Forbidden Desires

by Jenna Hartley

  We sway through three more songs before Mason asks if I want to head back. I’m not really ready to let go of this moment, but I say yes anyway.

  Outside, the balmy breeze stokes the flame burning in me as he hails another cab, and we climb into the backseat.

  As we ride through the streets of Cozumel, I look over at him, and he leans in, nipping the lobe of my ear. “I’m nowhere near done with you tonight,” he rasps against the shell of my ear. “I have a new rule.”

  “Hope it’s an easy one.”

  “Tomorrow, panties are optional.”

  I smile but feel none of this is really optional. It’s something I have to do.

  There’s no turning back when we arrive at the hotel. I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to; I’m in too deep. And I’m doing the one thing I swore to Noel I would do...I’m living in the moment.

  We’re silent, communicating with glances and clandestine touches, on the elevator ride to his floor.

  I don’t think about any of it as he leads me down the hallway to his room. He opens the door, and before I can do or say anything, he has me pushed against the solid wood once he shuts us inside.

  He kisses me, hard and hungry, like he’ll die without the taste of my lips on his.

  It’s dark in the room, almost like it was in the hallway of that club. It’s safer in the dark where you can’t see the truth. Where you can hide from all the monsters. In the light is where it’s truly dangerous. Where you can see all the things you don’t want to accept.

  My heart beats to life under his touch. My mind goes blank as he kisses me, while his hands touch everywhere they possibly can. I want him to fix everything and make it better.

  I pull at his shoulders, my fingers digging into the soft material of his button-down shirt, but he breaks the kiss.

  “Remove your clothes,” he orders me.

  Usually I’m not a take orders kind of girl, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m all in. I want this man to own every part of my body.

  He walks away from me, and I miss the warmth of his body so close to mine. While I lose my dress, bra, and panties, he reaches into his suitcase, producing a red silk tie in his hands.

  “Are you going to tie me up?” I ask.

  “Something like that.” He steps behind me, positioning the tie over my eyes, and securing it in place before leading me over to the bed. I’m completely nude for him, and it doesn’t take long for my self-conscious factor kicks in.

  I cover my body with my arms.

  “Don’t do that.”

  My arms refuse to move. Then I feel his hands on mine.

  “Let me see all of you.”

  I take a deep breath, remembering this trip is about trying new things, and I drop my arms, thankful I can’t see him staring at me. But, I can feel his eyes burning everywhere.

  “Your body is a work of art,” he murmurs as he lies me on my back on the bed.

  The sound of him rustling in his suitcase again has me leaning up on my elbows.

  “Are you regretting this yet?” he asks before tying my hands above my head with another silk tie.

  “No,” I answer.

  “I promise you’ll love everything I do to you tonight. Just let go.”

  I blow out another deep breath, and nod. “Ok.” Without a visual, my sense of sound is heightened and his zipper going down is unmistakable.

  My nipples harden just knowing his eyes are on me.

  The bed dips, and my heart rate accelerates, pumping adrenaline through my veins. My skin tingles waiting for the unknown. I’ve never done anything like this before in my whole life. But I want it.

  He teases his hands over my thighs, stomach, breasts, everywhere and anywhere that is not my vagina.

  “Please,” I beg him.

  “I’ll touch you when I’m ready.”

  I thrust my hips up, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure building inside me. It’s no use.

  I’m at his complete mercy, soaking wet, and my ears are on full alert, listening to each and every sound. The bed dips again and I can’t make out the noise. “What are you doing?”

  “I promise, you’re going to love this.”

  And then I feel a sensation against my ankle that makes me jump.

  Chapter 4

  Mason

  * * *

  You’d think I had a knife the way she jerked her leg back. Goosebumps erupt along her skin as I drag a cube of ice up her leg and lick the trail of moisture it leaves behind.

  “Ice,” she guesses correctly. “It’s so cold.”

  I pop it in my mouth and tease her clit with my tongue. She bucks her hips, and I lap her wetness before moving up to kiss her lips, hard and long, feeling every part of her succumb to me.

  She deepens the kiss, her body so responsive to my every touch.

  “Good girls get rewarded.” I trail my fingers down the smooth skin of her cheek, chin, and then neck. “Do you want your reward?”

  She nods and I untie her hands from the headboard and remove the blindfold so I can see into her soft brown eyes.

  And then I kiss her again, moving her to straddle my lap. My cock is iron, ready to fuck her until she can’t remember her name.

  She sinks down on my dick, rocking her hips just a bit until she’s settled and I’m fully seated inside her.

  I don’t move. I barely even breathe as her gaze looks down where we’re joined, then travels across my abs, up my body and landing on my eyes. Fuck.

  “Take what you want,” I tell her, letting her be as greedy as she needs to be.

  She moves back and forth against me, riding my cock at a slow speed at first. It’s hot as hell the way the soft globes of her tits, with their rose colored nipples, bounce as she picks up her pace. Her head falls back, exposing her neck to me, and I watch her pulse thump underneath her skin before wrapping my fingers around her throat and squeezing just enough to bring her eyes to mine.

  “You’re so sexy.”

  Loosening my grip, I kiss where my fingers were, roaming her neck with my tongue, tracing a path down her throat.

  “You make me lose control,” I tell her when my body can barely hold back my orgasm from exploding.

  She slows her pace, torturing me, damn near killing me with her tempting body. Her soft curves. Her angelic face. I’m so close to coming.

  I grab her hips, never pulling my dick out of her, flipping her onto her back, thrusting deep inside, rocking my cock in and out, making her cry out in pleasure.

  “That’s right. Take this cock like a good girl.”

  Her nails dig into the skin on my back, drawing blood most likely. Our lips connect, off and on, unable to stay together as we fuck like savage beasts.

  “Oh, god,” she cries out. “I’m coming.”

  I keep pounding, keep fucking her until I can barely see straight.

  She comes on my dick, and I lose myself completely. I come and come, and can’t stop coming.

  When I pull out of her, my whole body is spent from exertion. Spent from the madness of it all.

  “That was amazing,” she says, catching her breath.

  The moonlight streams in from the curtains, splashing light against her soft curves. I run my hand along her hip. “I don’t want to leave this place.”

  I kiss her shoulder. “Then let’s stay like this forever,” I say, meaning every damn word.

  Chapter 5

  Kyla

  * * *

  Ever have a dream where you’re having the best time of your life? Well, for me that dream came true last night. This man. This gorgeous man gave me a night I will never forget.

  The morning sun brightens the room, exposing what I’m trying to hide from. Even though I’m not supposed to, I think about my life for a moment.

  I picture my house with its strong brick walls in a quaint family neighborhood. Every time the neighbors ask when Colin and I are starting our own family, the foundation cracks and erodes a little. They mean well, I’m
sure, but it only points out that I’m the weak link.

  I think about my daily routine, and what I’d probably be doing right now if I were home. Most likely reading on my Kindle, and deciding what to do with the rest of my Sunday afternoon.

  Colin would probably be waking up just about now, tromping down the stairs, weary-eyed until he made himself a cup of black coffee.

  A tear trickles down my cheek. I miss what we once had before failure bred heartache. I miss his familiarity, before we became strangers. I miss the smell of home. Everything will be so different when I return. It almost makes me want to never go back. To never face the music.

  But, that’s not the real world. The real world isn’t this paradise. The real world is harsh.

  I gently throw back the comforter, crawl out of bed, and pad my way to the bathroom.

  Mason sleeps like a log, still passed out from the night before, with the sheet draped just barely over his toned ass. I’m half-tempted to crawl into bed with him, repeat last night all over again, but instead I take a shower, letting my tears mix in with the water.

  When I finish, I slip on a robe and walk out of the bathroom to face a now awake Mason, in black athletic shorts and T-shirt, brewing a cup of coffee in the in-room coffee maker.

  “Good morning,” he says as the beans fill the room with their stout aroma.

  “Hi.”

  “Did you want to take a walk with me along the shore?” He kisses the spot just below my ear.

  It’s one of those spots, you know the kind, that makes me forget about getting dressed, or long walks. I nod and ‘mmm’ back to him.

  He steps away, returning to the coffee maker. “Want some?” he offers, holding up a white mug.

  I shake my head, slipping back into my clothes from the night before. “I’m good. I figured we could find a cute little cafe for breakfast.”

  He smiles, and it’s the type that makes me want to do very bad things with him. “Sounds good.” He pours his coffee and takes a sip.

  “Meet you downstairs in an hour?”

  “Perfect,” he answers.

  After a lingering kiss goodbye, I leave him and rush to my room to get showered and dressed.

  An hour later, we exit the hotel and grab croissant sandwiches at a quaint bistro already filled with spring breakers near the beach. We finally find a quiet spot to eat, and people watch, before setting off hand-in-hand down the coast.

  “I love walking,” I say to him, enjoying the feel of my feet sinking into the warm sand as the breeze sweeps across us. “I notice all kinds of things I’d miss if I were driving.”

  He squeezes my hand. “Me too. It clears your mind.”

  “Yeah. I need a lot of that.” I let out a small laugh, but there’s nothing funny about it. I do need to clear my head, a lot.

  “Maybe I can help?”

  I smile up at him, trying to lighten the moment. “Oh, you did last night.”

  It doesn’t work. “Talk to me,” he urges.

  I sigh, wondering if I should give him a chance to hear the calamity in my head. “My life is a mess,” I state.

  “I’m sure most people’s are. They just hide it better.”

  “I can’t do this.” Talking to anyone is hard to do, but him, I can’t seem to find the words to dish out my inner most thoughts.

  “Yes, you can.”

  He’s a stranger, I tell myself, and then continue, “My husband and I lost ourselves somewhere along the way.”

  “How so?”

  “Are you really interested in this?” I stop and pick up a seashell, abandoned by its owner, to inspect.

  “Of course, I am.”

  I toss the shell into the ocean. “I was really happy when I first got married. Not like a few of my friends who only married because they wanted to settle. I was really happy. I loved Colin.”

  “Loved?” He tilts his head. “As in past tense?”

  I gaze into his sea-blue eyes and don’t answer.

  He stops, sitting down on the beach, and I follow suit and watch the waves crash.

  “See this sand?” I grab a fistful. “This is what it feels like,” I tell him, releasing it and watching it slip through my fingers. “I feel so alone.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Avoiding his eyes, I trace designs into the sand. A heart. A circle. Another heart.

  “It’s fine,” I give my go-to answer whenever anyone asks me about anything too personal.

  “Have you tried talking to him?”

  I stop tracing. “Not lately.”

  “Maybe you should.”

  I laugh a quiet little laugh. “Maybe. What about you? Are you happy with your life?”

  He leans back, placing his hands in the sand to prop himself up and says with conviction, “I am.”

  “I want to be happy,” I whisper.

  “Do you think getting a divorce will make you happy?”

  I want this inquisition to end already. He’s supposed to be a stranger I have wild sex with, not this man who digs and digs, peeling back every layer of my psyche, and understanding me on a whole other level. My face heats. I narrow my eyes and stand in a rush, my temper on full alert. If I could breathe fire, I would. “What happened to this being a fling? You’re not supposed to be asking me anything personal.”

  He stands, wiping the sand from his hands onto his khaki shorts. “I’m sorry. Let’s start over. We can go shopping?”

  I cross my arms, no longer wanting to be pretend. “No, I’m just going to head back to the room.”

  “Don’t be that way. Come on.”

  “This was a mistake,” I say to him, wanting more than anything to just be alone. Ha. The irony. The lonely girl wants to be alone. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

  Before he can object, I’m already walking away.

  I came here to clear my head. To be in a calm climate to weather my own storm that’s brewing back home.

  I wanted an escape. I wanted to be another person. Someone without any worries or cares in the world. But, I guess no one is carefree.

  No one can breeze through life not making a single ripple. Everyone leaves their mark. Whether they want to or not.

  Chapter 6

  Mason

  * * *

  Well, fuck. I blew that. When I return to the hotel, after clearing my head from our fight, Kyla is gone. Checked out. Gone.

  Once it’s certain she isn’t coming back, the emptiness that consumes me is powerful. Like a silence that deafens you to the point of insanity.

  But…

  I know where she lives.

  I know where she sleeps.

  And I’m not letting her go.

  I come from a long line of deserters. My father left my mother, my grandfather left my grandmother, so it’s in my DNA. I was destined to be a deserter. But I’m not. I won’t ever be.

  I decide it’s time to head home and pack my things. I’ll be back in Miami in less than two hours.

  Back to my own reality.

  I board the plane like a zombie, taking my seat in first class, not noticing my surroundings, just going with the flow.

  The plane takes off, and the engines roar, but I no longer hear them, trapped in my own little world. Once we’ve leveled off, I hook up my micro printer to my laptop and print out the pictures from the ruins.

  Kyla was so full of life. Full of this unforeseen energy I couldn’t escape from. It mesmerized me. And I. Can’t. Stop. Thinking. About. Her.

  The feel of my fingers wrapped around her fragile neck. The feel of her pussy coating my tongue with her essence. The feel of my cock deep inside her.

  I just can’t get her out of my head.

  And I don’t want to.

  When the plane lands, I walk to my BMW in the long-term parking and throw my bag in the back. This feels like it’s been the longest trip of my life, and it’s only been about twenty-four hours.

  I hop on I-95, merging with the traffic, and head home to my place in Miramar. N
o one’s here when I pull into the driveway. But, of course I wasn’t expecting her to be here.

  When I step inside, the low hum of the air conditioning, cools my heated body.

  Everything is the exact same as when I left, except, the note on the fridge. I cross the kitchen tile.

  ‘It didn’t work, Colin. I’ll be staying with my sister until after the divorce. -Ava,’ the note reads.

  I close my eyes, letting the stillness of the house calm me. Letting the fact she’s really gone consume me. I know I can’t fix things in her head for her. God, do I want to. It eats me up inside the way she’s closed herself off. That she feels she’s failed me. Never.

  I thought I could give her space, let her work it out, but I know she still loves me. In Cozumel, the therapist said to forget everything, and I did.

  Well, fuck it. I’ll fight the biggest battle of my life for her. I’ll wage war, and storm the trenches if it means keeping her in my life. I’ll slay every dragon to keep her as my wife. Because I can’t lose her.

  Chapter 7

  Ava

  * * *

  “How was Cozumel, Ava?” my sister, Tina, asks as I step onto her front porch.

  I shake my head. “Amazing and horrible all at the same time,” I tell her as the tears start streaming down my face.

  “Oh, no, don’t cry.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder, ushering me into her house. “Come inside and have some tea.”

  “Thanks.”

  I’ve been crying since I left ‘Mason’ standing on the beach in Cozumel. I had to get away from him. I had to breathe.

  I love him too much to pretend any longer.

  When our therapist suggested the idea Colin and I have a fling, we couldn’t believe our ears. Cheat? Um, no way.

  I’ve never been with any other man but my husband. And I wanted to fix our marriage not add more problems to it. But, then Noel explained her idea: Colin and I were to pretend we didn’t know each other and have a fling—with each other.