by Tawny Taylor
“Not now.” Being cruel, he flicked his tongue down the side of my neck. I squirmed beneath him, lifted my legs to wrap them around his waist. A pounding heat was gathering down there. I needed him to make it go away.
He whispered against my skin, “We’re being rude to our guest.”
“Guest?”
“You saw him when we first arrived.”
“Mmmm.” I remembered seeing the man, of course. But I wasn’t particularly interested in talking about him. No. I was much more interested in getting my clothes off and Shane’s clothes off. It was hot. I was hot. I was burning up.
Letting go of his neck, I let my hands go exploring. This was a rare treat. Shane had bound my hands every time we’d had sex. Thus, I’d spent very little time touching him, stroking him, exploring all those delicious ridges cutting between his thick corded muscles.
Shane bit me, right in the crook of the neck, and I yelped as I angled my head to give him better access to that spot. Pain. Pleasure. They were one and the same to me. They both made me hotter. Tighter. More desperate for release.
But instead of biting me again, Shane extricated himself from my clinging grasp and straightened up. “Later. Our meal is getting cold.” He went to the closet and opened the door. My clothes were all hanging neatly. He selected an ankle-length maxi dress he’d sent me and laid it out on the bed. “You have five minutes. Only five.”
And he left, shutting the door behind him.
Suffering, thanks to his magical kisses, I scowled at the closed door then hurried to the bathroom to freshen up. Five minutes. There was no time to waste. Not if I didn’t want to be punished.
Then again, I hadn’t been punished in a while…
* * * * *
Exactly five minutes later, I was in the living room, searching for Shane. Voices, both male, drifted in through the open doors, carried by a sea-scented breeze. Barefoot, the tiles underfoot cool to the touch, I followed the sound. They were standing close to the stairs, both holding glasses. The stranger was shirtless, a pair of swim trunks hanging from his narrow hips. His body was muscular, lean, his dark hair ruffled by the wind. Shane was still in his white dress shirt and pants. The brisk wind was sending his untied silk tie flailing from his collar. He looked a little stiff, I noticed as I came closer. His expression a little sharp. It was the stranger who noticed me approaching first. He was facing the house. Shane’s back was to me.
The stranger’s gaze flicked to me, and Shane did a one eighty and cranked on the smile. But I couldn’t help noticing the wattage wasn’t at one hundred percent.
Was there a problem?
Shane held a hand out to me, and I placed my hand in his the moment I was close enough to reach it. “This is Bristol,” he said, introducing me first. “Bristol, this is Jordan. He’s an old and dear friend.”
“Bristol.” Jordan, the old and dear friend, offered a hand.
“It’s nice meeting you.” I shook it and quickly placed my hand back in Shane’s.
Shane’s grip was hard. Not painful but almost. I sensed he was smiling on the outside but fuming on the inside.
Were they not dear old friends? If not, why wouldn’t he just tell his friend to leave?
Shane gave me an assessing up and down. “You look lovely. Shall we?”
“Thanks.” Feeling a little awkward, I let him escort me to the table set for three. I waited for him to pull out my chair then push it in. Neither man sat until I had.
Wasn’t this cozy? Me with two men. Gorgeous men. Men who were eyeballing each other like two junkyard dogs that were ready to tear each other to pieces.
I’d never seen Shane behave this way before. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. Correction, it made me very uncomfortable.
“Bristol, how was your flight?” Jordan asked as he extracted the chilled wine bottle from the bucket of ice next to him.
“It was quick, thank God.”
“Not a flier?” He motioned for me to hold out my glass, which I did.
“No. I’d never flown before.” Keeping my gaze locked to the glass, I watched the wine swirl around the sides as he poured.
“I’m sure you’ll get used to traveling,” he said, lifting the bottle. “Of course, it’s always easier if your host knows you’re anxious. That way he can provide for your comfort.”
I glanced at Shane. He was being quiet. Too quiet.
His sharp gaze was on Jordan. The muscle on his jaw was a little tight. If we were alone, I’d ask what the problem was. But we weren’t. “I assure you, her comfort was my first priority.”
Oh good grief.
“Yes, Shane is an excellent host,” I said, sipping the wine. It was delicious, of course. Smooth as silk. Unlike the conversation. Time to change the topic, before Shane blew a blood vessel. “How are you finding Antigua?”
Jordan answered, “It’s nice this time of year. I like to fly out every few weeks, unwind.”
Must be nice. “I’m sure it’s good to get away.” I glanced at Shane again. That jaw muscle was getting tighter.
What the heck was going on?
The conversation came to a standstill. I wanted to fill the awkward silence but I didn’t know what to say to either man. It seemed no topic was safe. So instead I concentrated on eating. The food was delicious, of course. It was different from anything I’d tasted before. There was a cold fruity soup that tasted better than I expected, followed by a rice dish with beans and coconut, served with seafood, including some breaded fish of some kind. Dessert was a fruit fritter. Sweet, light, perfect.
After eating, Jordan excused himself, saying he was meeting some friends in town. I didn’t say a word until I was sure he was out of earshot.
“Is something wrong?” I asked Shane. He was staring out at the ocean.
“No.”
“You’re very quiet.” I traced the rim of my now empty wineglass with a fingertip.
“I’m quiet sometimes.” His voice was clipped. Cold.
“I get that. But you seem…tense.”
“It’s nothing.”
It wasn’t nothing. Why was he lying? Feeling a little insulted, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. This wasn’t what I’d expected. Not at all. Here we were in paradise, and Shane was miserable. “Won’t you tell me what’s wrong? Did I do something to make you upset?”
“No.”
“Is it Jordan, then?”
“He’s an old friend.” There was little, if any, emotion in that statement.
“Is there something going on between you two? Were you expecting him to be here?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.” He stood, went to the railing and leaned against it.
I followed. I wanted to dig harder, to get the truth out of Shane, but I knew he was the kind of man who wouldn’t handle prying well. I decided to let it rest for the time being and try to distract him. We were alone now. In paradise. For only a short time. Our obligation to our guest had been taken care of. Now we could do as we please.
My eyes went to the gorgeous infinity pool.
There was something insanely sexy about swimming. Skin brushing against skin, weightless.
“Would you like to go for a swim?” I asked.
“Not right now.” He still sounded distant and tense.
There was no way I was going to let his mood ruin this trip. I glanced around. Unless someone was either in a low flying plane or on a boat with some powerful binoculars, there was no way anyone was going to see me…
Acting on a crazy impulse, I grabbed the bottom of my dress and pulled it over my head.
Ahhh. Nude. The brilliant Caribbean sun kissing my skin. The salty sea breeze caressing it.
Shane’s head jerked to me. His eyes widened. Little sparks of desire lit in their depth.
That was better.
Feeling very sexy, I gave him a little smile then sauntered over to the edge of the pool and dove in.
My body sliced through the water, its c
hill a welcome relief to the sizzling burning on my skin. I surfaced at the far end and turned toward Shane.
Surprising me, he dove in fully dressed, shoes and all. I watched his lean body torpedo through the clear water. He broke the surface, hauled me against him and kissed me.
Ahhhh. Heaven.
His kiss was pure seduction. Lips soft. Tongue slipping in to caress mine. Hands sliding under my ass, holding my weightless body. I wrapped my legs around his waist, arms around his neck and kissed him back.
This was what I’d imagined when I’d first arrived at this glorious place. Shane, kissing me, making me tremble with need. Here, in this pool. Under the blazing sun. With the sound of the ocean’s waves echoing in the distance and the scent of the sea heavy in the air.
Leaving me to hold on, Shane reached down with one hand, took off a shoe and tossed it onto the patio. The other followed. Then his pants and underwear. Now he was nude from the waist down, his erecting teasing my opening.
I fisted his shirt while he grabbed hands full of my hair and pulled, forcing my head back. “Dammit, you’re mine. Mine.”
“Shane,” I said on a sigh. How I loved the way he said that, how he claimed me. With his words. With his mouth. With his whole body.
He kissed my neck, making me shudder. Goose bumps prickled my shoulders, my arms. It was as if he knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it. How to touch me. How to kiss me.
I held on, surrendering to his skilled hands and wicked mouth, growing more breathless, dizzier by the second. He kissed and nipped and licked. He caressed and pinched and squeezed. It was a seduction. But when he gripped my waist and pushed me down, impaling me with his thick rod, I felt as if I’d been claimed. Possessed. He thrust into me, filling me, and I quaked.
“Yes, sir,” I muttered, arching my back so he drove deep inside. “Thank you.” I met every one of his rough thrusts, using my arms and legs to lift up then slam down. Again and again and again. Within seconds, I was on the verge of climax, my body tight, my breath caught deep in my chest. “Please, sir. May I come?”
“No.” His hands moved down, cupping my ass cheeks. A finger dipped into the crack. “No, minx.”
My inner muscles clenched around his girth, and a wave of erotic heat crashed through me. I was going to come. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t.
I gritted my teeth and surrendered.
An intense orgasm overtook me. Inside, my muscles clamped around him like a fist then convulsed.
He growled and pounded into my burning flesh, amplifying my pleasure until I was sure I’d pass out. It was ecstasy like I’d never known. Every nerve in my body was on fire. I was twitching and clenching and trembling. My mind was lost in a sea of carnal pleasure. All I could do was cling to him and ride one wave of pleasure after another.
I felt him widen as he found release. He jerked back, thrust deep inside and then pulled out.
He grabbed my face and kissed me again. The kiss was rough and semi violent. Not what I was expecting. I sucked in a little gasp of shock and surrendered to it, to him, allowing him to torment me until he’d had enough.
When the kiss ended, I felt boneless. My muscles were all thoroughly relaxed. As he gently released me, I floated on my back. As I drifted across the surface, I was aware of Shane. He’d pushed himself out of the pool and was circling one end. I spied something in my peripheral vision at the opposite side. Movement. I turned my head.
Jordan
Reacting out of pure instinct, I flipped over on my stomach and dove beneath the surface, kicking hard to propel myself as far away from him as I could.
I was nude. He’d seen me.
Who knew what else he’d seen.
Had he been standing there the whole time? Watching?
My face was burning when I surfaced. My gaze went first to Shane. He was wrapping a white towel around his lower body. I couldn’t tell if he was aware of Jordan being there, watching us, or not.
I decided I’d let him know.
“Jordan,” I said as I wrapped one arm around my breasts, hiding them from his view. Then, to Shane, I said, “May I please have a towel?”
Shane glanced at Jordan but didn’t seem surprised to see him. “Sure.” He pulled one off the rack next to him and strolled toward me.
I gave him a wide eyed look as he held it open for me. Evidently I was going to have to stand nude in front of this stranger. But only for a second.
Moving quickly, I pushed out of the pool and stepped into the soft towel. Thankfully, it was large, bigger than a bath towel. It covered me from chest to knee.
Still feeling ashamed, as if I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have, I glanced at Jordan. He gave me some kind of look I couldn’t read then wandered over to the table where we’d eaten dinner and sat.
“I think he saw us,” I whispered to Shane.
Shane nodded. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Intrigued, and hoping I’d finally find out why he’d seemed so upset earlier, I followed him inside. We went to a bedroom, his I assumed. Sitting patiently on a small chaise at the foot of the bed, I watched him strip out of his wet shirt and pull on a clean, dry pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
Finally, he sat beside me.
And said…nothing.
I waited.
For a minute. Two. Three.
Shane jammed his fingers through his wet hair. Looking down at the gleaming tile floor, he said, “He’s expecting to have sex with you.”
Chapter 4
My head was spinning. Whirling. Swooping. It wasn’t a good feeling. Not at all. I felt as if my lungs were concrete. They wouldn’t expand. They wouldn’t fill with air.
Shane was still sitting next to me, staring down at the floor. He’d just delivered one of the biggest shocks of my life, and he didn’t have the guts to look me in the eye?
Fury quickly replaced the shock, making my heart pound hard in my chest. “What the hell are you talking about, Shane?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I don’t care what it is. I’m not a whore.”
“I know.”
“I don’t sleep with just anyone.”
“I know that too.”
I stood up. I stomped away, getting as far as the door. Pivoting, I asked, “When you told me I was going to be your submissive, was this part of the deal?”
“Y--yes.”
What the hell? What else hasn’t he told me? “You didn’t tell me that. If you had, I might have…” What? What would I have said? Would I have walked away? Or would I have been skeptical, thinking he wouldn’t actually make me have sex with someone I didn’t know?
Regardless, he didn’t give me the chance to make that choice.
That wasn’t right.
It was absolutely reprehensible. And just plain shitty.
“I didn’t mention it yet because Jordan is the only one I share with. I didn’t expect you to meet him so soon.”
“So soon? In other words, you figured you had time to charm me and seduce me and get me ready.”
“Not exactly.”
I didn’t like that response. It suggested he had thought something along those lines. I’d never felt dirty after sex before. Now I did. Really dirty. And used. “I want to go home. Now.”
“It’ll take some time to get the plane back.”
“I don’t care.” Feeling a rush of tears coming, I ran to my room and slammed the door. I locked it too. Then I sat on my bed and had a good cry.
Why did he do this to me? Why? I wasn’t some prostitute, who didn’t mind being swapped and used and shared for a price. I was an independent woman with healthy self-respect. I choose my partners carefully. I didn’t sleep around.
Then again, I had known from the start that Shane was into some really kinky stuff. He’d been upfront about that much.
And he’d tried to warn me off.
Should I have seen this coming? Was I too dazzled by the money, the great sex, and his drop dead go
od looks to see what was really there?
No. No! I wasn’t going to blame myself. The fact was I was new. Shane was aware of that. It was his responsibility to inform me.
He’d intentionally kept it from me.
What else wasn’t he telling me?
The bottom line was I couldn’t trust him. And if I couldn’t trust him, how could I continue to see him?
I was maybe twenty minutes into my pity-party when I heard a knock on my door. It had to be Shane. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to see him. But, dammit, I wanted another chance to make him know how insulted and hurt I was.
I yanked open the door to reveal a contrite looking Shane.
“The plane will be here in a couple of hours. You’re free to leave then if you want. But I’d like the chance to explain—“
“What’s there to explain, Shane? That you brought me here to loan to your friend? How often do you do that, huh? Is this your little dirty secret? Is this a haven or is it a place where you can have orgies and not be found out?”
Shane’s face paled a little but he didn’t interrupt. I ranted for at least another ten minutes, unloading all my fury on him until I’d run out of words.
Then he motioned for me to sit on the bed.
Just because I was in the mood to defy him, I crossed my arms over my chest and snapped, “No, thanks. I think I’ll stand.”
“Suit yourself.” Shane sat. Elbows on his knees, he shoved his fingers through his hair and stared down at the stupid floor for a few minutes. “Contrary to what you think, I did not bring you here to share with anyone. I didn’t know Jordan would be here. If I had, I would have taken you somewhere else. I wanted to spend some time with you. Alone. In private.” He lifted his eyes to mine. “You asked me why I was so tense. Now you know. Jordan’s being here completely threw a wrench in my plans and complicated things.”
“It sure did.” Having run out of fury after that ugly rant, I leaned to the right, shouldering the wall, arms still crossed over my chest.
“I was trying to explain earlier, but you didn’t give me a chance to finish.”
Had I cut him off? Did I react without having all the facts? A part of me hoped there was more to this. I wanted to hear something that made it all less…ugly. “I’m sorry if I jumped the gun. But you can’t blame me, can you? I mean, I’m the newbie here. I trusted you to tell me what is going on. And then, out of the blue you tell me a man I don’t know is expecting to have sex with me. Expecting. That freaked me out.”
