“And you can be a creep.”
He nodded. “I’m working on it. Now, what else? Hmm…you wear glasses, or did before they broke. I guess I’d forgotten you’d worn glasses.”
“I always wore contacts before. I guess—I guess I was a bit self-conscious about wearing glasses in front of you, so I rarely did.”
“The color…” He pulled her face to his lips and kissed her eyelids. “The real color of your eyes without the contacts takes my breath away. I don’t recall ever getting such a good look at them before coming to Carnal Island.”
Vince heard the sharp intake of breath. He knew his words were softening her, but he meant each and every one of them. He drew her back and traced a finger down the bridge of her nose. Her eyelids fluttered.
“I know your voice is hoarse because you choked from almost drowning. But what about the very appealing little hump on your nose? And the scars?” He ran his thumbs down along her hairline and ears, noting the way she flinched. “I don’t recall them being there before. And then there’s all the weight loss…”
Just as he expected, her eyes flashed and she stiffened again. He’d used as gentle a probing technique as he could, but he sensed the latter observances he’d pointed out would put her on guard.
“No, don’t push me away, Jewel. Don’t.” He shook her gently, continuing to hold her head between his hands, even as she pushed against his chest. “I have a right to know what’s going on here. You’re the same passionate bed partner, the same spitfire personality, but physically, things don’t add up.”
“Let go of me.” She shoved outward against his inner forearms, narrowing her gaze on him. But he held her in place, forcing her to look into his eyes and reveal the motivation behind her little masquerade.
“I’m not stupid, babe. This isn’t just a case of dyeing your hair and losing, oh”—he slid a look down at her luscious body—“about forty to fifty pounds. What happened? Why all the drastic changes? So drastic, that I didn’t even recognize you at first.”
She pressed her lips together and glared at him, but her struggles died down. “It’s none of your goddamn business.”
“Ah, taking Him in vain. Yet another example of non-nun material.”
She shrieked her indignation, but he went on. “Now, either you tell me exactly where you got these scars, or I throw you out into the storm.”
“You wouldn’t.” No, he wouldn’t, but she didn’t have to know that.
He hooked his arm around her neck to keep her from fleeing and yanked up the hatch door. Rain blew in on a musty gust and splattered her face as he dragged her closer. The ladder clung to the tree trunk below, drenched by rainwater. The wind suddenly howled fierce and angry, as if by opening the exit door, he’d turned up the volume on Mother Nature. The candles danced in protest to the turbulent air, and the light flickered a soft orange across her stunned face. And at that exact moment, almost as if he’d willed it to happen on cue, lightning struck with a deafening crack nearby. Jewel screeched and broke free of his hold, scrambling out of reach.
He slammed the door shut. The resonating sounds of the storm died to a distant hum. “The truth, or you go find your own shelter. And I mean now.”
“You’re a cruel bastard, Santiago.” Even as she shook from fear, her eyes snapped out their own bolts of lightning, striking him with deadly force. “And I hate you.”
“Yes,” he agreed, crawling on hands and knees toward her. She cowered in the corner, never taking her eyes from him. “You must have hated me to leave me like that four years ago without a word or a forwarding address or a phone number.”
He snapped his fingers in her face. She blinked. “Poof! Just like that. Gone. No more Jewel.”
“Leave you? You made it very clear you didn’t want me anymore.” Her words came out on an incredulous hiss between clenched teeth.
“I made it very clear I didn’t want to get married—at the moment. That does not, in my book, equal not wanting you. Now,” he went on, gripping her hands to still her desperate flails. “What the hell happened to your face and your nose?”
She turned her face into the wall behind her. Her voice came out muffled, but he still caught the thick emotion that threatened to spill over. “After you made it clear you didn’t want me anymore, I left your apartment in a rush. And in my haste to get as far away from you as I could, I had a wreck—a very bad wreck. It required extensive surgeries of both the reconstructive and life-threatening kind. I was in a coma for the first week. And I almost died twice.”
* * * * *
Jewel heard him drag in a ragged breath. She got a sort of a twisted satisfaction from hearing that sound after four long years. It may be confession time, she thought triumphantly, but she would be the one to control things this time, despite his overbearing, macho, man-handling crap. She turned, for she just had to see the guilty look on his face.
“A wreck? Oh my God. It was storming that night, wasn’t it?” His eyes flared. He raked a hand through his hair. “And you ended up in the hospital?”
“Yes. And you didn’t even bother visiting me.”
“Visit you?” His brows arched with feigned surprise. My, but he was quite the actor, she mused. “How in the hell could I visit you if I didn’t even know you were in the hospital?”
Her world stopped spinning for a split second. But she put a firm mental hand on it, forcing it back into motion.
“Yeah, right.” Jewel couldn’t take it any longer. Suddenly fatigued, she pushed herself to a standing position. Crossing to her hammock, she collapsed into its cocoon.
“I’m telling you,” he growled, leaping to his feet, panther-like. “I did not know you had an accident.”
Jewel wasn’t believing one word of his lame defense. She crossed her arms and stared up at the beamed ceiling bathed by candlelight. Wind wailed shrilly outside, reminding her where she was. Reminding her the dream had turned back into a nightmare.
“Sure, Vince. And you think I’m going to believe that my roommate—my best friend since grade school—wouldn’t have informed you? That is, if you’d have bothered to call me at the apartment.” She rolled her head to the left and snared him with her gaze. “But you didn’t, Vince, because you made it very clear it was over.”
“Goddamn it, Jewel, you’ve got it all wrong. I did call, dozens of times that entire week after you walked out on me. I left messages on everything—on fucking voice mail and machines. I even left half a dozen messages with Celeste. She said she’d tell you I called. Toward the end of the week, she finally told me you said you didn’t ever want me to call again. I wanted you, Jewel. I swear I did.”
“Bullshit! I don’t believe you.”
He closed the space in two long strides. “No, not bullshit. It’s true. And in reality, you didn’t want me.”
“No…” She shook her head vehemently. He was there looming above her. The aroma of clean man filled her nostrils, even as she held her breath and fought it. He leaned down, gripping the hammock on either side of her, knuckles whitening with rage. Those luscious lips now curled in a snarl, his face hovered over hers but one breath’s space from her mouth. Eyes as thick and hot as molasses scorched her to the core, their sweet, emotional flavor tempting her beyond control.
“Well then, I’ll just have to make you believe me.” His mouth swooped down on hers, crushing the very breath from her. She tasted fruit and meat, fire and ice. He plundered her mouth, nearly choking her with passionate emotions. That familiar curl of lust slid around in her belly, taunting, begging for release. But she couldn’t allow it again. She knew for a fact Celeste would never lie to her. Therefore, that left Vince as the deceiver, which wasn’t news to her.
Stop this now while you can, Jewel. Now!
She let out a groan of regretted pleasure right before her knees came up. With her fists, she pounded on his sides and kicked with all her might. The sudden movements took him by surprise, and he broke the kiss with a loud smack, rearing back out o
f range. In the process, his hands let go of the hammock, setting it into a dangerous, precarious swing. Jewel teetered for a long moment, swinging back and forth in wide sweeps. In a flash, she landed on the hard floor with a humph, the wind knocked from her chest. Pain shot through her back and into her neck. Stars swam before her eyes.
“You son of a bitch,” she growled, dragging herself up to a crouch position.
His grinned response only infuriated her more. “Sorry about that, babe.”
“Oh! I told you to quit calling me babe.” She stood, her hands flexing with the urge to slap that arrogant smirk from his handsome face.
The smile faded. He sat on his hammock and leaned back, his arms behind his head in that egotistical, delicious position that irked her. With slow deliberation, he crossed his ankles. “Never.”
“Why are you doing this to me, Vince? Why?”
“Come here, Jewel,” he commanded, never taking his eyes from her.
“No.”
His jaw tensed. “I said, come here.”
“And I said no.”
“The way I see it is,” he replied with a lazy drawl that did little to disguise his anger-tinged control, “you either get your ass over here now, or I come and get you. Face it. Luke and Jennie have seen to it that you have nowhere to run to. Babe.”
Oh, she was all too aware of the genies’ powers, there was no disputing that now. But that aside, she also knew he’d used the term of endearment again just to taunt her into action, to irritate her. Somehow, though, the deep silk of his voice had managed to make her shiver against her will. As did his threat. But if anybody knew Vince Santiago meant what he said at this moment, it was Jewel Dublin. She was certain he would never hurt her physically. But she also knew if she kept defying him, it could possibly result in more explosive sex. Which would be counterproductive for her if she wanted to end this nightmare and salvage her heart.
Hesitantly, she took one step, then another. He made no indication if her obedience pleased him or not, but kept his eyes locked on hers until she finally stood at his side. Looking down on that savage body of his, her heart did a flip in her chest. Unable to resist, she flickered her gaze downward toward his crotch. Too late, she realized she’d made a terrible tactical error. She could see that his cock stood fully erect beneath his loincloth. It was so erect, in fact, that the very head of it peeped out above the upper edge of the fabric. Swift and heavy need assailed her, soaking her own crotch with an involuntary flood of cream.
Okay, so she could never be a nun, she thought, licking her lips. But that didn’t mean she had to go to the other extreme. And with a discipline she prided herself on recouping, she tore her gaze from that unbelievable sight and stared at the wall.
“What’s the matter, Jewel?” he taunted, and his hand shot out to clamp about her wrist. “Saying your prayers?”
She gasped and looked down just in time to see the rabid fire of determined passion escape his eyes. With one strong, sudden yank, he had her sprawled across his chest, that long rod pressed into her belly. He clamped one arm around her back, imprisoning her in place. His hand let loose of her wrist and stabbed into the hair at the nape of her neck, holding her head poised above his. Eyes sparkling with evil determination, he raised his knees, wiggling and pushing upward until her legs were forced to spread. They dropped on either side of the hammock, her feet barely brushing the floor.
She fought the fire that ignited between her legs when the movement brought her pussy into direct contact with the peeping head of his cock. The desire stoked in her by glancing at his erection, now smoldered into a full-blown inferno. With her legs spread, her miniskirt had been forced up around her hips. It left her no protection between her sticky lips and his steely tip. He released her head, and with one swift move, he snatched a tie at his hip, bucked up against her, and his loincloth vanished with one practiced sweep.
“No,” she panted, pressing against his chest. “Please, no.”
“Yes, honey, yes. You know you can’t deny what we have.” He clutched her shoulders and brought her mouth down to his. In that one smooth move, before she realized the danger of it, he tasted her with a gentle kiss that snatched her breath from her chest. Twisting as he devastated her with the kiss, he maneuvered her so that the tip of his dick slid through her outer slit. She fought the throbbing wave of heat between her legs, sure she would combust at any moment. His tongue tore into her mouth at the very instant his shaft invaded her crux. In one swift stroke, he had her impaled upon his rod. She groaned into his mouth, her tongue suddenly eager to fight with his. The flavor of desire, and a love savored in dreams only, filled her senses swift and sure.
His hands were all over her, tracing her spine with rippling tingles, cupping her ass, pinching and driving her down around his hardness. The slickness of her clit rubbed against him, making her cunt spasm and swallow him deeper. Her hands gripped his wide shoulders, the tight deltoids under smooth skin tempting the flesh of her palms, making her knead and grind. She relaxed her bent arms, allowing her nipples to fall completely into his. Already tight, they burst with a shower of need, a moist swish of skin against skin. Jewel inhaled his hot scent and cupped his whiskered face, now shadowed with a two-day growth of beard. The rough texture prickled against her palms, and a surge of animalistic hunger washed through her at the savage, male sensation of it.
He’s right, she suddenly thought, stroking him with her pussy. There was no denying what they’d had, at least not now while forced to be together. She knew she couldn’t fight it anymore, not with his fullness driving her home to bliss. Why not savor him while you can? she asked herself, moaning when he nipped her bottom lip between his teeth. But she already knew the answer. There was no way in hell she could ever resist this man. Ever. Which was why, she told herself as the first vague waves of orgasm licked out to touch her, you must remain in Vermont over sixteen hundred miles away from him.
The thought of it tore at her heart with sadness. But Vermont would come later. This was now. Now with his cock fully invading her, now with the skim of a hand, the fire of a kiss. She thrust their inevitable futures aside and embraced the present, clamped her muscles around him in a sticky grip of need. Renewed and fueled for inescapable pleasure, Jewel shoved herself up to a sitting position, her feet now planted firmly on the floor. The change in angles made her cry out when the tip of him rubbed against her g-spot. Unable to stop it, the orgasm slammed into her, quick and concise. Imprisoning him within her straddled stance, she cried out, her voice echoing above the drone of wind and spattering rain. Her eyes squeezed shut, and her toes curled against the rough wood slats. She slapped her hands onto his chest, the silky-hard expanse rising and falling with his ragged breathing. She had no doubt this was only the beginning, a showcase of what would come later. Because already, even as the first release ebbed, the second raged just out of reach.
Outside, the ominous winds picked up, the song of it like a freight train bearing down upon them. Energy crackled in the air, hot and cold, pleasure and pain. Jewel looked down at him, and the expression on his face stilled her pulse. If she didn’t know better, she would have described it as an almost-love look. His hands reached up to cup her breasts. In her fantasy-riddled mind, she pretended he held her heart in his hands, stroking and loving her until death do they part.
“Jewel, I…” he rasped, his eyes pools of dark, fluid heat.
She bent and brushed her lips against his, tasting the salt of his skin. “Shh, please, Vince. Don’t talk. It’s okay. Let’s just enjoy it while we can.”
He pinched her nipples simultaneously. She sucked in a hot gasp of air. Ripples of lust spun in her belly, and almost obediently, she soaked him with her juices.
Vince groaned, suddenly sitting up. He placed his feet on the floor between hers and stood astride the hammock. Hitching her up, he stepped forward so that he had her pinned against the sturdy bamboo pole, the ropes of the hammock ties abrading her ass. When he looked above her h
ead, his eyes lighting with a gleam of mischief, she glanced up. Looped ropes hung from a beam crossing above the top of a horizontal pole. Still filled by him, he leaned his hips into her, sandwiching her between the wall of his body and the pole. Stretching, he drew one rope down. Excitement moved swift and powerful through her body when she realized his intent. Now that he had her stabilized, he raced his hands up her sides, up past her armpits, until her arms were forced above her head.
“Vince…” She swallowed, feeling his fiery breath fan her breasts. He snaked his tongue out and flickered it over one nipple. “Oh…yes,” she rasped on a moan, “just do it, Vince. Tie me up and fuck me. Now.”
He blinked. Utter surprise and delight washed over his face. “Oh God, Jewel. I love it when you let go. When you turn into my little nympho.”
“I’m going to come. I can feel it now,” she panted, devouring his mouth. “As soon as you tie my wrists—oh God!”
Skillfully, as if she were his rodeo prize, he clamped her hands above her head, wound the rope around her wrists and tied it snuggly. He swirled the free end around his hand and tugged until she felt the pulley action of her body being lifted ever so slightly. Tying the other end of the cord off on a lower peg, he now had her strung up against the pole, the ropes of the hammock beneath her ass barely brushing her buttock cheeks. The movement had lifted her a few inches higher so that his cock now only half penetrated her. Her feet no longer touched the ground, but his did. He had all the control, all the leverage and all the domination of a wild beast hungrily eyeing his prey in bondage. His eyes glazed with the knowledge of it. She longed to have him fully inside her again, and struggled against the restraint, fighting for what she craved.
“Fuck me, Vince, all the way. Get it all the way inside me.”
He rocked his hips, moving in and out of her so that upon exit, the tip of the head barely remained inside her. Somehow, the withdrawal made her clit throb harder with need. He groaned at the precise moment she did. Her vision blurred as she saw the very boundaries of the coming orgasm. Spurts of her cum frosted his cock with a milky wetness. He buried his face in her breasts, now two submissive melons to feast on at his complete disposal. She screamed her pleasure when he lifted them both, sucking the nipples into his mouth at the same time. God, how she longed to wrap her arms around his head and smother him in her breasts! Flames of wet lust licked at her, burning a trail from her areolas to her womb. And suddenly, Vince shifted his stance and reared up, shoving his cock completely into her canal.
Me Tarzan, You Jewel Page 15
