Heat Wave of Desire

by Yahrah St. John

  “Twisted in a good way or a bad way?” Nate asked. When Jaxon stared at him in bewilderment, he continued, “It’s a valid question. Twisted could go either way.”

  Jaxon laughed. “I suppose you’re right. To answer your question, twisted in a good way. I’m addicted to her.” He downed the last of his beer, which he realized he’d drunk rather fast. Was he really that nervous about the conversation topic?

  “Addicted is a strong word.”

  Jaxon turned to his friend. “But true, I mean I’ve never had such a strong physical response to a woman before. If it was up to me, I’d have her on her back 24/7.”

  Nate laughed. “You are twisted. Hey, barkeep. Get this man another bottle.” He pointed to Jaxon’s empty bottle of Bud.

  “I was hoping that after a couple of weeks, the attraction would subside, you know? And I would just move on with my life and come back to LA. I mean, I haven’t made her any promises.”

  “But?”

  “But what?” Jaxon asked, glancing sideways at him. “I live in Beverly Hills. She lives—well, she lives there and I’m just not interested in settling down, never have been.”

  “But you could see yourself with this girl?” Nate asked. “Can’t you?”

  Jaxon glared at him. Why was it that Nate could understand what he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around? “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “It’s got you running scared, right?” Nate asked. “Trust me, I understand. But when you know, you know. Don’t fight it, because it’ll only bring you both a world of hurt. Just let the relationship take its natural course, in its own way.”

  Jaxon nodded. It was good advice and he was going to try to take it. “Thanks, man.” He clicked his bottle against Nate’s.

  * * *

  Even though she had her usual morning workout and breakfast with the girls by the pool, something in Kimberly was off. She tried to tell herself she didn’t know why, but she did. She was out of sorts because she’d slept alone last night. Jaxon had gone to spend some time with a friend in Los Angeles and she’d slept fitfully without him.

  In a short time, she’d gotten used to having him beside her in the bed. She loved spooning and cuddling her bottom against him. It made her feel safe and secure. But last night she’d missed it, craved it, which was why she hadn’t gotten much sleep and was cranky today. She’d snapped at her assistant earlier that morning and had to apologize for her sour disposition. She was hoping the fresh air as she walked the grounds during her weekly inspection would make her feel better.

  Instead, it had the opposite effect. No sooner than she was on the golf cart and driving the property that she heard sirens. She followed the sound and watched in horror as two fire trucks came barreling down the driveway. She watched them head toward the Plaza.

  “Oh, God!” She pushed on the accelerator and rushed to follow them. By the time she reached them, firemen were putting out a fire in the Ruby Retreat.

  Jonah was standing in the Plaza looking stunned and out of sorts.

  Kimberly rushed toward the older man. “Jonah, are you okay?” She searched his face and then began patting his chest and arms for any sign of injury.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine, Kimmy.” He swatted her hands away. “Though I can’t say the same about the Ruby Retreat.” He looked toward the lounge.

  “What’s going on?” Kimberly asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jonah answered. “One minute I’m going to storage to stock up the bar and the next minute a fire. Don’t know how something like this could have happened.”

  “Neither do I.”

  A half hour later, the fire was put out and the fire chief came over to Jonah and Kimberly, who was hanging up the line with the Belleza’s insurance carrier. “Which one of you is in charge?” he asked.

  Kimberly nodded. “I am. I’m the general manager. Jonah, why don’t you get checked out?” She inclined her head toward the exit. “Make sure you don’t have smoke inhalation or something.”

  “That’s not necessary, Kim.” He balked, but she was having none of it.

  “I agree,” the fire chief beside her replied. “My men will take care of you.” He motioned one of his crew over and they led Jonah away, much to his consternation.

  Kimberly turned to the fire chief. “Can you tell me what started the fire?”

  “Looks like a cigarette was left unattended.”

  “A cigarette?” Kimberly was perplexed. “The Belleza is a no-smoking facility.”

  “Then you might want to remind your guests,” he responded. “Because this,” he replied as he held up the ashtray with an incinerated cigarette butt, “was definitely the cause.”

  Kimberly nodded. “I will and thank you for putting out the fire.”

  “It was a pretty small fire that was contained to the lounge area, but you’ll want to get your insurance adjuster in there right away.”

  “Sure thing,” Kimberly said. She shook his hand and watched as he and the other men grabbed their hoses and other equipment and headed toward the exit.

  Kimberly stared back at the lounge. She would have to go in and assess the damage, but first she had to deal with her staff and the onlookers standing around. She even heard someone mention the curse of the Belleza. Oh, Lord, that was all she needed. Folks talking about ancient history. “All right, folks, the show is over. Everything’s okay and the fire has been put out. You can go on to your other activities.”

  “What happened?”

  “How could this have started?” Several of the Belleza staff came toward her and started firing questions.

  Kimberly glanced around at the guests who were still watching them. “We’ll talk about this at tomorrow’s meeting. In the interim, let’s get back to work.” She clapped her hands to get the staff and guests moving.

  Eventually the crowd began to disperse, but she still heard whispers about the Belleza curse. She had some serious damage control to do. She began disseminating orders to the staff to cordon off the Ruby Retreat until the insurance adjuster could make a site visit and repairs could be made.

  She was just finishing up when she saw Jaxon jogging toward her on the pebbled path. She couldn’t stop herself; her heart skipped a beat. He was a darn good-looking man and she was head over heels for him.

  “Is everything okay? Are you okay?” Jaxon asked, nowhere near out of breath as he grasped both sides of her face and surveyed her. “I just pulled into the valet and heard everyone talking about a fire at the lounge and ran over.”

  “I’m okay,” Kimberly said.

  “Are you sure about that?” Jaxon rubbed a smudge of fire soot off her face. Worry was written all over her face.

  She smiled up at him. “Thank you and yes. It was a small fire. Doesn’t look like the Ruby Retreat is damaged too badly. We caught it in time.”

  “What happened?”

  “Let’s walk and talk.” She grasped one of his biceps and walked him back toward the front entrance. Once they made it to her golf cart, she said, “Hop in.”

  Jaxon slid in beside her and she kicked the cart into gear and then finally answered his question. “The fire chief said a cigarette was left burning, but here’s the thing, Jaxon. The Belleza is a no-smoking facility. So there’s no way one of the guests did it, which leads me to believe it was intentional.”

  “You mean arson?”

  “It sounds crazy and I’m sure everyone will think a guest tried to sneak one in, but...” Kimberly trailed off and shook her head. “I have a funny feeling about this.”

  “Then you should listen to your gut.”

  “I will,” Kimberly replied, “but first I have to squash these curse rumors.”

  “What curse rumors?”

  “You mean you haven’t heard?” Kimberly queried, making the tur
n into his villa. She would have thought that since Jaxon had been staying at the Belleza for as long as he had that someone surely must have told him.

  “No, I haven’t. Explain.”

  “There has been a rumor going around for as long as I can remember that the Belleza is cursed.” She noted Jaxon’s grin, but continued, “The tale dates back to the hotel’s beginnings as the Belleza Inn. Back then, there was talk about a buried treasure on the premises. People used to come from all over hoping they could unearth it, but nothing was ever found. Then when my grandparents fell on some hard times and the hotel had some issues, the rumors of a curse began. The theory was that anytime someone got close to discovering the treasure, something bad would happen to them.”

  “And now you think the rumors will surface again?”

  “I don’t think—they already have. I heard several staffers and guests talking about it,” Kimberly said. “And it’s ridiculous. There is no curse. But I do think that someone is out to get us. Why? I don’t know, but my gut is telling me that this doesn’t add up.”

  When they stopped, Kimberly prepared to jump out of the cart, but Jaxon stopped her. “Then I need you and the girls to be extra careful. If someone has it out for the Belleza, the three of you are the face of the resort and you may be a target.”

  “I will.” She leaned over and placed a long, lingering kiss across his lips. “I have a few things to deal with thanks to this fire, but I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “Later it is.” Jaxon jumped out of the cart. “And I promise I’ll help relieve some of your stress.”

  “Sounds marvelous.”

  When she made it back to her office there were nearly half a dozen messages for her, but she had something else to take care of. She closed the door behind her and headed to her phone.

  Her fingers dialed the number to the private investigator. “Hi, it’s Kimberly Parker,” she said. “Another incident has occurred. I need you to ramp up your investigation.”

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, Jaxon had the mood all set in his suite. He’d contacted the spa and had a massage bed and the essential oils brought up to his suite. At first they’d thought he wanted a massage for himself, but he had other ideas for the night. He intended to give Kimberly one of his personal massages. After her exhausting day it would make her feel better.

  He had a lot of time to think after hanging out with Nate last night. They’d both had one too many and had taken a cab back to Nate’s. Audrey hadn’t been too happy to see two grown men wasted, but she’d put Jaxon up in the guest room, while Nate, poor thing, got the couch. Jaxon had lain awake thinking about Nate’s advice and although he hadn’t made any promises to Kimberly, he knew he would want to continue seeing her even after he left the Belleza. What that might mean he wasn’t sure. He would just have to take things one day at a time.

  Kimberly arrived on his doorstep at nearly eight o’clock, an hour after their designated time. “I’m sorry I’m late.” She held up a bottle of Merlot. “But I brought an apology gift.”

  He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “I’ll take it. C’mon in.” He swatted her behind as she entered.

  Kimberly, however, stopped short when she saw the massage bed in the middle of the room. “Um?” She turned to him. “What’s going on?”

  He took the bottle from her and walked over to the kitchen while she remained in place. “That’s for you,” he said as searched for a corkscrew. After he uncorked the wine and poured each of them a glass, he walked it over to her. “I’m giving you a massage tonight.”

  “You are?”

  He heard the surprise in her voice. “Yes, I’ve been told I’m pretty good with my hands.” His eyes never left her face and Kimberly blushed at the double entrendre. He knew she had to be remembering the times he’d used his fingers to bring her to one satisfying climax after another.

  “That would be accurate,” Kimberly said.

  Jaxon smiled broadly. “Good, so get naked.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I need to be able to fully massage you,” he responded, “and I can’t fully massage you with your clothes on.”

  “Can I have a few more sips of my wine first?”

  “Absolutely.” He walked over to the armchair and sat down. “But then I want you naked between the sheets.”

  She took a few more sips before placing the glass on the nearby side table and began undressing. Jaxon didn’t leave the room or turn away; he watched her. He noticed she seemed a little shy at having him staring at her as she undressed, but then she lifted her top over her long, luscious black hair and Jaxon noted that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  She caught his appreciative smile and blushed, even though her nipples tightened to little pebbles. Jaxon licked his lips as he imagined what his mouth would like to do to those nipples. He thought about how he would kiss each one, licking and flicking them back and forth between his tongue and teeth until she began to moan. He loved hearing her moan when she liked what he was doing to her. She was very responsive and it was one hell of a turn-on.

  Next, she sliding the formfitting yoga pants down her slender hips and Jaxon swallowed when he saw the tiny swatch of lace fabric that covered her feminine mound. He remembered how she smelled in that cave when he’d brought her to an orgasm. How her scent had filled the cave, driving him mad and making him pound into her without thought to their surroundings. He’d been completely primitive with her and she’d responded to him with equal fervor.

  “Jaxon?”

  “Hmm...”

  “I’m underneath the sheets.”

  Jaxon blinked. Had he been in a daze and missed her taking off her panties? Damn!

  He rose from the armchair and came over to her on the massage table. She was lying facedown with her head in the headrest. “Are you comfortable?” He asked, rubbing her back over the sheets. He admitted he was trying to relax her, but also seeing if she’d been bold enough to take it all off for him.

  He got his answer when his hands roamed to her lower back and found no resistance. He smiled knowingly. He was turning Miss Kimberly Parker into an exhibitionist.

  “Yes, I’m comfortable.”

  “Good.” He tugged the sheet down to her lower back and walked over to the essential-oils basket. He chose the lavender scent and came back to the table. “Is lavender okay?”

  “Hmm...it’s fine.”

  He drizzled some of the lavender-infused oil down her back and then used his hands to massage the oil into her skin. Her skin was soft and supple and Jaxon had to remind himself that he was giving her a massage to help relax her, not turn himself on.

  Eventually, he found his pace, starting with her shoulders and back, kneading them with long and soft strokes as he’d felt the therapist do to him. Then he moved to her lower back and made circular motions with his hands.

  “Oh God, right there,” Kimberly moaned.

  He continued his ministrations and heard her deep sigh. He’d heard that sitting too long could cause some stress in the lower back and paid special attention to that area. Eventually, he pulled the sheet back to cover her shoulders before uncovering one thigh and leg. He massaged her calves and feet and moved higher to her thighs. He could feel the heat emanating from her core and his touch changed from a message to a caress, so he moved down to her feet, rolling his knuckles back and forth over them. He used the same technique on her other leg and thigh before coming back to her neck and shoulders to massage them a little further.

  When he was done, he bent down and whispered in her ear, “How did that feel?”

  “Good...”

  He noticed her voice had a slight hesitancy to it. “Was I too strong, not strong enough?”

  “No, that’s not it.”

  “What then?”

 
Kimberly rose from the massage table lifting the sheet with her to cover her bosom. “Well...” She paused as if uncomfortable. “I—I thought when you were massaging my thighs, the way you touched me, that...”

  “That we were going to make love?”

  She blushed. “Yes.”

  “Trust me, Kimberly, I wanted to, but I also want you to know that this was just a little treat for you. I didn’t do it expecting anything in return. I enjoy spending time with you and it doesn’t always have to be about sex between us, although I do find we connect very well in that department.”

  She smiled and lowered her head. “What are we going to do now?”

  “How about we watch a movie? I have dinner in the oven from The Pearl.”

  “That sounds wonderful. I’ll get dressed.”

  Jaxon watched Kimberly slip back into her clothes. He didn’t know how he’d restrained himself from taking her on that massage table when every part of him wanted to take her right then and there. He wanted Kimberly to know that she meant more to him that just a bedmate. It was unusual for him to care so much, but then again, Kimberly was one in a million.

  Chapter 16

  She didn’t make her morning workout with the girls because she’d slept in. After Jaxon had given her a massage last night, they’d sat on the sofa watching an action flick and eating dinner. She’d fully expected that after he’d massaged her they’d end the evening in bed as they had every other night, but he’d surprised when he’d told her he wasn’t just interested in her as a bedmate.

  It warmed her heart to know that he enjoyed spending time with her. On the other hand, as happy as she was, she didn’t know what it all meant. Although he’d been completely attentive to her and had made her feel special, he’d never once talked about a future between them, not last night and not ever. Was she deluding herself that he was starting to share the same feelings she had?

  She couldn’t help but think of Jaxon’s ex, Stephanie. Perhaps there was more to the story than what Jaxon had shared with her. Stephanie could have had a legitimate gripe for wanting more or thinking they could have had more if Jaxon behaved with her as he had been with Kimberly. She could see how the woman could have had hope for a future.