by Suzanne Rock
Caine slid his hands down her legs, causing her skin to tingle. He grabbed her ankles and rested them on his shoulders. Jenna started to slide down the rocks, but he caught her before she moved too far. She groaned as his large hands palmed her ass and spread her cheeks apart once more.
“I can’t reach you.” She wiggled her fingers, showing that she was just out of reach of his torso.
“That’s the idea.” He pulled back, sliding his wonderful cock along her inner walls. “It has been a long time, Jenna,” he said as he pushed forward once more. “And I am going to possess you in every way possible.”
Jenna squirmed, trying once more to gain the upper hand. The position held her immobile however, and she was forced to let Caine do what he wanted. He grinned, sensing her frustration, and squeezed her ass.
“Remember this?” he asked as he slid his finger between her ass cheeks. “Remember how much you loved me taking you from behind?” He toyed with the opening in her backside, running his finger around the edge and stimulating the nerves.
“Oh God.” Jenna reached up behind her and grabbed the rock ledge above her head as he started thrusting once more. It wasn’t long before he developed a steady rhythm, using both his finger and his cock to drive her desire.
“We used to have so much fun together, Jenna,” he said as water splashed down around them. “It could be that way again.”
“Yes.” She dug her nails into the rocks and dipped her head under the fall, desperate to regain some clarity. As she came up for air, he inched the tip of his finger into her ass, causing a bolt of need to race up through her core.
She gasped and turned her head to the side as he quickened the pace. With each thrust of his finger and cock, her muscles tightened with need.
“Oh God, Caine.”
He slid his finger in up to the second knuckle. “You remember,” he said.
“Yes.” God, yes. He felt so good, so damn good. Her breasts moved up and down as he thrust into her body, catching droplets of water and pebbling under the spray. He pressed his finger deeper and deeper, sliding it up as far as it could go. It felt good, real good, but Jenna knew that she needed more.
“You asked me why I brought you here, Jenna,” he said as he drove harder, ramming into her body like a piston. Water fell all around them, soaking their hair, bodies and belongings. “It was for this—a lifetime of this.”
He shifted his position, and his cock touched a place deep inside her core. Jenna cried out his name as her orgasm slammed into her body, dragging her over the edge into oblivion. There she hung suspended, as every inch of her filled with bliss. Her mind numbed and her body hummed with pleasure as she felt Caine stiffen, then join her in oblivion.
He cried out her name as he came, not in victory, as some clients from the spa used to do, but as a plea, a promise. Jenna’s muscles softened as he filled her with her passion, and she realized that despite everything, she had never stopped loving him. She probably always will.
As the last tendrils of pleasure faded away, Caine lowered her legs and retreated.
Jenna watched him as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. After he had left her in St. Lucia, she had spent months trying to get her life back in order. It had taken many long months, but she had finally gotten him out of her system. Jenna had taken charge, not only with her life, but with sex. She was firmly in the driver’s seat.
Then, within the span of twenty-four hours, she had given up control.
Jenna had lost herself to Caine and let him lead. It was wonderful, yet scary. The last time that had happened, she had her heart broken. She didn’t want her heart broken a second time.
“This changes nothing,” she said as he took care of the condom.
“Are you kidding me?” He glanced down at her breasts. “It changes everything.”
She crossed her arms to cover her erect nipples. “I’m still mad at you for leaving me.”
“I told you, I didn’t take your money.”
“Then who did?”
He pressed his lips together and tossed her clothes in her general direction.
“You’re avoiding the question,” she said as she caught her bikini top.
“Not avoiding, just thinking.” He avoided her gaze as he put on his shirt.
Yeah, thinking of a line to feed her. She shoved on her clothes and slammed the door to her heart. He had caught her in a weak moment, and while the sex was good (okay, amazing), she wasn’t going to fall back into old patterns.
“Well, you just keep on thinking.”
“What?” He shoved his T-shirt over his chest, hiding the hard, rippling muscles from view.
Jenna bit back a sigh. “Until you decide to tell me the truth about everything—why you took the money, and why you manipulated me into coming here—there will be no more sex.”
“I told you, I didn’t take—what?”
Jenna turned her back to him in dismissal. Let him sit on that one for a while.
“You heard me,” she said over her shoulder. “No early morning dives, no stolen kisses in the exhibit room, and absolutely, positively, no sex.”
“No sex?”
“This is a strictly platonic relationship. Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I have a job to do.”
“You don’t have to work, Jenna.”
“I was brought here to do a job, and by God I’m going to do it.”
Caine stared at her in stunned silence. After a few tense moments, Jenna shook her head, picked up her beach bag, and returned to the castle.
“Fine, take the job.”
She stopped. “You never intended me to work, did you?”
He hesitated before responding. “No.”
“Well, now you have a problem, don’t you?”
When he didn’t respond, she huffed and continued up the path.
“Fine, take the office job.”
“I will.” She heard his footsteps behind her.
“But you report to me,” he complained.
“I report to the Master of the Island.”
“But he’s away. While he’s gone, you’ll report to me.”
“And we’ll associate with each other at work—and only at work.”
He let out a long breath. “Jenna, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Me?” She stopped and turned to face him. “I’m the one being ridiculous?” She pointed at his chest, pushing him back with her finger. “You are the one inviting me here, expecting to pick up where we left off.” He took a step back, and she advanced, poking him again. “You were the one delusional enough to think that I have been sitting around pining after you all of these months, waiting for you to crook your finger so I could come running. I had a life, Caine. A life!”
“Of course you did, but that’s in the past.” She started to poke him again, but he grabbed her hand. “I had nothing in St. Lucia, Jenna. I took this job so that I could save up money to give you the life you deserved.” She tugged at her hand, but he held firm. “This job with Rex—you think I like this? Do you think I want to sit around with his crotchety ass and sift sand for trinkets?” He kissed her fingers. “I’m doing this for us, Jenna. I’m trying to build our future.”
“You are skimming off the top. You’re cheating an innocent man.”
“No, I’m cheating a rich man who won’t miss the few bucks we’ll make off of selling some old trinkets.”
“A few bucks? You think that we’ll be able to build a life together for a few bucks?”
“Rex thinks it’s in the billions.”
“I don’t care. I should have listened to my mother. She said that loving a man would only bring me pain. She was right.” She started to back away, but he tugged her closer.
“Listen to me, Jenna. Back in St. Lucia, I didn’t have two coins to rub together. Rex and I were living hand to mouth. Half the time we were sleeping in some alley, or eating scraps tossed out by restaurants and delis. I had nothing. Now…” He placed her hand over his heart. �
�Now, I’m going to have something, Jenna. I’ll finally be worthy.”
Jenna looked down at their joined hands as tears filled her eyes. “You just don’t get it, do you?” She slipped her hand away and picked up her bag. “You had something in St. Lucia, Caine.” She pointed to her chest. “Me.” She took one shaky step back, then another. “You had me. I didn’t care about the money. I only cared about you. You not only broke my heart when you left me, but by taking my money, you broke my spirit. Now…” She blinked back tears as she took another wobbly step back, then another. “Now you really do have nothing, Caine. Congratulations.”
Jenna turned and raced back up the path toward the castle as the tears she had fought so desperately to hold back began to flow.
Chapter Six
The Next Morning
Caine didn't need to look up from the boat’s deck to know that his cousin had finally arrived.
“You're late,” he grumbled.
“And you're pissy,” Rex retorted.
Caine scrubbed the deck harder with his sponge, refusing to respond.
Rex removed his sunglasses. “I know something that will brighten your mood.”
Caine doubted it. Things with Jenna had gone from bad to worse. She was so angry yesterday by the waterfall. Up until that point, he had convinced himself that once she saw what he was doing for their future, she'd fall into his arms and they'd live happily ever after. It never occurred to him that should wouldn’t be happy to see him.
Rex rapped his walking stick on the deck until Caine stopped scrubbing and glanced up at him.
“Did you hear me?” he said. “I have some good news.”
Caine wiped the sweat from his brow. “What is it?” Not that he cared. He had spent the past two hours scrubbing the deck of his boat, hoping that by cleaning it, he could clean the dark spot on his soul. While the boat was now spotless, Caine's mood had only gotten worse.
“I've found a new buyer.”
“I thought we had a buyer.”
“Yeah, but that one requires us to ship the artifacts overseas. This one’s on the island.”
“Here?” Caine shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up at his cousin.
Rex slipped his sunglasses back on his nose and grinned. “Yeah, some prince or something. He just arrived with his entourage this morning.”
“Is he interested in the artifacts?”
Rex shrugged. “He will be when I'm done with him.” Which meant he hadn’t spoken to this guy yet. When Caine went back to his scrubbing, Rex held his hands out to the sides. “Don't you see? This is a good thing.”
“Yeah, sure.” Rex was delusional. Some prince wasn't going to be interested in old coins and pieces of pottery. Even if he was interested, the sale wouldn’t mean anything if he didn’t have Jenna.
“I mean it. He brought piles of suitcases containing useless stuff.” Rex leaned back on the side of the boat. “That's what all of those rich bastards do—collect useless stuff. The artifacts will be right up his alley.”
Caine doubted it. Still, Rex could be convincing when he wanted to be. If he was able to convince the prince that this was a good business investment, then it was entirely possible that they could have this whole thing wrapped up over the next day or two. Caine wiped his brow as he realized that he now had hours, not days, to convince Jenna to trust him with her future. Considering that they weren't even on speaking terms, he didn't think it was nearly enough time.
“Aw, shit man, you aren't still angry over yesterday, are you?”
Caine wasn't sure how to respond. Yes, he was mad, but Rex was just being Rex, always thinking with his dick, not his head. It wasn't like he was hiding the details of his plan from Jenna, he was just looking for the best time to tell her.
“Simone loved that shit, too. She was real disappointed about not going to the site. Said she had a thing for old, broken things.” Rex chuckled. “I’m tellin’ you, Caine, that woman certainly knows how to have a good time. Why she—”
“Save it.” Caine held up his hand, stopping his cousin's words. “I don't want to hear about your sexual adventures with Simone. Really.”
Rex shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He sat in a chair close to Caine and watched him scrub the deck. “Look, I'm sorry that your girlfriend got her panties in a snit, but that just emphasizes my point. She's all wrong for you, cuz'.” He stretched out his legs, placing his sandy feet in the spot Caine just cleaned. “What you need is a free spirit, someone who can go with the flow.”
“You mean someone who can take your orders.”
“And not question them.” Rex grinned. “The less complicated things get, the better.”
Loosely translated in Rex speak, less complicated meant less rules. Rex was always one to skirt the rules. Normally Caine was okay with it. They weren't hurting real people, just rich billionaires who had money to burn. This time, however, Caine felt uncomfortable with the whole situation.
In St. Lucia, Rex proved that he had no problem stealing from working families as well as the rich. Seeing how his cousin's selfishness affected Jenna and her mother had moved Caine. He meant what he had said. He wanted to make it up to her.
In fact, he was starting to feel guilty about their plan to double-cross the Master of the Island as well. Rumor had it that Mr. Vardalos had been swindled in the past and didn't take kindly to being made a fool. They were already toeing the line with the local authorities by not filing the paperwork for the excavation. That meant that Mr. Vardalos had no problem going outside the law when it suited him. If Caine and Rex were caught double-crossing him, Caine suspected that Mr. Vardalos wouldn’t hesitate to use whatever means necessary to exact his revenge.
“Ever think about what might happen if we get caught?” Caine asked.
“Don't worry, we never get caught.”
“We got caught in St. Lucia.” And ruined the lives of Jenna and her mother.
Rex shrugged. “We're still here, aren't we?” Rex slid his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose. “You aren't getting cold feet, are you?”
“No, of course not.” Caine turned back to his sponge and resumed scrubbing the deck.
“Good, because you owe me, buddy.” Rex pushed his shades back up and lifted his face to the sun.
“I thought you were fine,” Caine muttered. “You told me you were fine that night.”
Rex snorted. “I say a lot of things when I'm drunk. You know that.”
Guilt once again rose up and gripped Caine's chest. “When I left you in that bar, you were surrounded by people.”
“Strangers,” Rex said. “They were all strangers.” He pulled off his glasses and gave Caine a long, hard look. “We were a team, or at least I thought we were.”
“We were—we are.”
Rex nodded. “You left me in that bar in St. Lucia while I was too drunk to stand, let alone walk.”
Caine remembered that night as if it happened yesterday. It was his two-month anniversary with Jenna and Rex insisted on going drinking. Caine had only a few sips of beer before pleading a headache. He had rushed from the bar and barely made it on time for his romantic evening with Jenna. The night was amazing, and he refused to regret it. Both of them had known that his contract was coming to an end. He had been considering staying on, taking odd jobs just so he could remain close to her.
“You should have taken care of me,” Rex grumbled.
“I left you cab fare.”
“Yeah, and the whole bar saw you give it to me.” He shook his head. “Those bastards jumped me as soon as they got a chance.”
Caine ran a hand over his face. “I said I was sorry.”
“I was ready to go home. I can't remember the time...one...two in the morning? I was on the sidewalk when those two bikers from the bar jumped me and took my money.”
“I still find it hard to believe that one of them took a lead pipe to your knee. Why would someone bring a lead pipe to a bar?”
Rex's features hardened. “The
y didn't bring it to the bar, you idiot, they had it in their car.”
“Who would drive around with a lead pipe?”
“Thugs,” Rex said, running his hand over the teak cane. “But now I have a weapon.” He glanced up at Caine. “And a partner. Next time, we'll be ready.”
“There won't be a next time.”
“Damn straight, because we're a team. We do everything together, cuz'.” Rex leaned forward until his face was inches from Caine. “So forget all of this talk about girlfriends and love.” He placed the tip of his cane on Caine's chest. “There’s only blood, only us. It was the way things were meant to be.”
Caine's guilt washed over him in waves. “You're right, of course.”
“Damn straight.” Rex leaned back, grinned and shoved on his sunglasses. “Forget her, cuz’. That woman has been fucking everyone in Chicago for the past year and a half at that spa job. She’s damaged goods.”
“You’re lying.” Caine’s guilt washed away with Rex’s words.
“Aw, come on, cuz’, even I know to do my homework.” He moved to the edge of his seat and leaned his elbows on his knees. “That place she works at…the Ecstasy Spa? Rumor has it that they have a VIP section where they provide special services to clients.”
“Like pedicures and—”
“No ‘special services.’” Rex made quotation marks with his hands. “They are skilled in every possible way to relax the body, if you know what I mean.”
Caine didn’t like where this was going. “Perhaps she wasn’t part of the VIP area.”
“Damn it, man, did you even read her resume? She was the God Damn conductor of that sexual orchestra.” Rex shook his head. “And here you are, thinking that your poor, innocent Jenna had been pining after you all of these months, just like you were pining after her.”
Caine fisted his hands. He remembered when he had tracked her down to that spa. He had been so excited to bring her to the island that he had never thought to look into her past, or to check deeper into the spa’s background. “That’s impossible.”
“Is it? Ask her, then. Have her tell you what she has been doing.”