The Rock Star's Virginity (Romance Island Resort #3)

by Demelza Carlton

  Promises her heart prayed he'd keep, because despite her best efforts, she knew she was definitely in danger of losing her heart to this man.

  Thirty-Three

  "Your dessert." Jackie laid a platter on the table between them. In the dim candlelight, Jason thought it looked like a pair of boobs, complete with nipples on top. He frowned. He liked tits as much as any man, and he had plans that involved Flavia's later on tonight, but he hadn't ordered the pair perched on the plate now.

  Jackie flicked a lighter and ignited something in her hand. Jason had taken it for a particularly large candle holder, but the leaping blue flame erupting from it put paid to that idea. Before he could ask what it was, she tipped the glass over the tits, haloing them in blue fire.

  Flavia yelped and jumped back from the table, terrified of the flaming tits. "Why did you do that?"

  "Bombe Alaska. You have to fire it to sear the meringue on the outside," Jackie replied patiently. She scooped one mound onto a plate and placed it in front of Flavia, before giving the other to Jason. "I'll go see to the rest of your instructions." She vanished into the darkness.

  Flavia still stared at her plate as if she was afraid the flames would leap up and burn her.

  Jason sucked in a breath and blew out the flames on his bombe. A wisp of smoke curled up toward the faint stars overhead, smelling of burnt sugar. He'd never had this before, so he didn't hesitate to dig his fork through the singed meringue to the ice cream and cake beneath. He stuck a big spoonful in his mouth and closed his eyes as it melted on his tongue. Heaven. He had to order this more often.

  He glanced at Flavia, who hadn't touched hers. The alcohol had burned itself out, but the absence of flames didn't seem to reassure her one bit.

  She wasn't used to much, Jason told himself. If she'd never had sex, maybe she'd never had a flaming dessert before, either. "It's meringue, cake and ice cream," he told her, spooning some more of his. "Here, taste it." He held out the loaded spoon.

  Flavia hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and opened her mouth. Jason slipped the spoon between her lips and was rewarded with her humming satisfaction. She swallowed, then said, "And passionfruit. Meringue, cake and ice cream with passionfruit pulp on top. Kind of like an inverted pavlova." Finally, she dug into her dessert.

  Jason shrugged and returned to eating his own. So that's what the gooey, tart, seedy stuff was with the ice cream. It sort of worked.

  All too soon, dessert was done and his watch told him it was time to move if he wanted to get the best view of moonrise.

  Flavia had gobbled her dessert faster than he had, once she'd gotten over her initial fright. Now, she was scraping the last drops of melted ice cream from her plate, as if she couldn't get enough of it. Jason suppressed a snort. Fuck, she was so innocent. He wanted to show her the world, all of his world, and watch her as she viewed it with wide, new eyes, before embracing it with all the excitement she'd shown in the helicopter. Was it so wrong to want to share that with her?

  Her spoon tinkled to the table. "If I eat any more, I'll explode," she declared.

  Good. He had other things to show her, and Jason couldn't wait. "C'mon. I want you to see something."

  He took her hand, guiding her between the candles in the sand, before breaking into a run. More candles guided them, lit by Jackie and her trusty lighter, no doubt, all the way back to the paved path to Villa Penguin. No ladders this time as Jason led Flavia back to the jetty by the proper path.

  Flickering candles surrounded an ice bucket of wine at the end of the jetty, just as he'd asked. He led her along the boards, their footsteps thumping loudly in the velvety dark. His feet touched the picnic blanket Jackie had thoughtfully laid out and Jason made a mental note to thank the woman for her foresight.

  He helped Flavia sit down, then dropped to the blanket beside her, offering her yet another glass of wine. The cork's explosive pop echoed in the darkness, before the familiar glugging of alcohol into a glass soothed Jason's nerves. He'd never done this romantic shit before. Not for anyone. He was as new to this as Flavia, but he couldn't afford to fuck it up.

  They sipped in silence for a while. Jason fought to keep his breathing calm and even. He hadn't overdone the romance, had he? Was that why she was so quiet?

  Not wanting to risk breaking the silence, he stared up at the stars. Faint lights against overwhelming darkness. He remembered hearing that the stars he saw today were just the memory of the brilliant balls of gas they once were, before they'd burned out, long in the past, and the faint light reaching him now was all that was left of them. Was he like them? Had Jay Felix the rock star burned out too brightly so that all that was left of him was a faint pinprick of light, to be seen by someone in the future who wouldn't even know his name, let alone his legacy? The light in Flavia's eyes when she looked at him said his star wasn't extinguished yet. His brightness hadn't burned out for her.

  Was it so wrong to want her for more than the auction's allotted single time? She'd ripped up the contract, so she surely didn't still hold to its tenets. The girl had been betrayed by her fiancé, for fuck's sake. No wonder she didn't trust men any more. But she could trust him. He'd never do wrong by her. He'd make sure she loved every minute with him, from now until forever.

  "What's that?" Flavia pointed at the horizon, where a faint orange smudge was visible over the ocean.

  As they watched, it grew bigger and brighter, a glowing semicircle rising over the waves, which faintly reflected its brilliance.

  "Must be the moonrise," Jason said, staring just as intently. He knew this happened every month, but he'd never watched the full moon rise over the tidal flats before. Fuck, it was awesome.

  "It's beautiful," Flavia breathed, shifting closer so that her shoulder touched his.

  Fuck it. He was never one to let an opportunity go to waste. Jason wrapped his arm around her and leaned in to break her stupid no-kissing rule.

  Thirty-Four

  Jackie appeared in the dining room, conveying with a single nod that she'd accomplished her mission of serving Jay's romantic dinner. Xan returned her nod, then breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have any exploding rock stars shouting around her house tonight. Still, she should check, to make sure.

  Xan wound her way through the empty tables to where Jackie was scooping her dinner onto a plate. "Everything went okay?" Xan asked.

  Jackie nodded again. "I left them having dessert. I'll go collect the table and everything after I've had my dinner."

  Xan held up a halting hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. I'll leave everything beside the path for Lee to collect in the morning. Time you knocked off for the night."

  Wearily, Jackie thanked her and carried her plate to an unoccupied table.

  Xan breathed in the night air as she walked briskly to the eastern beach where Jay's elaborate setup still stood, though the couple had gone. Some of the candles had guttered out, but enough remained lit to show the heart-shaped stage they set. How sweet. She hadn't thought the rock star had any romance in him. Silently, she wished him luck for the rest of his evening as she disassembled the equipment from his dinner date. Within minutes, the folding table and chairs rested against a palm tree beside the path, with the dishes and folded tablecloth in a tub beside them. Next, she returned for the candles. A quick puff extinguished each one before she added those to the tub, too. The last item was an unopened bottle of wine, still sitting in the ice bucket, where they'd left it. She lifted the dripping bottle, debating whether to simply take it back to the hotel, or take it to the happy couple so she could check that they were, indeed, happy.

  Xan's curiosity won…no, conscientiousness, she told herself, as she marched along the path back to Villa Penguin. She checked her wristband. Almost eight – moonrise. They wouldn't be inside yet, surely. Not with a magical staircase to see out here. Not that she'd ever had time to see it – standing around in the dark for hours, waiting for the moon to rise over the mudflats left behind by th
e retreating tide, while fighting off the mosquitoes trying to suck her dry...none of that really appealed to her. She'd much prefer a night dive.

  But she was here now, with moonrise only minutes away. Standing at the foot of the jetty, she could just make out two shadows on the end, silhouetted against the rising moon. And it was magnificent. As orange as the sun, the moon rose from the waters, reflected across the waves and shallow pools in a series of steps that gave this phenomenon its name: Staircase to the Moon. The moon rose higher, paling from orange to gold, and the staircase extended closer to shore. Xan gasped in awe. She'd never seen anything like it. She didn't want to miss another one for as long as she lived here on the island. Truly magnificent.

  "Nah, the battery's dead. You forgot to change it, didn't you? I told you!" a voice hissed, on the beach below.

  "I did change it. It's not my fault it's not properly charged. I told you to make sure all the spares were fully charged, ready to go. Now we're missing it!" another voice whined.

  Xan glanced up the jetty, where the two shadows had merged into one. Understanding morphed into annoyance as she slid down to the beach where the cameramen argued. "I told you not to film the guests! Get the hell out of here!" she roared, charging down the sand.

  Thirty-Five

  Shouting broke the spell. One minute, Flavia was staring into Jay's eyes, parting her lips in anticipation of a magical kiss, then the next, she jumped to her feet, shaking her head.

  What had she been thinking? Almost kissing him?

  "Get the hell out of here!"

  Flavia recognised the hotel manager's voice.

  "We weren't filming them. We were getting footage of the moon," a male voice protested. Tim's, Flavia thought.

  Her heart, a moment ago swelling to bursting at the thought of kissing Jay, froze. The film crew had been taking pictures of her again. Ones they could sell to the highest bidder to finance their future, while destroying hers.

  "I want every memory card you have on you. Now," Ms Lane demanded.

  Grumbling ensued, but Flavia couldn't focus on the words through her fear. She wasn't safe out here. She wasn't safe from public scrutiny unless she stayed inside, away from Jay.

  Flavia broke into a run, heading for the house. She swiped open the door and hurried to her room. Only with the door shut did she dare give in to her tears. With her knees and forehead pressed to the tiles, she sobbed her heart out. Romance and Jay and what had been a perfect night…shattered at the realisation that she couldn't have any of those things, or they'd cost her everything she loved in her life.

  Some prices were too high to pay. Even for Jay Felix.

  Thirty-Six

  Fuck. What had he done wrong? Everything had been going so well, and now it was fucked.

  "Thanks a lot," Jason snapped at Xan and her contractors as he bolted after Flavia. Fuck, but that girl could run. Must be those long legs she'd wrapped around his hips in the helicopter when he'd….fuck. That first time in the helicopter couldn't be their only time together. He'd stake his guitar on it.

  "Flavia, wait!" he called, though he couldn't see her in the dark. For a second, he saw her silhouetted in the doorway of his villa before the door slid shut. At least she hadn't run off. Maybe he hadn't fucked everything up completely. Not yet, anyway.

  He checked the rest of the house before he knocked on the closed guest room door. "Flavia?" he called softly, pressing his ear to the door. Did he hear sobbing? "Baby, are you okay?"

  She sniffled. "Fine. I'm fine."

  "Can I come in?" he ventured.

  "No."

  He debated for a second, before throwing caution to the wind. "Was it something I did?"

  "No."

  Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "So our date was all right, until they busted in on us?"

  "The date was perfect until…they arrived." Another sniffle. "Jay, I'm tired. I just want to take a shower and get some sleep. All right?"

  He nodded. "Fair enough."

  It wasn't, though. None of this was fucking fair. Why couldn't people just leave them alone?

  Jay headed to the lounge room and threw himself on the couch. He flicked on the TV, but all he got was blank screen. That's right, without a satellite dish, there weren't any TV channels. Throwing the remote control on the coffee table, Jason let out a string of every swear word he knew.

  Wasn't he allowed to be as happy as anyone else? One date, that's all he'd asked for. And still they'd fucked it up for him. If he didn't know better, he'd swear Xan had deliberately messed this up for him. Out of jealousy, maybe. Except Xan didn't like him enough to be jealous. Revenge seemed more likely. He'd made her life difficult, so she was just returning the favour.

  Damn it. If she wasn't such a good hotel manager, she'd be out on her ear.

  Behind him, he heard Flavia's door crack open, then her quiet footsteps until the bathroom door closed. It could have been any door, but he heard the lock click, confirming his guess.

  The shower hissed and Jason imagined the water cascading over her naked body, her hands caressing her skin with the soap. If she was imagining him as clearly as he imagined her, her hands would slip between her thighs and she'd stroke herself until…

  Flavia screamed. The shower screen rattled as she screamed again. A moment later, the bathroom door flew open and there she stood. Framed in the doorway, her eyes wide and wild, Flavia clutched a towel to her chest that she didn't have the presence of mind to wind around herself to hide those tempting curves peeking around the side of the white flannel.

  She darted a fearful glance at the shower, then drew in a panting breath to scream again.

  Thirty-Seven

  Jay jumped out of his seat as if the couch had bitten his bum. Maybe his bathroom wasn't the only part of his villa infested with too-friendly creatures. Flavia glanced at the shower and the sight of those green, clammy fingers which had climbed over her foot…she couldn't suppress another scream. She hated frogs. They were right up there with snakes as her least favourite animals.

  "What's wrong?" he demanded.

  Flavia skittered out of his way, keeping her back to the wall so he'd be between her and the little perverts. She pointed. "There are frogs in your shower!"

  For a moment, Jay just stood there with his hands curled into claws like he was going to rip the things to shreds. Then, with a swift head shake, he yanked off his shirt and advanced into the shower. Using the shirt as a net, he snared one frog, twisted the fabric into a prison, and carried the whole bundle outside. He returned with the shirt dangling from one hand, a fierce expression on his face, and no sign of the first frog. The second frog managed to squirm free from his first attempt, and the second, but not the third. With considerable satisfaction, Jay transferred the final frog outside, too.

  "Is that all of them?" Flavia asked fearfully, peering into the shower.

  Jay spread his arms wide and shrugged. "Who knows? Fucked if I know how they get in here. There could be half a dozen more, all waiting their turn to shower with you. Or they could be saving themselves for me. Who knows about frogs and their sexual preferences?"

  Flavia coughed out a laugh. Unknowingly, she'd saved herself for him. She had more in common with frogs than she'd realised. Didn't mean she wanted to continue showering with one.

  Jay must have read her mind, because he flipped down the toilet seat and parked his bum on it. "I can sit here and guard you, if you like."

  Flavia expected a sleazy look or at least a wink, but he just sat there, matter-of-factly, with his arms folded. She thought about refusing, or asking him to stand outside the bathroom door, but she felt safer with him in here. Yeah, he was a rock star who never said no to sex, but he was a gentleman who respected when a girl said no, too. At least, he had so far.

  Feeling far too self-conscious in the presence of a man who'd already seen her naked, Flavia turned the shower on again. She didn't take her towel off until she stepped into the spray, and even then she hung it over the show
er screen to partially hide her from sight. She'd almost finished rinsing the soap off her body when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She saw a flash of green and shrieked, flattening herself against the wall.

  Jay burst into the shower, cornering the frog and shoving it back down the drain it had emerged from, before he stamped firmly on the drain cover.

  Mere centimetres separated them, and Jay's shorts were soaked. If she had to choose between showering with a frog or a rock star, her choice was already made. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as hot water rained down on them both. Kissing Jay was like oxygen – one breath and she was hooked. Her heart hummed its approval and Jay…Jay just pulled her in close and made her forget everything except for the two of them, together.

  Jay kissed his way down her breasts to the juncture of her thighs. Dear God, Jay Felix knelt at her feet, his lips kissing one thigh as his hand stroked the other. She parted for him, shivering as his fingers entered her.

  "You said tonight was perfect. I can think of something that would make it even better. I want to hear you scream my name." Honey eyes trapped her gaze. "Would you like that?" One stroke of his finger sent a thrill deep inside her.

  "Yes," she gasped, closing her eyes as she surrendered to sensation. God, he was good.

  "On one condition. Don't close your eyes, baby. I want you looking at me every moment until you scream my name. Can you do that?"

  She moaned, unable to utter coherent words any more, so she nodded.

  Jay's gaze didn't leave hers as his fingers played her to the point where she thought she'd combust.

  "I want to taste you," he murmured, and his fingers were joined by his tongue.

  Her knees turned to jelly at his pleasurable onslaught, but she didn't want him to stop. God no. She wanted him to continue drawing those tiny circles and rubbing her insides until she…until she…

  "Oh God, Jay. Jay! I'm coming! I'm coming!"