“Information can be more powerful than greed and malice.”
I let out a short laugh. “Don’t be so naïve, Kate.”
She slapped me across the face.
Fucking hell. I feathered my fingertips over the sting on my cheek. Heat rose to my face and a kind of electric energy coursed through me as I chased the right words. She was wrong. I was right. She was being stubborn and altruistic and blind to the reality we now faced. She had no goddamn right to go back to New York without me. She was mine. We belonged together.
I could say it all damn day, but I’d rather show her.
“You’re not going to New York without me, Kate.”
The muscles in her jaw tensed as I took a step closer. I caught her wrist and yanked her toward me. I held her tense frame against mine, giving her no room to consider putting space between us again. I was mad as hell, but our bodies together felt perfectly right. Nothing would ever change that.
Fire burned behind her bright blue eyes. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. You lost that right when you left me.”
“You were always with me, everywhere I went. Haunting me, breaking me, and keeping me alive all at once.”
She closed her eyes with a wince. “Stop.”
“I won’t stop. I’ll never stop loving you. Needing you. Fighting for you.” I slid my palms down to her ass, caressing and squeezing her bare bottom through her sarong until she was pressed firmly against me. “Fucking you,” I murmured against her parted lips.
I brought my hands to the front of her sarong and parted the swaths of fabric that hung like a curtain over her bare curves. I cupped her breasts, kneading their fullness and gently pinching her pert nipples between my fingertips.
“Price. Not now.”
“Yes, now.”
I pinched harder until she gasped, closing her eyes against the pleasure I knew it gave her.
“You’re threatening to leave me, and I’m going to show you why that won’t work.”
“I’m not—”
I didn’t let her finish. I pressed our lips together, taking advantage of the interruption to swipe into her mouth. I groaned into her when our tongues met.
Within ten seconds of feasting on her, I was hard as granite. Ready to take both of us straight out of this reality and into a better one. I’d lived inside fantasies of being with her for so long. Having her here, in my arms and in the flesh, was still too miraculous to fully comprehend. Didn’t matter how pissed she was with me.
Hoisting her up against me, I held her up by the thighs and carried her toward the house. Her back met the solid glass of the slider while I took her mouth in another uncompromising kiss. As I contemplated the door, I decided the bedroom was too far. I had to have her now.
“Hold on, baby,” I rasped, guiding her arms around my neck with one hand.
Then I pushed down my shorts and guided my cock into her. Something about our fight must have turned her on because she was fully aroused, gloving me with ease. I rutted deeply and she cried out, digging her fingernails into my shoulders.
“Damn you, Price,” she groaned.
Nothing about that deterred me. Her passion and her anger only fueled me. I smiled and thrust harder. I owned her pleasure. Only I could take her where we both needed to go—to another world where the past year hadn’t come between us.
I held our bodies together and pumped into her like a piston, fucking her with abandon toward an orgasm I now desperately needed. She sliced her fingernails across my skin, cursing me and moaning my name. I retaliated by fucking her harder.
“You’re so deep. So hard. It’s so good.”
I used all my strength to lift and slam her down onto my cock over and over. My muscles burned. My cock throbbed. I couldn’t be inside her more completely. The pressure was dizzying. But the way she trembled against me told me she felt it too. All of it. Every solid inch of my possession.
“Are you going to come for me, sweetness?”
“Yes,” she whimpered. “So close.”
“Who do you come for?”
“You, Price. God, only you.”
“That’s right. Come for me now. Just like that. Show me how good I make you feel.”
In an instant, she was there, coming apart in my arms. Her pussy locked around me until I was certain she couldn’t be any tighter. The helpless cries that left her lips pushed me over. My lover. My wife. My everything. I found the deepest part of her and let go, releasing with a satisfied groan against her skin.
I didn’t want to let her go, but my legs were growing weak in this position. I slipped from her and lowered her to the ground, holding her steady as we transitioned from one person back into two. When my brain cells started firing normally again, I remembered what had brought us here. My face didn’t hurt anymore, but my heart would be in serious trouble if Kate tried to run off on me. Hopefully we’d closed that conversation down for now, though.
I caressed her cheek, thumbing over her freckles and following the defined angle of her jawline. So beautiful. I bent and kissed the corner of her mouth.
“Hit me again like that, Kate, and I’ll fuck you so hard, you’ll feel me for a week.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” She sagged against the door with a sigh, her eyes fluttering open and then closing again. “And anyway, you had it coming.”
Chapter Eleven
Kate
I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that I’d slapped my husband—the man who meant everything to me. I’d never done anything like that before—never even thought about it, no matter how much he was impersonating an asshole—and to do so when our lives were upended as they were…
But yes. He’d had it coming, calling me naïve.
I might be ignorant of the facts—and that was his fault, not mine—but naïve? He’d called me innocent two days ago during our first walk on the beach. Funny, it hadn’t affected me the same way, then. Now I knew he was deliberately withholding information, and as much as I loved my husband, I couldn’t forget that. If I was going to stay with him—and God, I wanted to be with him more than I wanted my next breath—he’d have to offer up all the facts. My heart was strong, but I could no longer keep my head out of this equation.
Price interrupted my thoughts. “I’m only trying to protect you, Kate.”
I opened my eyes. “Why not let me help protect you? Protect us? Tell me what we’re dealing with. The whole truth. Let me in. I feel so helpless, Price.”
“Baby—”
“We took vows, remember? For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. For better or for worse.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Would you stop saying that?” I balled my hands into fists. “The only reason I don’t understand is because you’re not leveling with me. For better or for worse, Price. If this is worse, I promised to help you through it.”
“This goes so far beyond worse.”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. Just because we didn’t foresee how bad something might get doesn’t invalidate the vow I made to you. You made the same promise to me.”
“I did, and I’m trying to keep that vow. I’m trying to protect you.”
I gave him an angry glare. “Wrong.”
He jerked his head. “What?”
“If you were truly trying to protect me, you would have stayed hidden, let me live out my life safely in New York. As soon as you involved Chelle and me in this, protection ceased being your goal.”
“That’s not true. I—”
I placed two fingers over his full lips. “I didn’t mean to sound quite so harsh. I’m not blaming you. I’d have done the same thing. The thought of a life without you…even if it meant protecting yours…”
I could accuse him of being selfish for wanting me with him, but it didn’t ring true. My life during the past year, without Price, hadn’t been a life at all. If I’d thought, for one second, that I could be with him again, I’d have risked everythin
g. Yes, I would have done everything I could to keep him safe, but in the end, still knowing that the safest thing would be to stay hidden, I’d have taken the risk.
That’s what he had done. He’d chosen a life with me over my ultimate protection. I didn’t begrudge him that—though maybe I should have—but he had to understand the reality of it.
“Kate…”
“It’s okay. You weren’t being selfish. You were just being…you. I can no more live without you than you can without me.”
He sank his head into his hands. “My God. I never thought about it that way. But you’re right. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I pulled him toward me, removing his hands and cupping his cheeks. “Don’t be sorry. Just understand that this is what it is. I’m all in now. You have to let me help.”
“I know what you’re going to say,” he said.
“Oh, you do?”
“You’ve already said it. You want to go back to New York.”
I nodded. “I do. Otherwise we’ll always be running. Always looking over our shoulders.”
He gripped my upper arms, his eyes ablaze in the light of the dawn. “You want the truth? The whole truth?” He sighed. “The truth is that going back to New York could very well get us both killed.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. He’d already told me as much, but still the words lanced through me like a hunting knife. I didn’t want to die. But I didn’t want to spend my life running, either. What kind of a life would that be? I’d be with the man I adored, yes, but I could never bring a child into that world. I’d never be a mother, never see my belly swell with the fruit of Price’s and my love. I could give up my career, my family, my friends. But could I give up the chance to have children?
Words formed in my throat, and I had to force them out. “Price, from what you’ve said, we could end up getting killed, anyway.”
Price raked his fingers through his hair. “I know how you get when you want to know something. You persist and you persist. I understand, but baby, could we go to bed, please? I’ve been up most of the night. Right now all I want to do is hold you. I need to feel you in my arms.”
I hadn’t slept any more than he had, and I was feeling it. Perhaps we could both look at this a little more objectively if we were better rested. Michelle wasn’t an early riser, so we had several hours before she’d be up. Spending those hours snuggled up to my husband sounded like a pretty good idea. Without saying a word, I took his hand and led him inside to our bedroom.
I hadn’t planned on making love again—we both needed sleep—but when he undressed me and began kissing me, all bets were off. He slid into me without hesitation, and as he filled me more deeply, I closed my eyes and gave myself up to the moment.
Whatever happened from here on, I was happy Price had brought me to the island. My life would never be the same, but at least we were together. Even if we had only these few hours, they were better than a lifetime without my soulmate.
His thrusts became harder, and I lifted my hips to accommodate him. As I glided into orgasm, he nipped at my ear.
“For better or for worse,” he whispered.
“For better or for worse,” I echoed.
* * *
I rolled over on the bed to touch my husband…but found only emptiness on his side of the bed. “Price?” I sat up and looked out the window. Bright sunlight streamed in.
I got up, went to the bathroom, and then put on a silk robe and slippers. I padded down the stairs to the kitchen.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Michelle greeted me.
I looked around. “Where’s Price?”
“He and Otis left a while ago. He didn’t want to wake you up. Said he wouldn’t be too long.”
“How long ago was that?”
“A couple hours.”
“Shit,” I said under my breath. I’d hoped we could talk through everything once we had some sleep. “What time is it?”
“A little after noon.” Michelle pointed to her plate. “You want a sandwich or something?”
I shook my head and opened the refrigerator. Nothing sounded appetizing, but I took out a bowl of fruit salad.
I gasped when the front door opened. Price walked in, sans Otis, thank God. Maybe now we could talk.
I ran into his arms. “Where have you been?”
“Just taking care of a few things.”
“What things?” I didn’t care that Michelle was within earshot. She probably already knew more than I did.
“Just things, baby. Nothing for you to worry about.”
I met his gaze head on. “This stops now. Everything is something for me to worry about until you assure me otherwise.”
He opened his mouth, but I stopped him with a gesture.
“And no. Just you saying it’s nothing for me to worry about won’t cut it.”
“Come to think of it,” Michelle said from the kitchen, “I agree with Kate. Let’s get it all out on the table. This ‘vacation’ hasn’t been anything like you promised, big brother. It’s time for you to spill the beans. Are you in trouble?”
Trouble? Michelle knew he was already in trouble. Why else would he have faked his own death and be hiding out on a tiny island?
However, Price eyed me with a slight shake of his head, so I said nothing to Michelle.
“Nothing more than you already know,” Price said. “Excuse me for a minute, okay?”
He walked out of the kitchen and toward Michelle’s bedroom.
“That was strange,” Michelle said.
I nodded. Strange didn’t even begin to describe the happenings of the last few days. I scooped fruit salad into a bowl, sat down next to Michelle, and took a bite of papaya. “Is there coffee?”
“Yeah. I’ll get you a cup.” She rose.
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, Price returned. “I have great news for you, Sis,” he said to Michelle. “Otis has volunteered to take you sightseeing and snorkeling today.”
“Huh?” Michelle widened her eyes. “After your ‘not with him’ comment yesterday?”
“It’s not a date. Don’t worry. But I know you’ve been stuck here for two days without much to do.”
“I wasn’t complaining. The beach is right outside.”
“I know. But wouldn’t you like to do something else?”
“This was never about me, Price. This was about you and Kate. I’m happy to do my part.”
“Well”—Price cleared his throat—“today is about you. I want you to have some fun while you’re here.” Again, he met my gaze, his eyes pleading.
Was I supposed to talk her into this? That’s what he seemed to be indicating. I’d always been able to read Price well.
“Why don’t you go for it, Chelle?” I said. “Price showed me all around the island. It’s wonderful. There are some cute little shops where the local artists sell their work. You love that kind of stuff. The food is amazing too.” I turned to Price. “Make sure Otis takes her to get that great shaved ice we had.”
“Are you sure you two will be okay?” She let out a raucous laugh. “I can’t believe I just said that. You’re going to christen every inch of this villa, aren’t you? I guess I can’t blame you for trying to get rid of me.”
“I’m not trying to get—”
Michelle stopped Price. “I was kidding. I’ll go. It will be nice to get out. I’m going to shower and change. When is he coming?”
“Soon.”
A knock sounded at the front door.
“Very soon, apparently.” Price stood.
“Shit. Tell him to give me five.” Michelle charged to her bedroom.
I followed Price to the door. He opened it and let Otis in.
“Hey,” Otis said. “Is my date ready?”
“It’s not a date,” Price said through gritted teeth.
“Easy, man. I’m kidding.” He walked in and sat down in the living area. “Is everything in order?”
Price picked
up a manila folder that I hadn’t noticed sitting on a table by the door. “It’s all in here, bud. I don’t have to remind you that you’re carrying precious cargo.”
“I’ve got it. Honestly. You can count on me.”
My muscles went rigid. What was going on?
Michelle came flying out of her bedroom wearing shorts and a tank top and carrying a beach bag. “I’ve got a swimsuit, towel, and my snorkel. Is there anything else I might need? Oh, wait. I didn’t grab my passport.”
“No need.” Otis said. “You don’t need ID on the island. They know me personally everywhere we’re going. Best to leave your passport here where it’s safe.”
Michelle smiled. “Good enough for me. See you guys later.” She followed Otis out to his jeep parked on the gravel driveway.
Price turned to follow them, but I grabbed his arm. “What’s going on? What was in the envelope?”
He watched his sister drive away with Otis, an unreadable look in his eye, and then took my hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it. “How about we take Michelle’s advice and christen every inch of this place.”
Lust surged within me, but we were so not going there right now. Not until I had some well-deserved answers. “No dice.” I pulled my hand away.
“It was worth a try. Sit down and have a cup of coffee with me. I have a lot to tell you.” He led me into the kitchen, topped off my coffee cup, and poured one for himself.
I sat, numbly, waiting for the truth to spill from his mouth. When seconds turned into minutes, I said, “It’s your move.”
He took a sip of coffee and sighed. “Otis and I went to talk to the local authorities this morning about the tussle at the boat last night.”
“Yeah?”
“Well…it turns out, the locals weren’t anywhere near the boat last night. Neither was the coastguard. No one had any record of the disturbance.”
My pulse quickened. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means—or rather, we think it means—that whoever was searching the boat had disguised themselves as law enforcement.”
I gulped.
“If that’s true, Otis actually talked to…” Price rubbed at his temples. “It means they’re here, Kate.”
Misadventures Of A Good Wife Page 9