by Taryn Belle
“Because it’s true, and—” He was about to add something clever and suggestive, but just then his horse decided to veer toward the water. As it turned out, trying to ride an animal you had no control over made for very awkward flirtation. “Whoa!” he called out. “Lucky! Whoa! Stop! Not that way!”
Laina calmly pulled up beside him, and then leaned toward him and reached out to take his reins. Clicking softly with her tongue, she gently steered his horse away from the water and back on course. James let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“I take it this is your first time,” Laina said, guiding her horse around a large piece of driftwood lodged in the sand. They were at the back of the pack now, with the other members of their party starting to wind their way away from the beach and into the trees ahead of them.
“Second. The first time didn’t go so well.”
“No? What happened?”
He hesitated. He’d never talked to a woman about his mother before. In fact, his first and only real girlfriend had left him for more or less that reason—he was “too closed off”—and that had been it for him for relationships. Strangely, though, he hadn’t made that connection in his head until just now.
He took a deep breath. “I went with my mother when I was twenty-one or so. My horse was okay, but hers wasn’t. He was acting up from the very beginning, but the ranch hand kept telling her he was fine. And then something spooked him and he bolted. He went for the woods. She managed to hang on, but it scared the shit out of her and she got banged up by the trees pretty badly.”
Laina shook her head. “God, that must have been horrible for her. For both of you—you must have been terrified.”
“I was. I hadn’t wanted to go in the first place, but...” He trailed off.
James felt her eyes on his face again. “But what?” she asked softly.
He sighed. “But I couldn’t refuse. Horseback riding was on her bucket list.”
Laina was quiet for a beat, and then said, “Oh, James. I’m so sorry.”
“Me too.”
They walked in silence for a moment, and then she moved her horse in front of his with a quick dig of her heels. “There’s something I want to show you,” she called to him over her shoulder. “The others will never miss us. Follow me!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE RIDE UP the incline was longer than Laina remembered, but maybe it was just her nerves that made it seem that way. Winding through the trees with James following behind her, she tried not to think too hard about what she was doing. She’d never taken anyone to this place, and though she’d checked in on it a few times over the past decade, she hadn’t really spent time there since her late teens. Like Pelican Rock, it was somewhat sacred to her, and what if James didn’t see the magic in it that she did? She couldn’t help it—no matter how strong her attraction to him was, she was certain it would lessen her opinion of him.
Laina knew they were getting close when they passed the iron gates of Ocean Lookout, the last property on the way up the path. Beyond it stretched the overgrown four-acre lot of Terrasse de Rêves with the house at dead center. After passing through a crop of fruit-bearing calabash trees, she drew to a halt.
It looked exactly the same as the last time she’d seen it. She stole a quick glance at James, who’d drawn his horse up beside hers, and she immediately knew that he got it. “Wow,” he breathed. “That is crazy.”
“I know,” Laina said with a smile. She led James to a shady tree and dismounted, and then she waited for him to do the same. He cautiously swung a leg over his horse and then settled onto the ground.
“What is this place?” he asked, turning back to the ruins.
“It’s called Terrasse de Rêves—that’s Terrace of Dreams. But I call it House of Broken Dreams.”
“How dramatic.” James grinned. Laina took his reins and tied both horses to tree trunks where they could graze, and then she and James both walked toward the structure.
The house was both unfinished and decaying, making for a uniquely ambiguous effect. It was easy to see how the home, if brought to completion, would have been stately and impressive. Laina remembered the day she had discovered it. She’d been riding with her family, and while they rode right past it like it was nothing interesting, she’d stopped and stared. When questions about it to her parents went unanswered, she’d gone to the council on her own to find out what the story was. Decades later the home was still an unsettling sight in its failed grandeur. The grounds, which had once been clear-cut, were now grown over with enough trees and bushes to create a darkly haunting atmosphere around the house. The red brick walls had begun crumbling with age, and the expansive wooden porch sagged into the ground. But oddest of all were the unfinished roof, which consisted only of rotting plywood, and the empty holes for windows and doors.
“It is pretty dramatic, actually,” Laina said. “The family who owned this place were some of the first outsiders to build on the island. The father was a respected judge from Montreal. While he was building this house, his wife left him for another man. A few months later, his young daughter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died. He had a complete nervous breakdown—it totally destroyed him.”
“Whoa. That is tragic,” James said, walking closer to the structure. “I guess that explains why it was never finished.”
Laina nodded. “He stopped construction of the house but refused to sell the land. When I was a teenager, I remember there being a big fuss about it—the residents were complaining and wanted the house torn down. I freaked out because it was my special place. I begged my parents to try to save it, and they went to the council and managed to talk them into it.”
James raised an eyebrow at her. “Wow. It sounds like you have a lot of influence around here.”
Laina looked away. That was the last thing she wanted him to think, and she was still angry with herself for her slipup back on the trail. She never told anyone her former last name, but judging from James’s lack of reaction, he either hadn’t picked up on it or he already knew; Laina was savvy enough to get that with some minor sleuthing it could be found out.
“I wouldn’t say that.” She brushed the comment off, turning back to the building. “But I was attached to this place. A house that had never become a home—it haunted me. I was always struck by how it looks like it’s growing from the earth. I think it’s what first lit up my love of architecture, and gave me the idea of combining progress with nature.” She turned to James with a hint of challenge on her face. “You’re a developer. Would you have built here if you had the chance?”
He looked taken aback. “Why do I get the feeling there’s only one right answer to this question?”
She shrugged. “Not necessarily. We all have to live by our own code of ethics, and I’m not in the habit of pushing mine on others. Inform yourself and make your choices, is what I always say. I’m just curious.”
He gazed at the house again. “That’s a tough one. This island is so beautiful, and with property at such a premium... I’d be tempted to side with the residents.”
“Well, I can’t fault your honesty.” She tore her eyes away from his face. She was disappointed in his answer, but not surprised...and it certainly didn’t make her want him any less. They were standing side by side, his body inches from hers, and she longed to lean close to him and feel him take her into his arms. But did he want the same thing? Sure, he’d trailed his fingers up her thigh when he’d first walked up to her, nearly causing her to combust, but he could just be toying with her in the way playboys did. If there was one thing Laina didn’t have experience with, it was navigating the subtleties of post-one-night stands.
She started walking toward the house, needing to escape the waves of electricity she felt radiating off her.
“So what were your broken dreams?” James said from behind her.
Laina stopped at the
front porch, gazing into the gaping hole where the front door was supposed to be. Beyond it, she could see a majestic curved staircase, looking completely out of place in a framed room with no drywall. “Nothing big.”
“I’d still like to hear them.”
“Would you?” Laina was used to keeping her laments to herself. Growing up with privilege, she’d learned quickly that she wasn’t allowed to have complaints, at least in the eyes of people who hadn’t grown up in the same way. Everyone knew that money could make dreams come true, even Laina. It was only a problem if your dreams weren’t material.
James walked up to her and searched her face. Then he slowly reached for her hands, as if waiting to see if she would meet him halfway. Almost involuntarily, Laina felt hers rising. Before they’d even touched, she felt a jolt of electricity zap straight to her pussy. Their fingers entwined, and then James pulled her forcefully toward him. “Yes. I would.”
His face was inches from hers, his eyes electric on her, their torsos lightly touching. She stroked her thumbs across his wrists. God, was she really doing this? But it was like she was under a spell, powerless to stop the irresistible pull of her body toward his. She could already feel heat burning at her center, reminding her of every amazing thing she’d felt last night. “Well. You know what I’d like?” she asked.
His pupils dilated. “The same thing I do. At least that’s what I’m hoping.”
Disentangling one hand from his, Laina reached behind him and ran it up under his T-shirt. Just the warm, smooth feel of his skin had her knees going watery. She lifted her mouth to his and brushed it ever so slightly with her lips. “I want us to make each other come again. And then I want you to teach me everything you know.”
* * *
At Laina’s words, James felt his cock go rigid. Oh, yes.
He wanted her—no, he craved her—and he’d missed his chance to have the conversation he needed to have with her anyway. She’d even offered him the perfect opportunity when she started talking about their careers, but his comment about her influence was as far as he’d been able to go. Clearly it was a topic she didn’t like, and he could only imagine the horror on her face if he were to ask her the question that was burning in his mind. But it couldn’t be avoided, and the longer he waited and the more physical they got, the worse it would become for both of them.
He had to ask her. He should stop this right now—simply step away from her, take a deep breath and spit it out like a big boy.
But he couldn’t. Unfiltered lust had taken over his brain and his body, making him burn with a desperate desire that only she could quench.
James brought his mouth down on Laina’s with an animal sound, feeling her tongue reach for him urgently. He took her lower lip between his teeth and sucked it gently, and then he brought his hands to her waist and slid them under her tank top. Releasing one breast from its bra cup, he felt her nipple stiffen under his palm. She moaned and collapsed backward with her hands on the back of his head, bringing his mouth down to her breast. When their eyes met again, hers were already wild with desire.
“Show me,” she whispered fiercely.
Taking her hand again, James pressed it to his cock, now rock-hard through his shorts. Hot anticipation rolled off him in sweet waves. “You’re going to bring me to the edge but not let me come,” he said into her ear, holding her firmly against him. “And then it’ll be my turn.”
Laina moved with lightning speed, opening his zipper and yanking his shorts and boxers down his hips. They settled in a pool around his ankles and stayed there, evidence of the desperate need coursing through both of them as Laina lowered herself to her knees. When she looked up at James and licked her lips hungrily, he almost groaned aloud. Jesus—this woman was making him come apart in a way he never had before. He took her hands, wrapping one firmly around his shaft and the other around his scrotum. “I want to see your mouth on me,” he said hoarsely. Her lips wrapped around his head, tentatively at first, and then she was taking all of him in. “Oh, yes. So beautiful. So sexy,” he groaned. Her mouth felt hot and wet, and the sight of her—
He exercised control, knowing he could explode in an instant if he wanted to. Now that he was slick from her mouth, he took her hand and showed her how to work it up his shaft and over his head with her palm.
“Is that good?” she asked breathlessly.
“So good,” he managed to say, his knees practically buckling. Her eager face, looking for his approval when she had no idea of the power she held over him—it was mind-blowing. “And I am so...close.”
When he felt her release him, he pulled her up, kicked his shorts and boxers away and pushed her back until she was up against a tree. “Let’s see if you’re ready for me,” he growled into her ear, yanking her zipper down. She gasped as he grabbed one thigh and pulled it up and out to spread her open. The he slid his hand into her panties. “Absolute perfection,” he said, bringing her wetness up to circle her clit.
“James—” Laina cried, bucking back against the tree. But he was only getting started, and already control was a line he was just at the edge of crossing. He never went beyond it. He conducted his sexual encounters like anything else in his life, orchestrated with a measured plan and process that never veered off course. But right now his mind was hazy with unadulterated wanting, and what he wanted was to do everything with this woman. To have everything from her, and suddenly he barely knew where to start or where to end.
Like her sweet pussy, for example. He’d been planning to get his mouth onto it, but the feel of her wetness was messing with his head. Slipping his hand out of her panties, he brought his fingers to his mouth. “You taste like heaven,” he rasped, pushing her shorts down. “I can’t wait to lick you, but I just have to fuck you first.”
“Thank God,” Laina panted. Her chest was heaving, her fingernails digging into his back with desperation. “I need you so badly. Right now.”
Keeping her pinned to the tree, James got the condom on and then lifted her thigh again. He pushed into her, wanting to prolong the moment, but Laina grabbed his ass to pull him in deeply. “Harder,” she rasped, each small cry that ripped from her lips spurring him on further. “Harder!” James drove into her relentlessly, keeping his hand at the small of her back to save her skin from ripping apart on the tree trunk. Their urgent breath mingled in the warm air, two people in the throes of a passion so intense that every muscle burned as they raced toward their ultimate pleasure.
Restraint. Control, James chanted in his head, but it was hopeless. He needed everything she could give him, everything he could give to her. He growled and spun her around so her back was to him. Bending her forward by the neck, he entered her from behind in one forceful thrust.
“Yes, yes, yes—” Laina cried, meeting him thrust for thrust.
Looking at her tan-lined bottom and tapered waist, James suddenly felt like he’d entered a realm that he hadn’t even known existed. What was happening to him? He’d had plenty of good sex in his life—even great sex—but nothing like this. Like if he couldn’t have her he would die, like he’d compare every other woman to her from now on, like he wanted to possess her.
And now he was way too close for comfort and almost beyond caring. His release was so near, and he knew it was going to blow his mind. He wrapped Laina’s hair around his hand and tugged her head back until his mouth was at her ear. “I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered to her, all hope of restraint shattered by the sheer force of their connection.
“That makes two of us,” Laina said breathlessly. “Now please make me come.”
Reaching under her, James found her swollen clit and worked his fingers over it. It didn’t take much. He felt her pitch forward, and then her body shuddered as a long, animal moan escaped her mouth. Her pussy clenched his cock tightly over and over again, drawing him ever nearer—
And then he was falling over the edge h
imself, his entire body radiating with the most intense, white-hot pulses of pleasure he’d ever felt. When he finally collapsed on top of her, they were both breathing as if they’d run a marathon.
Finally James pulled her up, meaning to turn her toward him, but she stopped him by placing a hand at his waist. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. She looked incredible, her face flushed with heat and her hair tangled from their passion. Arching her back, she rolled her hips up and down, making her pussy squeeze around his still-stiff cock. “You still feel plenty hard to me.”
It was true. Though he’d had an earthquake-worthy orgasm just a minute ago, judging by the state of his cock he would never know it. He groaned. “God, Laina. You’re killing me.”
“But you like it.”
“No.” He threw himself over her back and found her lips. “I love it.”
She separated herself from him with a quick bump of her hips, and then she turned around to face him. Kicking her shorts away, she slid her tank top up to expose her bra. Then she ran a hand down her belly to cup her pussy, letting her eyes flutter shut as she moaned. James’s cock lifted from half-mast to a full-blown erection as he watched her, awestruck. “So, do you want to fuck me again?” she asked, her breath already quickening.
His heart started to pound. “I think the correct word would be need,” he said, moving to close the gap between them.
“Then go ahead,” she said, but she put a hand out to stop him. “On one condition.”
“Name it,” he said, licking his lips ravenously.
“That you take me into your bed tonight like a proper gentleman, and that you answer all my questions.”
“That’s two conditions.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely take it,” he said, reaching for her.
CHAPTER EIGHT