by Anne, Melody
Somewhere along the way he’d lost his underwear, and for a brief second, she was disappointed to not have seen him in all his glory, but then he pulled back and re-entered, and all her disappointment was washed away.
She gazed at the glittering stars high above her, the sound of the ocean way below washing across her. No one could see them, but she still loved being out on the open balcony, loved having only the slight rays of the quarter moon cascade across her.
“Oh, my sweet Rachel,” he called out, groaning as he continued his slow and magical movements.
Rachel lifted her legs, wrapping them around his torso as she leaned back a little more, her breasts being pushed up as he quickened his pace.
“Yes, hard like that,” Rachel cried as his hips thrust against her, his manhood filling her to the utmost, heating her body toward another earth-shattering orgasm.
“You are so damned beautiful,” he growled as he sped up, one hand gripping her hip while the other lifted to caress her breast, his fingers pinching her nipple gently and rolling it between his fingers.
Rachel went over the edge and cried out at the same time she felt him shaking, then heard his growl of pleasure as he let go.
Several moments passed before either of them felt the last tremors of their orgasms, both of them groaning as wave after wave washed over them.
When she felt him withdraw from her, she whimpered, but couldn’t find the strength even to reach out and grab him. She didn’t need to worry — he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bed, where he pulled her close, laying her head against his chest while he began stroking her back.
She expected him to fall instantly asleep, sated — having gotten what he wanted. But his hand curved around her backside, and his movements became more aggressive. To her shock, she felt him harden.
Rachel came fully alive again as she lifted her head and looked into his burning eyes.
“You didn’t think we were finished, did you?” he asked.
Ohh, this was a good, good night.
Chapter Fifteen
Ari
You are welcome to stay and look through the journal. There is cereal in the cupboard, fruit cut up in the fridge, and coffee brewing. I have to be out the rest of the day on business, but here’s my number in case you need it. I will drop everything for your call. By the way, it took every ounce of control I possess not to slowly strip you of your clothing and sink my constantly hard body deep inside your moist folds. I could practically taste you on my tongue as I pictured your beautiful hot pink flesh. I want you — need you — am incomplete without you. Just a simple yes from you and I will make you scream in ecstasy beyond anything you’ve felt before. Thinking of you right this minute. Hard for you. Ready to take you. Any time. Anywhere.
Rafe
Ari did not see that letter from Rafe. She didn’t know what he’d written in a growing frenzy driven by his immediate thoughts of her. His second thoughts had intervened. Here he’d just been telling himself that Ari was a romantic, that he should treat her as a woman should be treated, not as just an ornament for his bed. How had he screwed up so royally? That letter would probably have gone over like a lead balloon. It was crass and coarse and it treated Ari as little more than a much-desired body. So he’d put it through the shredder and started again. His second draft began with breakfast and business matters. And it continued —
I will drop everything for your call. You must know that it took every ounce of control I had to obey your request that I not touch you. You know that I ache for you in every fiber of my being. I want you — need you — am incomplete without you. Being in the same room with you last night was gloriously painful, and I hope that we can repeat it. Any time. Anywhere.
Love, Rafe
Ari looked at the handwritten note and single orchid lying on Rafe’s unused pillow and her gut clenched with need. No. No. No. What was he doing to her? She’d been down this road and it had been a complete disaster.
She couldn’t cave in to her desire. If she did, she’d be right where she was before and she’d never be free. But a voice in her head argued that this was different. He was different.
“They always say they’re different!” she shouted at herself, then looked around the empty room feeling like a fool. Now she was speaking to voices in her head. This wasn’t healthy, not healthy at all.
Ari rose from his bed, having known exactly where she was from the moment she’d awoken. Once you slept with a man like Rafe, his scent washed through you, never left your consciousness. Without opening her eyes, she’d known she was in his bed. She just hadn’t known whether he was in there with her.
Ari didn’t want to admit it, but she was slightly disappointed that his side had been vacant and unrumpled. She was so indecisive, and that angered her. She’d been strong two years ago — strong enough to walk away from him. But he’d been demanding and arrogant. It had been hard to leave, though clearly not impossible.
This new Rafe, intent on seducing her in a civilized way, was zapping her of willpower. She wanted to say yes and fall into his arms. It shamed her even to think this way, but she wanted him to take the choice away from her so she wouldn’t have a reason to feel guilty about what she’d chosen.
That made her weak — that alone should have made her feel guilty.
Ari found a change of clothes in the bathroom, in her size and something she was sure to love. He wasn’t holding anything back in this quest he was on. Her favorite shampoo and body wash were there, along with her well-loved lotion.
She should leave, gather her purse and briefcase and just go home, she told herself. But an evil grin spread across her face.
She’d been so busy playing defense, the thought of playing offense hadn’t even occurred to her. Rafe said he was intent on seducing her — OK, she’d just have to see how intent he really was. If she pushed him, would he become the same ruthless man she’d first met? Would he show her he hadn’t changed, and make her decision so much easier?
It was time to find out.
Stripping off her clothes, Ari let them fall to the ground, her panties billowing out as they floated on top of her skirt and blouse. Leaving them there, she turned the shower on, making it steaming hot, almost to the point of scalding her, then climbed in and used a generous amount of the shampoo and body wash that Rafe had provided.
By the time she’d climbed from the shower, her skin was red and his bathroom was filled with her scent. She applied lotion generously to herself, and even placed a touch of it behind the faucets to make his bathroom really smell like her, then she put on the clothes he’d left out.
With only a glance at her discarded clothes, she walked from the room and entered his living room. She wished she could sit down and pore over the pages of the journal once more, but she didn’t want to take a chance that he might show up early. With a longing look at the old leather cover, she walked out his front door.
Let the games begin.
* * * * *
Should he call or shouldn’t he? He could email. No. He’d said the ball was in her court. He’d left her a nice message, clothes, her favorite bathroom products, even food. It was only fair that she call and thank him.
Right?
Yes. Anyone would say thank you. He’d been considerate and kind — not demanding anything of her. Holy hell, he should receive a giant gold medallion for not touching her the night before. He’d certainly earned it. She wasn’t easy to resist, but he’d walked from the room.
He wanted a damn award!
Rafe continued gazing at his phone as if his will would make the electronic device ring. This was ridiculous. He paced his office, irritated that he was allowing this woman to affect him so much — to completely throw him from his normal cool, composed self.
“Mr. Palazzo, you have a call on line three.”
Rafe’s heart sped up as he gazed at the phone. He’d given her his cell number, not his business line. Not that his cell had changed in the last tw
o years, but he didn’t trust that she still had it on her. He was sure that was the first thing she’d deleted from her phone when she’d walked away from him.
Maybe she had called him on the office phone.
“For criminy’s sake!” Rafe grumbled as he walked to his desk and picked up the phone. “Rafe Palazzo,” he snapped.
It wasn’t Ari. It was his business manager and Rafe leaned back as he prepared himself for an hour-long call. Work. This was good. This was the distraction he needed.
His cell phone shook against his desk and he glanced at it briefly without thinking much about it. Suddenly, he did a double take, because there was a message and it was from Ari. Heart thundering, not hearing a word his manager was saying to him, Rafe picked up his cell and opened the message.
Love the panties. Teal has always flattered my skin complexion. Wearing them now. Thanks.
Rafe hit mute on his end of the line as his manager droned on. What did this mean? Was she saying thank you? What did it mean?
“Steve, I have to go!” Rafe said as he unmuted the phone, quickly hung up on his manager halfway through a sentence, then called his secretary into the room. Since she’d been with him for more than ten years, she was used to his unorthodox questions. She was like a second mother, or at least an aunt. He could trust her.
“Yes, Mr. Palazzo?”
For the first time he could ever remember in his life, Rafe felt his cheeks heat. He was actually embarrassed. When he stared at her at a total loss for words, Nina looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“Is everything OK, Mr. Palazzo?”
Great. Now she looked ready to call an ambulance. Did he look so far gone that she didn’t know whether he was having a heart attack or some other affliction? She was turning to make the call, or so he feared, when he finally gained his voice.
“No. No! I’m fine,” he called, and she turned and raised an eyebrow.
“OK…” she said, drawing out the word as if she didn’t believe him.
“I just need some advice from you,” he muttered, then shook his head. Rafe didn’t mutter. He wasn’t indecisive in the way he spoke. He was a man who made a decision and then went through with it no matter what. Not knowing how Ari felt about him was changing who he was, and he didn’t like that at all.
“What advice?” He could understand her confusion.
“I got this text message from Ari, and I don’t know how to interpret it.” He spoke firmly, hoping to convey confidence, but from the knowing look in Nina’s eyes, he had a feeling she wasn’t being fooled.
“I would be happy to give it a look,” she said as she strolled over to his desk; he handed over the phone.
She was looking at the message for so long that Rafe began to feel a need to yank his phone back, but he’d asked for her advice, so he would see it through. Finally, she looked up; the corners of her eyes were crinkled with laughter.
“She is flirting with you,” Nina told him.
“Flirting?” He said the word as if it were a foreign concept.
“Yes. Flirting. You need to flirt back.”
Nina had been there when his wife cheated on him and walked out the door. And she’d also been there as he’d conducted his relationships like business transactions. She understood him more than most. He knew she’d been disappointed in him, but he hadn’t cared. It was his life, and he was the one who was living it. If she didn’t like it, she knew where the door was.
However, she had liked Ari. Everyone liked Ari, including his parents and sisters. Ari just had a way about her.
“Well, what do I say?”
“Are you kidding me, Rafe? You don’t know how to flirt?” she said with exasperation. In her surprise, she called him by his first name, something she never did. Nina was always professional — to a tee.
“Of course I know how to flirt! Hell, I can have just about any woman I want. One look and they’re mine,” he said almost with a smirk. Ari seemed to be the exception, and though they both knew this, neither of them said it.
“If you can have any woman you want, how do you get them?”
Rafe was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know the answer to that question. It had never taken him any effort to get a woman. Women were just naturally drawn to him.
“I’m just a likable guy,” he said with a cocky grin.
“Please!” she snapped, then pursed her lips.
“I am,” he insisted as he leaned back in his chair and glared at her.
“Fine. Then it looks like you don’t need my assistance,” she said, then turned and began walking from the office.
“Nina, I’m sorry,” he called, not exactly admitting that he needed her help again, but hoping she wouldn’t leave him in the lurch.
She turned, but she didn’t look to be in the most helpful of moods. She crossed her arms against her chest and waited with one eyebrow slightly raised.
“How should I reply?” he asked.
Her irritated expression evaporated. “Rafe Palazzo, I will not help you snowball this woman. I actually like Ari. If you can figure it out and win her back, you will be a better man for it.”
With those words, she walked from the room. Rafe listened to the quiet click of the door shutting, then stared down at his phone.
Flirting. OK. He could do this. She wanted romance; she wanted words. Well, he was a master at that.
All I could picture was stripping that bit of lace off of you when I bought them. And, yes, I personally picked them out, ran my fingers across the fabric, and closed my eyes, imagining how you would look wearing them…and nothing else. Come see me tonight and I’ll undress you slowly as I run my fingers over every delectable inch of your skin.
There. That was good. Surely she didn’t want any mushy stuff. Of course not. So he leaned back as he waited, all thoughts of work forgotten. His phone rang, and he quickly clicked the button, rerouting the call, and then shut it down. His sole focus right now was this new game that Ari wanted to play.
I thought you agreed to no touching.
Rafe grinned.
That was only for one night, Ari. I plan on touching every inch of your body — again and again and again…
Rafe’s body hardened as he closed his eyes, recalling the smooth curve of her breasts, the sweet angle of her backside, her defined legs. She was a vision, and he had to have her soon. Several heartbeats passed before his phone beeped again.
Thanks for the gifts, but I have a date tonight. Maybe some other time…
Immense jealousy wrenched Rafe’s gut. His first instinct was to demand she break the date right now. She belonged to him, and no other man was allowed to touch her. He would pound anyone who tried to a bloody pulp.
He began typing exactly that, but he came to his senses before he hit send. If he said those words, he would surely lose her all over again.
No. If Ari wanted to play games, he’d just have to prove that he was always the winner. Instead of sending a response, he picked up his other phone and made a call.
His plans for the evening had just changed.
Chapter Sixteen
Lia
The rain wasn’t just coming down; it felt as if the heavens had opened up and God was unleashing his fury on the small island. Lia could see only a couple of feet in front of her as she staggered through the bushes and trees, fear starting to escalate.
What if she was completely lost? What if she broke through the bushes just as a tidal wave was surging from the ocean and it carried her back out to sea, where she’d never be found again?
Her temper was going to end up causing her untimely death. There was a point when stubbornness was just plain stupid, and she’d crossed that line, and then redrawn all new boundaries.
Staggering along, hoping she was headed in the right direction, Lia prayed to make it through this somehow. As another horrendously loud clap of thunder sounded right above her head, she felt as if she’d gotten a big fat no in answer to her prayers.
* * * * *
Shane had sulked long enough. Emerging from the surprisingly deep cave, he came up out of the water and immediately searched for Lia. Looking up at the sky, he grew worried. It was going to pour at any moment. He’d stayed inside the small cavern for far too long, a couple of hours, perhaps. Maybe more.
“Lia!”
He couldn’t see her anywhere. There was no way she’d be so irresponsible as to wander off alone — not with a storm brewing. But what if she’d gone off far earlier, after their tiff, perhaps to get food? After all, that had been a major point of this expedition, and he’d blown off thinking about what had to be done because he was pissed off. All in all, this was a disaster ultimately of his own making.
Shane quickly climbed from the water and grabbed the bag, rushing it over to the cave behind the waterfall so it would be safe.
Then he hurried back and dressed, his temper flaring when he realized that she had indeed wandered off. Part of it was her fault, her stubbornness, but he couldn’t absolve himself of all blame. She could be anywhere and the sky was about to unleash its wrath. He hoped Lia hadn’t gone back to the beach. He had no idea what the swells would be doing right now.
As the wind picked up, he made his way through the brush, shouting her name every minute or so. Suddenly, the rain came down, and it wasn’t showing the least bit of mercy as thunder boomed and lightning slashed across the sky. He had to find her and get back to the safety of the cave.
Passing a fruit tree, he almost didn’t stop, but knew they could be stuck for a while. He took less than thirty seconds and filled his pockets, then continued his search.
As the torrential rain poured down, Shane pushed ahead, feeling the sting on his face as the brush and low tree branches whipped past him in his fervent pursuit. Not giving the sting a second thought, he continued on. Unsure how he was going to find her, but knowing there was no way he’d give up, he continued calling for her as the light faded.