by Avery Aster
I shake my head. “Sex isn’t enough. It’s not enough to support a whole marriage.”
“We meshed in other ways too.”
“You know what I need—I need to understand you.”
I feel a tug inside. I’m looking at Ryder and remembering some of our hottest nights. How he always knew exactly what I needed…except that one thing.
Before anything happens between Xavier and I—if it’s going to—I need to understand how I feel about Ryder. I need to know I’m really over him.
“Why not take a look at Eden’s dungeons with me?” he asks. “Just a harmless look.”
“Even just looking is going to be way too dangerous, Ryder,” I say. I stand up. “I’m really tired, and I’m going to go to bed.”
I turn to leave, and I’m suddenly staring into Xavier’s gorgeous indigo eyes.
“Hi Tessa,” he says, huskily, then he leans in and kisses me on the lips. A slow, sensual kiss. I shouldn’t be kissing him in front of Ryder, but I can’t seem to draw away.
Though he’s handsome in his classy suit, Ryder is all fighter; muscular, strong, heart of gold. Xavier in a charcoal grey suit looks just as dazzling, but there’s a wickedly dangerous aura to him. Ryder is tough, Xavier is ruthless.
I pull back from Xavier’s kiss and turn nervously toward Ryder. To my surprise he is standing behind me and he cups the back of my neck and draws me into a lusty, open-mouthed, lots-of-tongue kiss. I hear gasps amongst the diners. I’m swaying, stunned.
Are they competing for me?
In public?
Hurriedly, I break free from Ryder’s intense, passionate kiss. “What do you two think you are doing?” I hiss.
“Why don’t we sit down and finish dinner?” Ryder suggests.
I can tell everyone in the dining room is looking at us. “Uh, no. I am getting out of here.”
Xavier rests his hand on my low back. “Of course, Tessa.” He guides me out of the dining room. I know my cheeks must be scarlet.
In the foyer outside of the dining room, I confront Xavier and Ryder. “Xavier, is this just a coincidence that you are here too?”
“I’m taking part in a charity fight with Ryder on Saturday.”
“I know—I saw the poster. But did you know I would be here?”
“Not until your mother told me, Tessa. I agreed to the fight months ago, but once I knew you were coming, I knew I wasn’t coming for the fight. I was coming for you.” Xavier shares a glance with Ryder. “Tessa, we intend on fighting for you.”
“What?”
“We’re both here with you in paradise. I think you’re falling in love with me. Ryder believes you still love him. We both want to win your heart.”
“You mean…compete for me?”
“Yeah,” Ryder says. “And I intend to be the last man standing.”
“This is crazy!” I quickly lower my voice. “You can’t spend one week competing for me and then expect me to choose one of you.”
They both stare at me, looking confused. Ryder says, “You think you could do it in less time?”
“I don’t think I could do it at all.”
“Sure you can,” Ryder insists.
“In a week, I promise you I can sweep you off your feet,” Xavier says. And the low, sensual timbre of his voice sends aftershocks through me.
They’re treating love—and the future—like it’s a championship match. “What if I said I needed to compare you both? What if I wanted one week of wicked, delicious sex with both of you—doing all the naughty things Eden offers? Maybe one of you in the day and one of you at night? And at the end I’d be able to choose.”
Ryder and Xavier exchange a look. This is the point they will realize how crazy their idea of competing for me on the island over the next week really is. Xavier doesn’t speak aloud, but he mouths something to Ryder. I can’t tell what he said.
Ryder clears his throat. “All right, we agree to your terms.”
“I thought…” My voice dies away in a strangled gurgle. “You what?”
“We agree to share you,” Xavier says.
Chapter Four
Xavier – in the Afternoon
By “share,” they meant just what I’d jokingly proposed, that they take turns with me. They didn’t mean make love to me together. In a threesome.
Still, I chickened out last night.
At first, I was certain I was imagining the whole thing. After all, I was exhausted from traveling, and pretty drunk from the wine.
But Ryder came close to me, gazed into my eyes, and said softly, “It’s for real.”
I stared at him. Then giggled helplessly. As I swayed on my feet, Xavier took hold of my shoulders to steady me. “You should go to bed and get some sleep.”
“I should,” I say, “because I don’t even know which of you I want to start with.” That set me off into nervous giggles again.
Both men helped me up the elevator to my room. I left them both at my door and closed it on them. Then I threw on a short nightgown and fell into bed without bothering to wash my face or brush my teeth. My last thought before going to sleep was that not washing my face was the wildest thing I’d done in a long time.
Now, it’s morning. I stretch, get out of bed, and go to one of my windows.
I am facing the wildest thing I could ever imagine.
A gold book on the dainty writing desk catches my eye. It’s the room service book and it bears the island’s tagline.
Where reality is what you want it to be…
A note from Ryder sits beside the book, telling me I can order anything I want from room service, so I order waffles and fresh fruit for breakfast. There are no prices listed.
Two gorgeous men are going to fight for me. I never imagined this reality. Nor did I ever imagine having waffles sent to me by room service.
Seriously, can I make love to Ryder and Xavier one after another and judge them, like it’s some kind of sexual prize fight?
I pick up the phone in my room. Rodney answers and explains that Eden has no cell phone service, but my call can be put through to the States.
I know my cheeks go pink as my mom says, “Hello?”
“Hi Mom, it’s Tessa.” I’m embarrassed she can somehow sense what I’m planning to do. Be with both Xavier and Ryder. One after the other.
Oh. God.
“How is everything?” My voice sounds shaky.
“You don’t need to worry about a thing, Tessa. Everything’s fine,” Mom says reassuringly. “Jakey and I are having a wonderful time. Rob took us both out for dinner last night and we went to see a movie.”
I feel a tug at my heart as she tells me how much Jakey loved the animated movie. I’ve never been away from him before.
Then she continues, “…and Rob gave Jakey a vintage toy fire truck.”
I realize I missed part of what she said. But what I did hear startles me. “He shouldn’t do that! That’s way too generous.”
“It was one Rob had as a boy. He touched up the paint and fixed it up. Jakey was absolutely thrilled.”
“I’m sure he was thrilled. But that’s not the point.” I feel uncomfortable, accepting such a generous present. “But Rob has his own family, doesn’t he?” He said he is divorced, but he hasn’t mentioned having children. “I think someone in his family would want such a personal item.”
“Jakey’s in love with it,” Mom warns.
I know what she’s saying: you’ll never get it out of Jakey’s hands now without breaking his heart. “I will explain to Jakey that if anyone in Rob Stanton’s family wants the fire truck in the future, we’ll give it back, and I’ll buy something new.”
I rub my temple. I was happy Mom seemed to be developing a relationship with Rob Stanton, who is her age, successful, handsome. Now I’m not sure. I try to word it delicately, “I appreciate Rob being so nice to Jakey, but I want to make sure Jakey isn’t spoiled. Rob mentioned to Jakey that he might get a souvenir and now he’s going to expect someth
ing because I’ve been away—”
“I don’t think Rob means any harm,” Mom breaks in, “but I will have a quiet word with him and tell him to be careful about what he says or promises.”
“Thank you, Mom. I’m sorry. I know he’s just being nice—”
“Tessa, Jakey is your son. If you aren’t comfortable, that’s what matters. Now don’t worry about anything and enjoy yourself.” Mom hesitates. “I guess you know by now that Ryder sent the invitation, not Xavier.”
“I discovered that when I arrived and found Ryder waiting in my room.”
“I’m sorry. Ryder wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I know Mom. It’s not your fault.”
“When you guessed it was Xavier, I really wasn’t sure what to do,” Mom continues, sounding guilty. “I promised Ryder I wouldn’t give him away. He really wants to reconcile, Tessa.”
“He shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”
“Why don’t you give him one more chance?”
Should I? Should I stay in paradise and let Ryder and Xavier fight for me?
Though I may have a surprise for both of them: I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship with either of them.
Room service arrives, so I hang up and open the door. When I’m halfway through my waffles, the phone rings again, and I pick it up.
It’s Rodney. “Do you want me to arrange a flight to Miami this morning, Ms. Tate?” he asks. “I can send a porter for your bags as soon as you’re ready.” His voice is polite, but he actually sounds a bit sorry I planned to leave.
“No, thanks. I’m going to stay after all.”
“That is very good news, Ms. Tate. I believe you will enjoy your stay on Eden. Is there anything else you need?”
“A pitcher of mimosas was just delivered to my room with breakfast,” I point out. “I am just fine.”
Rodney chuckles. “Good to know, Ms. Tate. Mr. King asked me to pass a message along to you. He asked if you would meet him in Eden’s workout gym this morning, at ten o’clock.” He pauses. “Is there a reply for Mr. King?”
“Yes. You can tell him I will be there.”
Rodney gives me directions to Eden’s gym. While I sip a second mimosa, I put on a strapless bra, a sundress, and slip my feet into sandals.
I’ve never taken a vacation anywhere sunny. I’ve never been able to afford it. Even when I was first married to Ryder, he was too busy for us to go away.
At first, I went on Ryder’s tours with him. But it was tough to watch someone punching the man I loved. Even when Ryder won, I couldn’t stand seeing the punishment he took.
Ryder wanted me there. He wanted to share his matches with me, but I just couldn’t do it. I guess there were things I just couldn’t do for him.
But I’d call him at night, after every match. I loved listening to him glow with pride over his victory, and I wanted to be there for him if he lost—which was rare.
While I couldn’t watch him fight, I tried to compromise.
He won’t compromise for me. He says I have to take him as he is—with all that anger, unhappiness, bitterness—knowing I can never do anything about it.
I follow the directions, which takes me outside onto a flagstone terrace. Ocean breezes whisper around me, lovely and warm.
I walk outside, lifting my face to bask in the sun. It takes me just a few minutes to find the double doors, where a bronze plaque reads: Gymnasium.
Ryder is working out alone, pounding his fists into a large punching bag.
Ryder trains obsessively. We had a fight about it once. It was before our big fight that broke us up—the fight that happened after I found him in our destroyed kitchen.
That last fight wasn’t the kind of fight where you yell. It was the kind of fight where you are crying, and you don’t understand, and you say: can’t you just trust me enough to talk to me? But you realize that when he’s really hurt, or angry, or scared, that he’s not going to turn to you. Not ever. He’s always going to lock you out.
The fight we had over his training happened because his trainer had advised him to take a break. Ryder had pulled a groin muscle in a fight and what he needed was rest. But I found him doing squats with huge weights in our workout room—he had one built in our house in Westingham.
I said, “You shouldn’t be doing this. You need rest.”
“I’m okay,” he said defensively.
“Your trainer and your manager told you to take a break so you can heal. If you tear that muscle, you will need an operation. You’ll end up in the hospital, then you’ll have to stop fighting for months.”
“I know what my body can take.”
“You should respect your trainer’s opinion.”
But he didn’t. Ryder never took a day off from training. Not Christmas. Not even on our wedding night. He did one hundred push-ups after he helped me out of my wedding dress and undressed himself, before we went to bed. Who does that on his wedding night?
I worried about his obsessive need to train and how he was willing to even damage his body to do it. But watching him work out is the sexiest thing ever.
In Eden’s gym, he’s drilling his fists into a punching bag, knocking it back and forth, his broad shoulders bunching with each punch. His tanned skin gleams with sweat. Droplets of perspiration roll down his back.
Each diamond-like drop slides down, follows the valley of his spine, and disappears under the waistband of his low slung boxing shorts.
His short blond hair is so damp it’s turned a caramel color. He tosses his head, sending off a spray of moisture. When he punches, his core is sucked in so hard I can see the ridged shape of every muscle.
The material of his shorts hugs his muscular ass. He trains barefoot, moving fluidly as each punch sends a loud thud through the large workout room.
I watch another drop of sweat skate down his back.
Wouldn’t I love to be able to catch it with my tongue?
Oh God.
He stops hitting the bag and turns. He grins at me. “Hey, Tessa, have you decided to stay?” He grabs a towel and rubs his hair, then slugs back water from his bottle.
That’s the thing with Ryder—I am still mesmerized by his every movement.
I nod.
He sets his bottle down and approaches me. “I remember so much every time I’m with you,” he says softly. “It’s funny—now that we don’t live together, I’m flooded with memories the moment I see you. Memories of our first date. Our first kiss. The first time you were on top and fucked my brains out. The first time we went to the club...”
I know what club he means and the memory makes shivers tumble down my back.
Our first night at the BDSM club had been magically erotic. Spell binding. For one whole night, we were focused on each other, on sex, on kinky fantasies.
My fantasies are limited to being tied up and a little bit of spanking. Ryder was okay with that. And exceptionally amazing at making my fantasies come true.
He moves closer. He’s pulled off his gloves, leaving his hands bare except for the slightly frayed tape over his knuckles. His familiar scent is driving me crazy—the combination of musky sweat, his favorite soap, and a touch of his aftershave.
“Ryder—” I don’t even know what I intend to say. He strokes my long hair back over my shoulder and his fingers slide under the strap of my sundress. He doesn’t try to slip it down, he uses it to keep his fingertips trapped against my skin. He just strokes me. “I remember the first time I saw you wearing a ball gag and a blindfold.”
The image turns me on instantly. And he knows it, so I tartly respond, “I remember the first time I saw you in leather pants and nothing else.”
I squirm at the memory, realizing my plan to tease him backfired. I’m more inflamed than before. After all, in Dom wear, Ryder was so hot it should be illegal.
Ryder leans close and his warm breath brushes my cheek. “I also remember when Jakey was born, Tessa. You taught me what tough really means.”
<
br /> I’m transfixed. He’s always been able to do that to me. Capture me with his voice, his touch, his words. “I did have a fairly hard labor. But it was worth it.”
“You’re incredibly strong. I would never have looked back at my hardest fight and said it was a good thing.”
“But you’ve never got the same gift at the end of it.” I smile.
There was so much good between us. But that’s what made the bad so much worse.
“You and Jakey are the most important people in my world,” he says seriously. “Before Jakey was born, you were the only person who mattered to me. And when someone means so much to you, you get scared.”
“Why ‘scared’? You had to know I loved you. Or was that what you were really scared of—that I wanted too much commitment?”
“I was scared of disappointing you,” he says softly.
“Why? You never disappointed me.”
“Not even when I wouldn’t tell you about my personal demons?”
“I wasn’t disappointed. I—I just wanted you to trust me.” My throat hurts as I say it.
The tape on Ryder’s hand lightly scratches my bare shoulder. His fingers slide down, brushing my breasts through my dress.
I’m melting.
“Malone is in love with you,” Ryder says. “But he’s not going to get you, because I’m going to win you back.”
“Is this just about the competition—?”
“It’s about you,” he interrupts.
I am so aware of him that my skin is getting steamy under my thin sundress. All I have to do is reach out with my fingers and I could touch his hot, hard body.
I look away, trying to fight for my composure and some control—
The poster of Ryder and Xavier is on the wall, across the room from me. I can’t read it from this distance, so all I can focus on are Xavier and Ryder’s muscular bodies, mostly bare except for their boxing shorts. The fight is scheduled for Saturday night.
The two men I care about most will be pounding on each other at the end of the week.
“How exactly do you and Xavier intend to fight for me?” I ask nervously.
“I know what I have to do: seduce the pants off you, give you everything you deserve, and win your heart.”
