His lips captured mine tenderly, the taste of his lips igniting an urgency inside. My hand ran through his hair and I grabbed a fistful, pulling him against me so every hard plane of him pressed along the soft contours of my body. I wanted to taste him, to feel his wet tongue tangle with mine. I moaned. My heartbeat hammered straight through my dress and against his chest. There was no getting close enough, not until he was deep inside of me.
I kissed his neck, licked my tongue out to the salty flesh just under his earlobe and the shudder that passed through him emboldened me. I’d been fantasizing about the taste of him for days now, but my fantasies hadn’t done him justice. I was lost in him, my head fuzzy with his scent. Every breath I took was ragged.
I arched my back. “Leo, please.”
He hesitated, his head hung with indecision, and I couldn’t see his eyes.
As if we hadn’t been dancing around this moment since his arrival? As if we both hadn’t wanted this very moment to happen days ago? I reached up to place my hand against his cheek, gently pushing his head up so he would look me in the eye. Concern furrowed his brow.
Brushing my thumb against his lower lip, I whispered. “It’s okay. I want this.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, his eyes searching.
“Yes.” I hadn’t felt this alive in so long…
His mouth took mine in a demanding kiss, and my lips parted so his tongue could slide against mine. His heat surrounded me, his breath against mine. Knowledge of what we were doing consumed me, made me feverish to feel him inside of me. His hands were everywhere. There was a soft tug as he drew my dress over my head, and then his mouth kissed and licked the skin.
“God, you taste good,” he said, his lips brushing against my breast.
I shivered in his arms. My entire body was taut with anticipation and the thrill of being nearly naked with him. When he pushed the bra down, my breasts swelled over the cups. I shivered at the flick of his tongue against my nipple. By the time his mouth searched out my other breast, lavishing it with his tongue, my nerve endings were on fire. He reached behind me and unclasped the bra and pulled it from my chest, dropping it beside me on the bed.
There was urgency in his touch and desperation in mine. He sat back on the bed to pull the shirt over his head while I fumbled with his zipper. His erection sprang free, and I closed my hand around him. He sucked in a breath against my lips, and I nipped his bottom lip as I stroked him. The rain pattered against the roof, and my pulse raced. He wasn’t naked enough.
I pressed him back against the covers and yanked off his jeans and boxers all in one tug, dropping them to the floor. Looking at him like this, naked, with each muscle perfectly defined, I couldn’t help but stare in awe. He was so beautiful, so insanely sexy. I straddled him and ran my hand from his shoulders down to his pecs, then back up over his shoulders. His skin was warm silk beneath my fingertips, strong, solid—perfect.
I leaned down and slanted my lips across his in a wild, possessive kiss. I wanted this, and I would have him. Needed him. My nipples grazed his chest as I licked and kissed my way down from his neck to his muscled abs. I had been dreaming of touching him like this for days, and every nerve in my body was on fire.
“You’re unbelievable,” I murmured and took his throbbing flesh into my hand.
He was so hard, every inch of him. He tensed under me and sucked in a breath when I lowered my lips to kiss his erection. My breath was a gentle tease against the wet tip, and he groaned.
“Lexie.” His voice was strained as I licked the tip of his penis, running my tongue around the taught rim then sucking him into my mouth. “Lexie,” he said again, this time his words full of warning that sent a thrill up my spine.
“Yes?” I licked up the length of his erection.
He drew in a ragged breath and pinched his eyes closed for the briefest of seconds before pinning me with a gaze so hot, so intense, the butterflies in my tummy flitted wildly, ramming against each other. “I can tease, too.”
I licked my lips, shivers of excitement careened up and down my spine.
“You don’t like it?” Smiling, I ran my tongue up the length of his hot, hard flesh. “
Mm.
”
In a flash of muscled arms and chiseled chest, he caught me around the waist, flipping me to my back. Laughing, I wrapped my legs around his waist, but the moment his gaze captured mine, my breath caught inside my throat, and my smile wavered. He tore my panties off in one swift motion, his gaze hooded with restraint and need as he kneeled between my legs.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I sucked in a breath and nodded. Hell yes, I was ready. My entire body shivered with pent up excitement.
He pressed the length of his erection against the wet flesh between my legs, rubbing it against me until I writhed beneath him. He thrust his hips, the tip nudging against my clit, and I gasped.
“Hurry,” I urged. I would go insane if he didn’t put himself inside of me.
He shook his head and took my hip in his hand, holding me still while he held his erection against me, sliding back and forth, so slow and so near where I wanted him, I nearly screamed. My fists clenched the comforter, and I writhed beneath him.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Princess. I don’t plan to hurry anything.” He rubbed small circles against my slick, throbbing flesh.
I gasped and arched my back. “That’s…not…”
He smirked down at me before rubbing again.
“That’s not fair,” I said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t care. If you could see what you look like right now…” He pushed the tip inside of me, and when I tried lifting my hips to push him in deeper, he held my hips still. “Oh, no.”
“Leo,” I begged, but he shook his head.
He held me firmly in place and continued to rub circles against my wet flesh. White hot lights burst behind my tightly closed eyelids.
“I told you when we make love, it’s because you ask me.”
My eyes flew open.
“Are you serious?” I sounded panicked, desperate—and I was. I could hardly breathe. The insides of my thighs quivered.
“Very serious.” His gaze trailed down to where our bodies joined and he nudged inside of me just enough for me to know he was in charge, and not enough for me to get any satisfaction from it.
“This is not nice,” I panted. If he didn’t knock it off, I would throw him onto his back and…
Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be able to budge the man of steel. So I glared at him.
“Maybe.” His smile was so sexy, I nearly sighed. “Ask me, Princess.” His voice was strained with his own need, which only made me hotter.
When I didn’t answer, he slid out.
“Please,” I begged.
He leaned over me and kissed me, hot and hard. I shuddered beneath him with a whimper.
“Ask me,” he said again.
This time when he eased back, I panicked and cried out, “Fuck me, damn it!”
He pushed deep inside, crushing me to him, and I came. As I shuddered around him, he plunged into me, and my toes curled. With every stroke, the orgasm pulsated like waves around me, over me. The muscles in his back tensed under my fingers before he pushed into me one last time. I clung to him, weak and satiated. He kissed me tenderly before wrapping me in his arms, and I melted in his embrace. Being draped over him like this made me feel more alive than I’d ever felt before—
why?
I pressed against his warmth, afraid if I let go, the feeling would vanish and I’d be empty inside.
I awoke with a sex hangover topped with the bittersweet cherry of guilt, and smothered in sinful chocolate syrup. The things we had done…more than once…the taste of him, the feel of him inside of me.
Oh my God, you are going straight to hell.
Apparently, I was one of those women who turned into a raging sex fiend on tropical islands. The kind of woman who drank too much, felt sorry for herself—
unloaded all her innermost feelings on an ex-boyfriend—
and then lost all her clothes.