Shades of Submission: Fifty by Fifty #1: Billionaire Romance Boxed Set

by Hunter, Adriana

  Thoughts swirled in my head and I started to panic. My chest began to tighten, and it was like the world was starting to spin. I had to get out of there. I had to think.

  I got up off the bed and started to put my dress back on, trying to avoid Blake’s eyes.

  “Is everything ok? Where are you going?” Blake asked somewhat sleepily, raising himself up on one arm, watching me.

  I flashed him a smile that I hoped didn’t display the inwardly panic I was feeling.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine, thanks. I just… I have to go back to my own room,” I replied.

  “Sure, for sure, that’s fine, though you’re welcome to spend the night here of course,” Blake replied. “Are you sure you’re ok? Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, of course not. I just have to go. Sorry. Thanks for tonight, it was really nice,” I told him with a smile, and a few seconds later I was running out the door and into the night.

  I ran along the trail, sandals in my hands as I didn’t want to bother putting them on, and straight into my villa. I collapsed onto the bed, sobbing.

  Why was I such an idiot?

  I had just had sex with the hottest guy ever, and now I was feeling guilty about it? Seriously? If nothing else, I’d definitely ruined any chance of getting together with him again this vacation. It was going to have to remain one of those memories that stays with you forever, that one night of passion like nothing else.

  And now, I had ruined it. Why did I panic and leave? Ugh, you’re such an idiot, I told myself. I knew it wasn’t my fault. My psychiatrist told me it wasn’t my fault. But after my bad relationship with Tom, I had trouble getting close to men. Already the fact that I had gone on a date with, and slept with Blake, and enjoyed it more than I could have possibly imagined was further than I’d gotten with any other man. I thought long enough had passed, I thought years would have been enough to get over him, for me to have moved on completely, to have forgotten all the pain Tom used to cause me. Unfortunately, it turned out I was wrong.

  After a few minutes I calmed down, and managed to start thinking rationally once again. I could go back and apologize. I could explain everything, and hope Blake wasn’t too insulted that I ran out on him. No, I wasn’t sure he’d understand, and I didn’t want to make it worse. I figured I’d just have to avoid him for the rest of my trip, since he was leaving the day after I was.

  Twenty minutes later, exhaustion overtook me and I fell asleep on the king sized bed, alone instead of in villa 207 with the man I’d just had the best sex of my life with. And it was all my fault.

  * * *

  The next morning I woke up relaxed, more relaxed than I had in a long time. Despite my embarrassing walkout, last night had definitely been good for me. I turned over and looked at the clock on my phone: it was almost 10am. I had enough time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast here in the room before going on that snorkelling trip I had rebooked after missing the one the day before.

  Had it really been only 24 hours earlier? It felt like an eternity.

  I drank a fruit smoothie and ate some poached eggs with toast while sitting on the veranda at the back of my villa, enjoying the view of sea birds flying around and the nice ocean breeze on my face. It was already shaping up to be a hot day, and I reminded myself not to forget the sunscreen, otherwise I was definitely going to end up looking like a lobster.

  When it finally came time, I made my way towards the marina for the second time in two days. This time there was a huge catamaran docked, complete with the resort logo in huge letters along the side, along with a beautiful flower motif.

  I stared up at the big ship, again, bigger than any boat I’d ever been in, but to be fair the only real boat I’d been in was a friend’s dad’s motorboat that he used to take us on trips in at a lake not far outside the city.

  “I hear you like big things, so this boat should be right up your alley,” a familiar voice suddenly whispered into my ear, and I jumped about three feet into the air.

  “Oh my God! You scared me!” I chided Blake, hitting him lightly in the shoulder. Suddenly, it registered.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you said last night you had an important lunch meeting today.”

  “I did, and I cancelled it.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I wanted to make sure everything was ok with you, I got worried after you ran out last night.”

  I could feel my face turning red, and it definitely wasn’t a sunburn.

  “I forgot, I told you I was doing this snorkelling trip, didn’t I?”

  “Yup!”

  “Well, I wish you hadn’t cancelled your business meeting just for me, but I am honoured. And I’m fine, really.” I moved towards a quiet corner of the marina, away from all the other guests also waiting to board the vessel, and told Blake a little bit of the truth. I wasn’t sure why, apart from Anna no one else in my life knew what Tom had done to me. Not even my parents. I told them we had just grown apart. And yet here I was, telling an almost complete stranger some of the story, and I had no idea why I trusted him so much, so soon.

  “My last relationship wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t healthy, and it ended badly. To be honest, you’re the first guy I’ve been with since, and when it was all over, I panicked a bit. I just needed some air. I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything.”

  “Oh geez, Julia, of course that’s fine. Any reason is fine, of course, but I appreciate you telling me the truth.”

  Blake moved over and took my in his arms, and as his muscles tensed around me and pressed into my skin, I leaned into his chest, feeling for the first time in a long time that someone other than my sister understood just a little bit. I had never told my friends about Tom, when I broke up with his I left behind all our former friends, who were really all his friends, and started over again. It was my shame, that only Anna knew. And now Blake. First I’d slept with him, now I’d told him a brief version of one of my deepest secrets. What was it about this guy that made me open up?

  “Well, now that you know the truth, are you going to go back to your meeting?” I asked.

  “Absolutely not! I’m going on a snorkelling trip,” he replied with so much enthusiasm that I laughed.

  “You won’t get in trouble though?”

  “Oh, probably, but not by anyone that matters.”

  Before I could ask what he meant, however, a woman came up over the loudspeaker and told us they were ready for boarding, that as we boarded the ship we had to give our names to the person making sure we had booked.

  Blake took my by the elbow, and already I could feel my body reacting to his touch, the familiar butterflies in my stomach deciding not to settle. What was it about this guy that made him so irresistible?

  We joined the other dozen or so people milling about in the line, and boarded the boat. As soon as we got on I noticed a spread of snacks along the back wall: pastries, fresh fruit, coffee, hot chocolate, almost anything you could have imagined was on that table. Feeling a tad peckish, I told Blake I’d get us a small plate to share if he found us some seats, and I loaded up one of the plates with some fruit, and a couple of muffins.

  “It’s not quite the quality of Cay West, but it’ll have to do,” I told Blake as I sat down next to him, right next to a window, giving us the perfect view as the boat began to move away from the shore and towards the infinite turquoise sea.

  We nibbled on succulent fresh fruit while the boat sped off. The same lady who told us over the loudspeaker to board came by with a couple of underwater cameras, telling us that if we handed them back to her when we got back on the boat that the staff would put all the photos we took onto a CD for us to take home if we wanted. I thanked her profusely, I had wanted to take underwater photos on the trip but didn’t trust those waterproof cases for phones.

  For the next twenty minutes I relaxed in Blake’s arms. It was crazy how comfortable I was around him, especially after my embarrassment from reacting the way I did, but he made it
so easy. Wrapping one of his arms around my shoulder he leaned back and we admired the view together, the sun shining brightly on a perfect, beautiful day.

  Eventually the motors of the boat slowed, and Blake and I got up. We were both already in our bathing suits, I took off the sarong covering mine and we went up to the deck. Workers got us all dressed up in wet suits (though we were told the water was warm enough that they weren’t strictly necessary) and given our snorkelling gear.

  When I first got to the edge of the boat, I was a tiny bit scared. Sure, I’d swam in lakes and rivers before, and even a little bit at the beach by the resort, but this was a lot more intimidating. I couldn’t see any land anywhere around us. Maybe if I looked far off into the distance I could JUST barely see Grand Cayman Island, but for the most part, there was just water, and this boat.

  Almost as though he sensed my trepidation, Blake placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I looked up and smiled at him, then took a deep breath and slid into the water.

  I gasped as the water hit me, it was like slipping into the community pool in the summer back home. The water was lukewarm, not really like a bath, but definitely not cold either. I stuck my face under the water and looked at the incredible world that made itself suddenly visible to me. What had looked like just a pure sheet of turquoise up top had turned into a mosaic of corals and fish, thousands upon thousands of them.

  Swimming away from the boat to let others in, a second later I saw Blake, and he took my hand and motioned towards the ropes designed to guide anyone who wanted them. The ropes went about a hundred yards away from the boat, and while we originally stuck with them, after a couple of minutes I had the confidence to let go and swim openly, and Blake followed me.

  Hand in hand, we half swam, half floated along, marvelling at the wonders in the ocean beneath us, taking snaps of the gorgeous fish we saw, when suddenly Blake squeezed my hand and pointed down. It took me a second to realize what he was pointing out, but when I saw it, I gasped. Sitting on the floor of the sea were two sting rays, just sitting there, their tails moving slightly with the current under the water.

  I took a couple pictures, then we sat and watched them for a little while. Never in a million years did I ever think I was going to see a sting ray. This was hands down the coolest thing I’d ever done.

  Eventually the horn sounded, signalling that it was time for us to go back to the boat. Blake and I swam back, and after some awkward fumbling to get my fins off, I found myself on board once more.

  Wrapped in our towels, Blake and I grabbed some bottled water from the table at the back and went up to the deck for the return trip, letting the fresh air dry our hair and bodies. It felt so good being with him.

  Then, in the back of my mind, my brain started asking questions. Was this a date? If not, what was it? I supposed it wasn’t, after all, we hadn’t even agreed to do this, Blake had just showed up. But then he could have left after I’d admitted why I’d left the night before. Instead, he chose to blow off his meeting anyway, and spend the time with me.

  He’d told me the night before, the meeting was to secure the takeover of a company that could provide his technology company with some great software going forward. I knew basically nothing about technology beyond how to use the apps on my phone and basic things like Facebook and Instagram, but it sure sounded important. Was his blowing off important meetings to spend time with me a good sign? It had to be.

  Before I could try and imagine signals and get my mind even more muddled about our relationship, our boat began to dock. The lady came back and handed us our CDs with the photos we’d taken, and I just couldn’t wait to take a look at the sting ray photos I’d taken.

  As we left the boat, I was wondering what would happen next. Would we just awkwardly part, without making plans? That seemed like the most likely option. Then, Blake turned to me.

  “Listen, how about I take you out to dinner again?” God, I loved Blake’s confidence. He always sounded like he knew exactly what he wanted, and nothing made me happier than him wanting to have dinner with me.

  “Sure, that sounds great.”

  “Where would you like to go? My treat, of course.”

  “That’s too nice of you, I insist on splitting the bill this time. But if you don’t mind, why don’t we try the Japanese restaurant? I overheard one of the other guests on the boat saying the tempura was the best she’d ever had.”

  “Fantastic, the food is second to the company, of course. You could have suggested McDonalds and I happily would have agreed.”

  Laughing at the thought, I asked if he wanted to meet at the restaurant again.

  “Why don’t I come and pick you up instead?” he offered.

  “Of course, my address is villa 214, here at the resort,” I offered, pretending to be coy about my address. Blake told me he would come pick me up at seven, and I told him I’d be ready. And oh boy, would I be ready.

  As soon as I got back to my villa I first went through and looked at my pictures, then I went and had a long shower to wash all the sand and salt from my hair and my body. It felt so nice, but I couldn’t help but think of how much nicer it would have been if I’d invited Blake to join me…

  Forcing those thoughts out of my head I finished my shower, and then agonized over what to wear. Of course, I had never expected to meet the perfect, sexy guy on vacation, so it wasn’t like I’d packed a million date appropriate clothes. I hadn’t exactly planned on sitting in the restaurant all by myself. Plus, as nice as the dress I’d bought the other day was, I definitely didn’t want to wear it twice in a row.

  Finally, I settled on a flowing skirt to go with a ruffled shirt. Appropriate for a date (was this a date? I didn’t really know what else it could be, even though I still couldn’t really believe it) without being too fancy or business-ey.

  When Blake showed up on my doorstep dressed casually in shorts and a polo shirt, still managing to look sexy as hell, I knew I made the right choice.

  “Damn, you look amazing,” he told me, and I blushed. “But I know you look even better without the clothes,” he added, and my blush deepened in hue. Taking my arm in his, we walked towards the Japanese restaurant, reminiscing on the snorkelling trip earlier that day.

  Blake told me he hadn’t had a chance to look at his photos, and I told him all about mine, and how he was obviously welcome to any of them.

  “You know, it’s funny,” Blake told me as I began to see the first outlines of the restaurant in the distance. “I’ve been on trips to the Caribbean a thousand times. Seriously, I don’t know how many times I’ve come here to wow clients, that sort of thing. And today was the first time that I ever did something really fun like the snorkelling tour. It’s always just been meetings, and business, and meetings, and more business. I’m glad we did the tour. It was great.”

  “Seriously? You’ve never really had the chance to enjoy yourself on any of these trips?”

  “Well, to be honest, I do enjoy my work. I’m a workaholic, that sort of thing. So I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy myself at all, just that I never did any of the tourist things, and I actually really enjoyed it today.”

  “Well there we go, now this trip has a new first for you as well.”

  Just then we arrived at the restaurant. Being far more casual than Cay West, Blake and I fit in perfectly, much to my relief. I had some more questions about Blake’s work though. Up until today, I hadn’t realized he was actually in charge of the company, I just thought he was a high up executive. But dates weren’t really the right time to quiz people about their jobs, were they?

  As the hours passed, Blake and I enjoyed a delicious meal, some even more delicious wine, then made our way back to his room where we had passionate sex once more. I loved Blake’s dominant streak; I had never realized just how hot and bothered I got when I lost control, when he did whatever he wanted with my body. It was always loving, it was never too much, and it turned me on like nothing else.

&
nbsp; When it was all over, the moon was well up into the sky and I rested my head on Blake’s shoulder as I caught my breath.

  “Up to you, of course, but you’re always welcome to spend the night,” Blake told me.

  “That sounds great. I can’t guarantee you that I’m not going to panic and leave at some point, but at least you know now that it’s got nothing to do with you. It’s my brain that’s broken.”

  “You’re not broken, you’re perfect just the way you are,” Blake replied, leaning over and kissing the top of my head. I closed my eyes, blissfully aware that I had found the perfect man. I fell asleep feeling more comforted, more relaxed than I ever had before.

  * * *

  For the next three days Blake and I spent all the time he could spare together. Sure, he had the occasional business meeting that he had to attend, or just needed some time alone. And I was happy to hang out at the bar with a drink, or go down to the beach and enjoy the view, swimming by myself among the beautiful waters, just relaxing. The rest of the time was spent with Blake, either lounging by the pool together, going for a walk on the beach, for a swim, or, as was becoming more and more frequent, enjoying each other’s company in our villas.

  The more time passed, the more I began to realize that this was all going to end, however. In just a few days I would have to fly back to cold, dreary Columbus, and the next day Blake would fly back to what I assumed was a slightly less cold, but probably equally dreary New York City, though at least he lived in a city that was actually interesting. We would, in all likelihood, never see each other again.

  When I thought about that, I definitely felt depressed. This was more than just a fling for me, the more I got to know Blake, the more I realized I was genuinely falling in love.