She kissed him back with her whole heart.
The music faded as Blake dragged his lips from hers. “Felicity, I—”
“May I have the next dance?” the man Blake had introduced as Reid Fairfax said, offering her his hand.
Blake held her a moment longer, as though hesitant to let her go.
“Do I want to—?”
“Dance.” Reid lifted her hand from Blake’s shoulder and placed it on his own, pulling her out of Blake’s arms. An odd expression settled on Blake’s face. If she didn’t know better, she would have to say he looked almost sad to see her go.
Rihanna’s next song was a faster tempo, for which Felicity was grateful as the older man led her across the room to the sound of “Umbrella,” blocking her view of Blake.
“It’s a very small world, Ms. Wright. We both live in Washington State, yet we’re here in Hawai‘i at the same time. What are the chances?”
“Well, since we’re both friends of Blake’s and this is his yacht, I’d say pretty good.” Felicity wasn’t sure why, but something about the man set her on edge.
His teeth clenched and something beyond desperation lurked behind his eyes for a moment, then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “Clever.”
Felicity wasn’t sure the word was a compliment.
Reid smiled. “Nevertheless, I’m glad you could accompany Blake on this adventure. He has so little time for fun.”
“Are you his social director now?” she asked, stopping her movements, no longer in the mood to dance.
Reid’s laugh boomed out. “You are a funny one, Ms. Wright.” He released his grip on her.
The music she’d only moments before enjoyed turned discordant.
Just then, Blake appeared at her side, pinning Reid with a dire look. “Everything okay?” he asked, placing a hand on her back in a protective fashion as he’d done before. His touch was warm, welcome. “I’ll take it from here,” Blake said, escorting her away.
Felicity cast a glance back over her shoulder as Blake escorted her from the room and didn’t miss the self-satisfied smile that pulled up the corners of Reid’s mouth. He wanted Blake to come to her rescue. It was almost as if he’d wanted the younger man to feel a hint of jealousy.
The question was, why?
“What is your relationship with Reid Fairfax?” she asked as Blake escorted her through the doorway and down the stairs toward a hallway lined with staterooms.
“We’re acquaintances, nothing more. Why do you ask?”
“And yet he’s here tonight.”
Blake stopped before one of the rooms. Withdrawing a keycard from his suit jacket, he waved it in front of the card reader. A soft click sounded, the door released and he twisted the handle and threw open the door. His fingertips trailed sensuously down her arm. The fire that always seemed to smolder between them flared to life.
“He invited himself.” Blake stepped aside and waved her through the doorway.
“Where are we going?”
“My stateroom, because neither of us can keep up the pretense any longer,” he said bluntly.
Felicity wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t. The unveiled passion in his eyes found an answering response within her.
She stepped into the elaborately appointed room, fully aware as she did that she was accepting what came next. Stalling to allow her heartbeat to settle, she glanced around the sitting area. The cabin was well decorated with a cream-colored plush sofa facing two soft leather chairs. The room was breathtakingly elegant with its gold accents and contrasting red pillows.
In the center of a low cocktail table was an arrangement of orchids. Blake snapped one off and twirled it in his fingers as he moved toward her. “For you.” He slid the flower behind her ear. The soft, fruity scent enveloped her.
Her heart fluttered in her chest as he pulled her into his arms and traced his finger across the top of her ear where the orchid petals met her skin. “Do you like exotic flowers?”
“They’re pretty. Hard to care for,” she said, unable to stop the quaver in her voice. “I prefer roses.”
“Good to know,” he said as he bent his head and kissed her, skillfully parting her lips and laying claim. She knew why he was kissing her—knew what his purpose was—and even though she suspected he had every intention of seducing her, she didn’t in that moment care.
What she cared about was the heat smoldering between them, the fire in her blood reigniting that unfulfilled passion she’d experienced in her dream yesterday. He wanted her, and she wanted him.
That was enough of a reason to set aside her reservations and move against him, demanding his heated attention in return. Tonight, she wanted to forget about the hotel and only think about the way he made her feel, because in his arms she could surrender herself to the flames of her passion.
She hesitated only a heartbeat as her thoughts went back to this morning and the photographer Blake had sent away. But just as quickly as the thought came, it vanished. They were on a yacht in the middle of an ocean. Who would disturb them there?
The tension from a moment ago eased, replaced with the need to kiss Blake back with all the pent-up desire she’d been denying since they’d first met. She parted her lips and surrendered. A groan of pure desire escaped his lips, encouraging her. She taunted and teased, then delighted when he deepened the kiss. The heat rising between them melted her bones, and she surrendered. She knew where they were headed, and it was already impossible to change their course. There was no reason they should. She was tired of fighting the passion that flared so powerfully between them.
His arms tightened around her, crushing her breasts—already peaked and tight and aching—to the hard solid planes of his chest. His hand swept down her back, pressing her to him, then sliding lower, over her hip. He grasped her bottom and angled her hips to his so he could move against her, so he could mold her against the rigid length of his erection, let her feel and anticipate having that hard length inside her, taking her to new heights.
He broke the kiss and stared down at her with those midnight eyes, eyes dark with passion—passion she’d stirred to life, passion that had turned every muscle in his body to hard-edged steel. Carefully he slid the silk from her shoulders and reached for the zipper hidden at the side of her dress.
A whisper of sound punctuated their breathing. With careful fingers, he spread her dress apart and eased it down her waist and over her hips, letting it pool around her feet. He slowly lowered his head and licked her nipple lazily.
A hot shiver moved through her. His tongue was warm and moist. His breath on her skin was like a thousand fingertips caressing her. Her knees felt weak and rubbery as she looked down at his dark head bent over her breast. When his teeth toyed with the hardened bud, a streak of fire seared through her, and she felt the muscles of her stomach clench.
She could feel herself readying for him, feel the lust forcing away the last fragment of reason from her mind. Waves of heat engulfed her, making her long for him in ways she’d never expected. “Blake—” The word was part whisper, part plea.
He straightened, and she took the opportunity to slide her fingers beneath his tuxedo jacket and slip it from his shoulders. It fell to the floor atop her dress. She reached to unbutton his shirt, then tossed it aside, hungrily gliding her hands over his chest.
He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he captured her lips once more. She gloried in a wave of intense pleasure at the feel of his hard, developed abs flexing between her thighs, fueling the fire that Blake had lit within her from the moment they first touched. Still locked together, he carried her across the room and kicked open a door, revealing a pristine white bed. He carried her to the edge and carefully laid her down. A heartbeat later, his pants were gone. He stretched out beside her and slowly, seductively sketched his palms over her naked flesh.
Her skin burned wherever he touched, leaving trails of searing sensation across her breasts, her arms, her waist, her thighs.
Wherever his hands went, his lips followed. Heat danced across her flesh. The tension built, higher and higher, until she thought she would burst from sheer pleasure.
She was breathless when he drew back to stare into her face. In his eyes she saw a fire unlike any she had seen before. “You are truly a beautiful woman.” His voice was hoarse, raspy.
The way he looked at her made her feel beautiful and so many other tumultuous emotions. She wanted him with the same urgent, scorching passion with which he wanted her. That knowledge made her bold as she splayed her fingers against his rock-hard chest. She brushed his nipples with her fingertips and was rewarded with a strangled gasp from him. Emboldened by her success, she allowed her hands to drift lower down his narrow waist, to the apex of his legs, until her hand curled around his hardened length.
His jaw clenched and his head lolled back as she continued her delicious torture, stroking his silken length with delicate hands. Never before had she allowed herself to be this bold, to take control, to have her partner at her mercy. A thrill coiled through the heat flooding her limbs. It was wildly exciting, the thought that she could bring such a powerful man as Blake to this place of carnal delight.
His hands clenched, and he brought his gaze back to hers. His hooded eyes only partially concealed his smoldering gaze. “I need you, Felicity.”
The intensity of his passion tightened her chest. “Yes,” she breathed, barely able to force the single word from her dry throat.
He pulled her against him, then rose up on his knees. From the nightstand beside the bed, he withdrew a small silver packet and quickly slipped protection over himself. He moved over her, settling between her thighs. His lips claimed hers again with tormenting sweetness, and her body responded to the intimate sensuality of his demand. She pressed herself against his hardening body, wanting more as the flames of desire consumed her.
He thrust in.
Her body arched under his. She moaned, the sound trapped in their kiss. She reveled in the sensation of him, so rigid and heavy, moving within her. She met him, matched his rhythm, wound her legs about his hips, drawing him deeper. Her heart pounded so hard she couldn’t get her breath. Her hands clutched futilely at his shoulders as she thrust upward, taking as much of him as he offered her.
With a low cry of wild satisfaction, she matched his rhythm, delighting as he stroked her hard and fast, then slow and gentle. As soon as she grew accustomed to one rhythm, he changed it, the tension inside her coiling tighter and tighter. His thrusts grew deeper and faster. She hovered on the brink until the tension exploded with a force that sent a fiery release through every muscle in her body.
An instant later, she could feel Blake spasm again and again within her, feel him shatter around her in a glorious release.
Spent, he slumped on her. She could feel his heart racing, pounding against her chest, feel the tempo of his heart echo where they were still joined.
She drew a slow, shallow breath of satisfaction, then raised a hand to his hair and, tentatively, caressed. He nestled against her as a quiet, tender moment ticked past.
His heartbeat gradually slowed; his breathing eased. Finally he stirred, withdrew, and moved off her only to settle against her side, his hot flesh against her own. His hands refused to release her as he played with her exposed breasts, stroking, circling, teasing, as if he was afraid to let the moment end.
Dear God, what had just happened between them, Felicity wondered dazedly. She had never in her life experienced anything like her intense encounter with Blake.
“I lost control,” he said, his voice still uneven, the tone a caress.
She hadn’t ever dreamed such satisfaction or satiation were possible as a heavy languid sensation pulsed through her blood. “We both lost control.” She laughed shakily.
The physical vortex they’d just created had been wild, mind-bending, sense shattering—just as he’d claimed it would be. Clearly the man had delivered on that promise. But he’d led her to that emotional whirlpool not as partners or lovers, but as friends. Intimate friends. Sexual equals.
When he’d made her his offer in her kitchen on the night they’d first met, she’d never thought it would happen. And just for the time being, she wanted to lock down the part of her brain that objected, wanted to force out reason in an effort to keep herself from getting hurt.
She studied Blake’s profile. His lips quirked, and she recognized the fleeting smile for what it was—smug, male satisfaction.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, unable to help herself as she realized she wanted him all over again.
“That you are so unexpected.” He turned toward her and slid his hand to her cheek, cupping it gently.
“You are every bit as devastating as I knew you would be.” At his broad smile, she turned her face into his hand, kissing his palm.
A groan tore from his chest. He twisted onto his side and trailed his hand from her cheek, down her abdomen, until his fingers settled playfully in the curls protecting her womanhood. “If you don’t stop that, I might need to be devastating once more,” Blake teased.
She arched her brow. “Is seduction what you planned all along when you brought me to the Eclipse?”
He tugged her curls teasingly. “Yes and no. I really did have something to show you on the deck above us.”
“What’s that?” she asked teasingly.
His fingers delved in her wet heat, and she could feel herself readying for him again. “Indulge me once more, then I promise to show you.”
Without another word, Felicity did.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hours later, when all the other guests at the party had either left or gone to their own cabins for the night, Blake listened to the rustle of the water against the hull of the ship. His eyes, however, were on the woman leaning against the railing beside him. He slid his arms around Felicity’s slim waist hidden beneath his tuxedo shirt. She’d slipped into his shirt instead of her dress when he’d asked her to come with him to the top deck.
Her blonde hair caressed his naked chest, and the delicate scent of her caused his head to swim and his groin to tighten once more. He in his tuxedo pants and bare feet. She in his shirt and nothing else.
Felicity nestled back against his chest, and her gaze fixed on the distance. “What is it you wanted to show me?”
He drew in her fragrance as he gathered her even closer. The light of the full moon overhead cast a silvered glow across the ocean. “The stars.”
“What do the stars have to do with the environment or your efforts to sway my opinion to your side?”
“Nothing at all. I just wanted to show you the stars. I had no ulterior motive.”
A soft breeze continued to tousle Felicity’s hair as she tipped her head back and searched the inky black sky. Thousands of stars glittered like diamonds overhead. With no other lights around, it was easy to see not only the stars, but the planets, satellites as they rotated about the Earth, and the Milky Way as it stretched across the sky in a swath of orange and gold. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful,” she breathed.
He pulled her closer and kissed her lightly on the top of the head. “I’ve seen this sight a hundred times. But with you, it’s like I’m seeing it all over again.”
“Do you stargaze often?”
“I wanted to be an astronomer when I was young. I spent so much time alone, but wherever I went the stars were there, watching over me. I’ve never told that to anyone ever before,” he admitted with a chuckle. “What about you? If you could do anything or be anything, what would that be?”
She pressed her lips together in thought, then said, “If money were no consideration, I’d want to own a kitchen, maybe a whole building that was dedicated to my Hungry Hearts program. Nothing makes me happier.”
“Very admirable.”
She shrugged. “I’m not so sure it’s as noble as all that. I’m the one whose life is changed each time someone new walks into my program.”
“You give a part of yourself to each of them, too. I saw that while we worked in your kitchen with your students.”
Felicity accepted his compliment, but as she did, he reflected on how he and Felicity approached their passions in very different ways. She worked to change the people of the world while he had focused his efforts on the environment. She took a risk each and every time she reached out to someone in need. He played it safe. Effecting change in the environment never forced him to put himself out there or risk his heart; only his pocketbook was on the line. Disappointment filled him as he returned his gaze to the stars. Even his fascination with the heavens kept the things that intrigued him at a distance.
Why was he so afraid to take a risk, to put himself out there and possibly feel pain? He was a wealthy man, yet he couldn’t afford to let anyone into his heart. That uncomfortable knowledge settled around him as he pulled Felicity even closer against his front, drawing her warmth to him, allowing her to once again melt the icy places deep inside.
It felt so good to be near her. So right.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After a day spent teaching Felicity the ins and outs of running a hotel the size of Mano Kea, Blake walked Felicity back to their suite. Sitting on the sofa in the sitting area was the large, red box tied with a white bow that he’d asked the hotel manager to deliver to their room.
“What’s this?” Felicity asked, moving to the sofa.
“It’s for you.”
Frowning, she untied the bow and opened the box. Her breath caught as her gaze snapped to his. “A chef’s coat, black pants, and red Hawaiian-print skullcap? What’s this for?”
“We have a luau at the hotel every Saturday. Haku wanted to know if you would be interested in helping him prepare the dishes this evening.”
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