When they were back at Circular Quay and on the pier, he took her hand again. “Where do you live?”
She grinned at him. “In a hostel.”
He flinched. “Seriously?”
“Yep. It’s cheap and easy. I don’t have to worry about a lease. I can move any time I want.” She slid her hand up to wrap it around his arm. It was amazing how warm his skin was in the cold temperature of evening.
He frowned at her. “Is it safe?”
She smiled indulgently. “Yes. It’s safe. Nothing has happened to me or my belongings in nine months. I’m good.”
“Do you have your own room?”
“Nope.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You share a room with strangers?”
“Yep. That’s how a hostel works. I’m in a room with seven other people right now. Bunk beds. Bathroom down the hall. I don’t spend much time there, so I don’t care.”
They continued walking. Finally, he spoke again. “Take me there.”
She sighed. She would have preferred to go back to the hotel with him, although she was concerned with the looks she might get from her coworkers if she slept in one of the guest’s rooms. That wasn’t exactly permitted. Though her situation was different. He wasn’t a stranger she met on the street. She could tell her boss anything she wanted about Justus, even that he was her boyfriend visiting from the States.
Shifting her mind from thoughts of sex with Justus, she led him begrudgingly to her hostel. When they arrived, she stopped. “This is it. You want to see the inside? We’ll have to be quiet. The room is always dark because you never know who might be sleeping at any given time.”
“Nah. That’s okay.” He shuddered. “I’ve been in plenty of hostels before. I don’t need to see it. I know what it looks like.” He squared her so that she faced him, his hands on her shoulders. “Pack your stuff and check out tomorrow. You can stay with me while I’m here. I don’t want to be sneaking around your shared bunk bed trying to make out with you when I bring you back every night.”
Her face heated at his words. “Okay.” They were really going to do this thing. Shack up in his hotel room. She was both nervous and elated.
She was also disappointed because the next thing he did was kiss her forehead. “I’m going to go.” He backed up a step.
“Now?” She crossed her arms at his loss, hugging herself.
He gave her a half grin. “Yes, Imp. Now. I need more sleep. You do too. Think hard about whether or not you really want to do this. You can back out. I won’t hold it against you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not backing out. Not a chance. But you can if you want.” God, she prayed he didn’t want.
He smirked. “Never.” He took another step back. “Sleep on it, anyway. Humor me.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He pointed at the door. “Go inside so I’ll know you’re safe.”
She shook her head as she backed toward the door, still watching him. “I’ve been coming and going from hostels for nine months on my own. I’m pretty good at it.”
“Yeah, well, not on my watch. I would never leave a woman standing in the street.” He lifted his brows, nodding his head toward the door.
She reached behind her to open it. And then she was inside, their connection only broken when she shut the door. For a moment she stood in the entryway unable to move. Her body was on fire, needing something it was not going to get tonight.
She moaned as she finally dragged herself up the stairs to her shared room on the second floor. She couldn’t even masturbate in this building. No way in hell could she do so quietly enough to avoid detection from her bunk bed, and the bathrooms were communal with stalls for showers that had nothing but curtains between them.
There was nothing she could do but wait and see what tomorrow would bring. It seemed unlikely she would sleep well. If she did fall asleep, she wondered if she would dream of Justus in the same manner she had for years.
Only one way to find out. And she suspected she would need the sleep because she had no intention of wasting a single second of her time with him in the next nine days. Sleep was not going to be high on her agenda.
Chapter 5
Justus stood at the window of his hotel room in the dark for over an hour, staring at the amazing view of the Harbour Bridge and the city lights.
His dick had been hard the entire day, and it was not happy with him now. He could take himself in hand, but for some reason he found he wanted to wait. For her. For the next orgasm to belong to Arianna.
Was she currently masturbating without him? Maybe he should have told her not to, but that would have been incredibly forward. For as many things as they’d said to each other in the last several hours, he didn’t think they’d reached a place in their relationship where he could order her not to touch herself.
It had been there, on the tip of his tongue while he watched her squirm, knowing she’d been disappointed that he ended the night without even kissing her. He hadn’t been kidding, though. He wanted her to take the night to think about what they were planning on doing.
It wasn’t a light decision. It was important. It could only be ten days. There was a good chance it would never happen again. At the very least, they both needed to go into it assuming it couldn’t happen again.
He pictured her in her room on that narrow bed, a room filled with people in various stages of sleep. There was little chance she would risk touching herself in that environment, unless she was the sort of person who was incredibly quiet when she came.
He hoped that wasn’t true because he intended to make her scream. Over and over again. The first time she came at his hand or from his mouth or with his cock inside her, he would know if she was a screamer or not.
Lord.
He ran a hand over his head. He wasn’t tired. Not even close. It was day for him. Plus, he’d slept all afternoon.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was so complicated. More so for him than her. They hadn’t discussed if they planned to tell her brother. That was a giant complication. He wasn’t at all sure he could look Tony in the eye and lie to him for the rest of his life, but maybe his friend would never ask.
What about Arianna? Who would she tell? Would she tell her sister, Donata? He knew Donata was a few years younger, but he had no idea how close the two of them were. If Arianna told anyone at all, word would get around. It probably wasn’t fair to even suggest she keep the secret. Then again, it wasn’t entirely his decision.
He groaned as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cool glass, shutting out the view as he retreated into his mind. At no point in the last few days had he considered this possibility.
This entire idea was wrong on so many levels it was hard to categorize them. He sensed future problems that were unimaginable at the moment. What he should do would be to face her in the morning, tell her he’d changed his mind, and leave Sydney immediately to travel to other parts of Australia. Out of sight, out of mind.
It would eliminate dealing with the stress of making poor decisions that might leave her hurt in the end. Sure, she said she had no interest in a relationship. She said she had no interest in ever dating a military man. She said she wanted nothing more than a fling. But could she do it?
There was a difference between them. Her lust stemmed from years of daydreaming about him. He had rarely considered her at all in those years. It put a weight on his shoulders. For one thing, he wasn’t sure he could live up to her expectations. For another thing, he was concerned about how she was going to feel after he left.
Would she regret this as soon as he was gone? Would she try to contact him or pressure him into something he wasn’t willing or able to give her?
Keeping this trip from her family was also an impossibility. Eyebrows would raise. They were close. It was possible the two of them could travel without much contact from Tony or the rest of her family for a while since all of them were in Rome, but no way could Justus l
ook them in the eyes the next time he saw them and lie about whatever happened with Arianna during this vacation.
Finally, he shoved off the window. He needed to at least attempt to sleep because tomorrow would come soon enough and then he would be able to look her in the eye once again and judge where she was mentally in the light of a new day.
Maybe all his worrying would be for naught. Maybe she would show up nervously fidgeting and unable to meet his gaze, giving him his answer.
He wasn’t at all sure which way he wanted this to go. Either way was dangerous. Sleeping with his best friend’s sister was a bad idea. Not sleeping with her might not be an option. He was already in too deep to stop this train.
* * *
A noise yanked Justus out of a deep sleep. A banging sound.
Knocking.
He jerked to sitting and glanced at the clock. Light streamed into the room because he hadn’t shut the curtains. Shit. He’d done it again.
He dragged himself off the bed and padded to the door, knowing he was going to owe Arianna a profuse apology for once again sleeping through her arrival.
When he opened the door, he found her standing there chewing on her bottom lip. She had two suitcases with her, one gigantic, one a carry-on. She wore another pair of jeans, this pair intentionally ripped at the knees. She had on a long-sleeved black T-shirt that hugged her breasts.
Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of her neck. She looked so young. And so fucking sexy.
She dropped her lip to comment. “I woke you again.”
He reached into the hallway, grabbed the larger of her two suitcases, and hauled it inside, holding the door open for her to follow him. “I’m an ass. Sorry. I should have set an alarm. Once again, I misjudged my ability to wake up on my own.”
The door shut behind her as he dragged her larger bag across the room. When he turned, he found her standing there, nervously wringing her hands. “The first few days are hard. Did you have trouble sleeping?”
He returned to the bed and sat on the edge, glad he’d at least put on loose, flannel sleep pants before he went to bed. The truth was he didn’t think he’d slept more than a few hours, but he wouldn’t tell her that. “I slept. I just didn’t wake up.”
She inched forward while he tried to judge her expression. He wanted to reach out and tug her the rest of the way toward him, situate her between his knees, stare more fully into her eyes. But he didn’t dare.
She needed to have the freedom to make the first move between them today. It was huge that she’d obviously checked out of her hostel and shown up at his door. That didn’t mean she couldn’t still back out. She could back out at any time. He intended to make that perfectly clear.
She swallowed, glancing around his room. Nervous. “Oh, don’t worry about my luggage. I’m leaving that larger one at the hotel while we’re traveling.”
He nodded and then ran a hand through his hair. “I swear I’m not usually this undependable. I’m a SEAL, for fuck’s sake. I never oversleep. In fact, I sleep with one eye open.”
She smiled at him. “You get a pass when you travel this far. It’s hard.”
He couldn’t stand the distance another second, so he reached out a hand. “Come here.”
Arianna closed the space between them, and as soon as he could reach her, he set his hand on her hip and hauled her closer. He lifted his face to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry. I swear I won’t oversleep again.”
She frowned at him. “It’s no big deal. We have plenty of time.” She shot him a shy smile. “Besides, it will be hard for you to oversleep if I’m in the same room,” she teased. “Unless I let you. I might enjoy watching you sleep.”
He chuckled. “That’s not going to happen.”
She lifted a brow. “Because you don’t intend to sleep for ten days?”
“Not soundly enough for you to stare at me.”
“Hmm. We’ll see.” Her body relaxed against his touch.
“Where are we going today?” he asked, curling his fingers into her waist a bit more. She smelled so good. He wanted to kiss her neck and inhale her scent.
“My plan is to go back to Darling Harbour to the Wild Life Sydney Zoo and then the aquarium next door. The zoo is small, but it’s perfect because it only has animals you wouldn’t see in the US. Koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, wallabies, cassowaries…”
“Can’t wait.” He smiled at her. “I’ll take a quick shower.”
“Take your time. No rush.” She lifted a hand and caressed his neck. “I’ll stand by the window and enjoy the view. It’s spectacular from here.”
He set his hand on top of hers and held her gaze. What he wanted to do was grab her waist with both hands, flip her onto her back on his bed, and hover over her body. He wanted to nuzzle her neck and then kiss her senseless and then strip off her clothes and then taste every inch of her skin.
He would do none of those things this morning, but he hoped he would make enough strides to do them tonight. If he let himself succumb to her allure this early in the day, they’d never make it out the door. Because he figured it would take him a number of hours to get her out of his system the first time.
Did she feel the same chemistry? He thought so. “Okay then.” He stood, inched around her, and headed for the bathroom. For the second day in a row, he was going to get naked with nothing but a wall between them.
For the second day in a row, his cock was going to stiffen in his hand as he thought about her on the other side of that wall. Today was going to be different, however. Today he would claim her. Not this morning. But today. And every morning for the rest of this trip he intended to wake up with her by his side and make love to her before they ever left the bed.
Make love? Jesus. He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror while the water heated. Since when did he ponder the idea of “making love” instead of “having sex” or “fucking”?
Since you stepped into Arianna’s world.
Ignoring his raging hard-on, he brushed his teeth, rushed through his shower, dried off in the steamy room, and once again emerged without anything to change into.
Arianna was leaning against the window where she’d said he would find her, but she wasn’t facing the view. She was facing him, her fingers at her sides, gripping the sill. Her gaze roamed up and down his body more leisurely than yesterday.
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide.
“You okay?” he asked as he reached into his open suitcase on the luggage rack.
“Yep. Just holding onto the window sill to keep from tugging that towel off your hips. Do you deliberately tempt me by leaving your clothes in here?” she joked.
He chuckled. “No. I just wasn’t thinking. I’m not used to having someone else in my room, especially not a woman. Or more precisely, especially not someone who hasn’t already seen me naked.”
She flinched, and he felt like an ass once again for stating it quite that way. It hadn’t been necessary to point out he’d shared hotel rooms with lovers before. He certainly wouldn’t want to visualize her in a similar situation. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like a prick.”
She tipped her head to one side. “I considered taking off all my clothes and waiting for you on the bed.”
He froze, his hand gripping a pair of boxer briefs tightly as if they might break if he dropped them. A groan escaped his lips. “You’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?”
“Probably. After all, I’m younger. I’m more acclimated to the time zone. I have the stamina of a twenty-three-year-old.”
He dropped the briefs and took three long strides to reach her. When he did, he stepped into her space, set his hands against the window pane on both sides of her head, and met her gaze with inches between them. “I have the stamina of a Navy SEAL, so don’t underestimate me.”
She smiled, her cheeks bright red. “Counting on it.”
The sexual banter between them was intoxicating. He lowered his gaze to her li
ps. “If I kiss you right now, we won’t be seeing any koalas today.”
She licked her lips and whispered, “So you’re saying you also lack willpower?”
He smirked. “I don’t think you’ll find me lacking anything, Arianna.”
Her breath hitched as he leaned closer, her gaze traveling down toward his waist. A hair’s breadth separated his cock from her belly. He wanted to press it against her so badly, but instead, he conjured up some of that willpower she’d accused him of lacking and shoved off the window.
He strode across the room, grabbed his clothes, and returned to the bathroom. His hands were shaking as he dressed. It was difficult to convince his dick to stand down and accept that it would be a full day before it got relief. But he managed.
When he returned to the bedroom, she was in the exact same spot, her mouth still hanging open. He closed the distance once again. This time, he cupped her face with both hands. “Now I’m going to kiss you.”
“What’s different about now?” she whispered, her gaze locking on his lips.
“Now I’m not wearing a precarious towel,” he murmured as he lowered his face, giving her plenty of time to back out.
She lifted her hands and set them on his waist, tugging him toward her as if she had the strength to move him in any direction.
He let her, though. In fact, he pressed his body against hers as he took her lips. A tentative kiss. Gentle, easing into it. Giving her time.
But she leaned her head toward him, deepening the kiss on her own.
He spread his fingers along the back of her neck and angled her head to one side as his went the other way. God, she was amazing. He stroked his tongue along the seam of her lips, asking for entrance.
She consented, her mouth parting and her tongue reaching out to duel with his. She tasted of minty toothpaste and Arianna. Intoxicating. Delicious. Addicting. He knew in an instant he was doomed. Why couldn’t she have been less attractive, less funny, less alluring? Less anything that would keep him from getting into trouble.
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights: SEALs in Paradise Page 4
