Ava held her breath, taking in the intent expression on his face, even as she felt her own anticipation building. She wanted to feel guilty—after all, she had barely touched him at all. Then again, he hadn’t touched her much, either, and she was hot and wet and ready for him.
She gasped when, having finished donning the condom, Grant pulled her bikini bottom out of the way. Then she moaned as he guided the tip of his cock to her slick entrance, wiggling as he barely pushed up, then slid back out without fully settling her onto him.
“Yes. Please,” she said again, but this time she knew exactly what she wanted.
“Please what?” Grant asked, his mouth crooked up in a mischievous grin, even as he watched her through eyes smoldering with passion.
“Oh, please, Grant. Fuck me,” Ava begged.
“Hang on,” he whispered, then thrust upwards at the same moment he loosened his grip enough to let her drop down onto him.
The sudden sensations as she stretched to take him in completely made her eyelids flutter closed, and all she could do was repeat “yes,” over and over, even as she tightened and loosened her thighs to meet him, thrust for thrust, as he pumped into her.
FUCKING HER ON THE beach wasn’t exactly what I had planned.
The thought had run through Grant’s mind even as he pulled the condom out of the small interior pocket in his swim trunks, and the irony of the thought contrasted with his obvious planning to do just that, should the opportunity arise, almost made him laugh.
Then he was inside her, and there was no more room for thought. She pulsed around him, loosening to pull him into the deepest, hottest part of her, then tightening around his cock in a way that made him almost weak.
Grant shifted his hands to grip her ass tightly, pulling her closer as he drove into her. She whimpered, and he moved his hands again, this time making sure he could still hold her with one hand while he slid the other between them.
For just an instant, he wished he’d had the foresight to take off her bikini bottoms before he picked her up. But he discovered quickly enough that he could fit his hand down the front of them.
Lightly, he dragged his knuckles downward through her curls until he brushed them against her clit. Her sharp inhale and the tightening of her pussy around his cock made him swell even more, and he began to circle her clit with his thumb as he moved inside her.
Her own rhythmic motions grew faster. Throwing her head back made it more difficult for Grant to hold her in place, but he wouldn’t have stopped for anything. They could have toppled to the sand beneath them, and still he would have pounded into her.
When she leaned her forehead against his and stared into his eyes, her breath hard and fast and mingling with his own, it was all he could do to keep from coming right then.
God, yes. This woman. Now. Always.
Ava closed her eyes, her breath ragged and her movements wild as she ground her clit against his hand and pushed herself down onto him until he was as deep as he had ever been in any woman—deeper—and he could feel the pressure building in his stomach and his balls, ready to explode into her, and still he tried to move even closer to her, further into her, as if he could reach the very core of her.
Ava came with a cry, shudders wracking her body as she clung to him, tightening around Grant in waves that seemed to match the sound of the ocean, the sound of his heart. And then he was pouring himself into her, every pulse of his own earth-shattering orgasm a hot reminder of how much he loved Ava.
WHEN AVA COULD THINK again—beyond simply “Yes” and “don’t stop”—she realized Grant’s legs were trembling. She wasn’t surprised. The way he had swelled and heated inside her just before his orgasm had triggered something inside her—either a second orgasm, or a continuation of her first, she wasn’t sure.
In any case, that white-hot passion had wiped out everything else from her consciousness, leaving her draped helplessly, and almost bonelessly, around Grant. Apparently, he had managed to keep them upright. If Ava had been in charge of the standing, she wasn’t sure she would have done as well.
The thought made her giggle against the crook of his neck, and she dropped a kiss against the hollow there as Grant asked, “What?” His voice was more than a little breathless.
“You can put me down now, I think.”
At that, he laughed, too. “I’m not sure I can. But I’ll try.”
Shifting her in his arms, he carefully withdrew from her. She unwrapped her legs from his waist, unwound her arms from his neck, and dropped down.
The slight scrape of his chest hair against her nipples sent a shiver through her. She was surprised to find she had any trace of libido left—but apparently she could be ready to go again soon. At least with Grant, anyway.
Dropping to stand on her tiptoes in the sand, she discovered that her legs were more than a little wobbly, too.
That was one hell of a seduction.
Even if she still wasn’t sure who had been seducing whom.
Or what she should do or say next.
For that matter, she had no idea how much time had passed since they had left the rest of the beach.
“Do we need to get back to the boat yet?” she asked, straightening her suit. The wrapper of the condom she had brought made a slight crinkling noise, and she grinned, delighted that he had obviously been every bit as interested in seducing her as she was in him.
Grant blinked at her, trying to make sense of her words. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “Probably.”
This time when she headed toward the water, she took his hand in hers. “Follow me.”
Chapter 8
The music started, and Ava’s heart pounded as hard as if this were her own wedding. It was silly, she knew. With a wedding this small—only the officiant, the bride and groom, and two witnesses—there wasn’t much chance of anything going wrong. There was no reason for Ava to be nervous.
Grant stepped up beside her, elbow crooked out to take her arm, and her heartbeat sped up.
Well, maybe she had one reason to be nervous.
Once they were all back on the boat the day before, Grant had stretched out on the deck next to Ava, leaned back on his elbows, so close that she could feel the heat coming off him in waves. Seth’s gaze flickered between the two of them suspiciously until Kristin whispered something in his ear. After that, her brother alternated between staring at the ocean and frowning at his fiancée.
Kristin ignored him, choosing instead to chatter away about the various things that they would all need to do to prepare for the wedding the next afternoon—or rather, the things the wedding coordinator had done that Kristin wanted Ava to double-check before the ceremony.
Ava might have assumed the other woman was oblivious to the underlying tension among the other passengers if not for the fact that as they disembarked, Kristin took the chance to lean in to Ava and say, “Don’t worry about Seth. I’ll make sure he’s okay. You and Grant have a great time.”
With that, she had invited Grant to join her in her room, where he had spent the night.
This time, he had stayed through breakfast—and although she was exhausted, Ava couldn’t quit smiling. She hadn’t seen Grant again since he had left, though she knew he was helping Seth get ready, just as she had kept Kristin company in the honeymoon suite while the various people the bride had hired to do their hair and makeup had buzzed around them.
Now, Ava and Grant walked down the short aisle into the gazebo and took their places on either side of the officiant. Rose, the wedding coordinator, gave some sort of signal, the music changed, and Seth and Kristin appeared at the end of the aisle.
Back in Necessity, Ava had been certain that Kristin’s decision to have her wedding dress altered to tea-length was a bad idea.
In Necessity, she had thought that everything about this trip was a bad idea.
Unexpected tears popped up in Ava’s eyes. Only a few days ago, she had feared that Seth was making the wrong choice by marryin
g Kristin. Now she was certain that they belonged together.
The light wind blew the scent of flowers through the gazebo as Kristin and Seth vowed to love, honor, and cherish one another. Rose, who was moving around to take pictures, leaned over and tucked a tissue into Ava’s hand.
She gazed down at Seth’s ring in her hand, turning it over a few times until it was time to hand it to Kristin, who looked as beautiful as ever.
As the officiant announced, “You may kiss your bride,” Ava’s gaze flicked toward Grant, only to discover him staring at her intently, his expression inscrutable.
Then the wedding was over. The whole thing hadn’t taken more than ten minutes, but it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies Ava had ever seen.
“We have a small cake and a bottle of champagne waiting for you in the restaurant,” Rose told them, moving them along so she could make sure the gazebo was ready for the next wedding later that day.
“Will you go on a picnic with me after the cake and champagne?” Grant asked as Kristin and Seth left, oblivious to everyone but each other.
“I will.” Flustered by her own word choice, Ava turned away from him and took one long, last look out at the ocean, then followed her brother and her new sister-in-law back toward the resort’s buildings.
I NEED TO GET AVA TO come stay with me in Nebraska until this job ends. Then maybe I can get one closer to home.
Grant spread out the beach blanket and set down the basket of food he’d had the resort restaurant pack for them.
Ava stood at the edge of the blanket. “Are you sure no one will see us here?”
“As sure as I can be in this situation.” Grant brushed sand away from the basket and began pulling out boxes of food as he cast a grin over his shoulder. “Anyway, we’re just having a picnic.”
He dropped down and stretched out on his side. “Want to join me?” he asked, patting the fabric in front of him, a gleam in his eyes.
A long time later, they collapsed back on the blanket, breathing heavily and staring up at the sky.
Grant rolled over onto his side and ran one finger lazily up and down Ava’s arm. “When we get home—” he began.
“Wait,” Ava interrupted. “What do you mean, ‘when we get home’? We catch our flights tomorrow morning, and when we arrive in Dallas, I’m getting my car and driving back to Necessity. You’re headed back to—where is your latest job?”
Grant frowned. “This one’s in Nebraska, but...”
“But nothing.” Ava shook her head emphatically. “You have always been absolutely certain that you needed to get out of Necessity. Grant, this has been amazing, but it doesn’t change anything. You can’t leave your job, and I can’t leave Necessity.”
“Why not? It’s not like you have the kind of job that would keep you there.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they had been the wrong thing to say.
Ava began gathering her clothes to dress.
That is not how you ask her to come with you, dumbass.
Grant’s heart constricted in his chest as he began pulling on his own clothes.
He could barely breathe. She wasn’t going to come with him.
What had he been thinking, anyway? It’s not like she had ever promised him anything. But he had built a fantasy of a future together anyway.
Based on what? The fact that she was charmed by Antigua? That she was willing to go on a few island adventures with him?
Is that what I am—another island adventure?
This is exactly what he had done to her that New Year’s Eve. Had amazing, mind-blowing sex, then ... left.
Not exactly without saying goodbye—he wasn’t that much of an ass—but definitely without finding out what, if anything, she wanted from him. No, he had made that decision for her.
Just like she was making this decision for him.
For the first time ever, he wondered if maybe she hadn’t wanted anything other than a one-night stand, even back then.
AVA FINISHED GETTING dressed, then turned to face Grant again. “You know, I may only be a waitress, but that doesn’t mean my job is any less important than yours.”
“I didn’t mean that at all.”
“I think you did. More to the point, I’m pretty sure you’ve already decided exactly how this relationship is going to go, without even asking me what I want. For your information, this doesn’t mean anything.” She waved her hand in a wide arc, encompassing Grant, the beach, possibly the entire trip. “This is nothing more than a ... a last fling.” She practically spit the last words at him.
“Last fling? What the hell, Ava? Are you engaged or something? Have you been cheating on someone with me?”
She felt her cheeks go hot, but did her best to ignore the blush. “You wouldn’t know, would you? You didn’t even stop to ask. You just assumed I would fall in with whatever plan you had.”
“I thought, when you said you wished you could travel—”
Ava interrupted him. “Maybe I did. But that doesn’t mean I will drop my whole life and follow you wherever you go. I do have a life back in Necessity, you know.” Even if it isn’t much of one. “And people who rely on me.” Like Gran.
Grant’s brow furrowed into a scowl, exactly as it always had when he was upset and trying not to show it.
Dammit. I know him far too well for my own good.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out on the exhale for a slow count of five. Opening her eyes, she tried to moderate her tone. “Look. I can’t go running off with you just because we have amazing sex.”
His eyes brightened a bit at the change in her tone, and the frown smoothed out as soon as she said “amazing sex.”
Leave it to a man to decide that’s the most important phrase in that sentence.
“Grant, when I get back to Necessity, I am moving back in with my grandmother. She can’t afford to keep up her house by herself. She needs me.”
When Grant didn’t answer, she shook her head and walked away.
She had promised herself that she would never again be surprised to discover that she and Grant wanted different things. That had lasted all of two days.
I hope Seth and Kristin are doing better with their vows than I am with mine.
Chapter 9
Outside on the circular drive the next morning, Ava took a deep breath. The soft breeze continued, carrying the scent of the ocean and blowing away Ava’s earlier foul mood. It didn’t matter that she and Grant were at odds again—she was here, on the last day of the vacation of a lifetime.
And she was determined to enjoy herself.
Grant Porter be damned.
So today, she was spending the day away from the resort, and as far away from Grant as she could get. So she had pulled out the guidebook she had bought and charged an excursion to the eighteenth-century fort to her emergency credit card.
This is an emergency. I desperately need to get away from Grant.
More than that, she needed to escape the idea that she could have ended up with him—that this could have been more than a vacation fling, if only she could find a way around needing to stay in Necessity.
But I can’t.
Scanning the placards held by the drivers standing by the excursion shuttle vans, Ava finally spotted one that read Jordan Party.
“Jordan, party of one,” she muttered to herself, grinning a little darkly.
Flashing a smile at the driver as he opened the door for her, Ava slid into the back seat of the resort’s shuttle van. “There you go, miss,” the driver said, his soft accent containing hints of the island patois she had been hearing ever since she stepped off the plane several days ago. “I’ll be coming back in a minute, and then we’ll go.” His dark brown eyes sparkled at her as he turned away, leaving the sliding van door open to catch the breeze.
With a shrug, she applied herself to the guidebook, double-checking her marks in it, the stars next to all the things she had wanted to see while she was there.
>
The armory. The old fort. St. John’s, with its stores and markets. 365 beaches.
Okay. So she hadn’t had time for everything. But she had one last chance to sightsee.
And avoiding Grant as much as I can.
The van rocked, and Ava glanced up, planning to ask the shuttle driver to tell her a little more about the history of the West Indies.
The words died in her throat.
“Hey, Ava.” Grant nodded at her as he moved toward the back of the shuttle.
So much for avoiding Grant.
Of course he’s coming on the tour, too. That’s the kind of luck I have.
And now he was sitting behind her, staring a hole in the back of her head.
It’s clear he can’t stand me.
She blinked back tears.
She had spent most of the night fantasizing about how she might behave when they met up again.
Sometimes she envisioned Grant dumbstruck by the sight of her in the mini dress.
Other times, she imagined herself giving him the cold shoulder as she swept past him the next time she saw him in Necessity.
And every so often as the night wore on and she found herself still unable to sleep, she allowed herself to dream of a scenario that ended with them together, kissing, touching...
They were silly, childish daydreams. She knew that. And she didn’t expect any of them to really come true.
For one thing, not a single one involved him refusing to sit next to her on a tour bus while she stewed in her own misery and tried to keep from crying.
She rubbed her temples, then went back to watching the brightly painted buildings of St. John’s slide by her, until the city ran out and all that was left was rolling countryside.
Leaning her forehead against the glass, she stared out across the landscape as far as she could, hoping for another glimpse of the ocean. When it finally came, the early morning sunshine glinted off the ocean like diamonds flashing, dazzling her eyes.
Loving Necessity: The Complete Necessity, Texas Collection Page 12
