They rounded a bend and a few feet ahead was a small elevated bungalow rivaling the surrounding treetops.
It was a single-story wooden structure with a wooden deck that wrapped around the entire building. They went up the outside stairs and stood on the deck looking around. The panoramic view was breathtaking. “This is amazing,” he said.
“This is Cutter Place, the only residence on the island.” Nikita unlocked the door. “Come on in,” she said. She led Chase into a bungalow with an open floor plan and a seaside view from every room.
“Wow, this is incredible,” he said. “Who takes care of it? I’m sure members of your family can’t always be here.”
“There’s a caretaker service. They do the upkeep for a lot of the private islands around here. There’s also a security company that patrols the waters and the general area and sends daily email reports. Lately, there have been a lot of trespassers, but we usually get that this time of year. People think they can just come, party and hang out since there’s no one around. But it’s just like any other private home.”
“What happens when they’re caught?”
“They’re often surprised when the security company comes along and arrests them for trespassing and breaking and entering.”
“I imagine they are. So, why is it called Cutter Island?”
“I don’t really know. I was once told that it got its name because this is where a lot of pirates would bury their treasure and if anyone should happen to stumble across it they would be cut to pieces. I guess we could change it if we want to, but it doesn’t really matter. Come on, I want to show you something.”
She got up and pulled his hand until he stood. They walked around the side of the house then down and narrow path. The sound of rushing water made her walk faster. “This way,” she said excitedly. A few minutes later they came to a small man-made waterfall and pond. The water was crystal clear. She knelt down and reached into the cool water. “Isn’t it breathtaking?”
“Yes.”
She grabbed a handful of water and tossed it up at him. He jumped back but it was too late. She’d got him. She laughed and he shook his head slowly with a menacing glint in his eyes. She knew she was in trouble, so she took the coward’s way out and just dived into the water. He followed right behind her.
Trying to outswim him was impossible. His upper body strength was too overpowering, so she dived underwater, trying to outmaneuver him. When she popped up and looked around he was nowhere in sight. Then she saw him and squealed just as he came up beside her. She tried to swim away, but he had her. They laughed as she surrendered to him. He kissed her gently, and then with an explosion of passion that nearly turned the cool water into a heated sauna.
He held her tight as she wrapped her legs around his body. Purposefully, he reached around and released the tie at the nape of her neck. Her bikini top sagged, then floated on the surface of the water, revealing her breasts, with the hardened nipples pointed right at him. He leaned down and licked her, playing with each nipple.
She pushed back, grabbed her top and swam to the side and got out. He stayed in. Seeing his shorts on the grass she turned to him and, smiling, slowly untied one, and then the other string holding her thong in place. A second later she stood completely naked.
He swam to the side and got out. He was already naked, hard, long and ready.
“I don’t have any condoms here,” she said.
He walked over and scooped up his shorts and pulled a condom out of his pocket. “I was a member of the Scouts Unitaires de France, the Boy Scouts. I’m always prepared.”
She smiled as he approached her. “Only one?” she queried, reminding him of the statement he made the first time they were together.
They laughed as he took her in his arms and held her tight. He kissed her cheek and neck, and then her shoulders. Her mind hazed with the sheer delight of his mouth on her again. Then he dropped to his knees, pulled her close and took her nipple into his mouth.
She moaned as he kissed, licked and suckled her breasts. She arched her back and he nearly devoured her. Her legs wobbled but he held her too tight for her to fall. When his hand slipped between her legs she went limp and dropped to her knees.
She took the condom from him, opened it and slowly rolled it in place. He watched her steady hands touch and caress his penis, fitting the condom with ease.
“Perfect,” she said, admiring her handiwork. “Now show me what you’ve got,” she taunted.
“Nikita.”
“Show me,” she repeated.
His hands shook as he wrapped them around her small waist and pulled her close. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
She squeezed his penis playfully. “Show me,” she teased again, knowing exactly what it would do to him.
“Nikita.” He grabbed her.
This time his kisses were ferocious, one right after the other in an insatiable progression of passion with unrestrained arousal. His tongue delved deep into the warm recesses of her mouth and she took all of him.
The intensity of his hunger and desire was beyond fierce and she wanted to experience all of it. Without knowing how or when it happened she suddenly felt the grass beneath her body and Chase between her legs.
A split second later he pressed into her, and then forged all the way. They were intimately connected. She wrapped her legs around his body and raised her hips to meet him. His perfect surge met her sublime thrust. With breathless desire, they made heavenly love until the swell of rapture took them.
Over and over again he thrust, and she accepted all of him until she climaxed hard and long, calling his name. Then she came again in gasps and shrieks. Her body relaxed, and he thrust into her again and this time she screamed as he kept the steady pace pressing in again and again. Each orgasm was an explosion beyond the last. Then she felt him tense and she thrust her hips upward, sending a quake of shivers through his body. They came together, one last surge toppling them both.
The next few hours they lay together as naked, free and unrestrained as the clouds in the sky above. Nikita learned too quickly that making love to Chase only once was impossible. It was abundantly obvious that she would never get enough of him.
They talked and joked and enjoyed the freedom afforded by the island’s complete isolation. But without a second condom, she knew their kissing and playfully touching could only be cooled by a quick dip in the pond.
Soon the sky began to change. She cuddled close, nearly lying on top of him as he wrapped her up in his strong arms. She heard the deep groan of relaxed pleasure in his throat and closed her eyes. This was the perfect moment. She could stay here in his arms forever.
“It’s getting late. We need to go pretty soon,” Chase said.
“Or we can stay,” she suggested as she sat up to look at him. “Sleeping here at night is like being the only two people left on the planet. It’s so quiet—no cars, no cell phones and no drama. The only sounds are the waves in the ocean and the night birds and crickets. And it’s completely dark. The only thing you’ll see is a blanket of a billion stars twinkling above.”
“It sounds amazing,” he said, smiling at her.
“It is.”
He shook his head slowly. “I wish I could stay, but unfortunately I can’t, not tonight. I have to fly out to a meeting first thing in the morning. I’ll be gone for the next few days,” he said. Then, seeing the disappointment in her face as she stood up and gathered her bikini, he added, “But I’d love to be invited back again.”
“Yes, of course, anytime,” she said acceptingly. “I guess we’d better go.”
After they dressed, they walked back down the path in silence, then after a quick stop at the bungalow, headed back to the boat dock. Chase released the lines and Nikita steered the boat back to Key West. The trip this time, she realized,
was less exuberant as she marinated in her thoughts. As sunset fell around them, the water’s gentle motion eased the boat back into the same slip as if it had never gone.
Once on land, Nikita drove back to her condo. Chase followed her back up to her front door. “I’d ask you in but…” she began.
He smiled. “No, I’d better not or I won’t be able to leave.” He kissed her tenderly. “Good night, Nikita.” He turned to walk away, but she called out to him. He turned back to her.
“Chase, I have to know. What do you want from me?”
He knew exactly what she meant. “I don’t know yet.”
“Yes, you do,” she pressed. “What do you want?”
He turned. “Everything,” he said softly, “I want everything.”
Their eyes met and held. “Chase, I love hard and I love completely. This thing between us can’t go there.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“A million reasons, but first and foremost, you’re leaving and I’m staying. For that alone we need to keep this between us as just business.”
He shook his head slowly. “It’s too late for that.”
“No, it’s not. We just can’t get more involved than—”
He half smiled and said, “Than we already are. Baby, we’re already there.”
“You know, maybe it’s a good thing that you’re leaving right now. It will give us time to regroup and make a new start. So if you come back…”
“I’m coming back,” he said definitively.
She nodded accepting his correction. “When you do, we’ll conclude our business. Have a good trip.”
They stood staring at each other for a few seconds.
He walked back to her purposefully, his eyes intent and blazing with passion, and they kissed again. Then he turned and walked away.
That was all it took, one kiss, one taste. She knew with all her heart that she was in love with Chase Buchanan.
Chapter 14
The Titan company helicopter landed smoothly on the pad and four men got out and headed away quickly. Bane, Chase’s grandfather’s personal assistant, grabbed the briefcase and the dossier and led the way to the house. Andre shook hands, and then hugged his grandfather and Chase, then headed to the garage to get his car and go home to his wife. The last two men, Chase and his grandfather, Jacob Buchanan, CEO emeritus of Titan Energy Corporation, stepped away from the helicopter as it took off and headed back to Titan’s main office.
Chase looked up and watched it go. It was good to be back in Alaska and to see his family again even if just for a few days. It had been too long. The good thing about this trip was that he didn’t have to deal with Daniel’s questions since he was in Washington, D.C., meeting with the Director of the Department of the Interior and members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Chase turned in the direction of the massive family home, but his grandfather didn’t. He headed in the opposite direction, away from the house. Chase followed him. The two men walked out and stood at the edge of the helicopter pad and just looked out at the lush greenery and expansive blue sky. Everything seemed calm and perfectly serene.
Nature was at its best here. Although mostly urbane, there were secluded pockets of undeveloped land just on the edge of the wilderness—this was one of them. The Buchanans owned a mountain, or rather the mountain owned them, and hence they would never leave. Here the land was pristine and the air was crisp and clean and along with the idyllic scenery. It seemed everything around them regenerated and was always brand-new.
“Breathtaking, isn’t it?”
Chase nodded as he looked around the sprawling Juneau estate. It boasted spectacular panoramic views from its many generous decks and balconies. It was by far the most stunning estate of its kind. “Yes, it is.”
“This is where life begins and ends for me.” Jacob paused a moment then chuckled. “It took me damn near all my adult life to grasp what Olivia knew all along.”
Olivia, Chase’s grandmother, passed away a while ago, but Jacob was still feeling the loss and loneliness. “What’s that, Granddad?” Chase asked.
“That you and my other grandchildren and soon-to-be great-grandchildren will carry this legacy on. In you and your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I’ll live forever.”
“That’s a lot of responsibility,” Chase said.
“Nothing you can’t handle,” Jacob said knowingly.
“Okay. I’ll do my best.”
Jacob nodded. “There’s something very different about you this trip. What is it?”
Chase shook his head. “Nothing I’m aware of,” he said.
“No, it’s there—something very settled, very different. I can see it in your eyes. I saw it as soon as you walked in the office. You were distracted during the meeting like you were a thousand miles away. I know that look.”
“Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Perhaps,” Jacob said skeptically. “So, I hear you’re having trouble securing the Key West property.”
Chase looked at his grandfather. “I’m working on it. The time table isn’t as desperate as Daniel would have us all believe. It’s a delicate situation and it needs a delicate solution.”
“It always is where a beautiful woman is concerned,” Jacob said, then turned and headed back to the house. They went straight to Jacob’s office. Bane had already deposited the briefcase on the credenza and the dossier on the desk. Jacob sat behind the desk with Chase across from him. “You want to tell me about her?” Jacob requested.
“Who?” Chase asked.
“The woman who’s got you all twisted around.”
Chase looked at his grandfather, knowing there was no need for denials and false bravado. He took a deep breath and answered. “Nikita Coles.”
Jacob nodded. “I gather’s she’s the same Nikita Coles that Daniel has been raging about for the last few weeks.”
“Yes. She owns the property we’ll be taking.”
“Do you love her?” Jacob asked plainly.
Chase didn’t respond. He merely looked at his grandfather. Jacob’s eyes were crystal clear and joyous. They were the eyes a man who had lived and enjoyed life and knew the answers to questions before he asked them. Chase shrugged silently. Jacob waited a few minutes. “Son, it’s an easy enough question. Do you love her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You need to find out.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Of course it is. When I first met your grandmother, God rest her soul, I knew instantly that I wanted her.” Jacob chuckled, and then coughed. Chase grimaced, stood and poured a glass of water for him. Jacob took a small sip while shaking his head, still chuckling. “Olivia, she was impossible, took me through hell and back and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I knew right then she was the one for me.”
“Granddad, wanting and loving are two different things. I want Nikita, yes. Being with her is like heaven. When we make love the skies open up,” he said. “We get along great. It’s perfect.”
“You remind me of that in a few weeks when she finds out that Titan is taking her property.”
“Nikita is stunning. She’s intelligent, she’s fun to be with, she’s wise and she’s a million other things, one of which is fragile. I betrayed her. I let it go too far. I’m going to hurt her and I don’t want to. But it’s too late. It’s already done.”
“Trust me, nothing is ever already done that can’t be undone.”
Even with his words of encouragement, Chase knew his grandfather was right about one thing. As soon as Nikita found out about eminent domain she’d be furious. The federal government would take her property, pay her, and then turn it over to Titan.
“I need to go.” Chase stood. Jacob walked him to the fro
nt door. Bane had already pulled a house car around front for him to drive to the airport.
“Chase,” Jacob began as he and Chase stood in the open doorway, “listen to an old man who has been down this road. Love trumps everything. I’ll tell you a little secret about loving a woman. When you’re in love you know it. Love isn’t about the woman you want to live with. Love is about the woman you can’t live without.
“Now, you say you don’t know if you love her—that’s not true. You already know. Fighting it won’t change what you feel,” Jacob continued as he followed Chase down the front steps to the waiting car. “In the meantime, find a way to make this work. This is essentially out of our hands. Still, I don’t want the last chapter of my book to read that I followed in Louis Buchanan’s footsteps too closely and became a land-grabber. Make it work. Daniel isn’t a patient man.”
Chase nodded. “I understand.”
A few hours later Chase was back in the air. This time he was on his private plane with his GPS locked. He was headed southeast toward Key West.
* * *
Nikita washed her hands and glanced at the clock on the wall. She’d been going nonstop since before dawn and now it was time for a break. Leroy was humming as he put a special order cake batter into the oven, Russ was taking his break with a trigonometry book from his summer college class and the rest of the staff were at the front counter servicing the last few customers of the morning. It was the perfect time to step outside and get some fresh air.
A few minutes later Nikita stood at the café’s front door, looking out as the construction workers continued going in and out of the building next door. It had started four days ago. A demo team had come in and begun removing carpet, lighting fixtures, doors, drywall and flooring from the building. The building was bare. She couldn’t help thinking that it would look great if it were finished as part of her café next door, but today she saw firsthand the impossibility of that. It was official. She was too late. It was like the universe had given her a dream, placed the possibility in front of her, and then all of a sudden yanked it away.
Just One Taste (Kimani Romance) Page 12
