“Months?”
“Months, Menina.” His voice was soft, reassuring. The look in his eyes matched his tone and she felt her insides thaw a little. She took in a deep breath, weighing her options. There had been plenty of questionable decisions in her past life, and she sure hoped this didn’t turn out to be one of them.
“I’m clean, too, and on the pill,” she told him.
“Menina…” he growled again, his eyes darkening,
“Fuck me, Cullen.”
He held her, standing under the rain shower head for just a moment before he started to move her up and down his cock. Every single move he made was easy and unhurried, yet deliberate, drawing it all out. The feel of him alone was sensational, but those long, slow moves were driving her crazy. She held on tighter, trying to keep a sense of control, as passion from each movement took over her body. Just as she was thinking that it didn’t get better than this, he turned ninety degrees and pressed her up against the wall of the shower. The coldness of the tile hitting her back caused her to gasp, a sound that was quickly cut off by his mouth. The coldness of the wall, paired with the heat between them, sent a whole new rush through her. Moving his way down her neck, he found her breasts again, sucking on each one, teasing her nipples until she called out his name. She clawed his back, trying to spur him on, wanting to find her release. It was all almost too much. She needed that release.
As if he could read her thoughts, he adjusted his pace to faster, harder thrusts, hitting her in all the right places. Her orgasm took her by surprise, sending her over the cliff harder and faster than she ever remembered. It seemed like every single one of her nerves exploded, sending a pulse of pleasure rippling through her. She let out another scream, listening to it echo off the shower walls as she dug her nails into his back, causing him to tumble over the edge with her. He groaned wildly, making her feel she had conquered the whole world.
When they’d rinsed off, Cullen wrapped them both in towels and carried her over to the vanity counter again. His kisses were long, slow, and deliberate again, like he had all the time in the world to hold her here. It was such a contradiction to his actions just a few moments ago in the shower, but Leona couldn’t help but find it attractive. All of it. The beast he unleashed up against the tile and the gentle giant who was holding her now.
It was like all the anger and resentment that had been brewing between them all these years had miraculously disappeared. Leona couldn’t explain it, but the feeling of wanting to throttle him that she’d felt so fiercely walking in here was gone. Maybe it was just the post-orgasmic high she was feeling, but she couldn’t help but feel herself soften toward him.
He pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against hers, both of them panting, trying to catch their breath. “Come out on the boat with me tomorrow,” he murmured.
“I have to work,” she answered, without even thinking. It was true, though. It was Saturday, which was always a weird, wild day with the changeover. Pair that with everything else she’d let slip this week, and it was going to be a long, long day for her.
“It’s Saturday, I don’t have camp. And I talked to Vaughn, you have the day off.”
“Saturday is our busiest day, I can’t just take it off,” she protested.
“Well, boss man says you can.”
“You’re not kidding, are you? You actually asked him,” she said in disbelief.
“Yes, the subject came up and I asked if you could join,” he answered her, not understanding her concern.
“Oh my God! Cullen…shit…what did he say? I could get fired!”
“You’re not going to get fired. It was my request.”
“And he didn’t question why you were asking for me? If he thinks we’re…” she trailed off, motioning with her hand toward the shower, indicating what they’d just done. “It’s against resort policy!”
“I think by now he realizes that there is something between us, Menina. He’s not an idiot,” he said, smirking. “And you haven’t been fired yet.”
“So what did you tell him?”
“I was talking with the Quinlans as I grabbed breakfast this morning about what to do with my days off between camp sessions, and Grayson suggested a boat excursion. I asked if it would be weird with just me, so he said that he could arrange for it to be led by his niece and her boyfriend, with some of the other staff. So I asked that you be included in that,” he said, shrugging, as if his request hadn’t been a big deal. Maybe to him it wasn’t. But Leona worried that her boss now thought she was providing extra services to the guests.
“Vaughn said the only one of your duties he couldn’t reassign was the care of my rooms, and I told him it was fine if the bed didn’t get made—that I would prefer you join us on the boat. So, you are joining us on the boat,” he said, sounding playful even though he was giving her an order. He kissed her again, softly, like it was the most simple and common thing in the world for their lips to meet like that.
“But I’m already so behind on paperwork,” she insisted, pulling back and looking at him. “And what if something goes wrong? It’s changeover day—you never know what is going to happen!”
“Don’t make me beg, Menina,” he said. “Not to mention, we both would have some explaining to do since your boss isn’t expecting to see you.”
The man had a point. A very good point. Leona also couldn’t remember the last time she went out on one of the boats, other than the brief run they did when Kyle first bought the Brown Eyed Girl a couple of months ago. Being out on the water for a day would be great. Seeing Cullen in a swimsuit, all wet and sticky from the salt water, wouldn’t be a hardship either. She simply nodded again, not quite able to voice an agreement. The smile that spread over his face had a wicked glint to it and it was starting to have more of an effect on her than she wanted to admit.
Chapter Fifteen
The sun was just starting to peek up over the horizon, catching the reflection of the ocean just right, making it sparkle. Making her way down the marina to the Brown Eyed Girl, the newest catamaran in the Indigo Royal fleet, Leona stopped for a moment to take it in. While she was usually up fairly early, it was rare that she was anywhere near the water to see the sun come up over it. She still couldn’t believe she allowed herself to be talked into this, but Cullen and his kisses had been so damn convincing last night.
“Mornin’, darlin’,” Dalton drawled, coming up behind, taking her gaze off the sunrise and turning her mind back to the day ahead. “You disappeared on us last night.”
“Sorry, something came up,” she offered.
“I’m sure it did,” he smirked knowingly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, irked by his tone, turning to face him so he could see her annoyance head-on.
“Lee, I know you about as well as anyone at this resort, other than maybe Drea, and yet, more intimately,” he winked. “So I know when something is up. You ran out on me last night, you never showed up after dinner, didn’t answer Drea’s texts, and now we’re about to get on a boat and spend the day with a man who, for all the years I’ve known you, you’ve claimed to hate. So, what don’t I know here?”
“Nothing,” she answered, brushing him off. Trying to walk away, she turned and headed toward the boat, but he caught her around the waist and pulled her back to where he was standing.
“No, not nothing,” he corrected her, shaking his head. “Something happen between the two of you?”
“No…yes…no. Sorta, I guess,” she started. She wasn’t sure just how much she wanted to admit to him. “He felt me up the other night. But Dalton, if you tell anyone, I will end you!” She stood on her tiptoes, pointing her index finger in his face.
“Your secret is safe with me, darlin’. But why do I get the impression that it was more than just a nice little boob squeeze?”
Leona just glared at him. “I’m not going to give you a play-by-play.”
“That’s not what I meant, Lee. I told you, I know yo
u, and you wouldn’t be all tied in knots like this if it was just about a quickie with a guest. You feel like you’re cheating on Carlos?”
“No! Carlos and I aren’t together!” she exclaimed.
“He know that?”
“Yes, we have an agreement!” Although, after last night, she should probably put the brakes on said agreement.
“If you say so,” Dalton drawled.
They stood there, silent for a moment, Dalton waiting on some kind of response from her that she wasn’t ready to give. She didn’t have the words to express everything she was feeling, and they weren’t going to magically appear just because Dalton was waiting.
“It meant something, didn’t it?” he asked, breaking the silence.
“No!” she exclaimed quickly. “Maybe. It’s complicated.”
“Because of…” he said, trailing off, trying to prompt her to continue.
“Yes, because of that,” she said, emphasizing the word “that,” not wanting to say it out loud. There were exactly two people on the planet other than her and Cullen who knew what had gone down that morning at La Isla Bonita. While she’d left out some of the details, like hitting him, when she had told Drea when they were teenagers, she had fully confided everything to Dalton one night over a bottle of local rum. Their physical relationship may have fizzled, but he was oddly easy to talk to and she often found herself confiding in him. Not that he was much of a sharer in return, but his lack of wanting to reciprocate made it easy for her to be the center of attention in whatever moment she needed it, and she was always grateful after they talked. The man was a vault. He’d never shared anything that she told him, and always did a damn good job of playing like he knew nothing whenever she said something that had been news to the rest of the group but not him. She knew that no matter what she said to him now it would stay a secret, just like everything else she’d ever told him.
“I know you know this, but you are the only person other than Drea who knows what happened ten years ago, okay? And I’d really like to keep it that way.”
“Of course, Lee, you know I’d never betray you like that,” he said, looking her directly in the eye with a serious furrow to his brow. “What exactly happened?”
“So yes, we fooled around the other night and yes, it was more than just a ‘boob squeeze’ as you so eloquently put it. Both literally and figuratively.”
“Get it, girl,” he said in a high-pitched voice, holding up a hand for a high five. When she didn’t return the gesture, he put his hand down and his look turned serious again. “Okay, so, did history repeat itself?”
“No, nothing like that,” she sighed. “He…apologized, sort of, and, I don’t know. He asked me to join him on the boat today, to ‘get to know him,’ and I just…you know what? Nothing. It all means nothing.”
“No, don’t do that, darlin’. Don’t blow this off. You wouldn’t be all wound up like this if you really thought it was nothing,” he said. His voice was calm and reassuring. “Know what I think? I think it means something to you, Lee, a lot of something. But you’ve been hiding feelings for him for so long, feelings masked as hate, that now you don’t know how to react.”
“Are you suddenly Freud?”
“Am I wrong?” he clapped back.
“Yes, very! I don’t have feelings for Cullen Cruz!”
“You can continue to lie to yourself, but I think in time you’re gonna realize that’s all you’re doing,” he said, throwing his arm over her shoulder and turning her so they could finish heading toward the boat. “But for now, we’ve got a boat trip!”
Cullen made his way down the jetty at the marina full of excitement for the day that lay ahead. The sun was sparkling off the water and he could feel the heat of the day starting to stir in the air. It’d been a long, long time since he’d felt this way, and he couldn’t put his finger on just what it was that he was feeling. Excitement, yes, but there was also something else. Whatever it was, it felt damn good and he didn’t want to take it for granted.
It had been easier to talk Leona into joining him on this excursion today than he had planned for. When she had stormed into his bungalow last night, he was sure that she was going to hit him again. He couldn’t blame her. After all, he’d deserved it then and he probably still deserved it now. Not to mention, he hadn’t had a chance to sit and talk with her the way he had her mother, so she still didn’t know the entire story behind his motivation. Hell, she didn’t know any of the story behind his motivation. It’s not like he’d been incredibly forthcoming about anything over the last ten years. It’d been all about keeping her at arm's length so that he behaved himself. He'd been punishing her for his own bad behavior. But that all changed now.
Last night had not gone as he had expected at all. It hadn’t been his intention to kiss her, but his body took over in the moment and he gave in to the spark between them. Standing there, with her perched in between the sinks, he felt so at ease that he had no motivation to move, ever. Her lips were lush and soft against his, and her curves felt perfect under his hands as he caressed her all over. He wanted more. He wanted to wrap his whole body around her, to just hold her against him. He wanted to worship her with his hands and mouth, to make love to her long and slow, instead of just a hurried frenzy up against the shower wall. But he also hadn’t wanted to push his luck and send her running away as she had the other night. He needed to find a way to keep her coming back.
Now, walking down the pier, he was looking forward to a day filled with her smile and laughter, getting to know her better. Having her friends there would allow her to let go a little more, be a little more at ease. Or so he hoped. He also hoped that maybe it would show her another side of him that she hadn’t seen over the years. He saw her a little way ahead of him, talking with one of the guys he’d seen around the resort. David? Dawson? It was something like that. It had occurred to Cullen the other night after dinner that he looked just like that pretty-boy American actor, the one with the super famous dad, whose name he also couldn’t think of. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Leona was looking pretty animated about something.
As he approached, he saw the pretty-boy put his arm around Leona and pull her in close as they turned to head to the boat. Cullen could feel a swell of envy rise up in him but tried to tamp it down, reminding himself that they were coworkers. That was all they were, right? She wouldn't have fucked him like she did last night or let him touch her the way he did in the car if she was with someone. Regardless, he didn’t like seeing another man’s arm around her.
When everyone was finally on the boat, they did a quick round of introductions. There were only six of them on this trip today—Kyle, Drea, Dalton, Leona, himself, and some girl he’d never seen, who introduced herself as Maeve Patterson. According to Drea, Maeve was brand-new to the resort staff, brought on to help manage the new spa that was about to open. While Drea said she dragged Maeve along so she could get to know everyone, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was also to even out the numbers on the boat. The tall, pretty brunette had a timid way about her, but she smiled at him politely. He could tell she wasn’t exactly sure who he was, which was more than fine by him.
Kyle and Dalton gave a brief safety talk once they were out in open water, although it seemed like they were just going through the motions. It was obvious that other than he and Maeve, the other four spent more than their fair share of time doing this and knew how it all worked. But once they were done, Drea busted out the rum punch and everyone relaxed even more.
He saw Leona, Drea, and Maeve sitting on the trampoline that was up at the front of the catamaran, so he started to make his way toward them, hoping to get some face time with the pretty little blonde in the ice-blue bikini. However, before he could reach them, Dalton approached him, hand extended.
“Dude, I promise this will be my only fanboy moment of the day,” he said, shaking hands with Cullen. “I know we were introduced the other day at breakfast, but seriously cool to mee
t you. I’ve been a fan since I was kid. Forget Ronaldo, you’re the greatest footballer there is.”
Cullen let out a hearty laugh at the statement. It was not something he hadn’t heard before, but it never failed to make him laugh. “Thanks, man. Never hurts to hear.”
“Dalton, stop,” Drea said.“You promised that you’d behave!”
“I am behavin’, sugar,” he drawled. His answer elicited some giggles from Maeve, but a roll of the eyes from the other two gals.
Despite wanting to hang with Leona on their way out to Turtle Cove, which is where Kyle had said they were going to spend the morning, he’d spent the better part of the trip talking with Dalton. The guy knew his football, which had taken Cullen by surprise. It wasn’t often that you found an American who followed the game so closely, as it just wasn’t as popular in the States as it was everywhere else. Once they were at the Cove, Kyle had even come down and joined them since he was also apparently a big fan of football, and the three of them chatted while the ladies sunned themselves.
Kyle finally stole Drea away to hop into the water, claiming that he didn’t haul them all the way out there for them not to go enjoy their favorite place. The giggles that came in response to his comment let Cullen know that there was an inside joke in there somewhere, and a pang of jealousy hit him. They were a seriously cute couple, and watching them made him wish he had someone that he could have the same kind of bond with. Looking over at Leona, he tilted his head as if to indicate that they should get in. She rolled her eyes as she got up, but then smiled at him in a way that made him even more excited he asked.
Jumping into the crystal-blue cove, she let out a little shriek from the initial chill of the water. Cullen jumped in after her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close. “Need me to keep you warm?” he smirked.
“I think I’ll be fine once we get moving,” she answered, pulling away. She winked at him and then swam away, as if she were daring him to chase her. It was a game that Cullen would gladly indulge her in.
Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort Book 2) Page 13