Surrender

by D H Sidebottom

  He smiled faintly and nodded. “It is now.”

  For a moment I thought he was going to say something more but I jolted when he bent suddenly and whipped up my dress. I blinked when he ordered me to lift my arms above my head and hold on to the tree. “Do it,” he ordered when I merely gazed curiously at him. Swallowing, I looked around to make sure we were alone then did as he asked, raising my arms above my head and linking my fingers behind the thin trunk.

  Almost instantly, Jake pulled my dress over my head, bunching the material at the back of my neck but leaving my arms in, the action securing me to the tree with absolutely no manoeuvrability. “Jake!” I whispered as I looked around again. “We can’t, someone might come along.”

  He smirked. “If they do I’ll do them for trespassing . . . that’s after I beat the shit out of them for eyeing up my woman!”

  I stared wide-eyed at him. “You mean,” looking around at the beauty of the small island, “this is your island?”

  He nodded, his mouth already working down the centre of my throat. I shivered and moaned, my head dropping back against the tree as my arousal ramped up a degree with his leisurely worship. “Wow.”

  “Wow, indeed,” he breathed when his teeth clasped one of my hard nipples. “I admit I love women’s underwear, it can be sexy and inviting, but with you, I love it more when you don’t wear a bra. Makes it easier to get to what’s mine.”

  I nodded, the bark of the tree rubbing off and causing my hair to resemble a birds nest. I was desperate to thread my fingers through his thick hair but I couldn’t move anything above my shoulders, so instead, I jumped, ordering him to catch my legs when I wrapped them around his waist. “Fuck me,” I whispered, my cheeks heating with shame at my directness, but the way Jake’s eyes flamed with desire encouraged me further. “I want to feel you inside me, here, in such a beautiful stunning place with my beautiful man.”

  He looked almost pained for a moment, making me uneasy but then the biggest grin covered his face, his eyes twinkling with as much happiness. “You think I’m beautiful?”

  I laughed, I couldn’t help it. “Are you kidding me?” He shrugged. “Jake, you belong on the cover of GQ. Do you never notice how women look at you?”

  Shrugging again, he shook his head. “I only notice how you look at me, Isla. The way you talk with your expressions is all that I see. I don’t see anyone else when you’re around.”

  I wanted to hold his face, just touch him and make him see the person I saw but instead I leaned forward and kissed him the way he had kissed me moments before. “You’re the most stunning man I’ve ever seen, but more than that, I see your soul. And it’s just as beautiful as your looks. Why do you never accept the good parts inside you?”

  He blinked, his throat bobbing as he diverted his eyes. “Because when you’ve grown up with people constantly focusing on every terrible thing about you, then your good parts get buried under all the hatred. The admirable parts drowned a long time ago, Isla. I wish you could see that as much as you’re determined to find the decent parts of me.”

  “Well I disagree. I know there’s a man worthy of love and admiration in there.”

  He sighed, his eyes closing for a moment. “Do you know, you’re the only person brave enough to argue with me?”

  “Then it’s no wonder your ego is as huge as your lovely penis.” His mouth popped open but I grinned cheekily. “You also love it when I bicker with you. It makes you feel important when you chastise me.”

  I gave him a wink when he burst into laughter but he grew serious, his eyes making my chest heave with the way he looked at me. “And you love being chastised, don’t you, Isla?”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer when his hands cupped my arse and he nudged me further up the tree then plunged his cock straight into me, the thin lace of my knickers I’d bought especially for our night away, tearing easily with the force of his thrust. The back of my head bounced off the tree, sparks firing behind my eyes as my pussy walls clung to him for dear life.

  “Don’t you?” Jake growled with another fierce drive inside me when I didn’t answer his question, which I thought was just a hypothetical one anyway.

  I nodded, trying to catch my breath as my whole body tightened in need and pleasure.

  “Answer me!”

  “Yes,” I whimpered as my back scratched against the fraying bark, splinters and grazes making my skin raw. But I never felt it as Jake plunged hard and deep into me, his thrusts fast and relentless as he growled filthy words to me.

  I clamped my legs tighter around him as he pushed harder and harder, his teeth bared as his muscles rubbed against me. He was so highly strung I was certain he was going to come before me, but as soon as he removed a hand from my arse and pressed his thumb against my clit, I screamed out and nearly squashed him as my body tensed tightly.

  “That’s it sweetheart. Cover me with your dirty cum!” He bent down and bit the side of my breast as he climaxed hard, his hips almost forcing the outline of my body into the tree trunk when he rammed hard inside me. “Fuck! I can feel you dripping down my balls and thighs.”

  I shuddered, his words igniting me and prolonging my orgasm, the aftershock tearing through me as violently as my climax had.

  “I want every drop, Isla,” he ordered as his forehead fell against my shoulder, his breathing hard and laboured. “Give me it all.”

  I nodded, unable to speak as I lay my cheek against the top of his head, thankful for the support when my neck felt heavy and weak.

  “You’re killing me,” I panted.

  His head shot up and he stared at me, horror in his eyes as he shook his head like a maniac. “Never!”

  I frowned, baffled by his odd behaviour. “Relax. I’m teasing.”

  He looked too terrified to move for a second but then he visibly relaxed and smiled. “I know.” His voice was tight, his pitch high. It was obvious he didn’t realise I was teasing but before I could question him further, he pulled down my ravelled dress then flung me over his shoulder and slapped my arse.

  “Let’s get inside. I can’t wait to show you the house.”

  I squealed when he tore through the small orchard and then into a large but immaculately landscaped garden at the front of the house. I didn’t get a chance to look properly before Jake dropped me in the foyer of the house.

  I spun around in a circle admiring the high ceilings and the rustic but comforting furnishings. “I love this!”

  “Welcome back, Mr Devine.”

  I jumped at the accented voice, turning to find a young pretty local girl smiling at Jake. I tensed at the hint of lust she didn’t have the decency to hide in her eyes.

  “Adalene,” Jake greeted with a soft smile. I hated the way my stomach clenched at their exchange, feeling as though I had suddenly disappeared with the way they looked at one another.

  Jake turned to me. “Isla, this is Adalene, my housekeeper.”

  I smiled tightly. “Hi.”

  Jake frowned at me then turned back to Miss World who thrust her chest out. “Is everything prepared, Adalene?”

  She gave him a small nod. “Of course, Mr Devine.”

  Smiling again, he took my hand in his and pulled me towards him. “Then that will be all, thank you.”

  She blinked, looking perplexed for a moment. “Uh oh, okay.”

  I wanted to laugh and point at her, telling her she had just been burned but I was more mature than that. She curtseyed—curtseyed for Christ’s sake—then tipped her head respectfully and walked out of the front door.

  “Did she seriously expect a threesome?”

  Jake jolted at my sudden seething question but from the look on his face I knew I’d hit the nail on the head.

  “What?”

  “She seriously looked surprised when you dismissed her. Did she expect to share our bed?” He stiffened but sighed and I rolled my eyes. “Jesus! You’ve already slept with her!”

  He smirked arrogantly. “Believe me, Isla,
I haven’t slept with her!”

  I gawped at him, hurt and angered by his insensitivity. “You know what I mean! Do you have to be so thoughtless?”

  He chuckled, making me even angrier. “Are you jealous, sweetheart?”

  I scowled at him, annoyed by his lack of consideration and obvious stupidity. “You shouldn’t even have to ask that, Jake!”

  He smiled, nipping my chin with his fingers. “I will agree with you, Adalene was probably surprised I’d dismissed her, and she definitely would have been expecting to stop the night.”

  I stiffened, growing furious with him.

  “But,” he whispered as he grinned at me, “only because she thought I had brought you as a gift.”

  I snapped my eyes to him. “What?”

  He chuckled, walking away towards the open kitchen door to the right of the hall. “Adalene likes pussy, Isla. I often bring her a girl when I visit. They play and I watch, that’s all it has ever been. I can honestly swear my cock would never be included in Adalene’s sexual encounters. At all.”

  “Oh,” I choked out.

  He smirked at me. “Are you upset I sent her home?”

  “Bloody hell, Jake!” I grumbled, smacking him lightly on the arm and making him laugh harder.

  “Don’t knock what you’ve never tried.”

  “Stop it!” I spluttered, my cheeks flaming as his joking put images in my head.

  “You’re turned on!” He laughed as he pulled a bottle of champagne out of an ice bucket set on a table laid out with breads, cold meats and cheeses; obviously Adalene’s way of welcoming her employer back to his holiday home.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed.

  He shook his head and smirked but let it lie as he passed me a foaming glass of champagne. “To our secluded time together and to being buried inside you for the duration,” he whispered with a strange hint of emotion in his voice. There was definitely something wrong, yet I knew he wouldn’t tell me so I smiled and clinked my glass with his.

  “To many orgasms.” I winked, proud of myself for my growing confidence around a man who made me feel so comfortable with my body, offering it on a plate with naughty words was almost easy, something I had never dreamed would happen.

  Jake had not only found and nurtured my heart, he’d also found my sexuality and encouraged me to accept the underlying desire that I had always hidden beneath my thick skin.

  And for that, for taking away the fear Dwaine had instilled in me, I loved this man more than he could ever know.

  I SIGHED CONTENTEDLY, THE deep comfort of the mattress making rising the next morning a chore as my body throbbed with a pleasing soreness. Jake’s insatiable sexual appetite the previous day caused my body to ache, but in a good way. Turning, I reached out then frowned when my hand found a cold sheet.

  Opening my eyes, the sun blazing even at such an early hour, I frowned when silence and emptiness greeted me. Pulling on a gown that hung from the open bathroom door, I stepped onto the veranda.

  My heart squeezed tight when my eyes found Jake sitting on the sand, the clear blue water reaching his bare feet. His head was hung low and his bare shoulders slumped.

  Making my way through the empty house, I noticed a breakfast of rolls and pastries set out on a table with tea and coffee and some newspapers. I poured us both a cup of tea then carried them down to my man.

  “Hey,” I whispered.

  He turned to look at me, a wide smile covering his face as he reached up to my offer of tea. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  I nodded and sat beside him, smiling at the warmth of the water when it lapped and tickled my bare toes. “What’s wrong?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing now.”

  I scowled at him, aware he was deflecting again. “Talk to me, Jake. Something has obviously been bothering you ever since your business meeting the other night. I want to help.”

  Sighing, he lowered his gaze. “If I thought you could help, then I would ask for your help, Isla. Unfortunately, there isn’t so there’s no point.”

  “Bloody hell, Jake. I thought we were in a relationship.”

  “We are,” he said, staring at me like I was crazy. “We are!”

  “Then act like it. Talk to me!”

  His face tightened with a sliver of anger as he took my cup from me and placed it beside him. My back hit the sand when he suddenly covered my body with his own, pinning me beneath him, the warmth of the sand pressing against my spine. “Why do you have to be so argumentative?” he growled as his thumb gently stroked my cheekbone. “You need to listen to me, trust me.”

  “I can’t,” I confessed. “I can’t trust you.”

  “Why?” He looked hurt his features tightening and I felt like a bitch, but I couldn’t lie to him.

  “I don’t, Jake. It’s just how I’m built. I find it hard, although I’m sure my heart will learn to trust yours. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, in fact it means I love you more because I’m scared to death you’ll realise I’m not what you need and then you’ll dump me faster than a prostitute with genital warts.”

  His lips twitched but he shook his head, his mouth closing in on mine. “Never,” he whispered before he kissed me.

  The tide grew closer, the warmth of the water lapping around us as Jake made love to me slowly and effortlessly on the beach, his gentleness lifting my heart as I rolled him over and worshipped him back, his deep gaze idolising me as I leisurely moved on him, our joining more of emotions than body.

  He held my hips but didn’t work me, his eyes on mine as he allowed me to take the lead. I brought us both to orgasm, his hard muscles clenching deliciously as he cried out, his garbled words of love spluttering from him as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest, our panting heavy and laboured as he held me so tightly I swore I felt one of my ribs crack.

  “I love you so much,” I whispered as I looked into his troubled eyes.

  He closed his eyes for a moment as if relishing my words, then looked down at me. “You need to remember what I told you that day.”

  I shook my head, frowning in confusion. “What?”

  “I apologised, Isla. Remember that I apologised.”

  My blood cooled rapidly as his pain seeped into me. “I don’t understand.”

  “You don’t need to, but you need to remember.”

  “Jake, please. . . .”

  All of a sudden, he blinked and bounced up, completely cutting me off as he took my hand and pulled me to stand. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

  I hated that he couldn’t trust me enough to confide in me, but then my own words came back to haunt me. I’d told him I couldn’t trust him yet I expected his own confidence in opening up. I sighed heavily and shook off my lingering thoughts, allowing Jake to lead me back to the house.

  Jake was engrossed in his newspaper, biting on his croissant as we sat in silence during breakfast. I picked at my pastry, my eyes studying the beautiful rustic kitchen, but there were only so many times I could appreciate the way a cupboard was built, so I grabbed one of Jake’s newspapers. He flicked me a glance, smiled then went back to his study. It was clear Jake was one of those men who took current affairs seriously. Me, I’d never really read a newspaper or watched the news channel. The way the world was was too depressing and I preferred to live in my little bubble.

  Skimming the news pages, I flicked through until I hit the celebrity gossip section.

  Jake frowned when I giggled at the rumour that one of the most popular rock stars had allegedly been caught being ‘overfriendly’ with a couple of sheep. “Are they for real?” I scoffed.

  I smiled and shook my head when Jake’s brow quirked and he stared at me for an explanation. “Sorry.” I waved my hand at him. “Go back to your reading.”

  He gave me a weird look then went back to his financial pages. I sighed, the obvious difference between us making me feel uneducated. But there was no point in me trying to act clever around Jake. He knew exactly who I was
and loved me for it.

  I turned the page and oohed over a dress Greta French, the queen of Hollywood, had been spotted out in at a party. “Wow, gorgeous,” I whispered to myself.

  Jake leaned across to see what I was looking at. He shrugged. “It would look more beautiful on you.”

  I smiled up at him affectionately but his eyes were still on the paper laid out before me on the table. “Aww, baby,” I said as I stroked his cheek lovingly.

  Abruptly, making me gasp, Jake reached out and snatched the newspaper up. I had placed my cup on the edge of the paper and my tea spilled over the table and me. “Argh!” I squealed as I shot up and tried to pull my gown away from my body, the hot liquid seeping through the thin fabric and scorching my skin.

  “Shit!” he murmured when he spotted my blistering skin.

  Scooping me up, he ran through the house with me and took us both into the shower, turning the water to a tepid warmth as he stripped me down. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He kissed my forehead many times, his expression full of guilt and remorse.

  “It’s okay,” I soothed. “It was just an accident, Jake. Although I’m surprised by how eager you were to read the gossip pages.” I winked at him, trying to lighten the mood that had rapidly bottomed out.

  He swallowed and refused to look at me as he took the sponge and gently washed me down. The atmosphere was awful, the air almost choking with Jake’s mood and as soon as he’d cleaned me, he stepped out of the shower, his own clothes sodden and dripping everywhere as he quietly left me and closed the door behind him.

  I sighed, staring at the door. “What the hell?” I muttered to myself. “What the hell is going on?”

  But as per usual, no one answered my question, leaving me brooding and as moody as Jake for the rest of the day.

  “HEY!” ADAM GREETED, SCOOPING me up into a surprise genuine hug when I walked into work the next day.

  “Good morning.” I beamed back at him. “I take it you’re pleased I’m back?”

  He nodded firmly. “How the fuck did I manage without you?”

  “Ah.” I nodded humbly. “That’ll be my charm and my proficiency you’ve missed.”