by Francis Ray
“You don’t have to pretend you care,” she said, wanting him to leave before the tears clogging her throat worsened. “You couldn’t get out of here fast enough last night.”
He tensed. “It was late, and you were tired.”
“It never mattered before.” She went to the door. “I won’t keep you.”
He stared at her a long time, then started for the door—or so she thought. At the last second, he pulled her into his arms, his mouth finding hers. She gasped in surprise and his tongue swept inside, thrusting and dueling with hers. Protests stumbled and died. She was caught up in the pleasure sweeping through her.
He lifted his head, his breathing harsh. “I want you. I couldn’t sleep last night because I wanted to be here. If I had been, you wouldn’t have gotten any sleep.”
She felt the proof of his desire, frank and unashamed, nudging her. She wouldn’t back down. “You kept looking at me last night and frowning.” She hated the quiver in her voice.
“You’re right.” His hand tunneled though her hair. “I’m trying to figure out something. I didn’t expect you. It threw me.”
“Is there someone else?”
His face and hand gentled. “No. There hasn’t been anyone in a very long time and I haven’t wanted anyone—until I saw you.”
Her forehead rested on his chest. “I thought you wanted to end things.”
His thumb lifted her head. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
She stared into dark eyes swirling with passion. “Me, neither. I guess that why it’s so scary. I don’t want to be hurt.”
His forehead touched hers. His hands trembled. “I don’t want that, either. Please always remember that.”
She pushed out of his arms. Fear flashed in his eyes. She had her answer. Whatever it was bothering him, he did care about her. Continuing to the sofa, she picked up her bag and put on her hat. “We better hurry if we’re going to eat first.”
Relief spread over his face. “You wearing your swimsuit under there?”
She pushed over the V-neck of her boxy chocolate top to show a white shoulder strap. “Yep.”
“Did you get your sunscreen?”
“Got it. Let’s go. It’s going to be a wonderful day.” Kissing him on the cheek, she sailed out of the door.
Six
How can I tell her now? Zach thought as he mounted the ATV and Laurel got on behind him. Her tears had made his gut knot. It had been hard leaving her last night, but he felt it was the right thing to do under the circumstances. Trying to come up with a way to let know her who he was, he hadn’t even attempted to sleep.
“This is going to be fun,” Laurel said, her arms around his waist.
“Hold me close,” Zach said. “I hear the terrain can get a bit rough.”
Laughing, she tightened her grip. “At least if I fall off, I won’t have far to fall.”
“Just hold on,” he told her, and started out behind the ATVs in front of him. There were eight couples in all, and they were third in line. The tour began within the dense jungles of the Mayan Riviera. Sunlight barely reached them through the tall trees with branches that met and tangled.
He hadn’t gone thirty feet before he decided this was another bad idea. With each sway of their bodies, Laurel’s breasts rubbed against his back. He was in the V of her legs. It was pure sensual torture. All he could do was grit his teeth and hold tightly to the handles. Perhaps it was fitting punishment for not being up front with her.
The first break didn’t come until an hour later. They stopped at a small village. Unlike all of the other couples, neither he nor Laurel played in the cenote, a surface connection to subterranean water, or took a bath in the crystal waters of the underground river—one of many on the Yucatán Peninsula. There were almost no surface rivers and few lakes due to the area’s relatively sparse rainfall.
Laurel leaned against him as she drank her bottled water. “There is no way I’m getting in that water after the guide said they’d discovered sacrificial objects in there.” She shivered and stepped closer to him. “Mayans made human sacrifices as well. I guess the others are more adventurous than we are.”
“Must be,” Zach said, and sipped his water. He hadn’t gone swimming because he would have had to walk stooped over for fifty yards to get there. His only hope was that the underground river in a cave on the next stop was closer to the road.
“Everyone back on,” the guide told them. “It’s time to go.”
Zach quickly finished his water, then stuck his and Laurel’s empty bottles back in the backpack on the ATV. He wanted to whimper when Laurel climbed on behind him. Please, let the water be closer to the road, he thought, and pulled out to follow the other couples.
A couple of hours later they stopped at the cave where they could swim in the underground river. Zach wasn’t the only male slowly getting off the ATV and heading for the water to cool off. He gritted his teeth and removed his jeans and shirt . . . and then he was in blissfully cool, clear water up to his waist. He didn’t turn around until Laurel tapped him on the back.
“Cold showers aren’t what they’re cracked up to be?”
His laugh was ragged, but he pulled her into his arms for the sheer pleasure of holding her and to keep his eyes off her breasts in the white bikini top. “No, they’re not.”
She wrapped her arms lightly around his waist. Other couples splashed and played in the water around them. “This is an all-day thing, right?”
“Right,” he answered, wondering how he was going to stand being in a state of arousal so long.
She leaned back. “You planning to leave me at the door tonight?”
Breath shuddered through his lungs. “If I do, it won’t mean I don’t wish I was with you.”
“We’ll see.” She tilted her head to one side. “Would it be better if I drove?”
He didn’t even have to think about it. “Worse probably.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I guess renting a jet ski before we leave is out of the question.”
His eyes narrowed. “Those things are too dangerous. People turn into speed demons.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never ridden on one?” she asked.
“I have, and we’re still not getting on one,” he said adamantly. “Accidents can happen. Unfortunately too many people have been injured or run over on jet skis.”
“I don’t suppose we’re going to try the aerial zip-line, either?” she asked.
Zach had glanced at the cables suspended over another cenote as he headed for the underground river. “You could lose your grip and fall. But if you want to try, we will.”
She gazed at him. “I’d rather stay here and let you hold me.”
“My thoughts exactly.” He’d remain as hard as a rock, but it was worth it.
A little after sunset, Zach hurried Laurel to the Jeep as fast as he could considering his uncomfortable erection. He jammed the key in the ignition and spun out of the gravel parking lot.
His hands clamped on the steering wheel, he stared straight ahead. Once they were ready to come back, Laurel had removed her loose-fitting top. The bikini top pushing up her high, firm breasts almost had his tongue hanging out.
He didn’t know if Laurel brushed her body against his on purpose after they spoke in the waterfall, but every time they took a break and removed their helmets, she kissed and blew on his ear. Her hands also had a tendency to drift lower than his waist. They never reached his groin, just his thigh—which made him harder because he wanted her hand on him.
He’d looked over his shoulder at her the second time it had happened. She’d stared back, bold and daring. She didn’t plan for him to leave her at the door tonight. She was in control again, sure of herself and enjoying every second.
In a screech of brakes, Zach stopped in front of her condo. He met her on the sidewalk. He fumbled to unlock her front door. Finally it swung open and they were inside. The last coherent thought before he desperately reached for her was
that it wasn’t power that drove her, but her need to know how desperately he wanted her.
They barely made it to the bed, hastily discarding clothes, kissing as they went. She had no more than hit the bed before he’d put on a condom and surged into her. The pleasure of her tightly holding him within her body almost made him give in to the need for release. Almost.
“Hold on,” he murmured as he locked his mouth on hers and loved her.
The pace was fast. She met each thrust, her legs locked around his waist. The orgasm burst through him. Their mingled cries of pleasure echoed through the room.
Everything was back to the way it had been. Her breathing finally slowing to normal, Laurel snuggled closer to Zach, felt his strong arms close possessively around her. He brushed his lips against her shoulder, her hair.
“You’re incredible and beautiful. You’re the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.”
“You’re pretty incredible yourself.” Laurel hugged his arms, hugged the words to her. She couldn’t imagine being that aggressive before, but a couple of times she’d caught the sadness in Zach’s eyes and knew he was thinking about them. She’d wanted him to know that, for her, this wasn’t a vacation fling. For him, she was willing to take a chance. She was falling in love, was probably already there.
“I’m leaving in a few days,” she said softly.
His arms tightened. “I want to see you after we leave here.”
The breath she hadn’t known she was holding fluttered out over her lips. “I’d like that. I’ll be in Los Angeles for the next couple of months.”
“A lot of musicians and movie stars live there,” he said. “I’m surprised you feel so strongly about rap music.”
She rolled on top of him and shook her head. “We’re not discussing music. I don’t want to get into another argument.”
The corner of his mouth tilted upward. “I noticed you haven’t mentioned playing the CDs you brought to the cottage.”
Laurel wrinkled her nose and smiled. “Would you believe I forgot?”
“No.”
She kissed him playfully on the lips. “Then let’s agree to stay away from subjects that we’re not going to agree on. I want our last days together here to be happy ones.”
Frown lines pleated his brow. “I—”
“Please,” she said. “I have some things to tell you and I’d rather wait until the last night. That way, if things fall apart, I’ll be on my way home.” She tried to say the words teasingly, but her voice trembled.
His hand tenderly cupped her cheek. “All right. I’ll cook dinner at the cottage and we’ll talk. Now go to sleep.”
Smiling, she lay her head down, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Things would work out. He wouldn’t freak, like a couple of men she’d met, when he learned who she was. He certainly wouldn’t want to use her simply because he didn’t know her identity. Smiling, she drifted off to sleep.
The next day they went horseback riding and later played in the ocean like two kids. They made love in a deserted cove, then gathered driftwood and started a fire. Blissfully peaceful and happy, they watched the sun set before going back to the cottage. Showering together, they made love again.
He made them an omelet, which they ate in bed, laughing and talking about the day. That night she went to sleep in his arms.
The following morning, they went snorkeling, holding hands when possible, and delighting in the colorful array of sea life. When night came, they dined at the Seascape before returning to her place. It seemed natural for them to undress each other and go to bed. Their lovemaking held a hint of desperation, as if both of them knew their talk the next night might tear them apart.
The next day he left her condo and went home to change. She joined him an hour later at the cottage. Both wanted to spend the last day by themselves. He took her home around six with her promise to be back by eight for their dinner date at the cottage. After tonight, there would be no more secrets between them.
Returning from taking Laurel home, Zach couldn’t remember ever being this nervous as he went about preparing dinner. Tonight would determine their future together. Had he taken the easy way out by waiting as she’d wanted? He hoped not.
Shaking his head, he went to check on the fish he was grilling. While in the kitchen, he picked up the bouquet of cut flowers in a crystal vase and placed them on the table. Reaching over, he adjusted the tapered white candles in the crystal holders again. He wanted everything as romantic and perfect as possible. His often-repeated prayer as he went about getting things ready was that she’d listen and believe him.
He picked up the white linen napkin by her place setting to check again that the turquoise bracelet and earrings were still beneath. He hadn’t had them gift-wrapped. He hoped she’d be pleased, and maybe a bit shaky, which would give him just enough time to slip the bracelet on her wrist, kiss each ear, and have her put the earrings on.
He turned at the knock on the door. Despite the apprehension he felt, he smiled and went back inside. Laurel was so proper. She always knocked. He’d told her to just come on in, but he knew she wouldn’t. She was too much of a southern lady.
Still smiling, he reached for the doorknob. “Hon—What are you doing here?”
Lee “Big Man” Wilson, a pop singer whose last album had bombed because he’d refused to listen to Zach, grinned. Caps flashed in a dark chocolate face. “Hey, dog. You’re a hard man to find.”
“That’s the way I wanted it,” Zach said, not moving from the door.
Big Man’s smile faltered. “Come on, man. I need you. My record label said you can write your own ticket.”
“There’s not enough money in LA for me to work with you again, Lee. I thought I made that clear. You questioned every suggestion during the recording session, and you did the same thing all through the mix and mastering. You made the entire process grueling.”
Lee waved his hand dismissively, gold and diamonds glinting on four fingers. Even in the tropical heat, he wore an Armani suit, silk shirt, and tie. He’d come from a middle-class family, but his bio said he’d been reared in the hood by drug-selling parents.
He liked the finer things and spent lavishly. His sales were in the toilet and his record label wasn’t happy. “I might have held the reins a bit tight, but you sign back on and you’ll be the man.”
“No.”
A shadow moved. Zach’s head jerked up, thinking it was Laurel. Instead it was two of Lee’s bodyguards. “How did you find me and get through security?” Zach asked.
Lee grinned again. “I know people.”
Zach didn’t buy it. “No one would have told you where I was. So you must have hired someone to find me by tracing my credit card activity.” That wiped the grin off Lee’s smug face. “Bad decision. You might have been able to get past security with lies, but you won’t like the consequences.”
The bodyguards moved to stand beside Lee. “Rolling Deep, watch what you say to Big Man and step back,” one of the men warned.
“You’d do better to take that advice yourself,” Zach said. “Whatever lie you told to get past security is being checked and when it can’t be confirmed, you’re going to be over your head in trouble.”
Lee waved another dismissive hand. “Rolling Deep, you or no one else can scare me. I come and go as I please.”
“What—what did he call you?”
Zach’s head snapped around. Laurel was standing there, a few feet in front of Kyle. She looked stricken. Yesterday, when she’d come by herself, Kyle had walked her to the cottage. Zach cursed under his breath and quickly went down the steps to her. She held up her hand and stepped back when he reached for her.
“Please, just listen. I was going to tell you tonight,” he told her, clenching his fists. “If I had told you who I was, you wouldn’t have given me the time of day.”
“You lied to me!” she cried, her voice and body shaking. “To think I bragged to my sister what a wonderful, honest man you wer
e.”
“Having women trouble, R.D.?” Lee sneered. “Produce my album and I’ll get you all the honeys you need. Forget about her. You don’t need her.”
Zach whirled, moved past the bodyguards, and slammed his fist into Lee’s face. A hand clamped on his shoulder, but then it was gone. Zach kept his angry gaze on Lee, who was sprawled on the ground. “Shut your mouth and leave.”
“You heard the man.” Kyle stepped around Zach and jerked Lee none too gently to his feet. “The boss takes a dim view of people harassing guests, and a dimmer view of liars. His sister didn’t send you.”
Lee tried to pull away and found it impossible. “Do you know who I am?”
Kyle rolled off stats on the man, then leaned in closer. “You just pissed off the wrong man. You’d better get back to LA and enjoy it while you can.” He released Lee, who took off. His two bodyguards were already gone.
Zach glanced around. There was no sign of Laurel.
“Looks like that loudmouth isn’t the only one in for a butt-load of trouble,” Kyle told Zach, but he didn’t hear it because he was already running toward his Jeep.
Laurel was shaking so badly, she couldn’t get the key into the lock. How could she have been such a fool? She’d believed every lie he’d fed her.
“I’ll get it.” The man who had driven her back to the condo gently removed the key from her hand, unlocked the door, and handed the key back to her.
She clenched the cold metal in her palm and willed herself not to cry. Her eyes stung. The lump in her throat grew.
“The jet taking you back is already en route and should land in an hour. I was told to let you know that you can take off then or leave as scheduled at ten in the morning,” the man continued.
Her head came up. Something didn’t make sense. He worked for the owner of the estate Zach was staying on. He’d been the one to stop her the first time she visited Zach at the cottage, then waved her on once she identified herself and told him where she was heading.
She’d thought since she’d seen Kyle the last time she’d visited Zach in the evening, and he’d walked her to cottage tonight, that the far-reaching wealth of Blade Navarone, coupled with the dangerous intensity of Rio, had not only allowed her access but also allowed both security teams to work together. Now she wasn’t sure.
