by Laura Sutton
“If we follow these rocks, I think we can stand underneath the waterfall and not get wet,” he said, voice loud to be heard over the rush of the water, pointing to how the cliff seemed to be hollowed out behind it. His smile was so full of excitement she couldn’t help but return it.
They made their way over the slippery rocks, until she could feel the spray of the water, and it rushed off the cliff and into the pool. It was cool and the entire area smelled of fresh growing things. Mist rose from the water and sparkled in the sunlight, seeming to create a mesh of diamonds around them. Sam drew in a long, slow breath, trying to memorize everything she could sense around her. She wanted to never forget the sight, the moment, or the man sharing it all with her.
After a second of contemplation there, they kept going, into a shallow impression, almost a cave but not quite, behind the waterfall. Dark and damp and cool, it was blissful after being out in the hot, broiling sun. Oddly quiet, too, with something about the shape of the rock muting the roar of the waterfall.
“This is amazing,” Eli murmured. He dropped her hand to fish his phone out of his backpack and used it as a flashlight to illuminate the interior of the cave.
Sam wandered further in and touched the cave wall, marveling at the contrast of textures between the smooth stone and velvety moss growing in patches across it.
“It’s amazing the things you can find, if you just wander a little from the path, huh?” Eli said from behind her, making her startle a bit– she had been so absorbed by the cave, she hadn’t even heard him approach.
She leaned back against the wall and shot him a grin.
“Yes, I would’ve never found this, if I hadn’t been on this excursion with you.” Her words had a deeper meaning than even she was ready to explore.
Eli’s smile faltered, as he grasped her meaning, and for a split second she was afraid he would run. Like, literally run out of the cave, and she would have to find a way back to the trail by herself, but then something settled in his eyes and he smiled. His large warm hands cupped her face, and he leaned down and kissed her.
“I wouldn’t want to experience this with anyone but you, bimba,” he whispered against her lips before kissing her again. His lips rubbing against hers slowly and seductively, his tongue slipping into her mouth to twine around hers. His taste was fresh, like mint and water, but with something dark and seductive, too. Sam swallowed his deep moans as she sucked his tongue deeper into her mouth and a wicked thought danced through her desire-filled brain.
“I think I owe you one,” she breathed against his ear and pulled on his earlobe with her teeth.
Who was this bold woman? Sam wondered as she sank to her knees in front of him. Maybe it was something about this waterfall, or Costa Rica? Deep down, she knew it wasn’t the place, but the person she was with. It was all Eli.
Her hands went to the belt of his khaki cargo shorts and she could feel the hard, thick length of him through his shorts. She had felt him last night between her thighs and their clothing, but somehow in the haze of the moment she hadn’t realized how big he really was.
She pulled down the zipper and Eli moved his hand to her cheek, stroking it as she moved her hand inside his shorts to free his cock. It was impossibly hard, the skin hot and smooth and so thick she could barely wrap her hand around it. Slowly, she began stroking it from base to tip.
With his golden skin flushing pink, his eyes closed in pleasure, Eli looked like a painting by a master. He must’ve felt her eyes on him, because he opened his and gazed down at her, his face intent. His thumb stroked the line of her jaw, then her lips, caressing the sensitive skin.
Sam was not sure what seductress had inhabited her body, but she found herself flicking the tip of his thumb with her tongue, sucking on it, as she continued to stroke his cock. His breathless gasp told her he was enjoying it, but eventually he must have tired of her teasing because his hand slipped from her mouth and into her hair, gently but firmly moving her mouth closer.
Without breaking eye contact, Sam wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, her tongue teasing it, licking and swirling but not sucking, not yet.
“God, don’t tease me, Samantha. You won’t like the payback, bimba.” His voice was dark, ragged with control, and his fingers flexed in her hair. Sam knew he was barely holding on to his restraint and that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted him wild, crazed with lust, like he had made her the previous night.
She held his cock at the base and let it slip from her mouth with an audible pop. Slowly, so slowly, and still looking into his gone almost black with desire, she ran her tongue around the head of his cock, then down the underside of his shaft and back up.
“Oh, God,” Eli groaned.
Sam couldn’t resist a smirk for just a second before taking his cock back into her mouth.
He was so long and hard there was no way she could suck all of him into her mouth, but she was no quitter. Moving her hand and mouth in time over him, she sucked harder and faster, Eli’s hands guiding her head to the rhythm he wanted, his hips thrusting just a little each time.
Eli clenched his fingers in her hair even tighter, and instead of repelling her, the sting of it only heightened Sam’s arousal, making her nerve endings sizzle. Knowing he was loosening the iron grip of his self-control, and all because of her, was making her ache and throb between her legs, and she wanted more. She wanted to feel him abandon himself completely.
“God, bimba, yes,” he moaned. His hips pushed forward and the head of his cock bumped up against the back of her throat. Sam had a brief moment of panic before adjusting the tilt of her head, lengthening her neck and letting her breathe more easily through her nose, and was a bit shocked when he somehow slid in even deeper. The slight discomfort was worth it, worth everything, because he was getting closer and she actually wanted to taste him, a want she had never felt with any man before.
She felt his cock swell against her tongue and she moved her hand and her mouth faster on him, her other hand gripping his hip, her fingers digging into the muscle on his firm ass.
“Sam, I’m gonna come,” and she knew that was a warning, but she didn’t wasn’t going to take her mouth off of him. She wanted it all.
Then his hands were gripping her head tightly, groaning, pouring into her mouth. He tasted earthy, of musk and salt, not unpleasantly. She swallowed and moved her hand slower over him until he softened and slipped from her mouth.
His eyes were closed and his head hung down, the fatigue after climax giving a slackness and relaxation to his features. She licked her swollen lips, intent on chasing every last bit of his flavor, just as he opened his eyes, and he smiled down at her. A lazy, very satisfied smile it was, and she returned it, a primal, feminine part of her deliriously happy she had been able to pleasure such a man to that extent.
“On your knees, and still so fucking innocent,” he whispered, his tone wondering. In one swift move, he pulled her to her feet and pinned her against the cave wall. His kiss was hot and possessive, claiming, branding her with its skill, making her think of all the days of her life she’d gone without the intensity and physicality of him. She realized with dismay how many more days were ahead of her, after her vacation was over and Eli parted from her forever; Sam never again wanted to go another day without the magic of his kiss.
He pulled back and his dark eyes searched hers– for what, she wasn’t sure, but he must’ve found it, because he grinned, that naughty grin that would make any woman– and especially Sam– drop her panties for him.
“I want to fuck you right up against the wall in this cave,” he growled.
Sam nodded, feeling a little frantic with how aroused she was. She wanted him to fuck her, too, right there, right then, and he leaned in for another kiss.
His phone dinged, and he froze, head hanging down in frustration.
“I think that’s the ten minute warning,” he muttered. “EWe need to head back if we don’t want to miss the bus.”
Wit
h a grumble, they released each other, shouldering their backpacks and picking their way over the rocks until they had left their private little grotto behind and were out in the bright, verdant jungle once more. He walked ahead, leading her by her hand, and Sam found herself studying him more than her surroundings with a sinking feeling in her chest.
How was she going to say goodbye to him in two weeks?
Chapter Eight
Eli
The trek back to the bus was quiet, but not awkward. What happened in the cave hadn’t just been the best blowjob of Eli’s life– well, it had been, but it had also been more, something exciting and terrifying.
The path led them back to the main part of the park and, once out of the thick of the jungle, Sam stopped and tugged on his hand. She was chewing on her bottom lip in that way he’d come to know meant she was feeling worried or shy.
“Are you– was that–”
He didn’t let her finish whatever question she was trying to get out. Instead, he took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly until the tension in her body drained.
“It was amazing, you are amazing, bimba,” Eli assured her. His reward was a breathtaking smile. “Let’s get on the bus so we can get back to the hotel and I can kiss you some more.”
Eli winked and Sam nodded, her lips parted in a way that made his cock twitch, thinking about the pleasure those lips had brought him. They climbed back onto the bus where the air conditioning was already blasting, a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of the day.
They hadn’t been sitting very long when Sam’s cell phone rang. “Roxy,” she told him when she pulled it from her bag, and he smiled.
Friends were not something Eli was familiar with. Growing up, he had his family, his brothers– one older and two younger– but anyone outside of their family was at best a liability, and at worst a danger. Having someone who was genuinely concerned about your wellbeing and not related to you or having an ulterior motive was a concept he’d never personally experienced. Even after five years since he had left the family and the life behind, he hadn’t been able to shake the lessons of his early years. Sometimes, he doubted he ever would.
“Okay, Rox, sounds good. We’ll see you in about two hours, and then meet up for dinner. Yup, I’ll ask him. ’Kay, see you in a bit.” Sam finished up her phone call and leaned back into her seat, turning her head to give Eli a tired smile.
“Sorry about that, I apparently had no reception in the jungle and she was a little worried,” Sam said a little sheepishly and Eli smiled at her.
“No, it’s good that she was worried, I’m basically a stranger. In fact, I don’t think we’ve even exchanged last names,” Eli said, and Sam’s eyes got comically wide.
“Oh, God!” she groaned and covered her face with her hands. Eli couldn’t help but chuckle at her embarrassment.
“Bimba, it’s okay,” he said, still chuckling, and pulled her hands from her face.
“I’ve fooled around with you twice and I don’t know your last name,” she said, clearly shocked.
“Elias di Ruggiero, but my friends call me Eli,” He grinned and held out his hand for her to shake.
“Samantha Barnett, but everyone calls me Sam,” she answered, slipping her hand into his.
Instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his lips. “No,” he said softly, “to me, you’re ‘bimba’.”
He watched her the pupils of her eyes expand as he kissed her hand. She was so responsive, so sensual, and soon he would have her in his bed. That very night, if he had any say in the matter. He needed to be inside her, needed to make her scream his name while he buried his flesh in her over and over.
“Nice to meet you,” she breathed, and then she shocked him by leaning into his space and placing a sweet, almost chaste kiss on his mouth.
“Is that how you greet all new people?” he teased, and she shrugged.
“Only the ones I really like.” She bit her lip and blushed in a shy and alluring way that instantly made his dick twitch, already willing to be aroused again so soon after the last time.
And then she gave a yawn, so big it seemed to surprise her.
“Come here,” Eli murmured, putting his arm around her, and Sam snuggled into his embrace. He kissed the side of her head and leaned his head against hers, closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Eli felt a contentment with Sam in his arms that he had never before experienced in his life. His life, his childhood, had been about a lot of things – wealth, danger, even glamour– but never contentment. He’d also never allowed himself the pleasure of merely holding a woman. Oh, he’d fucked and fucked plenty, never once leaving a woman’s bed until she was satisfied, but holding one? Sleeping and letting a woman sleep beside him? Never.
He had never wanted to open that door. Letting his guard down around a woman was dangerous to Eli, both physically and mentally. But something about Sam, though, filled him with both security and a sense of adventure, an eagerness to know her better and maybe– just maybe– share more of himself with her.
Eli felt fatigue pulling at him and Sam, already fast asleep on his shoulder, burrowed in closer. He tightened his arms around her and quickly fell asleep basking in her warmth. They slept the entire bus ride back to the hotel and with a kiss Eli left her, promising to meet her and Roxy in an hour for dinner.
Once back in his room, Eli took a quick shower and pointedly did not think about the kisses he and Sam had shared, or that amazing blowjob, or else he would be in the shower way too long. The next time he came, he wanted to be inside Samantha.
Eli toweled off his jet-black hair and then wrapped the towel around his hips and headed out of his bathroom. He grabbed his laptop out of his bag. He still had about forty-five minutes before he was to meet Sam and Roxy for dinner. Tonight they were headed to a recommended restaurant off the resort property, but still on the beach. Eli didn’t really care where they ate, as long as he got to spend the evening with Sam.
Eli booted up his laptop and opened his email. He was to start at Herman and Samson in Virginia in a month. They were a mid-sized criminal law firm looking to expand, and he was excited to start fresh. His foolish heart was urging him to make what he had with her more than just a vacation fling. He regretted lying to Samantha, since both he and Sam would be residing in the same state.
Maybe his family was far enough in his past. His new apartment was ready for him to move into, according to notice from the landlord, and there was an email from the HR department of the law firm confirming his start date. It would be nice to be out of Dallas, and away from the shadow and reach of the di Ruggiero family. Nice to be in a place where his name didn’t strike fear and suspicion into the heart of every person he met.
But halfway through his inbox, in between spam and advertisements for sporting equipment, was an email from an address that made his blood run cold. It was his brother’s business email, from the legitimate business, Aphrodite's Palace. It was a strip club, one of the oldest in Dallas, opened by their grandfather in the 1960s.
The di Ruggieros had come to Dallas in the 1920s, during one of the first of the Texas oil rushes. Eli’s great-grandfather, Angelo di Ruggiero, left New York for Shreveport, Louisiana, hoping to get honest work… or so Eli had always been told.
But dock work in Shreveport didn’t pay the bills. So old man Angelo started to fall back on the skills he had first learned in Sicily and then honed in New York, running liquor from the docks in Shreveport to the speakeasies in New Orleans, holding illegal fights, and back-alley gambling. However, during the height of prohibition, the bootleg liquor was his bread and butter, and it was in that line of work that he fell head-over-heels for a beautiful French Cajun lounge singer called Adelaide.
He took his new wife, some money and some connections, and moved to Dallas, where he opened illegal bars and gaming halls and built an empire… an empire that still thrived to that day. An empire that Eli wanted nothing to do with, much to the disappointment o
f his father and grandfather and the dismay of his brothers. Each of the di Ruggiero brothers had been bred and groomed for different aspects of the business, and Eli was supposed to be the good one– on the surface, at least. Eli had always excelled at school, to the delight of his parents, especially his mother.
His beautiful mother. She had been born in Mexico, the daughter of a politician, but a politician who also ran one of the most profitable and deadly cartels in the country. His mother had only known luxury, attending the best schools in the States and in Spain. She had a literature degree, and Eli was her golden child, the one who would read Greek tragedies with her and discuss the meaning of life. She’d loved all her sons, but Eli had been an intellectual like her, unlike his brothers.
Oh, that wasn’t a disappointment to his father. “The family needs brains”, he would always say as he ruffled Eli’s hair, and childhood had been idyllic and happy. So what if it was only family at birthdays, or if all his ‘uncles’ had guns– they still tossed him in the air and taught him to drive.
As he’d aged, he’d known the family skirted the law, owning clubs with illegal poker tables, he’d known how the connection between his parents’ families brought drugs into Texas and then up the country and even into Canada. He’d known all that, but what he’d never realized was that his father was a murderer. After the murder of his mother and then years later learning his father, the man he idolized, was an enforcer for their family, he’d gotten out as soon as possible.
His father was the killer for the di Ruggiero family, and he’d gotten sloppy. He’d taken out the man who murdered his wife, Eli’s beloved mother. He’d gotten revenge and was on Death Row for it, and everyone expected Eli to work some magic and get him released. Eli had walked, told them all to fuck off. He wasn’t an emotionless machine, with only money and power making him happy like his older brother Dante, nor did he enjoy the danger or an endless supply of women and cars like his younger brothers, Marco and Matteo. No, he wanted something he had never really had – safety, stability. Openness. A cleanness for his life and his soul.
