If he was seducing her, he was doing a damn good job of it. Already at a heightened level of awareness after that wildly pleasurable kiss on the boat, she was now conscious of every move of his powerful body, every brush of his hand over her skin. She kept drinking water, because every time she looked at the man, her mouth went dry.
There was no use denying it—she wanted him. Wildly. Passionately. Like she had never wanted anyone.
Liz hadn’t been touched intimately by a man in a long time, and she had thought that was okay. Now she knew better. She was desperate to be touched, stroked, pleasured.
But only by one man.
The one who had just stepped out onto the patio after seeing the last of his guests to the door. Jack remained there, several feet away, backlit by soft light from inside the house, but otherwise hidden in shadow.
“I’d say that went well,” he said.
Liz remained by the railing, watching him, swallowing hard as she acknowledged again just how handsome he was. When he moved, the moonlight caught glints of gold in his hair and lent an air of mystery to his shadowed face.
“Yes, I think so. I suspect you’re going to get what you came here for,” she replied, not intending the heavily loaded words. But once they were said, she couldn’t regret them.
He obviously heard and understood, remembering what he’d said to Liz right before his guests had arrived. Approaching her slowly, Jack never took his eyes off hers. As he left the shadow of the house behind him, she saw that his expression was intense, his eyes hungry.
He stopped a few feet away, watching her, waiting for her signal. She remained still, stiff, not knowing how to proceed. She’d just essentially told this man she wanted to give herself to him. But oh, God, it had been such a long time since she’d freely given herself to anyone, Liz wasn’t sure she remembered how to begin.
Fortunately Jack knew just where to start.
“Dance with me,” he murmured.
He opened his arms. She smiled and stepped into them.
From somewhere up the beach, most likely Trinity’s, came the lilting sounds of island music, just barely audible above the lullaby of the waves hitting the beach. Melting into Jack’s body, his hard edges against her soft curves, she closed her eyes. Wordlessly, they began to sway, dancing to the music riding on the night air.
Each movement was slow and easy, filled with the slightest brushes of thigh against hip, breast against chest. One of his arms slid around her shoulders, the other around her waist. His hand flattened against the small of her back revealed by the almost backless dress. His fingers spread, the tips brushing the upper curves of her bottom, caressing her lightly but not rushing.
Not rushing at all.
Liz sighed, wrapping her arms more tightly around his neck. Wanting to taste his skin, she brushed her lips against his throat, feeling rather than hearing his low groan in response.
The movements that had been slow and lazy eased into something more. Something sensual and needful. More intense. The music itself seemed to change, until they were moving to that base, seething rhythm of the island itself that he’d been talking about the other day.
He pulled her hair down with an easy tug of the clip, letting it flow over his fingers. “Beautiful,” he whispered. “I like it long.”
Liz arched back, letting him tangle the strands in his hand. The position also invited him to sample her throat, to bend lower and taste her skin.
She held her breath, waiting for him to do so. And when he did, moving his mouth to the vulnerable skin below her earlobe, she shivered lightly.
His arms tightened, as if he thought she was cold. But she wasn’t. The night was warm, this man’s embrace incendiary.
Still swaying, she gave herself over to the magical feel of his mouth on her throat, his hand rubbing her own hair over her bare back. She nibbled at his neck, kissing her way to his jaw. He lifted his face to hers so their lips could meet, and they came together in a deep, wet kiss.
He tasted warm and spicy, like the islands, and Liz met every sultry thrust of his tongue with one of her own. She wanted to memorize his taste, experience every corner of his mouth, share every breath that left his lungs.
When he pushed the strap of Liz’s dress off her shoulder, she shrugged a little to let it fall away, then dipped so the other could follow suit. The silky dress slipped down.
Jack pulled his mouth from hers and stepped back so the green fabric could drop to a puddle on the patio.
“God in heaven,” he muttered, staring at her with eyes that both hungered and devoured.
Liz had never been vain, nor had she ever considered herself someone who could inspire raw lust. But right now, standing in the moonlight wearing nothing but a pair of spike-heeled shoes and flimsy thong panties, she had never been more aware of her power as a woman.
“I have never wanted anyone this much in my entire life,” he admitted.
“Ditto,” she said, surprising even herself. Because she hadn’t thought about it until that moment. But it was entirely true.
Jack kept staring, his lips parted as he drew ragged breaths. He seemed to be struggling to keep himself in control.
She didn’t want him in control. Close to losing her own, she wanted him right there with her when she gave in to the want battering every inch of her.
“Touch me,” she urged, reaching for the hand still tangled in her hair. Needing more of his touch, she drew his hand over her shoulder, to the front of her body. Their entwined fingers traveled a slow, smooth path down her clavicle, over the curve of her breast, to the taut nipple that throbbed with the need for his touch.
“Oh, yes,” she hissed when he gave her the attention she craved.
He teased her, plucked at her nipple, then lifted her breast. “I have to taste you.” Lowering his mouth, his warm breath gave her an instant to prepare, then his steamy mouth was on her, sucking hard and deep.
She shook, her legs going weak. Jack held her tight, supporting her as he bent her back to fully taste her, going from one breast to the other like a starving person torn between two delectable dishes.
Nearly incapable of thought, she simply thrust her fingers into his hair and held on, silently begging for more, moaning every time he gave it to her. The pleasure in her breasts sparked throughout her, shooting need directly between her shaking legs.
Kneading his thick shoulders, she reached for his collar, trying to force the buttons open. She wanted him naked. Now. And ten seconds after that, she wanted him between her thighs.
“You’re a little overdressed,” she said.
Jack let her go long enough to rip at his shirt. The buttons flew somewhere to the beach below.
Liz laughed, but the laughter died in her throat when she saw the shirt come off, revealing a magnificent chest and amazing shoulders. She’d had lovers before. But oh, God, none who’d ever looked like this.
“More,” she demanded, reaching for his waistband.
He grabbed her hand, stopped her. “I’m hanging on by a thread here.”
“Let me break it,” she begged, pulling away from his hand again to reach for his belt.
The graze of her fingertips against his bulging zipper made him jerk into her hand. She cupped him through his trousers, shivering at the thought of all that male heat buried inside her.
He stepped away, unfastening his pants, letting them fall. Liz watched his every move, biting the corner of her lip in pure anticipation as he stripped off the last of his clothes.
This time, when her legs started to shake, he wasn’t there to hold her up. She sank onto a lounge chair. Reaching for him, she murmured, “Now.”
“No,” he said as he followed her down.
He was not going to be rushed. Which both frustrated her like crazy and thrilled her beyond belief.
Kissing her again, he stroked her, toyed with her, pleasured her. He stripped her panties off, then used his hands, lips and tongue to heighten her pleasure until she felt she�
��d reached its very highest peak. Yet he wouldn’t let her fly over it. Each time she’d get there, he would move away, refocus his efforts on another sensitive part of her body.
“Damn it,” she groaned, when he once again skimmed his lips down her belly, only to move back up rather than giving her the deep, intimate kiss she needed.
This time, he took pity. Without warning, he changed direction and moved his mouth to the curls between her thighs. With long, slow strokes of his tongue, he sent her catapulting over the top. She came in a hot rush, spasming in delight, unable to control her body’s wild rocking.
Before she had even recovered, he moved between her legs, spreading them so both her feet touched the ground.
Making room for himself.
Liz sucked in a breath, for some reason a little nervous. It had been a long time.
“It’s been a while,” Liz admitted, hearing the trepidation in her voice.
He seemed to hear it, too. Kissing her sweetly, Jack murmured, “Slow and steady then?” He moved away for a moment, grabbing a condom from the pocket of his discarded trousers.
Some intelligent woman she was. She hadn’t even considered that little detail.
The brief interruption gave her a second to pull herself together, to shake off the last lingering worries, the hint of nervousness.
This was going to be good. Very, very good.
“Now, Jack,” she begged again.
This time, he didn’t refuse. Instead, he moved closer, his lean hips brushing her inner thighs. Coaxing her slick folds with his fingers to make sure she was ready for him, he groaned in anticipation, then slid into her.
Liz wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his mouth to hers for another deep kiss. With every inch of her body that he claimed, they shared a tender breath, a gentle stroke. Until finally, with a few whispered words she couldn’t make out, he plunged deep, filling her entirely.
She cried out once. And again. Each time, her cries quickly dissipated, swallowed by the night air, the steady pulse of the island and the endlessly churning surf. And as Jack thrust into her, filling and emptying her again and again, the only thing she could hear was the raging beat of her own heart.
Until, finally, when he’d wrung from her every last molecule of pleasure her body was capable of experiencing and joined her in a shattering orgasm, she heard one more thing.
His voice.
“All those years of waiting, wondering…this was worth every one of them.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THOUGH LIZ HAD SPENT the night with him Saturday, filling his bed with her scent, not to mention utter carnal pleasure, she’d had to leave on Sunday. Jack hadn’t wanted her to and had tried to bribe her into being his tour guide on the island, but she’d been insistent. Her boss had given her the previous day off to prepare for the party and she didn’t want to ask for another.
Jack spent the day working, sending e-mails to his staff back in Boston about yesterday’s meetings. When he was finished, he considered going down to the bar to try another of her potent rum drinks, but decided against it. Liz had made it clear she didn’t want to answer questions about her old life from the people in her new one. He had to respect that.
He wondered if she would ever be willing to answer questions about her old life in private.
“Damn you, Tim,” he muttered, wishing like hell the ugly issue of the lawsuit wasn’t hanging over his head. He’d like nothing more than to proceed directly and honestly with Liz, let their relationship develop and grow into whatever it was going to be.
That couldn’t happen, however, if he went through with his plans to reopen the wounds caused by her divorce.
Though he’d been thinking about it all day, Jack honestly couldn’t decide how to proceed. All he could think about was how much he wanted to see Liz again. Which was why, when she got off work at 2 a.m., he was waiting for her outside.
“Hi,” he said as she walked out.
Though she appeared happy to see him, her smile was wan, fatigue etched in her face and made her shoulders droop. “Hi, yourself.”
“Long night?”
“Very,” she replied. As if they greeted each other this way every night, she stepped into his open arms and wrapped hers around his shoulders. “I think you might have to carry me to my scooter.”
She was joking. But that didn’t stop him from reaching for her bottom and lifting her completely off the ground.
“Hey!” she said with a surprised laugh.
“Ask and you shall receive.” He turned toward the beach.
“I’m parked over there,” she said, nodding toward the small lot.
“Let’s walk.”
“Where?” She held on as he headed around the side of the building. Her long legs wrapped more tightly around his hips, driving him mad.
“To the nearest private flat surface,” he growled.
Liz nibbled his earlobe, whispering, “Sex on the beach?”
“For a start.”
She shivered in anticipation, which made Jack pick up the pace. The lights from the bar had flipped off one by one, and nearby buildings and homes were also dark. Moonlight washed the sand, but didn’t banish every shadow. He had spotted any number of nice, intimate places when he’d walked up here on his way to meet Liz.
But where he most wanted her was in the water. The Caribbean surf was gentle, the sea warm. Lying at the water’s edge, feeling it flow over their entwined limbs as he buried himself inside her sounded like heaven on earth.
“Hurry,” she said, her legs still gripping him.
“Five minutes,” he replied. Then they should be out of sight of any night owls who might still be eyeing the beach.
Good thing. He was already rock-hard.
“Your legs hurting, honey?” a voice called just as Jack was about to step off the cement walkway onto the sand. “Too much physical activity?”
Jack froze and Liz stiffened against him.
“Trinity,” she muttered. “My boss.”
He turned around slowly. Though Liz wriggled, he didn’t put her down, just kept holding her curvy bottom, keeping her right where he wanted her. Leaping apart like they’d been doing something wrong wouldn’t make it any easier for Liz to face her co-workers tomorrow.
“Hello,” Jack said with a smile. The attractive, dark-skinned woman wearing a long, loose skirt and brightly colored blouse approached from the door of the bar. Her smile was wicked, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Poor girl,” she said with an exaggerated tsk, “she must be so overworked to need such physical assistance.”
Liz turned her head and looked at her boss over her shoulder. “Say it and go away.”
The other woman laughed.
“I mean it. Tell me I told you so, then go home and laugh all night about how right you were.”
“Okay. I told you so. Now I’ll go home and laugh and you can get on with whatever you’re going to be doing all night.”
She wagged her brows a little, then her smile faded. Eyeing Jack, she stuck out an index finger. “You be careful. Don’t go breakin’ her heart again, not now when it’s finally all patched up.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he told her.
He meant it. Breaking Liz’s heart was the last thing he would ever do. He wanted to fill it completely. If only she’d let him. Their physical relationship seemed like a step in the right direction.
While questioning her about the past, asking her to relive it, was a hugely wrong one.
“’Night you two,” said Trinity, waving before she turned and walked away.
Jack made sure they were truly alone, then turned and carried Liz down to the beach.
“I’ll never live this down,” she said, though she didn’t sound rueful or resigned. Instead, as she settled her head on his shoulder, her face buried in the crook of his neck, she sounded pleased.
“Do you care?”
“Not really.”
He gave her a s
queeze. “I didn’t mean to put you in the position of having to answer questions you don’t want to answer.”
Her lips scraped his neck, her tongue flicking out against the pulse point. “Well, what position do you want to put me in?” she asked in a throaty whisper.
Heat rushed back to his groin, and she answered it by rubbing against him, as if taking the pressure where she needed it most. His groan of pleasure was drowned out by hers.
“I can think of one or two,” he admitted as they escaped the last hints of light, nearing ultimate privacy.
“That’s funny. I can think of thirty or forty.”
“Okay. I’ll get right to work on that.”
* * *
ON THE DAY when Jack had first shown up at Trinity’s bar, he had told Liz he’d rented the beach house for a week. That had been over seven days ago.
Yet he was still here.
He didn’t seem in a hurry to leave St. Lucia and, to her knowledge, hadn’t yet packed a single bag or made any travel reservations. Liz assumed it was because of his work. The party Saturday night had opened a lot of doors to him, and he’d spent all day Monday going to meetings.
A part of her, however, couldn’t help wondering if she was another reason he stayed.
She didn’t ask him, of course. Talking about his plans was just about as off-limits as talking about what had happened back in Boston. There was only now. This time, this place, this wild, sensual affair that had taken her completely by surprise.
She knew she should probably already be feeling some regret. The old Liz might already be worrying what it would be like when he left, taking with him all the excitement and raw passion she’d been feeling. Yet those thoughts seldom came to mind. Because what was happening between them here and now was not only washing away any remnants of darkness that had remained in her heart, but also filling it with light that would last a long time into the future.
“Is there any chance we’ll find a parking place in town?” Jack asked doubtfully as he maneuvered his rented convertible into the town of Castries on Tuesday morning.
Sand, Sun...Seduction! Page 14
