by Marie Harte
“That, my friend, is just the beginning of the memories we’re going to make.”
Rick disengaged and walked away. And Trevor realized, belatedly, that he hadn’t given Rick any ease from the huge hard-on he’d been sporting. And that Rick was headed through the open door of the bedroom…toward the shower currently occupied by their new guest.
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Chapter Three
Rick gritted his teeth as he walked toward the bathroom. His cock was aching to the point of honest pain, and he knew if he didn’t get inside Trevor or Lilah soon, he was going to seriously lose his mind. He would have thought with so much time on an island surrounded by sex that his sex drive would be somewhat muted.
But Rick had always been a healthy man, one whose hungers were very, very strong.
Sex with different partners had kept him interested…until Elise. Then love had taken his heart and crushed it, and the pleasure he’d once found in casual sexual encounters no longer satisfied. For two years he’d been drifting day-to-day, disconnected from all but a few of his good friends.
Until Trevor. Until Lilah. This whole stalker situation was fucked up beyond any sense of normalcy. Yet he’d met Trevor because of it. How odd that the brother of a man who’d once helped save Rick’s life was here to do the same thing. And Lilah…now there was a woman who needed a man. He hadn’t missed the longing in her eyes when she’d looked at him, nor had he missed the vulnerability peeking through her shuttered gaze.
Despite her outward plainness, an inner beauty shone through her brief smile. Rick found himself wanting to know her, and more than sexually. Like Trevor. He wanted to
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know what made them both tick, what they liked and disliked, to know how they tasted, how their bodies tensed before they came…
Cursing when he found the bathroom door locked, Rick found the spare key hidden in a private box near the doorframe and let himself into the bright room. Though he could have given Lilah directions to any of the other six bedrooms in the house, he’d wanted her close by. Staring through the clear glass at her naked body, he moaned low in his throat and rubbed his cock through his shorts.
Masturbating Trevor had worked him into a lather, and seeing Lilah run her hands over her soapy body was making it worse. Trevor wasn’t ready for what Rick surprised himself by wanting from him. Not yet. Lilah, however, would take him there. Her shyness could be dealt with. And he hoped to use sex to open the doors hiding her secrets. Intimacy with Lilah, he sensed, would give him a starting point into understanding her needs and wants as well.
Rick had always known how to handle certain people. He didn’t question it anymore, but acted on his intuition. The few times he hadn’t, he’d been burned. And he had no intention of making those same mistakes again. Determined, he quickly took off his clothing, approached the large shower, and opened the glass door.
Lilah shrieked when she turned and saw him. She clutched a hand to her breast, breathing hard while the water ran over her. “You scared the crap out of me.” Her nervousness grew as she glanced down his body, and her large gray eyes grew wider. “Rick?”
She licked her lips. “What are you doing in here?”
“I’m here to give you what you need.” Pleased when she made no move to cover herself, he stroked his cock, knowing that soon he’d be deep inside her, touching the silken flesh between her thighs. “Satyr’s Myst is all about fantasies, Lilah. And no matter the reason you’re here, you’re not immune to the island’s spell.”
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“S-spell?” Nipples firm, her belly quivered as she alternated her gaze between his face and his erection.
“The island is a magical place, home to Satyr’s Myst.” He kept his voice low and even and could see the small hitch of her breath in the unsteady rise and fall of her chest. “Where people come to lose their inhibitions. To finally be free from the constraints society puts upon us. Skinny, fat, tall, short, man, or woman. It’s all about pleasure.”
“You forgot pretty and plain,” she added, as if urging him to compliment her so she could deny him for false flattery.
“Physical beauty is shallow. You know this, Lilah. .”
“Why me?” Her eyes narrowed, daring him to say it.
“Because you’re intelligent, and you know there’s so much more to a woman than looks,” he said bluntly. He took the necessary steps to bring them together by not only closing the distance between them, but by being honest. “Inside here,” he paused and placed a hand over her breast, smiling to feel her heart racing like mad. “Inside, you’re a goddess.
One who needs to be properly worshipped.”
She stared at him, unblinking, as he fell to his knees and stared at her mound. She had a thin strip of light brown hair there, and the sight of her bared lips turned him on like nothing else. Eager to taste her and completely disregarding his iron-hard cock, he shoved a hand between her folds, the feel of the water over his body adding to his stimulation.
As he’d anticipated, Lilah didn’t reject him. Instead, she gasped and bit her lip, a sensual twist of her lush mouth that had him desperate to get inside her. And then he touched her.
Lilah was wet and hot, and he smiled tightly up at her. “Took your own pleasure, did you?” Rick chuckled softly at the red flush on her face. “Naughty girl. You should have waited for me.”
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Before she could say a thing, he forced her thighs wider and clamped his mouth around her clit. The scent of aloe soap and her spicy arousal made him lightheaded with need. And Rick realized, as much as he wanted to eat her, he had to find relief. A few more minutes sucking her juices and he would come all over the tile, not the way he intended to spend.
Quickly standing, Rick forced her back against the slick wall and began rubbing her clit with his skilled fingers.
“I need to come.”
She squirmed in his hold, trying to get closer. “So do I,” she moaned. “What are you doing to me?”
“I want to come inside you.” He shifted his fingers and slid one inside her while his thumb pressed her clit. He literally trembled as he felt her inner walls clamp down on his finger. “Oh, Lilah. You have no idea how much I want you.” And it was true. Rick actually felt as if his heart would explode if he couldn’t shove deep inside her.
“I wasn’t…going to…not with you.”
“But you will,” he urged, fucking her with two fingers now, while he thrust his cock repeatedly against her firm belly. “Right now. Because you need to feel me filling you. Need to know you’re pushing me past all control. You, Lilah, not some faceless, nameless stranger.
You.”
Even as he said it, he withdrew from her body and grabbed her ass, lifting her in his hands. She locked her smooth, toned legs around his waist and angled her pussy closer, riding just above the head of his cock. “Yes or no?” he panted, wanting desperately to thrust forward.
“Rick. Please, do it. Now,” she whispered and fused her mouth to his.
Groaning, he pulled her over him, and the feeling of utter acceptance shocked him to his core. The perfection of the moment equaled what he’d felt when pleasuring Trevor, and then and there, Rick knew he had to see where this tangled “relationship” with his two
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newest associates might lead. Like it had been with Trevor, the sensations Lilah aroused in him were more than physical. As much as Rick wanted to come, he felt closer to Lilah on an emotional level. Her scent, the feel and sight of her imprinted on his brain, and he knew he’d never forget their first time.
Not wanting to acknowledge it but realizing Lilah could be his downfall, Rick began pistoning faster and deeper, seeking his respite with angry, needful thrusts. Because if he continued to follow where his dick happily led, he’d swear he teetered on the brink of taking an impossible step forward…toward loving again.
; * * * * *
Dinner that night was a solemn affair. After giving Lilah an orgasm that had blown her mind completely, Rick had tenderly cleaned her up, dried her off, and disappeared. She’d been left to her own devices to find Trevor. When she’d found him, the giant had stared at her, giving her a look that told her he knew what she and Rick had done. But he’d said nothing about it, just showed her to a room conveniently next to his and vanished until dinnertime.
So now she sat at a comfortable table overlooking a luxurious pool on the outside deck.
The jungle had been cleared back enough to frame water as blue as the island sky on a cloudless day, and the white sandstone surrounding the pool made it look like Rick owned his own private piece of the ocean. Teak lounge chairs covered in bright red and orange cushions were set in comfortable intervals around the pool, making Lilah wonder how often Rick entertained out here. The house did boast six large bedrooms, after all.
As she stared around her, she approved of the porch’s terra-cotta tile and the burning tiki lamps, which gave enough illumination to see by while still lending the area an intimate feel.
The table had been set with three places, but only two were occupied at the moment.
Trevor had heated up a surprisingly tasty pork dish flavored with orange and lime that he
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admitted having cooked. But he didn’t touch it as he sat staring at her. Rick remained sequestered in his room, and she had no idea what she’d done to scare him off.
In her opinion, it was too late for recriminations. Hell, Rick had seduced her. She’d tried to warn him, and then the blasted man had gone down on her. Her face heated, and she focused on her food, avoiding Trevor’s knowing gaze.
“So what was it like?” he rumbled.
She stared up at him, not knowing exactly what he wanted to know. He couldn’t possibly be referring to --
“What was it like when he fucked you in the shower?”
She opened her mouth to retort it was none of his business, but what she read in his face stopped her. Trevor spoke softly, no disparaging looks or hint of disapproval, just honest curiosity. He looked as if he needed to know, and she asked a question of her own.
“What’s with you and Rick?”
Trevor sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair in frustration, in what she secretly cataloged as “sexy male flexing bicep.” Trevor glanced at her, then over his shoulder toward the house.
“I think I heard Rick lock his bedroom door when I passed. I must have scared him,”
she joked, half hoping she was wrong.
“Lilah.” Trevor paused, staring deeply into her eyes. Good Lord, but she could drown in that soul-searching stare. “What is it about you?”
“What? You ditching me too?”
“No.” He grinned. “There’s a lot I’d like to do to you, but ditching you’s not on the list.”
She blushed; she couldn’t help it.
“Man, I look forward to seeing that flush all over your body.” His gaze boldly lowered to her breasts before he caught himself and sheepishly met her eyes. “Hell. I’m normally not this forward. I think it’s the island heat.”
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“Yeah. It’s, ah, affecting me too. You probably won’t believe it, but I’m not as easy as I seem to be.” Used to saying what she thought with little censorship between her mouth and her brain, Lilah was used to putting people off. And that wasn’t counting the sexual acrobatics she’d recently exhibited. Yet Trevor appeared to appreciate her frankness.
He smiled, a broad, sincere grin that had her smiling back. “Good to know. And you may not believe it, but I don’t normally shove my dick in a woman’s hand when we’ve just met, either.”
He flushed, and she chuckled. “Yeah, it’s the island heat, for sure.”
Trevor’s smile slowly faded as he studied her. “Lilah, can I ask you a question?”
His hesitancy put her on guard. “Okay.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Huh?”
“It’s just…I was expecting our boss to send another security expert. But you, well, no offense. But you make me think of hot nights and silk sheets, not guns and ammo.”
Lilah chuckled. “No offense taken. I’m a physical therapist by trade. I’m here doing a favor for a friend and taking a break from my boring life.”
“Boring?” He tilted his head, studying her. “I can’t see you as boring. But I get the PT
thing. There’s something about you that’s soothing.”
“Well, ‘soothing’ isn’t the word my patients use when they’re talking about me.
Normally, it’s ‘torturous,’ ‘maniacal,’ ‘sadistic…’ You get the drift. But I get results, and that’s what matters. Healing people isn’t always pretty.”
Trevor snorted. “Tell me about it. I was a cop for ten years before I suffered a gunshot wound that didn’t heal so quickly. Took me off of active duty for a while, and they told me it could be years before I’d fully heal, if I’d heal at all. I couldn’t imagine becoming a desk jockey for that long, only to find out I’d have to leave the force.” He shook his head. “So I left.”
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Lilah studied him, wondering how he’d been hurt. Trevor looked healthy enough. And from what little time she’d spent around him, she hadn’t noticed him moving awkwardly or limping. “So how were you hurt?”
“Got shot in the knee. It didn’t heal right, and I built up a lot of scar tissue. Made it hard to be functional for a while. I pushed through it, but I’m still not as fast as I used to be.”
“But you don’t appear to be limping.”
“I don’t.” He sighed. “Problem is, after my bones knit and the skin healed, I wasn’t walking properly and developed something called plantar fasciitis.”
“The inflammation of fibrous tissue connecting your heel bone to your toes.” She’d worked on a case just before she’d left home. The poor man had suffered excruciating heel pain, leading to more issues with his back, since he wasn’t walking right.
“I guess you really are a therapist.”
She shrugged.
“Anyway, my own PT was pretty good, but my symptoms kept getting worse. And I was already sick of everyone looking at me with pity, as if I was going to be some light-duty freak maybe taking advantage of the system to ride out a career behind a desk.”
“No offense, Trevor, but you don’t strike me as the desk type. I’m sure no one thought of you that way.”
“Whether they did or didn’t isn’t an issue anymore. Bottom line, I felt like it. So I had yet another surgery to repair the foot problem. Took me a while to heal. But I did. Mostly.”
He frowned and glanced at her with suspicion. “I don’t know why the hell I’m telling you all this. I don’t want your sympathy.”
“Okay.”
“Damn., I started out wanting to know what the hell you’re doing here and ended up talking about me.” He shook his head. “Tell me something. This friend of yours. She the same
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person who hired me through my brother’s firm?” He glanced over his shoulder again.
“Petite, dark hair, had the hots for you-know-who?”
“That’s her.”
“Right. So do you know when my replacement’s coming?”
“What replacement? I’m the only one she planned on sending. And like you said, I’m no specialist. Just here to have some fun and occupy Rick so your job’s not so bad.”
Trevor stared at her, his gaze unfathomably deep, and scowled. “I was told I’d have a replacement here tomorrow. Dammit.” He swore under his breath. “I’ll be right back. I need to make a call.”
He left and returned to the table not five minutes later, a look of fury darkening his face.
“Not good news, I take it?”
“My fucking brother was sandbagging. Ethan called off reinforcements
. He intentionally stuck me here.”
“Sorry you’re stuck.” She couldn’t help feeling a bit miffed he found being near her so distasteful, but she understood where he was coming from. “If it makes you feel any better, my cousin didn’t tell me about any danger, only that I’d be distracting a rich playboy from landing in trouble. And no, that was not ‘distraction’ as in sexual, but as in ‘Lilah’s a pain in the ass so she’ll keep him busy.’”
“Your cousin?” His voice rose before he quickly lowered it again. “Man, they’ve really played us, haven’t they? My brother thinks he’s doing this for my own good. Said I needed to take a break and reevaluate my life. What the hell does he think I’ve been doing for the past year?”
“Well, I knowingly signed up for my sunny paradise. So far I’ve gotten it.” And then some. Memories of what Rick had done and of how she’d intimately touched Trevor turned
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her insides to jelly. “Apart from the danger aspect, of course. But I haven’t seen that to date.
And hope I don’t have to.”
“You won’t.” Trevor’s firm promise warmed her, and she smiled with relief into his gaze. “Not from anyone outside these walls. I check the security feeds a few times an hour.”
His stare turned sly as he lowered it to her lips. “But I can’t guarantee your safety around me.”
“Trevor?” Lilah should have been worried. He looked like a tiger waiting to pounce.
But the sexual anticipation fluttering inside her roared to life, and she knew he’d seen it when an answering response lit his eyes. “Now wait a minute.”
He stood and crossed to her, pulling her to her feet before she could protest again.
Kissing her until she couldn’t breathe, he finally released her mouth but kept a firm hold on the rest of her, caging her within his muscular arms.