Tempting Escape

by Heather McVey

  "I'll come to you, then."

  It was part question, part statement, and again, she hesitated. “All right,” she finally whispered.

  When Shelly replaced the receiver, her hand was trembling. It was as though she were sixteen again, going on her first date. Her heart was pounding out of control from just the sound of his voice. How was she going to face him? Her head began to swim with the knowledge that in a few minutes, she would have to. Worse still, her thighs clamped and throbbed alarmingly with anticipation at the thought. Her body, that distinctly female part of it, had missed him, too.

  She sighed. How wrong she'd been to assume that if she put him out of her sight and mind, she could keep him out of her heart, too. How foolish she'd been to deny her feelings. For better or for worse, she loved this man.

  She poured water into the coffeemaker; and barely had time to refresh her makeup and plait her hair, when the doorbell chimed. She straightened her spine, swung the door open and cast a weak smile in Guy's direction. His eyes seemed to caress her with a tenderness that did strange things to her equilibrium and even stranger things to her pussy.

  "It's good to see you,” he said softly.

  Shelly gave a weak half shrug. No man had ever looked better. “It's good to see you, too."

  "Mean it?"

  She nodded and took a step towards him. When Guy reached for her, a heavy sigh broke from his parted lips and the tension left his muscles. “God above, woman, two days you left me dangling."

  Shelly soaked up his warmth. “I'm sorry."

  "You're one impossible woman, you know that?"

  This Shelly interpreted as a compliment.

  "You look like a piece of delicate porcelain, but you're as stubborn as a mule.” He said more, but his words were muffled in the curve of her neck as he crushed her against his chest.

  Joy leapt like a flame in Shelly's heart. Being in Guy's arms again was like coming home after a long journey and discovering all that was comfortable and familiar. It was like walking in the sunshine after the rain, like holding the first primrose of summer, or walking in the first snowflakes of winter.

  He slowly stroked the top of her head with his chin. “I think we need to settle a few things. Let's talk."

  Shelly resignedly led him out onto the terrace. On the way, she automatically took down two cups and filled them with coffee. They sat at the table in the blistering sunshine, across from each other, but even that seemed too far.

  His blue eyes drank her in. “I wish you'd called me earlier."

  "I—"

  "I know, I know,” Guy said, holding up his hands before she could list her excuses. “Okay, let's talk."

  Shelly managed a shaky smile. “I'm sorry about the whole nightclub thing. I guess I was intimidated."

  "By me?” he asked incredulously.

  "Yes, it was frightening, finding out that you owned a stake of Dalton's oil company. It shook me, Guy. It really shook me. I didn't think I'd ever meet a mill..."

  "Millionaire?” he ended.

  She nodded. “I felt insignificant and then, when you left to dance with Sue, I was—"

  Guy leaned forward, his massive hands resting on the tabletop. “You were what?"

  Now came the hard part, Shelly looked away. “I ... I was jealous."

  "Jealous?” He frowned.

  "I know I acted like an idiot, hiding in the ladies’ room like that, but I hope now you understand a little better why."

  He grinned. “You were jealous. Good Lord! Woman, you could have fooled me. I thought you didn't give a damn. With no hint of regret, you just handed me into Sue's clutches.” Then he said in little more than a whisper, “We could have the start of something very important here."

  Shelly thought—no, hoped that he intended to lean over and kiss her. Instead, he leaned back and studied her for a moment through narrow brooding eyes.

  "So, where do we go from here?” he asked.

  Shelly looked perplexed. “We don't have to go any place. We finish the time here together and make it as enjoyable as possible."

  Guy looked surprised “That's it? Angel, for heaven's sake, when a man and woman feel about each other the way that we do, they generally make plans,” he said simply. “You love me."

  Only a few minutes ago, Shelly would have admitted it, but silly as it sounded, she couldn't bring herself to somehow. Not when her legs were shaking and her palms were wet. And the thought of trusting her heart to the handsome man sitting before her terrified her. She'd sworn to herself that she would never get involved again.

  Guy frowned. “I'd say, if you had to think about it, then you truly don't know."

  "I just don't want to make my life more complicated at the moment than it already is."

  "What, with a husband, maybe a family in the future?"

  Shelly gaped at him. “Are you proposing to me?"

  He looked her straight in the eye. “I had thought about getting around to it."

  Shelly went white to the lips. “This is getting way too serious. Marriage, I hardly know you."

  Guy braced his elbows on the table. “What I am trying to say is that I want a relationship with you."

  Shelly swallowed. He hadn't said that he loved her.

  Guy said practically, “The first thing I think we should do is have a little experiment. We should kiss and find out exactly what we're dealing with here."

  Shelly flushed. She didn't need him to kiss her again to know that she was going to love it. That it would curl her toes, and fuel her desire, and make her crazy with wanting him.

  Guy continued in a flat, emotionless voice, “If we feel nothing, then we don't take the relationship any further.” He grinned and tapped his lips. “But if we do, then you have to promise to give whatever is happening between us a chance. Agreed?"

  Shelly nodded, all the while feeling as though she had just signed a pact with the devil himself.

  * * * *

  The silence returned. Deafening, as they stared at one another, broken only by the rhythmic breaking of the waves against the shore. It was so complete, Shelly could even hear the soft ticking of Guy's Rolex.

  After several minutes, he held out his hand towards her. Shelly stared at the sun glinting off his black hair, the strong V of his neck, visible through the deep neckline of his shirt loosely shoved into a pair of faded Levi's. He looked oddly out of sorts with the turquoise sea and golden beach behind him. In that instant, he reminded her more of a cowboy. Proud and dangerous were the words that came to mind as she looked at him.

  "Guy,” she interjected in a low hesitant voice. “Let me get this straight, you want to kiss. Right now?"

  Good grief, Shelly watched his lush lips form the word, yes. She couldn't believe what she was doing. She was playing with fire and she was about to get burned. He flashed those white teeth at her again and she knew she was asking for trouble.

  Guy stretched out his arms and she walked into them, albeit unsteadily. She knew she was definitely in trouble because of the way that she fit so snugly, so comfortably into his embrace. It was almost as if this man had been created and put on the earth just to hold her as he was doing now. He hadn't even kissed her yet. Oh boy.

  Guy held her lightly, his eyes wide and tender as he stared down at her. He cocked his head to the right, then abruptly changed his mind and moved it to the left.

  Shelly's movements countered his for a moment, and then she laughed. “Just get on with it. We must look ridiculous."

  Guy's eyes twinkled at her. “We probably look like one of those nodding dogs, you know the ones that people put in the backseat of their cars."

  Shelly nodded. She really wished that he would hurry up and do it before she lost her nerve.

  He frowned. “I just thought of something."

  "What?” she cried, her voice high with a nervous edge.

  "Well, shouldn't we do this after you've taken that phone call you were expecting? I wouldn't want to get disturbed in the midd
le of our little experiment."

  "There's no chance of that happening.” She wrapped her arms around his hips and smiled up into his face.

  He looked through the terrace doors into the dim interior of the bungalow. “Have you disconnected the phone?"

  "There never was any phone call."

  He held her at arm's length and looked down into her upturned face. “You used it as an excuse, right?"

  "I was so nervous about facing you after the fool I made of myself,” she said as way of an explanation.

  "Are you regretting now that you did?"

  "No, I'm glad that you came."

  Relief flickered over the hard planes of Guy's face. He looked at her nervously, as though they were waiting for an imminent explosion. And that was exactly the way it felt when his mouth settled on hers. Even though the kiss was infinitely gentle, his lips sliding softly over hers, barely touching.

  They broke apart, momentarily stunned. For a full minute, neither spoke and then Guy kissed her again, moving his mouth over her parted lips in undisguised hunger. His hand clutched the thick hair at the nape of her neck while his other gently kneaded her bottom. Shelly sighed, raised her arms and tightened them around his neck, leaning into him, absorbing his potent strength.

  Guy deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth until Shelly thought she'd be consumed by it. She met his fierce urgency with her own undeniable hunger, arching closer to him, pressing her body up against his hard erection, holding onto him with everything that was in her.

  As unquenchable desire flared to life between them, he kissed and caressed her again and again, until they were both breathless and shaking with need.

  "Shelly,” Guy groaned, physically struggling for breath. Struggling against the desire to lay her down on the floor and take her there and then. “My God, Shelly, you taste like ambrosia. I think we're in trouble here. Deep trouble, big time,” he murmured hoarsely into her hair.

  Shelly didn't argue, she knew that they were.

  Guy kissed her again, this time with the urgency of a desperate man. He drove her up against the wall of the bungalow, his hands everywhere, searching out her skin. His lips were warm, his body warmer, but she thought only of his mouth—of how it was making her feel, of the desire building between her legs. His tongue moistened her lips, sending shockwaves of pleasure rolling through her. Her legs went rubbery and she clung to him, her fingers pushing against hard, lean muscle. Gradually, skillfully, he deepened the kiss until her pulse sounded thunderous in her ears.

  A cheer sounded and they sprung guiltily apart, breathing heavily. A group of teenagers were on a boat not far from the bungalow. Several were making obscene thrusting gestures with their hips, while others shouted encouragement at Guy to finish the job. Guy and Shelly looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  "Maybe we should finish this indoors.” Guy grinned, as his eyes focused on her mouth, swollen from his kisses. A light flared in their shiny blue depths. Was it laughter, or something else altogether more primal?

  Inside, Shelly closed the blinds and turned her back on him.

  Guy's heart throbbed in his chest. Was he losing her after all? He watched as she slipped her pale, blue skirt slowly over her hips and down her legs. His throat felt suddenly parched, as if he'd gone a week in the desert without any water.

  A beat of silence followed before she turned around to face him. “I want to make love to you, Guy,” she said very, very softly.

  His brows drew together, forming a ledge over his hungry eyes as he watched her unbutton her blouse. He stared at her nipples, erect beneath her bra, and the swirling of hair visible through her thin cotton panties. She unclipped her bra and with a groan, Guy watched it fall to the floor. He was in her arms in an instant, their warm bodies, slick with perspiration, a moment later coming together on the floor—only half stripped, his briefs at his knees. Guy put a condom on and buried his hard cock into her warm pussy, marveling again at the tightness of her, the wood of the floor, cooler, contrasting with her warm flesh beneath his fingertips.

  He had to move slowly, for she was so deliciously tight, so small, he could easily lose it. He could ejaculate in her before he had barely moved three strokes. With restraint and a whole lot of willpower, he continued to pump in and out of her slowly. When he knew that the moment was near and he couldn't take anymore, he pulled his throbbing cock from her pussy and tangled his tongue with her own to quiet her protests.

  "Wha—"

  "Shhh.” He grinned and spread her thighs wide. He sat over her slender body, so that his stomach was facing hers, but his head and mouth had ample access to her pussy. He grinned, as he felt her without prompting, take his cock into her mouth.

  Smiling, he licked her furry little mound, still slightly open from the throbbing thrusts of his cock, then nibbling slightly on her clitoris, wet now from her overflowing pussy juice. He moaned and closed his eyes as her tongue traced a wet path around and into his anus, while her hand, in a steady motion that had him reeling, wanked the throbbing head of his erection. In the mirror over the sofa, their two bodies formed the number sixty-nine perfectly.

  Only much later, when they were well and truly worn out, did they return to the bedroom to continue where they had left off, albeit, at a much gentler pace, on the king-sized waterbed.

  Chapter 17

  That evening, Shelly was busy waxing her bikini line, when a staccato of knocks sounded on her front door. Knowing Guy wasn't due over for another hour, she looked up with disdain. Man! Like, didn't anyone care that she was in the middle of doing something important?

  Sighing loudly, she wrapped a towel around her naked body and hurried from the bathroom. For an instant, her spirits lifted as she thought that perhaps it might be Guy calling early after all—until she got to the front door and saw the outline of a much thinner man on the porch.

  She cracked open the door, then gaped. “Ted!” Finding her ex standing on the front step was enough to shock and knock the breath from her.

  He was dressed far too warmly for the sweltering heat. He wore a light grey suit with a yellow shirt and red tie. His short, ash blonde hair was slicked back and he offered her a beaming smile. “Hi, Shelly."

  "Ted,” she said coldly, even though her heart was pounding. He was the last person on earth she'd wanted to see again. “What are you doing here?"

  "Does a man need an excuse to visit his fiancée?"

  "Ex-fiancée, Ted,” she said sternly. “It will do you well to remember that."

  Unaffected by the anger in her voice, he nodded and asked politely. “Can I come in?"

  Incredulous, she stared at him. “No."

  He smiled at that. “C'mon, Shelly. Don't be that way. Let me in for old time's sake, eh?"

  Flustered, she checked that the towel was securely knotted over her breasts and stepped aside to allow him to pass. If he'd come to tell her that he wanted her back, well she'd just smile and let him, then show him the door.

  "Its good to see you, Shelly.” And it was. He'd missed her more than he thought possible.

  "Thanks, I thought you had flown back to England?” She struggled to keep her voice even and controlled, hoping to hide her discomfort at being caught unawares in nothing more than a bath towel.

  "I didn't get further than the next island, a half-hour flight away,” he informed her while he shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

  "I wish you had phoned or something first.” Shelly wasn't fooled. Not calling was his attempt to catch her off-guard and completely unprepared—which, of course, she was. She knew him well. Over the years, he had often tried to manipulate her this way. It wouldn't have taken much time or trouble to have contacted the hotel and get her bungalow's telephone number from them. But she didn't mention the fact, couldn't see that it would have done any good.

  She led him out onto the terrace, then returned to the room and mixed him up a Bacardi and Coke, just the way he liked it, with a squeeze of lemon
. She handed it to him and was rewarded with a dazzling smile. When he wanted to, Ted could be charming, attentive, and very generous. The most confusing thing, she decided, looking down at the man she had spent several years with, was that he wasn't all that bad. He had wounded her certainly with his unfaithfulness, but in his own way, she supposed, he had loved her, too.

  "You make the best Bacardi,” he commented casually as he glanced up at her.

  "My teenage bartending skills. I've never forgotten them."

  Ted laughed. His gaze softened as he studied her. “You're looking wonderful.” And she was, too. He had never seen the rosy hue of her skin or that sparkle in her eyes before. Or maybe he just hadn't looked hard enough.

  She grinned ruefully, “Sure, I am,” she scoffed. “I've just ducked out of the shower and my nose is peeling."

  They both laughed. Ted started to tease her about their early years together. Some of the disastrous meals she'd cooked and expected him to eat without complaint. Shelly let him and even enjoyed his comments, for Ted could also be warm and very funny when he chose. Someone knocked on the door. Still chuckling, Shelly went to get it. He'd lied to her repeatedly, tore her heart out and still, he could make her laugh. It always took him a moment to conquer her reserve, but he had never failed yet and she couldn't imagine him ever doing so.

  For the second time in less than ten minutes, Shelly was surprised by the man who stood on her front step. “Guy, you're early!"

  "I know,” he said with a hangdog grin. His gaze heating as it settled on her naked shoulders. “I just couldn't keep away. I hope you're naked beneath that bath towel."

  Shelly just stared at him. What was she going to do with the pair of them? Hadn't Guy threatened to kill Ted? Oh God.

  Guy's smile faded. “Do you have company?"

  She nodded, lowering her eyes. She automatically stepped aside. He walked past her, and placed a kiss gently on her cheek, in a gesture so loving that Shelly longed to fall into his arms.

  Guy's gaze reached out to her, but Shelly had a hard time meeting it. A frown started to form, and his eyes darkened. “This is a bad time, isn't it?"