I didn’t quite know what to say, so I shrugged. Lanie rewarded me with one of her brilliant smiles promising hot sex later this evening. I’d house a dozen people to earn a smile like that.
“Hyacinth, this my boyfriend, Kaden.”
My boyfriend. I liked the sound of that. I also liked how she subtly staked a claim on me.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Call me Cin. Everyone does.”
“Is that Cin with a C or an S?” Steele asked from behind me. I turned, expecting to see him grinning in welcome, but he was scowling as he took in her hair, clothes, and tattoos. She wasn’t exactly Steele’s type, and he liked his privacy.
“Whatever way you want it.” Cin gave Steele a slow once-over, and her smile was sultry. He might not like what he saw, but she didn’t have any such compunction.
“We only have two bedrooms,” Steele grumped.
“You’re welcome to sleep on the couch.” I offered helpfully, ignoring the heat from Steele’s glare.
“I’m good with that. Everyone needs their own space, and this space is just fine.” Cin swept her gaze around the small living area and rested it on Steele. With a wicked grin, she approached him. He visibly stiffened but held his ground, even though a muscle in his jaw twitched. She ran a hand down his chest, and his scowl was razor-sharp. “Help me carry my luggage in.”
“Please,” Steele reminded her.
“Please,” she shot back with dripping sweetness not the least bit sincere. Not waiting for his reply, she pivoted on her clunky sandals and headed back toward her car. Steele reluctantly followed, obviously annoyed.
I arched a brow at Lanie, and she held her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Pulling her into my arms, I took advantage of our moment alone and kissed her. We were still kissing when the odd couple came back inside.
“Get a fucking room,” Steele growled from behind us.
Lanie and I didn’t stop right away, just to prove a point. A few seconds more, though, and Lanie pushed away from me. Damn, I didn’t want to stop.
Only then did I realize that Cin had a bulldog on a leash. He was built like a truck with a pushed-in nose, and he snorted and panted as if he’d just run a mile. Looking at him, I doubted he’d walk let alone run a mile.
Steele was laden down with several bags and stopped in the middle of the small living room. He glanced around as if at a loss for what to do with all this stuff.
“You can put my sewing machine and sewing basket on that table over there. Since this is now my bedroom, just stack my luggage by the couch.” To prove her point, Cin dropped several additional bags on the couch and flopped down next to them. She took off her sandals and rubbed feet with bright blue toes. The bulldog jumped on the couch beside her and wiped a line of slobber on the couch arm.
Steele’s eyes bugged out of their sockets as our pristine living room was turned into a hippy flophouse. I struggled not to break out into laughter. By the look on Lanie’s face, she was doing the same.
Steele placed the sewing machine on the table and her basket next to it. “Is that all?”
She blinked a few times, gazing up at him. “For now. I’ll let you know if I need more help.” Cin dug in one of her bags, tossing items aside on the coffee table and floor, not caring where they fell. Steele fisted his hands and stared at the mounting pile of crap invading his tidy sanctuary.
“What is that?” Steele pointed at the bulldog.
“He’s not a that. He’s family, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t insult him. He’s very sensitive.” Ignoring Steele, she turned to Lanie and me. “This is Hercules. I call him Herc.”
“He’s adorable.” Lanie rushed to love on the dog.
“Fucking adorable,” Steele muttered.
“He is cute,” I added, just to needle Steele, surprised he was upset about the dog. He’d liked Mona when she’d lived with us for one evening. I was the one who didn’t have an affinity for dogs. I’d never really been around them much. I walked over to Steele as Lanie cooed over the bulldog. “I thought you liked dogs?”
“Not this one,” Steele grouched and sent another scathing glare in the direction of Cin.
“I get it. It’s her you don’t like, so anything associated with her.”
“Whatever.” Steele turned away, rummaging through the refrigerator until he found one of those gawd-awful healthy drinks he liked. They tasted like dirt, leaves, and dandelions. Nasty shit.
“You drink those?” Cin said in horror. “They’re not organic, and they’re not earth-friendly.”
“Good, I’ll buy more of them,” Steele shot back through gritted teeth. I’d never seen him so pissed except on the ice. He was usually cool and calm.
This was going to be an interesting next several days. I’d probably spend most of my time at Lanie’s and let these two carry on the battle of the sexes. After emptying the contents of her bag, Cin finally found the multicolored horn-rimmed glasses she’d been looking for. She put them on and studied something on her phone, while Herc laid his big head on her lap and stared up at her adoringly. She absently patted his head.
“Thanks so much for letting me stay here,” she said to Lanie and me. Steele wasn’t included in her gratitude, probably because he was outwardly seething at her disruption of his ordered life.
“I think Lanie and I will take a walk down the beach,” I announced, enjoying with evil glee pitting those two together. “Steele, keep an eye on the sauce and stir it once in a while.”
“Yeah, fine.” Steele didn’t look my way, still glowering at the interloper, who was either oblivious or didn’t give a shit.
Lanie and I hurried out of the cottage and held hands as we picked our way along the beach.
“One of them is going to end up dead,” she said.
“My money’s on Steele. He’ll have a coronary because of the mess. I can already tell she’s not into neat and tidy, and he’s a tight-ass about it.”
“I’m with you. I think she’ll tolerate him by pretending he doesn’t exist. Steele isn’t as capable of ignoring someone who’s disrupted his world order.”
“Glad I’m staying with you.”
“You could’ve offered your room to her.”
“What? And give Mr. Tight-ass the easy way out? No effing way in hell. He needs a little disruption in his life. Someone to shake him up and drag him out of his comfort zone.”
“You don’t think they—” Lanie stopped and used her hands to try to come up with the right words.
“Might be sexually attracted to each other?” I snorted with laughter. “You have to be kidding me. It’s sworn enemies at first sight.”
“Opposites attract.”
“Not those opposites.”
I pulled her to me, tired of talking about Steele and Cin. They weren’t my problem, but finding a way to have a quickie before dinner was.
And I knew just the right way to appease my hunger.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Searing Bodies
~~Delaney~~
* * *
Kaden wanted to go on a hike, or so he said. I didn’t think for one minute that he had hiking in mind, and I saw how right I was when I saw the heat burning in those blue eyes. He was doing a great job of building the anticipation. while I wouldn’t have minded racing back to my room for some afternoon delight.
Neither of us knew the island well enough to know where we were going, but we were looking for somewhere private.
The afternoon sun warmed us as we held hands and left our cares behind. We passed several houses and walked down a dirt road, finding a path to a rocky beach. We walked along the water, not seeing another house, and climbed around an outcropping of rocks to a part of the beach that appeared to be uninhabited. We discovered a hidden sandy area wedged between a few boulders at the water’s edge in a quiet cove. Madrona trees flanked the bank and hung out over the water offering more privacy and shelter.
We’d hear anyone approaching long before
they saw us.
Kaden arched a brow at me, and I arched mine right back, nodding in answer to his silent question. This place would do nicely.
We stripped off our clothes and got down to business. Before I knew it, we were naked on the shoreline, bodies entwined along with our hearts. With every sigh of the gentle surf, the tide rolled lazily over us and receded. The effect pulled me into an erotic hypnosis, and I was lost in the rhythm of our bodies gliding across each other. Kaden’s blue eyes seared into mine as he branded himself inside and outside my body, claiming me soul in the process.
The water warmed as we heated up. Nothing curbed our desire for each other or dampened our enthusiasm. We could’ve been doing it on a sheet of ice in Antarctica, and we wouldn’t have noticed the cold. All I knew was him, the feel of him, the scent of him, the sounds he made. I was in a bubble the outside world wasn’t able to penetrate. For now.
Kaden’s thrusts inside me were easy and so right, everything sex should be and never had been with anyone but him. I bit his shoulder. His heavy-lidded eyes popped open. His smile became predatory. Eagerness surged through me, as I waited for his reaction, knowing I would relish every minute of it.
“You’re being a bad girl.”
“A very bad girl,” I agreed happily.
His eyes darkened and his body stiffened. I recognized the telltale signs of an impending orgasm. He always took me with him, he was generous like that, and I was on the edge with little urging needed but welcomed.
Yet, there was still that matter of punishing me for those teeth marks on his shoulder. I fucking couldn’t wait.
Instead of coming and enticing me to come, Kaden pulled out. Before I protested, he flipped me around so I was on my hands and knees in about six inches of water. He wrapped one hand around my waist, holding me in place. I didn’t realize what he was doing until I felt the whoosh of air on my backside, heard the slap of his hand on my ass and felt the sting. I glanced over my shoulder. He stared at my ass, frowning in concentration. He raised his hand and brought it down on my ass again. Another sharp sting. Not enough to really hurt, but sure as hell enough to send new sensation zinging through my body and electrifying my female parts. After one more smack of his palm on my ass, I was so close to coming, I buried my fingers in the sand and bit my lower lip. Anything I could do to distract my over-heated body.
Kaden positioned himself behind me, holding my hips. I felt his hard cock against my thighs. A few second later, he buried it inside me once again. I gasped and emitted a very small scream of need. My body shook from the power of our passion and I whimpered, begging him to finish the job. The tide rolled in, tickling my nipples and swirling around my clit. My ass burned from his spanking. God, what fucking, incredible sensations.
“You aren’t going to be a bad girl again, are you?” He changed the angle of his hips to push deeper. He fought to catch my breath.
“Maybe. If you promise you’ll punish me.”
“I promise.” His raspy chuckle vibrated through his body and into mine.
“Promise me one more thing.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t be gentle. Fuck me hard. I need you to fuck me hard.” I gasped and dug my fingers into the fine sand of the beach.
“All right then.” Gripping my waist, Kaden gave me what I asked for with pleasurable assault on my body as he slammed into me multiple times before his own release rendered him frozen inside me for a brief moment as he came hard and fast. I came, too, not a typical skyrocket into the sky and floating back afterward, but more fireworks and explosions.
I’d never done it in the water, and I might’ve reached a new high when it came to an orgasm.
“Oh, fuck, that was fucking fantastic,” Kaden said as he leaned over me. He rolled to the side and pulled me on top of him. I lay with my cheek pressed against his chest and traced the tattoo on one arm with my index finger. I loved his tats. They were intricate and covered a good portion of his body. They made him appear a badder boy than he was, a definite turn-on.
“Yeah, it was. You are the king.” I planted a kiss on his nipple, followed by a lick, and he shivered.
“Yup. The king of cock at your service, milady.”
I giggled, as he spoke in a voice husky with emotion, and I smiled to myself. I knew how to push his erotic buttons, and I took advantage of such knowledge.
“I’ll sit on your throne any day.”
“Just promise to sit on my face.”
“That’s a promise. Just tell me when.”
“Do you need an invitation?”
I laughed at him and swatted his chest. He pulled me forward so his mouth was even with one breast and one very happy nipple and made it even happier. His tongue slid across the stiff peak, teasing it even harder. Taking it in his mouth, he sucked and nibbled until I was ready for round two. I felt his semi-hard dick pressing against my stomach and knew he was almost ready to get busy again, too. He treated my other nipple to the same enjoyable task. By the time he finished, he was rock hard again, and I was wet and ready.
The tide had receded enough that it no longer rolled gently against us, and the sun beat down on the sand, warming it and our bodies.
“Ride me, baby.” He released his hold on me. I pushed to a sitting position straddling his hips.
“Whatever the king desires.”
“I desire you. Always and forever.” His blue eyes burned into mine, leaving a mark that’d never heal, not that I wanted it to. He’d long ago branded my soul, and there’d never be another. I knew that now. There was no denial of what was happening between us.
Kaden was the only man for me. Yet I was still going to leave him.
That sad thought squeezed at my heart with a sadness I really didn’t want to feel right now. I wanted pleasure and hot, messy sex, not emptiness and sorrow. I pushed the negative away to be brought out at a more appropriate time—like in a week or so when he was only a memory.
I braced one hand against his chest and raised my hips, reaching between us to hold him steady as I pushed downward on his cock. I was so wet he slid easily inside.
Kaden reached up and grasped both nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, pinching enough to send slivers of pleasurable pain coursing through me. All points led to the joining of our two bodies. I anchored both hands on his abs and rose up enough to take him inside me again. Soon I was pumping up and down on his cock. Each upward stroke of my hips also moved my upper body, but his fingers held firm and stretched my nipples. God, it hurt like heaven, and I made no moves to lessen the pain.
This guy knew how to do it for me. One time he’d be loving and gentle, another he’d be hot and hungry, and yet another he’d be rough and nasty. I didn’t know which Kaden I loved the most. Perhaps all of them.
I picked up the pace until I was slamming into him with every ounce of energy I had. He answered by lifting his hips on my every downward thrust, causing our bodies to roughly connect.
I was on the verge again, when he pinched harder and turned his wrists, twisting my already sensitized and somewhat sore nipples. The orgasm slammed into my body with the force of being hit by a runaway train. His seed emptied into me, and I fell forward onto his chest,
Kaden wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, as our sweat-soaked bodies slid against each other. His chest rose and fell under me, and I was breathing just as hard as he was.
We lay together in a tangle of arms and legs for several minutes before he came to his feet, taking me with him.
“Hold on,” he said gruffly.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he waded out into the cold water of the small cove. As he set me down on my feet, we both cleaned up as best we could without soap and warm water. Then numb from the cold and the sex, we waded back to shore, dried on the warm rocks, and reluctantly dressed.
“I wonder if my spaghetti sauce survived our absence.”
“We just had epic sex twice, and you’re worried
about your sauce?” I teased him, pulling a lock of his shaggy hair.
“My three favorite things are fucking, food, and hockey.”
“In that order?”
“Yeah.”
“In that case, I’m sure your spaghetti will fare better than Steele and Cin did.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
I was right. Those two were that rare combination that generated hate at first sight. I think Steele had his work cut out for him, but then again, so did I.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Stripper Dance
~~Kaden~~
* * *
I’d had sex in a lot of different places and a lot of different ways, but none of my escapades topped Lanie and me on a beach with gentle waves rolling over us. My dirty imagination conjured up a myriad of hot images of her and me on a tropical island in one of those coves with brilliant blue, warm water.
I’d even slipped into a fantasy where I bought an island in the Caribbean, and we spent the rest of our lives there. Just us, no one else.
Maybe I’d never get that island, but I’d find a way to keep Lanie with me, I vowed. The wedding was tomorrow, and her resolve slipped a little every night we crawled beneath the sheets together or stole a kiss or chatted about something seemingly insignificant. With Lanie, insignificance didn’t exist. I wanted to know everything about her, and I was full of questions. Most she answered freely now that she’d opened those floodgates. She’d attended a private school in DC the majority of her life, graduated in political science from Yale, had a pet toy poodle named Mr. Wiggles she’d left behind, and played the piano.
For two weeks, we lived in undeniable bliss while we denied the deadline looming.
Those two weeks were a whirlwind of activity. Teammates, Sockeyes staff, friends, and family flew in from all over, overtaking the island. I didn’t go anywhere that I didn’t see several people I knew. I worked out in the morning and golfed in the afternoons with teammates. Lanie worked her ass off as the inn operated at full capacity. The morning breakfasts were packed, and Mandy soon discovered how much hockey players ate after almost running out one morning.
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