by Suzanne Cass
He smiled. ‘Caught you.’
‘Yes you did.’ He was so close, his hands still resting lightly on her hips. His gaze flickered downwards, his smile confirming he liked what he saw.
She placed her hands on his chest. In a heartbeat his gaze went from awareness of her body to smouldering heat, igniting an answering flame inside her.
Trailing her fingers over his chest, she felt the tickle of curling hairs and then the hard planes of unyielding muscle. She found his nipple and teased it ever so gently with her thumb. He gave a sharp inhalation at her touch. The sound excited her, emboldened her even more. Tracing the curve of his stomach downwards, over the ridges of his six-pack, she followed a line of hair lower and lower.
‘Cilla, what are you doing?’ She put a finger to his lips to stop him talking. What was she doing? She didn’t rightly know. But she’d wanted to do it ever since she’d looked into those honey-coloured eyes the very first day on this island. She might blame the alcohol for her wanton behaviour, but that wouldn’t be completely correct. Tam’s mere presence sent an undercurrent through her, and now with her hands upon his body that undercurrent had turned into a surging tide, insistent and hard to defy, pulling her along against her will. It was unlike any temptation she’d ever encountered before.
‘Do you want me to stop?’
‘No,’ his answer came from between gritted teeth.
Leaning in closer, she let her breasts graze his chest, delighting in the sensation it caused to ripple through her. His torso was warm in comparison to the cold water lapping at her thighs. Standing on tiptoe she reached up to trail her lips down the side of his neck. He swallowed a groan as her lips found their way to his ear. They were cheek to cheek now and she could feel his jaw flexing.
He slid one hand from her hip across her bare back, gliding over the contours of her wet skin. Over the arc of her bottom his fingers slithered, until they came to rest in the crease of her buttock. With a grunt he pulled her towards him and their bodies connected in a hot, wet sheet of warm skin. His touch flamed the desire that settled scorching and solid in her stomach.
Her hand reached down between them, under the water to cup him, her breath catching in her throat as she felt him harden beneath her touch. His whole body stilled. She stoked the span of him. He was smooth, velvet steel. He shuddered and she gave a small smile.
‘Do you like me touching you?’
His breathing was shallow and fast, his eyes fixed on hers. As way of an answer, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. This kiss was more passionate and unrestrained than their first. This kiss was all raw sensuality. She opened her mouth to him and he tasted her with a forceful stroke of his tongue. She swept her tongue over his bottom lip, liking the way his growing stubble tickled her nose. A beard on a man had never bothered her before, but it’d never really enticed her either; until tonight. She felt the pulse in his throat quicken beneath her fingertips as she nipped his mouth with her teeth. The tension coiled tighter in her abdomen. She wanted him, with an urgency that was frightening. It’d been a long time since she’d allowed herself the simple pleasure of enjoying a man’s body. Maybe it was completely the wrong time and wrong place for that need to surface now, but she was willing to face those demons later. For over a year she’d ignored her need, left it festering, painful and unfulfilled. Tonight she was willing to take that risk. Tam lured her in like no other man before.
He tore his mouth away from hers and drew in large breaths of air.
‘God, you taste good. One kiss and I’m …’
She didn’t let him finish. Threading her fingers through his wet hair she drew his lips back down to hers.
~
Tam couldn’t think straight anymore. All conscious thought fled with the feel of Cilla’s hand as she stroked him under the water. The pleasure of her touch swirled through him like a whirlwind, obliterating everything else before it. Every thought of staying away from Cilla was annihilated by this all-consuming fire of need. He’d pay whatever price this might cost his humanity tomorrow. Tonight he wanted to be with her, feel her move beneath him and consume her body and soul.
The dim light from the stars overhead turned her skin a powdery grey. But the outline of her shape was stark against the dark lapping waves and he took advantage of the view, drinking in the curve of her pert breasts, her lean abdomen. Her fingers were still exploring the contours of his body, kindling a fast-burning blaze wherever they touched. Her teeth nudged the skin of his shoulder, spreading the hunger even faster, making his erection pound.
Was he really going to do this?
He knelt down on the sand, the water now lapping at his throat. Lifting her onto his lap he fought the urge to let out an animal growl as her heated centre pressed up against him. The contrast of her warm flesh to the cold liquid surrounding them was stark.
She straddled him, her gaze fixing on his face. The hunger in her eyes excited him more than anything else.
A thought pierced his erotic haze, and he blanched, staring up into Cilla’s face. ‘What about … I mean, I don’t have a condom.’
‘I have an implant. We’re safe, don’t worry,’ she answered, a sensuous smile warming her face.
Thank God. He would’ve stopped this if he had to, but holy hell, it would’ve been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she slowly lowered herself down. His entire body flared with molten heat. The feeling was so intense he couldn’t move for uncounted seconds. Then Cilla started to rotate her hips in a slow hypnotic rhythm. Fighting the impulse to rush, he wrapped his hands around her back and mirrored her movements, his strokes strong and controlled. He wanted to make this last.
Her thighs grasped him tighter around his hips, her movements becoming more urgent.
‘Tam …’ her words came out as a husky moan. She tilted her head back and whispered something unintelligible, her muscles contracting around him, burying him deep inside her.
Every nerve was alight with fire. He couldn’t breathe. Don’t let this be over too soon. Her ankles locked around his back, driving him in even deeper, her fingernails digging into the flesh of his back as she clung to him. He tried to think about anything but the sensations overwhelming him, but he was becoming consumed with the need to release.
Cilla’s breathing became more ragged with every thrust, her mounting pleasure threatening his slim hold on self-control.
A sound ripped from her throat, primal and triumphant. That sound drove him over the edge. Light, heat, sensation, movement all cleaved in one colossal rush and he was swept away on wave after wave.
He didn’t know how long it lasted, but he found he was shaking from head to toe, his muscles so drained he struggled to hold Cilla’s weight. Her head leant into the crook of his shoulder, her breath coming in great gasps.
This woman was wild.
‘I’ve never done it in the ocean before,’ he whispered into the tangle of her hair.
She raised her head and her eyelashes fluttered open, her eyes still with that glazed look which filled him with satisfaction. Lifting his hands to cup her face he stared at her in the moonlight. Running his thumbs over her cheeks he revelled in the softness of her skin. An edge of one thumb ran over the top of her nose-stud and for a moment he was surprised, having forgotten it was there. The metallic sharpness was a stark contrast to her smooth complexion. It was as much a part of her as her emerald eyes, her tattoo, her fierce determination. All blending together to form one perfect woman. Perfect for him.
‘Me either,’ she said, flashing a playful grin.
‘I hope we haven’t just given everyone in the shelter something interesting to watch.’
‘Hmm, that’s true.’ She gave a giggle, but this time it was accompanied by the light of reason returning to her eyes. Sliding from his lap she stood up, water cascading from her breasts. ‘We should probably go, before someone comes looking for us.’
She grabbed his hand and towed him back
towards the beach, his feet dragging through the cool water.
Damn, their moment together was ending way too soon. So fleeting. Now his ardour was drifting away on the swell of the waves. And tomorrow it’d be time to pay the price of allowing himself this indulgence. How’d things be between him and Cilla now? Would he end up cursing that bottle of beer and his lack of self-control?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cilla was surrounded by jade-green liquid. Her body glided effortless and insubstantial through the crystal clear water. Small fish darted in front of her face, silver flashes of mercury leading her deeper into the lagoon.
Finally her lungful of air ran out and she turned upwards, water streaming from her hair as she popped through the surface like a cork breaking away from a bottle. It was absolute heaven to swim in fresh water, to wash away the sweat and grime and salty residue that’d lingered on her skin for the past few weeks.
This was Emerald Lagoon, a hidden lake of fresh water in the centre of the island, encircled on all sides by limestone cliffs and dense jungle greenery.
She was here because Simon had won the first individual plunder knockout today. The prize consisted of an overnight stay in a specially built retreat next to the lagoon, eating as much seafood as possible, as well as sleeping in a king-sized bed.
The strangest part of the whole reward had come when JJ told Simon to pick not one, but two people to share the prize with him. At first Cilla thought she hadn’t heard right when Simon called her name. She was the last person he should be taking. Surely it should be one of the people who were in his alliance, like Hayden or Rosa. She stood next to him while he determined who else to take, and couldn’t decide whether to be flattered or afraid.
But when Simon had chosen Tam as the second person, Cilla was more than a little taken aback. It was no secret Tam and Simon weren’t the best of friends. What was Simon up to?
That thought had quickly been overshadowed when the idea of spending time alone with Tam at the lagoon made her heart do an uncharacteristic flip in her chest. Even Cilla didn’t fail to see the romance of a luxury retreat in the middle of a tropical island. Would she and Tam be able to find time to slip away together? To be alone. Did she even want that?
The other night in the ocean was an aberration, the effect of a little too much alcohol and the sheer beauty of a starlit tropical evening. She’d made up her mind things were going to stay platonic between them now. But her body seemed to have a will of its own, humming with a vibration low down in her abdomen at the mere thought of being alone with Tam again. Of him running his hands over her hips, pulling her in to his … Stop it. She shook her head to rid herself of the image.
‘I think I just saw a sting ray,’ Simon’s excited shout broke her internal musings. ‘You guys have to come over here and see this.’ Cilla paddled over to where he thrashed about in the water near the beach. She followed his pointed finger and did indeed see a dark shape drifting over the sandy bottom.
Looking around she located Tam’s head, bobbing in the middle of the lagoon. He waved and gave her a dreamy kind of smile. She left him to his swimming and turned onto her back, drifting towards the cliffs, letting the shadows from the jungle leaves kiss her face as she floated beneath them.
‘I just saw another one,’ Simon said, his raised voice snapping her out of her reverie. ‘This place is amazing!’ Cilla thought it might be the first time she’d ever seen a genuine smile of delight on his face. And then the gratuitous part of her brain kicked in. What better time to get to know Simon than out here, just the three of them, away from the edgy tension of the campsite. And she needed Simon on her side. She needed as many people on her side as she could get, if she were to win this game. The question as to why Simon had invited them also needed an answer. It was obvious there was some kind of strategy Simon was hoping to lay in place by inviting both of them along, and Cilla needed to find out what that was. If she could just mask her dislike for him enough to seem interested, she might find out something important.
‘Yes it is, Simon. It’s just beautiful.’ She started swimming towards him, painting on her best smile. ‘And I want to thank you again for bringing me along on your prize.’ Her feet touched the sandy bottom and she walked over in the chest deep water to stand next to him. Smoothing her water-dark hair away from her face, she kept her gaze fixed on him. ‘I have to admit, the part I’m looking forward to most is the seafood banquet.’ She tilted her head sideways and dropped her gaze, so she was looking at him through lowered eyelashes. ‘Well that, and getting to know you better as well. You know, without the rest of the team … around.’ She tried to make her smile inviting as she spoke. God, she wished she was better at the flattery thing. It seemed to come as second nature to some women, the easy banter and the seductive come-to-bed eyes. How come she found it so hard to master?
‘Yep, me too. I’m so hungry I could eat the crutch out of a low flying dove.’
Her smile faded. He hadn’t got the hint at all. She sucked at the seduction thing alright.
‘And I’m also looking forward to some … intimate conversation, Cilla.’ He brushed her arm with a cool wet finger and then dove off in pursuit of another fleeting sting ray shape, leaving her blinking in disbelief.
Maybe she wasn’t as bad at the sweet talk thing as she thought after all.
Glancing quickly over her shoulder, she saw Tam was floating in the middle of the lagoon. Had he seen their interaction?
Cilla was suddenly annoyed at herself. What did it matter if Tam had seen her talking to Simon anyway? She was her own woman, able to talk to whomever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Just because they had sex in the ocean the other night, didn’t mean she owed him anything. Even if it’d been so hot and fervent that the mere thought of it now still managed to double her heart rate. Even if she now had to constantly fight the urge to lean in and gently nip his neck, to see if he’d react with the same soft growl as he had the other night.
In the two days since they’d made love in the ocean, there hadn’t been a chance for Cilla and Tam to be alone together. They were always either doing something as a team or Marg or Alisha would tag along with them to the water-well, or to go fishing. She hadn’t engineered it that way, but a small part of her was grateful anyway. Their friendship remained open and easy, even if he did exasperate her sometimes with his continued overprotectiveness. And she made a point of keeping the banter and camaraderie flowing, as much to keep anyone else from being suspicious as anything else. She was determined not to mention that night again. It was fraught with too many connotations and questions, most of which she wasn’t ready to find the answers to.
She wasn’t here to find love. She was here to win one million dollars.
It was time to start shoring up her alliances, open herself up to new tactics to ensure her survival. And if that meant creating a bond with Simon – faking it even – then that’s what she was going to do.
~
Tam stuffed two more prawns into his mouth, reaching for another spoonful of yellow rice at the same time. The food would probably be delicious, if he actually took the time to taste it. As it was, the food wasn’t even touching the sides the way he was wolfing it down. He’d have to slow down soon, or he’d make himself sick.
‘Oh, my stomach is aching it’s so full,’ groaned Cilla. ‘But I can’t stop eating, this is all so good.’ And she crammed another huge piece of fish into her mouth, dripping with red curry sauce. Tam gave her a wink, but couldn’t reply, his mouth was too jam-packed.
It was a good fifteen minutes later when he at last started to admit defeat. There was still food piled high on his plate, but he knew he couldn’t eat another bite. He sat back and took in the details of their feasting.
Darkness had fallen while they’d stuffed themselves silly. One of the four exquisitely dressed waitresses had lit the multitude of hanging lanterns positioned around the outside of the hut, so it was now lit with a warm orange light. They were seated at a low
table beneath a large wooden gazebo, open to the jungle on all sides. The table was decorated with rattan placemats, with pirate flags tied around the wooden poles, skull and cross bones glaring down at them from all angles.
An inordinate amount of food was laid out for only three people. There were huge piles of rice and noodles heaped onto banana leaves, satay sticks, bowls of seafood curries, each steaming in their own heavenly aroma of Thai spices, tiny bowls containing all kinds of sweet and savoury dipping sauces, even a whole barbecued fish sat in the middle of the table.
‘Are we allowed to take any of this food back to the team?’ Cilla asked.
‘You just read my mind,’ Tam admitted, focussing on her face for the first time since they’d sat down.
‘No, we’re not. You heard what JJ said before we left. Do you want to get us disqualified or something?’ It seemed like all this wonderful food hadn’t softened Simon’s belligerent side then. Tam frowned at him over the table and didn’t answer. Simon was right, but Tam didn’t like the way he was so downright arrogant about it. Simon always thought he was right and Tam was tiring of the man. Fast. He tolerated him publicly, but inside he often found himself having to hold back a sincere urge to punch him in the face. He hoped he’d be able to hold his tongue during the imposed closeness of this prize, keep a cool head for the next twenty-four hours at least.
To take his mind off his dark thoughts, he forced his gaze back over to Cilla. She looked good tonight. No, better than good; she looked great. Her clean hair was now drying and forming a nimbus of chestnut strands around her face. Her slim form was engulfed by the large white bathrobe they’d all been given to wear once they came out of the water. The stark white of the material highlighted the glowing olive skin of her shoulders and face. There was a soft, contented smile lingering on her lips, her eyes half closed as she leaned back into her chair. She gave a groan and rubbed her belly, moistening her partly open lips at the same time. It was an unconscious act, but Tam felt his pulse give a few erratic beats at the thought of kissing those rosy lips. She’d tasted so good the other night. Her body felt so right in his arms. Cilla had felt it too, he knew she had. The way her mouth opened before his lips had even touched hers, the urgent dart of her tongue unmistakeable. The way she’d pressed her breasts hard into his chest and her fingernails had run ragged down his back, revealed to him what her words couldn’t. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
