by Barb Han
“There. That should hold us both over.”
Oh. Hell. No.
Here she was on an island more beautiful than her wildest imagination, spending time with the absolute man of her dreams, and all she could think about was how to get away from it all and regain her sanity. She could easily see why so many women melted in his arms. He was the kind of man who could make a girl feel like she was the only woman on earth.
“We need to talk.”
“I’d rather do other things.” His broad shoulders rolled. “But we could eat first if you need to.”
A shudder of need roared through her. Avery stopped, folded her arms for fortitude. “I want to know more about you.”
“I grew up in Hong—”
“Not the stuff I can read in a paper.”
“Hmm. Okay. My mom and your mom would make great bridge partners,” he said.
“That what made you angry as a kid?”
“In part. She wasn’t exactly mother material. I know you understand that.”
Avery nodded.
“Mine was much more devious. Much more sneaky when she slipped men in through the butler’s kitchen.”
Avery gasped. “That must’ve been painful for you to know. How old were you when you found out?”
“Young. Six, I guess.”
“And you didn’t say anything to your dad?” she asked quietly, sympathetically.
“No. She tricked me into not giving her away when I was young. I had no idea why she had men sneaking through the back. She said it was a game. The spy who gave away secrets would never play again,” he said and his tone was even. Too even.
“That’s a terrible thing to do to a child. What happened when you got older?”
“Guess I figured out what was going on and didn’t want to break my father’s heart. See, he actually loved her.”
“You must’ve hated yourself for keeping up with the lie.”
“I grew to resent my father for not knowing. Or turning a blind eye.”
Ryker didn’t say more.
They kept silent, allowing the weight of his confession to sit heavy for long moments.
Avery leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ryker’s lips. She knew she was in deep and she had only a thread of reality to cling to. Before she could draw air back in her lungs, his lips, those glorious lips claimed hers once more with bruising need that drained her lungs.
She broke free long enough to say, “This apple fell far from the family tree.”
Avery was exhausted from fighting her feelings for him. So she didn’t. She had never wanted anything in her life more than this moment. He pulled her into his arms, and, without breaking eye contact, gently laid her on top of the folded blanket.
His breath was warm and sensual when it touched her skin so lightly, so devastatingly, that it strengthened her as she yielded. His eyes lifted, locking onto her gaze. She was sure he read every one of her thoughts. His softened expression, his actions, said he’d somehow heard every word, even as she had yet to speak them. He was telling her she was beautiful. Perfect.
And right now, she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.
Ryker dissolved any lingering doubt and Avery’s reserves along with it. Leaving her defenseless against his touch, his caress, his tenderness, she could do nothing more or less than surrender. All that registered was the desire intensifying inside her, a desire mounting with every stroke of his finger, every thrust of his tongue. He slipped her shirt off and her swimsuit top along with it.
He groaned a low, throaty growl as his fingers stroked the bare skin of her full breasts. Taking a nipple in his mouth, his tongue glided and licked along the crest.
Defenseless, her body took over, her hands needing to feel him, to touch every muscle. “Ryker...” she said breathlessly. Her fingers now pleated inside his sable mane.
He arched over her, creating enough space between them to remove Avery’s jeans and swimsuit bottoms, and released a thick groan. “You’re not making this easy on me. I’m trying to slow down.”
Avery’s fingers traced his strong jawline, down his chin. Her fingers moved down until she tugged at the waistline of his pants. She reached to palm his erection, but he stopped her. His strong hands gripped her wrists. “No. I want to really look at you.”
“But—” was all she could get out.
****
Ryker stripped off his shirt and pants faster than she could settle back on the makeshift bed.
Without a doubt, bedding Avery would be the only way to get beyond his attraction to her. An attraction that created serious problems for him. Her fingers, pressing marks into his chest, told him she craved it too. If he had his wits about him, he’d stop. Allowing this to go further, giving in to this need, would obliterate his sense of self-control.
With a groan, he put some space between them.
It didn’t last. It couldn’t last. He wanted to be close to her.
He pulled her to him where she fit him perfectly. She wanted this as much as he did. Damn the consequences. His body ached with need, and he had no plans to rush. No woman before her had awakened a hunger from so deep. Not one had been defiant and angry rather than eager and predictable.
“I want you,” his declaration was bold. Final.
He couldn’t get enough of her, and at this moment he didn’t give a damn what that meant. His passion, his insatiable need for her overrode rational thought.
Her lips quivered.
When he was sure she was rendered breathless from his kiss, he slid his tongue down the cleft of her chin, nibbled and bit a trail down the soft curve of her neck. His thumb grazed her nipple, and he groaned when it pebbled under his touch.
“You are perfection,” his lips said into her thick mass of honey-gold hair.
“No—”
“No arguments.” That Avery’s beauty somehow embarrassed her when she was vulnerable tugged at Ryker’s heart. Didn’t she know? Couldn’t she see? She was the most beautiful woman. That she let down her guard enough to allow him access to see her, really see her, brought to life every protective instinct inside him. Little did she know, she held all the power at present.
She smiled.
He fumbled in his discarded jeans pocket for a condom and sheathed himself. Slowly, his knee urged her thighs apart enough to enter her with his tip. She was moist and ready for him. Every muscle in his body clenched. “God, you feel good.”
Perfect. She was perfection. She fulfilled his fantasy and so much more.
In a single long stride, he thrust deep inside her. She let out a string of moans as her body flowered, taking him in. Her hips, those taut little hips, wriggled him deeper inside and nearly obliterated his self-control. Slow down.
Her sea-green eyes were enormous and incredible, smoldering with sensuality. “Don’t stop.”
“Oh, it’s too late for that.”
He bucked his hips until he plunged deep inside her, again and again, slowly at first, building intensity until her entire body arched and released. Her hands clutched at him desperately, tugging and clinging, pulling him into her deeper until her body quivered and shook with explosive release.
Only then did he thrust and surge until his own thundering, aching body convulsed with orgasm. He’d never experienced climax so draining or complete. Yet instead of sating his need, he wanted more.
What the hell just happened?
Ryker didn’t speak, although he knew his emotion was written all over his sappy smile. He wanted to do things to and for Avery that he’d never wanted to do for a woman before. As sexually and physically satisfying as the sex had been, it fell desperately short in terms of tiding him over. He was already hard again.
A volt of shock shot through him at the realization he only wanted this woman.
He decided against rationalizing it. Even though this was beyond the best orgasm he’d experienced.
How?
Didn’t know. Didn’t care. Asking the questions wouldn’t do any good eithe
r. For the time being, it didn’t matter. She was there, to be his and his alone. The bar had just risen on what he expected from sexual partners...from sex at all. And he planned to explore this feeling to the fullest.
****
Exhausted, but surprisingly the happiest she had ever been, Avery closed her eyes and nuzzled against Ryker’s body.
He feathered a tender kiss against her forehead. “Do that again and you won’t get any rest.” His weight shifted before he moved from her. “Stay right there,” he said, tucking the ends of the blanket around her. “Can’t have you getting cold while I’m gone.”
Avery rose up to rest on one elbow.
She couldn’t contain her smile when he returned. There he strolled, naked in all his glory, with two glasses of wine. Was this whole seduction too good to be true? Cancel the thought. She would not allow anything to spoil this moment.
Chapter Eight
Avery returned to her room, sated, to a cell phone that buzzed and vibrated. Something must be seriously wrong for Alexandria to phone over and over again. This was too much. Even for her.
The phone immediately hummed in Avery’s palm as she checked missed calls. “Hello?” she answered.
Alexandria didn’t skip a beat. “The news is everywhere about you and Ryker Li. I can’t believe it.” Her voice boomed with excitement.
“What news?” Me and Ryker? OhmyGod. Had someone photographed them in the middle of...? Suddenly the walls closed in, and Avery felt claustrophobic.
“Great thinking to make sure you made press, though. That’s my girl.”
“What exactly are you talking about? What photos?” This was a compliment coming from Alexandria, so why did that comment sting so much? “I promise you I don’t have the first idea what you’re referring to.”
“My daughter. On the front page of every magazine that counts. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Me? Alexandria had to be mistaken. Avery did nothing newsworthy unless she considered having sex with a billionaire news.
But it was too fast to be news...surely news couldn’t be printed and on the stands overnight? Alexandria must be confused. Or drinking.
Avery checked the clock, trying to mentally calculate the time difference and stop herself from hyperventilating.
Either that, or Alexandria must be thinking of her other daughter. Please, God, let her be talking about Bits. “Did you mean—”
“I’m talking about you. Who else would be with Ryker Li?”
“Tell me exactly what you’re talking about. Slowly.” Avery needed every detail so she listened intently.
“You. And the most powerful businessman of the twenty-first century. Together. On his private island. And in that embrace.”
A cold chill ran up Avery’s spine. “But—”
“Your photo is everywhere. My phone has been ringing off the hook.” Alexandria paused, no doubt expecting Avery to squeal with excitement.
Avery didn’t.
Alexandria picked up her conversation thread on the next beat. “You could’ve told your own mother, you know. I would’ve kept your secret.”
“I don’t have one. Ryker and I are working together.”
Alexandria didn’t even try to hide her laugh. “That’s rich, Avery.”
So everyone on the planet would now know Avery and Ryker were together. They worked together and had had mind-numbing sex. It was just an urban fairy tale that there could be more. She’d had blissful sex with him, but it was wrong to expect more. And right then she told herself she didn’t care that he couldn’t give it. Of course, having their affair spread across the tabloids while placing her front and center in the spotlight felt a bit harsh.
Avery froze. She remembered the flash. The storm that never followed. She realized how compromising this all would look to an outsider.
But she wouldn’t admit to anything. Fact was, they were not a couple.
She forced cheer into her voice. “Oh, you know how those photographers are. They catch you in the most conspicuous place and exploit you. Surely you know a thing or two about that.”
“Avery, darling, this is your mother you’re speaking to. You don’t have to lie or cover up. I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Why did the compliment, finally words of approval, burn through her so much? Hadn’t she always wanted her mother’s approval? “It’s not what you think.”
“We’ll see about that...”
A beep sounded.
“That’s my other line, dear, I have to go.”
Before Avery could warn her mother not to spread the gossip, the phone line was dead.
And so was Avery.
How embarrassing could it be that she and Ryker had made the cover of every tabloid? And what people must be saying about a pair like them. Every insecurity she possessed raged up and made her throat close. The gorgeous and the plain. Ryker with the homely girl. Well, it was Beauty and The Beast in reverse is what it was.
Her cheeks heated, and her heart palpitated. Knowing what everyone would be thinking from now on—how on earth could she ever hold her head high again? Especially during the party...in...six...days.
She took in a breath meant to fortify herself but only brought attention to how shaky she truly was. Ryker would move on to another woman by then. And everyone would know how he’d crossed the tracks and gone slumming, only to come right back.
I only have to get through six more days. She sure as hell didn’t plan to stick around for the after party.
Thankfully, Ryker wasn’t going to be anywhere around. That would certainly make Avery less jumpy and give her time to regroup. And less newsworthy as well. With any luck, he wouldn’t be back until the party, either. He hadn’t exactly said when he planned to return. It certainly would make her life a lot easier if he disappeared for a few days, or more. Her heart gave a traitorous flip at the thought.
Damn undependable heart.
Maybe Avery could keep her head low until he was photographed with some newsworthy supermodel. Then her headline would be crumpled up and used as tinder in the fireplaces that warmed the northern United States. He might be news, but she’d be forgotten as soon as he moved on to another woman.
A stab of pain shot through her.
She wanted Ryker to be hers, not some other woman’s.
Forget it. Be realistic.
Chapter Nine
Avery couldn’t sleep, despite a day of hard work and physical exhaustion from not sleeping with Ryker the night before. She told herself she was fine with it, with him being gone, that it was somehow better this way. Except she hated his being away.
Still, she needed time to breathe. Time to think. Time to get her head around being the news. By the time he returned, she’d be in full party-planning mode. She’d be all business and purely professional. Or not.
Damn.
She couldn’t stop herself from remembering the hard planes of his face. A jawline so strong it could crack concrete.
Oh, stop. Before you become one of those women you can’t stand.
Her ring tones sounded off, and her heart galloped. Probably just Mother. She scooped her phone off the bed and checked caller ID. Ryker.
“Hello?” she asked, uncertainly.
“How’d you sleep last night?” he asked.
“Okay. Not great. But I’ll manage.”
****
Ryker shifted the phone in his hand as he pictured Avery huddled over her laptop, stressing. He didn’t like the idea of her being on his island, preoccupied with worries over a party that meant little in the scope of things. She should be relaxing on the beach, with him alongside her, spoiling her. Making love to her.
“Kyle can bring coffee to your room.” The moment he thought about a man delivering anything to her in bed, a muscle knotted in his neck.
“Oh no. I wouldn’t want to put anyone out. I can get my own coffee.”
Ryker didn’t want to admit just how much relief those words brought him. It was all t
oo easy to forget he didn’t want any of this when he spoke to her. The soft lilt of her voice settled his rattled nerves. Ryker didn’t do obsessive, and the emotion raging inside him threw him completely off balance. He wanted to know what Avery was doing at every moment. Thoughts of her invaded his focus. No matter how vulnerable she was, he didn’t want to feel protective of anyone. He didn’t want to care this much. He didn’t want to trust anyone.
Those were dangerous affections.
Let his feelings get the best of him, start behaving based on emotion rather than logical thought, and a woman could bring him to his knees. Especially a woman as sweet and innocent as Avery.
An uneasy feeling settled over Ryker. Was he walking with blinders on where Avery was concerned?
Would she take him for granted?
Thoughts of their incredible sexual tryst clouded his judgment. Could he trust himself with her?
Could he trust her?
Trust was as foreign a word as love to Ryker. And yet he felt a closeness to Avery he’d never experienced with another soul. She was like the sun, and he had only to step from the shadows to be bathed in warmth and light.
Where the hell did that come from?
He stuffed the notion aside before it could root in his thoughts. Waxing poetic wasn’t his style.
Damn that she threw him off balance. He was certain he had the same ridiculous look his father always had whenever Mother walked into the room. Look where that had gotten him.
“Make sure there’s enough liquor for the upstairs bar,” came out gruff.
****
“Check,” Avery said directly as she heard the line go dead. Damn. She wanted to talk about the pictures, but he’d sounded irritated.
What was that about?
Even so, she couldn’t stop herself from seeing the hard planes on his beautiful face. A jawline so strong it could crack concrete.
Stop it, Avery.
That kind of thinking wouldn’t help. He’d phoned, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
She dressed and wandered into the kitchen, where Kyle handed her a fresh cup of coffee with a wary eye toward her melancholy mood.
“What is it?” he asked.
Perceptive. “My mother phoned yesterday. Turns out I’m the news.”
