“Follow me,” he said softly after releasing my hand.
I watched in disbelief as he started swimming directly to the falls. When he realized I wasn’t following, he began treading water and looked back at me. Was he crazy?
“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Trust me, Gabrielle.”
The scary part was, I did trust him. The best part was hearing him use my full name. With a nod and an uneasy breath, I started swimming toward him. The rush of the falls grew louder the closer I got, and I almost chickened out. Then Carson reached out and grabbed me and pulled me around the side of the falls. With two steps, we were behind the rushing falls and facing a smaller waterhole with views of the entire beach. White, glittering sand, the bluest water I’d ever seen, and tiny specks of people enjoying the perfect summer day. I stared up at him in disbelief. How did this day continue to get better? To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement.
“Say something,” he said softly, squeezing my hand.
“This is perfect.”
“Come on, let’s get in the water and cool off before we head back to the hotel.”
I followed him in until I was in water up to my neck. The coolness of the water was refreshing against my sun-kissed skin.
“If only Red Polo douchebag could see us now,” Carson started with a smirk.
I looked at him and burst out laughing. I was laughing so hard that I was bobbing up and down and swallowing water, which made me laugh even harder. His hands shot through the water toward me and wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. Instinct kicked in, and I wrapped my legs and arms around him to hold on.
“Please don’t drown on me today,” he stated, his hands resting on my butt under the water.
“Look at you, saving me yet again.” I flirted and gently ran my nails through the hair on the back of his neck. I’d stopped laughing at this point, but there was nowhere I’d rather be than in his arms. “What are you thinking right now?”
“That I want to kiss you.”
I licked my lips, and my eyes dropped to his mouth. “Kiss me.”
With a softness I wasn’t expecting, Carson’s lips pressed against mine. Tenderly, he nibbled on my bottom lip, causing me to gasp. He took that moment and slid his tongue into my mouth. Like a slow melody playing out, our tongues danced together, learning our moves, tasting our edges, feeding on our need. The longer we kissed, the hungrier it became. I pressed against him, tightening my legs, and gripping his hair. His fingers dug into my butt every time I moaned into his mouth.
“Fuck.” He panted after we broke our kiss. “You are something else.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I blushed and dropped my forehead to his shoulder.
“Gabrielle Mackenzie, I was not expecting you,” he said, and I lifted my gaze to his. “But what a brilliant surprise you are.”
Again, my cheeks flushed.
Something I noticed I was doing an awful lot around him.
Later that night, I was antsy. After Carson had dropped me off, I’d gone upstairs and taken a nap before meeting Ebony for dinner and drinks. Now, my body was craving his touch. One kiss and now look at me. One perfect day and I wanted to jump him.
“Would you stop pacing? You’re making me exhausted just looking at you. Go to him. And I don’t want to see your pretty face until tomorrow,” Ebony ordered from her bed. “Holiday fling involves sex. Do not disappoint me. One of us has to be getting some, and I’m not getting any lady love, so you are taking one for the team.”
Five minutes later, I was nervous as hell, standing outside his door and waiting for him to open up.
The moment he opened the door, I knew I’d made the right decision. I craved his touch. I wanted more of it. I wanted his strength to engulf me. I wanted his body to cover me. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him to claim me. His eyes flashed with desire. My own dropped to his chest, still glistening from the water. They traveled farther down his body to find a fluffy white towel sitting low on his hips. Spectacular.
“What’s going on, Gabby?”
His voice deeper and thicker than usual collided with my clit, and I began to throb for him. I grew wet under his gaze. My body electrified just by being within his presence. I’d never needed something as much as I needed him inside me.
“You gave me the best date of my life today. I’ve never had that before. I’ve had boyfriends, but never that. A month ago, I split with my long-term boyfriend. I found him in our bed fucking someone I classed as a friend. We’d been together for five years. I considered my forever with him. In the space of a day, you’ve proved to me that he was shittier than I could have ever imagined. More of an asshole than my brothers deemed him to be. How? How did you do that?”
“You made it easy.”
Four words. That was all it took for me to push him into his room and pounce on him. Fuck my inhibitions. Fuck my hesitations. Fuck everything besides right now. I had three days of living in paradise left before I faced the shit waiting for me back home. Paradise I could spend with the sexiest holiday fling known to man.
Within seconds, I was in his arms and being hurled up his warm, hard body. My legs wrapped tightly around his hips, my fingers found his hair, and my mouth locked with his in a kiss so intense, so extreme, so heat-fueled that my body ignited. Moans and groans filled the room, hands clawed at each other, bodies rocked and grinded, begging for any relief. We kept moving. His fingers unzipped the back of my dress before pulling it down over my shoulders. My gasp tore around us when he pressed me against the coolness of the window. Through the opened door, the sound of waves crashing down below, and the scent of salt and the sea breeze entered the room. Paradise. Breaking our kiss, Carson met my eyes, and they blazed back at me. His mouth dropped to my exposed nipple and sucked hard. My eyes slammed shut as he devoured me. His lips, tongue, and teeth worked on both nipples while my pussy begged to be filled.
“I need you inside me,” I begged, pressing against him, desperate for any relief I could get from him.
He pulled his mouth from my nipple. “Tell me what you want.”
“You inside me.”
“Gabby, what do you want?”
I stared at him. My mind racing. My body on fire. My heart craving intimacy.
I gave him what we both needed.
“Fuck me, Carson.”
We began to move. Through the room. Away from the window. Onto the plush bed. Delicately, he lowered me onto the bed, but I knew there would be nothing delicate about what he was about to give me. Standing over me while I looked up at him, he peeled the dress off me, sliding it down my waist, over my hips, and down my thighs. His eyes never left my body. He drank me in. Memorizing all of me. He took his time. I’d never felt sexier in my life. Something about him erased all my inhibitions. I sucked in a breath when his fingertips glided down my body. He traced my breasts, circled my nipples, zigzagged over my belly before gripping the edge of my lace panties. Slowly, he pulled them over my hips, revealing my pussy and showing him exactly how much I wanted him. I dropped my thighs to the bed, completely exposing myself to him, putting myself on display in the most intimate of ways. His eyes flared. My heart raced. I couldn’t stop myself even if I tried. My hand moved down my belly, and my fingers swept over my swollen clit. My back arched off the bed, and my eyes slammed shut.
“Fuck, Gabby! Keep rubbing that sweet pussy of yours. Get it nice, wet, and creamy for me, so I can slam deep inside you and give us both what we want. You’re a fucking dream.”
His words only added fuel to my fire. My body trembled under his gaze, while my eyes begged for him to take me.
“Oh god, please Carson, I’m so close.”
The sound of foil ripping hit my ears, but I was too enthralled with the sight that greeted me when the towel fell to the floor to think or comprehend anything else. His body was insane. Sculptured like the finest marble and decorated with unique art. His mouthwatering cock was thick, long, hard, and ve
iny.
I needed him.
He didn’t waste any time. He lined up, then pushed the head of his thick cock just inside me before slamming home. Every glorious inch of his cock filled me entirely. My eyes slammed shut as my body adjusted to his size. The heat of his body washed over me, blanketing me with desire. As soon as I pushed my hips up slightly, he took the cue and began fucking me as if his life depended on it. Our bodies slapped together, our moans swam through the air as our connection took control.
It was fast.
Intense.
Mind-blowing.
It was everything I wanted yet didn’t know I needed.
I came hard. Shattering around him. Moaning his name. Clawing at his back. As soon as I came down from my high, he took his. His body stilled. He planted every inch of his cock inside me. He groaned my name. Then lost control.
It was mesmerizing to watch.
But more importantly.
It was mine to remember.
Six
Carson
I knew it was late by the noise floating in from outside. Waikiki Beach was alive with activity, but I didn’t want to be anywhere other than right here. Gabrielle surprised the shit out of me last night when she turned up at my door. We’d had a fucking fantastic day together, and I wanted more. But she’d been hesitant. Now, I knew why. She was nursing a broken heart.
Why the fuck would anyone cheat on someone like her? She was beautiful, funny as hell, sweet as cotton candy, and now I knew she was phenomenal in bed. She was legit the full package, and I’d only known her a few days, yet this Brad guy had the privilege of knowing her for years.
Now, I was the lucky bastard who had her in his bed, her naked body pressing against mine and her head resting on my chest. I’d had my fair share of one-night stands, but Gabrielle took the top spot.
Gently, I brushed her hair off her face, and she began to stir. I wanted to spend another day with her both in and out of the bedroom. I wanted to show her more of Hawaii, I wanted to get her back in that tiny bikini of hers, I wanted to hear her laugh, and I wanted to see her tipsy again.
“Morning,” she hummed as she blinked rapidly to wake herself up. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost eleven,” I answered after checking the time on my phone. “How’d you sleep?”
She smiled up at me. “I slept so well, but I guess I should go.”
I squeezed her waist and pulled her in closer. “Why should you go?”
“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after a one-night-stand?” she asked innocently. “One-night stand virgin, remember?”
“Wait! I signed up for this thinking it was a holiday fling.”
“Oh god,” she groaned, her cheeks flushing almost instantaneously. “Ebony got to you as well.”
“Oh yeah, she did. Pretty sure she’s already planning our wedding, figuring out where we are living, and deciding the names of the kids.”
She buried her face in the pillow and began shaking her head. I knew what this was between us, but I still wanted to make it as fun as I could for her. It couldn’t be anything more than this. I didn’t settle. I lived in more towns and cities in a year than people lived in a lifetime. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a moment to think “what-if.” There’d be something seriously wrong with me if the thought of making a woman like Gabrielle mine didn't cross my mind. It had crossed my mind long before I’d been inside her. But nothing would come out of this. Not just for me. But also for her. She was dealing with a broken heart. She didn’t need someone like me halting the healing process.
“How many kids?” she asked, looking up from the pillow and giving me a cocky grin.
“I zoned out when we got to five. She threw in twins too.”
Her laughter filled the room. “She is a menace.”
“With a good heart.”
“Yeah, she is the best.”
I twisted us around in bed until I hovered over her and my chest pressed against her breasts. “Now, let’s order some food. If we are going to do this holiday fling right, I’m going to need to fuck you again. This time slowly with you on top. Then I’m fucking you in the shower. Then I’m going to eat you out. Then you’re going to go back to your room, put on one of those sexy as hell bikinis of yours, get Ebony, and I’m taking you two out for the day. You okay with that?”
She looked at me wide-eyed. “Best vacation ever.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“We’re going to need coffee. Well, I’m definitely going to need lots of coffee if you plan on ravishing me all day.”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
Shock filtered over her face. “I knew there had to be something wrong with you.”
“Sorry to disappoint, babe.”
“Believe me, you certainly haven’t disappointed.”
“Good to know.”
I delivered everything I promised to Gabby before she went to her room, showered for the second time that day, dressed in a light pink bikini and a coverup, and then met me downstairs with Ebony. The look on Ebony’s face, the sheer glee, informed me that the two of them had discussed the night before. It was confirmed when Ebony high-fived me.
“Thanks for taking care of my girl and being an even better eraser than I could have hoped for.”
I had no clue what she was talking about, so I gave her a chin lift and smile before grabbing Gabby’s hand and heading out the glass doors of the lobby. After jumping in my rental, I spent the afternoon as a tour guide. I took them to the places no one other than the locals would know about; the hidden beaches and coves, the perfect spots for the best photo opportunities, and the hole-in-the-wall taco place that made, in my opinion, the best tacos in the world. We drove the winding roads that offered the best views, they both took a thousand photos, and most importantly, Gabby had a smile on her face the whole time. We finished the day with a sunset snorkel.
Now, we sat on the sand—Gabby between my legs, her back to my chest, and my arms around her—and we were witnessing the day coming to an end with shards of pink and purple slashing across the sky. I gave her the world’s prettiest sunrise; now it was time to let the sunset to do its job.
“Today has been perfect,” she whispered as she watched the sun begin to drop from the sky. “Actually, these past few days have been perfect.”
“Happy I could give you that,” I said softly in her ear. “You gonna stay with me tonight? Being the last night and all?”
“Can we watch the sunrise again in the morning?”
Fuck, this woman would make a man the luckiest bastard in the world one day. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
That got a huge smile out of her. “Then you have yourself a bed mate for the night.”
She squeezed my hand that rested on her belly and silence fell again between us.
One night to go before reality came crashing back.
Before Montana called for me, and I became someone else.
But for tonight, I was simply Carson.
The man who only then realized he hadn’t thought about his job or the shit he’d seen once in the past few days.
And it was all thanks to the brunette in his arms.
Seven
Gabrielle
“Don’t take that fucker back.”
My chin rested on Carson’s bare chest, and I glanced up at him, meeting his eyes. So, our one-night stand turned into a three-night stand, and I had absolutely no regrets. Last night, over margaritas on the beach, we discussed exes, and I’d told him all about Brad. With every sordid detail I spilled, his anger grew. I mean clenched jaw, fire behind his eyes, a billion and one obscenities to describe Bastard Brad as Carson nicknamed him. I didn’t know why I was spilling my guts to a man I would never see again, but to be honest, it felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders from talking to someone who had no links to either of us.
“I won’t.” I smiled and gently kissed his warm skin.
“You deserve the world.
Don’t settle for anything less.”
I wiggled up his body until my lips hovered over his. His soft fingers glided up and down my back as we stared at one another. I’d always been a confident woman, but my confidence took a hit with the whole Brad saga. Yet these past few days with Carson and the way he looked at me and completely devoured my body shot my confidence into overdrive. He made me feel wanted and appreciated again. I felt the lioness within me stretch and ready herself to roar. It was time to head home and face my cheating ex and get everything I deserved and then some.
“You deserve a woman who treats you like a king, so don’t settle for anything less.”
His eyes softened for a moment before he lifted his hand, fisted my hair, and brought my mouth to his. I opened for him, and his tongue met mine in a frenzied duel where both would ultimately come out a winner. Moans and pants, whimpers and groans rolled around us like the perfect summer storm ready to unleash its beauty. Beneath me, he pushed up, grinding his cock against my pussy. I wanted him again. It was as simple as that. We didn’t have to speak a word; our bodies were screaming loud enough. I lifted my hips high enough for him to work between us and roll on a condom. As soon as he removed his hand, he pushed my panties to the side, and I lowered myself onto his cock and took all of him. He gripped my hips as I began to ride him. Resting my hands on the top of his thighs, I leaned back, taking him as deep as I could, and quickened my pace. His fingers dug into my flesh as our bodies slapped together, and the intoxicating scent of our sex soon filled the room. I felt myself soon begin to climb. Heat crawled up my skin. My thighs began to shake. I knew I would explode around him one last time.
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