Sinfully Summer: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance

by Aimee Duffy

  Ric shook his head then dipped so his lips were a flick of a tongue away from hers. ‘It was a little, admit it. Anyway, wasn’t it you who said I needed to lighten up?’ His hot breath brushed across her face and froze her tongue. ‘I think you should listen to your own advice.’

  The lust darkening his eyes made her think he wanted to kiss her but he didn’t move forward and to hell if she would. In that second she wanted it, because this Ric wasn’t the kind of man her father would approve of. Nonsense was the lowest of the low on the list of qualities he looked for in associates and nonsense was all she got from Ric today. She’d take the hit. This time.

  ‘It was embarrassing,’ she admitted, because with his hard body pressed against hers, his hot breath on her face and her body throbbing for him, she couldn’t lie. Still, she wasn’t going to admit it was his comment about not being able to resist looking at her body that embarrassed her more.

  ‘I didn’t mean to, querida. I’m sorry.’ Sincerity shone from those melted irises and she couldn’t doubt him. ‘Do you want to leave, or do you want to go on that one again?’

  His wicked grin gave her the strength to push him away but she smiled now she could breathe again. ‘How about another race on the tubes?’

  ‘You never learn.’ He shook his head in faux disappointment. ‘What does the winner get?’

  A kiss almost slipped out but she caught herself in time. He eyed her suspiciously, but she thought on her feet. ‘The loser has to make dinner tonight.’

  ‘Then I hope you can cook.’ He winked.

  ‘No need to worry about my culinary skills. It will be you slaving over the stove when we get back.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ he said with an I-can’t-believe-you-haven’t-learned-by-now look on his face.

  ‘You’re going down, Castillo.’

  Chapter Ten

  Losing once? Shame on her. Three times took the biscuit.

  Alexa flipped the spiced chicken in the pan and cursed Ric. He’d reminded her of a kindred spirit, all happy and light as she’d rushed to keep up with him and lost race after stinking race. Her legs would be sore tomorrow from climbing the stairs all day. Still, it was worth it to see the stressed businessman take a day off and enjoy himself, even if it meant she’d have to pay her dues.

  ‘That smells amazing.’

  Alexa turned to see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a white fluffy towel around his waist and that chest still damp from his shower. God, it had almost killed her today. The black outline of a burning sun over his right pec still made her mouth water. Couldn’t he just dress for dinner like any normal person? She caught the amusement in his eyes. Well, if he wanted to play that game… Alexa slipped off her robe so she was left in her bikini.

  She turned back to the stove and stirred the rice. ‘It’s Mexican, I hope you like spicy.’

  His feet slapped against the marble tiles as he made his way over to her. It took every ounce of strength not to turn around and gape at him. She had no glasses to hide behind now and after his smug victories, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

  ‘It looks great. I’m glad you’re able to pay your penance.’

  Her blood sizzled. Alexa swallowed. ‘I don’t back out on a bet either.’

  Or crazy dares. Or anything once she’d been goaded into it.

  The fridge clinked open and he pulled out a bottle of wine. She sneaked a peak at his broad, hard back and her tummy quivered. The long, white scar on his right shoulder made her heart throb. It took everything she had that morning not to ask him how he’d got that scar. She turned back to the stove and her mind whirred with the awful possibilities. She forgot her vow to make him pay.

  Ric set the table while she finished cooking. After dishing the food onto the plates, she carried them over to him. He filled two glasses with wine and after she’d settled into a chair, he got to work on devouring the food.

  ‘You have to teach my chef how to make this.’ He popped a forkful of pilau rice and spicy chicken into his mouth and groaned.

  The sound resonated in her tummy and sparked a slow burning fire between her thighs. It didn’t help that he hadn’t bothered to dress. She did her best to keep her attention on her plate, pushing the rice around with her fork. Wondering what he’d suffered in the past made her stomach queasy.

  ‘Aren’t you hungry?’

  She looked up to see him study her over the rim of his glass. He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple bob. After seeing another side of him at the water park, she’d begun to forget what kind of a man he was and she’d realised that even through the goading and teasing, he didn’t have a stick up his ass all the time. Jumping his bones seemed like a better idea by the second but she knew he didn’t really want that and after all she’d learned about him, shared with him, she didn’t think she’d be able to handle the rejection.

  ‘Starving,’ she lied.

  She scooped up a forkful and popped it in her mouth. After chewing methodically, she reached for the wine and took a long gulp, wishing her hands would stop shaking. Her body felt wound too tight, like it had the other day when he’d kissed her. Like it had today every time he touched her. She remembered being on the boat, in his arms, then pressed against the fridge, his hard body pinning her there, and her knees had almost given out. And today, when he’d had her trapped between his sodding chest and the lockers. She shuddered.

  Ric eyed her over the rim of his glass, humour and something dark heating his gaze. It was too much. She needed an ice bath before she overheated. Picking up the still full plate, she rose.

  ‘Actually, I’m not that hungry.’

  She made it to the sink and scraped her plate, but when she tried to rinse it under the tap, Ric’s hand snared her wrist. His breath hot against her neck, the heat of his naked chest dangerous against her back.

  ‘Put down the plate.’

  Alexa obeyed, unable to speak or protest. Her brain seemed to have forgotten how to form words.

  ‘Turn around.’

  She did as she was asked and closed her eyes so she didn’t do something stupid, like lean forward and lick his tattoo, or maybe suck one of those brown nipples into her mouth. Blood pulsed between her thighs and she squeezed them together.

  His hand tilted her chin and she didn’t know who was shaking, but someone definitely was.

  ‘Open your eyes.’

  She did and immediately wished she hadn’t. His chocolate eyes were so dark they looked almost black, smooth jaw stiff with tension and his lips looked full and firm—as firm as they had the last time they’d stood in the kitchen and he’d taken her ability to stand away just from pressing his mouth to hers.

  ‘I think it’s time we stopped lying to ourselves.’

  Her lips parted as she gasped. His thumb skimmed her lower lip. ‘What do you mean?’ Her chest rose and fell with her need, her desire, but fear kept her sane. Fear was good.

  ‘I want you, and you want me.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ she admitted.

  ‘And I don’t want to either.’

  She knew that, had always known. So why did it feel like a sucker punch to her stomach?

  ‘But it doesn’t change the fact that we do.’ His eyes grew serious as he released her chin. ‘This can’t be more than sex and we’d have to be discreet.’

  His expression pleaded with her to understand, but she couldn’t. Why did he care if the world knew they were having an affair? Then she remembered. He was all about respect. The stick-in-his-ass Ric thought he was too good for her.

  The realisation worked quicker than the ice bath. ‘No.’ She moved around him, then toward the door. He caught her by the wrist and her anger spiked. She turned to him with her best scowl. ‘I said, no.’

  ‘I heard you. Now I want you to tell me why.’

  She ground her teeth, managed not to stomp her foot or let go of the irritated shriek lodged in her throat. ‘I refuse to sleep with someone who’s ashamed of me.’r />
  Ric’s eyes widened. ‘I’m not ashamed of you. Why would you think that?’

  She studied his expression, looking for a hint he was lying and coming up empty. ‘Then why do you want to keep it discreet?’

  He let go of her and the shutters slammed down on his expression, then he walked over to the table and took a long draw of the wine. Alexa watched his eyes shut, his chest heave as he inhaled and wondered what the heck was so bad he couldn’t tell her without alcohol.

  ‘The British media still follow you around. Perhaps not in Spain, but if word got out that we were together, they’d dig into my past and I’d rather it stayed buried.’

  Her chest tightened and she struggled to breathe. What horrors had he faced and why would he be ashamed of them? Unwelcome images of Ric as a young boy, frightened, cold and alone entered her mind and she couldn’t shake them free. Her throat sucked closed and tears stung her eyes.

  Ric turned to her, his expression carefully blank. Alexa wished she could do that—hide everything from everyone, but she couldn’t find the strength.

  ‘I’m not available long-term, Alexa. I don’t want love or commitment.’

  Heat licked her belly as pain for what he’d had to endure tortured her from the inside out. She’d seen a different side of him today, one he probably didn’t know existed and she wanted to see more of that man—however much he annoyed her—but knew it was impossible. The fact that the controlling, arrogant businessman was still in him should be enough of a libido killer, but it hadn’t been. In fact, the more time passed the more she forgot why she should back away.

  But the thing that scared her the most was ending up tied down in a relationship with a man who saw her as a possession. A tool to do his bidding and a beauty at his side. Ric didn’t want any of that. He wanted to have sex with her and she’d grow a twenty inch nose if she said she didn’t want that too.

  ‘Not tonight,’ she said.

  He cocked a brow and leaned his hip against the table. ‘What’s wrong with tonight?’

  The teasing glint in his eye made her wish she had a better reason than she did. If she slept with him now, with her emotions all over the place, she didn’t know what would happen. Better to wait until she regrouped.

  But she wouldn’t tell him that, instead she went with another excuse. She forced a grin onto her face. ‘Call it payback for pinching my knickers.’

  He didn’t laugh like she’d expected him to. Instead he strode toward her, all intense with a gleam in his eye that said he’d get his way. She backed up a step.

  ‘You don’t mean that. What are you hiding Alexa?’

  Damn. ‘What do you mean? Can’t a girl dish out a little comeuppance?’

  His hand cupped her cheek and her resolve pulled on a pair of running shoes. ‘There’s another reason you’re not telling me.’

  How could he do that? ‘Mind reading isn’t sexy.’

  He laughed then. She backed away another step and he shook his head. ‘I’ll find out one way or the other. Tell me.’

  ‘How did you get that scar?’ she asked before she could stop herself.

  His eyebrows shot up and he looked at her funny, like he was shocked that could stop her from going to bed with him. But if he got the scar from something silly, like falling out of a tree when he’d been playing with his friends, it wouldn’t play on her mind so much. If he’d been hurt as a boy, her heart would hurt for him and jumping into bed with him would be a bad idea.

  ‘What does it matter?’ he asked, his voice rough. His whole torso seemed rigid and his expression closed off. Her tummy dipped. God, it was bad. ‘I told you this was about attraction, nothing else.’

  He did, and the words still hurt. ‘It matters to me.’

  ‘If you want to start digging into dirty laundry, there are a few things you could tell me.’

  Her eyes widened and the change of direction left her head spinning. ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like why you asked your father to come when it’s clear you can’t stand him. Like why you’ve avoided growing up or settling down. Don’t all women dream of a white wedding and walking down the aisle to marry a respectable man? You could have your pick.’

  Alexa gritted her teeth and planted a hand on her hip. ‘That’s none of your bloody business.’

  ‘Exactly.’ He closed the distance between them and hauled her close by the hips. Her breasts butted off his chest. ‘Now enough talking.’

  His mouth came down on hers and her mind went blank. This wasn’t the kind of desperate, bruising kiss he’d given her the last time they’d been in his kitchen. His lips moved with slow deliberation, trapping her swollen bottom one and sucking it into his mouth.

  Her lips parted and he swept his tongue into her mouth, stroking a firm hand up her spine and knotting it into the hair at her nape. Alexa’s mind disconnected from her body and she couldn’t concentrate on anything except his skilled kiss. Without permission, her hands planted themselves on either side of his hips and slid up, over the hard abs, firm pecs and her fingers traced the circle of his tattoo from memory. It was smooth, like the rest of him and suddenly touch didn’t feel like enough.

  He picked her up and, without breaking the slow, heated kiss, took her over to the counter and set her down on top of it. Pulling away, his gaze swept down over her body, still clad in the lime bikini.

  Linking his fingers into the waistband of her knickers, he winked. ‘Lift your bottom.’

  Her breathing sped to match her heartbeats and she obeyed, a fresh jolt of desire zapping down between her thighs. Ric dropped to her knees and removed her briefs. His gaze was level with a part of her she’d never expected him to see and she held her breath, waiting for his rejection like he did the last time they’d frisked it up in the kitchen.

  ‘Oh god, Alexa.’

  He nibbled and kissed his way from her knee to her inner thigh and her breath rushed out when he closed in on her centre. She parted her legs wider, not caring any more if he pulled away, she was pretty sure she’d drag him back by the hair. But he didn’t kiss her where she needed him to. Instead, he moved to her other knee and began the same circuit. She huffed out a protest and he laughed against her thigh.

  ‘We have all night. There’s no rush.’

  ‘I’m going to explode on my own if you don’t hurry.’ She bit her lip, cursing her wayward tongue.

  ‘I’d like to see that.’ His dark eyes shone with humour, but his tight jaw made her think he was as ready to burst as she was. ‘But not tonight.’

  His hands slid under her bottom and he squeezed, pulled her toward the edge and she yelped. She grabbed hold of the handles on the cupboards behind her and held on tight. He leaned in and her breath whooshed out in a rush. Still, he didn’t touch, only inhaled, shuddered and planted a soft kiss below her belly button.

  Alexa hadn’t been lying about exploding; her whole body felt like one breath in the right place would do it. But he just licked his way down, then kissed the flesh on her tingling thighs.

  Damn him. ‘Are you waiting for an invitation?’

  His nose skimmed her naked flesh next to her bikini line. ‘No, I’m waiting until you’re so ready, you’ll come the second I taste you, then I’ll make you come again and again.’

  Her whole body zinged. ‘Got news for you Ric, I’ve been there for ages.’

  A smug smile curved his lips just before he leaned in and sucked her into his mouth. All the heat, the pressure in her body flooded to that point and then exploded, drawing a wordless cry from her lips and shudders from every inch of her.

  He didn’t ease upon that sensitive area, making her wish she could speak and tell him to back off as pain mingled with pleasure. His tongue swirled, his finger found its way inside her and he zeroed in on the spot most men thought was a myth. Ric obviously didn’t, because he worked it like he had the instruction manual for her orgasms memorised.

  She panted, squirmed and felt the pressure build higher, tighter until it we
ighed her down. Every time it built to the peak, he shifted the pressure outside and in until it she wanted to scream. After the third time, Alexa was ready to clobber him, but then he used his finger harder, sucked her into his mouth and the pressure shattered. Body melting, mind blank and seeing white, she shuddered.

  He stood, facing her with glistening lips, a wry smile and come-to-bed eyes. Alexa didn’t think she could move if she wanted to. She could see his erection tenting the towel and couldn’t drag her gaze away from the huge peak. The first shred of unease cracked through her afterglow. It had been ages since she’d been with a man.

  His hand cupped her cheek and tilted her head up. He frowned at her. ‘What’s wrong?’ She gulped and he grinned. ‘I’m not an animal, querida. It will be mind-blowing, I promise.’

  He dropped a sweet kiss on her lips. ‘Bedroom.’

  She released her death grip on the cabinets and held onto his shoulders while she slid off the counter. Her legs wobbled and Ric steadied her with an arm around her waist, grinning at her like the smug git he was.

  ‘Pleased with yourself?’ The fact he could make her irritated and want to jump his bones at the same time must be a skill he’d acquired over the years.

  ‘Very.’ He snared her hand and pulled her toward the door.

  The sound of the lift clattering to life made them pause. ‘Who has a key?’ she asked, her heart stuttering to a halt. She was sure he’d locked it when they got back.

  His whole frame stiffened and he turned to her. After looking her up and down, he said, ‘Get the bottoms.’

  She scuttled back to the counter, whipped up the bikini bottoms and the robe, then pulled them on. The elevator doors opened and a female voice called his name. Alexa’s stomach fell to her feet and she had to put a hand on the counter for support while jealously burned through her veins. He was seeing someone, and she should be angry, she should pick up the dirty pan she’d cooked the chicken in and launch it at him, but instead her eyes burned with bloody tears.

  He called something back in Spanish, then looked down at his towel, whispering something under his breath. He loosened and retied the cotton, disguising it a bit, but a shift in the wrong direction and the cheating bastard would be caught.