Baring It All

by Rebecca Hunter

  “I’ll put that on for you,” she said, taking it out of his hand. Their fingers brushed, sending a buzz of excitement through her.

  Natasha crouched in front of him, his cock bobbing eagerly, so close to her mouth. So many possibilities, but she was determined to stick to her first plan. When her hands touched his skin, a little shudder ran through his body.

  Max let out a tight laugh. “I’m so fucking turned on right now, you’d think I hadn’t gotten action just a few hours ago. I can’t believe how much I want you right now.”

  Her movements slowed, but she said nothing. She wanted him badly, too, probably more than she should. So she narrowed her focus to what was in front of her, running her fingers down his length, testing his girth, playing with his tip.

  “Put it on, Natasha,” he said, his voice darker. “I want to be inside you.”

  Slowly, she rolled the condom down his cock and leaned back to admire her work. Max offered her a hand, and when she stood up, he didn’t let her go.

  She led them to the green dress, spread out on the white beach. He sat down first, leaving her standing with her bare pussy directly in front of him.

  “Goddamn,” he said softly. “Can I lick you?”

  Natasha grinned. “I don’t think my legs will hold out.”

  “Just once.” His hands brushed over her ass, coaxing her closer.

  “If you insist.” The comment was meant to be dry and witty, but her voice came out breathy instead.

  His tongue was hot and slick against her, short-circuiting her thoughts with an erotic jolt. Her legs almost buckled under her.

  Natasha moaned. “I’m so ready.”

  “Then climb on, darlin’,” he said, his hands still on her hips, steadying her.

  She sank to her knees and reached between them for his thick erection. Positioning it, she lowered herself onto him. Slowly, inch by inch, the exquisite pleasure of his cock filled her. His eyes were steady on her the whole time, his face drawn in tight restraint as she took more and more of him. He was big, really big, and the overwhelming urge to move, to fuck, was already building as her body accommodated his size. She swiveled her hips and shimmied, taking more and more until, finally, she was sitting with his cock deep inside her.

  “It’s our first time,” he said. His voice was serious, and his eyes were filled with wonder.

  She nodded, unsure if she wanted to speak right now. Instead, she raised herself and came down, his hard length sinking into her again. Max groaned and lay back on her dress. The next time she lifted herself up, he grabbed her ass with both hands and brought her down on him, hard. Oh, God, this felt amazing. He felt amazing.

  “You okay?” he asked gruffly.

  She searched for her voice. “Much better than okay.”

  “Good.”

  The next time she slid down his cock, his hips bucked to meet hers.

  “You feel so good,” he rasped.

  She was getting past the point of speaking, so she let the pleasure take over, rising up and coming down, stroke after stroke, each one harder, faster. His eyes stayed fixed on hers in silent challenge: Look at me. Don’t forget it’s me who makes you feel this way.

  But she wasn’t in any danger of forgetting.

  “I’m close,” she panted out.

  “Touch yourself,” he growled.

  She slipped her hand between them and found her clit, swirling her fingers in all the wet heat, pushing her pleasure higher.

  “Fuck, yes.” His voice was wild.

  His words sent her over the edge. A rush of ecstasy filled her as she came hard. Max’s hands tightened around her hips as he lifted her, again and again, milking her pleasure until he roared, his whole body jerking under her.

  Natasha collapsed onto his chest, heaving in breaths. Max’s arms enveloped her, pulling her even closer. His heartbeat thumped in her ear, the leaves of the trees rustled and the water lapped onto the shore. Paradise. Beautiful, ethereal paradise.

  Today had been absolutely perfect. She was on vacation with her sister, diving and relaxing on a tropical island, with a generous helping of sex with her first pick of men, Max Jensen. When had she had this much fun? Never. The pleasure of this day alone was well worth the coming heartache.

  Because today had also made it clear that letting Max go would be hard. Maybe she’d even known from the beginning, deep down, that it would be like this. But she could be there for him on Saturday if he needed it. One more date with him wouldn’t make a difference. She could handle it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  NATASHA WAS LEFT alone with her thoughts, and she was trying hard not to let those thoughts wander off the island. It wasn’t working very well. Her view of the pool, after a morning full of wispy women and buffed and shaved men, was now empty. Everyone else was on the other side of the island at the photoshoot. Max had left to escort Alya, but he’d be back soon. It was Sunday, the last day of the shoot. Their last day together.

  Natasha had probably laughed more in the hours she and Max had been alone together than during her entire relationship with Wayne. But that wasn’t fair. Wayne was different—he made her think, pushed her to do better...well, at least it had started that way. They’d discussed journal articles, and he had helped her solve some of the stumbling blocks in her own research ideas, which had led to the grant that would be funding half of her salary next year.

  Which was why she’d assumed that he’d be thrilled about the next step in her career. Yes, she’d known his most recent grant proposal hadn’t gone through, but he was in a different field. This was what had stung the worst the night of her un-celebration dinner. Not that he’d encouraged her to see other people, but that his support ended the moment it looked like she might be a peer, not just a protégé.

  Natasha frowned. She had devoted her life to a path that was the polar opposite of her mother’s. And yet she had managed to hit that same sore point of betrayal. For her mother, each of her downward spirals had begun at the point when her career had begun to eclipse her partner’s. For Natasha, it was the moment she realized that her relationship with Wayne had never been based on mutual respect, on equal footing.

  She was pretty sure Max would never feel threatened by her accomplishments—that wasn’t the issue. But if Wayne made her think, Max did the opposite: he made her feel things that made logical thoughts dissolve into lust-filled nonsense. Long-term, this would be a nonstarter, but short-term? This could mean more of the kind of elusive, carefree fun that she was just starting to explore with Max.

  As if she’d conjured him with her thoughts, she watched Max stride across the pool area toward her.

  He stopped next to her lounge chair, so she moved her legs to the side, and he sat down, then ran a hand up her calf.

  “Photoshoot going well for Alya so far?” she asked.

  He grinned. “When I left, they had her lying on the beach, not far from where we were last night.”

  “Good thing you didn’t leave that condom lying around,” said Natasha.

  “And let some poor sea creature find it?” he asked solemnly. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  He was quiet, stroking her calf, looking out at the pool. This was their last time alone. Anything she wanted to do or know had to come now.

  “Tell me more about next Saturday,” she said.

  He sighed. “The Jensen Family Foundation teamed up with the Martinelli Foundation to create a breast cancer research institute at the Sydney Memorial Hospital. It’s the donor dinner, with a few quick speeches, dancing, an open bar.” A hint of a smile quirked at the corner of his lips. “Shit like that is more fun if you have a couple drinks.”

  Natasha took a deep breath. If she wanted to ask more about his family, now was the time. “Are you on good terms with your family?”

  “My grandma’s a trip,” he said. “You’ll like her.�
�

  They both knew it wasn’t his grandma she was referring to, so she waited. Like everyone else, she knew the basics. Max was third generation in a ranching family with more money than everyone else in Western Australia put together. Every country had its dynasties, and the Jensens were one of Australia’s, partly because of their wealth and partly because of their mystique.

  Max sighed. “The answer is no, Natasha. My father and I just aren’t a good match. We never have been.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked gently.

  “My father doesn’t say much, and when he does, it’s mostly to tell me what to do,” he said with a wry smile. “My brother, TJ, doesn’t say much, either, but he stopped telling me what to do once I got big enough to challenge him. So now we get along.”

  She heard a tangle of emotions in his voice. “It hasn’t gotten better over the years, now that you live far away?”

  “Somewhat. Though my father still had plenty to say about what the press printed about me.” Max shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about it unless it hurts someone else, though I suppose I’ll have to change that now that I’ll be heading up the foundation.”

  Natasha definitely understood what it felt like to not fit into the mold a parent had hoped for. Her own mother still couldn’t grasp why she had pursued an academic career instead of something “easier”—and more lucrative—in entertainment.

  Max was silent. He lifted her leg and rested it on his lap, holding it with his big, warm hand, his thumb caressing her calf slowly.

  She thought the conversation might be over, but after a while, he spoke again. “When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, her depression got worse. My father—he didn’t know what to do about it.”

  “What did you want him to do?”

  “Help her. Make her happy.”

  She wrinkled her nose but said nothing. He seemed to understand her unspoken response anyway.

  “I know,” he said. “You don’t believe in making other people happy.”

  She rested her hand on his. “Will it be hard to go?”

  “It’ll be a hell of a lot easier if you go with me,” he said softly.

  * * *

  Inviting Natasha to come with him to the Jensen Family Foundation function was selfish. She had come to him this weekend for the best kind of fun, but every hour that this time-limited arrangement went on it seemed more and more like a mistake. It wasn’t enough. Even during that first kiss in her apartment, when he had her up against the table, ready to fuck her right there, he had ignored the warning lights going off inside. And last night on the beach was...intense.

  Maybe he should really come clean with her, tell her that his life was about to change, that, if his father’s experience was any indication, any woman he was with would be put through the wringer, no matter how faithful he was. But they weren’t together, and he could figure out how to hold off the press just for Saturday. And then he’d leave her alone.

  It was his last day with her in paradise, and he didn’t want to spend it talking about his family. Not when they could be doing other things... His dick usually provided him with the easiest distraction, and it didn’t take much of a jump to get from last day alone with Natasha to alone with Natasha.

  Yep, that did the trick.

  Hell, he’d try sex in the pool with her right now if she wanted. Just thinking about it was enough to get his cock hard.

  Wait. They had hours together. Enough time for some fun foreplay of the marine-life sort. Last night on the beach had been hot, with her on his lap, that lush body up against him. The beach, the ocean, the island, her laugh, her body that was so goddamn hard to ignore, her voice—all these pieces fit together to make something more. If this had to end, he wanted to enjoy every part of her. Make her laugh. Listen as she explained the nuances of fish relationships or whatever the hell she wanted to talk about. Just be the way they were together.

  Natasha met his gaze and smiled. It was a real smile, soft and intimate, and it awakened every part of him. He’d had far too many “just sex” arrangements not to recognize that this was more than just sex. It had been more from the beginning. Her smile was full of pleasure, and it was just for him. He winced as the familiar warning sirens went off: danger. From their first kiss, he had suspected he was in danger of getting attached, but in that moment, he knew with no doubt that walking away from this fling would hurt like hell. He could deal with that. What gave him pause was Natasha’s unguarded smile. Would she get hurt, too?

  Still, he leaned over and ran his hand up her bare thigh again. Still, he looked into her eyes with something more than just lust.

  But in a way, this was his warning to her. She could back away right now, get out from under the intensity of his gaze. She blinked up at him, her eyes wide and a little uncertain. He watched her soft, sweet throat as she swallowed. His heart pounded in his chest, but he forced himself to wait her out.

  Finally, she broke the eye contact. “I’ve got another Choose Your Own Adventure idea,” she said with a grin.

  Max bit back a sigh of relief. No backing out. Later he’d worry about what all of this meant, but for a few hours today, it was just the two of them.

  He leaned in farther, making slow circles on her thigh. “Tell me.”

  “Professor/student,” she said. “Is that a scenario that turns you on?”

  He quirked a brow, nodded, and she laughed as a flush crept up her neck. Embarrassment? Arousal? Or maybe both.

  Max smiled. He could definitely get into this one. “I like it. In this story, are you the professor and I’m the student, or the other way around?”

  “You’re the professor, and you’re blown away by my impressive knowledge about fish behavior.” Natasha turned to him, her eyes sparkling. If there had been any trace of embarrassment when she broached the subject, it was gone now. “We talk after class about a paper you wrote about the behavior of reef sharks rereleased into the wild, and I point out some new possibilities for further studies. You’re both intrigued by my ideas and turned on.”

  Max nodded slowly, intoxicated by the scent of her hair, the scent of her. Intrigued by her ideas and turned on? Hell, yes, he could do that, no role-playing involved. But she clearly had thought through this scenario in detail, and he was going to give her exactly what she wanted.

  “What happens next?” he asked, his voice huskier.

  “I come to your office after hours with an article about another fish with possible similar behaviors, one that you hadn’t read,” she said, her voice breathy. “It was a secondary finding in the article, easy to miss if—um, is this getting too detailed and science-y for you?”

  “What? No.” Max blinked down at her. “Why would you think that?”

  Natasha frowned a little. “It’s just that men tend to glaze over a little when I start talking about my research.”

  “That’s your conclusion?” he asked. “A few assholes don’t pay attention when you talk, and you think all men don’t find you interesting?”

  Natasha shrugged. “All people have parts that are more or less sexy.” She perused the length of his body, a smile curving on her lips. “Well, everyone except you. You’re hot, through and through.”

  Max’s knee-jerk reaction to this comment was lewd, but he paused. Her comment was bothering him.

  “Sorry, Natasha, but that’s not how it works. We all come as package deals. And anyone who wants to unbundle the package, just choose some of the parts, doesn’t know shit about people.” He leaned a little closer and added, “Or about you.”

  She didn’t answer right away. She was probably thinking about this, coming to her own conclusions, but then she smiled. “Did I just take all the sexy out of this moment?”

  “Not even close.” Max laughed. He turned around to straddle the lounge chair so he was facing her, with her legs resting on one of h
is. Then he reached forward and tickled her stomach.

  “Stop!” she shrieked and wriggled away.

  He stopped tickling but kept his hands on her waist. Just sitting next to Natasha was weakening his resolve to make this afternoon about more than sex.

  And then he knew exactly what else they should be doing this afternoon.

  “Before we get started playing out your scenario, I thought we could do a little reef exploring,” he said.

  Her eyes widened, as if that were the last thing she’d been expecting out of his mouth. A little crease formed between her eyebrows.

  “You want to do that?” She grinned. “You don’t have to go snorkeling to get me naked. I thought we already established that.”

  He chuckled. “I know.”

  But she still didn’t look like she was convinced.

  “I’m serious, Nat,” he said. “I want to see some of that fish sex you’ve been talking about.”

  Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Fish sex instead of real sex?”

  “We have four hours before the magazine shoot ends,” he said. “While I’m flattered by your confidence in my stamina, I’m pretty sure four hours would push even my limits.”

  Natasha snorted, shaking her head.

  “We have time for both. So let’s go out.”

  He moved his hands lower, onto her hips, and smiled.

  “Come on,” he whispered. “There’s tons of sexy stuff going on out there in the ocean, and we’re missing it.”

  Her shoulders shook in a quiet laugh, but when she met his gaze, her eyes were warm and a little shy.

  “How about we look for epaulette sharks?” she asked.

  Um...sharks? Max frowned. “I thought people generally tried to avoid sharks when they went in the water.”

  Natasha just smiled. “Come on, Max. It’ll be fun. You just need a pair of sturdy shoes.”

  Was she joking?

  “I thought those things were called flippers,” he said narrowing his eyes. “But who am I to correct the marine biologist?”