You’re in uncharted territory here.
And that’s why it was a bad idea. Missing vacation orgasms once a girl got back to real life was understandable, but what if she missed waking up in his arms?
Who says he even wants to spend the night with you?
Good point. She dropped the pretense of reading her messages, tossed her phone into her bag, and glanced at him. He stared straight ahead, one hand at six o’clock on the steering wheel, the other absently tracing a pattern on her thigh. Nothing in his relaxed posture suggested he was brooding, but he’d been mostly quiet on the drive back.
As if he sensed her attention, he turned and sent her a strangely serious smile. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night. I know this place in Kaanapali. Local chef. Great food. Dancing on the patio.” He gave her another quick glance, his eyes amused now. “I’ll put on a suit. Clean myself up and demonstrate I’m good for more than just outdoor adventures and making you come.”
Dinner and dancing, like a real date? Her heart skipped like a kid at recess, then tripped and sank into her stomach as responsibilities reasserted themselves. “My father asked me to join him and some business associates tomorrow evening at nine.” The idea of missing a chance to see him left her chest tight and breathless. She’d make excuses to her dad. “I could—”
“Have an early dinner with me beforehand. I’ll come to you if that’s easiest. We can order room service.”
Had she just demoted this to a booty call? She’d loved the idea of dinner and dancing. How could she let him know? “Will you still wear a suit? I’m a sucker for good suit porn.” Okay. That was not it. Referencing porn didn’t hit the romance bull’s-eye.
The corner of his mouth turned up as he nodded. “I’ll break out the French cuffs. And I’ll still dance with you.”
God, he was good. Her heart climbed back into her chest. He wanted to see her, too, enough to adjust the plans for her. “You’ve got yourself a date.”
“Good. Does five thirty work?”
“Five thirty is perfect. Spend the night tonight.”
Holy crap, Arden. Don’t bother with a lead-in. Just blurt it out.
The hand on her leg stilled. He said nothing for a long moment, his expression unreadable, and then that mouth kicked up again. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Everything inside her relaxed. The fun wasn’t over yet. Yes, the little voice in her head still warned she was wandering deeper into an unmapped landscape she might not find her way out of so easily, but she made a deal with herself to chart her position later. The hand sliding between her knees demanded her full attention, dragging her back to territory with which she was become intimately familiar.
“I left a mark on you here.” His fingers drifted along her inner thigh and smoothed over an area his whiskers had reddened.
“You left more than one.” She leaned back in the seat and curled her hands around the edge. “It feels good when you do that.”
“I’ll have to keep doing it, then.” He swept his fingers over the tender spot again. “Where else?”
It took a second to find her voice. “Um…different places.” She kicked off her flip-flops, scooted to the edge of her seat, and propped her bare feet on the dash. His hand coasted along the slope of her thigh and under the frayed edge of her shorts. Melting heat he seemed to be able to summon from her at will seeped lower to welcome him.
“Anywhere else that needs my attention? I know I spent some time right here.” Long, deft fingers pushed into her center, setting off little aftershocks. “And here…” Those fingers drifted to the back of her sex. All the blood flowed there in response, engorging the susceptible area. She closed her eyes and shivered at the memory of his mouth on that very spot. Lips sucking. Teeth raking. “I loved it,” he added softly.
Everything inside her shook, including her voice when she replied, “I loved it, too.” He had her. So easily. Just a touch and she drenched her cutoffs. She’d ditched her wet bikini before they’d started the drive back to the hotel, and now she wished she had the extra layer to buffer her body’s reaction to him.
“And here.” Two fingers moved boldly on.
She dug her heels into the dash.
“I love touching you here. Do you like it?”
His concern, or the gentle pressure of his fingers, finessed more heat from her body. She pulled away to catch her breath. “I don’t know.” Lie. “That’s new.” Truth. “I might.” Truth. She inched her way back to his hand and settled there as best she could with her nerves aflame.
“This is where I’m going to fill you next. I’ll go slow. So slow and careful you’ll forget you’re not sure you like it.” He circled and pressed.
Good lord, she felt it already. Her shorts were wet, her body twitchy. She wanted…no…she needed him. How didn’t matter. She sucked her upper lip into her mouth and tasted sweat. Somehow, she managed to nod.
“I’ll lavish you with lube, so you won’t just feel it, you’ll hear it.”
She closed her eyes and tried to picture him doing it. “What does this look like?”
“Any way you want. I’ll lie you on your back, legs over my shoulder like earlier, or put you on your knees, so you can pray into the pillow every time I introduce another finger. Under her shorts, he rimmed her with a second finger.
Another minute of this and she’d slide right off the seat. “How many fingers will you use?”
“As many as that virgin ass can take, Czarina. But I’m going to make you ask for them. Three is the magic number. If you master two and ask for more, you get my cock.” A third fingertip teased the entrance. “Think you’ll get there?”
“I-I don’t know.”
He withdrew his hand. She opened her eyes, surprised to find them already at the turnoff for the hotel. When he finished the turn, he said, “I’ll get you there. You’re wet just thinking about it. But you know why I’m so sure?”
She shook her head.
“You love an adventure. Challenge excites you. I know you, Czarina. Body and mind. I’ve memorized everything that makes you sigh or gasp. Everything that makes you tremble and come. I’ve watched closely.”
He paused and staggered her with a look so honest she lost her breath. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why, but though her throat worked, she couldn’t force the word out.
The Jeep pulled to a stop at the front of the hotel. He killed the engine and leaned close to her. “And I promise you something.” His lips brushed the shell of her ear. His words raised tiny hairs inside. “I’ll make it so good for you, you’ll beg for more.” Then he drew away, raised his eyebrows, and gave her the exact same look as the night they met.
Want to?
From inside her bag, her phone pinged. The message won today’s prize for “Text most likely to be ignored.”
His smile had her tugging her shorts to adjust them.
The valet appeared and exchanged ticket for keys. A bellboy retrieved her shopping bags. Then Rider was beside her, helping her from the passenger seat and murmuring in her ear. “You lead, Czarina. While everyone’s checking you out, I might have a shot at making it through the lobby without anybody noticing I’ve got a king palm in my trunks.”
Yes, he did. She hefted her tote bag, took a stabilizing breath, and walked through the glass doors ahead of him. Cool, temperature-controlled air greeted her, along with an overly cheerful and somewhat relieved, “Hooooneyyyy!”
Chapter Eleven
The czarina whispered, “Fuck me,” and screeched to a halt so abruptly he accidentally stumbled into her. His dick bounced off her ass, and his eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head. The impact also knocked her phone out of her bag. It landed on the marble floor with a thud. From the corner of his eye, he saw a tall, blonde woman in head-to-toe white peel away from the registration desk and swoop toward Arden with her arms outstretched.
He snagged the phone from the floor and handed it to her.
She took it from him, sho
t him a look that managed to be panicked and apologetic at the same time, and muttered, “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
Then she stepped away without a backward glance and intercepted the Charlize Theron look-alike with a resigned, “Mom. You look beautiful. What are you doing here?”
Mother embraced daughter, and he felt the brief inspection of blue eyes before the older woman drew away and focused her attention on Arden.
He kept moving, crossing the lobby and walking into the lounge to commandeer the seat at the end of the bar. From there, he could watch the mother-daughter reunion in the lobby without being too obvious.
Coloring aside, they resembled each other. Same profile. Same Nordic cheekbones and wide-set eyes. Of course, there were plenty of contrasts, too. Her mother looked smooth and elegant. Meanwhile, the wind had blown waves into Arden’s dark hair, and the sun had put pink in her cheeks. Instead of silk she wore bikini top and those little shorts that made every guy in the vicinity check out her ass. Still, she had her mother’s bone-deep elegance.
It was impossible to know if she sensed his attention, but she never looked his way. Apparently there would be no introductions. The czarina might invite him to spend the night with her, but invite him into her actual life? Nope. The bitter taste of disappointment brewed in the back of his throat. He swallowed it.
She hadn’t even told him her name. Why would she introduce him to her mother? How the hell would that even work?
Hi Mom. Meet Rider, my vacation fuck-buddy. We’re going to go at each other for two more days and then be on our merry ways.
No wonder he could practically feel a footprint on his ass, kicking him out the door. The bitter taste came back. He caught the bartender’s eye and ordered a beer. Sex was the extent of their deal. And while he’d never gone into something with the boundaries so well spelled out before, a short-term, mutual exchange of laughs and orgasms was his typical deal. One that worked for him perfectly well. Maybe he’d lost sight of the limits for a minute when she’d asked him to spend the night, but—he glanced across the room to see mother and daughter still standing together in the lobby, an island of two in an animated conversation—she hadn’t. Her mother hugged her again, and then, arms linked like conspirators, they walked off toward the elevator bank. She clearly wasn’t looking for more. Not with him.
The bartender put a beer in front of him. He picked it up and took a long swallow. Fine by him. He didn’t want more. He wasn’t good at more.
You’re not good at it, and she doesn’t want it, so contact Evelyn and cancel the date. Arden St. Sebastian will not think it’s funny if the guy her father is trying to set her up with turns out to be the czarina’s temporary sex toy.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and delayed the inevitable for a moment by checking his messages. Nothing urgent. One of the residents was looking for someone to take her Saturday shift in the ER. If he believed in signs from fate, he’d call it one. He texted his aunt.
I can’t make it Saturday after all. Please tell your friend I’m sorry. Buy you dinner Sunday to make it up to you?
He’d barely taken another drink when his phone buzzed. Wincing at the ordeal to come, he answered.
“What do you mean you can’t make it?”
His aunt’s exasperation carried over the line. “Somebody asked me to cover a shift at the hospital.” True in fact, if not spirit.
“Say no. You’re busy. You have a commitment.”
Resolve replaced the exasperation in her voice. Aunt Evelyn wasn’t giving up without a fight. This could go sideways on him if he didn’t proceed carefully. “A senior resident aiming for a staff position can’t get too busy with other commitments.”
“Phooey. You’re entitled to a life, and the hospital knows it. You’re the one avoiding commitment.”
And boom. There it was. He wanted to avoid this conversation, but it was speeding toward him like a runaway train and he was stalled on the tracks. He shifted on his barstool. “I’m not avoiding it, I’m just…”
“Avoiding getting involved with anyone,” his aunt interjected, but more gently now. “You’ve been doing it since medical school. Since Lisa.”
His ribs squeezed in on his lungs. “Aunt Evelyn, I’m fine. Honestly. Don’t worry about me. I have plenty of”—Jesus, there was no good way to say this to his aunt—“involvements.”
“You have a revolving door for a social life. That’s not involvement, it’s just another form of avoidance.”
So much for phrasing things delicately. “Evelyn—”
“I understand. I really do. You needed time to heal after what happened. Not only did you have to withstand the shock of the loss, Lisa’s death left you with unanswered questions. You’ll never have good answers for those questions, but instead of accepting that and moving on, you choose not to take the risk. You don’t want to fail anybody.”
God, it was hot in here. Sweat beaded his forehead. He took a slightly desperate gulp of the cold beer. “I know my own limits. Is that so wrong?”
“It’s wrong to sell yourself short, Nick. That’s a form of failure, too. You’ll end up letting something good slip right through your fingers.”
Was that what he was doing with Arden? Letting her slip through his fingers rather than trying to make her see him as something he hadn’t even seen himself as for a long time? The questions landed a little too close for comfort. He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to deflect his aunt. “Maybe I just haven’t met the right girl yet?”
His mind rejected the words as soon as they left his mouth.
So did Evelyn, as it turned out. “Maybe Arden St. Sebastian is the right girl, but you’ll never know if you cancel the date.”
…
Arden prowled around the master bedroom of the penthouse suite while her mother unpacked. A lot.
“Three bags, Mom? How long are you planning to stay?”
Her mother paused on the way to the closet, holding a gorgeous pale pink Escada they’d picked out in Paris over Christmas, and gave an airy wave. “I don’t know, honey. Rafe said this hasn’t really been much of a vacation for you, so far. Maybe you can extend your stay for a few days, and we can shop. Go to the spa. You know”—she shrugged and turned away to hang up the gown—“have some girl time.”
Arden dropped into one of the cushioned chairs in sitting area. “That sounds nice, but you know Dad’s arriving tomorrow?”
Her mom’s stride hitched on the way back to the bed where the last open suitcase sat. The slightest frown pulled at her lips. “Your brother didn’t mention that.”
“He may not have known Luc’s itinerary.” Or cared to cater to their parents’ aim of avoiding each other, but she found herself offering excuses anyway. “I just found out today.”
“It’s a big hotel,” her mother said with another careless wave. “I’m sure we can stay out of each other’s way. The man loves to work, first and foremost. It’s unlikely he’ll have the neighboring cabana at the pool.”
True. But still.
“Where’s…um…” The name of Mr. Palm Springs escaped her. “…the golf instructor?”
Her mom flopped down in the other chair and rolled her eyes. “On a golf course somewhere, I presume. Sad to say, I really don’t care.”
“Well. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not like I was in love with him. Men.” She let out a long-suffering sigh and turned to Arden. “Tell me about this one you’ve been dealing with.”
Rider? Her heart skittered. How had her mother found out about him? She thought she’d dodged a bullet in the lobby. “It’s not…serious,” she finished lamely. The words left a sour aftertaste on her tongue.
“Not serious? Arden, he stalked and blackmailed you.” Her mother reached over and squeezed her arm. “I call that serious. You must have been terrified.”
“Oh, that.” Her pulse settled, and she let out a relieved laugh. “That was nothing, Mom. Honestly. I was disappointed in myself for
being dumb enough to become a target and angry with him for being the kind of guy who would resort to those tactics for money. But otherwise”—she tried out one of her mother’s shrugs—“it’s not like I was in love with him.”
Mom gave her arm another squeeze. “Well, I still want to strangle him, but thank goodness he didn’t break your heart on top of everything else.”
“My heart is safe.” Was it? Those words tasted false, too. She remembered Rider looking at her from across the Jeep. I thought you’d never ask. But she had asked, and he’d agreed, and then she’d shaken him off because her mother had shown up, unknowingly almost ruining the most amazing week of her life.
Her mother was here. Her father was coming tomorrow. The lighting in the suite seemed too bright. She closed her eyes and rubbed the twitching muscle under the left one. Her Maui escape was turning into a clusterfuck.
“Uh-oh. I know that look.” Concern laced her mother’s voice. “Something’s wrong. Are you sure you didn’t love him?”
“No. Seriously, no.” She dropped her hand and dredged up a smile. “To be honest, I’m not sure love is in the cards for me. I mean, it seems to be a rare phenomenon in St. Sebastian relationships, and I’ve gone this long without getting struck by that bolt of lightning.”
Her mom laughed. “Love is definitely in the cards for you. I worried about Rafe, because he can be such a cynic, but you? Never.”
“Maybe Rafe’s the exception to the rule? Dad probably has the right idea. Don’t get too bogged down in the emotions, because they might be fleeting. Find a match that makes sense on paper. Look at you and Dad.”
“Don’t let your father and me warp you. We love each other, in our own ways.”
That surprised her. “You do?”
“How could we not? We gave each other you and Rafe. We just can’t stand to live together. I hate feeling like I come in second to his work, and he hates feeling like he’s a terrible husband—which he is. Your father and I made a lot of mistakes, but we did a couple things right, and you’re one of them. That said, you are your own person, not a sum of our flawed parts. You’re also more than a pillar in the St. Sebastian enterprise, regardless of what your father might like to think. The right man is out there for you. Don’t stop believing that.”
Compromised in Paradise Page 13
