Aiden smiles uncomfortably. “Let’s forget all that and go to dinner.”
AFTER A DELICIOUS meal and a good night’s sleep, we head to a secluded beach on the other side of the island.
Walking down a path lined with hoop pines, the sand beneath our feet is golden and fine-grained. Each side of this little bay is lined with large granite boulders, creating a natural sense of separation. It’s easy to pretend we’re the only two people left in the world while we lay here under the sun with no one else around. Crystal blue water stretches to the horizon while belts of fringing coral reef haphazardly line close to the shore.
Aiden pulls off his t-shirt, letting the rays sparkle against the sweat covering his defined muscles. He bends over and spreads out an oversized beach towel before motioning for me to lie next to him. “Come here, gorgeous.”
Taking my shirt off, I sit between his legs.
“I love this black bikini.” He runs his palms across my back and down my arms, arousing every inch of skin he encounters.
Oh, how I love having those hands caress me.
I glance over my shoulder, meet his eyes and smile.
He grins, seducing me with each sweetly whispered word. “But you know what I love even more?”
“What’s that?”
There’s a tug on the ties of my bikini top as it’s pulled free. “I love seeing you completely naked.”
Looking around, I make sure no one has joined us on the beach.
“Don’t worry. We’re the only ones here. And it’s okay if you’re topless on an Australian beach.”
I sit upright, resting my hands between my legs, squeezing my breasts together, hoping to provoke Aiden’s desire.
“God, you’re hot.” He kisses my bare shoulder. “Let’s go for a quick dip and cool off.”
“You want to cool off?”
He sucks his bottom lip while raising his eyebrows. “Not really.”
He grabs my hand and we race to the water.
Knee deep in the cerulean sea, Aiden drops my hand and teases his finger against the side ties of my bikini bottom. “I’ll be right back.” He swims out towards the large rocks while I choose to wait in the shallows.
Floating on the cool surface, the warmth of the sun heats my skin while memories of the past few days drift away with the current. Every so often, I lift my head, glancing around to see where Aiden is. After a few minutes, I sit upright and stare out at the never-ending blue horizon. It seems that Aiden has shown me yet another treasure of this continent.
He swims up close, circling around me. Positioning himself on his knees, he kisses my lower back, dragging his tongue up my salted spine.
The sensation makes my breath quicken and a shiver moves through me.
He lightly strokes my neck before replacing his fingers with his mouth.
My head drops to the side, giving him better access to the sweet spot that drives me wild every time.
His tongue trails over my sensitive collarbone while his hands drop to my waist. He unties each side of my bikini bottom and tosses it to the sandy shore just metres away.
I reach behind, hoping to rub against his boardies, but he pushes my hand away.
With one eyebrow raised, his tone is intoxicating, each word like a sip of hot buttered rum. “Let me touch you first.”
Pressing his chiselled abs and hard cock against my back, his mouth continues to tantalise my skin. One arm reaches around me, lifting my neck so he can continue to tongue around my collarbone, while his other arm reaches down to exploit the full access to my breasts. He tweaks each nipple, lighting an untameable inferno within me.
A whimper escapes my lips, as the waves recede then rush in, crashing against my bare sex.
Running his fingers through my wet, wavy locks, he pulls my head gently to the other side, moving his kiss right below my ear. He stops, blowing softly against my skin, sending goose bumps up my arms. With a light nibble, his mouth grazes my flesh, while the waves keep bubbling between our legs.
My breath is laboured as I ache to be ravished and feel him make love to me under the hot sun. “Aiden, take me.”
Shaking his head, he declines my request. Instead, he pulls me down onto the sand, taking my breasts into his mouth, one at a time, savouring and lashing my skin while his hands stroke around my thighs.
The cool water rushing against my pussy sends quivers through me each time it crashes against my flesh. My fingers reach downward, wanting to stroke my clit, but Aiden grabs my hand.
“Let me do that for you.” With his kiss circling around my breasts, one of his hands finds its way to my slit and softly rubs my folds. As I swell and open against his touch, one finger glides tenderly inside.
I sense his smile against my skin as he continues to kiss my breasts while gradually increasing the pressure of his hand and slipping another finger inside.
With each cooling wave crashing against us, he moves his fingers deeper, only to recede when the water pulls back away, matching his timing with the ocean.
As my folds clamp against him, he twists his fingers, hooking them forward, heightening the sensation inside me. Waves of orgasmic pleasure wax and wane through my body as little by little, he pulls the climax from my flesh.
Feeling the shudder building to its peak, Aiden slows down his movements. “Want to go up onto the blanket?”
Breathless, I beg. “No, do me here.”
He hovers above me, finally letting my fingers stroke his Adonis belt as I push down his boardies. Freeing that hard cock, I grab around its base and guide it between my legs.
Aiden licks his salted lips and stares into my eyes. He moans while his shaft is consumed by my folds. “Oh, Holly.” He pants and falls on top of me, his hips pushing his knob deeper inside.
One of his hands cups the side of my face as the receding tide tickles against my legs.
My arms wrap around his back, pulling him hard against my body. Feverishly, my hands rub his sinewy back, as drops of water and sweat roll across my fingers.
Still staring into my eyes, the pace of our lovemaking quickens. My body begs for release, so I roll him over. As water drips down my back, I ride him, grinding my slit against the base of his shaft. My hair sticks to my face and my heart beats faster, closing in on the one thing I must have.
His hand pushes me upward and wraps around my collarbone. “Look at me when you come.”
I try hard to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head as the shuddering waves overtake my flesh. My pussy spasms, constricting against his swelling cock, my eyes still staring into his.
My head falls back, once the shuddering wave completes, and a smile takes over my lips.
As I gaze back into Aiden’s eyes, he grabs my hips with both hands and thrusts into me. He controls my movements, using my flesh to achieve the summit he wants to top. He yells out as he closes in, pulling my hips hard against his body.
Still staring into my eyes, his body is overcome by a tremor that takes him to that coveted mountain top. Moments later, he falls slack against the sand, breathless, still holding onto me.
A wave rolls into us, covering our legs with water.
I giggle and look towards the beach, hoping no one saw us.
Thank goodness, we’re still the only ones here.
Aiden grins, trailing his finger from my hip all the way to my neck. “I think we lost my boardies to the waves.”
My eyes go wide, and my hand covers my mouth. “Are you serious?” I look around, not seeing them anywhere.
BEFORE DRIVING HOME, Aiden wraps a towel around himself to stay covered. With all our efforts, we never did find his boardies. Luckily, there’s a shop where he can buy a new pair.
“I can’t believe we lost them.” I giggle. “I mean, I always heard sex on the beach can be tricky with sand and all, but I never thought about the risk of losing clothes to the waves.”
Aiden snickers. “I’d love to see the face of the person that finds them.”
&nb
sp; His phone rings.
He looks at the number and lets the call go to his message bank. Retrieving the message, he glances over to me. “John Dawson called. You want to call him back?”
“Yeah, I want to get that over with.”
Aiden brings up the missed call and dials the number.
“Hello, this is Holly, I just missed a call from Mr Dawson.”
The admin assistant politely replies. “Oh, yes. Let me put you through.”
Moments later, a familiar male voice answers, “Hello, this is John Dawson.”
Clearing my throat, I speak confidently. “Hello, John. This is Holly. Sorry I missed your call.”
“No worries. I wanted to let you know how things were moving along. I checked into those investments you mentioned, and I also heard back from Tom’s solicitor. I’m not sure what your ex-husband was doing, but it seems he pulled money from several of them over the last few years. There’s not as much money as you thought.”
“That’s strange. He never told me he was pulling anything from them. Can I do anything to recover what he took?”
“We will try, depending on what he had set up. I requested his tax information from the last few years.”
“What about my trust?”
“The trust is fine.”
“Good.”
“Being overseas, he’s not been able to touch it. I think with his pillaging on those investments, we can try to get out of any maintenance payments.”
“You mean spousal maintenance? He’s on a good wage. Why would he ask for that?”
“Are you sure he’s employed?”
“Yeah, he was obsessed about his career when we were together.”
“Hmm, strange. His solicitor mentioned maintenance. You aren’t aware of him having employment issues?”
“No, he was doing well when I left him. He’d just been promoted and was having an affair with one of his colleagues.”
“He may be trying to play games. I’ll clarify a few things and give you a ring back. It might take some time, but I’ll be in touch as soon as I have more information.”
“Okay, thanks, John.”
“Talk to you soon, Holly.”
“Bye.” I look at the phone to make sure the line is disconnected.
Aiden glances at me then looks ahead at the road. “Everything okay?”
“I think so, but what John just said is so strange. It seems Tom had been taking money out of our investments the last few years.” I tie my wet hair behind my neck. “I had no idea he was doing that. John also said something about maintenance payments, like Tom might not be working.” I rub at my temples. “It doesn’t make any sense. His job was his life.”
“But why would he want your money, didn’t he have his own?”
“No, he only had whatever he earned. That’s why he was hellbent on making so much. It pissed him off that my family had money and his didn’t. It was like he was trying to prove something by having a bigger bank balance.”
“But a bank balance doesn’t buy happiness.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Ironically, the more he earned, the more miserable I was. He was always putting me down and telling me I was spoiled and sheltered. God forbid, if I even dared mention my country club, he’d freak. He never wanted anyone to think I could be better off than he was. He loved being seen as the top dog.”
Aiden frowns, reaching out and running his fingers over my forearm. “Sorry, you were treated like that.”
I exhale, letting my shoulders drop as I rub my eyes. “This whole thing is just so odd. Why would he have taken our money out of our investments when he was earning a good wage?”
“Didn’t you say you caught him doing drugs?”
“I don’t think….” My voice trails off just as that ‘ah-ha moment’ hits me. My hand covers my mouth. “My god, you don’t think he…” I can’t even finish my statement.
“I’ve unfortunately seen enough people get way over their heads in debt to keep up their habits.” He cringes. “I hate to think of how many families I hurt when I was selling.”
Looking at the carpet, I’m at a loss for words.
Was Tom that bad? How did I not notice the signs? I was trained to work these things out so how did I miss it?
Aiden strokes my thigh. “Be glad he didn’t get access to your trust account.”
“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about the damage he could have done with that.” I again rub my temples. “I never thought he was that bad.”
“Addicts learn how to hide things well.”
Nodding, I stare ahead onto the road, still puzzled with what happened to that life I left behind.
What was Tom up to? That dirty, cheating bastard. He doesn’t deserve anything from me except a slap across the face.
We turn the final sharp corner into the resort’s parking garage.
Aiden’s phone falls off the console and lands on the floor near my feet.
As I pick it up, a thought hits me like a ton of bricks.
My phone! All those messages from Beth! Is that the missing piece to this puzzle?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS on Magnetic Island, we head back to the mainland and make the long drive to Winton. Expansive bushland stretches in every direction and vegetation grows sparser the further we get from the coast.
Gazing out at the arid surroundings, I laugh to myself about how I once thought you could drive across the state of Queensland in a few hours. Nostalgic thoughts of when I first came to Australia pass through my mind and about two hours outside of Townsville, I drift off to sleep.
“Wake up, my sweet.” A nudge from Aiden wakes me as he pulls the key out of the ignition.
Groggy, I rub my eyes and find we’ve stopped in front of a single-story, fawn coloured building landscaped with quaint flowering shrubs and a welcoming carpet of grass. It seems to be the only lush lawn around for miles.
Aiden runs his hand along my thigh. “This is the Pentland Hotel.”
Looking around, I’m confused as there does not seem to be any accommodation. “It’s a hotel? I thought you said we were going to a pub for lunch.”
He laughs. “You still have a bit of American in you, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The term ‘hotel’ is a throwback to old licencing laws in Australia. But with the Pentland Hotel, it is both a pub and place to stay.”
Walking to the entrance, an A-frame sign lets us know that today’s special is meat pies. The thought of a buttery crust filled with peppery meat gives me an instant craving.
Inside, a couple patrons are sipping their drinks while watching a cricket match on a television hung in the corner. Behind the bar, a blonde bartender flashes us a smile while he wipes off a glass.
Aiden removes his Akubra and places it on the bar. “Hey, mate.”
The bartender offers us a menu. “Hello. You look familiar, have we met before?”
“I’ve come through here a few times on the way to my brother’s place, but it’s been a while.”
He stares at Aiden puzzled. “Do you look like your brother?”
Aiden nods. “Yeah, everyone says we look a lot alike. He would probably come through here a bit.”
“That must be what it is.” The barman leans over and wipes the counter in front of where we are sitting. “What brings you out here today?”
“We’re headed to Winton and thought we’d stop in for lunch.” Aiden puts his hand on my leg. “I’ve always had a good time here. Lots of great memories. So, I wanted to show my American girl what a true Aussie pub is meant to be like.” He motions around the room and adds, “You’ve done up the place. It looks good.”
“Thanks, mate. We’re just about done renovating so if you need a place to stay, we’ve got some great cottages out back.”
“We may come back through on our way back to Townsville, but I have to get to Winton this arvo, so it’s just lunch today.”
“No
worries, mate.” The bartender sticks the rag into his pocket. “What can I get you two?”
“I’d love a Coke and one of those meat pies you have on special.” Aiden turns and glances at me. “What would you like, hon?”
“What you’re having sounds good.”
As we wait for our food, Aiden’s phone rings.
“Hi, Dad. What’s up?” He pauses, glancing at me. “We’re on our way out there now. Hmm, no, I’ve not talked to him and I don’t plan on talking to him either.” His shoulders slump and he sighs. “I don’t want to go into it now, but like I said to you earlier, I can’t have him around anymore.” He looks at me and shakes his head. “Dad, I had to call the police on him.”
The bartender brings us our drinks.
I take a sip, waiting for Aiden to get off the phone.
“You don’t understand.” He grimaces. “No, I’m not going to talk to his mum. I don’t care what she said. I’ve made my mind up. It’s my property…” He looks upwards and runs his hand through his hair.
It must be so frustrating to have a pushy father that won’t ever listen.
Aiden rolls his eyes. “Dad, just let me work it out. It has nothing to do with…” His jaw goes tight. “I’m going to hang up if you don’t give it a rest. Trust in my decisions.” Aiden sips his Coke. “I’m going now.” He hangs up and drops his phone against the bar.
“That didn’t sound good.”
“He never listens.”
I squeeze his hand. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“I’m not sure how to just get him to do what I want. He just keeps saying the same things over and over.”
“I guess you can either ignore it or stand up to him.”
Aiden shakes his head. “Standing up to him never works. He’ll just do what he wants anyway.”
The barman brings us our two meat pies. “Here you two go. Need any tomato sauce?”
“Yes, please.” Aiden looks at me and tilts his head. “He means ketchup.”
I laugh. “I know.”
“Just checking.”
Our pies eaten, we climb back into the SUV and drive to Winton. As we continue our journey, the trees and shrubs have taken on a silvery grey hue. The ground changes to a lighter ochre, vastly different from the deep burnt orange around Aiden’s place.
Leading Hand (The Dusty Rider Series Book 2) Page 27