by KaLyn Cooper
“Perfect timing, Jack. Your mother, Lilly, and the boys are walking back from the beach right now. Supper will be served in ten minutes at the lower level dining table. But if our little princess needs something to tide her over, bring her up.”
“I’ll get her some juice from the bar. Thanks, Mateo.”
“Good idea. Now quit bothering me so I can get supper down there.” The line went dead, so Jack hung up the handset. To Jillian he said, “We’ll finish this after Addi goes to bed tonight.”
All three headed to the quad bar, where Lilly was making frozen margaritas. “You can’t come to the Mexican Rivera and not drink margaritas.” The grinding crunch of the blender drowned out any more words. Expertly, Lilly dipped the frozen glasses in the water and salt before pouring in the fresh cocktail. She went on to make virginal ones for all three kids, who sat at the supper table and sipped their icy juice.
“So tomorrow we’re going to the spa, right?” Lilly asked the other women at the table.
Jack jumped in. “I’m sorry, but Jillian and I are going diving. I want to check out a few places tomorrow.” Jack looked at his sister and tried to give her a regretful look.
“That sounds like more fun anyway.” She peered down at her boys, one on each side of her. “Want to go snorkeling while Uncle Jack dives?”
At the big eyes and broad smiles on his nephews’ faces, he couldn’t say no. “Sure. The more, the merrier.” Besides, if Lilly went, she could watch Addison while Jack tested Jillian’s skill with SCUBA gear. His dive boat was booked with cruise guests, so they’d make do with the speedboat, which was tied at the family dock.
“So where are we going?” Jillian asked.
“I’d like to take a look at the fallen Virgin Mary statue at the south end of Isla Mujeres.”
His mother piped in. “The one that got smashed in the hurricane? Let’s see, that would be four years ago, maybe five.”
Levi corrected in an uninterested tone. “It was more like six years ago, maybe even seven now.”
“Yes. I remember.” Mother Girard paused for a moment, then looked at Jack. “That statue isn’t there anymore. Your grandfather was the leader of an archeological group that had it excavated with a grant from the Girard Foundation.”
“I don’t remember that.” Jack was astonished by this revelation.
“The hurricane was the summer you went into the Navy.” She tapped pursed lips with a perfectly manicured nail. “Gramps and Jimmy came down here for fall break and met up with…I think it was Professor Oxte who headed the team. No matter. By Christmas time it was out of the ocean, and Gramps and Jimmy spent the entire holiday in Cancun in the lab.”
That had been the first Christmas Jack had missed being with his family. He’d been grinding in the sand in Coronado, gutting his way through BUDs, swimming his ass off in the frigid California surf. Several Christmases had passed since then when he’d been outside the USA. One he’d totally forgotten about until his team had returned to base to find presents and cards.
Jillian’s question brought him out of the past. “So where is the statue now?”
“The National Museum of Anthropology in the Maya History section in downtown Cancun.” His mother sipped the last of her margarita. “Technically it’s on permanent loan from the Foundation since it paid for everything and has to pay the international tax on it every year. We should give them the damn thing, but your grandfather insisted that the Foundation maintain ownership. Pictures of it are on their website and in the Foundation’s archives.”
She looked pointedly at Jack. “You are a member of the Foundation board of directors and have access to those files, you know.”
Jack had forgotten that fact. He tried to stay as far away as he could from Girard corporate everything. Gramps had made sure he was a permanent member of the organization, although he’d never been to a board meeting. Maybe he should attend at least one. Or, better yet, they could meet in Cancun. He liked that idea.
“I’ll check it out later.” He knew that pictures of the restored statue might not help. He needed to examine the photographs closer. They had to figure out which way she was pointing. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to make some calls.” Jack rose from the table and dug out his cell phone.
After arranging for SCUBA tanks and gear to be delivered, he convinced Cool Hand Luke to lend him his new digital underwater camera. Jack had helped Luke connect his chopper service to the excursion packages available on cruise lines, and they had been diving buddies ever since the pilot moved to Cancun.
His gaze swept the quad. The boys took turns giving Addi rides in their motorized mini-jeeps. The women were on individual chaise lounges watching the sunset, each with another margarita in hand. He was pleased that Jillian was fitting in with his sister and mother.
He couldn’t wait to feel her melt into him when he kissed her, hear her little mewls of pleasure and need when he ran fingers down her bare breast and the gasp when he sucked hard and nipped them. He liked her breasts, a handful for even him. He intended to spend a great deal of time on them tonight, kissing every inch. Making her come with only his fingers the other night had made him feel like a gladiator winning a battle against the champion. His cock hardened completely as he remembered the taste of her. Oh yes, he’d taste her with his tongue tonight and make her come that way too.
She’d had a rough day, with all the bad news. Well, it was bad news for her, good news for him. He wanted to make her forget, at least for a while.
Female laughter came from the lounges that faced away from him. Good thing. He didn’t need his mother and sister see him sporting a hard-on. After checking his watch, he called to anyone who might be listening, “I’ve got some paperwork to handle. I’ll see you all later.”
“You just go ahead, Jackie,” his mother crooned back.
“I’ll alert the media,” Lilly chided.
Jillian looked around the side of her chair. He saw as well as felt her gaze rake him head to toe then back up to his now twitching cock. Her smile reinforced her words. “I’ll see you later, and we can finish examining…those photos.”
With that promise on his brain, how could he get rid of his erection? Paperwork. He turned and headed to his office.
* * *
Baby monitor affixed to her belt, Jillian climbed the steps in search of Jack. As she reached the main floor, she looked around the photo-perfect open living room and dining room design. It was elegantly casual. The heavily decorated tree, now sans gifts piled underneath, stood reflecting its twinkle lights in the blackened floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a beautiful nightlight illuminating most of both empty rooms.
She ventured down the hall to the library that Jack had converted into his office. Although she’d enjoyed the company of her sister- and mother-in-law, she missed him in the way a woman missed her lover. She needed him tonight.
The door was open, and Jack’s long blond bangs fell straight as he concentrated on the spreadsheets in front of him then entered information into the computer. Surfer-dude entrepreneur came to mind as she stood very still and watched him. From this angle, he’d have looked younger than his twenty-nine years if it weren’t for the constant five-o’clock shadow and now-hidden eyes that had seen too much. The defined muscles in his forearms rolled as he flipped the page. She knew how strong those arms were wrapped around her and hoped she’d have the opportunity to feel them most of the night.
Should she disturb him, or just go back to her room and proofread her thesis? He was doing work he’d put off to spend time with her and Addi. She felt guilty because she’d taken him from his work on the boats a few days ago, and he’d spent most evenings with her. She’d put him way behind. She turned to leave.
“Don’t go.” Jack’s deep, commanding voice reached in and grabbed her heart. She wanted to giggle like a teenage girl with her first crush when the boy of her dreams stopped at her locker to talk with her. “Come here, Jillian.”
“I don’t want t
o disturb you. I’ve taken you away—”
He moved so fast her brain barely registered it before his mouth was on hers, cutting off her words and then all thought whatsoever. He invaded her mouth like a conquering hero, his hands taking what she was willing to give. Skillfully he unbuttoned her blouse as he tasted every corner of her mouth. When he reached around to unhook her bra, he suddenly pulled back.
Through her lust-haze, she heard it too. Soft female footfalls on the hardwood floors down the hall and around the corner near his mother’s suite of rooms.
“Not here.” Jack grabbed her hand, and they fled downstairs. She slowed at her bedroom door, but he continued on. “My room.”
As soon as the hall door was closed behind them, Jack went to the wall of sliding glass doors to the quad and closed them. He yanked shut the blackout drapes, leaving them in the soft light of the lamp in his sitting area.
His room was a mirror image of hers, their bathrooms back-to-back. That’s where the similarities ended. Walls of deep blue were a backdrop for stunning paintings of the beach, ocean, and setting sun. Maybe it was the rising sun. The colors were vibrant yellows and reds highlighting half of white clouds piled tall against the blue sky. One work of art stretched the length of the couch in the sitting area, and two more framed the mirror over the very neat chest of drawers. He was a tidy man, no clutter anywhere, only the essentials in view.
Her gaze fell on the bed. In the fashion of Mexican beds, the light palm wood headboard was attached to the wall, and it had no footboard, only floated on an open frame.
“Now, where were we before we were almost interrupted?” Jack’s hands were on her shoulders, his chest to her back.
He kissed the spot where her jaw and ear met while slipping his hand over her shoulder to cup her breast from behind. “I’ve dreamed of taking you this way.”
His fingers massaged the back of her neck before he wove them into her hair at the base of her scalp. He pulled her head back, exposing her neck to him. He kissed a line down her throat as he pulled on her nipple. “I want to bend you over the side of my bed and drive into you hard and fast until you scream my name.” He felt her tense, her whole body still. He’d save that for another time.
Spinning her around to face him, he looked into deep green eyes. “But not tonight.” She seemed to relax as she let out a breath.
“We’re going to take our time.” He cupped her breasts in both hands and felt their weight. “I intend to concentrate on these for hours. You’re so sensitive here.” He brushed his thumbs over her taut nipples, and she gasped. “Told you.”
He slid her blouse and bra off, then bent and kissed each nipple. When he sucked one into his mouth, she moaned. He flicked it with his tongue, and she grabbed his head, digging fingers into his scalp. Oh yes, this was going to be good.
Bending over so far was awkward, so he lifted her under her knees and around her back and laid her on the bed. His bed. Taking his time, he stared at her golden-reddish hair that spilled across his blue pillows. Her green eyes, dark with passion, stared back at him. He smiled, and so did she.
Her large breasts, nipples hard, pointed at him. Her belly wasn’t exactly flat and rounded slightly between her hips, her hips now covered by shorts.
He immediately divested her of them and the pretty lace thong that didn’t hide the blonde hair at the apex of her legs. It was so light and short, it was barely visible. He was thankful it wasn’t sculpted like a landing strip or a perfect triangle. It was natural, like her.
“You have on too many clothes.” Jillian’s voice brought his attention back to her lips. “Take them off.”
“Bossy, aren’t you?” And damn if he didn’t like that. He’d never expected that of her but was glad she wasn’t totally submissive.
“I believe in equal opportunity”—she licked her lips—“and I believe I owe you.”
Oh hell yes. The thought of those pink lips around his cock, her soft mouth sucking him the way she had his tongue, made it pound against his zipper begging to be freed.
He’d started to pull off his shirt when she said, “Oh, no you don’t. Come here. I’m going to do that for you. Equal opportunity, remember?”
Crawling to her on the bed, he knelt in front of her as she sat up. She took his face in her hands and brought his lips to hers. The kiss was demanding and promising all in one. She found the edge of his shirt and skimmed her fingers up his bare chest, circling short nails over his flat nipples. They had never been erogenous zones before, but under her ministrations, they leaped to life, sending lightning bolts to his balls.
Deepening the kiss himself, he took her breasts in his hands and gently massaged them before rolling her nipples between thumb and index finger. She whimpered and broke the kiss to whisk his shirt over his head. She pressed her breasts against his bare chest, their hearts, only skin and bone from each other, beating to the same driving rhythm. His hands went to her bottom, and he pressed her hips against his.
“Still too many clothes,” Jillian panted out as she reached and fumbled with his button and zipper.
He grabbed her shaking hands. “I’ve got this.” Then he kissed her as he pulled his shorts and boxers off in one swoop. He pulled her down on the bed beside him so that they faced each other on their sides. With his palm, he smoothed her every curve from shoulder to knee. “You are so beautiful.”
She closed her eyes as a doubtful smirk pinched her face.
“Jillian, look at me.” When she opened her eyes, he continued. “You are beautiful. I love your body.”
He took a breast in his hands. “These are real, just like you. There’s nothing fake or pretentious, and that is so beautiful.”
He slid his hand to the light blonde hairs over her sex. “This is real.” He ran his fingers through her short hair, then dipped his middle finger into the slit and found her clit, hard and swollen.
“And this is real. The way I made you come the other night was beautiful to me.” He pressed his finger on her clit then rubbed it up and down the length of it. She whimpered and arched into his hand.
He captured her mouth for a quick kiss then trailed kisses down her body, replacing his hand and fingers with his tongue. That small taste the other night wasn’t enough.
With his tongue he circled her clit, teasing her, then laved it with the flat surface, rubbing hard. She tasted even better tonight. He’d finished by flicking the underside with the tip of his tongue. She really liked that.
“Jack, please. I need you in me,” she begged between short breaths.
“See. This is beautiful. You are beautiful.”
“Jack, I’m going to—”
He slid two fingers into her. “Come for me.”
Jillian fell apart as he licked and flicked once more, going totally limp, his name a whisper mixed with sighs.
He tucked her into his side and watched her breathing even out. She’d had a tough day, but they’d solved the crises. He wondered if she’d sleep now or drift up, ready for seconds. Next time he’d go over with her.
It didn’t take long for her eyes to open and a devilish grin to emerge. “My turn.” She pushed him over onto his back and kissed his lips. Her hand went to his cock, and she measured the length of it with her fist, passing her thumb over the head, moistening it with droplets he couldn’t hold in.
She worked her way down his body with her tongue, following the line of darker hair from his bellybutton to the thatch at the base of his cock. With one last look at him, she nestled between his knees and lowered her head.
All that blonde hair draping his legs, moving like satin over them as she took him in her mouth and withdrew, sucking him deep, it was more than he could bear. “Jillian.” Her name was a plea and a threat. “You don’t realize just what you’re doing to me.”
“Uh huh.” She hummed, and he almost lost it. He reached into the nightstand and grabbed a condom, ripped it open, and grabbed her head, pulling it off him.
The shocked look d
idn’t last but a second before she licked her lips. “I wasn’t finished.”
“Oh yes you were.” He moved his hand, the one with the condom, and she grabbed it from him. As she rolled it on him, he wasn’t sure he’d live through the divine torture of her fingers caressing him.
He flipped her onto her back and checked her quickly, slipping a finger down the length of her slit and into her channel. Her clit was hard, and she was so warm and wet.
He watched her eyes as he slid into her. He moved slowly at first, going deeper with each stroke. She smiled up at him and took his face in her hands. “You’re so good at this.” She arched her hips up to meet his, and he went gloriously deep. She liked it, too, because she closed her eyes, but her smile never quavered.
It didn’t take long before they rode the edge together. He held out for her, more important than it had ever been. He felt her tighten every muscle in her body, the ones inside grasping and releasing involuntarily. He pumped harder and faster, and she rose to meet his deep thrusts. She grabbed his shoulders and held on as they fell together into the mindlessness of ecstasy.
Jack didn’t have to search far for Jillian as he sought her wet heat several times in the night. She had curled into him as if they’d been lovers for years. She came willingly to him, each experience better than the last. Until she was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Women and children moved at a different pace. Jack was sure of it.
He’d been up since five thirty, hoping to slide into Jillian one more time. Three orgasms that night hadn’t been enough for him. When he awoke with a hard-on, aching for her tight, soft channel, he’d reached for her. Then he’d reached farther. All he’d found was a cold, empty bed.
That pissed him off. She’d left, sneaking back to her room, in the middle of the night. She wouldn’t do that again. He wouldn’t let her. He wanted to wake up next to her warm, naked body as morning arrived, watch her sleep until those eyes the color of budding palm leaves opened with softness around the edges, and watch her smile at him, glad he was there.