Caribbean Nights

by Tressie Lockwood

  Nic grunted.

  “Oh, sorry, man. I forgot about your ex. She did a number on you. I hope you’re not taking it out on those girls.” Mace paused as if he expected an answer, but Nic wasn’t about to discuss his past failed relationship. He’d had plans to propose upon getting his release papers. Instead, he’d come home to the apartment he had been paying for to find the woman he’d loved in bed with another man. No doubt, sensing the heavy emotions, Mace changed the subject. “I know you’re there. That’s why I called you. I hoped that you could get a minute to handle some business for me. My target is also there.”

  Despite himself, Nic wanted to know more. “What’s the job?”

  “All you’d need to do is get into this guy’s room and take back documents a certain group doesn’t want out in the open. No interaction. It’s an easy job for anyone from our old group. If you do it, I can drop five figures on you.”

  Nic whistled. The bodyguard gig wasn’t paying anywhere near that. By “group” he knew Mace referred to the government. Mace had once mentioned the American people had no idea the number of spies trying to sell the country’s secrets that were taken down regularly. A thought occurred to him. “Do they want him taken out?”

  “No, he’s useful for something else to them. They didn’t share those details. Our part is just retrieval. Will you do it?” Mace’s tone was hopeful.

  The assignment was simple. Nic had done that and more before breakfast during his special ops missions. Just thinking of this assignment got his blood revving with excitement. Hell yeah, he’d do it. With no trouble, he was sure he could get it done and not miss a beat in his pursuit of Keeta.

  “Yeah, I’ll do it. Send me the specs the usual way,” he instructed Mace.

  “Great. Just log onto the secure website we always use. I know you’ve kept it live even though you claimed you were going the lame direction Adrien went with the low profile bodyguard stuff. All the info you need will be there by midnight. Thanks.”

  Mace broke the connection before Nic got the chance to get back at him for the dig at the work he chose. But he was right. Bodyguard work for these kinds of clients wasn’t what he wanted. This new assignment was more like it. He grinned. Later he’d log onto the site Mace had mentioned. His friend had done his homework. Nic kept his profile up just in case. Anyway, now wasn’t the time to think about all of that. He needed to get showered and changed for his night of dancing with Keeta.

  He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her curvy body. Why the hell he’d never looked in a plus sized woman’s direction before he didn’t know. Not one of those models could hold a candle to Keeta. Or maybe it was the woman, herself, who made him forget where he was and why he was there. All he saw was Keeta’s wide brown eyes and her sweet smile.

  He closed his eyes, pulling up an image of her in his mind. “Okay, get a grip, Dominic. Don’t fall for her. This is just about sex. Nothing else. Even if Keeta isn’t like those other women, she’s still a woman, and trusting them can destroy a man.”

  With that sage advice, he walked into the bathroom to shed his clothes and shower. Soon enough, he’d get what he wanted on all counts.

  * * * *

  Nic couldn’t take his eyes off Keeta. Her soft rose dress hugged her generous curves, and the vee at the neckline called his attention to her full breasts. It took everything in him not to caress them, but that didn’t stop him from looking. The way Keeta’s eyes widened, and from the embarrassed expression on her face, he knew she’d noticed.

  “Goodness, do you have to stare like that?” she quipped. “You look like you want to eat me.”

  A grin spread over his face. “I do want to eat you.” He snaked an arm around her waist as they walked toward the club with reggae music spilling out into the street. When he lowered his head toward hers, he felt her shiver. Good, he had her unsettled. He wanted to keep her that way until she gave in to him. “You do want me to eat you, don’t you, Keeta?”

  “Nic, stop,” she grumbled.

  He widened his eyes, giving her an innocent look. “What?”

  “You know what!” She put her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing and chest swelling up. Nic led her to the bar before he got himself into trouble.

  After checking with her for what she wanted to drink, he put in their order with the bartender. Nic waited for Keeta to take her fist sip and find it satisfying before he took a drag on his beer. A glance around the room revealed just how different this place was to what he was used to. The live band banged on instruments while swaying to the music and singing with seemingly everything they had. Those dancing in the middle of the floor were even more enthusiastic.

  Nic watched a couple of men—one with beer bottle in hand like he hadn’t been able to put it down before going on the floor—move in unison to the spicy beats. Others around the edge of the room cheered them on. In a flash, the scene changed, yet the music hadn’t paused for a second. Two men held a woman in the air with her legs gaped open, and another man ran forward, jumped, and landed on top of her. The crowd cheered.

  Keeta tapped his arm, and he focused on her. “I’ve never seen this kind of thing. It’s wild up in here.”

  He nodded in agreement, but couldn’t tell whether the antics on the floor put her off or excited her. There was certainly a lot of sexual tension out there. Women bent over to allow random men to dance up on their asses. As far as he could tell, the men weren’t with the women or even knew them. Nic wasn’t surprised, however, to see many white women hurrying out to the floor to experience this style of dancing. There were fewer white men present, but he didn’t care about that.

  While he and Keeta watched a little longer, three black men came strolling up to Keeta. The tallest of the group was close to his size in build. He wore dreads that extended down his back. “Come, beautiful lady, and dance with me,” the leader encouraged Keeta.

  She stammered. “I-I’m…”

  Nic took another swig of his beer, elbows propped on the side of the bar. “She’s with me.”

  The man sucked his teeth and spared Nic a glance between looking back at Keeta. “Why you with this white boy, lady? You should be with me, dancing the night away. I show you lots of fun.” He put a hand on Keeta’s waist. That’s where Nic drew the line.

  Nic wedged himself between them, standing in front of Keeta. “I said, she’s with me. Back off.”

  The man dropped back a step and smirked at his friends. The three laughed. “Oh, you think you’re tough, playa? You shouldn’t be with her. You go back to your own kind.” With the bolstering of his friends, the man grew even bolder. He moved closer to Nic. “I should take her from you.”

  “You can try, but you’ll find your arm ripped off,” Nic promised him.

  By now, a crowd had grown around them. Nic assessed the situation. He had no doubt that he could take this man down in a heartbeat, and his friends along with him. The question was, would the other men in the room jump into the fight? He wouldn’t risk Keeta getting hurt.

  The decision of whether to retreat was taken out of his hands when the idiot decided to make himself look good and jab a finger into Nic’s shoulder. Without a second thought, Nic caught the finger, gave it a twist, and had the guy on his knees wincing in pain. One of the man’s friends swung on him. Nic dodged the punch and sent out one of his own. The man hit the floor, shaking his head in a daze. Nic hadn’t used all of his power, or the guy would have been out cold the rest of the night. He eyed the second friend, but the man backed up with hands raised.

  “Now,” Nic said to the man still in his grasp, “are you ready to leave me alone to enjoy my time with my lady?”

  “Whatever, whatever,” the man responded. Nic let him go, and he jumped up to his feet, looking around to see who had witnessed his humiliation. All had, from the looks of it.

  Nic waited, muscles tensed while the guy considered if it was worth coming at him a second time. He made the first smart decision since first approaching them. He
backed off and disappeared in the crowd of gyrating bodies. Nic turned around to Keeta.

  “Are you okay?” He stroked her face. She nodded, but he knew she was shaken. “Do you want to go?”

  A belligerent expression came over her face, and she raised her chin. “No, we came here to dance, and I don’t think that jerk should run us off.” She grabbed Nic’s hand and pulled him toward the dance floor. “Besides, some of that dancing looked kind of hot.”

  Her raised eyebrow in challenge had Nic hardening in an instant. He grinned. “I like the way you think.”

  They moved out onto the floor, and Nic took Keeta into his arms. While the band belted out tunes filled with island flavor, they swayed together. Nic grew harder with each brush from Keeta’s soft body. She could make him forget everything around him, but as much as he enjoyed being this close to her, he remained alert to more trouble. He kept up a calm appearance so she wouldn’t be afraid, and he stared down into her eyes. With her lips parted, and her head turned up, he wanted to kiss her but held back.

  She spun so that her back was to him. When she bent forward a little and tossed a sassy look over her shoulder, he couldn’t help himself. Nic danced up on her sexy ass and ground into her. But this was too much. Any second he would come in his pants. How the other men did this kind of thing without grabbing a woman and stripping her naked to go at it, he didn’t know.

  When Nic couldn’t take it any longer, he told Keeta he’d had enough for the night and tried to look more tired than horny beyond his limit. Her knowing glance told him she wasn’t fooled. They finished their drinks and headed back to his rental. Within twenty minutes, they were strolling along the beach barefoot, shoes in one hand while they twined the fingers of the other.

  Every now and again, Nic felt her shiver, and from the warm temperature of the night, he was pretty sure it had everything to do with how much they’d rubbed bodies earlier. Nic pulled Keeta to a stop and turned her to face the water while he stood behind her. Perhaps if they learned more about each other, she’d feel more comfortable.

  “Tell me about yourself, Keeta. You said you don’t have a brother. What about a sister?”

  She nodded and then rested her head against his chest. “I have one sister who lives in Los Angeles. She’s striving to make it in film. She’s had a few small parts, but no break. We’re not too close. I guess she can’t understand how I do what I do, and I don’t get her.”

  “Hmm.” He leaned down and kissed her neck. She titled her head to the side to allow him. Nic grinned and went in to enjoy more of her. “You’re both in fields that place high importance on the way a person looks. How can you not get each other?”

  Keeta broke away from his hold and faced him. “What’s that mean? I’ve heard that tone before, like you look down on the models and everyone in my line of work. Maybe you feel that way about me.”

  He saw a spark in her eyes, but no anger. Keeta was being her usual direct self. He liked it. Nic shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Should he tell her more about his past or glaze it over? Instinct and self-preservation said change the subject. He considered playing on her sympathies to get her to give into him, but that was low. Not before his ex had he ever even considered treating a woman like that. Sighing, he stared up at the millions of stars above them.

  “My ex-girlfriend was a model.” He tried to shrug, to make light of it, but something told him she heard the emotions he suppressed. The pain was no longer there, but bitterness remained, and the humiliation. “I retired and came home with a ring to propose. I knew how she was, how sought after, because of her unusual beauty. She liked to party and was a little wild. That didn’t matter to me, because I was confident that her feelings matched mine.”

  He paused, hating that he sounded like a wuss, a lovesick fool who had been taken in by a beautiful face and dynamite body. Men were led around by their dicks, he’d heard many times before, and thought with the same appendage. Keeta had remained silent the entire time, her soft gaze never wavering from him. Although she didn’t speak the words, he felt her sympathy. He went on.

  “I paid for her apartment, although now that I think back to it, that was pretty stupid. She made way more money than I pulled in.” He thought of the new assignment. That amount had blown his mind. He’d done similar assignments when still on active duty and hadn’t gotten nearly that much. Apparently, freelancing was the way to go.

  “Long story short,” he said, “I came home to find her in bed with another man.” Tempted to make further excuses for his gullibility, not recognizing the kind of woman his ex was, he ground his teeth together and stiffened his jaw.

  Keeta stepped back into his arms and rested her cheek on his chest. “I’m sorry. I haven’t come so close to being married, but I can imagine how much that hurt.” She looked up at him. His gaze wandered to her lips. “Would it be sappy of me to say you’ll find the right woman some day, get married, and have a bunch of kids?”

  He growled. “Yes, and it ruins the mood too.” He laughed. “I don’t have any plans to ever get married now.”

  “Aww.” She pouted. He smacked her on the ass.

  “Enough. Let’s go in the water. You have come prepared this time?” He raised his eyebrows.

  Keeta took two steps back, and within seconds, had her dress around her waist. She had indeed worn a swimsuit. A slow grin spreading over his face, he wiggled a finger at her. “Now, that thing. Take it off.”

  She sucked her teeth. “You wish.” With that gauntlet thrown down, she whirled, stepped out of her dress, and ran down the beach toward the water. Nic undressed in record time to follow her. When he drew up behind her, he whipped her, screaming, up into his arms and waded deeper into the chilly water. His pulse raced. He was having more fun than he ever remembered having. If he wasn’t careful, Keeta could make him feel again. He wouldn’t let that happen. This was seduction, nothing else.

  Chapter Seven

  Keeta ran a towel over her hair to absorb the excess water. Nic watched her from his position in front of the balcony doors. She’d done it. She had actually invited him back to her room, and when he had been all hands, bringing her body to life with the smallest touch, she’d freaked and told him she needed to dry her hair. They’d spent the last half hour running in the water, laughing and playing, splashing each other. And then he’d made her dizzy with all the kisses, with pulling her up toward his hard-on until she had to get him inside of her. That’s when she gave in.

  Now, with his giant form taking over the room, she was terrified. Okay, she got that he’d been hurt by a model and wouldn’t be venturing that way any time soon. But still, one didn’t go from that to this because of one broken heart. She looked at her body. Not that she was down on herself. She felt like she had some decent curves, and she liked the size of her breasts if not the hang. What woman did?

  Grabbing boldness from deep down inside, which she was used to doing in the workplace, she tossed the towel on a chair and crossed the room to Nic. Desire danced in his eyes. She swallowed and lifted her hands to her shoulders to pull her dress off. Damp, it clung to her skin, and she still wore the swimsuit beneath.

  “No,” Nic said. She gasped. Had he changed his mind? He put her hands down at her sides. “Let me do that.”

  Keeta shivered as he began working her dress over her shoulders to let it fall to the floor. Her swimsuit followed. She couldn’t help it. She had to close her eyes so she wouldn’t see his reaction. Above her, Nic sucked in a noisy breath when her breasts bounced free.

  “Do you know how beautiful you are, Keeta?” When she didn’t answer, he lifted her chin. “Open your eyes, and look at me.” She did, and he guided her hands to his shaft, making her stroke it from base to tip. “Tell me what that means.”

  She glanced away, not believing how shy she was feeling right now. Sexual experiences weren’t an every day occurrence in her life, but they had happened enough that she wasn’t a virgin, and she didn’
t feel inept. When he released her to continue undressing her, she covered Nic’s hands to still him. He waited.

  She took in a deep breath. “You want me.”

  “More than you’ll ever know.” To her surprise, he bent his knees and hoisted her up in his arms. Demonstrating his amazing strength, he carried her to her bed and placed her on the soft surface. His gentleness had her shaking, longing for more.

  She pushed him back a little until he stood straight, a question in his eyes. “Let me do it for you,” she said.

  He nodded.

  Lifting her hips, she began to wiggle out of her swimsuit and pushed it over the side of the bed. Not once did she look away from him, wanting to know once and for all if he could accept what he saw. The gleam of hunger rocked her. Keeta clenched the covers under her when Nic took her in from head to toe. He stopped at her heat and nudged her legs open so he could see more. Keeta almost chewed her lip off worrying. But when his stiff shaft twitched like it itched for her, all doubts rolled away. Nic found her attractive—more than attractive the way he bent over her, making a beeline for the thatch at her apex.

  Nic rested a knee alongside her, caught the back of one leg, and raised it. Keeta couldn’t stop the cry of pure pleasure that burst from her lips when his tongue drove into her. Hips coming up off the bed, she began to writhe and push toward him. Getting his tongue deeper was all she could think about, and Nic ate her like a starving man. He grunted and made hungry sucking noises that drove her out of her mind. Her orgasm fast approached, and they hadn’t gotten started yet.

  Panting, she clutched his shoulder. “Wait, Nic, I’m coming too soon. Your tongue feels so good.”

  He wouldn’t listen. He swung around to wedge his shoulders beneath her thighs and ate all the more. Latching his mouth over her nubbin, he pulled on her most sensitive area. Keeta couldn’t hold on. Her core pulsed, and quivers ran throughout her limbs. There was no stopping the climax that roared through her system. Keeta rode Nic’s mouth, holding his head between her legs. She bucked against him, crying out his name over and over. When the waves eased, she fell back exhausted, but he laid kisses along the tops of her thighs, and then crawled up beside her.