This morning, I took some steaks out of the freezer to thaw. I’m planning to do them on the grill with some potatoes. We’ve had fish every night since we’ve been here—fresh caught and delicious—but I want some damn beef.
Making my way up the path, I eyeball the trip wires I placed through the foliage in case any potential intruder decided to try to sneak up off the path, which are covered by the infra-red cameras. By the time I hit the front door, I’ve gone out of hyper-vigilant, single-purposed protector mode and into can’t wait to spend time with Barrett while I protect her mode.
I hate myself for feeling this way. I’ve put my own feelings and desires over what’s best for Barrett, which would be to put one thousand percent of my energy into watching over her. It means I shouldn’t let her distract me, and I shouldn’t lose myself in her.
In essence, I’m letting her down in the long run.
I’m letting Kynan down.
If he knew I was fucking her, he’d kill me, then fire me.
And yet, not going to stop. What’s done is done, and now I’ve had her, I’m just going to have to risk my fucking job because I’m not going backward.
Barrett isn’t just some lay.
She’s not a hookup. Not a one-night stand.
She fucking means something to me, and that’s probably why it’s the best damn sex of my life.
I’m goddamned smitten with the woman I’m protecting, and I have no business being in this line of work if I can’t keep this shit separated.
When all this is said and done, Kynan deserves my resignation and he’ll get it.
I hurry into the front door and through the foyer, immediately zeroing in on Barrett at the large dining room table. Clearly hearing me enter, she sits straighter in the chair, flips her laptop closed, and looks over her shoulder with an expression I can’t quite pinpoint the meaning of.
It’s a mixture of what might be excitement and regret.
“What have you done?” I tease.
Face flushing, she pushes out of her chair, hands clasped in front of her chest as she turns to face me fully. “I think I might have had a breakthrough. No, not a breakthrough. The breakthrough.”
When I cock a brow in question, she squeals before running to jump into my arms. I catch her on instinct, but even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered since she wraps her legs tightly around my waist and laces her fingers together at the nape of my neck, clinging like a monkey. She sits just slightly higher, so she has to tilt her head down. Shamelessly, I cup my hands around her ass to support her position.
“I think I did it,” she exclaims, practically vibrating with energy. “I’ll have to um… go back over it again, but I really think I did it.”
“As in you can release it to the world?” I ask.
“As in I can release it to my employer, who will then turn it over to the United States, but yes… I think my work is done. Like I said… I’ll need a few hours tomorrow to double check some things, but this could be it.”
“Fuck, Barrett,” I mutter, then smack a hand to the back of her head so I can pull her in for a rough, congratulatory kiss. It’s swift and brutal, but her gasp of pleasure assures me she likes it.
When I pull back, I stare into her eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”
“So, we can go home, right?” she asks, again with excitement brimming in her eyes, but I also get an undercurrent of ruefulness. Maybe she’s sad to be leaving our little paradise, and I can’t say I relish the thought either. I haven’t had a chance to try to figure out what the future could hold for us in the real world.
“I’m not sure,” I reply hesitantly as I lower her to the ground. Bringing a palm to her cheek, I bend to peer at her. “I need to call Kynan, and he’ll have to discuss everything with your employer and uncle. They might feel it needs tested first—”
“But that could take weeks,” she exclaims in frustration. “I thought once I gave my work away, once I put it out into the world, the danger would be over.”
“Probably,” I say. “Let me put a call into Kynan first, and we’ll—”
She cuts me off by stepping into my body, putting her hands behind my neck and pulling me down for a kiss that says shut the fuck up for now.
When we kiss, it’s full of congratulations, pride, and a little bit of sadness that most likely our time in paradise is coming to an end.
When she pulls away, I take a moment to let my eyes roam over her face. Her hair, which is a complete nerdy mess. The slight swelling to her lips from that kiss. “Hungry? I was going to grill some steaks.”
“Yes, I’m hungry,” she replies softly, hands going to the button on my cargo shorts. “But not for food right now.”
Just those words. The way her fingers fumble as she tries to get inside my pants. The sexy seductress mixed with the clumsy scientist. For whatever reason, the combination turns me the fuck on.
Barrett is the one for me.
My dick is almost fully hard by the time she shoves my shorts down and frees it. Her hands are feather soft as they stroke me. I kiss her again, let her play with me for a bit before I reciprocate with my fingers. She’s wet and throbbing in no time at all, but the same could be said for me.
I could carry her off to our bed. It’s been well used these last several days.
But instead, I spin her toward the dining room table, breaking our kiss only to bend her over it. She gasps as I hike up the tiny cotton skirt she’s wearing, sucking in a deep breath when I drag her panties all the way down. When I tap an impatient hand against one of her ankles, she dutifully lifts to let me pull one leg free. I leave the silk dangling from the other ankle as I straighten.
God, she’s fucking gorgeous from behind. Her naked ass. The slight peek of her pussy as I shove her legs farther apart with my own. All perfect.
Moving in close behind her, I line myself up and drive in deep. Barret groans, her hands clawing at the mahogany wood as I fuck her. I’ve got a hand on her hip, one on her shoulder to hold her in place, and I thrust hard.
Over and over again into the woman I think is the one.
I give her all I’ve got while taking exactly what I need. When I feel her pussy starting to tighten around me, I’m not the slightest bit surprised when my body reacts accordingly. She’s coming… therefore, I simply must come, too.
I slam in deep, hold there, and lose myself completely.
CHAPTER 17
Barrett
“I feel guilty,” I tell Cruce as my feet swing back and forth. “Just… doing nothing.”
We’re sitting side by side on the end of the dock. Despite Cruce’s best efforts to get me to walk around naked, I’m dressed, but scantily so. I’m wearing my laciest, most miniscule bra and panty set in a translucent white lace. I might as well be naked.
Dressed in nothing but shorts, Cruce holds a fishing pole. We’re waiting to hear back from Kynan on what the game plan is. Because I essentially have no more work to do on my formula, I did not say no to a late morning on the dock to soak up some vitamin D in the form of sunlight.
I feel guilty for other reasons, which I cannot divulge to Cruce. He’d kill me, and I’m still not sure they wouldn’t cause total panic within him over my transgressions.
Yesterday, I did something Cruce, Kynan, and Bebe had hammered into me not to do before we left.
Stay offline, they had said.
For my safety.
For Cruce’s safety.
But I’d made my breakthrough yesterday afternoon. While Cruce was out walking the island and doing his duty to protect me from the bad guys, I suddenly had one of those moments of clarity where not only did a light bulb go off, but I also felt like the scientific heavens had opened up and poured divine light down onto me.
I’d realized the elements that had been missing to get the lighter atomic nuclei to combine to the heavier nucleus, thus creating the beautiful process of nuclear fusion.
Of course, it’s all theoretical and I was callin
g on a dusty memory I had of something I’d read in an old periodical I did not have digital access to.
So, my guilt comes from the fact I could not resist the temptation to confirm what I was ninety-nine percent sure about, and I logged onto the satellite Wi-Fi Bebe had given Cruce to use only in an emergency.
To try make myself feel better, I justified that everything was encrypted and protected by the powers of Bebe, but since she’d been the most vocal in explaining there’s nothing in the digital world that’s absolutely safe and foolproof, I knew I was taking a risk.
I’d emailed my research assistant, taking no more than probably thirty seconds to do so. I immediately logged off after stating I needed the response as soon as possible.
I waited an hour, logged back on, and saw his response. It confirmed exactly what I needed to know.
I started to log back off, eager to return to work and do some theoretical hole punching to test the validity of my findings. But then one last thought occurred to me, and I let my excitement over the fact the end might be near get the better of me.
I sent a quick email to my uncle. Keeping it short, I’d been offline within mere seconds.
Dear Uncle Jon,
I’m close. Really close. Love you and thank you for all your support. See you soon.
Barrie
Yeah, I feel guilty as hell about sneaking to do those things. I’m suffering extreme remorse. However, I have to look at the positive. I woke up this morning, re-testing all my theories by working in reverse order. I did it four times until I realized… there was nothing else I could do. It had to go to testing.
Cruce had called Kynan and gave him the news. We were both told to sit tight and be patient while Kynan figured out the next steps as it could take a few days. He wanted to talk with my lab to figure out how to transfer my data securely from the island to their servers. He also intends to talk to my uncle to see if he has any other safety concerns. As Kynan pointed out to Cruce, my formula being finished doesn’t mean I’m safe. Even if others take my work and start actual reactor testing, it still doesn’t mean someone won’t want to pick my brain apart.
Right now, we are in the safest spot possible—although Cruce hypothesized it was probably going to be safe to go home soon, after adding some modified protection at my home.
Makes me sad this is all going to be over.
My time here with Cruce, I mean.
We’ve been here almost a week and a half. While stress has been high, and we’ve been socially isolated, I have to say some of my happiest moments ever have been here. Granted, it’s the nights or the early morning hours when I’m in his arms or he’s inside of me. It’s the conversations we share over meals. The way he moves. How he looks at me.
It’s how my body reacts to him. How sometimes when I just look at him while I’m up in the main house working and he’s on the beach, standing guard, I get almost giddy with emotion.
I don’t want this to be over. Yet, I don’t know what awaits us back in the normal world.
“Have you ever just sat around and done nothing?” Cruce asks, jolting me out of my reverie. He reels in his line, pulls it all the way out of the water, then sits the pole on the dock beside him.
“Huh?”
“You said you feel guilty,” he reminds me, compounding said guilt not only for sitting here doing nothing, but also for disobeying the rules that were put in place to keep me safe. “Have you never truly just relaxed?”
Putting my hands on the dock slightly behind me, I lean back, lifting my face to the sun for a moment. I tip my head to the right, settling my gaze on him before I answer.
He’s so handsome. So good and attentive and sexy and genuine. I owe my life to him, as well as all the ways in which I’ve changed over our time together.
Slowly, I shake my head. “No. I’ve never just done this, and I need to thank you.”
“Why?” he asks as he rolls to lay fully on the deck.
I follow suit, sliding my hand over to find his and turning my face back to the sun as I close my eyes against the brightness. Our fingers link. “Thank you for making me see the pleasure in just laying here on a hot wooden dock on a sunny day while doing nothing. Thank you for making me slow down sometimes.”
He rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. “Promise me you’ll continue to do this back in the real world.”
“Won’t be as fun without you,” I reply, internally wincing when I realize saying that may be way too forward.
Too clingy? Needy? Girlie? Desperate?
His hand jumps in mine slightly before he locks onto me with a tight squeeze. It’s enough to make me turn my head, the hard wood of the dock hurting my skull, as I open my eyes.
He stares straight at me. “Wouldn’t want to deprive you of fun.”
Hope swells within me, and my lips curve upward. “Really?”
Cruce gives a careless shrug. “I mean… you’re all right to hang out with.”
I pull my hand free of his, only to use it to pop him in the stomach. He curls up, grabbing onto his stomach, and looks pained. Smiling, I only roll my eyes. I hadn’t hit him hard.
Grinning, he leans over and puts a palm on the nape of my neck, pulling me up into a sitting position. His mouth touches mine, and I can’t help but sigh into the kiss.
If feels so damn right.
I feel like I belong to him.
It’s hard… ignoring the twinge of guilt over not telling him what I did by getting online contrary to specific orders. But that was almost twenty-four hours ago, and nothing bad has happened. I was online for no more than two minutes total, if that.
It seems like everything is working out to achieve my dreams. My bonus is Cruce. I’ve made something with him that he wants to continue to explore.
The kiss deepens. I bring my hand to his wrist, locking on tight to hold him there forever.
“Can we make a deal?” he asks, practically groaning the question into my mouth.
“Mmm?”
“You never wear bathing suits again when we’re at the beach or poolside together. Just lingerie. And the more see-through the better.”
Giggling, I pull away from him slightly. His eyes are sparkling in the sun as he grins. “I am not dressing like this in public.”
“Then maybe I’ll just keep you on a private island all the time,” he suggests.
“I could get on board with that,” I muse, bringing my finger to my lips and coyly peeking up at him.
“Could you get on board with me taking that little white lacy number off you right now?” he asks, his voice rumbling with desire. Gaze dropping to my chest, he skims his finger along the edge of the lace cup, sending shivers up my spine.
“What if a tour helicopter flies over?” I ask.
“I’m in the ‘don’t give a fuck phase’ of this idea,” he replies gruffly, his hand now moving to the clasp at the front to unhook it.
Wantonly arching my back, I push my breasts up and out, giving him access to do whatever he wants.
Just before he unsnaps my bra, the satellite phone on the dock next to us rings.
Cruce groans, dropping his forehead to mine for a second, before he sighs and rolls away from me. He reaches out, nabs the phone, and taps the button to connect it. Pushing another to put it on speakerphone, he puts it between us.
We’ve been waiting for this call from Kynan to tell us what our fate is. Can we come home or are we stuck out here until some testing can be done?
“Kynan,” Cruce says as he answers. “Got you on speaker. Barrett is here with me.”
“Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news,” he replies.
Figures.
Cruce gives me an encouraging smile. Somehow, I don’t think he’d mind being stuck here for a bit longer. After that kiss we just shared, not sure I would either.
“We think it’s okay to bring you two home,” Kynan continues. “Although the president wants to talk to his security advisors as he’s worried abo
ut the continued threat to Barrett. He’s organizing that now.”
Cruce and I exchange a longer, more meaningful look. Kynan has no clue we’ve just committed to continuing to see each other. That we’re not having an awful time right now. But we can’t stay here forever. We both have lives we need to get back to.
“I’ll have something definitive for you tomorrow,” Kynan promises. “My gut instinct is it will be information on a private charter out of Virgin Gorda. I’d start getting your bags packed.”
“All right, man,” Cruce replies, his tone businesslike. “We’ll hang tight until we talk to you tomorrow.”
“Later,” Kynan mutters, and the call is disconnected with one sharp tone emitted.
Cruce sets the phone down, wincing apologetically. “I know that’s probably not what you wanted to hear.”
“On the contrary,” I reply silkily, wondering if I can pull off the inner seductress within me. I move my hand slowly to the hook Cruce had been so close to touching, and I give it a practiced flick. It pops open, and my breasts spring free. I don’t even have a moment’s embarrassment. By the look on Cruce’s face right now, I actually want to roar in triumph.
“You present a tempting offer, Dr. Alexander,” he murmurs, his eyes pinned on my chest. He’s so adorably sexy when he calls me that, or maybe it’s truly just the expression on his face as if he just found water after a long crawl through the desert.
“It’s all yours for the taking,” I assure him.
He reaches a hand out slowly, then grazes the back of it across one of my nipples. It shrinks, hardens, and stands at attention. “So responsive to me,” he says as if he’s never been more awed in his life.
Staring, he doesn’t make a move, as if he wants to hold on to this small moment of simple appreciation.
“Cruce,” I murmur to get his attention.
It takes a moment for his eyes to slide to up to meet mine, but when they do, I have his undivided attention.
“I’ve never had this before,” I say, motioning between us. “This level of intimacy with a man, I mean.”
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