Dare to Seduce

by Carly Phillips

  A satisfied smile lifted his lips. “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

  “It wasn’t easy,” she said with a pout.

  “But I’m going to make it worth your while.” He edged closer until he hovered over her, pausing with his cock between her breasts.

  His gaze never leaving hers, he pushed the twin mounds closer until she cradled his erection, and he began to thrust back and forth, sliding his hard cock through her softer flesh, and she moaned at the erotic feel.

  “No.” His sharp tone and a pinch on her nipples brought her out of the haze of desire she’d been lost in. “No way will I come on you when all I’ve ever dreamed of is coming inside you.” He pumped his hips back and forth once more before moving up until his cock was within tasting distance… so she did.

  He was salty and warm, and she opened her mouth wider. He slid his cock inside slowly, almost reverently, afraid to hurt her or choke her. Emboldened by their play and by her trust in Max, she slid her tongue along the velvety ridges before pursing her lips around him and doing her best to arouse him with her limited movement.

  He pumped his hips once, twice, all the while maintaining perfect control before pulling out with a low groan. “You keep amazing me,” he said as he reached over and pulled condoms from the nightstand drawer.

  “You really do have whatever you need here. Should I worry you thought I was easy?” she asked, teasing.

  He ran a hand through his already-tousled hair. She wanted to touch that, too, and pulled on the cuffs. “Had enough?”

  “I just want to touch you too,” she said, feeling vulnerable at the admission.

  His eyes softened, and in seconds, he released her from the bindings. He rubbed her wrists between his palms. “Just want to make sure your circulation is okay and there are no bruises.” He lifted each hand up for examination. “Just a little redness, something to remind you of this moment,” he said, sounding pleased.

  She had a hunch she would be satisfied, too, if she saw marks of his possession. Not too many or too hard. Just enough to remind her that she’d been his to command.

  “One day I’ll fuck you that way. But this first time? I’m going to make love to you, and I want you one hundred percent engaged.”

  The words make love shocked her, resonating in her brain and scaring her in so many ways. Brushing off her fears, assuring herself the words were just that, she pushed them away. Meanwhile, he grabbed the condom, ripped it open, and rolled it on.

  Then he was back, his hands on either side of her head. He looked into her eyes, and every dream she’d had and pushed away came true. Before she could think, he was positioned at her core, thrusting hard, and she couldn’t think at all.

  Jaw tight, he glided out of her slowly before penetrating her harder and deeper than before. She moaned and bent her knees, wanting him as far as he could possibly go, their bodies joined completely. He braced his hands on her knees and pushed her legs back, opening her to him completely.

  “God, Max.”

  “Want to see you and feel you, princess.” He pulled out and watched as he took her again. And again. And again.

  She slid her fingers through his hair, doing a little pulling of her own as she worked her way down, using her freedom to touch. She felt every corded muscle in his shoulders, forearms, and back, scoring his skin with her nails as he pounded into her, grinding his hips with every thrust. She gasped at the sensation of him thick inside her, her own slick lubrication guiding him in and out.

  She was lost in sensation, lost in Max, when suddenly he gripped her knees harder, and she knew he was close. That knowledge spurred her higher, sensations hitting her from inside and out, her orgasm exploding throughout her body.

  She heard herself cry out as she bucked beneath him.

  “Fuck. Lucy!” he shouted, his climax consuming him at almost the same time.

  He slammed into her one last time, hitting a spot inside her she’d never known she had. Another orgasm immediately took hold, and she rolled her hips, grinding her clit hard against him until the sensations subsided.

  She fell back against the mattress, damp with sweat. Max rolled off her but remained close, an arm wrapped around her as they both struggled for breath.

  “Fucking amazing, princess.” He kissed her forehead and pushed himself up and out of bed. “Be right back.”

  As he went to take care of the condom, Lucy’s heart rate sped up in her chest, and she didn’t think it would be returning to normal any time soon, because Max had utterly consumed and devastated her, mind, body, and soul.

  Chapter Five

  Before Lucy knew it, the day of the wedding arrived.

  Eden would have been an amazing place for pre-wedding festivities… if the bride had been healthy. Unfortunately Amanda still wasn’t, and the pre-wedding activities originally scheduled for after Gabe and Isabelle arrived were cancelled. No rehearsal dinner, no spa day for the women. Lucy felt awful that the bride-to-be had to miss out on so much. When she asked Decklan if she could visit with Amanda, he said she was spending most of her days throwing up and needed to conserve her energy for the wedding—which she insisted would go on as planned, no matter how sick she happened to be.

  So Lucy had had the extra time to spend with Max. For the last forty-eight hours, she’d felt as if the outside world didn’t exist. She’d lived in a haze of passion, sex, sun, and a happiness that was foreign to her, making her realize she’d merely been going through the motions of life. Any time nervous thoughts about the future or getting too attached to him intruded¸ they disappeared as quickly as they’d come. Almost as if the island didn’t want her to deal with her hang-ups and insecurities while she was here. Considering the island was known for giving people their wildest dreams and fondest wishes, she didn’t need to question things with Max beyond that.

  She decided to go with the flow and enjoy her first experience with hot, fantastic sex. Sex that taught her about trust and communication and mutual satisfaction, all things that had been missing in her previous encounters. Max set the bar so high she might never feel this kind of desire again, let alone have a truly passionate encounter with another man.

  Shaking that thought off, she pulled the dress for the wedding out of her closet and laid it on the bed. Max had gone for a walk on the beach, but Lucy needed extra time to prepare for the big event. She’d showered in the luxurious bathroom with more jets than she knew what to do with… although Max had had some extremely creative ideas, and she’d come more than once thanks to his talented hands and the pulsing spray. Just another way Max had spoiled her for other men, other showers, and a future without him.

  She slid her silk robe off her shoulders, leaving herself in a barely there thong that wouldn’t show beneath her dress and a strapless lace bra. Lost in thought, she was startled when Max came up behind her.

  He braced his hands on her shoulders, swept her hair out of the way, and placed an open-mouthed kiss in the crook of her neck. His lips were warm, his breath hot, his tongue gliding sensuously across her skin. She shivered at the seductive touch, especially when he slid his hands down her shoulders, over her arms, and then cupped her breasts, squeezing hard on her nipples.

  She moaned and leaned back into him, feeling his hard cock against her ass. “We have to be at the main hotel in thirty minutes, fully dressed. We don’t have time for me to shower again and redo my hair.”

  But instead of stepping away from him, she wriggled further against him, inflaming her desire until moisture coated her thong. He slid his hand down her belly toward her pussy, and she stopped caring about their being late. She leaned her head back and spread her thighs.

  “You like being a dirty girl for me, right?” Over the course of the last two days, Max had gotten increasingly more verbal during sex, encouraging her with hot, erotic words. “I asked you a question,” he said with a pinch on her clit.

  “Ouch! Oh,” she said, moaning as the pain blossomed into something hotter and someh
ow infinitely sweeter. “Yes, yes, I like being a dirty girl.”

  He held her in place with a hand around her neck, hard enough for her to feel his command, gentle enough not to leave marks or cut off her breath or hurt her in any way. As she’d come to expect, his dominance turned her on even more. She liked when he held her in place and directed their play.

  He skimmed her clit back and forth, occasionally squeezing the sensitive nub between his thumb and forefinger, driving her mad with need. She worked her hips back and forth, grinding herself against his palm, but he refused to allow her relief. Between her sore nipples and the exquisite pulsing need soaking her sex, she was ready to turn around and climb him right here and now. But she knew that wouldn’t accomplish what she wanted. He’d drag this on longer, keeping her on edge.

  Suddenly he nudged her forward, easing her upper body onto the mattress, and, without warning, smacked her ass with his hand. The first time he’d tried it, she’d been shocked, horrified, and thought she might cry. And then he’d smacked her other cheek. And suddenly the pain had morphed into pleasure, and she’d found herself rising in time to meet his hand.

  “Do you know how fucking hard you get me? Seeing my handprint on our ass? Knowing you want my cock deep inside your wet pussy?”

  He smacked her ass cheek again, and she began to grind her sex against the mattress.

  “No. Only I can make you come. Now hold still.”

  She did as he commanded and was rewarded with the sound of a condom wrapper. Relief was imminent, she thought, and she imagined him sliding the latex over his thick, straining erection. Then he’d shove himself inside her, fast and hard. She whimpered at the thought of him actually doing what she imagined.

  He kicked open her legs, first one, then the other, positioning her, one hand on her lower back. And then his cock was poised at her entrance.

  “Tell me what you want, princess.” He smoothed his calloused palm over her tender backside, gently caressing her skin.

  “You, Max. I want you.”

  “And I want you. So much.” With a groan, he gave her what she asked for, thrusting deep inside.

  So deep she felt him everywhere. Her body had been his from the moment he’d taken her the first time, and she responded to him immediately now. She pulled at the comforter, curling her fingers into the material for support as he pounded into her. It was fast, it was a quick fuck, and yet it was no less meaningful for not being face-to-face.

  Suddenly Max hit her G-spot, and her orgasm took over almost instantly. She flew apart, her heart soaring along with her body.

  And as she came back to herself afterwards, she’d learned that intimacy took many forms, but every time with Max was better and more special than the last. Every time with Max was a form of making love. And keeping her heart intact until she returned to New York was going to be much harder than she’d thought, if not damned near impossible.

  He rolled to the side, flipping her onto her back and looking into her eyes, his expression full of concern. “Did I hurt you?”

  She blinked back tears of emotion, a combination of ecstasy and fear still bouncing around inside her. “No.”

  A smile lifted his lips. “I had a hunch we’d be fucking awesome in bed.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky I find that confidence of yours charming and not annoying.”

  “As long as you take me,” he said, rubbing his nose affectionately against hers.

  The gentle gesture, so at odds with the dominant man who’d pounded her into the mattress, helped him tunnel even deeper into her heart.

  She shoved at his shoulder, eager to get up and put space between them. “We need to get dressed.” She rose to her feet, realizing she was sore and she needed a quick shower. Again. Somehow she’d have to keep her makeup intact, because she didn’t have time to redo everything.

  He rolled over onto his back and laid one hand over his head. “I can’t believe Decklan’s getting married. But man, from the minute he laid eyes on Amanda, he knew she was the one. No matter how hard he fought it,” Max said.

  Lucy swallowed hard. “They’re perfect for each other,” she managed to say to Max before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.

  As she turned on the water and waited for it to heat up, her thoughts wandered from Max to her brothers. Both subjects unsettled her. She’d tried very hard not to dwell on the fact that in a couple of hours, both Gabe and now Decklan would be married. The brothers who had raised her, been there for her, taken care of her after their parents had died were moving on with their lives. Wedding vows meant that someone else now came first.

  Not Lucy.

  It was normal. It was the way things should be. Them being happy and settled reminded her that she… wasn’t. It was time to correct that. She needed to find a way to have a happy life without risking her fragile heart and even more fragile emotions.

  Because Decklan’s marriage signaled it was time to move back to New York and do as Isabelle said. She could watch Noah, and any other children her brothers had, grow up. She could enjoy a successful career and her family. Tomorrow morning she would fly back to New York with the memories of Max to keep her warm. It was more than she’d had before. And if she didn’t want to suffer true loss again, she had to be satisfied with that. Satisfied with what she and Max had shared, and begin the painful process of pulling away again, now.

  * * *

  By the time Max and Lucy cleaned themselves up—separately, since she’d locked the bathroom door for her shower—her happy mask was back in place. The one Max hadn’t seen since she’d given in to enjoying their time together on Eden. Something had flipped a switch in her brain, and she’d erected both physical and emotional barriers that had been missing for the last couple of days.

  He couldn’t say for sure what was going on in that beautiful head of hers, but he had a hunch that it had everything to do with the wedding bells that were about to ring. He was also sure Lucy thought he’d allow her to get away with her aloof behavior because he wouldn’t start trouble in front of her family.

  She’d be wrong. He had every intention of pushing his boundaries and hers.

  They took the golf cart back up to the main resort, Max very much aware of Lucy sitting beside him. Dressed in a short coral strapless dress with a bandeau top, she was the epitome of island sexy down to her flip-flops that she’d remove in favor of bare feet when they walked to down to the beach for the ceremony. Her floral scent was spicy and arousing, reminding him of every moment he’d spent inside her and getting to know her, inside and out.

  They approached the castle, which, frankly, he thought looked haunted, and the cart driver let them out. They walked up steps that were built into the mountainside. He left her alone with her thoughts, knowing not much would change now. He was biding his time, relying on the only strategy he had. The support of her family for them as a couple.

  No sooner had they stepped into the main hotel than a woman met them in the lobby, as if their entrance was clocked and recorded. She directed them to the terrace room, where the wedding was being held, and he walked beside Lucy to the big, open double doors. Right before stepping inside, he laced his fingers through hers, determined to make a statement to this stubborn woman in front of her brothers.

  Lucy immediately tried to jerk her hand away, but Max held on tightly and pulled her into the room.

  “Lucy!” Gabe called as he made his way across the room toward her, his son in his arms.

  She tried one last time to free herself. Max shook his head, though she wasn’t looking at him, and merely curled his hand tighter around hers.

  She turned and glared before her brother reached them. “Hi!” she said to her sibling before she turned her focus to the little boy in his arms. “And hi there, little man. How are you, Noah?”

  “Dah.” He held a chubby hand out to her, and Max was forced, then, to relinquish his grip.

  It was his pleasure, because he got to see Lucy’s fac
e soften as she lifted her nephew into her arms and settled him on one hip. “Just look at you, so handsome in your tuxedo, like your daddy.”

  “Dah dah,” he said this time, placing a hand on Lucy’s chest. She giggled, the sound light and musical to Max’s ears. “No, I’m Aunt Lucy.”

  “Dah.”

  “That’s my smart boy,” Gabe said, beaming.

  Max envied him that happiness. The kind he’d never found in his marriage. The familiar pang of guilt he’d learned to accept and live with hit him when he thought of Cindy, but it quickly washed away on the sound of Lucy’s laughter. He’d been young, too wrapped up in his parents’ failings and in the past. He’d learned and come to terms. He’d even gone to Cindy’s grave and made his peace there, as best he could.

  Now his focus had to be on the woman who was living wrapped in the same pain of the past as he’d once been. He’d brought himself out in one piece, and he was determined to do the same with her.

  “How was your vacation?” Lucy asked her brother. “I know this place has special meaning for you.”

  Gabe and Isabelle had cemented their love here and discovered she was pregnant with Noah here as well.

  “Let’s just say bringing along a babysitter was the right move,” he said with a grin on his face that Max took to mean he’d had quality time alone with his wife.

  “And we can change the subject,” Lucy said, laughing. “I don’t need to envision you and Isabelle… you know.” She shook her head at her brother.

  “Everyone’s here!” Isabelle’s happy voice interrupted whatever might have been said next. She approached, wearing a dress in the same color and similar style to Lucy’s. Isabelle’s figure was lusher and curvier, and each dress accommodated the individual woman’s assets.

  Everyone said their hellos, hugs were exchanged, and baby Noah toppled himself into his mother’s waiting arms.

  “So how was your vacation?” Gabe asked, not missing a beat from their earlier conversation and turning the tables with his question.