What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG)

by CJ Roberts

  Casey whirled at the sound of his voice, her animosity fading under her physical discomfort and a pounding headache. “Oh, Travis, I did something really stupid and fell asleep in the sun. Everything hurts!” She sniffed, her lower lip quivered uncontrollably, and her green eyes filled with tears.

  “Take it easy, honey.” Travis had to repress a strong desire to hold and comfort her. Instead his calm voice soothed her distress. “I’m sure there must be something around here for a sunburn.” He systematically searched every cupboard and drawer but only found a bottle of aspirin. He handed Casey two tablets and a glass of ice water. “Why don’t you take a tepid bath and rest in your room. I’ll go down to the village and see if they have a pharmacy or a doctor who can give me something that will ease your pain.” She nodded glumly then slumped off to her bedroom.

  Casey stared at her dinner and it stared back – two eggs Benedict resembled un-blinking eyes, a cherry tomato for a nose, and a crescent of asparagus spears for a mouth. Travis had been very creative, and any other night she would have demolished her dinner with relish. But not tonight.

  Tonight she sat stiffly erect, her ass teetering on the edge of the chair as she tried to keep the tender flesh on the back of her thighs from sticking to the cushion. After taking a bath and dusting herself with powder, she had painfully managed to put on a loose blue and white striped sundress. Her shoulders and back had turned nearly purple because of the dilation of the blood vessels Although her skin felt on fire, she was freezing. Goose bumps peppered her arms and legs. A sudden wave of nausea burned the back of her throat and she hastily pushed aside the dinner plate and reached for a glass of water.

  Travis laid down his knife and fork and stared at her, concern emanating from his eyes. “You’re not doing too well, are you?”

  Casey shook her head, then winced. Her headache had not responded to the aspirin. Sharp blades of pain knifed across the back of her skull and into her eye sockets with excruciating intensity. “I can’t believe there wasn’t a drugstore or a doctor in town,” she muttered. “Are you positive you checked with everyone, even at the barbershop?”

  “All they have is a veterinarian and even he wasn’t home. The villagers rely on herb remedies or a trip into Acapulco if they need the hospital.”

  “Great, that’s just great!” She could feel the heat of her skin radiating through the cotton dress. Her flesh was tight and sore, she felt dizzy even though she was sitting down, and her stomach was knotted and nauseous. She had never been sickly and didn’t understand what was happening inside of her body. “This is all your fault. I didn’t get any sleep last night because of you. Today, you drove me out of my own house. Now I’m the one who is suffering.”

  “Calm down, you –”

  “I won’t calm down. I am sick of having you tell me what to do. You are trying to dominate me, push me around and make me uncomfortable – and you have succeeded.” Casey surged to her feet, slapping the linen napkin on the table. “You aren’t even suppose to be here. I’ve let you stay out of the goodness of my heart. Now you have completely ruined my vacation. I hope you’re satisfied.” Two giant tears rolled down her cheeks. “You insensitive clod.” She turned and painfully ran off the deck to her room.

  A few minutes later, Travis knelt by the side of her bed. His large, comforting hand gently smoothed the tumbled mass of hair from her tear-stained face. “I wouldn’t have you hurting for the world.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, his tongue tasting the saltiness of her tears. “If I could, I’d crawl into your skin, but you’d probably think I was making another indecent proposition.”

  Casey groaned, sniffed, then hiccupped. She stared at him from her facedown position on the bed, her defenses rapidly crumbling. “Travis, what am I going to do with you?

  He grinned at her. “I could make a lot of suggestions, but they invariably require you to lie at some point on your back, so I guess I will have to wait until your sunburn is better.” He patted her ass affectionately. “There must be something we can do to make you more comfortable.”

  “I am open to any suggestions.” She pushed herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, winced and bit her lip against the pain caused by the slightest movement.

  He walked over and appraised the small collection of cosmetics that lined the dresser top. He picked up a bottle of moisturizer and read the ingredients. “Well this should help ease that dry, tight feeling. I read somewhere that a sunburn should be treated exactly like a burn.”

  “So you’re going to smear butter all over me?”

  “Butter? Hell, that went out years ago. No, cool milk compresses. Just like Cleopatra. Butter…hmmm…I may save that suggestion until later but I can think of many other things to rub and lick off of you.” He winked at her. “Take off your dress while I get milk and ice and more aspirin.”

  When he returned from the kitchen, he found Casey still fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed, just staring into space. “Wasn’t there a movie star who died from sun poisoning?” Her voice was thin and high.

  He placed the full plastic bowl and a glass on the night table. He slid the towels off his arm and onto the bed, before sitting down beside her. “Take it easy, you’re letting your imagination run wild.” He took her hand; his thumb caressed the skin on her palm. “If I thought you were in any danger at all, I’d get you to a hospital fast.”

  “I just feel so awful.”

  “After I cool you down, you’ll feel a lot better.” He stood up and pulled her to her feet, smiling confidently into her worried green eyes. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Trust me?”

  Casey sniffed, nodded, and then smiled. “You’ve got a very reassuring bedside manner.”

  “I was always very good at playing doctor.” He teased Casey matter-of-factly. “Tomorrow, I’ll go down to the farmer’s market and get an aloe plant. The juice in the leaves is supposed to be very beneficial for burns.” He touched her forehead and the top of her head. Both were still quite warm. “Here, take this glass of milk and a couple more aspirins.”

  She did as she was told. “So you’re turning me into Cleopatra, via a milk bath?” She moved to one side so he could spread a large beach towel on the bed.

  “Cow’s milk rather than camel’s, but still with all the vitamins.” He straightened up and smiled at her. His fingers opened the buttons on the wide shoulder straps and the front part of her cotton dress. The material parted, then fell unheeded to the carpet. Travis’s breath caught in his throat. She was naked underneath except for a pair of turquoise bikini briefs.

  Casey could feel her entire body taking on the same pink flush as the swollen skin on her back. Her green eyes watched the shaky movement of his fingers that were hovering so near her full breasts.

  “Casey, you are driving me crazy. I’ve been having the most erotic dreams about different ways to get you out of your clothes all week. I’ve been aching to touch you and feel you, hungry for your taste.” His hands settled on either side of her torso; his forefingers and thumbs gently circled and teased her erect nipples.

  A tremor of pure physical awareness shook her body. “Travis, please…” Casey whispered and looked up at him appealingly. There was a lazy, dangerous glint in his tawny eyes that sent her defenses crumbling.

  “I could never resist temptation. Just think of this as clinical foreplay.” He lowered his head, letting his tongue lightly trace the outline of her half-parted trembling lips before plundering them apart, anxiously seeking the moist sweetness beyond.

  His wonderful warm mouth awakened a tempest of delicious sensations that completely overpowered Casey’s inhibitions. She was intensely aroused despite the sunburn. Her body felt an intoxicating sense of well-being in his touch. Deliberately she leaned forward against his hard chest. His knit shirt rubbed abrasively against her soft, aching breasts. His hands mapped her curves to settle possessively over the sheer bikini briefs, pressing her against him. Casey hooked her thumbs into th
e waistband of his jeans and snuggled closer against the delicious roughness.

  His lips kissed a trail over her flushed cheeks and down the cord of her neck, his teeth lightly nipping the swelling velvetiness of her skin. With a soft sigh, she burrowed her face in the curved hollow of his neck. Her nose inhaled the faint scent of his lime cologne. She felt content and secure yet strangely excited and eager for more intimate possession.

  Travis’s hungry mouth once again claimed Casey’s lips. His hands strayed up her back, pulling her closer, tighter. Casey whimpered with pain the instant his fingers touched her tender, sunburned shoulders.

  “Damn, honey…I’m sorry.” He apologized hoarsely, instantly releasing her. “You are right, I am an insensitive clod.”

  She looked at him, her emerald eyes large and luminous. “No, no you’re not. I’m sorry I said all those things.” Her lips brushed the corner of his mouth. His responding smile made her feel quite breathless.

  “Come on, Cleo, let me take care of you properly.” Travis gave her a gentle push toward the bed.

  Casey exhaled a long, very loud sigh of relief when the cool, wet towels were unrolled on her back and legs. Within minutes, her parched skin had soaked up the moisture from the terrycloth, leaving it damp and warm. Minutes slipped into hours with Travis diligently repeating the process. Under his gentle ministering’s and soothing voice Casey’s discomfort subsided enough for her to relax and drift into a restful sleep.

  A persistent morning sunbeam opened Casey’s eye. She blinked the room into sharper focus. The sliding glass doors were wide open. Travis had neglected to close the bedroom drapes. Travis! Casey yawned sleepily, then smiled, burrowing her cheek into the soft pillow beneath her head. Travis had done a wonderful job playing doctor. His calm, reassuring voice had soothed her heat-frazzled nerves while his first-aid had lessened her sunburn discomfort. Carefully, she arched her back, flexed her shoulders, and stretched her legs. The skin was still sore and tender but infinitely more bearable than it had been last night. Plus, no headache.

  Her wiggling toes encountered ten others that were connected to a more stationary pair of feet. Her sleep-dulled brain became conscious of a hard, long shape in the bed beside her. It was Travis, still wearing his tan knit shirt and jeans, lying on his back snoring contentedly.

  With her elbows resting in the center of her pillow and her chin cradled in her palms, Casey studied her soundly sleeping companion. Despite the heavy stubble of beard that darkened his cheeks and chin, the rugged lines of his sun-bronzed face had dissolved into contented relaxation. The sleep-tousled black hair and dark lashes gave Travis a vulnerable, boyish look that Casey found very appealing.

  Her lips curved into a tender smile. Last night had precipitated a turning point in her feelings and she no longer viewed him as a dangerous predator nor did she feel threatened by his presence in the villa. There was no denying that the touch of his lips, his hands, his body ignited a deep hunger in her. No matter how hard she tried to control her reaction to him, she was betrayed by her own wants and needs.

  Dark lashes lifted to let a pair of sherry-colored eyes gaze at her precarious pose. “I was dreaming about position number thirty-eight,” Travis murmured in a voice that was still husky with sleep.

  Casey cocked her head to one side, sending her brown hair spilling over her bare shoulder. “Is that some winning football play?”

  He smiled and shook his head. His hand smoothed back her hair. His fingers gently curved around her jaw and teased her earlobe. “Nope, that’s a position in the Kama Sutra that was invented especially for people with sunburned backs.”

  A low chuckle erupted from Casey’s throat; her green eyes twinkled. “What’s this, more of your hard-sell campaign?”

  “Well, something’s hard.” His eyebrows arched. At her responding giggle, he feigned annoyance. “So you’re not afraid of me anymore?” Travis moved slightly, insinuating his body beneath her bare torso, then pulling her hips on top of his.

  “No, I’m not afraid. Not after last night.” She felt his curious fingers walk along her collarbone and over the white swell of her breasts to linger in the cleavage. She made no move to stop him. “You were incredibly kind and gentle and caring. You not only banished my physical discomfort but my emotional fears as well. I’m still…well, confused and undecided. I’m still…” she inhaled, “a lot of things, but I’m not afraid.”

  Travis slid his hand around her neck and pulled her face closer to his. He let his tongue and lips tantalize the corner of her mouth before gently stealing her breath.

  Casey’s body melted into his. Her long, sleek legs slid intimately between his while her fingers teasingly crawled up the side of his chest before curving onto his shoulders. Her mouth savored the languorous exploration of his lips and tongue. She responded easily and naturally with firm pressure of her own.

  When Travis finally released her, she laid her cheek against his chest. She could hear his heart pounding in erratic unison with her own. Her senses were sharp and alert despite the sensual burning that assailed her.

  Travis let his hands slide down the sides of her body to settle possessively on the curve of her bottom. His fingers toyed with the elastic at the waist of her bikini briefs. “I love you, that hasn’t changed, but I can wait until I hear those same words from you. You have to be sure.” He kissed the crown of her head. “I suppose I should get breakfast started. I’ve still got dishes in the sink from last night.” He made a disgusted face.

  Casey smiled at him. “No rest for the wicked.” She slid back onto the mattress.

  Travis uttered a long agonizing groan. “Suddenly I’m very anxious to get you completely well.” He rolled off the bed and stood looking down at the bright pink skin on her back. He winced and shook his head. “Breakfast can wait. I’m going to take a minute to wash up and change then go down to the village for that aloe plant. Why don’t you relax in a tub of warm water with the rest of the milk until I get back.”

  Casey nodded dutifully and watched him hurry out of the room. She sat up, swung her legs off the bed and headed for the bathroom and a rendezvous with a soothing tub of Cleopatra’s finest. Stopping to retrieve her cotton dress from the chair, Casey’s green eyes were snagged by the sight of tumbled bedclothes. For a long moment, she stared at the double impression their bodies had left in the mattress.

  The healing properties of the aloe plant, more milk baths, and time combined to relieve Casey’s sunburn distress. By Saturday afternoon she was pacing back and forth on the shaded deck like a caged lion. The sparkling waters of the bay beckoned to her and, since it was so late, the heat of the sun posed only a minor problem.

  Her major problem was Travis. He had been absolutely perfect through her whole ordeal, dispensing medicine and attention and humor that successfully restored her spirit. A teasing intimacy had developed between them, which only enhanced their passion and nurtured their desire until Casey found she had once again become afraid.

  Not of him. Afraid of herself and the overwhelming sensuality that burned deep inside of her. She felt threatened because the quality and depth of their relationship had grown so much she had lost her privacy. The sexual tension that sparked between them suffocated her to the point of madness.

  Physically and verbally Travis had done little to provoke her disruptive feelings, but she sensed he was waiting for her to push aside her invisible restraints. The last three days had been pure torture, not only to her physical body, but her psyche as well.

  Casey sighed heavily and leaned against the wooden deck railing. If they could only get away from the villa, see something new, and be with other people she felt sure Travis’s desire would be checked and her own perspective would be restored. She squinted into the distance. Smiled, then darted down the steps toward the beach. If luck was with her, she might just have the solution to their problem.

  Travis came up from the cellar with a wide grin on his face. He had succeeded in fixing the washing machine
; it had been a simple matter of a slipped belt. “Casey?” He stopped to wash his greasy hands in the kitchen sink. “Casey!” He frowned and listened. The house was quiet except for an occasional hiss from the pots that were simmering on the stove.

  He dried off his hands, plucked a cold beer from the fridge and went out on the deck. Casey, he decided, must be resting or taking a bath. She had spent the day baking, cleaning and doing laundry until the washer had failed and interrupted that chore. She had seemed unusually diligent and precise in performing her tasks even after he had scolded her about overexerting herself.

  Resting his hip against the deck railing, Travis gazed out at the bay and inhaled a lungful of tangy, salt air mixed with the haunting fragrance of jasmine. A flash of red plaid caught his eye. He straightened and took a closer look. It was Casey with his cotton shirt flapping around a pair of brief white shorts, walking and talking quite animatedly with a man Travis had never seen before.

  The man was tall and slender and walked with an easy stride and graceful gesture of movements that was typically European. He was dressed all in white, which set off his dark hair and his tan. His mirrored sunglasses reflected the golden brilliance of the low afternoon sun.

  Casey and her companion paused at the bottom of the stone steps, affording Travis an excellent view of the laughing couple. Since none of the villagers ever ventured into the secluded bay area, Travis assumed the stranger must be living in either of the other two villas that perched high above the cove.

  When the man lifted Casey’s shirt to examine her back, Travis’s right hand clenched spasmodically, crumpling the aluminum beer can as if it were a tissue. He pushed himself away from the deck post and stalked back into the house. Casey had been out of his sight for a matter of a few hours and in that time her unassuming charm had captured some other man’s attention. The rage that contorted Travis’s rugged features gnawed through his heart and tore at his insides.