by Tina Beckett
Her fingers squeezed his. “They actually said that?”
“Yep.”
A look of anger came over her face. “Modi. Paran ou yo se moun fou.”
He knew what that first word meant, but had no idea about the rest. “Translation, please?”
“You don’t want to know.” She gave him a smile. “Let’s just say it wasn’t very complimentary toward your mom and dad.”
He laughed. Somehow her saying that put into words all the things he hadn’t said during that terrible time. Even if he didn’t quite understand it. “I probably made them sound worse than they were.”
“Did they say those things?”
“Yes.”
“Then no, they’re even worse than you made them sound.”
He sighed. “I think they were hurt. They’d built this up into a huge deal. And part of it was my fault. I never explicitly told them no. But when Marie died, I knew I wasn’t going to be happy with just sitting in an office consulting with plastic surgery cases all day. I wanted to do more with my life than that. Not that there’s anything wrong with what my parents do. It just isn’t for me. And what I’m doing isn’t for them. My mom would hate living so close to the beach.”
She took another sip of her coffee, watching him over the top of the cup. “And yet you don’t hate the beach. Didn’t you say you go out there a lot?”
“I do. It’s one of my favorite spots in the world.”
More so now, after what they’d done there. The only problem was, it was hard to go out there without seeing Sasha lying on that beach laughing, her clothing soaked, looking up at him with those dark eyes and even darker lashes. Of seeing her as she let go of him and lay back in the water.
His body reacted, just as it always did.
“It’s one of my favorite spots in the world too.”
He had a feeling she knew what he was thinking.
She set her cup down and looked at him. “What are you going to do about your mom and dad? Are you going to let them come?”
“I think so, yes. I don’t need their approval, but I would like them to see why I couldn’t join their practice.”
“Do you think they’ll understand?”
Unfortunately, he didn’t think it would change a damned thing. But he somehow wanted them to acknowledge that there were other paths. Other ways to find fulfillment in life. “I don’t know. Most of me doesn’t think so, and part of me isn’t exactly sure why they want to come.”
Sasha’s eyes softened. “Maybe they’ve realized that they misjudged you, Nate.” She paused. “Just like I did.”
His chest filled with some strange emotion that defied explanation. “You did?”
“I think so. I thought you were just some rich monché with a savior complex.”
“Monché?”
“Dude...man...”
He laughed. “I don’t think I have a savior complex, at least I hope I don’t. I just want to help people, Sasha. Truly.”
She gripped his hand. “I know that now. Truly.” Her head tilted. “That statue in front of the clinic, is it...”
“Yes. It’s Marie. I asked her parents if I could erect it there, and they gave me permission.”
“I like that.” She gave a visible swallow. “While her death should never have happened, I’m glad that we can now saves lives like hers.”
He leaned closer and took both of her hands. “Thank you for that. I never really told anyone who that statue represented, and you’re the first person to see the connection.”
“I doubt I am. I’m just not as polite as other people. I tend to say what I think.”
“That’s one of the things I...” His mind switched tracks just in time. “That I like about you.”
Her mouth quirked up on one side. “Well, my mom might disagree with you. I can’t tell you the number of times she had to shush me as a kid. The thing she doesn’t get is that she’s just like me.” Sasha laughed.
“No...” He feigned a surprised look.
She let go of one of his hands to swat at his arm. “Watch it, monché.”
His heart was lighter than it had been in a long time. He loved sitting here sparring verbally with her. Loved the way she spoke her mind, no matter what her mom might have thought. Loved...her.
Hell. Had he just said that aloud?
No. Her eyes hadn’t rounded in horror. She hadn’t pulled back in disgust. He’d only voiced the words in his head. But it was enough. Enough to set them in concrete.
Was it possible?
She did tend to say what she thought. So, unlike his parents, she was easier to read. Easier to get a straight answer from. Something else that he liked. Suddenly he wanted his parents to meet her. Wanted them to see how different Sasha was from them.
“I think you’re right about my mom and dad. I’m going to invite them. Whether they like what we’ve done with the clinic or not is immaterial. But they deserve to see where my trust fund has gone and that it’s doing good things. That whether or not they care, the money they put into that fund is helping others.”
Sasha smiled again. “I think that’s a very good thing. You’re not responsible for what they think or don’t think. You’re only responsible for you.”
For once he believed that. Believed in the possibility of something outside the walls he’d built around his heart.
His fingers found her cheek. “Come back to my apartment, Sash.”
“Are we having drinks? I drove my car here.”
His thoughts were spiraling way too fast for him to keep up with. Before he quite realized what was happening, he said, “What if you just left your car here all night and picked it up in the morning?”
Her eyes came up and found his. “Leave it here in front of the clinic?”
“Yes.”
“And pick it up in the...”
He nodded.
Her smile was slow in coming, but when it appeared, it lit up her whole face. “Why, Dr. Edwards, are you asking me to spend the night with you?”
“Would you say yes, if I were?”
“Mmm, let me think...”
Just when he thought she was going to come up with some excuse about needing to be at work the next day or telling him it wouldn’t be a good idea, she gifted him with a kiss on the palm of his hand.
“I say yes.”
* * *
There was no road leading back to the housing complex, just a wide sandy path set with bamboo torches. Since it was early afternoon, the lights hadn’t come on yet. “Are these gas lamps?”
“No. Electric. I didn’t want any danger of something catching on fire.”
He took her hand and twined his fingers in hers as they walked. She needn’t have worried about anyone seeing them, since it looked like the area was deserted. “Do all of the clinic staff live here?”
“Not all. Some of the doctors do, but some of the other staff members already have housing in other parts of the island.”
They came into a clearing of domiciles that were replicas of each other. But they were lovely. The outsides were painted in the same pale green tones as the inside of the hotel. It blended into the greenery around them. “How many homes are there?”
“Twenty right now. If we expand our staff at all, we’ll have to add a few more.”
Normally she might have balked at that, but the spots were so tastefully made, and it looked like they’d done their best to preserve the nature around them. “There are no cars back here?”
“No. We have a couple of golf carts that we can bring back here and the odd truck when someone moves in or out, but for the most part we just try to keep things quiet and peaceful.”
“It really is.” She scuffed at the path. “What would your mom think of all this sand?”
He laughed. “She would absolutely hate
it.”
They made it to the very back of the buildings, and around the corner there was only one house. And behind it was a stand of palm trees and low shrubbery. “This is yours?”
A hammock was stretched between two of the trees, and it wasn’t just some tourist decoration. There was a plastic cup sitting on the ground beside it as if he’d used it very recently. She glanced up at him. Nate surprised her in a lot of different ways.
And it scared her just a little bit.
The sand turned to river rocks as they reached a small path leading up to his front door. A very practical way of losing the sand from your shoes as you walked toward the entryway. “This is beautiful.”
“Thank you. I wanted the staff who live here to have a quiet place to come home to once they finish at the clinic.”
“And you didn’t want a nice quiet place to come to this afternoon?”
He used their still clasped hands to pull her against him. “No, not this afternoon. Maybe not even tonight.”
She hadn’t gotten to see all of him the last time they were together, but this time?
Her mouth watered at the thought. They would be totally alone. Totally cut off from any possibility of being caught, since his house wasn’t attached to any of the others. She assumed there were wives and children in here somewhere, but right now, it was quiet, as if this were their own little oasis of space.
And in a very real sense it was true. Someone would have to purposely skirt some obstacles to get back to his home.
As if reading her thoughts, his arms went around her waist and he walked her backward, up the rock path, under the overhang, against the front door. The wood was solid and smooth against her back, the cool surface a welcome contrast to the heat radiating off his body.
He propped his forearms on either side of her, leaning in, touched his nose to hers. “Are you wearing them?”
His fresh breath washed over her face, and she shivered at how close he was. How his words were making her squirm against him. “Wearing what?”
He dipped closer, his cheek brushing hers as he moved to her ear. “The same panties?”
Confusion went through her until she realized what he was talking about. The underwear from their other encounter. “I can’t remember.”
She remembered very well, but wasn’t going to stand here and describe them. They weren’t the same pair, but they were from the same maker. A silky black undergarment cut deep in the back. And she wanted him to slide them slowly down her legs.
His mouth moved across hers, a light touch that drove her crazy with need, one leg coming between hers and pressing hard against her.
That felt so good. Familiar. Her arms went around his neck, as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Except he pulled away.
“Nate?”
“I don’t want it out here. And if I keep kissing you, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
“Mmm, does it matter?”
He leaned back and pulled his lanyard over his head, reaching beside her to press the key card to something. The door clicked open suddenly, and if he hadn’t been holding her, she would have fallen through the entryway. As it was, the momentum caused them both to lurch through it, Sasha giving a slight shriek as she almost tumbled backward.
Somehow they stayed upright, Nate kicking the door shut behind them.
He said something and lights came on around them. He must have an automated wireless system, a luxury on most parts of the island. Something squelched inside her, but she pushed it back as he kissed her again.
Soon, her thoughts zeroed back in on the man and his palms sliding down her arms, her loose sleeveless dress rippling against her body as his fingers touched portions of it. “Let me take my shoes off,” she murmured against his mouth.
He stood and watched as she kicked her white thong-style sandals off on the tiled floor. The flooring extended into the living room where pale sand-colored walls gave the place an open, spacious feeling. Then his arms were back around her. “Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Thirsty?”
She smiled. “No.”
He leaned down until his arms were just under her bottom and he picked her up so that her face was at the same level as his. “Good.” He kissed her, walking with her to some back part of the house. Down a short hallway and through another door.
His bedroom.
He walked over to a massive carved four-poster bed and turned to sit down, her feet touching the floor. She didn’t wait for an invitation; she scrambled onto the bed, her legs straddling his hips, her hands cupping the back of his head.
“Hi,” she whispered.
He kissed her. “Hi yourself.”
She could feel him against her, hard and ready, and they’d barely touched. It made her smile, because it matched the ache that was growing inside her, waiting for him. How could that be?
It had been very different with Austin. Something she didn’t want to think about right now.
Nate bunched her dress in his hands, sliding it up her thighs as she raised up a bit to help. Then it was around her waist and she was that much closer to him. His fingers explored her underwear and she shivered as his palms smoothed over the skin he found at the edges of the elastic.
God, she wanted to be next to him without any barriers between them. She reached down and found the hem of her dress, pulled it up and over her head, tossed it onto the far side of the mattress.
When she reached behind her to unhook her bra, he stopped her. “Let me.”
He found the clasp and the rush of air against her back was a heady experience. Closer. She needed to be closer to him.
As if reading her mind he dragged off his polo shirt, letting it drop to the floor in the same spot he’d discarded her bra.
She couldn’t help herself. She mashed herself against his chest, her nipples instantly hardening at the unexpected friction from the dusting of hair she found there.
One of his hands slid up her back in a steady move until he reached her nape, fingers sinking deep into her hair.
“Hell, Sash. I didn’t think anything could be better than last time, but...”
She understood exactly what he meant. “I know.”
His lips pressed against the side of her neck, trailing up and over her jaw, peppering tiny kisses along her cheek until he was back at her mouth. Then he was right where he needed to be, teeth and tongue and mouth devouring hers in a way that made her breathless and so very needy.
She squirmed against him, lifting and sliding in a way that mimicked what she wanted to happen. Needed to happen.
When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she climbed off him, her lips leaving his as he groaned.
“Just a minute,” she whispered. “I need to...”
She stripped off her underwear, as Nate’s eyes followed her every move. “I can’t believe you’re here with me.”
“I am. I’m right here.”
Then she reached for his trousers and popped the button free.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NATE WAS ON fire as Sasha tugged his pants down his hips, taking his boxers with them. Then he was free, the air from the room sluicing over him like the waves in the sea.
“Come here.” His voice was rougher than he’d meant it to be, but she evidently didn’t mind, because she just laughed.
“Not quite yet.” She pulled something from the back pocket of his slacks and tossed it to him. “New wallet?”
“Yes.” He took it and opened it to where he’d put a new packet, took it out and then tossed the wallet onto his night table. He started to tear it open, but she stopped him.
He looked at her in puzzlement, until she pulled him to his feet and turned him to face the bed, while she slowly sat on it. She reached her hand out for the condom, but when he gave it to her, she set it o
n the bed next to her hip.
“I thought this might be just the perfect height. And I was right.” Her smile held a secret knowledge.
He had no idea what she was talking about, until her hands reached for him and drew him slowly toward her.
Hell! The second her mouth slid over him, he wondered if it was all over. The wet heat took him by storm, destroying his defenses. He buried his hands in her hair in an attempt to gain some semblance of control over the situation. But it wasn’t happening. Sasha was doing what Sasha did, being as direct with her actions as she was with her words. He loved it. Feared it. Wanted it more than anything he knew.
All he could do was somehow show her. His fingers stroked her face, brushed her hair off her forehead even as his eyes closed and he allowed himself to take in every sensation she let him have.
There was no sense of selfishness in this woman. No taking whatever she could get. And he was coming very close to...
His eyes opened with a start and he pulled free. “No. Not like this.”
She sat back on the bed, licking her lips with a smile. “What? You didn’t like it?” She reached for him again. “I could just finish—”
“It’s my turn.” He ripped open the condom and slid it over himself before bearing her down onto the bed and covering her body with his. “God, I want you so much it hurts.”
It was true. His body ached. But so did his chest. His eyes. Parts of him that he never equated with sex. Because it wasn’t just about sex. This was his first time making love and knowing that it actually was about more than just the physical act. So he showed her. Loved her. And when he finally parted her legs and entered her, it was a spiritual experience. A sharing he’d never experienced with any other woman.
Sasha wrapped her legs around him, like she had in the water, but the solidness of the bed held them up without them needing to put any effort into that part. Instead, he could just concentrate on the push and pull of their bodies as the inner waves began to build.