by Susan Napier;Kathryn Ross;Kelly Hunter;Sandra Marton;Katherine Garbera;Margaret Mayo
She’d never have guessed the man who was ruthless in the boardroom and who was known as a shark in the hotel world would have a hidden depth of caring that would make her heart ache.
Today he was on the beach playing a game of coed volleyball with a group of singles that had come to the resort looking for some fun. Adam had been casually studying the resort demographics. She knew because she’d spent as much time at her computer, making charts and graphs and compiling reports, as she had with Adam.
But she didn’t mind it. In fact, she found that their relationship had added a dimension to their work life that she hadn’t expected.
He valued her opinion, and he took breaks more frequently now just to sit quietly with Jayne. Sometimes they’d go for a walk, other times she’d tease him by calling him stud muffin and he’d fall on her, making love to her with a fierceness that convinced her he must love her.
Adam planned to take the charming resort and make it into an all-inclusive vacation destination for families. She’d just concluded a call with a treasure hunter who’d agreed to redesign the treasure map. Ray had all but said that Adam could purchase La Perla Negra.
Jayne thought that might be why Adam looked so relaxed today. She sat on the sidelines, watching him play. He was bare-chested and sweaty, and when he looked at her she felt the intensity of his gaze even from beneath those dark sunglasses of his.
The game broke up. Adam perched on the arm of her chair and took a sip of her margarita. “Where were you?”
“Talking to Guy O’Bannon.”
Adam raised one eyebrow in question.
“The treasure hunter.”
“What kind of name is Guy O’Bannon?”
Jayne shrugged. “I think he made it up. He was funny as anything. I made arrangements for him to come down to the island. For a fee he’ll redesign the treasure hunt and add some false trails as well as help us with the legend.”
“Great. Now all I need is for Ray to sign that contract and everything will be in place.”
Adam signaled the waitress and ordered a Corona. Then he lifted her from the chair. He took her place and settled her on his lap, curving his hand around her waist and caressing her with languid strokes of his fingers. “I like this place. I never expected to.”
“Why not?” she asked, trying to focus on the conversation and not the delicious tingles spreading over her body. She rested her head on his shoulder and wished that this special closeness never had to end.
“This is the resort that my dad brought his secretary to when he left us.”
“Oh, Adam.” She tried to turn to face him but he held her tightly in his arms. Then he leaned down to glare at her.
“Don’t say my name like that. I’m not a brokenhearted fourteen-year-old.”
“I never thought you were. It’s just…I wish you never had to suffer,” she said, speaking from the heart. She knew that there was no way to protect Adam from being hurt, and to even think that this strong man needed her protection was almost ridiculous. But it didn’t change the way she felt.
“At least I had my dad for those fourteen years. I’d forgotten all the good memories for a long time,” Adam said at last. He cupped her face, tilting it back so he could sip from her lips. She tasted of salt and lime from her margarita.
His fingers feathered over her skin, as light as the sea breeze, and her body responded. She would never get enough of him. She’d stopped thinking that they would ever be apart, because it was too painful to imagine a time when he wasn’t in her life. He owned her, body, heart and soul, and she suspected sometimes that he knew it. It didn’t really bother her because she felt as if she was coming to own him in the same way.
He lifted his head, his lips wet from her kisses, and his eyes narrowed. Under her buttocks she felt him hardening. She had the feeling they weren’t going to be sitting in the sun for too much longer. But anticipation was exquisite, and she knew he felt the same when he rubbed his hard-on against her and then leaned back against the chair.
She cast around for something to distract them. “How do you feel about your dad now?”
“I can’t forgive him, Jayne, and I don’t think I ever will be able to. But at least now I can remember the good times before.”
“I’m glad. Childhood should leave lots of good, lasting memories.”
He opened his eyes and she smiled up at him. “You sound like a sappy old greeting card,” he murmured.
She knew she’d gotten too close with her probing, and didn’t want to back down, but knew she had to. “Yeah, you bring that out in me, stud muffin.”
“I thought I warned you not to call me that,” he growled.
“Don’t get all bristly. Here comes your beer.”
“I’ll take it with me.”
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“Back to our room, to paddle that sweet backside of yours.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then you should have been paying attention.” Adam lifted her against his chest and stood up. “Be a good girl, Jayne, and grab my beer.”
A river of anticipation swelled inside her. She didn’t fear him and knew he’d never hurt her. So she reached for his beer and cradled the cold bottle against her stomach while she signed their tab with one hand. Adam walked up the path to their room with sure steps. And Jayne knew in her heart that she and Adam were going to be together forever.
Adam had Jayne open the door of their suite, and walked into the sun-filled room. He wasn’t seriously thinking of spanking her, though with her sassy mouth she’d tempted him more than once to turn her over his knee. What he wanted more than anything was to make love to Jayne. Their time at the resort had been the most ideal fantasy of his life, and at the same time the most tense.
He knew it couldn’t last and was afraid for the first time that he wouldn’t be able to manage this properly. That somehow Jayne would slip through his fingers and his life would once again be filled with cold beauties instead of the fire that Jayne brought to his soul.
Adam walked into the bedroom. The drapes were drawn and only a little dappled light filled the room. He settled Jayne on the edge of the bed.
She offered him his Corona, and he took the beer and set it on the nightstand. Turning back to her, he slid his palm down her leg, cupping the flesh of her calf and then pushing the delicate sandals off her feet. Then he slipped his hand under the skirt of her sundress, caressing the firm flesh of her thighs. She shivered, her eyes drifting closed. Her legs parted and he slid his hand closer to her center.
He teased her through the silk of her panties, feeling it dampen in response to his touch. He slid one finger under the elastic leg band of her underwear and traced her opening. Her legs thrashed.
Her breathing was rapid now, her breasts straining the buttons on the bodice of her dress. He leaned down and tongued her nipple through the fabric. She gasped his name and held his head to her.
“Open your dress, chère.”
She fumbled with the buttons and he watched her. Finally she had them all undone down to her belly button. The fabric shielded her from his gaze except for a thin strip of creamy flesh visible through the opening. The rounded curves of her breasts moved with each breath she took.
“Bare yourself to me,” he said, his voice a growl.
She nodded and pulled the bodice open. Her nipples were starting to harden, the pale pink flesh becoming darker. He pushed her skirt to her waist and looked down at her, spread before him like a sensual feast. God, he was hungry for her.
He kissed her abdomen and then moved lower, to the very heart of her. When her hips lifted in response, he parted her and thrust his tongue into her body. She tasted exquisite and he felt himself hardening almost painfully. The need for her was too demanding to resist. She moaned his name.
He kissed his way up her body, scraping his teeth over her until he found her mouth, all the while thrusting his fingers deep inside her. He sucked her into his mouth and pulled,
needing to quench the thirst he had for Jayne. She was gasping his name now, her nails biting into his shoulders.
He felt her tightening around him and then she screamed as her body convulsed. He lifted his head and looked down at the woman in his arms. She met his gaze with a totally unguarded expression, and he felt sucker-punched by the emotion he saw shining in her eyes. He was unworthy of her love. He wasn’t the guy she needed to make her dreams come true.
Adam stepped back and stripped off his shorts, then pulled her panties down her legs and tossed them aside without saying a word. She bit her lower lip and watched him, the emotions on her face joined by something else. Fear, pity, anger? He wasn’t sure, but he sensed she knew he was running.
He didn’t want to think or feel anything other than the hot desire pulsing through his veins. This was the one thing he could count on.
He took a pillow from the head of the bed and pushed it under her hips. Knowing this was the best that he could give her, he brought her to a second climax with his mouth on her.
Shuddering, she reached for him, taking his erection in her hand and pulling him toward her body. “I need you.”
He needed her, too. He needed her to promise she’d never leave him, but he knew he couldn’t ask for that. And he sensed her keen eyes saw that desire inside him. He flipped her over on her back.
Adam used his teeth to pull her dress down her body and drop it on the floor. He held his hand at the small of her back when she would’ve turned over.
He traced her spine with his tongue, then dropped nibbling kisses there, caressing the rounded curves of her hips and tracing the seam between her cheeks with his tongue. He parted her legs and slid up over her body, rubbing himself against her until she raised her hips.
Adam lifted her slightly and slid into her body from behind. Clasping her hands in his, he moved slowly, though he clamored for release. His penis was so hard he felt as if it had been years since he’d found satisfaction instead of the few hours since they’d left their suite this morning.
But he wanted this to be more than just release. He wanted to give Jayne more than she’d ever experienced with any other man, so he kept his thrusts slow and steady. He bit her neck at the base and tickled the flesh there with his tongue.
And when he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer, he slid his hands down her sides and held her hips while he thrust harder and harder into her. He felt her body clenching around his a second before release surged through him and he emptied himself into her.
He collapsed on top of her, shutting his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to see what Jayne was feeling. But as he lay there in a euphoric haze, he prayed that she’d agree to live with him, for the glimpse of heaven he’d just had in her arms was the closest thing to paradise he’d ever found.
Chapter Eleven
Jayne spent the afternoon of her second to last day on the island with Didi in the spa, being pampered. Adam had given her the time off and said he didn’t want to see her until she relaxed. Jayne couldn’t believe the changes that their time here had wrought in him. He was a different man than she’d known before, and he’d put to rest her girlish dreams of Mr. Right. Adam was so much more compelling.
Still, much of their relationship was up in the air. She didn’t know what he planned to do when they returned. Jayne had already drafted a resignation letter in her head and knew that she’d gambled her heart for Adam. But she felt confident she was going to come up a winner.
Though he was careful to never make promises he couldn’t keep, she knew that Adam didn’t want to let her go. He’d told her as much last night in bed, in the quiet hour just before dawn when life seemed almost perfect.
“I can’t believe we’re leaving here in a few days,” Jayne said to Didi now. “You must love living here. It’s like heaven on earth.”
“Not really,” the older woman replied with a small smile. “But I do like it.”
“Why are you selling it?” she asked. Didi and Ray weren’t really old enough to retire, and they seemed to enjoy the resort. Ray was always in the beachfront bar, telling stories and entertaining the guests.
“Ray and I have to travel a lot with our jobs. So staying here isn’t an option anymore.”
Jayne wondered about the couple. They kept their lives private, but Jayne had been studying couples since the second grade, when one of the girls at her school had asked if Jonathon O’Neil, her mother’s current lover, was Jayne’s stepfather. She hadn’t realized until that moment that other families didn’t have a rotating male in their households.
“What is your job? I hope you aren’t offended if I say so, but neither of you seems to know a lot about the hotel industry.”
“We don’t. We’re more experts on human nature. That’s why finding a couple in love to buy the resort is so important.”
“I can see how that would be nice, but from a business standpoint it lacks a little credibility.”
“Are you always business-minded, Jayne?” she asked.
Jayne tried to be, because life had proved easier that way. But lately she seemed to be more familyminded. Her head filled with images of her and Adam and a brood of kids that belonged to them. Of she and Adam creating the family they’d both always craved and never had. Of them living in a big house and growing old together.
She sighed. “Usually. Lately, though, not as much.”
“It seems to me humans use business to occupy their lonely lives instead of seeking out comfort in each other.”
“Perhaps. But there is a very nice feeling that comes with success.”
“Yes, there is.”
A timer went off at the drying station, letting them both know the nail polish on their toes was dry. Jayne slid her feet into the spa thongs she’d brought, and stood. “I’m glad we got to spend the day together.”
“Me, too. I’ll see you at dinner,” Didi said, exiting the spa.
Jayne took her time gathering her bag and walking up the path toward their suite. She would miss the island. Even if Adam purchased it she probably wouldn’t be coming back here for a while. She thought about her travel goals and decided she’d add in all the countries she wanted to visit, not confining herself to the fifty states. She could get used to island living.
When she reached the suite, she opened the door and found Adam on the phone. She observed him as he talked, making notes on the pad in front of him. His wore a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian print shirt that he’d left unbuttoned.
She dropped her bag inside the doorway. Adam looked up and smiled at her, gesturing that he’d only be a few more minutes. She took a bottle of seltzer water from the minibar and settled on the love seat, watching him. She didn’t listen to his conversation, just let the sound of his voice wash over her.
Closing her eyes, she tried not to put too much hope into thoughts of the future, but knew it was too late. She’d fallen hard for Adam.
“How was the spa?” he asked, dropping down on the cushion next to her.
He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to his side, then bent down and kissed her. He’d told her a couple of times how her mouth enticed him.
“Relaxing. I enjoyed it. Thanks for insisting I go,” she said, when he lifted his head.
“No problem. I know I can be demanding sometimes, but I wanted you to see that I can also be generous. ”
Adam was acting a little odd. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was different about him. “I already knew that.”
“That’s right, you’re the—what did you call it?—facilitator of my generosity?”
“That’s right. You’re usually very generous toward women at the end of your affairs. Should I be worried?”
“No. This isn’t like any relationship I’ve had before. ”
Me, either, she thought. He opened his arms and she sank against him. Sometimes she felt so vulnerable around him that she thought she’d break into a million pieces. But when he held her she felt safe and
that her love was a good thing. She closed her eyes now and breathed deeply of his spicy masculine scent.
“I have another present for you.”
“Where?”
“On the bed.”
“You don’t have to keep buying me things.”
“I like to spoil you, Jayne.”
“Why?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“No,” she said, but it worried her. She knew Adam well enough to realize he used his money as a shield.
“I want tonight to be special for you, and my present is just part of that.”
He ushered her into the bedroom, where she found an exquisite cocktail gown lying on the coverlet. Adam left her to dress, saying he had plans to make. Her heart beat faster as she realized he must have something important on his mind if he was going to all this trouble just for her.
“Buona nolle,” Ray said in a greeting when they arrived in the lounge for a predinner drink. Adam would be happy to have the resort business out of the way so he could concentrate on Jayne. He no longer felt a burning need to destroy this place and make it into something it wasn’t. He could appreciate the charm of the resort and separate that from the betrayal he’d felt with his father.
“I’ve made arrangements for us to dine on our private veranda,” their host announced. “The sunsets are spectacular there.”
“Thanks, Ray.”
“Nothing but the best for our ladies tonight.”
Didi rolled her eyes, but a smile lingered on her lips, and for the first time since Adam had met the couple, they seemed to be almost at peace with one another.
“Our ladies should always have their heart’s desire. ”
“Jayne said you’d found the treasure box?” Didi asked as Ray led the way through the public rooms to their private quarters.
“We did. The trail isn’t that hard to find. Even if you decide not to sell to me I think you should jazz it up a bit. Jayne spoke to a professional treasure hunter and he’ll help embellish the tale and make the search a little harder.”
“Good suggestion, compare. I’ve implemented many of things you recommended. You really know your stuff when it comes to resorts.”
