Reluctantly, he relaxed his hold on her and she quickly got to her feet. She looked down at him and her eyes were bright, her mouth parted as her breath came fast and hard. He caught one of her hands in his and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. She pulled her hand free a moment later and he allowed it.
“I’ll see you back at the house,” he said quietly. “One hour.”
She swallowed hard and suddenly looked just a little…anxious. “Rico—”
“One hour, Teresa. Then we settle this between us.”
She gave him a brief nod, then moved back to the bar. Alone, Rico stared out at the sea, trying to empty his mind of every wicked thought and desire that raced through it. What he needed was a cold shower, but what he wanted was more heat. Teresa’s heat. The fire he had only ever experienced with her.
And soon he would have it.
Six
Teresa was standing on his bedroom terrace when he arrived. The tropical breeze smelled of saltwater and flowers. The sound of the ocean was like a heartbeat in the distance and the dappled shade from the surrounding trees danced and shifted with the wind that lifted her hair from her shoulders in soft waves.
Her heart was pounding. Every nerve in her body was standing straight up and buzzing. She felt electrified from the inside out. She couldn’t sit still. Couldn’t stand without moving, pacing. Could hardly breathe through the knot of anticipation lodged in her throat.
Back at the beach bar, when she’d been sitting on Rico’s lap, she’d felt the hard proof of his desire for her. And even there, surrounded by strangers, she’d wanted nothing more than to turn in the chair, straddle him and— Oh boy, she was in very serious trouble.
Feeling this way for your husband was one thing. Wanting the man who only wanted to use you then discard you was simply a road map to misery. God, she remembered so clearly what it was like to be loved by Rico King. To be the reason his eyes warmed when she walked into a room. To know that he was right there if she stretched out her hand. To have his arms come around her in the middle of the night, making her feel safe and treasured.
And she knew what it was like to lose all of it.
Now she would have to lose it again, and Teresa didn’t know if she’d be able to bear it this time. Because she’d already lived through years of emptiness without him, so this time when she left, she knew exactly the kind of cold, dark place that would be waiting for her. She’d do anything to avoid that wide chasm of utter loneliness again. But there was just no way out.
Her careening thoughts skidded to a halt when she actually felt Rico’s presence. Slowly she turned to see him standing in the open doorway, watching her. The wind caught his hair and tossed it across his forehead. His blue eyes were fixed on her and his mouth was tight, as if he wished he were anywhere but here. And yet…there was heat and tension spiraling between them, binding them together with invisible tendrils of desire and need.
Whatever else also lay between them—lies, betrayal, anger—this was just as real. This living, breathing passion that was so strong it was pushing her to take the first steps toward him even now. It didn’t matter why he wanted her. Only that he did. She couldn’t take another moment without feeling his hands on her. She’d wanted for so long and now she could have.
He held his ground, half in the bedroom, half out, and waited for her to come closer. Every step was a test in courage. Every breath a victory. She couldn’t look away from his eyes and when she saw a flash of heat dazzling there, she crossed the last of the space separating them in a dash.
Teresa threw herself at him and he caught her, encircling her in his arms, holding her tightly to him so that she could feel every ridge and plane of his body. She felt the thick hardness of him pressed against her middle and instantly she went hot and wet.
Here, her mind whispered. Here was where she belonged. Where she always wanted to be.
What sounded like a growl erupted from his throat as he threaded his fingers through her hair, tipped her head back and held her for his kiss. She met him eagerly, hungrily. Their mouths fused, tongues twisting and dancing in a frenzy of need. Breathing was short and labored. Hands slid up and down burning bodies and when he suddenly turned and walked her backward toward the bed, she kept pace.
Teresa fell back onto the mattress and kept her arms around Rico’s neck, as if a part of her was afraid that he would stop now. Take that one step away and return to that careful, cold distance between them just to torture her. But she wouldn’t let him. Not this time.
Every night she slept beside him and every morning she woke up entangled with him, feeling the heat of his body pouring into hers just before he bolted from the bed and left her there. Alone.
She was done.
Let the revenge begin.
She didn’t care why she was there anymore. Or even why he wanted her there. It was enough that Rico was with her again, laying his body atop hers.
Finally he tore his mouth from hers, looked down into her eyes and whispered, “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
“You, too.”
Nodding, he rolled to one side of her and got up just long enough to yank his clothes off and toss everything to the floor. Teresa did the same. Her T-shirt, shorts and sandals were on the floor in seconds and her bra and panties quickly followed. Then she was naked, standing in front of him as the sunlight streaming through the terrace doors caressed their already-heated bodies in a golden warmth that seemed to soak deep into their bones. That light was reflected in his eyes as he looked at her and Teresa shivered in response.
He was beautiful. Just as she remembered him. His body was tanned and every muscle was sharply defined. He was also hard and ready and glancing at his erection made Teresa quiver deep inside. Right where she wanted him.
As if reading her thoughts, Rico reached for her, then tumbled her back onto the mattress. Heated skin met the cool silk of the duvet beneath her and seemed to heighten every one of her senses to overload.
Rico’s hands skimmed over her body. Her breasts, her nipples, her abdomen and finally lower, where he cupped her heat and rubbed the heel of his hand against her until she was writhing beneath him.
Her gaze still locked on his, she watched as her responses to him fed the flames dancing in those pale blue depths. She chewed at her bottom lip and a soft moan slipped from her mouth as he dipped first one finger and then two into her heat.
Teresa sighed at the blissful sensation of his touch on her body again. Everything was so familiar and yet so new. Almost as if this was their first time together. Her hands moved over his shoulders and down his arms, stroking, loving the feel of his skin beneath her hands. He was so hard and strong and so warm to the touch.
He bent his head to her breast and as she watched, he took one of her already-peaked nipples into his mouth. She gasped at the first touch of his lips and tongue. She moaned as his teeth scraped across the sensitive tip and then she arched into him as he suckled her.
His hand stroked her core while his mouth drove her even closer to the edge. Again and again, he drew on her breast, as if he could taste all she was. She felt that drawing sensation down to her bones and all she could think was, yes. This is all just as it should be.
This was what had tormented her dreams for so long. The memories of his touch, his caresses, his mouth, his hot breath dusting across her skin. All she needed now to feel complete was his body pushing into hers, locking them together as they were meant to be.
He lifted his head as if he’d heard or sensed her thoughts. Staring into her eyes, he whispered, “You feel so good, Teresa. As I remembered and more.”
“Rico…” That single word came out strangled as knots of need lodged in her throat and breathing was more and more difficult.
Her hips lifted into his hand and his thumb brushed across one particular spot of sensatio
n that had her reaching blindly for him. He kissed her again and again, mouths meeting and parting, breath mingling, their heavy sighs coming in tandem.
Teresa struggled to find her breath as Rico drove her toward a climax she didn’t want to experience without him inside her. “Be with me, Rico. Be in me.”
He hissed in a breath, dropped his forehead to hers for a moment and then eased up enough to look into her eyes. “No, Teresa. When I have you, it will be my way.”
Her heart broke a little even as her body was clamoring for more. “Don’t,” she urged, framing his face in her hands. “Don’t use what’s between us for payback.”
His hand on her core stilled and her body ached.
“If I wanted to torture you,” he said softly, kissing her mouth, her nose, her eyes, “I would step away now and leave you hungering for me as I hungered for you so long ago.”
Guilt rushed in and chewed at her heart. She had walked out on the man she loved without explanation. Without apologies. Just disappeared one day and as far as he knew, never looked back. But it hadn’t been easy for her. She’d left a piece of her soul behind when she’d slipped away from his life. A piece she could never reclaim.
“Rico, I hungered, too,” she whispered and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. “I didn’t want to leave you. I had to—”
Sunlight shone in the black of his hair and glittered across his blue eyes. Outside the terrace doors, the surrounding trees were filled with birds screeching and singing. Inside, silence was as heavy as stone.
He shook his head. “No more. The past is gone. What we have is now. This month and no longer.”
There it was. He couldn’t have been clearer. From the first time he’d proposed this blackmailed month to this very moment, Rico had laid down his expectations. One month. No longer. Her insides twisted and her heart wept, but her body was more interested in the now. In the completion of the orgasm that had been promised.
“This month, then,” she said softly and thought that she saw, however briefly, a flicker of regret in his eyes. But in the next moment, it was gone anyway.
She smoothed one hand across his face as he touched her again, sliding his fingers deep inside her. He stroked her inside and out, increasing the rhythm of his caresses until all thought but one was chased from her mind. She needed.
All she could see was his eyes. Those blue depths that were filled with so many colliding emotions she couldn’t identify them. All she felt was the tightening coil inside her, threatening to explode.
“Rico, please. Now. Be with me.” She bucked against him and tossed her head from side to side. Her heartbeat clamored in her chest and it felt as though every muscle in her body was clenched. Feet planted on the mattress beneath her, she moved into his hand, seeking more, needing more.
When he stopped touching her and pulled away, she groaned tightly. “Don’t stop. Please. Don’t stop.”
“I’m not,” he said through gritted teeth. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
She heard a drawer open and close, then the distinct sound of a foil wrapper being ripped open. She opened her eyes, looked at him in time to see him sheathe himself and her mouth went dry again. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. How had she ever had the courage to leave him and what she’d found with him? How would she ever survive without him again?
But those thoughts and the millions of others that would no doubt torment her for years to come had no place here now. Here there was only she and Rico. And the passion rising in the room.
Teresa lifted her arms to him and parted her legs in welcome. His body covered hers and in the next breath he entered her, sliding into her heat in one long, smooth stroke. She sighed in soul-deep pleasure at the feel of him within her once more. So long. It had been so very long.
Teresa’s head tipped back on the mattress and she lifted her legs higher, wrapping them around Rico’s waist, holding him to her, taking him as deeply as she could. She wanted to savor the moment. Imprint the feel of him inside her on her brain so that the sensation became a part of her. So that she would never truly feel alone again.
“Look at me,” he whispered and Teresa opened her eyes to stare into his. Her own desire was reflected back at her and matched by what was shining in his gaze.
He set a rhythm that she eagerly met and as they looked into each other’s eyes, they raced toward completion together. Teresa shouted his name as pleasure, raw and wild, crashed over her and as her arms locked around him, she heard him groan, felt him stiffen as his own release claimed him.
And locked together, they tumbled over the edge and willingly fell into oblivion.
* * *
A half hour later, Teresa was feeling wonderful. Sprawled across a bed, her lover—her husband—lay beside her. Every inch of her body felt well used. Her heart was full and in that moment, her mind raced with possibilities.
Maybe this month wouldn’t be the end after all, she thought, refusing for now to remember Rico’s words, This month and no longer. Maybe it could still be different. Maybe this time with him would be a beginning. A fresh start. A time for them to meet as equals and realize that what they had found together was too precious to throw away. Maybe there could still be a happily ever after.
But not, she knew, until the past had finally been put to rest.
“Rico,” she said, voice soft in the quiet room, “I want you to know that when I left five years ago—”
“Stop.” He cut her off with one sharp word. Turning his head to meet her eyes, he said, “I’m not interested in remembering old lies—or hearing new ones.”
His cold tone was like a verbal slap. “I wasn’t going to—”
“Teresa,” he said on a sigh, “this changes nothing between us, so don’t look at me with stars in your eyes.”
God, she had been. And she should have known better. But how was she supposed to protect her heart against hope?
“I need a shower.” Rico pushed off the bed, gave her a quick look and said, “That was good, thanks.”
“Thanks?” Stunned, she looked up at him. “That’s it? Just thanks?”
He shrugged. “Were you expecting outpourings of love and devotion?” He smiled briefly and shook his head. “All we share now is sex and this hotel, Teresa. And that only for the next month.”
Hurt crowded around her heart and squeezed painfully. Just a short while ago, he had been a part of her, sharing something amazing, and now he’d draped that icy demeanor over himself like a damn cloak. There was distance in his voice and a careless attitude that tore at the last remaining shreds of five-year-old dreams.
“That wasn’t just sex, Rico.” There was more between them than that. Wasn’t there?
He met her gaze thoughtfully for a long second or two. Then he said simply, “Yes, it was.”
Turning his back on her, he stalked toward the spa-like bathroom and tossed over his shoulder, “You should get cleaned up. We’re expected for dinner at Sean and Melinda’s.”
Then he closed the bathroom door behind him and left her, suddenly cold and very much alone, in the middle of the bed.
* * *
Dinner was an eternity.
Pretending as if nothing was wrong only built the tension inside Rico until he felt as though he would snap. He’d finally escaped to the patio of Sean’s home, where he stood alone in the starry darkness. Solar lights made circles of gold on the neatly tended lawn. Mature trees surrounded the house and yard and a stone walkway led down to the ocean.
He listened now, letting the soothing charge and retreat of the surf sink into him, hoping to relax some before rejoining the others inside. It wasn’t easy to act as though all was well. It went against his nature to be less than honest. He was uncomfortable with pretense. Lies were tangled webs, snaring everyone who came close. And the lies Te
resa had told so long ago were still strangling him.
Rico had never been one to accept lies. When he was a boy, his mother had concocted stories with impunity to get whatever she wanted. He’d never been able to believe a word she said because lying had become second nature to her. When Rico was eleven, she had at last given him up to be raised by his father, Mike King. He remembered his father coming to him several months later, asking him if he missed his mother. The sad truth was, he hadn’t missed her at all, because he’d never really known her.
Her lies and impossible-to-believe stories had ensured that she was a mystery, even to her son. When she died ten years ago, she had still been a nebulous figure to Rico. He had no idea who she had been. What she’d believed. If she’d loved him at all. The lies had clouded everything.
Truth was much cleaner. Much more…efficient.
But lies kept entangling him.
For example, the lie he’d told himself: that having Teresa back in his bed would rid him of the remains of his desire for her. Instead he wanted her now more than ever.
And that shook him.
Then there was the lie he had told Teresa: that it had been simply sex that they’d shared. It cost Rico to admit it, but he couldn’t hide the truth from himself. What he’d just experienced with Teresa was something else again. His whole damn body felt as if it were burning up from the inside. The tension that had been clawing at him since he’d first seen Teresa here on the island was as raw and fresh as ever. He felt as tightly wound as he ever had and he knew that his revenge plan had suddenly turned on him.
He turned away from the garden view and looked at the well-lit house behind him. Through the wide bay window in the huge kitchen, he could see Teresa with Melinda, and the two women seemed to be having a good time. No one would guess that only a couple of hours ago, Teresa had been wild in his arms. Or that he’d seen hurt in her eyes when he’d dismissed what they’d shared.
Her Return to King's Bed Page 8
