Come A Little Closer

by Kim Karr

  We were clean. We’d established that. I didn’t care, but I did care that he wanted to do this again because I knew I wanted to, as well. I arched into him, seeking more of his mouth. And he gave me more, kissing a line down to my belly.

  For the first time in months, my stomach didn’t twist. Instead, it quivered beneath his mouth, and a soft moan escaped my throat. “Jaxson, I need you inside me.”

  Just as softly and slowly as he’d trailed a line of soft kisses down my body, he trailed one up, not stopping until he reached my mouth. “And I can’t wait to be there.”

  Looming strong above me, he smiled, and then molded his lips to mine. Our tongues tangled, clashed, twisted, and rolled until I was breathless and panting.

  Jaxson groaned low in his throat, and then he pushed his arms underneath me so he could bring me closer to his body.

  “You can’t hurt me,” I managed.

  As soon as I said this, his hips arched fluidly. And then his cock was sliding in and out of my body until I was dizzy with pleasure. And he was close. So close to me. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t touching me. He was surrounding me. Filling me in places that had never been touched. He made me feel safe, wanted, alive.

  I closed my eyes and hugged him to me. Not wanting the barest distance between us, I clung to him as he rocked into me, deeper, harder, faster, penetrating me to my very soul.

  “Sadie.”

  His tender voice pulled me from my scattered thoughts.

  “Look at me, Sadie.”

  I snapped my eyes open to see him staring intently down at me. “Are you certain you’re okay? I should have asked you last night, but didn’t.”

  I nodded. “I’m certain. Just kiss me.”

  And he did.

  Fiercely.

  Possessively.

  Like he couldn’t get enough of me.

  “How close are you?” he whispered.

  “Close,” I said, clawing at his back.

  “Good,” he breathed. “Good.” His eyes flashed and his jaw clenched in pure adulterated pleasure as he thrust deeper, harder, faster. I didn’t think I’d ever made anyone go this insane.

  “Don’t stop. I’m almost there,” I called out as my release built higher and deeper—so deep I felt like I might turn inside out.

  Then he was kissing me again. Harder. Faster. Hotter. Until I was breathing his air and he was breathing mine.

  “Oh, God, Jaxson. Oh, God.”

  All of his control seemed to be gone, and he began to move at lightning speed. Up. Down. In. Out. “Oh fuck, what you do to me.”

  I went slick around him, and he moved easier, pushing into me until I gasped at how deep he had gone.

  Calling out his name, I closed my eyes and unraveled beneath him. Coming in bursting rays of pleasure, like a rainbow. Magic. The world blurred for a moment, and then he stilled, plunging one last time into me. He came with his cock buried deep inside me and calling out my name.

  As I floated down to earth, Jaxson lowered himself on top of me. I couldn’t move. I felt trapped. But I knew it was okay because with him, I felt safe. I felt good. Alive.

  Even though I had no right to.

  SADIE

  THE SHOOT WAS COMING TO an end, and I started to gather the pieces of clothing that were strewn along the private beach.

  From a distance, I watched as Ashley laid in the sand in a lace-up, black one-piece and talked to Jaxson about her boyfriend.

  He snapped.

  Gave her direction.

  She talked. “He was a real dick when I told him I was coming here with you.”

  Jaxson laughed. “He understood you were coming for me to photograph you, didn’t he?”

  She shrugged. “Who knows what he thought.”

  Jaxson told her to roll around in the sand.

  She did.

  He lowered his camera. “Get changed. We have a few more shots to get in before we leave here.”

  It was only the three of us, and she stripped down right here. Jaxson was surrounded by naked women all the time, and yet he didn’t look at any of them the way he looked at me.

  And I was certain he didn’t fuck them like a tiger, either.

  Minutes later Ashley was posing seductively against a rock in the shallow sea donning a long-sleeved top with the deepest v.

  Water splashed and she played in it as Jaxson photographed her. I stared out at the water, sail boats miles away, coral everywhere, and beauty as far as the eye could see.

  The noise of waves barreling onto the sand brought my gaze back to Jaxson.

  Ashley was now topless as she leaned against an old wooden pole by the water’s edge with the sun shining brightly.

  I wondered if he’d stay behind and photograph me again when he was done working for the day. I wanted to roll in the sand for him. I wondered if he’d demand me to strip out of my clothes and tell me what he wanted me to do. The thought thrilled me. But then I wondered where this sudden need for sex was coming from.

  Desperation was the only answer I could come up with.

  “That’s a wrap,” he called.

  Ashley put her halter top on and then pulled on a pair of skimpy shorts. “Sundance,” she called.

  He looked up from his viewfinder.

  “When does the plane leave to go back to Antigua?”

  “We were scheduled to leave at seven but there’s some kind of delay and we aren’t leaving until nine now.”

  “Great! There’s a beach bar a mile ahead waiting for us. Let’s stop by on our way back to the airport.”

  I felt my smile fade. I wanted him to myself, but I should have realized I would be sharing him, and not only until we got back to the resort, but this entire trip.

  Everyone wanted Sundance.

  Not just me.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he told her, and shifted his gaze to me. “It will be fun.”

  The gear was loaded and we were off. Ashley sat in the front, and I didn’t let it ruffle my feathers. I knew he wanted me. I could see it in his molten gaze. He couldn’t help that she wanted him, boyfriend or not.

  Today I was wearing the orange dress again, and with its high neck, I wished I looked sexier.

  I wanted to be sexy for him.

  Jaxson pulled into The Seaweed Bar ten minutes later, and the Tiki bar was jam-packed.

  Half-dressed women and men were everywhere. Reggae music pumped through the speakers, and as Ashley and I followed Jaxson toward the bar, we passed limbo dancers shimmying beneath poles set aflame.

  “This place is so cool,” I said.

  Ashley turned. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Just wait until dark, it gets crazy.”

  I looked out at the view of the sparkling Caribbean. “I can’t wait.”

  She laughed and put her hand on Jaxson’s shoulder. He held his hand out for me, and I took it.

  “What are you drinking?” Jaxson asked Ashley when we reached the bar.

  “I’ll have a Slow, Comfortable Screw.” Ashley made sure to lean in close so he could hear her. I could hear her for goodness sake, she didn’t have to whisper in his ear.

  He nodded and looked over her shoulder at me. “Sadie, what would you like?”

  You, I wanted to say. “A margarita, please.”

  Jaxson ordered the drinks, and once he handed them to us, he lifted his glass. “Cheers.” He clinked Ashley’s glass and then mine.

  We drank, and then hit up the food bar. Oysters and little neck clams were shucked, and there were cod tacos and lobster rolls with the rum punch that was the happy hour special.

  After a call telling us the plane was delayed another hour, Jaxson arranged for someone to pick us, and the car, up.

  The three of us spent the time eating and laughing and watching the dolphins breach the shore.

  Ashley raised her glass of punch. “To island living.”

  Both Jaxson and I clinked her glass.

  Jaxson put his hand on my thigh. The touch was so blatan
t it made my breath catch. Then he leaned over to whisper in my ear, “You did good today, Thief.”

  Thief.

  It wasn’t a nickname I loved but one I’d earned, and one he seemed to find amusing. I smiled at him, liking the attention, and the way Ashley was staring at us with envy. “Thank you, Sundance,” I said.

  “To you, it’s Jaxson or sir,” he whispered.

  I saluted him. “Yes, Sir Jaxson.”

  He laughed.

  “Am I missing something?” Ashley asked.

  Jaxson ran his fingers under the hem of my dress and bent to kiss me. No sweet, gentle peck, either. He didn’t do sweet. This was a full-blown, mouth open, tongue-searching kiss, French kiss. When he pulled away, he looked at her and said, “We’re fucking.”

  I should have been embarrassed. It was crude, almost savage, but the way he said it only made me wetter.

  “Are you looking for a third?” she asked, and she was completely serious. “I bet Sadie tastes sweet like candy.”

  Jaxson must have had too much punch because he said, “She’s sweeter than candy, and I don’t share. She’s mine.”

  Mine.

  I’d never belonged to anyone.

  Ashley stood. “Well, crap,” she sighed.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “I’m horny and jealous. I need to find my own Sadie. I’ll be back.”

  Jaxson laughed, and I stood, too. “Dance with me?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t dance.”

  “Make an exception this once?” I pleaded. “For me.”

  Amusement twinkled in his eyes, and he pulled me to him. I looked down and he up. His fingers splayed against my ass, his thumb drifting back and forth along the smooth fabric. “Maybe I will.”

  He was up to something, and the hunger in his eyes excited me. I wanted to know what he had in mind.

  The dance floor left little room for maneuvering. The crowd surged around us, bouncing, wiggling, grinding, and Jaxson wove his way toward the back of the dance floor.

  Jaxson took me by the hand, fingers laced, and with one step, he brought me to him. There could be no talking here. The pounding throb of the music thumped its pulse loud and took over all conversations.

  Everything was heat and grind and sweat. The music filled us, and he swept me away. I looked up and shivered under his lustful gaze.

  We moved together, and my hand slid from his shoulder to cup the back of his neck and tangle in his hair. The heat of his hands branded me as he moved them from my hips to cup my ass.

  Our bodies pressed together, and when his cock rubbed against my belly, my mouth parted in a gasp. His touch owned me, did wicked things to me, took over my every thought.

  One hand slid down and around to my thigh and his fingers caught the flouncy hem of my skirt, inching it up as we danced.

  Bending, he sucked on my neck, licking and biting.

  My breath was coming fast and hard, and I was out of control with want as I pulled his head up. “We can’t do this here.”

  Blue, green, yellow, and red lights danced over his face, casting it in shadow. “Oh, Sadie, yes we can,” he insisted. “We can do whatever we want as two consenting adults.”

  “Here though? In public?”

  His fingers found my slick heat, and he lightly swept over my clit, teasing me. “Sadie, no one is paying attention to us. And what did I tell you?”

  My body jerked, and a moan tore from my throat. “To do as you instruct.”

  Again with the lightest of strokes. “That’s right. So if I tell you I want to see those gorgeous tits of yours, what do you do?”

  “I show them to you.”

  His hand on my ass pressed harder, hiding everything he was doing in the front from everyone. “That’s right. And if I tell you I want you on your knees, you get there, right?”

  I nodded. I would have agreed to anything if it meant he’d stop with the feather-light teasing touches.

  His hand on my ass found my crack, and he drew a finger down it, over the fabric. “For the next five weeks, I own your body. Is that clear?”

  My hands had drifted to his shoulders, and as his finger stopped on my ass to circle me, I dug my nails into his shoulders.

  He gave me a wicked grin. “I promise I will never hurt you. I will always let you come first, or at least come with me. But I decide where and when. Do you understand me?”

  “I do.” My voice was a hoarse whisper. It was wanton and weak, and even over the music I knew he could hear the need in it. I wanted to come under his touch over and over.

  “Good girl,” he said, and then finally he pressed his finger to my clit and circled my tight nub. I no longer cared who saw us.

  He pushed a finger inside me, and my clit pulsed around him. Breathless, aching, my body burning for release, I couldn’t hold back.

  I was tipping over the edge with each stroke of his hand, and he knew it. His breath blew hot against my skin, and he nuzzled my ear, whispering something dirty that shattered me.

  Biting my lip to stifle the cry that tore from my throat, I dug my fingers even harder into his shoulders. His arms tightened around me, and he held me while I climaxed, my body shuddering and convulsing.

  Once my heartbeat slowed, I pulled back and looked up at his handsome face.

  He smiled at me. “Come on, let’s take a walk on the beach, beautiful.”

  Beautiful.

  No one had ever called me that.

  Then again, I’d never let anyone get as close to me as I’d let him.

  My head might have been buzzing from the tequila, but in that moment, I knew I’d never be able to see blue, green, yellow, and red again without remembering the way he made me feel so good when I knew I was anything but.

  He would be my rainbow.

  He was magic.

  And I’d never forget him.

  JAXSON

  THE PALE LIGHT OF DAWN was seeping into the room.

  Quietly, I got out of bed and pulled some shorts on, grabbed my camera, and stepped outside.

  Snap.

  Snap.

  Click.

  Tiny yellow birds flapped their wings as they made their way through the thick grove of palm fronds just outside the veranda, and I captured their flight.

  The morning was quiet, and I felt like I was alone on a deserted island. The swish of the gardener’s broom on the paths alerted me I wasn’t the only one awake.

  I turned toward the steady roll of the sea a few yards away.

  Snap.

  Snap.

  Click.

  This place was paradise. Wild. Untamed. Beautiful.

  A lot like Sadie.

  Finn hadn’t been able to find anything else out about Simon, but he had found a record of Riley Houston in the Savannah Memorial Medical Center. Breaking into electronic medical records was something new for Finn, and although he saw it as a challenge, he had yet to be able to do it.

  I lowered my camera and ran a hand through my hair before I stepped out onto the beach. I hoped like hell that kid was okay because if he wasn’t, it was going to break Sadie.

  I found myself trudging on the white sand and standing at the cool water’s edge, squinting at the soon-to-be-blazing sun.

  Snap.

  Snap.

  Click.

  Here, in this oasis, I’d been able to distract Sadie from her dark thoughts about herself, and that kid, but what would happen when we returned to reality?

  I knew the answer and hated it.

  I said I’d keep her safe, and I would, but I couldn’t keep her safe from herself.

  She’d turn herself in because she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t.

  It was the right thing to do.

  I hated the very thought because it meant separating.

  And I wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

  I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, either.

  After capturing the beauty of the morning, I made my way back
to the villa and found Sadie still asleep. I stared at her. I thought I knew what love was. I thought I’d been in love with Jules Easton. But had she been right all along to end things between us? Had she known what I felt for her wasn’t true love?

  It couldn’t have been because when I looked at Sadie, I saw a woman I’d do anything for to keep safe. A woman I wanted to own. A woman I wanted to be mine.

  I’d said fuck love, and I still felt that way. Whatever I was feeling for the woman that I couldn’t seem to get enough of was something more powerful. Something darker. Lustful. Sinful.

  It brought out the savage in me, and I never felt more like a man than when I was with her.

  I felt powerful.

  Strong.

  Alive.

  When I was with her, I didn’t need to be the easy-going Sundance or the tough Butch.

  I just wanted to be me.

  I leaned down to kiss her forehead and murmured, “Sleep, Sadie.” Like this, she looked so innocent. So good.

  How had all this bad happened to her?

  Why had it happened?

  I stared down at the two sets of dog tags on the dresser—her father’s and mine, and knew we’d been brought together for a reason.

  Resolve filled my bones.

  I’d help her get out of this mess.

  I’d find a way.

  I had to.

  SADIE

  WITH A JOLT, I SAT up and pulled the sheets to cover by naked breasts.

  I still wasn’t used to sleeping naked, but Jaxson insisted on it. Jaxson. Things were changing between us. This was becoming more than just wild sex. Although, I wasn’t sure he wanted to admit it, and I knew I couldn’t.

  I pushed my destiny out of my mind. I had five more weeks with him, and I was going to make the most of it.

  Throwing aside the sheets, I slid out of bed. When I saw our clothes on the floor, last night came back to me in a flash, and I smiled like a smitten schoolgirl.

  St. Kitts.

  The dance floor.

  Walking on the beach.

  Talking about his mother, her drinking, how he practically raised himself. I got it. My father didn’t start drinking until I was much older than he was, but that didn’t change anything.

  Life was still tough.

  I shut that out and remembered Jaxson.