by Joya Ryan
“Yes, please,” she whispered, and didn’t bother saying good-bye. Maybe it was the wine, or the night, or her life, but she was going to follow this feeling of strength and pursue every single aspect of her fantasy. That was the point of this whole trip, after all.
She’d seen Blake lay money on the table and not say a word, either, to their “dinner guests.” He guided her out of there, grabbing her ass for show, and she yelped and giggled.
He had her cake in one hand, and she wasn’t thinking of anything but the dessert she really wanted. Which was Blake.
Wait…that was the wine talking. It had to be.
Or the fact that he’d given her an orgasm even though he didn’t know it. But it was those tingles that had left this heat in her that wouldn’t go away.
They got into the room and Carrie reached out for Blake. In a hug? For a kiss? She didn’t know. She just reached out.
“Hang on, little girl,” Blake said, setting the cake down on the side table and cupping Carrie’s face. “No one is watching anymore.”
“I know,” she said, and tilted her head to snag his finger and suck it into her mouth. A low groan broke from his chest and she smiled, holding his finger hostage between her teeth.
“Easy, because we both know I’ll bite you back,” he said, and she saw the seriousness in his eyes.
“Promise?” she asked.
With his strong palms still encasing her face, he leaned in slowly, and she felt his breath hit her lips just as—
The sound of the neighboring door slammed shut.
Kevin and Wendy were back, and the shared wall meant Carrie and Blake would hear any naughty business on the other side.
Blake and Carrie froze. Nothing like an ex to kill the mood. But Carrie wasn’t ready to be mood killed. She was going to die of combustion if she didn’t feel Blake in some way.
She tried to kiss him, but he took a step back.
“Don’t you still want dessert?” she asked.
His blue eyes bored into hers, his gaze like a stroke on her hand. Hot and insistent. “Yes,” he rasped. “Very much. But this is fake, remember? And there are rules.”
Carrie bit her lip. “But I… The rules…”
She wanted to ditch the rules, have him take her. She was trying to find the words to say just that, but her brain was a little foggy, and Blake beat her to the punch.
“You’ve been drinking,” he said. As if that somehow explained away everything.
“So?” she countered. “I’m not sloppy drunk.”
“Of course not,” he said, and closed the space between them again. She loved feeling his warmth. Even though he wasn’t touching her, she could still get wrapped up in the heat of his nearness. “I just think that if we’re going to start changing rules, we should chat about it first. In the light of day. Stone cold sober.”
Her shoulders sank. So he was a gentlemanly fake boyfriend now? She shook her head. She was silly for thinking more. This was a ruse. To make her pride not hurt so badly and Kevin jealous.
Fake.
What had she been thinking?
“I know this is fake. It’s fine,” she said.
The sound of Wendy moaning and the bed banging against the shared wall started.
“I hate them,” Carrie mumbled.
“Not much to like,” Blake agreed.
The banging and moaning got louder.
“I just want to shove our super-awesome and totally made up relationship in their face!” Carrie said with a huff.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Blake said with a smile.
He went to stand on the bed. He held his hand out and she joined him. He started jumping and she laughed.
Then he smacked the wall, then her ass, and she yelped.
“You like that, baby?” he said loudly, and Carrie realized what he was doing. He was putting on a show loud enough for their neighbors to hear. And she loved him for that. Fake boyfriend and fake sex—it would be the best yet.
“You know I love it,” she said with an exaggerated moan. “Harder!”
They jumped and pounded the headboard against the wall. She could hear some kind of retaliation from next door but didn’t care. It wasn’t as good as her and Blake. And they were fully clothed, holding hands, and jumping.
“Come on, baby, take it,” he said.
“Oh God, yes,” she said back, and the only thing that stopped her was remembering how she said it earlier in the pineapple field. Blake made her feel things, come so hard and easily. She had thought something was wrong with her for the longest time with Kevin, because she never came. Hell, they’d barely had sex.
But Blake?
Blake made her say, “Oh God, yes.”
And he didn’t even know how true that rang.
The look in his eyes was wild, and something in Carrie’s response made it even hungrier. She could read him better than she ever could anyone else. He wanted to stick to the rules tonight? Fine. But that didn’t stop her from what they both wanted.
She threw herself at him, and he fell to his perfectly toned butt on the bed. With his back against the headboard, she straddled him.
“Whoa,” he whispered. “Nothing real. Your rule, remember?”
She nodded. “Stupid rule.” She wanted to tear off his shirt, but he stopped her.
“Say that again later when you’re sober, and we’ll talk.”
Ugh! There he goes being a gentleman again.
“But…” She rocked forward in protest and realized it made Blake groan and the headboard smack the wall simultaneously.
She glanced down. He was hard beneath her. Sure, their clothes were on, but if she could feel him, he could feel her. And even though they might not have sex, they could still sound like it.
Especially since Kevin and Wendy seemed to be picking up the pace over there, based on the moans and sounds.
“Fine, we’ll talk more later,” Carrie conceded, and rocked again. The way she would if she were riding him. The way she desperately wanted to feel him inside her.
Screw it.
She jerked his pants open so that his hard cock sprang free, and she shoved her dress up.
They might not have sex, but she was going to get as close as possible.
“Carrie, we can’t—”
“My fantasy,” she whispered.
She licked her palm, and then she stroked him once and placed him against her clit and slid up, then down.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he rasped, and gripped her hips, and she didn’t know if he was going to put her on him or hold her away. He seemed to be fighting instinct.
But she jerked and rocked. Every slide of his hard cock against her clit made fire spread through her veins and her skin slick with chilly heat. Hot ice taking over every atom that made up her body.
She worked herself over him faster.
Ground down harder. Her slickness made each glide up and down his impressive length more intense than the last.
She kissed him hard, and he dug his hands into her hips, moving her along him. He was taking part. Wanting it, just like she did.
He kissed down her neck and bit her cleavage. But then he pulled back. Like he was fighting himself.
Keeping up her motions, she held him close and threw her head back as he buried his face into her neck. But he didn’t move. Didn’t kiss her. She felt his hot breath against her throat. She moved their bodies so perfectly that she felt every ridge of him hit her core without actually penetrating.
It was going to happen again. She was going to come, and this time, she didn’t think she could hide it. Didn’t think she wanted to.
Then the sounds of Wendy and Kevin got louder. They were close to finishing, and this was still a game, after all. No matter how she was starting to feel about Blake.
But when her body started buzzing and her blood ignited with fire, her entire core shattered and she trembled from the intensity of her release.
“I’m coming!” she yelled.
Half to make sure Kevin and Wendy heard. And half because it was true.
The headboard pounded harder as she rocked herself through her orgasm.
Blake’s arms tightened around her. Holding her, hugging her to him. Feeling him throb between her legs made her come undone further.
“Blake!” She screamed his name with every fleck of pleasure she felt. Pleasure he was giving her.
She drenched him, and he kept sliding along her, prolonging her orgasm to world record status.
She thought she heard him mutter something like, “This is real,” but she couldn’t be sure.
She felt his body tense, his grip on her tighten, and every muscle he had flexed.
“Off— You have to get off me,” he said with a rasp.
She was confused, her own pleasure still galloping through her like a pack of wild horses and she shook in his arms, slowly moving her hips.
“Baby, you have to…move off me before…”
He grit his teeth, and she rocked one more time, and then she realized his struggle. His own release took over. The hot jets lashed over her lower stomach, and all she could do was kiss him hard.
Next door was quiet. Her deep, heavy breaths mingled with Blake’s.
There were a lot of things fake between them, but whatever emotions currently racing through her weren’t. Because in that moment, Carrie felt more real than she had in a long time.
Chapter Seven
“What looks good to you?” Carrie asked Blake. He looked up from his breakfast menu, the morning sun shining on both of them from the outdoor cabana they were sitting under.
Your skin.
Your neck.
That spot just below your ear.
A lot of things looked good to him, and they were all Carrie. But he kept his thoughts to himself and glanced at the menu again. All the restaurants near the resort were part of the damn resort. The whole “private, secluded, yet all-inclusive” deal. Which meant options were limited but beautiful. Having an omelet in a private cabana on the beaches of Hawaii wasn’t a bad way to start the day.
Of course, he preferred his breakfast of champions to be Carrie. Especially when she was sitting across the table from him, wild golden curls, tan skin peaking from beneath her tank top while she bit her plump bottom lip and analyzed the menu.
That lip.
That mouth.
He adjusted in his seat. This whole situation he was in felt less fake and more like torture. They hadn’t spoken about last night. But they’d both come and there’d been nothing fake about it. Yet Blake couldn’t bring himself to start out the topic and was trying to get a gauge on how Carrie felt.
She bit her lip again, and his mind flashed to last night.
Again.
“Ice,” he finally said, adjusting himself. Yes, Carrie had made him come last night, but over the last twelve hours with no sleep and relentless thoughts about her, he was permanently and uncomfortably hard and needing more.
“Ice?” she asked.
“Orange juice,” he amended. He’d use an ice pack later for the boys. Only another eighteen hours of a fake relationship and a ton of real teasing to go for today. And then again for another few days.
“You going to eat anything?” she asked.
I want to eat you.
Jesus, he needed to get his thoughts under control. This was all kinds of bad, and he needed the boundaries back. Otherwise he’d be the guy he was trying to keep Carrie from.
“My appetite is off today,” he said.
She smiled and raised a brow. “That’s a shame, so many good options.”
Okay, so she was still avoiding the topic of last night, too. They’d apparently made some silent agreement last night that didn’t involve talking about their almost disastrously real fake sex. Which was fine with Blake. This was all pretend. Exactly how he wanted it. No strings, no commitment, no love, and Carrie was happy. Strong.
A little blond girl with pig tails and matching flowers in each ran up and threw herself at Blake’s shins in a big hug. Her chubby arms encased his knee. She was apparently just learning to walk, and judging by the trail of concerned parents she left in her sandy wake, he wasn’t far off with his assumption.
“Unkie!” the toddler cried, and smiled and clutched his knee.
“What the…” He wanted to shake the child off of him, but he was pretty sure that would be frowned upon. He had no idea how to handle kids. All of his interactions at his outfitter were with adults. There were no real kiddy trails. The youngest customer he’d ever had was thirteen, and he’d been there with his father on a hunting trip.
He looked at the toddler and winced at the drool coming out of her open mouth.
The concerned mother ran up to them. She had the same blond hair as the child. “Oh, I’m so sorry. She’s faster than she looks.”
The woman went to scoop her up, and the girl protested, saying “Unkie” over and over. Blake felt like that monster he’d seen on a commercial once. The blue one that was convinced children were half poisonous.
“Sorry,” the mother tried again. “You look just like my brother—her uncle.”
“Oh, it’s no problem!” Carrie said with so much joy in her tone that it made Blake snap his attention to her.
The toddler looked at Carrie and went straight to her. “Up, up!” she exclaimed.
Carrie looked at the mother. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” the mother said.
Carrie picked up the girl, and she instantly hugged her neck. Carrie closed her eyes for a moment and smiled, hugging the child back. Good, Blake thought. He’d seen how she responded to the family at the airport. She’d withdrawn, caved into herself, like the very sight reminded her what she couldn’t have. If she could hug this little girl now, though, and smile seeing another family, maybe this whole thing was working. Maybe she was beginning to believe again that she could have a family of her own one day.
Lucky.
For Blake, going further into a future filled with love and responsibility, every hour of every day dedicated to a family’s safety, terrified him. He’d done that before as a teenager. He’d tried to save his mom. He’d stood by her and given everything. And he’d still lost her.
He wouldn’t go through that again. He wouldn’t invite such a devastating loss to revisit him. The most he’d let himself taste was this fantasy with Carrie.
“What’s your name?” Carried asked the little girl. The girl giggled and played with the flower in her hair. Some word escaped her mouth, but Carrie was clearly fluent in toddler-speak.
“Lidia? That’s a pretty name,” she cooed to the girl.
More mumbo jumbo, then Carrie nodded and laughed. “She’s wonderful,” Carrie said to the mother. “So friendly.”
“You’re great with her,” the mother said. “You two going to have a little one?”
Blake choked on the Hawaiian oxygen surging through his skull.
“No. God no.”
Had he said that out loud? He must have, because Carrie looked horrified.
“We, ah… We’re not…”
“That was rude of me to ask that,” the mother backtracked. Carrie let the girl climb down just as a tall, ripped man, wearing a front pack with a drooling baby in it, came up. He looked like a guy Blake would take out hunting. And instead the man was geared up with some sort of baby holster.
“Hey, honey,” he said to his wife. “I see we found the runner.”
The man had a drooling bundle of smell strapped to the front of him like it was the manliest thing ever. And he looked…proud.
Weird.
Even weirder was that they all looked happy.
“Well, sorry again for the intrusion,” the mother said, peeling the girl from Carrie.
“It’s really no bother. Are you all staying here?” Carrie asked them.
The couple exchanged a smile and the woman nodded. “Yes, it’s our five-year anniversary.”
“Oh, congratulations!�
�� Carrie said with genuine happiness in her tone. She was kind like that. Truly cared about others and felt joy for their successes. Meanwhile Blake tried not to wince when the baby started fussing.
“Maybe we’ll see you around, then?” Carrie asked.
“Yes, that would be nice. My poor wife hasn’t gotten a chance to really get out and enjoy herself yet,” the man said as he rubbed his wife’s back.
“Well you haven’t, either,” she said, smiling back at him.
“We’re a team, honey,” he said, and Blake thought that was nice, but he also wanted to throw up in his mouth a little.
“That is so wonderful,” Carrie said, and Blake was preparing for her eyes to turn wide and glossy like a cartoon character at any moment.
“I’m Eve and this is Waylon,” the mom said. Blake stood and shook both their hands, and so did Carrie. “Are you two going to the all-day finale next week?”
Carrie frowned and looked at Blake, then back at Eve. “I don’t know what that is,” she said.
“Oh, it’s part of the package here. The last day of the honeymooners or the lovers package is that the resort is throwing this all-day event for all the couples. I guess you get to gush and talk about each other, and the band plays your song, and you can dance and drink, and it’s like a second wedding reception for all the couples. Starts early in the morning with mimosas. They even provide daycare!” Eve said with so much excitement.
Carries eyes went wide. “Sounds like fun.”
It sounded like the seventh circle of hell to Blake, but he’d say that later. For now, he was on a mission to keep Carrie happy.
“I hope we see you there,” Eve said.
Carrie nodded and smiled. “I hope so, too.”
“You two enjoy your breakfast. It was so nice to meet you,” Eve said.
“You, too,” Carrie said, waving as the family of four trekked away. Her gaze shifted to his. “It’s okay, you know,” she said to him. “Domestic bliss isn’t contagious.”
How the hell does she see straight through me?
“I know.” He didn’t.
He saw in Carrie’s eyes that’s what she wanted. A family that took vacations together and a husband who wore a front pack full of baby. As if he needed a reminder that he would never be worthy of her, not if he couldn’t provide those things.