by Taryn Belle
His tongue darted out. “You’re killing me. Please, Laina—”
“Please?” She brought a hand to her pussy. “How much do you want this?”
“More than I’ve ever wanted anything. I’d kill to fuck you right now.”
Another band of heat seized her pelvis. This felt too good to be real. Never in a million years did Laina think she’d be a girl who got off on talking dirty, but that was James Ellison for her—he’d turned her into a freaking sex goddess. And she was going to keep the torture up for all it was worth. “Do you have any idea how amazing you feel inside me?” she asked him, trailing a fingertip from her pussy up to her mouth.
“I think so,” he said in an unsteady voice. He was breathing hard, coiled to strike, a fully cocked trigger ready to blow.
And completely at her mercy.
“Tell me and I’ll let you touch me.”
“Rock-hard. Long and thick and smooth. Every thrust feels like heaven.”
“That’s right. And if you’re going to feel my wet pussy, you’re going to describe every little thing to me. Now get ready.”
“Thank Christ,” James said thickly, lowering himself on top of her. She raised her knees and grasped his cock, then teased his head at her opening. “Laina, fuck—” He slammed into her with a guttural sound. Anchored deep inside her, his eyes fluttered shut and then opened again. Then he started to move, building their mutual heat at breakneck speed. She pushed her hands into his soft hair, met him thrust for thrust, watched his face contort with need for her.
It was paradise.
“How does it feel?” she demanded.
There was already sweat collecting on his brow from his fevered restraint. “Like the first time,” he gasped, fastening his green eyes on hers. “But so much better because it’s you.”
Paradise. Goose bumps danced across her skin. Her heart was slamming in her chest, driving her toward a point of no return so explosive it was almost frightening. “Tell me more. Tell me everything.”
“So, so good,” James panted as he drove into her. “Better than heaven. Wet—so slippery and wet. And so warm and tight. Jesus, Laina, I’m going to die if I don’t come.”
She was barely under control herself. The feeling of him filling her over and over again on the firm sand, making his thrusts even deeper...she was becoming completely undone. But his words were too arousing to let go of. “How long do you want to fuck me?”
“All day. All night. Forever.” Sweat dripped off his brow onto her lip.
She darted her tongue out to taste its saltiness. “I’m not letting you come until you make me a promise.”
“Anything.” His voice was tortured, agonized, barely intelligible.
“That we’ll do this again today.”
“Yes. Yes yes yes—”
“Now come in me, James. I want to feel you explode. I want every drop of you inside my pussy.”
Like a man possessed, completely unhinged, James rose on his hands. He drove into her once, twice, three times, pausing between each thrust before pulling out almost completely and driving into her again. It was brutal, almost violent, and the most incredible thing she’d ever felt. Her climax built to the point of no return. Just before she fell over the edge, she heard James cry out her name as he emptied into her with all the force of their combined passion.
CHAPTER TWELVE
JAMES WAS DREAMING.
He was standing at the doorway of the smoothie stand he’d built to try to save his mother, looking up into a clear blue sky. There was a hill ahead of him, and on the hill was the castle he’d built for her. Her castle in the sky. As he looked at it, tight grief filled his lungs. Where is she? he thought in panic. Where is she?
She appeared beside him, looking like she did the last time he’d seen her: wasted in her hospital bed, hooked up to tubes whose purpose he didn’t even want to try to understand. But she was standing, and she was smiling.
James pointed. Look. I built it for you.
His mother clapped her hands like a delighted child. It’s perfect. I knew you’d do it.
He put his arm around her, but his grief didn’t subside. It didn’t make sense. He’d kept his promise, made her happy. But the feeling stayed firmly lodged in his throat, even when he clawed at it like he was choking.
You didn’t need to save me. You were everything I ever needed, his mother said wordlessly. You built it for her.
James looked. There was Laina, sitting cross-legged on the lawn of the castle like a little girl. A light glowed around her as if she was otherworldly. His heart swelled as a feeling of peace washed over him. His belly fluttered with a thousand butterflies, the warmest, lightest feeling he’d ever known.
Go to her. Go to her. Go to her...
James drowsed slowly to wakefulness, opening his eyes to the early-afternoon light slanting through his blinds. He was lying on his bed naked with the sheets tangled in his legs, and she was beside him. Laina. She was awake, turned toward him on her side with her hands tucked under her cheek like a prayer. That innocence. That angelic beauty. His chest opened as he looked at her. Wordlessly, he reached for her and pulled her close to him. He could feel her heartbeat next to his. She looked up from his chest and pushed his hair away from his face. He smiled down at her, tracing a finger over her lips, but suddenly her eyes flooded with tears.
No. “What is it?” he breathed.
She shook her head, tucking her hand under her chin again. “Nothing.”
“Tell me,” James said urgently. What was it? God, after everything that had gone on today, if she was having second thoughts...it was unbearable. “You can tell me anything, okay?”
“Just...this,” she said, hooking her finger around his. “What I’ve always wanted. What I never thought I’d have.”
Relief flooded through him as he wiped a tear away with his thumb. “You have me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “And I am so unbelievably lucky.”
“I’m the lucky one. James...” A sob tore from her throat.
“What is it?”
“Just... I need you.”
James felt a tight ball in his belly. He’d never seen anyone shed tears of happiness before, and he felt like the most honored man on earth to be in this moment with her. To be the reason for her joy. And that ball in his belly was happiness, blended with the excruciating possibility of what might never have been.
Laina rolled on top of him, straddling her legs over his hips while she lay flat against his chest. For once, his cock didn’t go instantly hard, but it wasn’t for lack of want. The intoxicating addiction of her had swept over him as powerfully as a tsunami after their time together on the beach. He’d come apart at the seams at the feel of her, and like a junkie desperate for his next fix, he’d been hard again within minutes. He’d laid her out on a boulder on the walk back to his hotel so he could feel her again. He’d brought both of them to climax when they were back in his bed. He’d fallen asleep still hard inside her, hardly daring to breathe for fear of breaking the dream. He was a man possessed and obsessed. He wanted her, he needed her, he craved her like a drug.
He brought his hands up into her hair and pulled down slowly, feeling it slip through his fingers. He pushed his palms over her cheeks to wipe her tears away. She closed her eyes and caught his fingers in her mouth, sucking them gently. She brought her hands over his, moving them down her neck, her breasts, her belly, and then up again. Something ignited in his body, something more precious than lust and more acute than need.
Love.
He knew it in that moment. He loved her. It was relief and terror to admit, but it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever known.
Despite the ravages of the day, his cock had hardened. Laina reared her hips up and slowly sank onto him, enveloping him completely. She stayed there with him buried deep inside her, her eyes l
uminous and her lips parted, rocking back and forth with gentle movements. He wanted to say something to her, but when he opened his mouth no words came out. They didn’t have to. Everything they needed to say to each other was spoken through their bodies, and through the perfect clarity of that moment.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LAINA SLIPPED INTO her shoes and looked into the mirror, holding her hair off her neck as she turned from side to side. No bite marks. She’d found one on her breast when she’d been changing, and the sight of it had triggered an inhalation of breath so sharp she’d hardly been able to contain it.
It was perfection. She wished for more of them, along with the red marks James’s stubble had left on her belly and chin. Scratched, marked, bitten—she loved it. It meant she carried him with her everywhere, on every part of her...especially her heart.
She sank onto her bed, her knees almost too weak to hold her upright. She was so exhausted she wasn’t sure how she was going to get through this night, and it was an important one—the rehearsal dinner. She knew she hadn’t been eating enough on the lovesick diet. And even though James had slept briefly today, Laina hadn’t been able to. She’d lain awake watching him, just feeling the pulse that beat at her core over and over again. All for him. Every part of her so exposed to him that it took her breath away. And when he’d opened his eyes, Laina had known: she loved him. With all of her heart and soul, with every part of her being, she was madly and deeply in love with him.
And yet she still hadn’t told him the truth about herself.
She stood up again, planting her feet steadily to keep her undernourished, oversexed body from collapsing. With her hair and makeup carefully done, she didn’t think anyone would notice her state. Her dress was turquoise silk with small fluttery sleeves and an asymmetrical hem that ran from midthigh to past her knee. She’d accessorized it with high black slides, long crystal drop earrings and a matching bracelet. She’d had visions of an old Hollywood hairstyle, but it had been all she could to aim a blow-dryer at her hair.
She glanced at her watch. Six o’clock, almost time to meet James. After he’d offered to pick her up for tonight’s party, she’d sidestepped it by suggesting they meet for a drink at The Palms before dinner instead. She’d regretted it as soon as it was out of her mouth, because there was no good reason she shouldn’t tell him the truth: that a decade ago she’d become Laina Rose, dropping the wealthy Reinhard surname to use her middle name as her last, and that the estate the wedding was taking place on belonged to her family. But old habits died hard, she supposed. Since she’d changed her name, she hadn’t told any man her secret other than Ward, and the way that had ended had been enough to put her off men for good. Laina knew that his wandering ways had been more a result of her admission to him than her skill in bed. She was pretty sure it wasn’t a coincidence that just a month after she’d told him she’d renounced her family’s fortune, she’d found him in bed with someone else.
But to compare Ward to James wasn’t even in the realm of sanity. She’d fallen for him completely, and even if they hadn’t said the words yet, she knew it was in both of their hearts. James deserved her trust and she would give it to him, no matter how much the Reinhard name on her lips made her cringe.
Grabbing her sequined evening bag, Laina left her cottage and walked toward her golf cart. The air was warm on her skin—the perfect evening for the event, which was to be held in the estate’s tents. In the distance, she could see an army of staff taking care of last-minute preparations.
Her phone dinged. James: Come up to my room when you get here.
She almost groaned aloud. Even if his intentions were pure, she knew it was impossible for them to be in a room together without getting naked, and she actually wasn’t sure if she could handle another session today. More than anything, she wished she could just fall asleep in his arms right now, and sleep until the morning light. But that would happen later—she was sure of it.
* * *
When the knock sounded at his door, James took one final glance around his room. Everything was in place, and he couldn’t wait to see Laina’s face when she laid eyes on it.
On his way to the door, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and stopped. He barely recognized the man that looked back at him. Sure, he’d dressed up for the occasion a bit, but it was his expression that had stopped him in his tracks. Just like the town fool, he couldn’t wipe the goddamned smile off his face. He’d had no idea anything could feel this good. And even if he and Laina were too exhausted and sore to do anything tonight, he didn’t care. He just wanted to hold her close to him, feeling her heart beat with his. For the first time in his entire life, James was inviting—no, insisting—a woman stay in his bed all night.
It was going to be magical.
He pulled the door open just enough to see her, blocking the room from her view. She smiled at him, so beautiful even when she was dead exhausted. “You look amazing,” he said into her mouth as he kissed her.
“And you...holy shit.” She hooked a hand into his waistband and gave it a little tug.
“You’re killing me,” James groaned.
“I’m already dead. Were you planning to invite me in?”
“Sure.” James threw the door wide open.
Laina inhaled sharply as her eyes flew open. “Oh. My. God!”
He smiled as he watched her face. The entire room was filled with lavender roses. They spilled out of vases on the desk, the bedside tables, even on the floor.
She shook her head. “Where did you—”
“I had them brought in from Barbados. I called the flower store at three and they were here by five. Now that’s service.”
“No, it’s insane. Do you know how rare these are?” She plucked a single rose from a fishbowl-shaped vase and sniffed it.
“Do you know what they symbolize?” James asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve always just loved them for the color.”
He watched as she took in the rest of the room—the tray holding a bottle of Veuve and a silky lingerie set on the bed, the soft music in the background. “What—what is all this?” she asked, turning to him.
James circled his arms around her. He’d never felt more sure about anything...and this was only the beginning. “I want you to spend the night here with me. After the dinner. And the night after that, and the night after that and after that.”
Laina’s eyes reached into his. “That’s four nights. We’ll be back home by then.”
He bumped his forehead to hers. “I know.”
He heard her breath hitch. “James. Oh, my God.”
“I don’t ever want to be away from you,” he whispered fiercely. That amazing feeling was welling up in him again, saturating his cells. He blinked as his eyes went shiny. “Whatever that means, however that looks. I know we live in different cities right now, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll work it out. I just want you—in my bed, by my side, in my life. Starting right now.”
“I—this is the best day ever,” Laina said. She looked as though she was going to burst, but instead she just kissed him breathlessly. And then her mouth opened slowly, almost like it was happening against her will. Her tongue reached for his, and then she sighed against his lips. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...how long do we have until we have to leave?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“...SO PERHAPS IT all began that Christmas, when I traded Dev my guitar for the video camera our parents had gotten me. Little did I know that I was in for two years of wearing earplugs to bed. Dev’s room was right next to mine, and let me tell you, he did not have a natural talent for that instrument.”
The crowd laughed appreciatively. Up at the podium, Dev’s brother Alex was just finishing up his roast to the groom. Naturally, Kiki had played the wedding by her own rules, doing most of the speeches tonight “to get them out of the way” and in
viting not just the wedding party, but all of the guests to the rehearsal dinner. Laina and James were seated at a table across from Kiki and Dev, who was shaking his head good-naturedly at his brother’s jabs.
As Alex finished up his speech, Laina glanced around the room. It was breathtaking, with a variety of both white and black crystal chandeliers hung at different lengths throughout the tent. The soft lighting cast a flattering glow on the guests. The pale pink tablecloths had been set with white dinnerware and black glassware. Each round table featured a massive spray of pink peonies enmeshed with fine silver wire that sprung from the center of each bouquet like a cascading water fountain. If this was only the rehearsal dinner, she couldn’t wait to see what was in store for the actual wedding tomorrow.
As Alex took his seat between Nicola and Laina, she watched Dev and Kiki kiss. Catching her glance at them, James squeezed her hand. Was it a silent message that he wanted the same for them someday, or was she reading too much into it? It didn’t matter. There was plenty of time for that. All she knew for sure was that she was completely head over heels in love with him, and she couldn’t wait to find the right moment to tell him.
She turned to watch James’s profile as he chatted across the table with Kiki. She’d been so blown away by his rose-filled room—and what had come after—that telling him about her family had completely escaped her mind.
Or had it? She could have told him on the drive up here, but it had been so short that she hadn’t wanted to start the conversation. And now she had to face the undeniable weirdness of the situation. Here she was, sitting in a tent on her family property as if she hadn’t spent practically every summer and Christmas here from age two to twenty. She would tell him eventually—of course she would—but there was something very appealing about living in a bubble that excluded her family. It made her feel capable and independent, like she’d built the life she had without any help. Because deep down, she knew her family would always be a safety net for her. And going through life with a safety net meant that her struggles didn’t really count.
