All he had to do was convince her to give him—them—a chance, starting with a heartfelt apology.
“I’m sorry. I was an ass to your book club. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
She nodded and touched his arm, sending a jolt stronger than an electrical current up his arm. “I’m sorry too. You were only trying to help. I was unreasonably mad. You hit one of my sore spots without knowing it.
Only he did know it. Now. She was RoAnn. He opened his mouth to tell her but shut it again. He’d be pushing it. This thing between them was too new, too fragile, too easily destroyed. The RoAnn reveal could come at another time. It’d be better if she chose to tell him herself. When she trusted him enough, she would.
This thing was new to him too. He was fumbling his way through this. He’d never had a real relationship before. Never wanted to pursue more than sex with a woman. He did now. He hadn’t a clue where they were going or where they would end up; he only knew he had to take a chance, and he had to convince her to do the same.
For starters, he wasn’t going to take her home just yet, not without them coming to an understanding. Glancing around, he took in their surroundings for the first time. They were on a bank that overlooked a small bay. In the distance, he could see the lights from a ferry as it made its way back to the mainland for the night. Madronas clung to the bank at crazy angles, digging their roots in deep as they sought to find precious that precious life-giving sun.
“It is beautiful here,” he said. “What do they call it?”
“Fiddler’s Cove is over there. There’s a B and B down that dirt road several hundred feet back. This area is called Broken Bay.”
“Broken Bay?” There had to be a story behind that name.
She nodded. Her eyes were bright with something he was too afraid to decipher but had every intention of exploring.
“Walk with me,” he said on a whim. She was silent for several long, agonizing seconds. He braced for a rejection. Instead, Rosalind began to walk toward the bank.
“This way,” she instructed as she turned toward an obscured path through the brush. He followed her closely in the dark, not knowing where he was. They picked their way down the embankment. At the bottom, the thick brush opened to a large grassy area. They walked across it to where it ended in a small, private cove where the water lapped peacefully at the shore, and frogs sang their songs in the distance.
“I can’t believe no one has built a house here yet or developed this,” Rush said in wonder as he stood near the peaceful water with her.
“It’s owned by the Reynolds. They aren’t selling.”
“As in Brad Reynolds’ family? The ones who are part owners of Steelheads?”
“One and the same.”
“Why is called Broken Bay?”
“It’s a native legend, and I’m not sure I could do it justice. I have a book at home that tells the story. I’ll loan it to you.”
“Sounds tragic.”
“It was. A Romeo-and-Juliet-type ending.”
He nodded, not wanting to talk about a legend when he had a delectable woman standing in front of him. She gazed up at him, and his breath caught in his throat. She was lovely. Beautiful. Radiant with the moonlight casting a glow on her cheeks and the cove weaving magic all around them.
“How was trip?”
“It was…enlightening. To say the least. And terrifying to say the most.”
“Terrifying?” He didn’t understand. Had something happened to her? Had someone hurt her? Had she almost had an accident? His mind raced with possibilities, each one worse than the other.
“It’s fine,” she said quickly as if reading his mind. “I did some soul-searching and have come to the realization that all the truths I’ve held dear might not be true for me, and all the planning in the world can’t stop fate from intervening and throwing a curve ball.”
“That’s why we play the game,” he said gently.
“It’s still tough to face reality when I’ve been living in something less.” She met his gaze in the moonlight and smiled. He could see her blinked-back tears, and his heart broke for her. This feeling of empathy for someone else, especially a female, was new to him. He’d guarded his emotions for so long and not let anyone inside, he’d forgotten what true sadness for another had felt like.
Alex stepped forward and put his big hands on either side of her face with a gentleness he hadn’t realized until now he possessed. Her lips parted, drawing his gaze to them. He wanted to make her feel better, make her forget her worries, make her find comfort in his arms, no one else’s. He wanted to protect her from all the bad things in this sometimes cruel world and make her smile again.
And he wanted her. All of her. Not just her luscious body, pretty face, and sweet smile. He wanted her sassy attitude. He wanted her laughter and her tears too.
That glint in her eyes said she wanted the same things.
He rubbed the pads of this thumbs over her cheekbones and bowed his head until their breath mingled, but he didn’t kiss her, only caressed her. She didn’t need a guy coming on strong. She needed a soft touch, a slow burn. She needed things she didn’t know she needed, but he knew. Oh, yeah, he knew.
She lifted her head slightly, and their lips were a mere inch apart.
“Alex,” she whispered, her voice needy yet laced with sadness. “Kiss me.”
He bit back a moan, not wanting to scar her with the depth of his need. Tonight was all about her, not him. One inch and their lips would touch. One inch and he’d have his mouth on hers. One inch and his life would be irrevocably changed. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.
He moved just that one inch, and she froze. He slid his tongue across her lower lip, one way then the other. Sucking that lip into his mouth, he savored the taste and feel of her. She clutched at his arms and leaned into him. He ran his tongue over her upper lip and across the seam of her mouth. Her turn to moan. Her tongue touched his, just the slightest touch, but he needed more. He covered her lips with his, patiently kissed her and used his tongue to encourage her to open to him. She did. And soon their lips and tongues were dancing together, pulling him deeper into their spell.
He slid his hands down her face, to her neck, across her shoulders, and down her back until his palms gripped her ass and his body ignited. He forced himself to keep it slow, not to scare her. He didn’t want to keep it slow, he wanted her hard and fast, crazy and wild, but tonight she didn’t need that. She needed him to use every ounce of his extensive experience to make her forget and show her how to live.
She pressed her hips against his erection, rubbing up and down when she encountered his hardness. He’d never practiced such restraint before, but it was necessary, and he’d do it for her. He kissed her tenderly, refusing to harden his kiss despite her urging.
Her hands slid under his T-shirt and along the muscled planes of his back. He forgot his name, but he sure as hell remembered hers. He broke off the kiss, knowing if they continued, he’d have her right here.
“Roz, I’m losing control.”
“Then lose it.”
“Here?” he croaked.
“I have a blanket in the car. No one will come by here.” She was speaking his lines. He should be the one proposing they do it like feral animals in the grass next to the small bay with only night creatures as their witnesses.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I need this, Alex, and I think you do too.”
There was no denying how much he needed her. His dick spoke for itself.
“Wait right here.” He scrambled up the bank and to her car, fumbled with the latch to open the trunk, and finally succeeded after a barrage of Russian swear words. He pulled out the blanket, pausing to dig his wallet out of his back pocket and extract a condom, which he tucked into his front pocket.
Rosalind was his, if only for tonight, but if he had his way, it’d be much longer.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rosalind hadn’t planned to get
physical with Alex tonight, but to hell with planning. She’d planned carefully all her life and look where it’d gotten her. Her current novel was fighting her left and right and not letting her follow her carefully laid out plot. She’d taken over her mother’s bookstore because it’d been in her plan, not because she had any great love for managing a retail store, even one with her beloved books. She’d avoided a relationship with a man because he didn’t fit her image of what she needed.
But he was what she wanted, and she’d followed her instincts.
And now she was done with planning. At least, for the near future. She’d always be a planner, but spontaneity had its place in her life. And planning was best when there were alternative options or the plan was designed to be changeable, not static. She’d been working off a static plan for years, and now she’d been forced to see how change happened no matter how careful the planning might have been.
And why was she thinking about planning when Alex was spreading a blanket out on the ground in front of them?
Rosalind swallowed and studied the fine man in front of her. He wanted her. He could have any woman, yet he wanted her. Maybe he was doing this out of pity, but she preferred to believe he’d chosen her and allowed his choice to give her ego a much-needed boost.
Alex stood from straightening the blanket and caught her watching him. He grinned. “Are you looking at my ass, Roz?”
“I might be, along with all your other stupendous body parts.”
“You haven’t seen the most stupendous one yet.”
Her gaze dropped to his crotch and back. His smile turned feral, and the desire in his blue eyes caused her heart rate to double. She smiled back, nervous yet full of expectations.
“You’re not going to back out on me, are you?”
She shook her head and approached him. He met her halfway and swept her into his arms. He was every romantic hero she’d ever written about. Funny how she’d chosen athletes as her book heroes, not doctors. Perhaps that choice should’ve been her first clue into her true state of mind.
“Alex, I’m not overly experienced.”
“I know. I can tell. You are good kisser though.” As if to punctuate his point, he brought his mouth down to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and met him halfway, kissing him back with the same fervor and need as she could feel in his kisses. Kissing David had never been like this. She’d always worried she wasn’t doing it right, or that he was comparing her to others. She didn’t feel that way with Alex. Probably because Alex was a fling. She didn’t need to win him over or impress him with her sexual prowess. She could be herself, and he didn’t judge her or score her attempts to seduce him.
Alex made her forget fears and doubts. She might be inexperienced, but he didn’t care. He enjoyed her all the same.
Still kissing her, he gently pushed her down to her knees and laid her on the blanket. He pulled his hoodie off, rolled it up, and placed it behind her head. She made a point of gaping at that wonderous chest of his. She’d never seen abs like Alex’s outside of her cover models.
“You okay?” he asked, concern briefly blocking out the desire in his eyes.
“I’m more than okay. I’m drooling all over this blanket.” She smiled up at him, and he laughed. “Now get naked for me.”
“Only if you’ll do the same.”
“Deal.” She sat up and unbuttoned her blouse, not allowing herself time to have second thoughts. She was determined, and her short-range plan was to go through with sex with Alex. She removed the blouse and glanced at Alex. He was on his feet and staring down at her. His fingers were frozen on the button of his fly, and his eyes were focused on her chest.
“You’re beautiful,” he said huskily.
“You’re magnificent.”
“I know,” he said with cocky assuredness. He wasn’t bragging. Guys like Alex did know how attractive they were to others, and they knew how to use that attractiveness to their advantage. Rosalind didn’t mind in the least.
She leaned back and kicked off her sandals, followed by tugging off her capris, leaving only her underwear. She reached for the clasp on her bra.
“Leave it. I’ll take care of those.”
She complied like the good girl she wouldn’t be tonight. Alex’s clothes were off in record time, and she barely caught sight of an erection that would make her romance novel heroes jealous before Alex was back beside her and pushing her down on the blanket.
He straddled her, and his mouth was hungrier this time, even though she could tell he was holding back. She dug her fingernails into his muscular shoulders, letting him know he didn’t have to treat her with kid gloves. She could take it.
“Oh, no, this is for you. This is all about you tonight. You’re not going to bait me into hurrying it up or getting rough. I’m going to make you see how good it can be. Just lie back and let me do my work. Enjoy without pressure to give back. Your pleasure will be more than enough reward, not that I’m not enjoying every minute of being with you.”
Alex kissed his way down her neck and shoulders. She threaded her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes. He had her bra off in record time, and his tongue slid across one nipple. She drew in a breath and held it as he licked and sucked until she swore she would come. Before she did, he moved to the other nipple, took her to the edge, and retreated. His teasing was going to kill her, and what a sweet death it would be with heaven on the horizon.
Taking his time, Alex slid her panties down her legs and tossed them aside. He teased her legs apart, and his fingers slid along her wet slit. She raised her hips to meet him, her entire body poised to do his bidding. Alex gently pushed one finger inside her and moved it in and out. He pressed her sweet spot with his thumb, and she cried out in ecstasy. Her world was spinning, but he was spinning with her. Together they were on a crazy merry-go-round of lust and desire. He used his thumb again, and she fell apart, momentarily leaving her mortal body for sensations no human could possibly ever feel. She floated back to earth and her eyes fluttered open.
He was watching her, his body poised over hers, his erection clothed in a condom. She didn’t know if she’d passed out while he was preparing himself, but she didn’t recall any of it but the pleasure that had rendered her body and brain numb.
“Are you ready?”
She nodded, as the gift of speech had escaped her and seemed like an unnecessary luxury as she and Alex communicated via body language and what was in their eyes. He pushed with great care inside her, a very little at a time, letting her adjust before he moved farther inside, inch by delicious inch. She wanted him to move faster and urged him with her hips.
“Oh, no, I set the speed, not you. Just relax and enjoy the ride. You can have it your way another time.”
Another time? The words rang in her head, even as her brain sought to decipher them and failed. She’d worry about their meaning another time. Tonight was Alex and her. Alex mattered. Words didn’t.
He paused deep inside her and stayed there a long while. She closed her eyes and rolled her head around on its makeshift pillow. His mouth took hers again. His kiss was gentle yet full of strength and self-assurance, telling her he’d done this thousands of times before and had absolute confidence in his abilities.
He began to move inside her, setting a rhythm her body naturally followed like a skilled dancer following the lead of her partner. She didn’t worry about whether she was doing it right or whether Alex would enjoy her. She knew he would. She just knew.
Doubt wasn’t an option, nor did she care.
They were in sync, and each stroke took her back to heaven, one stroke at time. Even better, this time he was right there beside her. He came a second before her, and the look of absolute ecstasy on his handsome face released her mind and body.
She came the second time with an explosion that catapulted her passion off the charts and out of the known into the unknown. Only now she knew what she hadn’t before. The unknown had become the known, and she’d neve
r be able to settle for anything less from any man.
Chapter 12—New Beginnings
Alex wrapped Rosalind in his arms and held her close. Their bodies were slick with sweat, their hearts pounded hard, and their lungs rose and fell in rhythm, each labored breath bringing them closer to normal and further from the inexplainable thing that had just happened to him.
Holy fuck. She’d blown his mind. She took everything he thought he knew about sex and turned it on its head and left him feeling like he was a teenager having sex for the first time. The act was exciting and new again. He felt alive.
Hadn’t he felt alive before? He was certain he had, but this was an entirely new level of being alive. His damn heart was singing, his body was dancing, and his dick was standing up and clapping while shouting, “Encore! Encore!”
“Now will you go to dinner with me?”
“Yes.” Her laughter warmed not only his soul but his freezing-cold toes. It was getting chilly out here with nothing on but a satisfied smile. They could screw again, which would warm him up, but he really wanted to take her the next time in a real bed. The longer they stuck around, the more likely someone might happen upon them. While he didn’t care much if he was caught naked, Rosalind certainly would, and so would the team if naked pictures of him surfaced again online.
Reluctantly, Alex stood and reached down to help her. They gathered up their clothes, which were strewn all over the immediate vicinity, and got dressed. Neither said a word as silence settled oppressively over them and smothered their earlier lighthearted mood.
Alex didn’t say anything until they were in his car with the motor running and heat cranked on high. “Don’t you dare,” he warned.
“Dare what?” She stared at him in confusion. Damn, but she was adorable when she looked lost like that. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and protect her from all her demons and a few of his.
Deflected Page 12
