by Jaci Burton
Get involved. Seriously, emotionally involved. How could he be so stupid? Morgan was a woman, just like any other. He’d never had any trouble fucking and forgetting one before.
No, he thought, running his hands through his hair. He was wrong. That was the problem. Morgan wasn’t like any of the other women he’d known before. And that’s why she’d wormed her way into his heart.
Shit. He didn’t need this, didn’t want it, and frankly, wouldn’t have it. He did not want to have these goddamn feelings for her. Feelings led to attachment, attachment led to relationships and relationships were disastrous.
He’d simply gotten too close too fast with Morgan. He’d felt sorry for her when he’d seen her scars, and when she asked him to help he’d gotten all that juicy sex mixed up with emotion.
All she wanted from him was sex. All he could give her was sex.
Problem solved, right?
She’d never indicated she felt anything for him other than pure and simple lust.
So, what the hell was he worried about?
Ignoring the urge to hide in his room a little longer, he opened the door and searched for her, finding her outside near the pool.
She faced the ocean, the bright sunlight glinting off her red hair. She wore another one of those slinky sundresses that drove him mad with the urge to rip it right off her. Her well-shaped legs peeked out the bottom of the dress, the wind whipping it up every now and then to show off a well-toned thigh.
Damn if just the sight of her didn’t get him hard.
She turned when he stepped onto the veranda, and smiled at him.
“You ready?” she asked, sweeping the blowing hair away from her face.
Hell yeah he was ready. For more sex, not a trek to the resort. “Sure, let’s go.”
They hopped in the golf cart and Morgan maneuvered through the still wet trail, although the sun had mostly dried everything up. Now it was just blistering hot outside. He wore shorts and a tank top and even those felt like too many clothes. Wandering around the house naked with Morgan had spoiled him.
In more ways than just clothing.
She was quiet the entire trip. Then again, so was he. He knew what he was thinking about, but what about her?
“Something on your mind?” he finally asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just thinking about what I need to do at the resort.”
“I’ll try to stay out of your way.”
“Nonsense.” She turned to look at him, her gaze warm and inviting. “You’re still here to do an article, and you’ve only seen one event.”
Oh great, more sex events. So much for his decision to keep his distance from her. The two of them stuck together and forced to watch another erotic show wasn’t going to help at all.
“What are you showing me today?” he asked, hoping it was something he found distasteful, like…like…well, hell. He really couldn’t think of a single sexual act he wouldn’t like.
“What do you want to see?” Her voice had gone all low and gravelly, the sound heading straight to his crotch and waking his penis from its exhausted slumber. Shit.
“Doesn’t matter to me,” he replied with a shrug, trying to appear cool and detached. Yeah right, like that was possible sitting next to a woman who smelled like sunshine and tropical flowers.
She frowned, then resumed driving without another word. When they arrived at the resort, she slipped out of the cart and headed right for her office. Tony trailed along as far as the lobby, then figured Morgan had a million things to do so he might as well look around a bit, maybe interview some of the support staff.
He found Morgan’s assistant, Tara, in the lounge on a break. Wow. How had he missed seeing this woman? Mid-twenties, long raven hair streaming straight down her back, petite figure and the most gorgeous eyes he’d ever seen. A golden amber, they shimmered when she smiled. He introduced himself.
“Oh, you’re the reporter that’s interviewing Morgan this week?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. Listen, do you have a few minutes? I’d like to ask you some questions.”
She glanced down at her watch and then back at him. “I’ve got a few, sure. “
They sat at one of the lounge tables. “What can I help you with?” she asked.
“Are you from the islands?”
She laughed, a lilting, joyful laugh that brightened her entire face. “Hardly. I was born and raised in California, went to college at UC Berkeley and majored in marketing.”
“So how did you get hooked up here?”
“I wanted travel and adventure. I started out marketing for a travel agency, which meant I got to visit vacation resorts. Since I had a few customers who were interested in more erotic vacation spots, I took the opportunity to tour several. When I came across Paradise I fell in love and never left.”
“Fell in love with a guy?”
There was that laugh again. “God, no. That’s the last thing I want. I’m career building. I mean I fell in love with the resort and Morgan was nice enough to hire me on as her assistant. Some day I’d love to own a place like this.”
“Why?”
Her brows knit together. “Why, what?”
“Why would you want to own a place like this?”
“What’s wrong with Paradise? It’s open and free and I live a carefree existence far removed from the typical trappings of society. But you have to have a certain personality type to live in a place like this. It’s not for those who crave shopping malls and movie theaters and all the amenities of the big city.”
“And you don’t miss any of those things?”
“Nah. I’ve got everything I need right here.”
“What about men?” Tony found it hard to believe an attractive woman in her twenties wouldn’t be more into the social scene than her career.
“They’re a nuisance. Use ‘em and lose ‘em is my motto.”
Then it was his turn to laugh. Tara’s motto sounded vaguely familiar.
“Oh hell, there I go shooting my mouth off again.” She sighed and clasped her hands in her lap, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her flowery sundress.
Damn, she had nice legs. Funny, though, sitting here with a beautiful woman like Tara didn’t hit his sex buttons one bit. Obviously, Morgan had exhausted him.
“No problem. I just wanted to get a feel for some of the staff here, figure out what makes people want to work at a place like this.”
“You mean because of all the sex?”
“Partly.”
“That’s easy. You have to be sexually adventurous to work at Paradise. As well as open minded.” Her eyes narrowed for a few seconds before she added, “There are a lot of people with ridiculous provincial views on sexuality. One of the reasons I stay here. Anything goes.”
“And do you partake of the sexual adventures here?”
A warm hand rested on his shoulder and he turned around quickly to find Morgan frowning down at him. “That’s a bit of a personal question, don’t you think?”
He smiled up at her. “Just doing my job.”
Morgan turned her gaze to Tara. “I’ve gone through those contracts. They’re on your desk to finalize.”
Tara nodded and stood. “Nice to meet you, Tony,” she said, then shook his hand with fervor before running off toward the offices.
Morgan took the seat Tara vacated. “Don’t hit on my staff,” she said, her displeasure clearly noted in the frown on her face.
“I wasn’t hitting on your staff,” he defended. “I was asking her some questions about living and working at the resort.”
“Well, I don’t appreciate you doing that without my knowledge. In the future, check with me first.”
For some reason her irritation amused him. “Why? Are you jealous?”
Her eyes widened and she immediately shot back a retort. “Of course not! Why would I be jealous?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
She bent forward and whispered, “You and I are not invo
lved other than sexually, and that’s only for the duration of your time here.”
Irritation prickled on his skin. “I see. So, in other words, what we’ve been doing together is purely physical, and the sooner it’s over the better.”
She lifted her chin. “That’s not what I said.”
“Hey, no problem with me.” He’d been looking for a way to disentangle his emotions from Morgan. Here was his opportunity. “I think I’ve done more than enough to get you back to a sexual comfort zone.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Fine. As far as I’m concerned, we can be finished now.”
“Works for me. We’re done.” Now he was pissed. So much for ‘thanks for helping me get through my aversion to sex’. They’d gone from intimate sharing of sexual pleasures to done-and-over-with in less than a day.
He felt used. If that thought wasn’t so pathetic he’d laugh out loud. He’d never met a guy who wouldn’t sell his soul to be used sexually by a beautiful woman. What an idiot he was. He looked for Morgan for a response, but she’d closed her emotions and he couldn’t read her. Her lips were tight, her shoulders thrown back as she stood.
“I’ve got work to do,” she said, her gaze not meeting his. “I’ll pick you up at the front desk in an hour. Choose the adventure you’d like to tour.”
After she walked away he was half tempted to participate in some sexual adventure. That would show her he had no feelings for her. Problem was, he wasn’t the slightest bit interested in having sex with any one, or two or three for that matter, other women.
He really was pathetic. The only woman on his mind was Morgan.
* * * * *
Morgan viciously applied her signature to the documents in front of her. She could barely hold the pen because her hands were shaking.
How like other men Tony was. She should have known better. Put an attractive woman like Tara in front of him and he was hitting on her before the sheets on her bed were cold from their lovemaking.
Correction. It wasn’t lovemaking they’d shared. It was sex. Fucking, to be more precise. After their beach sex this morning, Morgan had realized she was in trouble. Falling headlong into emotional attachment to Tony. And that couldn’t be. She’d stood outside and watched the ocean after that, contemplating how to break things off between them. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—fall in love with him.
And now it looked like she’d made the right decision. To him, she was another notch on his keyboard, and that was all she’d ever be.
She lifted her head and smiled when Tara knocked softly on her open door. “Come on in,” she said.
Tara chewed her bottom lip. “I need to talk to you about earlier.”
Raising a brow, Morgan motioned Tara to sit in the chair across from her desk. “Sure. What’s up?”
“I wasn’t flirting with Tony Marino, honestly.”
Watching Tara wring her hands together nervously, Morgan said, “I didn’t think you were.”
“I know, but you seemed so upset and I didn’t want you to think I would ever hit on your man.”
“He’s not my man.” Never was, never would be.
Tara tilted her head. “I thought you two…”
“You thought wrong. Really, Tara, you have nothing to worry about. I was merely trying to keep him from asking you too many personal questions.”
Tara relaxed her shoulders and smiled. “You know me, Morgan. I talk too much, anyway. He wasn’t asking. I was over-volunteering information.”
Morgan wasn’t buying it. She knew Tony was a hard-hitting journalist and would pry as much as he could get away with. Either way it didn’t matter. He hadn’t been given the opportunity to bug Tara for too long.
“I’m glad he didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, then,” she said, hoping to end the conversation by returning to her paperwork.
“He sure is good looking.”
Morgan’s head shot up and saw Tara’s grin. “Yes, he is.”
“Great body, too.”
Didn’t she know it. Every square inch of it, in fact. “I guess so.”
Tara pursed her lips and raised a brow. “And you’re not involved with him?”
“No.”
“Well, why not? He’s perfect for you, Morgan. Smart, handsome and funny. You really need to find someone.”
Morgan set the pen down and laced her fingers together on top of the papers. “Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re lonely.”
This was something new. Tara had never gotten personal with her before. Friendly, always, but never pried into her personal life. “I’m not lonely.”
Tara’s lips crooked into a half smile. “Yeah, you are. You just don’t know it. We’re all lonely. Unless you have someone, we’re all kind of isolated here.”
“Then why don’t you find someone?”
Tara turned her gaze to the window behind Morgan. “Some people aren’t meant to have a someone.”
Yes, Morgan thought. Some people like her.
Returning her gaze to Morgan’s, Tara said, “But I think you have found someone. And if he’s the right someone, don’t let him go.”
Morgan thought about what Tara said as she headed out of her office to meet Tony.
Had she been giving off signals? Somehow Tara had gotten the impression that Morgan had some sort of relationship with Tony.
Okay, maybe she did look at him more than she’d ever looked at another man at the resort. And maybe they had been spending a lot of time together the past several days, but that was due to his job. He was there to interview her, after all.
Right. Like there’d been any interviewing going on. No, her time and attention hadn’t been spent on Tony the journalist. She’d been focusing on Tony the man.
For someone who’d always managed to keep her personal life personal, she’d been doing one damn lousy job lately.
Spying Tony loitering at the registration desk, her heart thudded against her chest. As it did each and every time she saw him. He was such a beautiful man, so tall, dark, roguishly handsome.
Hell. No wonder Tara suspected something was going on. She was all but drooling as she approached Tony.
He offered a tentative smile. “You ready?”
She nodded, distracted by the memories of his body on hers.
“If this is a bad time…”
“No, it’s fine. Have you decided which event you’d like to check out?” She tried to keep her tone impersonal. They’d officially ended their intimate relationship, and Morgan was going to make damn sure they didn’t pick it up again before he left.
“Yeah. How about Sensuous Spanking?”
Why did it have to be that one? “Fine. Let’s go.”
She turned, but Tony’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Is this event going to bother you?”
When she didn’t respond, he added, “You know? Personal memories and all?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. Follow me.”
Bother her? Attending Sensuous Spanking would bother her all right. But not in the way he thought.
Chapter Twelve
Admittedly, Tony had purposely chosen Sensuous Spanking because he knew Morgan might be turned on by watching. Perverse, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself. Men and their egos were nothing to fuck with. Since he was like most men, his ego resided in his pants. And she wasn’t currently fucking with it in a fun way.
Which annoyed him. And shouldn’t. It was his idea too to cool things down between them.
Then again, watching her backside sway seductively as she walked the path in front of him, he began to wonder if he’d made a huge error in ending things too quickly with Morgan. Surely he could enjoy some simple sex with her for the next couple days without getting emotionally involved, couldn’t he?
She stopped in front of a small house with a thatched roof, the windows darkened with some kind of film so people walking by couldn’t look in. Her hand reached for the doorknob, then hesitated.
Smiling innocently at
her, he asked, “Something wrong?”
Sucking in her lower lip for a second, then letting out a sigh, she shook her head. “No, everything’s fine. “
It took him a few minutes to adjust to the darkness inside. Candles seemed to provide the only illumination in the small foyer. Morgan nodded to the woman at the doorway, then took Tony through.
A long hallway led to various doors, with mirrors lining the walls. As Tony stepped past the first door he noticed the mirror was actually glass. He could see into the room. A very tall, very slim, leather clad dominatrix stood in the middle of a room equipped with paddles and whips. A naked man was bent over a stool, and the woman was lightly paddling his ass. The man sprouted a huge hard-on, so he must like it.
Whatever floats your boat, he supposed. He’d never been spanked, didn’t think he’d want to be. Never spanked a woman before, either. Number one, because he didn’t get off on hurting someone, and two, no woman had ever asked him to.
He turned toward Morgan, who inclined her head to indicate they would keep walking.
“This one looks good,” she said, stopping in front of another window.
Tony peered in to find a man, this time, dressed in leather pants and no shirt. His spectacular muscles were either oiled really well to showcase them in the subdued lighting, or he had already worked up a huge sweat. A nude woman reclined over the man’s lap. Instead of using a paddle, the man swatted the woman’s backside with his bare hands. Imprints of his palm could be seen on the woman’s very red ass.
Morgan pressed a button, which allowed them to hear the woman’s moans and cries. Although she squealed when the man smacked her, she followed her squeals with moans that didn’t sound like moans of pain. Her pussy was glistening with moisture, and after every few swipes of his hand on her ever-reddening ass, the man caressed the petals of her vaginal lips.
Clearly, the woman enjoyed the hell out of her spanking.
Tony chanced a look in Morgan’s direction, watching the rise and fall of her breasts against the thin material of her dress. Her erect nipples poked against the silk during each rapid inhalation. Her tongue snaked out to lick across her top lip.