Risky Pleasures

by Brenda Jackson

  So here he was with no specific plan in mind since spontaneous was the order of the evening. He looked past the palm trees toward her place and saw how well lit it was. Light spilled out, illuminating certain areas of the private beach.

  “Cameron.”

  He turned toward the sound of his name and saw her standing next to a palm tree in a semi-lighted area. She was wearing the last outfit she had modeled for him. The one he had liked least. But seeing her in it now, the material as transparent as could be, had blood gushing through his veins.

  As if mesmerized, he drifted toward her, his eyes never leaving her. With each step he took, his heart pounded out a heated rhythm and his teeth were clenched to stop the flood of sensations overtaking him.

  Her outfit might have been provocative as hell, but it was her stance that was his undoing. She leaned against the tree, her legs braced apart in such a way that the flimsy material flowed all over her lush softness, her magnificent curves. Tantalizing. Sexy. Seductive.

  The latter had him entranced. Standing there in that outfit she was the epitome of sensual femininity. He could clearly see everything, the puckered tips of her shapely breasts, the flat stomach and small waist and the dark triangle between her legs. His mouth watered, his erection hardened and his breathing became a forced act.

  The closer he got, the longer he looked into her passion-filled eyes, the more he wanted her.

  The more he wanted spontaneous.

  Every muscle in his body clenched with desire the moment he came to a stop in front of her. He reached out and, with a flick of his wrist, he unclasped the hooks on both her shoulders, and the dress slithered down her body and lay in a pool at her feet.

  He whisked his eyes over her naked body and when, as if in a moment of nervousness, she lowered one of her hands to cover her center, he caught her wrist and moved her hand aside. She was his. And as far as he was concerned, what she was trying to hide was his. And he intended to have it. Now.

  He took a step back and whipped his shirt over his head and with trembling, hot fingers he fumbled at his belt before jerking it free and tossing it aside. Then came his shorts. Anticipating what would happen tonight, he hadn’t bothered with underwear.

  Vanessa just stood looking at him, letting her gaze move from his face slowly down his body, stopping at his shaft.

  It actually twitched under her direct perusal and he felt it harden even more right before her eyes. When she licked her lips, he released a tortured moan.

  Instantly, she sank to her knees on the sand in front of him, and before he could draw his next breath, her hands closed over his erection just seconds before she took him into her mouth.

  The impact of that sensual contact made his entire body shudder. She began stroking him all over with her tongue, then raking that same tongue across the sensitized tip, nibbling gently with her teeth before sucking deeply. He tangled his fingers in her hair, trying to tug her away one minute and then trying to hold her mouth hostage on him the next.

  When he felt an explosion starting right there at the tip, he jerked back, and in one quick move he eased her down and positioned his body over hers. The moment she lifted her hips to him, he entered her in one smooth thrust, driving deep into her wetness.

  She screamed his name at the same exact time he screamed hers, and it seemed every cell in his body fragmented as he was thrown into mind-boggling pleasure. Too late he realized that he hadn’t used a condom just as he felt his body explode, releasing everything he had deep into her womb.

  He held her there, her body locked to his, and somehow, moments later, he found the strength to thrust deep into her again, and in no time felt himself succumbing, exploding once more.

  This was rapture so pure, so unadulterated and perfect.

  He knew it could only be this way with Vanessa.

  “Would you like to watch a movie?” Cameron asked. “The previous owner left his DVD collection behind.”

  Vanessa glanced over at Cameron from across the kitchen and wondered if he was serious. After the rendezvous on the beach that had left them both naked and covered in sand, he had carried her to his place where they had used his outside shower. He had shampooed her hair and she had washed his back, then they had made love all over again, right there in the shower. Afterwards, he made her promise never to wear the outfit again and had given her one of his T-shirts to put on. They had decided they were hungry and now were in the kitchen.

  “I’m going to have to pass on the movie, but I would like you to tell me who taught you how to cook.”

  He leaned back against the counter, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. He had thrown together an omelet and biscuits. “My grandfather. After my grandmother died it was just the two of us.”

  She nodded. “Is he still living?”

  He shook his head and she could see the sadness reflected in his deep-set eyes. “No, he died when I turned eighteen. Right before I entered college.”

  “The two of you were close. I can tell,” she said softly. She could hear the special love in his voice.

  She watched a smile touch his lips. “Yes, we were very close. He was the best.”

  She didn’t say anything for the longest time until finally she admitted, “My dad was the best, too. He never had sons but it didn’t matter to him. My mom, Taylor, Cheyenne and I were the apples of his eye and he always let us know it. I only wish…”

  “What?”

  “That I could have convinced him to stop smoking. He died of lung cancer, and a part of me wished I could have done something, hidden his cigarettes, anything.”

  “That wouldn’t have helped, Vanessa. The person smoking is the one who has to want to stop. Your father would have continued to smoke until it was his decision to quit.”

  What Cameron was telling her was no different from what her family and Sienna had told her. But when she remembered her father in his last days, how the cancer had left a robust man barely recognizable, a part of her still believed there was something she could have done.

  Not wanting to discuss her father any longer, she decided to ask Cameron more about his childhood. In all the media releases she’d read on him, very little had been mentioned about it, except that he’d dropped out of school at sixteen.

  “Was your grandfather your mom’s father or your dad’s?”

  She watched him take a sip of his coffee before glancing over at her. “He was my father’s father. My parents were killed in a fire at our apartment complex when I was six. My dad was able to get me out but when he went back in for my mother, the building collapsed.”

  Vanessa gasped and she immediately felt a tug on her heart. “Oh, how awful that must have been for you.”

  Cameron stared down into his coffee cup a long moment before finally lifting his head and meeting her gaze. “It was. And for the longest time, like you, I was on a guilt trip. I would often ask myself, What if Dad had gotten Mom out first? What if I had awakened and smelled the smoke first? What if I had convinced them to have a fire-escape plan like they had taught us in school? There were so many what-ifs, but I soon realized that none of them would bring my parents back.”

  Vanessa’s heartstrings tugged tighter. She could just imagine the guilt that had consumed his young mind. “Is that when you went to live with your grandparents?” she asked.

  “Yes, and they were great. It was as if they knew exactly what I needed.” He chuckled. “My grandparents were pretty big on hugs. The warm and cuddly kind.”

  Vanessa smiled. She wondered how a man with such a warm and cuddly childhood with his grandparents could grow up to be the hard and controlled man that he was.

  She opened her mouth to ask him another question when his cell phone rang. “Excuse me.” He picked it up off the counter. “Yes, X.”

  Vanessa could tell from the expression on Cameron’s face and the tenseness of his body that he didn’t like whatever the person was telling him.

  “Tell Kurt that I want this person found b
efore he does any more damage.” He snapped the phone shut.

  “Trouble?”

  Cameron jerked his head up and looked at her. “No, everything’s fine.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.”

  She doubted he would tell her if things weren’t fine and decided not to get upset by it. He really had no reason to share his business matters with her, since she certainly wouldn’t be sharing any of the Steele business with him. “I’ve changed my mind.”

  The gaze holding hers was steady. “About what?”

  “The movie. I’m not sleepy and I would love watching one if you still want to.”

  A small smile touched the corners of his lips. “Yes, I want to and I’ll even let you choose something sappy.”

  Vanessa stood. “That’s mighty generous of you, Mr. Cody.”

  He grinned. “Haven’t you figured out by now that I’m a very generous person?”

  “Need more tissue?”

  Vanessa looked over at him with tear-filled eyes. “Sorry. I always cry whenever I watch this movie.”

  “Then why do you watch it?”

  “Because it’s a good movie.”

  “It’s a tear-jerker.”

  She eased off the sofa to stand in front of him. “It’s still a good movie. In fact, it’s my favorite and has been since the first time I saw it when I was eight. I’m surprised you don’t like it.”

  He shrugged. “It took Dorothy too long to find her way back to Kansas. As far as I’m concerned she wasn’t too bright. She should have figured out a lot sooner there was no yellow brick road that would get her there.”

  Vanessa placed her hand on her hips, not liking his critique. “Do you have a favorite movie?”

  “No.”

  “Not a one?”

  “No, not a one. I like creating my own action,” he said. With her standing right in front of him, her luscious scent was filling his lungs, and his T-shirt, which barely hit her at midthigh, was looking sexy as hell on her.

  Not able to resist temptation any longer, he reached out and pulled her down into his lap. A naughty grin touched his lips. “In addition to creating my own action, I especially like taking part in my own love scenes.”

  And then he leaned over and kissed her.

  Vanessa returned the kiss, doubting she would ever tire of kissing him. She wrapped her arms around Cameron’s neck and tasted him with the same hunger with which he was tasting her. Beneath her, his erection nudged her hip and his hand began tracing a path up her inner thigh.

  Suddenly Cameron pulled both his mouth and hand away. “We need to talk,” he said, resting his forehead against hers. “We need to discuss something I should have brought up earlier.”

  She kept her arms wrapped around his neck and met his gaze. “What?”

  “I didn’t use any protection when we made love on the beach tonight.”

  His words were like ice water thrown on her. No protection. How had she not realized? She’d never had sex with a man without using some type of protection. She’d been taking the Pill since her college days but when it came to sex these days, women had more to worry about than an unwanted pregnancy. There were serious health issues to consider.

  “I’m safe, Vanessa. Don’t worry about that,” Cameron said as if reading her thoughts. “I get a physical every year.”

  “So do I,” she quickly said, needing to reassure him, as well. “I’m safe, too.”

  He smiled and tightened his arms around her waist. “I know you are.”

  She was tempted to ask why he was so certain, but just the thought that he was sent a warm feeling through her.

  “Now that we’ve covered that part, we need to discuss the other.”

  She lifted a brow. “What other?”

  “The possibility of a pregnancy.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not possible. I’m on the Pill.”

  He nodded slowly. “Anything is possible. The Pill isn’t 100 percent guaranteed and if a child has been created, Vanessa, the agreement is off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We agreed that once this affair ended we wouldn’t be in contact with each other. But if you’re pregnant that changes everything since I’d want to know about my child. Understood?”

  She frowned, not liking the tone of voice he’d taken, and definitely not liking the way he was trying to take control of things. “I told you I’m on the Pill, so relax, Cameron. There won’t be a baby.”

  “If there is—”

  “Then I would let you know. But you’re worrying for nothing.”

  He met her gaze for a long moment before standing with her in his arms. “Are you ready for bed?”

  After that last conversation a part of her wanted to leave, to go back to Cheyenne’s place and sleep in her own bed tonight. He had made her mad. But another part of her wanted to stay, to sleep cuddled under him and wake up with him in the morning. That was the part telling her to get over it.

  She quickly made a decision and tightened her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’m ready.”

  Chapter 11

  Four days later, Cameron leaned against the rail on his patio watching the sun rising over the ocean. Vanessa was upstairs, still asleep in his bed. He had slipped away momentarily to come downstairs to wait for a call he expected from Kurt…and also to think.

  Although he had no intention of doing so, if he were to adhere to their agreement, he had only one week left to spend with Vanessa. And if he were to analyze their days together since becoming sex mates, he would be the first to admit that they had been some of the best days of his life. He smiled, thinking that a lot could be said for spontaneity.

  There hadn’t been too much they hadn’t tried in the bedroom. But then the bedroom hadn’t been the only place they’d made love. In fact, come to think of it, the only times they had actually made it to the bed was when it was time for them to retire for the night. Otherwise, spontaneous meant spontaneous.

  Vanessa had seduction down to an art form, and he’d discovered the hard way—literally—that she was a woman of incredible talents. She had to be the most passionate human being on the face of the earth. Already his body was whirring with thoughts of what today would bring.

  Although the sex was great, Cameron knew it wasn’t the only reason he was enjoying every moment that he spent with Vanessa. Whether it was playing tennis, looking for seashells on the beach, swimming together, cooking, even shopping, everything with her was turning into an adventure.

  They never talked about work but had shared their thoughts about the many charitable organizations they were both involved with. He had also discovered that she was a very compassionate person who gave her time to others generously. When he’d told her about his involvement in Angel Flight, an organization in which CEOs volunteered their private jets to transport needy patients, she promised to propose it at the next Steele board meeting, now that the company was purchasing a private jet.

  The ring of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. He answered it. “Yeah, Kurt, what do you have for me?”

  “An arrest has been made, Cameron.”

  He nodded, relieved. At first he’d tried not to get the authorities involved, but when there had been a third incident, he’d been left with no choice. For the next ten to fifteen minutes he listened while Kurt detailed how they had discovered the identity of the person responsible for vandalizing the offices of Global Petroleum on three separate occasions.

  “Of course he won’t admit McMurray put him up to anything,” Kurt was saying. “But that’s okay since the man was caught in full color on video. I’m going to make sure he does jail time for what he did, which will give him a chance to think about it.”

  Cameron nodded. “Good job, Kurt. The charges being brought against him will send a clear message to others that I mean business and I won’t tolerate such behavior from any employee.”

  After ending the call with Kurt, Cameron leaned back agains
t the rail and stared across the ocean. For some reason he had a gut feeling that this thing with McMurray was far from over. Bitter, John McMurray would continue to make problems or would hire others to do his dirty work for him.

  Not wanting to think about McMurray anymore, Cameron switched his thoughts back to Vanessa. They had gone shopping again yesterday, this time for baby items. She was excited about the new addition to the Steele family, Chance’s son, Alden. Cameron was grateful she hadn’t asked for his opinion on anything since he couldn’t recall the last time he’d been around a baby.

  A baby.

  He remembered his conversation of a few nights ago with Vanessa when they’d discussed the possibility of her being pregnant. Yesterday, while shopping for Chance and Kylie’s baby, a part of him had wished that he and Vanessa had been shopping for their own child. He had never entertained any thoughts of sharing a child with a woman until now, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea…with Vanessa.

  He shook his head. First he needed to secure a strong relationship with the mother before he could even contemplate bringing a baby into the mix.

  But he definitely was thinking about it.

  “Okay, I’m stumped,” Vanessa said, tossing aside the crossword puzzle she’d been working on for the past half hour. A few hours ago she and Cameron had made love upstairs in his bed and now they were stretched out beside each other by his pool in a double chaise lounge.

  “Maybe I can help,” Cameron said, glancing from the book he was reading. “What’s the clue?”

  Vanessa picked up the book. “It’s a five-letter word for ‘a fruit-loving bug.’ The second letter is a P.”

  Cameron turned on his side and stretched his arm around her. “Aphid.” He proceeded to spell it for her.

  She stared at him, amazed. “And you knew the answer…just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.

  He shrugged. “No great mystery. I love science, always have.”

  Vanessa shook her head. He evidently loved math, as well, if the last two shopping trips were anything to go by. By the time they’d reached the cash register, he had totaled the purchases in his head, almost to the penny. She wondered…