Wicked Firsts

by Naughton, Elisabeth

  Cade chuckled. The bed dipped when he sat next to her. Completely off-balance, Avery jerked her legs away from him so she wouldn’t have to feel his heat permeating her skin through the thin cotton. “Relax. I’ve seen it all before, remember?”

  “No,” she snapped, eyes wide. “I don’t remember. What the hell happened last night?”

  His brow quirked in obvious amusement. “You really don’t know? Wow, you did drink a lot yesterday.”

  Her cheeks literally burned. Frantic, she searched her mind. What was she missing? What had happened after that kiss?

  Think, dammit.

  “I remember dinner, going to the dance club, talking to the bartender, and then…nothing.” She drew a complete blank. As if time just stopped at that moment.

  “I’m gonna try not to be hurt you can’t remember climbing all over me.”

  Her gaze jerked his direction. “I did what?”

  He chuckled again, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “Trust me, it was good. Really, really good.”

  He rose from the bed before she could tell him to back off and disappeared into the bathroom again, but this time he didn’t close the door. Alone, Avery’s pulse raced, and holding the sheet tight to her breasts, she scanned the room again, desperate for any clue as to what had gone down last night. Her gaze stopped on his slacks tossed carelessly over the corner of the bed and his shirt lying in a heap on the floor.

  Her eyes grew wide, and her stomach flipped over. Groaning, she pressed her fingers against her closed eyes. “Please, please, please tell me we didn’t sleep together.”

  More laughter from the bathroom. “Now I really am hurt. When you ripped the buttons off my shirt…that was probably my favorite part.”

  Avery groaned louder, slinked down in the bed, and pulled the sheet over her head. She wanted to die. She wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide for the next year. Not because she’d done those things, but because she’d done them with Cade. And because it meant if she’d let her guard down so easily, she couldn’t trust herself. And dammit, she hated that right now every cell in her body was vibrating with excitement over just the thought of having a go at him all over again.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” he said from somewhere close.

  “Go away,” Avery managed. “I need to be alone right now.”

  The bed dipped at her side. She tried to scoot farther away, but he caught her leg with his hand. Heat burned into her flesh between the thin cotton separating them. He tugged on the sheet over her head. “Ava, come out from under there.”

  “No.”

  She tried to hold the sheet in place, but he jerked it out of her grip. Through strands of messy hair, she peered at him and held her breath. Dammit, he was too…familiar. Too new at the same time. Just inhaling his unique male scent reminded her of all the good times they’d shared together. And looking at him now…years older, more muscular, more rugged, more…everything…she had an uncontrollable urge to get to know the new him. To find out what was different.

  “Nothing happened, Avery.”

  She stared into his eyes, searching for a lie. Humor no longer shone in his eyes, and that goofy smile he’d been sporting since the moment she woke up was long gone. “Don’t tease me right now.”

  “I’m not. While it’s true you did climb all over me in that club, and you did rip the last few buttons off my shirt when we got back here, when we reached the bed, you passed out.” He scratched the back of his head, looking the slightest bit…sheepish…just like he had the first night they’d spent together, when they’d both been virgins fumbling in the dark together. And God, but that was sexy. Her blood warmed again. “Kinda put a dent in my ego, to be honest. Can definitely say that’s never happened to me before.”

  Her heart kicked over, and she swallowed, but pushed aside the emotion threatening and focused on the here and now. “I…I climbed all over you in the dance club?”

  He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and looked her way, and the heat brewing in his eyes shot a zing of electricity straight to her sex. “In the back room. When you were watching that show.”

  Avery’s mind skipped. Memories tried to piece themselves together, couldn’t quite make the right fit. And then she caught a glimpse of the woman strung up on stage. Of the man thrusting into her from behind. Of the crowd, watching…

  “Oh my God…”

  “I’ve never really been into the whole voyeur thing,” he said in a low voice. A sexy voice. An I-want-you-ten-ways-to-Sunday voice. “But watching you watching that…” His gaze slid down to her breasts, where she knew her nipples were pebbled hard against the sheet. “…that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Avery’s entire body felt electrically charged, as if she would explode at the slightest touch. And the way he was still resting his hand on her shin, like he didn’t want to let her get away, was so damn sexy. She swallowed hard, afraid to ask the question but needing to know the answer. “And even after that, we didn’t… I mean, we came back here and…?”

  One side of his smile curled again. “No. But not because I didn’t want to. As you can see, I still want to.”

  Her gaze darted to his lap and the very clear tenting going on beneath the towel. Heat rushed to her cheeks. “Oh…”

  He laughed then, an easy, relaxed sound that was so warm, so familiar, she felt it deep in her chest. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to attack you like you did me last night. I can be patient.”

  Oh no… She wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Didn’t think she could go through the pain of losing Cade Blackwell again, even if there was nothing really for her left to lose. “Cade—”

  He patted her leg and pushed off the bed, then headed back into the bathroom. “I took your dress off because I was afraid it was too tight and you might not be able to breathe, then I tucked you in and turned off the light.”

  So they hadn’t had sex. Relief rushed through Avery, followed by a wave of disappointment she didn’t expect. One that left a knot in the pit of her stomach.

  He poked his head around the corner. “But I did sleep with you.”

  Her gaze snapped that direction, and she caught the hint of mischief in his eyes.

  “I’d forgotten how much you like to snuggle. I was hot the whole night.”

  He disappeared again, and, vibrating once more with an arousal she could only just barely contain, Avery slinked back down in the sheets.

  “Don’t spend too long hiding out there, princess,” he called from the bathroom. “We’ve got that massage class to go to this morning. Remember Melody? The reason we’re here? Time to stop playing and get back to work, sweetheart.”

  Avery groaned and pulled the sheet back over her head. And wasn’t sure whether she should curse herself for coming on this trip, or thank God above that she was about to have her hands all over the sexy man now humming in her bathroom.

  * * *

  Breakfast didn’t help the mass of nerves in Avery’s stomach. By the time they walked out of their suite and stepped into the warm Jamaican midmorning sun, she felt like she’d had too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

  She breathed deep while she stood on the path and waited for Cade, telling herself the entire time to get her head in the game. They were going to this class, she’d play along, they’d pick the instructor’s brain and find out if she knew anything about Melody, and that would be it. She was not going to have a repeat of last night.

  Cade moved up next to her and tucked his phone into the pocket of his cargo shorts. “Ready?”

  “Sure.”

  She slipped on her sunglasses and headed toward the spa. Palms rustled above, and from the direction of the pool, steel drums echoed and water splashed. It really was a beautiful setting—she couldn’t deny that—but what she’d seen last night in the back of that club made her look twice at every face she passed, wondering what they’d been doing around her when she’d been too sex-crazed to notice.

  “So I didn’
t get a chance to tell you this last night,” Cade said at her side, his thick voice cutting through her arousal. She glanced his way and felt a rush of heat all through her skin. He looked so damn sexy in that loose diving T-shirt and the low-slung shorts. “Aegis ran info on that guy in the restaurant.”

  Surprise registered. “You talked to Aegis before I even told you what the bartender had passed on to me?”

  “Yeah.” His eyes were shielded behind sporty Rēvos, but there was a hardness to his jaw that told her he was in serious-operative mode, not the playful-partner mode he’d been in earlier. “I’d already picked him out before we had dinner. Everyone at the resort knows him as Anderson, but his real name is Alejandro Luis. He’s Puerto Rican, lives in Florida. Word on the street is he runs drugs through the Caribbean for one of the biggest cartels in Mexico.”

  Avery stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”

  Cade frowned, grasped her hand, and pulled. “Don’t draw attention.”

  Shuffling to keep up with him, Avery tried to keep her voice from cracking when she said, “Drugs? Are you sure?”

  “Jamaica’s a hotbed in the trade wars. That rope line out in the bay isn’t to keep swimmers from getting in over their heads, it’s to keep the drug runners from accessing the resort.”

  Avery thought back to the fishing boat she’d seen parked near the rope line yesterday when she’d been looking at the view, and the couple swimming who’d been talking to the driver. “I…I had no idea.”

  “Regardless,” he said in a low voice while they walked, “it explains why the guy gets special treatment here.”

  “Do you think he might have had something to do with Melody’s disappearance?”

  “I don’t know.” Cade’s jaw clenched again, and unable to read his eyes behind those shades, she couldn’t decipher what he was thinking. “Maybe. I’ll do some asking around. I want you to keep your mouth shut.”

  Avery drew up short again, but this time not from shock. “Excuse me?”

  Cade sighed and turned to face her. “Too many people asking questions is going to attract too much attention, remember?”

  “I didn’t attract attention last night.”

  He tugged his sunglasses down his nose and pinned her with a look. “I beg to differ. Luis and I-don’t-know-how-many other guys had their eyes locked on you, not the show on stage.”

  Avery’s face flamed, and she crossed her arms. “That’s not what I meant. You know I don’t even remember that.”

  “But I do.”

  His eyes changed. Heated. And the low, sexy tone of his voice was like a flare going off, causing her entire body to warm from the inside out.

  He pushed his sunglasses up, grasped her hand before she could find that withering control, and pulled her along the path behind him again. The short cotton dress she’d chosen to wear flitted around her thighs, only reminding her how sensitive her skin had become. “Just let me take the lead on this today, okay? I promise you we’re going to find out what happened to her. I just need you to work with me instead of against me.”

  That was easier said than done, especially when all she could suddenly think about doing was jumping his bones.

  * * *

  Like everything else at this resort, the spa was top-notch. Marble pillars, trickling fountains, open-air waiting areas with pillowy furnishings, and soft, relaxing music.

  They checked in at the front desk and were led away from the main spa along a curved path that climbed toward a large gazebo on a bluff overlooking the bay. A U-shaped Mediterranean building was set back from the bluff. Several koi ponds filled the courtyard, separated by foliage and waterfalls, and to the right, soaking pools perched between rocks overlooking the beaches.

  Cade glanced from the water to the four massage tables lined up under the gazebo and drew a deep breath. Four couples. There was going to be little time to pick the instructor’s mind.

  Speakers in the ceiling filtered instrumental music, and an attractive woman with dark hair pulled back in a stylish tail, dressed in slim white capris and a white button-down shirt, turned from whatever she’d been doing at the table on the far side of the gazebo and greeted them with a smile.

  “Welcome to the Indulgence spa. I’m Hannah.”

  They both said hello and shook her hand. A nervous look crossed Avery’s face as she glanced around. “Are we early?”

  “No,” Hannah said. “Right on time. You’re my only clients today. You get a one-on-one lesson.”

  Relief spiraled through Cade. Avery tossed him a what the hell? look, but he only smiled. He hadn’t planned this, but it would make things a whole lot easier, for a variety of reasons.

  “So first thing,” Hannah announced, “I’ll need to know which of you is going to be the client and which the masseuse.”

  “He’s the client,” Avery said quickly. “I’ll be doing the massage.”

  When Hannah looked his way for confirmation, Cade shrugged. “Whatever the lady wants, right?”

  Hannah smiled again, stepped past them, and gestured toward the building. “Then come this way and I’ll show you where you can change. And while you’re gone, I’ll go over a few things with Ava.”

  Avery smiled, but Cade sensed the tension radiating from her. She was still rattled by what had happened last night. While their morning had been easy, he’d seen her nerves hovering just below the surface. He needed to get through to her somehow today. Hopefully, they’d both glean information about Melody from this class, and it would be a good step toward rekindling their relationship.

  He moved into the changing area, slipped off his clothes, and tied the towel around his waist as Hannah had instructed. When he stepped out, he noticed Avery was no longer wearing the flirty summer dress she’d had on earlier. She was decked out in the skimpiest, strapless black bikini he’d ever seen.

  Heat rushed into his abdomen and surged to his groin, waking up his cock with one look. He gripped the towel at his waist so it wouldn’t fall off and stepped up next to her.

  “Don’t say a word,” she ground out under her breath. “It was either this or be naked. I’m not getting naked in front of this woman.”

  Hannah was busy gathering lotions and oils. Cade moved behind Avery, then slipped his arm around her waist while they waited. At her ear, he whispered, “Were you wearing this under your dress?”

  “Just in case. I know all your moves, Black.”

  He nipped at her earlobe and smiled. “Princess, I have all new moves. And every single one can be yours. You just have to say when.”

  Hannah turned back to face them. “Okay, let’s get started. Cade, go ahead and get on the table. Ava, you remember what we talked about?”

  Avery’s cheeks turned pink, and beneath his hand, he felt her body temperature tick up. More blood rushed to Cade’s cock, forcing him to hold the towel even tighter so it didn’t dislodge.

  He climbed onto the table and lay down on his stomach, wincing at the pain in his groin. While Avery moved around behind him doing he-didn’t-know-what, he folded his arms under his chin and tried to remember why they were here. “This doesn’t seem like a very popular class.”

  “Oh, it’s quite popular,” Hannah answered. “The afternoon classes are busiest. Mornings tend to be a little slower. I think there’s a scuba class going on now, which is also a popular activity here.”

  Naked scuba. Cade remembered the classes Avery had read off to him yesterday. Yeah, he could suddenly see the appeal of that.

  Cool oil drizzled over Cade’s back, and he jumped. Behind him, Avery muttered, “Oh, sorry. Was that cold?”

  He smiled, knowing she’d done that on purpose.

  Her hands moved over his back, and as the oil warmed, Cade relaxed into the table and closed his eyes. Damn, that felt good. Her, touching him, any way she wanted.

  “That’s right,” Hannah said to Avery. “Work the muscles one by one until you feel him relax. That’s perfect.

  Avery’s hands rubb
ed at his shoulders and moved down his back. When they reached his lower spine and brushed the edge of the towel, a shudder ran through him and shot heat all through his hips.

  He drew in a deep breath and tried to relax as she worked her way down his leg and across the hamstring. They hadn’t even gotten to the erotic part of the massage yet and he was already so hard he was in pain.

  To keep from focusing on his dick, he said, “Ever get anyone famous at this resort?”

  “Well,” Hannah answered somewhere to his right. “I thought your wife was Avery Scott until I took a closer look. Then I realized the eyes were different. The resemblance is amazing, though.”

  “Yeah,” Cade said as Avery’s hands moved down his calf, “I guess they look a little alike, but my wife’s way hotter. Though I wouldn’t mind taking the actress for a test drive to compare models.”

  Avery pinched his ankle, and he yelped at the quick shot of pain, then laughed.

  Since they were at a swingers resort, Hannah didn’t seem to find anything wrong with what he’d said. “That’s right. Now move down his feet. The feet, and especially the hands, are erogenous zones. Many general massage therapists don’t like to massage male clients’ hands because it can cause strong arousal. We’ll work back up to the hands in a minute. How are you feeling, Mr. Black?”

  It was all Cade could do not to moan as Avery’s thumbs pressed into the arch of his foot. He couldn’t wait to see what happened when she got to his hands. “Good. So, um”—oh man, that feels awesome—“no, ah, other famous people besides my gorgeous wife who’s way hotter than any actress?”

  Hannah chuckled. “No, although a few weeks ago an assistant to someone in Hollywood was here.”

  Avery’s hands paused against Cade’s right foot, and he felt her muscles tense. She covered it quickly, though, and went back to rubbing, but a little of the sexual haze pulling Cade under cleared.

  “Really?” he asked, trying not to sound too interested.

  “Yes, pretty little brunette. She took my class with her boyfriend. I’m afraid it didn’t go so well, though. They were already arguing, I guess, and when I had the couples switch partners, he didn’t like it and stormed out halfway through the session.”