Real Men Do It Better

by Lora Leigh, Susan Donovan, Lori Wilde, Carrie Alexander

  Annie sucked in her breath. Could it be true? All this time she’d thought she was just another notch on Duncan’s bedpost, and now to find out that he’d loved her so much he’d let her go for her greatest good? They stared as if seeing each other for the first time. The fire anchored them on the island, while every fiber of their souls were reaching into the past, touching the pain they’d caused each other. The tide whispered up onto the beach, then sank back in a breathless hush.

  “Duncan…”

  “Annie…”

  They sat without speaking for what seemed like a very long time. Then Duncan leaned forward to study her face in the firelight. Gently, he hooked two fingers under her jaw and tilted her head back, his eyes zeroing on her chin.

  He sketched his fingertips over the scar and then dipped his lips to kiss it, tracing the jagged edges with his tongue. His touch grew firmer, grazing her old wound with his teeth, sucking and nibbling at her chin, mouthing her skin with the appetite of a lover, evoking a powerful sensation Annie instantly identified as rapture.

  The sheer intimacy of his tenderness sprang tears to her eyes. Tenderness and concern, followed by anxiousness, profound sadness, and an odd fear. He whispered her name, “Annie,” and pulled her into his lap. She kissed his mouth, wanting to breathe his breath, wanting him to breathe hers.

  And for the first time in her life, Annie Graves truly felt beautiful.

  6

  “Ahoy there!”

  A cheery voice woke Annie. Startled, she sat up, rubbing her eyes, and saw Duncan walking out to meet a tour boat anchored just off the beach. It took her a moment to realize they were being rescued.

  Thank God! Much more time alone with Duncan and Annie didn’t know what she might have done. After his confession last night, something inside of her had slipped. The hard resolve, the resentment she’d bottled up melted away like snow on sauna stones. He’d done what he’d done, not because he didn’t care as she’d supposed, but because he cared so much. So where did that leave them now?

  She got to her feet, wiped the sand from the seat of her bikini, and followed him to greet their visitors.

  It turned out the people in the tour boat were a group of newlyweds heading for a week at a private resort on a nearby island. Apparently, the driver of the boat who’d abandoned Annie and Duncan had met the tour boat captain in Key West, told him how he’d been spooked by Dead Man’s Island and confessed to have stranded them. The tour boat captain had promised to stop by and pick them up on his way to the resort. From there, they could catch a returning boat to Key West the following day.

  It was a bit unsettling to be cruising along with couples who were constantly kissing and touching each other. Annie had never considered herself a voyeur, but she couldn’t seem to stop watching a particularly bold and handsome couple making out in the back of the boat.

  Their tongues flicked languidly over each other’s mouths, their hands touching, caressing, stroking. The woman was dressed in a skimpy thong bikini that showcased her ample breasts, tanned skin, and taut butt. The man’s chest was chiseled, but he wasn’t, she noticed, as intricately ripped as Duncan.

  She kept thinking about yesterday. About what she’d done with Duncan. How they’d licked and sucked and fucked each other with their mouths. She pressed her knees together and stared out at the water. It was all she could do not to beg Duncan to touch her inappropriately right there in front of everyone. Just like the other couple was doing.

  The man was trailing his tongue along the woman’s throat now and she was moaning softly.

  Annie’s body flared like a match head struck against sandpaper. She suppressed a shudder of arousal. God, but she was turned on.

  Duncan circled her waist with his arm and put his mouth against her ear. She felt his chin brush her cheek, all raspy from a day’s growth of beard stubble, and this time she did shudder.

  “Don’t you wish that was us?” he whispered.

  She clenched her hands, closed her eyes, bit down on her bottom lip.

  He chuckled. “Hold on, babe, we’ll be at the resort soon.”

  When they arrived, Duncan left her waiting in the luxurious lobby while he went to speak to the resort manager. Annie didn’t know what magic he’d wrought without ID or credit cards, but he came back with a room assignment. Damn, but the man was magic. Fishing for their dinner, starting a fire with wet wood, and now procuring them a honeymoon suite in a five-star resort solely on the strength of his charm.

  It’s the Siren’s Call, she thought. Paving the way for romance.

  Carrying their meager gear, Duncan led the way to their room. Annie took the key card they’d given him at the front desk and slashed it through the card reader.

  They stepped over the threshold into the spacious room furnished for newlyweds. There was an oversized hot tub situated near French doors leading out onto a balcony overlooking the ocean. The king-sized bed was plush and mounded high with lots of pillows. Mirrors lined not only the ceiling, but also ran along the wall behind the hot tub as well. Annie shivered, imagining what was to come.

  There was a bucket of iced champagne and a goodie basket resting on the bureau. Annie stepped closer and peered at the basket. Fruit and chocolate and massage oils and, oh, my goodness, were those condoms?

  She looked up to see Duncan looking. He grinned. “Seems they’ve anticipated our every need. Food, champagne, and condoms. Who could ask for anything more?”

  Unnerved, Annie turned to set the Siren’s Call down on the bedside table. The lodestone in the mermaid’s breast caught the light, and damn if it didn’t appear as if she was winking at her.

  “I think it’s time for a hot shower.” Duncan tossed their diving equipment in the closet and turned for the bathroom. He stopped at the door, held out a hand. “Care to join me?”

  “Shower?” she said without knowing the words were going to spill from her lips. “How about a dip in the hot tub?”

  “Ah,” he replied. “I like the way you think.”

  Two seconds later their swimsuits were off and they were in the churning bubbly water of the hot tub.

  Duncan was looking at her as if she was the most delicious feast he’d ever seen. She licked her lips. A sinful smile played across his lips. One look, one smile from him, and her womb did cartwheels.

  He reached out a hand and drew her to him. This felt right, and it shouldn’t. But it did. He was so familiar to her. They fit. She and Duncan. Never mind that he was a big and she was a petite. Or that she was brainy and he was brawny. They balanced each other out. All this time she thought she’d needed someone just like her. That she needed stability and security when all along what she really needed was heartfelt passion to balance her seriousness.

  His fingers curled around her waist and he lifted her up in the water and settled her in his lap, her legs straddling his. She felt the thick ridge of his hard cock against the back of her bare ass and it shoved her into crazy territory.

  Heat engulfed her. From inside and out. She was in hot water and loving it. Her hands gripped his shoulder as she stared into his eyes. He looked so powerful, so dominant, so totally male. She just melted. She needed him so much it scared the living hell out of her. Needed, wanted, yearned, and ached for him.

  “God, Annie, you’ve no idea how much I’ve missed you. Missed getting to do things like this with you.” The expression in his eyes was not quite like anything she’d ever seen there. A combination of remorse and desire, tenderness and male pride, and overt sexual appreciation of her. He kissed her and she kissed him back, both trying to see how deep they could take it. “We wasted so much time.”

  “Duncan,” she whispered. The water churned and pulsed around them, the powerful jets caressing every sensitive area of her body.

  “Come here,” he commanded, in his husky Scottish brogue.

  Her body trembled. It felt as if her internal temperature was as hot as the water around her, sizzling at a hundred and six. Her pussy throbbed f
or him.

  He reached underneath the swirling bubbles, found her foot, and trolled her to him until she was riding the water just above his waist. His big fingers kneaded the flesh of her ass until tingles of delight shot through her body.

  His lips brushed against her neck, then found her earlobe. His breathing was rapid and hard as his tongue moistened the curve of her ear. She turned her head to meet his lips. They were rough and warm.

  Her fingers reached down to touch his erect cock, bobbing provocatively in the water. He was so thick and he felt so good between her hands.

  “The water isn’t going to cut it.” Duncan wrapped his hands around her waist and without another word, he climbed from the hot tub with Annie clasped snuggly in his arms.

  He sat her down on the tile floor. The difference between the hot tub and the cool floor shocked her feet. Electric. He whipped a fluffy bath towel off the rack and rubbed her down with it, drying first her body and then his.

  She stared at him as he tenderly toweled her off. His dick was so hard, she couldn’t stand not touching him. She reached for him, but he blocked her hand with his elbow.

  “Not yet,” he said.

  She groaned.

  When he was finished, he flung the towel aside and reached for her again. His lips were on hers, his inquisitive fingers drawn to the curve of her butt.

  Her excitement grew. She loved how his fingers felt on her ass, and when he kissed her cheeks, she almost came unglued.

  “You’ve got the most gorgeous ass,” he breathed heavily. “Totally fuckable.” The stroke of his palms, calloused and broad, sent Annie’s stomach springing into her throat with anticipation.

  “So fuck it,” she whispered.

  She had just thought her body was on fire before, but nothing prepared her for this inferno. Or the thick richness of the juice flowing from her pussy, readying her body to accept his big throbbing cock.

  His mouth took hers hostage. His tongue thrusting boldly past her lips, invading, demanding.

  She made not a single protest. In fact, she kissed him back with a hunger so fierce he made a startled noise of extreme pleasure.

  He pulled her down with him and they collapsed together onto the bed. Duncan was pressed against the length of her, the heat of his body warming her from head to toe.

  Their legs were entangled. She dug her fingers into his firm chest muscles, admiring his taut skin. Down her hands went, to rub the velvety purplish head of him. Hot clear juice oozed from his tip. She licked her finger. He tasted virile, sweet.

  She felt him getting harder and harder. Was it possible for a man to be so hard and not explode?

  He positioned her on her back and rose above her, cradling the back of her head in the palm of his hands, his body poised just over hers, his cock jutting against her inner thigh. He looked deeply into her eyes, his hair glistening dark in the sunlight slanting through the open French doors.

  Passion was a tidal wave, washing over her, scaring her with its intensity. This was what she’d fought for so long to avoid. This maniacal madness. This typhoon that sent her spinning heedlessly, helplessly into the abyss.

  His mouth was on hers, his fingers at her breasts, pinching her nipples into marbles.

  Biting need gushed like blood through ventricles. Swift. Pulsating

  “I’m going to fuck you now, babe,” he whispered. “The way you need to be fucked.

  Holding her locked in place with his elbows on either side of her, his hands interlaced at the top of her head and his dark eyes lasered into hers. He felt so real, so alive. She could feel his heart beating throughout his body. Her heartbeat joined his until they pulsed with identical energy.

  Home, she thought. I’ve come home. It was a dangerous, reckless thought, but she couldn’t stop thinking it. Her body lit up, tingling from her scalp to her toes.

  “You are so beautiful.” He stared into her eyes. “I’ve missed you so damned much.” And then she realized he was trembling, her big strong Scotsman shaking with emotion. His vulnerability touched her so deeply that tears welled in her eyes and slid hotly down her cheeks. He was laying everything on the line for her.

  “What’s wrong?” he sounded alarmed.

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She smiled and swiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

  “Are you having second thoughts? Do you want to stop?”

  “No! Yes! I don’t know. I’m confused. Please.”

  “Please what?”

  She glanced away, unable to deal with the look in his eyes and the strange twisting sensation in her heart. Her gaze landed on the Siren’s Call resting on the bedside table. How much of this was that stupid idol’s doing? How much was her own long-buried passion she’d tried so hard to deny? How could she trust what she was feeling was real?

  Annie could feel the energy of the Siren’s Call, radiating through her like a microwave, pulling her to the edge of reason. Making her believe in things she had no business believing in.

  “Talk to me, babe. Tell me what you need.”

  “Just fuck me, Duncan. Fuck me like you promised. Give me your big, hard cock. It’s all I want.”

  He made a noise low in his throat, like a wounded lion. “That’s all you want?” he echoed, anger flicking in his eyes.

  She nodded, even though it wasn’t true. She was afraid to say what she really wanted from him. Afraid to claim the truth. Afraid that in the long run he was going to break her heart again.

  The past was not just a link between them, but a chain, roping them to each other, whether they liked it or not. She had given Duncan her virginity when she was twenty. Had loved him since she was thirteen. There was no escaping. She could marry Eric. She could marry someone else entirely, but she would never escape the feelings she had for Duncan. She knew this and it scared her.

  He’s your destiny. Why fight it? a voice in the back of her head whispered.

  She stared up at the mirrored ceiling, saw their bodies entwined, and she caught her breath. His nakedness was so glorious. She bit down on her bottom lip as she gazed at his image. Big, masculine, dominant, rugged. A man who feared nothing.

  Except commitment? How could she ever trust that he wouldn’t run away on her again?

  He fumbled for a condom from the bedside table and savagely tore open the package with his teeth. “If you just want to be fucked, if my dick is all you want, then we’ll do it animal style,” he rasped.

  She shuddered and almost came at the rough sound of his voice, at his provocatively crude words. Her womb contracted, eager for the fucking he promised.

  Duncan’s hands went around her waist and he flipped her over onto all fours. His grip was firm and she tensed, waiting, her body tight with anticipation.

  She felt his cock teasing the entrance to her pussy. He pushed in, but ever so slightly.

  The hard tip of him was barely inside her. He pulled back and then pushed again, sliding in just a little bit deeper this time.

  Back and forth.

  Out and then in again, controlled, smooth, driving her insane. She whimpered, begging him to enter her completely, fully. She’d waited so long to have him again, and now he was making her wait even longer. It wasn’t fair and she wasn’t going to stand for it. She thrashed her head.

  “Give me all you’ve got. Give it to me now, dammit.”

  “Yes, yes, Annie, this is how I like to see you. Wild, passionate, out of control. Don’t hold back. Let go. Tell me everything you want.”

  Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she looked up and saw their reflection in the mirror. The sight of his tanned hands splayed over her creamy white ass sent her blood pumping fast and furious.

  She tried to push back against his cock, to make him plunge deeper inside her, but he pulled out completely.

  “Bastard,” she cried.

  He laughed and reached his hand around to slip two fingers inside her aching cunt while he caressed her hot clit with a third finger. She writhed, impaled on his fi
ngers.

  Then his other hand slid over the curve of her butt.

  Shocked but delighted, her gaze transfixed on the mirror, she watched him. Her muscles tensed in anticipation.

  “Relax,” he coaxed and gently massaged her.

  Slowly, her muscles relaxed.

  “That’s it.”

  He reached for something. Her eyes tracked his movements. He was going for the Siren’s Call.

  What was he doing with that?

  She quivered, speculating.

  He brought the smooth glass tip of the idol to the entrance of her cunt and moistened it with her pussy juices. Was he going to fuck her with the Siren’s Call?

  “Pervert,” she gasped excitedly.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he murmured.

  And she couldn’t stop watching, anxious for what would happen next. With one broad hand, he separated the folds of her labia. She panted.

  He paused, driving her insane. Then suddenly, he grasped her around the waist with one hand to hold her in place and plunged his cock deeply into her. He was so huge! He stretched her to capacity.

  She gasped at the insurgence of pleasure. He was still holding the Siren’s Call. Through the mirror, she could see it glistening wetly with the sheen of her honeyed essence.

  What was he going to do with it?

  Moaning, Annie grasped the bedcovers in both fists.

  His cock pounded against her clit, taking her higher and higher. Her ears rang. Flashes of heat rolled over her like lava down a mountainside. The sight of his big body behind her, his tanned fingers fanned out over her pale white ass was highly erotic and jettisoned her excitement into the stratosphere.