“I love you, Marie Brisbee,” he said and kissed her again.
She enjoyed the feeling of her hair blowing around in the sea wind and Ethan’s warm body so close to her own. A moment like this could last a lifetime and she could live in it, forever happy. Her brain didn’t exactly want to cooperate, though, and a thought sparked into it, causing her to break the kiss in impromptu revelation.
“Ethan! The Blue Star!” she cried out in a whisper. “Where is it? Don’t tell me Marco still had it when…well, you know.”
Ethan beamed and dug into his pocket. “Oh, that thing? I think I have it around here somewhere.” When he pulled his cupped hand back out, in it was the sparkling blue stone.
***
One week later…
The calm comfort of the resort hotel in Belize was like a breath of fresh air after being chased, shot at, and almost killed in São Tomè. A wicker headboard and footboard at each end of the bed complimented nicely with the charm of the room, which held a sort of Spanish flavor, from the murals of singing men on the walls to the rustic burgundy drapes that hung over windows with fat wooden blinds.
A light breeze rolled through the room, carrying with it the sounds of the ocean’s lapping waves and the distant melody of a Marimba band playing a happy tune. There was a tremendous view of the beach through the sliding glass doors and a darkly-shaded stained balcony with two lounge chairs looking out over it. The place was pure paradise.
On the bed and sitting up against a mound of pillows, Ethan closed one eye and held up the giant sapphire into the light, trying to see if he could look through it. The opacity of the thing was greater around the rounded edges, but the center, which was shaped like a star with five strands of translucent white, was much too thick for light to pass through. He couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but the size and history behind it was all that mattered.
He had originally tried to get Marie to agree to let him find a black market contact he’d known years ago and try to sell the gem that way, but she wasn’t having it. She insisted that the sapphire belonged in a museum somewhere, and so, he had reluctantly agreed. They didn’t need much money to be happy, after all, he told himself. When Marie later informed him that the museum would pay five million for it, his reluctance turned into impatience.
“Are you still playing with that thing?” Marie asked as she came around the corner. She had one fluffy white towel wrapped around her body and one holding up her hair. Her skin was gleaming with leftover beads of water from the hot bath and she was feeling particularly devilish. She looked over at Ethan, who was still messing with the jewel, and hummed to herself when she took in every inch of his naked chest.
Marie undid her towel, letting it fall to the floor, and climbed into the bed. She swept one leg over him, sat in his lap, and whispered, “Why don’t you play with me, instead?”
Ethan turned his attention away from the stone immediately.
With a clatter, he placed the sapphire on the nightstand so he could be free to pursue more urgent matters. He caressed her skin, sliding his hands from her thighs and posterior, up to her breasts. There, he craned his neck forward and engulfed one puffy nipple in his mouth, sucking fervently while massaging the supple flesh around it.
Marie groaned out from the perilous contact and leaned forward to make his job easier. She ground her hips into him, rubbing her soft folds against the package that hid just underneath the thin swimming trunks he had on. He grew stiffer with each sliding motion and Marie’s ache to have him inside her intensified. Her folds parted along the length of his still-covered member as she arched her back and she kissed his neck, stimulating him, making him hungry with desire.
“Mmm,” Marie murmured into Ethan’s ear. “You taste yummy.”
Ethan just gave her a subdued laugh and relished the sensation of her mouth tickling and lightly pecking around the inside of his neck near his Adam’s apple. The strain of his erect member against his trunks was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He longed for her to free it and let him have his way with her, but she was teasing today, more interested in driving him crazy before moving ahead.
“You sure do like to tease me, don’t you?” Ethan whispered, clasping his hands to her buttocks again and giving them a squeeze.
“Mmm-hmm,” Marie said and pushed herself back onto him again. “You know you love it.”
“I know I love you.”
Marie never thought she’d hear those words from a man that really meant it, and it thrilled her every time he said it. All the other men before had been like cardboard cutouts, never drawing any real emotion from her, nor showing her the kind of warm and sensuous affection that Ethan did. She never wanted it to end.
“I love you, too.”
Ethan, unable to stand it any longer, placed his hands gently against her shoulders and pushed, rolling her over onto her back. In a clumsy but cute way that only a man is capable of, he shimmied off his trunks and tossed them into the corner of the room. His full, erect manhood was revealed and Marie couldn’t resist wrapping her hands around it.
“Does that feel nice?” she asked, teasing again, while stroking him in her fist.
Ethan closed his eyes and nodded, embracing the warmth of her hand on him and the escalating feeling of pleasure. She continued to stroke even as he positioned himself, placing both hands on either side of her waist and moving his hips closer to hers. When he reached her entrance, Marie sighed and brushed his soft tip against her folds, coating it in her slippery juices.
He pushed forward and she guided him, inside her heat, until he was completely rooted within. As he rested there with his rigidness sheathed in her, their mouths met in a tangled, wet engagement. Ethan began to sway, slowly at first, while they enjoyed the succulence of each kiss.
Marie thought she was going to lose her mind. The level of bliss was meteoric and every nerve ending felt alight to the strumming pulse of the tingle in her belly. As he pulled away to recover his breath, she quickly encircled her hands around his back and pulled him in again, desperate for more.
Ethan had the endurance to pleasure her however she desired, but he still had to revel in the knowledge that he, too, was capable of some pretty naughty teasing. Marie began to shift her hips under him, egging on the instinctual craving he had to just pummel into her. He knew she must have been achingly close to her first release, and now that his playful torture was complete, he obliged her.
“Oh!” Marie let out when Ethan withdrew almost completely and sank back in hard with his full length. It felt so good and now, both of them had reached their limit for what they could stand without letting loose.
His thrusts went from arousal-building, barely-shifting movements to a firm, hammering piston. Marie’s folds stretched around him and she enjoyed the erotic sight of watching him disappear and reappear inside her over and over again. The swell of her release bubbled up inside her and her legs fell more widely apart at his insistence.
“Closer now,” she thought, her mind a swirling mess of raw impulses that commanded her towards her goal. She obeyed, bringing her hands up against Ethan’s chest and then down and around to the small of his back, directing him not to stop for even one second.
“Closer…going to…come,” the thoughts poured and her mouth opened, ready to cry out in ecstasy, but only silence escaped as her muscles tightened and the ebbing tide of her release crested.
A single, lusty groan crept out as the feeling let her go and her body relaxed, pleasantly used, and a hot rush raced to her face. She opened her eyes again and found Ethan’s, which had been watching her with fixed interest as she experienced the orgasm. His pace hadn’t slowed, only increased, and he was nearly there himself.
“Ethan…I want you to come,” Marie managed to whisper. Her breasts heaved with each breath and she felt almost completely spent. The power of it all left her limp and totally under his whim. “Please, come inside me. I need to feel it.”
Her p
lea coupled with the unbelievable rapture he was feeling quickly sent him over the edge. Ethan clasped onto her waist forcefully and drove in, burying himself to the hilt, and let out a harsh moan. The feeling of his manhood throbbing inside her and spilling its hot, slippery reward left Marie writhing on the bed and tearing at the sheets with her hands.
After a time, he withdrew, and the two of them lounged in each other’s arms, watching the sun sparkle over the ocean from the comfort of their room.
“What a beautiful day,” Marie commented, while playfully tracing one finger across Ethan’s chest. “We should go out. Do something.”
“How about a walk?” Ethan suggested. “I’ve been wanting to take a little stroll down the beach and the pier’s got some merchants selling those candied papaya you love so much.”
“It’s a date. Technically, our first real date.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Ethan said with a laugh. “I guess the ideal date doesn’t usually come with so many near-death experiences.”
They’d never leave the stone in the hotel room. It was much too risky. Instead, Ethan always brought it with them, along with the bag which Marie had carried the map in during their adventure on São Tomè. After throwing on a modicum of clothing, they walked out of the air conditioning and into the hot day.
An hour later, the two of them finished their stroll along the sand of the Belizean beach. There was much to enjoy; watching happy families playing in the surf, seeing the little crabs that ran this way and that, and feeling the warm lap of waves against their ankles, but their primary interest was simply being together.
They walked hand in hand, hopping across the blazing sand and over the wooden bridge that crossed the dunes and up to the pier. Marie was so concentrated on Ethan that she paid no mind to the man closely following them.
“Dos,” Ethan said to the candied papaya vendor, and held up two fingers. As he waited for the man to wrap the delicious treats and hand them over, Ethan set the bag down on a small table behind him. In an instant, the man who was following them rushed forward and snatched it. Despite the man’s obviously heavy bulk, his feet flew across the wooden slats of the pier faster than greased lightning.
“Ethan! He’s stolen the bag!” Marie shouted.
Ethan dashed after him, closing in fast as the end of the pier came into view. Just when he thought he’d cornered the man, the thief climbed up onto the railing and leapt off, splashing down in the deep water below.
“Hey!” Ethan yelled and looked over the edge.
The man surfaced and quickly swam over to a waiting power boat. Once aboard, he tossed away the soaking wet hat he’d been wearing and removed his sunglasses. When the man looked up at Ethan, he gave a little half-salute and smiled. It was none other than Lewis Sneed.
“Thanks for the present!” Lewis shouted just as Marie caught up to Ethan. He held the bag in the air and waved it around, even taking a moment to happily dance around. “Retirement, baby! Here I come!”
Marie, stricken with panic, looked over at Ethan, who was disturbingly calm.
“Aren’t you going to do anything?!” she asked, pointing her hand out into the ocean. “He’s got the Blue Star!”
“Just watch,” Ethan said reassuringly.
“Ha ha!” Lewis taunted and unlatched the bag. He stuck one hand in and searched, pulling out a box of tissues, a pack of chewing gum, and a stick of deodorant, tossing all of them carelessly onto the deck of the boat. Frustrated, his mocking laugh came to a close and he upended the bag, spilling out the remainder of its mostly worthless contents.
“Hey Lewis!” Ethan called down to him, drawing his gaze. Lewis looked ultimately confused and beside himself. The few wiry hairs which remained on the sides of his balding head were frazzled and his big belly stuck out from under the bottom of his saturated, ugly, purple and teal shirt.
Ethan reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the glimmering, cerulean stone, and held it between his index finger and his thumb. “You looking for this?”
Lewis began to curse and slung the bag off into the water. He landed a kick to the side of the boat with a crunch and shouted in pain before falling over onto his behind, cradling his toe between his hands.
“You ready?” Ethan asked and wrapped his arm around Marie’s waist.
She nodded and walked with him back down the pier, towards their new life and their next adventure.
***
Other Works by Synthia St. Claire!
Whatever He Desires (The Complete Billionaire Series)
Laurie Summers, a shy student nurse, is about to meet the most eligible bachelor in the world - Mr. William Battle.
He's ultra-wealthy, ravishingly handsome, and gets whatever he desires...and she's at the top of his list. William shows Laurie a world of extravagance and luxury like she's never imagined, while educating her on the fine art of pleasing him and learning to experience sex in ways that send her senses reeling and her body quivering.
As their sensual escapades grow more and more intense, lies are revealed and a devious secret that threatens everything comes to light. Without her help, the man that has everything might just lose everything.
Love Lift Me (A Sweet Romance)
“I couldn’t put my finger on it until I saw you sitting on the end of that pier, Kat. It was like…” He pressed his body against mine and his explorations grew more intense. I felt his hot breath tickle at the thin skin behind my ear before his lips closed together and kissed me there. “…like I’d lost someone that made me feel something amazing. Something real…and then I found her all over again. And now, here you are. With me.”
Katherine Atwater was about to start her new life, but instead she’s headed back. Back home. Back to her family. Back to a lover who lied and tore her heart to pieces.
Attorney Shane Logan is going the same way, on the same bus, and preparing to try the biggest case of his career. He didn’t expect to find a woman like Kat on this trip. He never imagined he’d be saving her life.
After barely surviving the accident, Kat wonders if she’ll ever again see Shane, the handsome man with soulful amber eyes who rescued her. A hero was just what she needed. The sound of his voice stirred up the most wonderful, longing ache inside of her she’d ever felt. Somehow, with him, all of her troubles seemed to lift away.
To Kat’s surprise, Shane finds his way to her small town. He’s come to risk it all righting the wrongs of a greedy billionaire and his gorgeous, deceitful daughter, but will Shane risk taking a chance with the girl he saved?
A Full Length New Adult Contemporary Romance
***
Thanks for reading!
Input and reviews from readers like you is any author’s fantasy! Won’t you make mine come true? Drop me a line at [email protected] or put up a review wherever you purchased this book. Thank you!
-Synthia St. Claire
***
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Bad Boys and Billionaires (The Naughty List Bundles) Page 69
