by Noelle Adams
“I need to get away. Fast. And I can’t let anyone on my end know that I’m going.”
“How fast can you pack?”
Six
“Just so you know, if she has you thrown off the island and arrested for trespassing, I’m going to claim I had nothing to do with it.”
“I heard you the first five times,” Deck replied. “You know I’d never throw you under the bus.” He owed Sam O’Connell, the head of security for Holley Cay resort—who just happened to be an old Army buddy and former colleague at Ross Securities—big time for this.
To be fair, it wasn’t as if Deck couldn’t figure out how to get himself to Jane’s mysterious island retreat. It hadn’t taken a rocket scientist to figure out where she’d disappeared to. Unlike most of her entourage Deck was very familiar with the Sea Shack since he’d accompanied Jane to the property several times and personally installed the security system.
The challenge was getting to the private island itself without tipping off any interested locals who might in turn tip off the press. The only way out to the island was by boat, and if Deck chartered a ride out to one of the area’s private island residences without prior approval from the owner there would be all kinds of logistical snags.
That was where Sam came in. By giving Deck a lift on one of the boats in Holley Cay’s private fleet, he enabled Deck to cut out the middleman and keep his arrival on the downlow.
As Sam idled the engine and pulled up to the beach on the leeward side of the island, about a hundred yards from the main compound, Deck felt another twist of doubt. What did he think he was doing, barging in on Jane like this when she clearly wanted to be alone? If she did tell him to hit the bricks—and let’s face it, that was the most likely outcome, regardless of what she’d written—this could cost him not just his pride, but the professional reputation he’d worked so hard to build.
One phone call to Malcolm about how one of his employees had turned creepy stalker would mean not only the end of his job, but it would put a serious black mark on the company as a whole. That bullshit about unprofessional behavior he’d cited earlier when he gave Jane his reasons for quitting was nothing compared to this.
“So are you going or what?” Sam said impatiently. “I have a two o’clock meeting with Julie and Chris, and I sure as hell can’t tell them I’m running late because I’m giving you a ride to see Jane when she made it crystal clear she didn’t want anyone coming or going from this place without her approval.”
Deck hefted his duffel bag onto his shoulder, all of the reasons why this had disaster written all over it making him hesitate to step out onto the sand. Sensing he was getting cold feet, Sam huffed out an impatient sigh. “Look man, from what you’ve told me, there’s definitely something there. She might not be ready to admit it at first, but you’ll never know unless you try.”
Deck nodded. For all that his logical brain tried to tell him this was a huge mistake, there was something in his gut that drowned it out, drowned out all the second guessing he’d been doing since he boarded his first flight nearly twelve hours ago. Ever since he’d read what Jane wrote—about him—he’d felt the overwhelming need to go to her. To find out if she really meant the things she wrote.
To see if he was right in seeing the real emotion in her words, the subtext that went beyond sex and spoke of a real connection.
Unfortunately his job dictated that he had three more days of training on the set before he could go. Only his years in the army and the sense of duty it had drilled into him had kept him from walking off the set that first morning.
By the time he could go to her, she was already gone. Her “people,” namely Hal, refused to comment on her whereabouts, saying only that Jane was suspending any future engagements for the foreseeable future and had gone to “an undisclosed location” to relax out of the public eye for a few days.
Deck knew immediately where she’d fled to. While the press speculated that she was at this spa or that retreat, and had even staked themselves outside her mother’s house back in Colorado, Deck knew there was one and only one place Jane went when she really wanted to escape the all-seeing eye of the paparazzi.
It couldn’t have worked out better, he’d told himself at the time. And he reminded himself of that now as he forced his foot to take that first step out on the sand. “You’re right,” he said to Sam. “This is the only chance I’ve got, and I’m damn well going to take it.”
And if Jane responded to his surprise visit by kicking his ass out and getting him fired… he’d jump off that bridge when he came to it.
This was his only shot. He knew it like he knew his own name. If he waited until she was back in LA, surrounded by her people whispering in her ear about what was best for her and her image, with all of the press weighing in with their obnoxious opinions, he would never stand a chance.
But with just the two of them alone, with no outside distractions, he had a chance to find out if there was something more between them than five years of pure professionalism punctuated with some of the hottest sex he’d ever experienced. A chance to see if she saw him as more than an object of fantasy, if, as her writing implied, she appreciated him for the real flesh and blood man he was.
“Thanks man,” he said to Sam as he climbed off the boat.
“Good luck,” his friend said with a grin. “I sure as hell hope she doesn’t kick you off—it’s a long swim back to St. Thomas.”
Deck gave a low chuckle and started up the beach. The sugary white sand shifted under the leather soles of his dress shoes. He bent to take them off along with his socks, telling himself he wasn’t stalling.
The truth was, though, that despite his sense of purpose, the gut deep knowledge that if he didn’t throw himself out there when he had the chance he would always regret it, his stomach was in a knot of uncertainty.
It wasn’t a feeling he liked or was familiar with. From the time he was a kid, Deck had seen what he wanted and gone after it, never doubting his ability to get it.
Until Jane. Her effortless sophistication made him feel like a big oaf on the verge of tripping over his size twelves every time he got too close. Her devotion to her husband—at least what he could see—made him feel like a lewd jerk for his inability to stop the explicit fantasies involving her from running on and endless loop through his head.
And then there was the mule kick to the chest she’d delivered when she’d acted like having the public find out about them would be tantamount to the end of her world.
As he walked around the compound to one of the side doors that entered the courtyard, the same nagging thought tugged at him. What if she still felt that way? Right after it happened, Deck had consoled himself with the thought that no one in Jane’s position would want to give the press more fuel to their fire right after Ryan’s announcement.
Yet he couldn’t get Hal’s remark about fucking the help out of his head. And when he lay awake at night after concocting this plan to follow her down to the Shack, he couldn’t shake the fear that no matter what happened, no matter how she really felt about him, there would always be an element of embarrassment on her part about being with him.
And that’s before she even knows any of your dirty laundry, a little voice needled in his brain.
He shook it off. Don’t get so far ahead of yourself, he scolded himself as he keyed in the security code on the panel next to the door You’re not even likely to make it past go, much less have to worry about how she’ll want to break it to the public.
Given the way he’d been slinking around feeling like a kicked dog these last few months, he wasn’t sure how much he cared about whether they went public or not, just so long as he could be with her.
Deck let himself into the courtyard and walked deliberately up to the front door. He knocked softly. No answer, but that wasn’t a big surprise. When Jane was here she spent most of her days lounging by the pool or on the white sand beach or swimming in the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean.
>
He hesitated before letting himself in. It was one thing to show up here unannounced and uninvited. Letting himself into her house was pushing it even farther.
Then again, he was risking his ass even showing up here. It wasn’t like letting himself in the main house was going to be the thing that pushed her under the edge. He pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into the foyer. It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the relative dimness after being in the bright sunlight, but he didn’t need to see to find his way around.
The massive stucco house was silent and smelled of salt air and lemon furniture polish. Though there were four thousand square feet of house for Jane to ramble around in, Deck knew she wasn’t inside.
The teak wood floor felt cool under his bare feet as he set his duffel near the door. The fan mounted on the great room’s high ceiling wafted warm, salt-scented air down over him as he walked across the great room to the sliding doors that opened out onto the patio. A twenty meter infinity pool stretched out into the horizon, surrounded by granite pavers that formed a patio that was easily twice the size of Deck’s living room back in his condo.
In one corner was a covered outdoor kitchen, fully equipped with refrigerator, built in grill, and a cooktop range. Next to that was an indoor-outdoor shower that, if Deck wasn’t mistaken, led into the master suite Jane usually occupied.
The sight immediately conjured up a passage from one of Jane’s writings. “The hot water streams over my naked skin while his big, soapy hands run over me. He squeezes my breasts, pinches my nipples, dips his fingers between my thighs. I spread my feet, let him feel how wet and slick I am for him. Let him feel how much I want him.”
His cock immediately sprang to attention at the thought of living out that fantasy along with all the others. He reached down and adjusted himself, trying to ease the urgent pressure in his groin. He went to the fridge and got himself a cold beer though it did little to cool the heat pounding through him. Anxious, restless, he finally settled into one of the padded teak loungers situated under an umbrella to wait for Jane.
He didn’t have to wait long. Every cell on his body went on high alert as she padded up the stairs that led from the beach to the pool deck. Her hair was slicked back from her face, the usual gold turned a few shades darker from the water. A blue towel the size of a bed sheet obscured his few as she patted herself dry as she walked, offering him teasing glimpses of smooth, golden skin that threatened to drive him to the brink of insanity.
She started across the pool deck and reached up with the towel to dab at her eyes and blot her hair. Then she tossed the towel onto one of the loungers revealing a sight that made Deck feel like the top of his head was going to blow off.
Under that towel, Jane was completely naked.
Oblivious to his presence, Jane sauntered across the deck. He knew he should say something to alert her to his presence, but his mouth was bone dry, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as though coated in super glue.
How was it possible she’d gotten even more beautiful than the last time he’d seen her? Even with her recent weight loss—which the press crowed about like it was a good thing, while Deck personally thought she could stand to eat a couple of bacon cheeseburgers—she was so perfect it was hard to believe she was even a member of the same species.
Her smooth skin had a golden hue, practically glowing under the intense Caribbean sun. His eyes feasted on every inch of her. The firm, high breasts he knew would fit perfectly into his palm, their tight pink nipples he couldn’t wait to suck between his lips. Her firm, flat—a little too flat, if you asked him—belly he couldn’t wait to taste with his tongue.
He watched the muscles shift in her sleek thighs, a jolt of lust hitting him straight in the balls as he remembered their strong grip circling his waist, pulling him hard against her like she couldn’t get him deep enough.
And in between… the plump cleft of her pussy topped by a tidy triangle of dark brown hair made his mouth water to taste her again, to feel her buck and thrust against his face as she came in his mouth.
She still hadn’t spotted him as she made her way to the kitchen area, and as she got closer Deck could see a distracted, almost lost look in her shuttered green eyes.
For a moment, a burst of sympathy pierced through his haze of lust. For the last few days, he’d been so focused on getting to her, having her, along with worrying that her reaction wouldn’t be anything like he hoped for, that he’d almost forgotten she was going through a hell of a time.
As he looked closer, he could see the tired lines around her eyes, the downcast curve to her mouth.
Anyone who didn’t know her would see Jane superstar frolicking on the beach, living the fabulous life of a celebrity. But Deck could see that the stress of the past few days had followed her all the way here to her special retreat.
He watched, lust roaring back to the forefront, as Jane bent to retrieve a drink from the refrigerator, offering deck a mouth-watering view of her ass. Remembering the passage that had first clued him in about the real object of Jane’s lust, Deck’s fingers curled in anticipation of closing around the slim curve of her hips.
He knew exactly how to go about making Jane forget why she’d fled here in the first place, providing she didn’t show him the door as soon as he opened his mouth.
Only one way to find out.
“Did you have a good swim?”
***
Jane shrieked at the sound of the masculine voice behind her as the plastic bottle of seltzer slipped through her fingers and bounced across the pavers. Heart pounding, she whirled around, instinctively wrapping one arm over her chest as she crossed her legs and put her hand down to try cover her naked sex.
Her mouth dropped open as she recognized the large male figure stretched out on teak lounger across from the kitchen like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Deck?”
Dumbfounded, she momentarily forgot about her nudity as he rose from the lounger and walked toward her. Contrary to his previous casual pose, Deck was far from relaxed. Jane’s stomach did a little flip flop as she noted the tension in his shoulders, the predatory glint in his eyes as he prowled toward her.
She took an instinctive step back, which brought her bare ass in contact with the cool stone of the countertop. She felt herself flush from her hairline to her toes at the stark reminder that she was bare ass naked. “Can you give me a towel or something? “
“Now why would I want to do that when I’m enjoying the view so much?”
Her pulse fluttered in her throat as a wave of uncertainty rolled through her. She’d never for a second felt unsafe in Deck’s presence. But while she’d seen Deck cool and professional and deep in the throes of desire, she’d only seen this side of him—all pent up aggression, tension rippling off of him in waves—when he perceived a threat to her.
She’d never felt it aimed in her direction. Even as it made her uneasy, it sent a rush of heat through her, bringing with it an unbidden reminder of the version of Deck that had starred in so many of her fantasies. The aggressive lover who took what he wanted, never doubting that he could give her exactly what she needed.
She swallowed hard and decided that if he wasn’t going to be gentleman enough to give her something to cover herself, she would fight fire with fire. She pointedly dropped her arms to her sides and met his gaze dead on, hoping the tan she’d acquired over the last few days would help hide her blush. “What are you doing here, Deck?” she asked, feeling a spurt of pride when her voice came out cool and steady.
He took a step closer, his gaze hungrily raking over every inch of her. She felt her skin sizzle and pop under the heat of his look. “They were about me, weren’t they? Those things you wrote.”
Again Jane’s throat clenched tight, another familiar rush of humiliation threatening to crack her cool facade. For a moment she considered playing dumb or flat out lying, but knew Deck, with his penetrating amber gaze would see right through her. “How did you figu
re it out?”
He took a step closer and held out his hands. “Warrior’s hands.”
Jane closed her eyes for a moment as her breath caught in chest. “You remember that?”
Suddenly his expression changed, softening as a smile pulled at his lips. “I remember everything, Jane.”
Before she absorb what that meant he closed the distance between them, cupping her face in those big, rough hands as he closed his mouth over hers.
A wave of heat rushed through her at the first taste of him, at the feel of his big hard chest pressed against her naked chest. And something else too, the sensation that after all of the turmoil of the last few months, everything was suddenly right in her world.
The unrelenting stress, the gnawing ache of embarrassment, the pressure to keep herself together so no one could see how she was blowing apart inside, disappeared in a rush. All she could think, all she could feel was Deck, his mouth devouring hers in a hungry kiss, his hands roaming over the bare skin of her back and sides like he wanted to touch all of her at once.
In this moment nothing else mattered.
The fabric of his cotton dress shirt rasped against her nipples, reminding her that he was still clothed while she was totally exposed. She unbuttoned his shirt with shaking fingers and shoved it off his shoulders then went to work on his pants.
Seconds later, he was helping her shove his pants down his legs and then he was as naked as she. Wetness flooded between her legs as she closed her hand around his cock. He was smooth silk stretched over granite, pulsing insistently in her hand.
She tore her mouth away from his, was about to suggest they take this inside to the bedroom when he suddenly yanked her around until she was facing away from him.
Her lips curled in anticipation as he deliberately took her hands and placed them on the counter before he wrapped his hands firmly around her hips.
His breath teased the back of her neck an instant before his open mouth pressed hotly against the juncture of her neck and her shoulder. A shudder ran through her as his mouth ran up the curve of her neck to stop right next to her ear.