That was what she wanted, she realized as she thought about it. It was too late for her and Jordan, she knew. She couldn’t get over what he asked her to do with Sam. But with Damien, it was a fresh start. And he understood where all of her anger came from, because he’d lost a sister too. It was like fate brought them together.
“Yes, I believe I could,” she nodded.
“Good. Eat your soup.” He said as he returned to his food. He had to resist the urge to call Jordan then and there and gloat. “Tonight we’ll sleep in the hut with the glass floor.”
“Really?” She said excitedly.
“And there are lights around the exterior of the hut that light up the sea under it, so you can watch the fish.” He continued to entice her.
“I can’t wait for tonight!” She exclaimed as she continued to eat.
“I can’t either,” he growled. If they slept in the hut together he was sure she would kiss him. And then he would have her. “We’ll make the call first. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice was small, but she held his gaze. He knew he won.
It was four o’clock in the morning when Jordan’s phone rang. His head hurt, but that didn’t matter. The call could be from Vince, telling him he’d found Ari. He was immediately awake when he heard it, and he jumped to answer it, noticing only briefly that the number was blocked.
“Vince,” he insisted into the phone. “Do you have Ari?”
“No, Jordan, it’s me,” she said clearly.
“What? Who is this,” he turned on the light and searched for his glasses, as if seeing would help him hear her better.
“It’s me, Jordan. It’s Arianna.” She was much calmer than she expected to be. Damien held her hand and nodded.
“Arianna, oh my God.” He suddenly felt guilty for sleeping in her bed. He knew that was her private space. “Arianna, oh my God, you’re alive.”
“Yes, Jordan, I’m alive.” She continued. “And I’m fine. Actually I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.” She tried to put a smile on her face as she said it.
“Ari, where are you? Who has you?” Jordan was suddenly pissed that he wasn’t in the office right then. SIB could be tracking the call as they spoke. He searched for his tablet, but he couldn’t find it. And then he realized the last place his tablet would be was Ari’s room, or his glasses for that matter.
“I can’t tell you who I’m with.” She tried to be evasive, and not lie at the same time. “But I am well taken care of, and I’m happy Jordan. I’m so happy. Don’t try to find me, just let me be, okay? Be happy for me.” As suddenly as it came, the call ended.
He stared at the phone for all of a minute, trying to process what he heard. His perfect memory played the words over again in his head. She was happy, she was taken care of. And she didn’t want to come home. He had to call Vince, and get to the office. He stumbled out into the hallway, made it to his bedroom, and turned on every light as he did it.
He had no idea that Sam had spent the night, so when he emerged from the shared bedroom, Jordan jumped. He’d seen Sam naked before, when he made love to Ari, but he definitely wasn’t expecting him to lean into his bedroom nude and ask, “What’s happened? Did Vince find Ari?”
Jordan couldn’t speak for all of ten seconds, standing half in his jeans and shirtless. Then he remembered he had to get to his office. “No,” he said as he pulled on his jeans.
“What’s wrong then? It’s four am on a Saturday,” Sam said around a yawn.
“Nothing.” Jordan shook his head and pulled on a t-shirt. “Nothing’s wrong. Ari called me.”
“That’s great,” Sam exclaimed with his movie star smile. “Is Vince going to get her and bring her home?” Jordan pulled on his shoes and tried to ignore Sam’s question. But Sam persisted; he was a lawyer, after all. “You know where she is, don’t you?”
Jordan stared at Sam, not knowing how to express what he was thinking. So, he just opened his mouth and let the words come out. “No, the one thing I don’t know is where the love of my life is. And besides that, she doesn’t want me to find her.” He sat down on his bed then, the realization too much for him to handle. “She said she’s fine. She said, ‘Don’t try to find me.’ She said she’s happy.” He hung his head and stared into his hands, folded on his lap. “She’s happy without us.”
“Jordan, maybe whoever is holding her forced her to say it.” Sam sat down on the bed beside him. “Maybe they just want you to give up looking for her.”
Jordan didn’t answer, and Sam didn’t know what else to day. He felt weird sitting on a bed naked beside a man; but not that weird considering he’d spent some time with him nude already. Jordan breathed heavy several times trying to calm himself down.
“Maybe we’re close, and Damien Tremblay wants to distract me.” Jordan stood again, as if more determined to find her.
“I’ll go with you,” Sam offered. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
Jordan stared at him for several seconds, trying to look at him only above the neck. “Okay,” Jordan nodded. “You drive.”
Sam returned to the bedroom and dressed quickly. They met up at Sam’s car. “Aren’t you going to lock the door,” Sam wondered.
“Yes,” Jordan nodded, and returned to it. When he got back Sam had already started the car and turned it around.
“I’m stopping for coffee.” Sam yawned again. Jordan was pressing the screens of his tablet and his phone.
Sam could hear Vince answer the phone, and tried not to roll his eyes. Vince had tried to get Sam in bed so many times. Sam would have felt complimented if Vince didn’t have sex with just about anyone. Vince was hot, sexy in a way that even men could identify. And Sam might have just said yes if Vince didn’t spread it around to everyone.
“What’s wrong,” Vince asked when he saw the call was from Jordan.
“Arianna just called me.” Jordan tried to use his detached voice, but failed miserably. He choked on the last word, and started coughing.
“She did what? She called you?” Vince was so loud Sam could hear him over the drive-thru speaker.
“Yes, she called me. Sam is driving me to the office so I can have SIB run the number,” Jordan said.
“I haven’t seen Damien Tremblay once today. He must have her” Vince growled. “Is there a way to get into his hotel room?”
“I’m sure I can hack their computer system and get you into it. We’ll start as soon as I get into the office. Just sit tight and I will call you when I’m ready.” Jordan finally sounded like himself after Vince gave him a clear assignment.
“I’ll be waiting.” Vince hung up the phone and returned to the restaurant. He needed to eat, because he was sure once they got the ball rolling he wouldn’t have a chance to breathe before he had Arianna.
Chapter Ten
Arianna stared out into the distance. The sun was still high over head; the tall palm tree she sat under provided shade. Kosum sat in the shade as well, weaving a multi-colored grass mat. Damien had a few phone calls to make, he’d said, and he would bring drinks when he returned.
Away from him, she suddenly wasn’t sure again. She regretted calling Jordan. She did enjoy being on the island, but when she spoke to Jordan she could hear the sadness in his voice. If only Damien didn’t mind sharing, she thought. She could have the island, Damien, and Jordan and Vince.
But life wasn’t perfect, she had to remind herself, no matter how much she thought she could have her cake and eat it too. She used a frond to draw in the sand as Damien approached. When she looked down she saw she’d drawn a heart.
“Sweet,” he said as he sat down beside her and handed her a drink. It was pineapple juice laced with rum. She was beginning to like the taste. “You’re not sad, are you?”
“No,” she said as she shook her head. “I’m not sad.” But she didn’t know if that was the truth. She’d lost sight of the truth.
“The cook is making something special for dinner,” he coaxed. “Do you like lemon chi
cken? It’s my favorite.”
“That sounds great,” Arianna said with a nod and a grin. And then she took a sip of her drink.
Jordan watched as SIB tried to track the phone number that had called him over an hour before. Getting the number was easy; tracking it was the hard part. SIB had to link to every cell phone tower all over the world.
“What exactly is SIB,” Sam asked as he nibbled on the remnants of their breakfast. Although Jordan stated he wasn’t hungry when Sam ordered, when the food was in front of him he ate it.
“Sentient Intelligent Being,” Jordan supplied. “She’s my computer.”
“Your computer is a girl who talks to you,” Sam wondered.
“Yes,” Jordan nodded. He’d accepted the fact that it was weird to others, but then so was his relationship status, and everything else about him.
“What else can she do?” Sam knew that she could trace phone calls. Jordan talked about hacking into a hotel to unlock a door. Was Jordan really that powerful? That made him nearly as sexy as Vince.
“I can’t tell you. You don’t have that kind of security clearance,” Jordan said as he typed on his virtual keyboard, which was projected onto his glass desktop.
“I see,” Sam shrugged. But he was enthralled. So he sat silently and watched. He didn’t want to get kicked out for asking too many questions. But he did want to know.
“I think we’re ready to call Vince and get him near Tremblay’s room.” There were a dozen small screens, and each showed different information. Sam couldn’t read much of it at all, but apparently Jordan knew what it meant. “SIB, call Vince.” When Vince answered, Jordan said, “Room 846, call me when you get there.”
“Great,” Vince said before hanging up.
“What happens if he’s in the room,” Sam wondered.
“He’s not.” Jordan sounded very confident.
Damien and Arianna played in the pool before dinner. As the evening grew later they ate lemon chicken at poolside. They had a beautiful view of the sunset over the ocean. Arianna had more of the pineapple and coconut juice with rum. Damien didn’t have any alcohol. He wanted to be completely sober that night.
After dinner Ari showered quickly and pulled on sweat pants and a light pink tank top. She was excited to sleep in the glass bottom hut. But she was even more excited to share it with Damien.
He waited for her in the living room, staring out at the pool. His hair was damp, as was hers, and he smelled like the beach. She wondered what products he used that had that particular scent.
“You look great,” he said when he saw her.
“I’m wearing sweats,” she scoffed.
“You’re prettier in sweats than most women I’ve seen in evening gowns, in full makeup.” He touched her shoulder; let his fingers roam down her arm to her hand. His fingers laced with hers. She stared at their hands together, his so white and hers so dark. He squeezed it quickly as he led her outside.
She felt a tremor inside her, and her shoulders shook from it. Of course he noticed. She could see the lights were on under the hut as they approached. She wanted to run toward it, but she also wanted to hold on to him. She expected this hut to be more like the one she spent the first night in, but it was much bigger. Somehow it had running water, because this one had a bathroom.
The main room held a rattan futon and a glass coffee table. The room also held a rattan chest against one wall, containing pillows, blankets, and grass mats. And that was it as far as furnishings went. The main focus of the room was the glass bottom floor. Two glass doors led to a small balcony that held two bamboo chairs and a small table between them.
“Why haven’t we slept here before,” she pouted after she took it all in. Then she opened the door to the deck, and stood outside and felt the breeze. The sky was still that light pink shade. Soon it would be purple, and then it would be dark.
The only thing in her peripheral vision was the pier. Other than that, it appeared there was nothing else around them, that they were alone on the sea. He walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into his body. Then he lightly rubbed her shoulders, her arms, and her neck. His touch was so gentle and slow, as if he savored her skin with his fingers.
She heard the door open, and turned to find Kosum bringing a pitcher of drinks and two glasses, and a silver platter of fruit, cheese, and crackers under a glass cover. “Thank you,” Arianna said as she walked out the door. Kosum smiled shyly, and said several words as she closed the door.
“She said you’re welcome,” Damien whispered in her ear. “And she bid us a good night.”
“Oh,” Ari’s cheeks flushed as well when she realized that Kosum knew they were sleeping together for the first time. Would they have sex? Or would Damien continue to simply touch her. She was ready for more; much more.
“Would you like a drink,” he offered. She nodded. He poured two glasses, and carried one to her.
“Are you trying to get me drunk,” she wondered as she tasted a light amount of rum.
“I just want you to relax,” he admitted. At least he didn’t lie. She sipped her drink slowly and stared out at the ocean. His fingers found their way to her braid, and he pulled the elastic band out so her heavy hair would fall down her back. Then he set his phone to play music; slow pop ballads.
He sat the phone down on the table, along with their drinks, and walked slowly toward her. He placed his hands on her shoulders again, but this time he faced her, and brought her into his body. He swayed slowly to the music. And then she felt it; they were dancing on the deck, under the lilac sky and over the ocean. It sent chills down her spine and over her arms. His cheek was against her ear, and his hands again found her hair. If a perfect moment existed, this was it.
“This is the most incredible feeling. If I told anyone about it, they wouldn’t believe me,” she sighed into his shoulder.
“It is indescribable,” he agreed, his melodic voice whispered into her ear.
“Sing to me, please.” He didn’t hesitate to give her what she wanted. He began to sing along with the song. She was right, he was an excellent singer. His pitch and tone were perfect. Again she felt that tremor inside her, as if the earth shook around her, and inside her.
Her arms encircled his waist, and she tried hard not to allow her hands to find his skin. But he was gloriously shirtless yet again. When her skin touched his he moaned. So her palms laid flat against the small of his back. She willed them to stay there, but they had other ideas. They wanted to explore his soft as silk skin, and supple muscles.
“Will you,” she said, and faltered.
“What, mon petit amour?”
“Kiss me?” Her voice was barely audible, like the wind on the waves. But he heard her desire; it rushed through him as soon as she touched him. He played the game strategically, and waited for her. This was his reward.
“Do you want me to,” he whispered, but his lips were already on her ear.
“Yes, I want you to,” she moaned. “I want you.”
“I want you too,” he said as his lips trailed over her cheek. His hands cupped her jaw, holding her like he would a precious jewel. “You’re ready?”
“Yes,” she said, and the tremor that started in her chest moved down, down, and her vaginal muscles clenched tightly. With all the feelings she’d felt with Vince and Jordan, this was one she hadn’t experienced: anticipation. It was an ache that she needed soothed, and the only thing that could possibly soothe her was his lips. When they found hers, she jerked from the flash of lightning inside her that radiated from him.
But he continued to tease her, lightly grazing her lips, then her cheeks. Each of her muscles braced for the flood of pleasure. “Come inside,” he begged, and stepped away slightly to bring his phone and their drinks. She couldn’t move. “Come,” he said again.
Her body wanted to obey him, because it knew that it would get its release from him and no other way. She stood on the glass floor, the underwater life completely forgotten
. The only thing in the world was Damien Tremblay. She was hypnotized by his velvety skin, his golden hair, his turquoise eyes, and his pink lips.
He shut the door behind him, and led her to the futon. He pulled the mosquito netting as she made herself comfortable. He sat beside her, one hand found her thigh, the other her shoulder and he pulled her closer. She wanted to be in his lap, straddling him, with her breast in his mouth and…
“Ohhhh,” she said when his lips touched hers again. Her tongue escaped to lick her top lip, as she tended to do when she was in the throes of lovemaking. Damien had her there and he hadn’t even kissed her properly.
He moaned again when he felt her tongue and his followed after it. It lightly touched the tip of hers, then the underside of it. She shivered again. She didn’t think she could take it. She could take Vince’s athletic prowess, and Jordan’s tender trials, but Damien’s calculated titillation was unbearable, and yet she wanted more. His tongue moved down to her bottom lip and licked slowly around it to the top, and to the tip of her tongue again.
Her nipples were hard as rocks, and she thought if he even moved toward them she would orgasm. Then his hand was on the strap of her shirt.
“I can’t take much more,” she pleaded into his mouth.
“Yes, you can,” he assured her as his lips moved toward her neck. “You can take as much as I want to give you.”
Vince stood outside the door, waiting. “Try it now,” Jordan said, and he heard the click of the door and saw the light change to green. He opened the door, and as he expected the room was empty. The bed was made. He closed the door, and without hesitation opened the closet. Damien Tremblay’s suits still hung there, dress shoes were aligned along the floor. His phone sat on the table by the bed. The only thing missing was the man. “He’s not here,” he said into his phone.
“That’s impossible. SIB didn’t see him leave,” Jordan argued.
“Service entrance?” Vince wondered as he opened the drawers to find underwear and undershirts and dozens of pairs of socks.
The Executioner 2: Love, Lies, and Revenge (The Executioner Series) Page 10