by Jaci Burton
Morgan turned her gaze to Tara. "I've gone through those contracts. They're on your desk to finalize."
Tara nodded and stood. "Nice to meet you, Tony," she said, then shook his hand with fervor before running off toward the offices.
Morgan took the seat Tara vacated. "Don't hit on my staff," she said, her displeasure clearly noted in the frown on her face.
"I wasn't hitting on your staff," he defended. "I was asking her some questions about living and working at the resort."
"Well, I don't appreciate you doing that without my knowledge. In the future, check with me first."
For some reason her irritation amused him. "Why? Are you jealous?"
Her eyes widened and she immediately shot back a retort. "Of course not! Why would I be jealous?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
She bent forward and whispered, "You and I are not involved other than sexually, and that's only for the duration of your time here."
Irritation prickled on his skin. "I see. So, in other words, what we've been doing together is purely physical, and the sooner it's over the better."
She lifted her chin. "That's not what I said."
"Hey, no problem with me." He'd been looking for a way to disentangle his emotions from Morgan. Here was his opportunity. "I think I've done more than enough to get you back to a sexual comfort zone."
Her eyes narrowed. "Fine. As far as I'm concerned, we can be finished now."
"Works for me. We're done." Now he was pissed. So much for 'thanks for helping me get through my aversion to sex'. They'd gone from intimate sharing of sexual pleasures to done-and-over-with in less than a day.
He felt used. If that thought wasn't so pathetic he'd laugh out loud. He'd never met a guy who wouldn't sell his soul to be used sexually by a beautiful woman. What an idiot he was. He looked for Morgan for a response, but she'd closed her emotions and he couldn't read her. Her lips were tight, her shoulders thrown back as she stood.
"I've got work to do," she said, her gaze not meeting his. "I'll pick you up at the front desk in an hour. Choose the adventure you'd like to tour."
After she walked away he was half tempted to participate in some sexual adventure. That would show her he had no feelings for her. Problem was, he wasn't the slightest bit interested in having sex with any one, or two or three for that matter, other women.
He really was pathetic. The only woman on his mind was Morgan.
*
Morgan viciously applied her signature to the documents in front of her. She could barely hold the pen because her hands were shaking.
How like other men Tony was. She should have known better. Put an attractive woman like Tara in front of him and he was hitting on her before the sheets on her bed were cold from their lovemaking.
Correction. It wasn't lovemaking they'd shared. It was sex. Fucking, to be more precise. After their beach sex this morning, Morgan had realized she was in trouble. Falling headlong into emotional attachment to Tony. And that couldn't be. She'd stood outside and watched the ocean after that, contemplating how to break things off between them. She couldn't--wouldn't--fall in love with him.
And now it looked like she'd made the right decision. To him, she was another notch on his keyboard, and that was all she'd ever be.
She lifted her head and smiled when Tara knocked softly on her open door. "Come on in," she said.
Tara chewed her bottom lip. "I need to talk to you about earlier."
Raising a brow, Morgan motioned Tara to sit in the chair across from her desk. "Sure. What's up?"
"I wasn't flirting with Tony Marino, honestly."
Watching Tara wring her hands together nervously, Morgan said, "I didn't think you were."
"I know, but you seemed so upset and I didn't want you to think I would ever hit on your man."
"He's not my man." Never was, never would be.
Tara tilted her head. "I thought you two..."
"You thought wrong. Really, Tara, you have nothing to worry about. I was merely trying to keep him from asking you too many personal questions."
Tara relaxed her shoulders and smiled. "You know me, Morgan. I talk too much, anyway. He wasn't asking. I was over-volunteering information."
Morgan wasn't buying it. She knew Tony was a hard-hitting journalist and would pry as much as he could get away with. Either way it didn't matter. He hadn't been given the opportunity to bug Tara for too long.
"I'm glad he didn't make you feel uncomfortable, then," she said, hoping to end the conversation by returning to her paperwork.
"He sure is good looking."
Morgan's head shot up and saw Tara's grin. "Yes, he is."
"Great body, too."
Didn't she know it. Every square inch of it, in fact. "I guess so."
Tara pursed her lips and raised a brow. "And you're not involved with him?"
"No."
"Well, why not? He's perfect for you, Morgan. Smart, handsome and funny. You really need to find someone."
Morgan set the pen down and laced her fingers together on top of the papers. "Why do you think that?"
"Because you're lonely."
This was something new. Tara had never gotten personal with her before. Friendly, always, but never pried into her personal life. "I'm not lonely."
Tara's lips crooked into a half smile. "Yeah, you are. You just don't know it. We're all lonely. Unless you have someone, we're all kind of isolated here."
"Then why don't you find someone?"
Tara turned her gaze to the window behind Morgan. "Some people aren't meant to have a someone."
Yes, Morgan thought. Some people like her.
Returning her gaze to Morgan's, Tara said, "But I think you have found someone. And if he's the right someone, don't let him go."
Morgan thought about what Tara said as she headed out of her office to meet Tony.
Had she been giving off signals? Somehow Tara had gotten the impression that Morgan had some sort of relationship with Tony.
Okay, maybe she did look at him more than she'd ever looked at another man at the resort. And maybe they had been spending a lot of time together the past several days, but that was due to his job. He was there to interview her, after all.
Right. Like there'd been any interviewing going on. No, her time and attention hadn't been spent on Tony the journalist. She'd been focusing on Tony the man.
For someone who'd always managed to keep her personal life personal, she'd been doing one damn lousy job lately.
Spying Tony loitering at the registration desk, her heart thudded against her chest. As it did each and every time she saw him. He was such a beautiful man, so tall, dark, roguishly handsome.
Hell. No wonder Tara suspected something was going on. She was all but drooling as she approached Tony.
He offered a tentative smile. "You ready?"
She nodded, distracted by the memories of his body on hers.
"If this is a bad time..."
"No, it's fine. Have you decided which event you'd like to check out?" She tried to keep her tone impersonal. They'd officially ended their intimate relationship, and Morgan was going to make damn sure they didn't pick it up again before he left.
"Yeah. How about Sensuous Spanking?"
Why did it have to be that one? "Fine. Let's go."
She turned, but Tony's hand on her arm stopped her. "Is this event going to bother you?"
When she didn't respond, he added, "You know? Personal memories and all?"
She shook her head. "Not at all. Follow me."
Bother her? Attending Sensuous Spanking would bother her all right. But not in the way he thought.
Chapter Twelve
Admittedly, Tony had purposely chosen Sensuous Spanking because he knew Morgan might be turned on by watching. Perverse, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Men and their egos were nothing to fuck with. Since he was like most men, his ego resided in his pants. And she wasn't currently fucking with it in a fun way.
Which annoyed him. And shouldn't. It was his idea too to cool things down between them.
Then again, watching her backside sway seductively as she walked the path in front of him, he began to wonder if he'd made a huge error in ending things too quickly with Morgan. Surely he could enjoy some simple sex with her for the next couple days without getting emotionally involved, couldn't he?
She stopped in front of a small house with a thatched roof, the windows darkened with some kind of film so people walking by couldn't look in. Her hand reached for the doorknob, then hesitated.
Smiling innocently at her, he asked, "Something wrong?"
Sucking in her lower lip for a second, then letting out a sigh, she shook her head. "No, everything's fine. "
It took him a few minutes to adjust to the darkness inside. Candles seemed to provide the only illumination in the small foyer. Morgan nodded to the woman at the doorway, then took Tony through.
A long hallway led to various doors, with mirrors lining the walls. As Tony stepped past the first door he noticed the mirror was actually glass. He could see into the room. A very tall, very slim, leather clad dominatrix stood in the middle of a room equipped with paddles and whips. A naked man was bent over a stool, and the woman was lightly paddling his ass. The man sprouted a huge hard-on, so he must like it.
Whatever floats your boat, he supposed. He'd never been spanked, didn't think he'd want to be. Never spanked a woman before, either. Number one, because he didn't get off on hurting someone, and two, no woman had ever asked him to.
He turned toward Morgan, who inclined her head to indicate they would keep walking.
"This one looks good," she said, stopping in front of another window.
Tony peered in to find a man, this time, dressed in leather pants and no shirt. His spectacular muscles were either oiled really well to showcase them in the subdued lighting, or he had already worked up a huge sweat. A nude woman reclined over the man's lap. Instead of using a paddle, the man swatted the woman's backside with his bare hands. Imprints of his palm could be seen on the woman's very red ass.
Morgan pressed a button, which allowed them to hear the woman's moans and cries. Although she squealed when the man smacked her, she followed her squeals with moans that didn't sound like moans of pain. Her pussy was glistening with moisture, and after every few swipes of his hand on her ever-reddening ass, the man caressed the petals of her vaginal lips.
Clearly, the woman enjoyed the hell out of her spanking.
Tony chanced a look in Morgan's direction, watching the rise and fall of her breasts against the thin material of her dress. Her erect nipples poked against the silk during each rapid inhalation. Her tongue snaked out to lick across her top lip.
Watching her obvious excitement at the scene had him hard in an instant. He shifted so his erection wouldn't be so blatantly obvious. Then again, no one else was in the hallway except for one burly looking guy in a Paradise Resort t-shirt that Tony assumed was staff.
He stepped back a few inches and sidled closer to Morgan. Close enough to smell her flowery fragrance, so subtle yet invading his senses until all he thought about was her. Close enough to hear her breathing, the quick little pulses telling him the scene turned her on.
Funny, the scene itself didn't excite him nearly as much as Morgan's interest in it.
"You like what you see, don't you?" he whispered in her ear.
She hesitated for a few seconds before responding with a quiet, "Yes."
His penis raged against his shorts, demanding he take what he so desperately wanted.
Screw his stupid male pride. He wanted her. If only for another day, another hour, it didn't matter.
"Does it bother you to watch, considering what you went through with your ex?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. It's...different, somehow. Richard knows exactly how much pressure to apply to our guest so that he doesn't truly hurt her. And she's enjoying the pain. It brings her pleasure."
"Did pain bring you pleasure, Morgan? Before David hurt you?"
"Yes."
"Do you ever think you'll be able to enjoy that pain like you used to?"
"I...I don't know. It scares me a little, thinking about it. And yet..."
"And yet you want it," he finished for her.
"Yes."
"Let me give it to you."
She turned her head and met his gaze. Her eyes were glazed with desire, and he knew he'd guessed right. She was excited.
But she also hesitated, and he knew why. The same reason he hesitated. Because they both knew something was happening with them. Something that went beyond sex and into emotional territory neither of them wanted.
He'd given up on holding back from her. And apparently she had too, because she nodded. "All right."
"Let's go. I've seen enough." He grasped her hand and led her down the hallway and outside.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To give you what you want" He pulled her quickly along the path.
"I can't, Tony," she said, yanking at his hand to let her go. "I'm working."
"You're done working for the day." He stopped and turned to her. "I want you, Morgan. Anyway you want it, regular or with a little kink, it doesn't matter to me. But I need to sink my hard cock into you until I can't tell where I end and you begin. And I want it right now."
Her shuddered breath told him she needed it as much as he did. "Fine. Let's go, then."
"Where? Home?"
"No. Too far. I know a place."
Then it was her turn to take the lead. He followed her along the path until they diverted into the forest. They must have walked in silence for fifteen minutes or so before he saw another path pop up. In front of them was a little building that couldn't house more than one or two rooms, at most. It stood no more than a hundred yards from the beach, and yet was completely surrounded by the forest so one couldn't see the house from the water.
"What is this place?" he said, following her determined steps to the door.
"A hideaway. "
"For guests?"
"No. For me." Without further explanation she opened the door and he stepped inside.
It was a cozy little place, with a small living area and a bed nestled in the corner of the room.
Morgan whipped around and faced him. "What's between us is purely physical, right?"
"Yeah," he answered, not really sure if that was the truth, but not wanting to delve too deeply into emotional areas he'd already worked hard to block off.
"I wanted to make that clear."
"You just did. Perfectly clear." Ignoring the stab in the vicinity of his heart, he grasped her upper arms and pulled her against his chest. "Morgan, do you trust me not to hurt you?"
This time she didn't hesitate at all. "Yes."
"Then tell me what excites you. Tell me what you need."
She wound her arms around her neck and pressed close, her thighs brushing against his, her mound meeting his erection. She moved lightly, teasing him. "I told you before there were things I liked."
"Spankings, being tied up?"
"Yes."
"Do you want me to spank you?"
"I think I do."
The hesitant look on her face concerned him. "Morgan, I don't want to hurt you, or remind you of anything bad from your past. You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do," she replied, her gaze never leaving his. "I'll never be free of David's torment until I exorcise what he did to me. How he turned what could have been pleasure into pain. He twisted what should have been love into a nightmare of horrors."
She was right. She would never be free to truly be herself again until she experienced everything that she used to love--every sexual experience that her ex turned against her.
Including spanking.
Tony thought long and hard about it, fearful of doing anything that might hurt her or set her sexual progress back. But the way she ground her mound against his aching hard-on drove him
nuts.
He looked down at her, her lovely face framed by that wild, red hair. So untamed, primal, just like the woman. He grasped her wrist and dragged her over toward a small chair in the living area.
"This is what you want," he said, "then this is what you get."
He took her mouth in a hard kiss, releasing the pent up frustrations of wanting her and not having her, of knowing that what they shared was temporary. She met his tongue willingly, tangling and mating while she wound her fingers through his hair and pulled him even closer.
He slipped his hands down over her ribs, pressing his erection against her wriggling thighs.
He sat and pulled her across his lap, trying not to flinch when her chest hit his legs and her breath rushed out with a whoosh.
"Before I start, one rule--you say 'stop', and I stop instantly. You got that?"
"Yes."
He looked at her like this for a few seconds, loving the feel of her warm belly across his legs, the way her hair swept against his thighs in this position, her long legs showcased for him.
Running his palms against her back, he took things slowly at first, feeling her muscles tense when he brushed the location of her scars, knowing she was remembering how they got there.
Slowly he lifted her dress, watching as first her thighs were revealed, followed by her rear end. That perfect, lush, ass. The one he liked to grab on to when he fucked her.
Her breasts dangled over his thigh. He ran his hands over the twin globes, squeezing them, feeling her shudder against him. He slipped the fingers of his other hand down between the cleft of her rear until he found that sweet spot between her legs. She moaned when he circled his fingers around the moist lips, then found her erect clit and flicked the hard nub with his thumb.
Morgan laid there, her body tense. He left his hand near her mound, alternately sweeping his fingers over her clit and dipping lightly into her vagina, feeling it contract around his fingers.
The other hand palmed her buttocks, gently squeezing them. Then, he lightly smacked her bottom, tensing when she gasped, waiting for her to tell him to stop.
She didn't. She raised her ass higher as if to let him know she liked it.
He brought his hand down on her ass again. She flinched, then moaned. Wetness poured from between her legs onto his hand. Red welts sprang up on her cheeks.
And Morgan whimpered, silently begging for more with every wriggle of her fine ass.
The strange thing was, he liked it, too. And that he hadn't expected.
Hearing her cries of pain and delight, knowing she enjoyed every swat to her ass, realizing how much it turned her on, excited him in ways he'd never before experienced.
