by Linda Wisdom
“You pretended to do that invisible thing again, didn’t you? That’s why not one guy drooled as you walked by.” Brady tried to rescue his cup, but she refused to give it up.
“I like drinking out of a cup that tastes of you,” she murmured, smiling over the rim.
Damn, if that didn’t wake him up better than a gallon of high-octane caffeine injected directly into his veins!
“Not safe to tease a hungry man, darlin’.”
She ignored his warning as she added more coffee to her cup. “I couldn’t resist it.”
“I’ll remember that.” He focused on her pink glossed lips resting against the cup’s rim. Lips he wouldn’t mind seeing wrapped around his… He shook off the thought as the waitress appeared with their breakfast. “How about we take a drive around the island after breakfast? We could take a look at that famous waterfall they talk about? I can sign out a Jeep from the front desk and have the restaurant make up a lunch basket for us.”
“I can be ready any time.”
That he didn’t doubt.
*****
An hour later they were in a small open-air Jeep that hugged the narrow road leading up the mountain. A lunch basket was in the back seat. Brady’s hand was sure on the wheel as he raced up the road. He was happy to see that the speed didn’t frighten Raven; instead she seemed to revel in it.
“The Concierge said it’s about a half mile hike inland once we park,” he told her, later pulling into a small paved parking area. A small wooden sign by a nearby path indicated the direction for Woman of Secrets Falls. “Legend has it if you tell the woman living in the falls your deepest dark secrets she will keep it safe for you.”
“Sometimes it would be nice to have someone you can trust.” She looked off into the distance.
“Yeah,” he quietly agreed, pulling the basket out of the back of the Jeep with one hand and taking her hand in the other.
The climb was an easy one and they soon found their way to an outcropping of stone that overlooked a deep blue pool of fresh water and the falls that spilled into it.
“This is incredible,” Raven stood at the railing, looking down into the water with its rainbow of colors.” She bent further over the railing.
“Hey, I don’t think you want to take an unexpected swim.” He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head. “You take that steep a dive and you could end up in some serious hurt. I’m not sure I’d want to carry you all the way up that hill either.”
She laughed. “I don’t weigh all that much! Besides, I’d be fine. The water’s deep enough for a dive even from up here.” She looked over her shoulder with a glint of mischief in her eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to check out the swimming conditions down there?”
“Even if there are No Swimming signs posted?”
Raven made a show of looking all around. They were the only ones there. “Come on, Brady, be bad with me.” She lowered her hand to caress the front of his shorts. She found the zipper tab and slowly lowered it, delving inside. She circled his rapidly expanding cock with her fingers.
“You like breaking the rules and pushing limits, Brady,” she murmured. “I see it in your eyes. In the way you carry yourself. This isn’t all that big of a rule.”
He moved his hips against the stroke of her fingers. “What makes me think you didn’t wear a bathing suit under your clothing?”
“Good guess.” She gave his dick a soft pat and zipped him back up. “There wouldn’t be such a well-worn path if it hasn’t been used a lot.” She moved out of the security of his arms and headed for the end of the curved railing. “Come on, Brady. Let’s be bad together.”
Before he could react, she had her clothes off, stood at the edge and with arms outstretched, executed a perfect swan dive.
“Rae!” He ran to the edge and looked over to see barely a splash of water when she landed. He was ready to follow her over when a blonde head appeared on the surface.
“It’s wonderful, Brady! Come on!”
“I like my bones in one piece,” he called back. “I’ll take the path.” He snatched up her clothes and the basket all the while muttering she could turn him old before his time.
“Are you coming in?” Raven rolled over and floated on her back in the middle of the pool.
“If a family with kids shows up you’re going to give them an education.” He toed off his shoes and pulled his t-shirt over his head. “After seeing you, no red-blooded boy will find anyone comparable.”
“Setting high standards is always good.” She floated lazily around the perimeter of the pool. “Come in and play Sink the Torpedo.”
Brady closed his eyes. “Damn, you’re killin’ me.” But he shucked the last of his clothing and made a shallow dive shooting straight for Raven who laughed and swam toward the waterfall going behind the sheet of water.
The two laughed and chased each other in the water until Brady dove under and swam up, grabbing Raven. She shrieked with laughter and tried to kick out of his hold with no success. But then she wasn’t trying very hard. Paddling gently with her hands, she slipped her legs around his waist. Her mouth was cool and wet but quickly warmed by his kiss.
“You’re more a little crazy,” he told her, inserting a finger then two into her and wasn’t surprised to find her wet for him. She moaned softly and rotated her hips to his touch. He alternated between slow dips to quick flicks that quickened her breath. He kicked his legs to keep them afloat.
“And I bet you jumped out of an airplane with a parachute that for all you knew might not open. Who’s the crazy one?” Her lips feathered over his face.
Brady held his cock and guided it inside Raven’s pussy, thrusting upward in one smooth stroke.
Raven held on to his shoulders, pushing down as he thrust up. “See, you are crazy,” she murmured against his lips.
Brady’s euphoria was diverted when voices sounded from overhead; two of them suspiciously sounding like kids. “Oh hell,” he muttered. With them in the middle of the pool there was no way they wouldn’t be seen. “It can’t be.” Now he understood the meaning of the term ‘the thrill is gone’.
Raven wiggled her hips to catch his attention. “It’s all right,” she whispered with a smile. “No one can see us.”
“Rae, we’re in the middle of the pool giving the kids an excellent view of outdoor sex.” He gritted his teeth.
“And maybe Mom and Dad will get ideas,” she joked. “Trust me, they won’t see anything.” She nipped his shoulder. “They only see water.”
“Honey, did you get a good picture of the falls?” A woman’s voice was heard.
“All of you stand there by the railing and I can get one of all of you along with the falls,” a man directed.
“Dad, can we go swimming down there? It looks so cool!”
“No swimming allowed, sport.”
Brady waited for kids to yell and parents threaten to call the authorities, but it didn’t happen.
“Sweetheart, it’s huge!” the woman said.
Raven’s shoulders shook with silent laughter as she dropped her head to his shoulder. His hips moved upward, feeling the tight clench of her vaginal muscles
“This supposedly was a volcano. It probably won’t blow again any time soon.”
“Says you,” Brady muttered, feeling the sensation build by the second. At the last moment, they slid down under water. He was positive the water up top looked as if sharks were thrashing about. When they finally surfaced, the family was making noises about leaving.
“Okay, you made your point,” Brady said, as they swam back to the shore.
Raven squeezed the water out of her hair and shook herself free of excess water. “I’ve heard that public sex adds to the experience.” She shot him a mischievous grin. “They were right.”
“Oh yeah, shoots the heart rate right out of the ball park.” He pulled the blanket out of the picnic basket and spread it out.
“Brady?”
>
“Huh?”
“Do you have something you’d like to tell me?”
The hint of fury in her voice was his first clue that all was not right.
His second was when what felt like a firecracker zapped his ass.
“What the fuck!” He jumped and turned around to find Raven the hellion. The air fairly crackled around her, instantly drying her hair and flying around her face. Even nude, she presented a formidable picture. Her eyes were glittering blue orbs that looked as if they could melt steel and right now, the one they wanted to melt was him. He started to ask her what the problem was when it finally hit him.
She’d seen the mark.
“Who are you?” Her voice throbbed with rage. “No one can hide their origin from me, yet you’ve managed to do just that. And no lies. I don’t tolerate untruths.”
Brady didn’t doubt that she wouldn’t hesitate in turning him into an oilyspot if not worse. Who knew she had this kind of temper?
“It’s not what you think. And I’m very much human,” he said quickly, holding up his hands in what he hoped stood for surrender even in her world.
She swallowed several times. “Who sent you?”
“Shar asked me to keep an eye on you.” He winced, aware how that was going to sound. By the look of betrayal that crossed her face, it hurt even more than he feared.
“My…” she licked her lips. “My stepbrother hired you to pick me up. To fuck me?”
“No,” Brady hastened to assure her. “He just wanted me to make sure no one bothered you.”
“So you fucked me so no one would bother me?”
He knew he was in deep shit and sinking fast.
“Raven, honey.” He started toward her.
She held out her hands. “Do not call me honey and don’t you dare try to touch me!” She blinked rapidly then frowned as she swiped something damp from her eyes.
Deciding he’d have better luck reasoning with her if he was dressed, he quickly pulled on his shorts and t-shirt while she picked up her clothing and put it on.
“Shar promised me this time was my own,” she muttered. “He said he would leave me alone and now I find that he hired someone to…” She stopped and dropped to the ground. “He lied to me!” She looked up at him with angry damp eyes. “Get out.”
“Raven, I can’t leave you alone.”
“Your job is done here. Don’t worry, my stepbrother will still pay you for your services,” she said bitterly. “
He knew he had to take the chance even if she could turn him into a charcoal briquette.
“He was only thinking of you, He asked me to keep an eye on you from a distance, but then I saw you…”
Lightning cracked overhead. “And you thought I was a sure thing. I lived up to it, didn’t I?”
“No, I never thought that. What I thought was that I was looking at a beautiful, funny woman who I wanted to see more of. Not as a job, but because there’s something about you that makes me want more,” he admitted. “I’ve never made love to any of my clients, Raven.” He deliberately used her real name. “What we had last night and just a few minutes ago, well, it was magic. It was something I never felt before. Maybe we haven’t known each other that long, but I want to know more abut you. I want to learn what makes you tick. Your likes and dislikes.”
A slight softening of her features had him hoping he was getting through to her.
“You knew me because of Shar’s mark.” Her gaze drifted downward.
He nodded. “But that’s all. Everything that’s happened between us is just us, no one else. Hell, for all I know, Shar would probably have me boiled in oil for what we’ve done.”
“Oh, no, that’s only for minor offenses,” she murmured, sniffing loudly. “So you knew all along about my family and it didn’t disgust you?”
“If you saw my family on a Saturday night, you wouldn’t worry so much about yours.” He chanced moving closer to her.
Raven refused to look at him. “I have to think about it.”
As long as she didn’t toast him, literally, he was willing to take it.
Chapter Four
Lunch turned out not to be as awkward as Brady thought it would be. Raven was unexpectedly quiet and he didn’t coax her into conversation but let her take the lead.
“How do you know Shar?” she finally asked, nibbling on chunks of pineapple and papaya.
“He showed up about four years ago when I was in Afghanistan. Did me a favor and when I said I owed him, he told me he’d take me up on it when the time was right. After that, we’d run into each other every so often.”
“Did you know then what he was?” She looked down, her loose hair spilling around her face.
Brady shook his head. “Not until later. “
“Many men would have run from him.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been called crazy in my time.”
“What did he tell you about me?” She still concentrated on the sweet fruit.
“Not much. That you’re his stepsister, I can’t see the family resemblance anywhere, by the way, and that you were basically taking a vacation before assuming some family duties.” His stomach twisted as he uttered the last words. After twenty-four hours he already knew he didn’t want to give her up.
All he had to do was first persuade her not to hate him.
“Raven?”
She lifted her head. He was ready to shoot himself for the pain he saw on her face.
“You really hurt me,” she murmured.
Shit.
Raven looked off into the distance then turned back to him. “Would you have ever told me the truth?”
“I’ll be honest. I don’t know. My work involves a lot of secrecy.”
“But you weren’t told to keep a low profile with me,” she pointed out.
“No, but I shouldn’t have….”
“Made love to me?” She finished the sentence for him.
He nodded.
“Do you regret it?”
There was no hesitation when he shook his head.
Raven put the container of fruit to one side and dropped to her hands and knees, crossing the blanket in feline grace that had him turning into sex hound and seeing the enjoyment of the position she was in.
“Mind out of the gutter, Brady,” she murmured, lowering herself onto his lap. “I don’t know what’s happened, but it feels so intense…so incredible, that I want to see where we would go from here.” She studied his face, searching for answers.
“Then we’re in agreement.”
She settled herself more firmly on his lap and felt his cock rising up seeking her pussy. She smiled. “I’d say we are.”
*****
Raven entered her suite and almost backed out again.
“Why can’t anyone take a hint?” She pinched her nostrils with two fingers and walked into the room that was filled with the Astay flowers all throughout the parlor and bedroom. She had just used the last of her Grey dust when a small black flame appeared on her desk.
“Raven, you have been gone too long.” Pahso’s ugly mug appeared in the flame.
“Not long enough.”
“You must return to plan our nuptials. It is necessary that they take place before the next meeting of Shar’s family and my own,” he ordered. “A portal will open not far from where you are.” His black eyes slid over her with avaricious glee. “The sooner we mate, the sooner our offspring will appear.”
Okay, that was it!
She stood in front of the desk so he wouldn’t miss her words. “Get this straight, Pahso. I am not marrying you, ever. I told you that before I left and I’m saying it again. Don’t tell me I’ll change my mind, because it isn’t going to happen. I’m staying up here and you’ll just have to look for another mate to breed with.” She waved her hand over the flame. It promptly disappeared and she used a spell to lock down a return visit.
“Raven?” A flame popped up.
“No!” While the spell locked out Pahso, she’
d now have to come up with another one for Shar. This was her vacation, damn it!
“I allowed you to go up there to find out that life Above isn’t for you. Now you tell Pahso you won’t accept him as your mate. You can’t do that. Think of the family,” he appealed.
“I’m not cut out for what you want of me, Shar. I don’t want darkness. I want light. I want sun and the sea and beauty,” she explained.
“It can’t be.”
“Yes, it can. As long as you give your approval and I now beg you for that approval.” She knew she needed to quit now and let her stepbrother think it over. “And Shar.” She paused a beat. “Remove the mark from Brady’s ass. It wasn’t nice to drag him into family matters. I want your promise that you will never do anything to harm him.”
Shar looked alarmed. “What has been going on up there?”
She smiled. “I’m still not entirely sure, but it will be fun to figure it out. Good-bye, Shar. Remember you promised that this time was my own.” She cast another lockdown spell to make sure Shar didn’t reappear.
She took a deep breath. She’d done it. She’d officially broken with her family. By informing Shar she wasn’t returning Below, she was turning her back on her family and all family obligations.
She hummed a tune under her breath and danced around the room in sheer joy. She was free! Free to pursue anything she wished to. Her list was short and to the point. It all had to do with Brady.
*****
On the way back to the hotel, Brady had stopped so they could watch the sun set.
“When it appears as if the sun hits the water you’ll see something that looks like green fire on the horizon,” he told her, keeping her in his arms as they watched the sun’s descent.
“Magic,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Magic,” he agreed, kissing the tip of her nose.
Raven decided she had a month to find out just what was going on between Brady and her. She told herself if it turned out not to be something lasting, she would still go on and make a new life for herself. There was still no guarantee that Brady wanted more than this month with her. But she didn’t feel that he was lying to her or faking what he felt for her.