She unwrapped the books again, this time pulling all three volumes out. The covers looked innocuous enough – a tie, a carnival mask and a key. Not a jar of spread in sight.
A flash of pink caught her eye and Gaia felt all the blood drain from her face. Handcuffs? There was a pair of handcuffs hidden in the wrapping paper. Pink fluffy handcuffs, but handcuffs all the same. A gift from Jay, who apparently liked the things.
What part of being trussed up like a common criminal could possibly be sexy?
If she wanted to understand, evidently she had to read the books. Educational, he'd called them.
Grabbing what appeared to be the first volume, Gaia settled on the couch to learn.
FORTY-SEVEN
As a twenty-seven-year-old billionaire herself, Gaia was initially drawn to the man of Anastasia's dreams, secretly pleased that Jay had instantly made the comparison between her and the successful, male CEO. She even found herself grinning as the girl was whisked away in the billionaire's helicopter, much as she'd done to Jay.
But the more she read, the more she found herself siding with the girl and not the man at all. Jay had been the one to assist her when she was drunk, rescuing her from her distress more than once. That night with him had been the most incredible of her life, even if she didn't remember much of it.
The first sex scene took her breath away. After all, it was the first sex scene she'd ever read.
It was certainly a far cry from that romance book one of the girls had filched from her mother's nightstand. Full of men with throbbing swords that they thrust into quivering sheaths and other such nonsense. Helen had read it aloud as they whispered and giggled, until the book had been confiscated. It had certainly given her unreasonable expectations.
Gaia had been most disappointed when the first penis she saw had looked more like a cocktail sausage than a sword. Of course, it had certainly felt sharp enough when he'd jabbed it inside her on the fifth or sixth clumsy try. Three strokes and the deed was done; she'd given her virginity to Richard in the back of his BMW in the car park of the exclusive, all-boys college he attended, after the Year 12 ball. His school and hers had merged for the ball, and for a few minutes, so had they, before he'd sent the used condom sailing out the window into the night. Revolted by the whole experience, she'd pulled her knickers up and insisted he drive her home, where she'd spent an hour in the shower, scrubbing away the feel of his touch. She hadn't seen him again; she certainly hadn't wanted more sex from the boy.
Could a girl's first time really be as good as the one in the book? Gaia's certainly hadn't been. In fact, she'd never enjoyed herself for more than five minutes with a man before she'd spent the night with Jay. Did Jay have some secret superpower that allowed him to give pleasure for hours, or had she simply never met a man who knew what he was doing until Jay?
The billionaire in this book certainly knew what he wanted, and how to give and receive pleasure. He had the girl biting her lip, clenching her core and drooling over every inch of him even before he got undressed. Just like Jay...
For the first time, she wondered if oral sex really was as awful as it looked in adult films. The book made it sound desirable, like sucking on a popsicle...
And if Jay did it to her...
Idly, she wondered if Jay owned a tie. Not necessarily one like on the cover of the book, but something tie-shaped that he could maybe tie her wrists with, to see if she liked it.
No, he probably didn't. She was surprised the man owned shoes.
Sighing, she read on.
Reading the contract made her squirm as it reminded her of her own preoccupation with paperwork. The girl agonised over the agreement she wanted to make with her billionaire almost as much as Gaia had over the one that was now confetti on her floor.
The next sex scene took her by surprise, almost as much as the heroine, it seemed, who hadn't been expecting to bring her billionaire to her bedroom. He became coarse and overbearing, but she liked it. Gaia squirmed again as she thought of Jay.
What if he were to tie her up, blindfold her, and do all sorts of sexy things to her? Would she refuse him? Her breath hitched.
Biting her lip, Gaia flipped back a few pages and read the sex scene again. No one had ever been that masterful with her in the bedroom. It was hot enough to make her insides melt.
Not for the first time, she thought of that time he'd slapped her bottom. How much she'd ached for sex to follow, but it hadn't. He'd barely touched her since. Well, not in an erotic way, anyway. Carrying her home didn't really count.
Feverishly, she kept reading, hoping for more sex. None of the business books had ever held her attention quite so completely.
Oh yes! She devoured every detail, wishing Jay were here so he could do all the things in the book. Gaia blushed. Letting a man have her at his mercy – tie her up! – wasn't her sort of thing at all. She'd spent a lifetime learning to dominate men, not the other way around. But maybe with Jay, it would be different...she could try it just the once and see if she liked it...
Satisfied, she returned to her book.
Wait...did he just say he was going to spank her? Like an unruly child from last century?
She reread the passage. Yes, he had. He wouldn't, though, surely. That was so degrading. Hardly romantic enough to go into a book.
And yet...he did. He was a man of his word, after all. Like Jay.
He'd turned the girl over his knee, pulled down her pants and spanked her. It had turned her on so much that they'd had explosive sex afterwards, better than before.
Gaia read the passage again, and again, her insides heating and clenching until her toes curled.
She imagined what it would feel like if Jay slapped her bottom again, like he had that night. He'd sent a zinging lightning bolt straight to her core then. What if he did it over and over and over until...until she was so aroused, she begged him to have sex with her? And he did?
Somehow, her knickers had become soaked while she read. Had she spilled some water on herself somehow? She knew she couldn't have wet herself. Perhaps it was just hot in here and the perspiration had caused her clothes to stick to her. Yes. Of course. She wasn't used to tropical heat.
Gaia carefully earmarked the pages where the sex scenes started, including a particularly deep fold where the spanking took place, before she lost herself in the story again.
She didn't stop reading until she'd finished the book, when she went back and read all the erotic moments all over again.
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, she fell asleep, still clutching the well-thumbed paperback to her chest. Her dreams were things of delight, imagining every moment she'd read about, but not with some hero who only lived between the pages of a book. No, the man awakening every one of her senses and making her beg for more was Jay, the living, breathing hero who held her heart.
Jay was right. Being a billionaire was boring. What she wanted was to be someone's submissive, to learn the sublime bliss of losing control to him.
FORTY-EIGHT
The sun was high in the sky when the irritating chime of Gaia's phone forced her out of sleep. She ached more than ever, for needs unfulfilled. If only the dreams had been real.
She crawled out of bed and answered her phone.
"Miss Vasse?" Stewart asked.
Who else would answer her phone? "Yes?"
"Did you get my email?"
Gaia felt a dull sense of déjà vu. "About the layoffs? Yes. I sent you my response."
"No, the one I sent yesterday. About the future plans for Lorikeet Island, and the agreement with Romance Island Resort."
The resort? What? But she'd ripped up the contract. The pieces were still on the floor where she'd left them.
"I'm impressed. This sort of partnership isn't the way Vasse Prospecting has done business in the past, but Morrigan refused to discuss joint ventures, no matter how lucrative. She would have simply bought the resort and run it into the ground, like she did with everything else on L
orikeet. I kept telling her we needed to build more relationships with the other businesses in the regions, but she always wanted to keep things within the Vasse family, she said. I didn't realise that you'd settled so well into the chairman position that you were considering taking the company in a completely new direction. I wish you'd discussed it with me first."
None of this made sense. "Stewart, I just woke up. What are you talking about?"
"I've spent the last week in negotiations with the owner of the resort and her manager. The turning point came yesterday when the cruise ship True South accepted our offer to relocate from Karratha to Lorikeet. She'll moor in the sound in about six weeks, which is the time it'll take to get a salvage crew together, anyway. Reconstruction will start in eight weeks, and it should be complete by the end of the dry season. Insurance will cover the construction costs, so it's not a huge issue if we need to extend the timeline into next year. But what they won't cover is the cost of flying in personnel by helicopter every day, which was our only option until the resort stepped in. This year, they'll be running a shuttle service from the mainland to the island for day trippers, with some cruises around the archipelago. Under our new agreement, those cruises will stop at the resort, Lorikeet Island and True South, so we'll be able to fly each shift of staff to the air strip at the pearl farm before ferrying them to Lorikeet. We'll be back in production in a matter of months; much earlier than I'd ever believed possible. The resort's also offered an employee discount to our staff when they book day trips or longer stays with them – sort of an employee incentive, but one we won't have to pay for. We'll resupply with the same boats as the resort uses until the Lorikeet airstrip is usable again, and – "
This was all new to Gaia. Jay hadn't mentioned a thing about day trips or True South or talking to Stewart, yet they'd been talking behind her back for a week? "Who told you all this?"
Stewart laughed. "As if you didn't know. This is all your doing, even if you left the details to Xan and me. Joanne said you and her brother cooked this up. And here I thought you were just having a holiday, and some sort of holiday fling. Xan and Joanne set me straight."
Names that meant nothing to Gaia. Oh, perhaps Xan...she was the hotel manager, wasn't she? But Gaia couldn't recall a Joanne. Wait, brother...did Jay have a sister? Surely he'd mentioned her once or twice. Something about slapping and helicopters? The corresponding flashback Gaia's mind brought up involved slapping, but the only woman in her dream had been herself, not someone else's sister. Incest. Ugh.
"I'm surprised you had time, what with your engagement and all. It's been all over the gossip magazines," Stewart finished.
Ah, yes. That. Gaia coughed, glad the voice-only call hid her flushed cheeks. Leaking the news about a fake engagement had been Stephanie's idea. Coupled with the photos, she was sure it would qualify as a cover story, and she'd been right. Now, she wished more than ever that the story was true.
"Anyway, I don't want to keep you. I just wanted to let you know that we've finalised the details, and the whole agreement's in your inbox, when you have time to read it. I'd say you've more than earned a holiday for the rest of your time up north. Pass on my thanks and congratulations to your fiancé, too."
Gaia mumbled a reply and ended the call.
Next, she called Jay. He answered on the fourth ring.
"Is it true that you sent your hotel manager to my company to negotiate an agreement behind my back?" Gaia demanded, striving to sound like her usual imperious self.
Jay exhaled noisily into the phone receiver. "I wouldn't say behind your back. I told you I let my people sort this sort of stuff out for me, and you said you did the same. Jo and Xan knew what they were doing. I sent them a copy of that first contract and they took it from there."
"But...you signed the first contract. Why would you do that if you knew they were negotiating a new one?"
"You were really, really upset and I asked if I could do anything to help. You said you'd feel better if I signed, so I did. End of story."
Gaia still didn't get it. "But why would you sign away your resort just to make me feel better?"
Jay laughed. "I didn't sign away the resort, baby. I just autographed a contract. If you wanted it to be legally binding, you need signatures from both the owners, or one and a delegate. Without two signatures, you don't have a deal. Whatever Jo and Xan signed in Perth, now that's legally binding. But they know what they're doing. Me? I'm just the rock star hotel owner who put up most of the money for the place. They look after the business side of it."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she persisted.
"Talk business when you're supposed to be enjoying your holiday? Baby, you should know the last thing I ever want to talk about is business. Jo and Xan keep me up to date with what I need to know. Not my fault your people don't let you into the loop. Maybe they wanted you to enjoy your holiday, too." He made the whole thing sound like nothing, when it meant everything to her.
Gaia barely noticed when the call ended, she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts.
How could she ever thank him, let alone repay him? He'd done so much for her, and not because he wanted a reward. She had nothing he needed, while he was everything she wanted. A man who cared about her, who'd do whatever it took to make her happy.
He'd even sent her the books in an effort to make her sex life less boring. Maybe he did want something from her after all. The question was, was she willing to give it to him? It's not like spending the night with him would be some sort of sacrifice. No, it was pleasure beyond her wildest dreams, or it had been so far.
She sat back and stared at her phone. Somehow, Jay had saved Lorikeet Island, all while he was enjoying himself up here with her. He'd sent two women to negotiate with Stewart on his behalf. Trusted them to do what was best for his business, so he could make the most of his wealth.
Gaia wanted that. Badly. Was it really as simple as Daddy had said? Could she trust Stewart with Vasse Prospecting while she fulfilled her sexual fantasies with Jay?
Gaia giggled. She wasn't even sure if they could be anything more than fantasies yet. What if she didn't like being spanked?
There was only one way to find out. Was she ready?
FORTY-NINE
Not really. For a start, she didn't have so much as a condom in the house, let alone any of the other items she longed to try out. The maid had said something about a room service menu, though...
Gaia grabbed the menu off the kitchen counter, but all she found was a list of food and drinks. Not even a jar of peanut butter.
No, wait. She'd said it was in the bedroom. Gaia pulled open the drawers until she found a red folder. Inside, the first page proclaimed that it was the Red Book of Pleasure, supplying all her romance needs. Feeling her face grow hot, Gaia turned the page.
She almost dropped it when she saw the picture of what could only be a vibrator. When she could bring herself to look at it again to read the description, the headline said it all: THE SELF-LOVE PACKAGE.
Dreading what she'd find next, Gaia steeled herself, but the next product turned out to be some sort of basic honeymoon package, containing an assortment of condoms, lubricants and massage oils. That didn't sound so bad. A deluxe version included a selection of sex toys, plus instructions on how to use them.
There were costumes, for one or both partners, that left Gaia shaking her head. Snow White and Red Riding Hood were children's stories, not the sort of thing that should be associated with sex, surely. And the adult-sized baby costume? Ugh. The more she saw, the more she wanted to put the book down and give up on the whole crazy idea. But some nagging voice inside her drove her on. She reached the final page of the book, which was a double page spread under the headline FIFTY SHADES OF ROMANCE. There was a blindfold, a tie, a riding crop, baby oil...Gaia didn't need to read any more. She called room service and placed her order.
Then she lay on the bed, already feeling spent.
What would it feel like to have her wrists tied t
o the bedhead?
She lifted her head to look, only to find that the bedhead was made of a solid piece of timber, with nothing to tie anything onto.
Her dream died.
It was a stupid dream, anyway, Gaia decided, striding out of the villa. She'd work off her frustration with a brisk walk along the beach.
FIFTY
The tide was out and Gaia intended to walk the length of her private beach until she calmed down, but she stopped when she realised the beach wasn't at all private today. Two workmen were busily assembling a structure in the sand, where the tide didn't quite reach.
"Afternoon, ma'am," one said.
Torn between wanting to tell him to go away or demand what he was doing on her private beach, instead, Gaia said, "What is it?"
"It's a daybed, ma'am. A sort of sunlounge for two. The hotel manager wants them installed before she flies back tomorrow. This is the last one left to do. If you want to see what it'll look like when it's finished, there's one over at Villa Pinctada, next door."
Gaia headed back the way she'd come, then rounded the screening vegetation to the private beach next to hers. Sure enough, the man was right – there was a metal frame like the one she'd seen on her beach, only this one was more than just a few struts. The beams formed a sort of four-poster bed, with opaque roller blinds on the three sides that didn't face the ocean. A canopy kept the sun and rain off the mattress and scattered cushions beneath. With a bed like this, she wouldn't need a bedhead. Jay could tie her hands to one of the corner posts. Pulling down the blinds would give them complete privacy, in which he could do whatever he wanted to her.
Now all she had to do was wait until the workmen were finished with her private playground. She marched back to her villa and sat on the veranda, where she could watch the men at work. They were constructing her fantasy, after all. She couldn't wait to tell Jay.
FIFTY-ONE
The Rock Star and the Billionaire Page 14
