by Aimee Duffy
‘Stay here,’ he whispered as he ducked out of the kitchen.
She considered his command for three seconds, then stormed through to the lounge. Mrs Castillo beamed at him from the opposite side of the sofa and Alexa knew that this was the moment in her life that would have rocketed straight off the blush scale into what-the-hell-were-you-thinking territory.
Mrs Castillo turned to her. ‘Alexa, what a lovely surprise.’ She threw Ric a knowing smile. ‘I’m sorry to intrude. I didn’t know you had company.’
‘Alexa is staying with me until I can find her another room. We’re overbooked.’ He threw Alexa a questioning look.
The older woman didn’t look convinced, and if Alexa looked like she’d just had two of the most spectacular orgasms of her life, she couldn’t blame her.
‘We’re having a barbeque tomorrow and would like you to come. I thought I’d stop by and ask you since I was passing anyway. You too, Alexa.’ Mrs Castillo winked at her and Alexa smiled back.
‘We have work to do for the ball.’
Her eyes widened at his brazen lie. Well, she wasn’t working on a Sunday. She could feel the beach calling her.
Mrs Castillo looked between the two of them. ‘It doesn’t start until six.’ Ric’s expression said it didn’t matter what time. He wouldn’t back down. ‘Maybe another time.’
Ric nodded and walked her over to the lift. Alexa said goodbye and waited until the doors closed until she spoke. ‘Why did you lie to her?’
Raking a hand through his hair, he wondered if kissing Alexa would make the questions shining from her eyes fade. He could ease her through to his bedroom and get lost in the sweet taste of her for the rest of the night. Heat stirred beneath the towel, but he knew she wouldn’t back down this time.
With her hand on her hip and a scowl marring her pretty, freshly flushed face, there was no escape he could see. But that didn’t mean he’d tell her the whole truth, the reasons why he’d never accepted an invitation to his parent’s home for years. ‘I didn’t. We have a lot still to do.’
‘You do know tomorrow is Sunday?’
‘This isn’t a Monday to Friday job, Alexa.’ He walked closer to her, an eyebrow raised. ‘Now, where were we?’
The storm in her eyes shifted and her breathing sped. ‘But—’
Ric pinched her lips together. ‘No buts. Not this time.’ He replaced his fingers with his mouth.
The soft cry at the back of her throat sent his erection from interested to impatient. Pulling her flush against him, he squeezed that firm, peachy bottom and lifted her off her feet. Alexa wrapped her legs around him. He carried her down the hall, slipping the robe from her shoulders, and set her down on the middle of her bed.
‘Naked,’ he managed through his ragged breathing.
She looked around her room, a dazed expression in her eyes. ‘Why here?’
‘Why not?’ he countered, wondering if she’d ever just go along with him instead of challenging him at every step.
‘Condoms.’ He stared at her with a raised brow. ‘I don’t have any.’
He calculated how long it would take to run to his room, grab a pack and get back. Too long. He grabbed her hand and dragged her through to his bedroom. He threw the door open, released her then headed to the bedside cabinet.
Alexa eyed the box he removed from the half-filled drawer. ‘That’s some prep, Ric.’
He smiled. ‘Better to be safe than sorry.’ Tossing the box on the bed, he unhooked the towel and let it fall to the floor. Her gaze dropped and her mouth fell open. ‘You’re still overdressed.’
Swallowing, she reached around to unhook the clasp on the lime bikini top. She ripped her attention away from his body and stared at him with wide eyes. His chest tightened and he realised he had to slow down, not scare her away.
‘Come here.’
He pulled the top down her arms and tugged her close. Ignoring the twin peaks poking into his chest, he slid his hands over her back, reassuring, comforting. She melted closer, and his erection pulsed against her stomach.
‘Trust me.’
She looked up at him and he could see the trust there, see the emotion glistening in her eyes. The pull in his chest intensified, almost knocked the breath out of him and he couldn’t explain what it was—he hadn’t experienced anything like it before.
Maybe she was innocent, maybe she hadn’t been with the bad-boy types she’d been pictured with, but Ric didn’t think that was it. She hadn’t been shy last week when he’d stripped her top off, hadn’t been meek when he’d had her on the kitchen counter. Shaking the thoughts away, he spun them around and pulled her down onto the bed with him.
Alexa shoved at his shoulders and he fell back against the pillow. She crawled on top of him, her thighs bracketing his. Before he could ask what she was doing, her head dipped and he felt the wet heat of her tongue trailing the contours of his chest. The touch sent a fresh flow of blood to his groin.
She worked her way down his stomach, the short backcombed bob tickling his skin as she went, the scent of wild berries clogged his senses. Her lips grazed the tip of his erection and he clamped down on his stomach muscles to stop from embarrassing himself. Alexa reached for the shaft, but he hauled her up by the shoulders and rolled them so he had her trapped beneath him.
‘No fair.’ She gasped and pouted. ‘You got to do it to me.’
Ric grinned. ‘When is anything in life ever fair?’
Making sure further protests were cut off with his lips on hers, his hands got busy sliding over her silky skin, tweaking the tight rosebud nipples, drawing gasps and more soft mewls from her throat. Ric swore it was a sound he’d never want to hear when someone was in bed with him, but the sound of it coming from her made arousal rage through his being. He wanted to hear what noises she’d make when he was inside of her.
Nudging her thighs wider with his knee, he slid between her legs. He thrust his hips, rubbing against her and making them both moan. Her fingers dug into his backside, heat tingling down his spine. They needed a condom.
His hand fumbled blindly on the bed, his lips trailing kisses and nips on the silky skin on her neck. Her hips rocked up to meet his thrusts, and he was slicked with her heat, losing a little more of his mind every second it took to find the damn condoms. Where the hell did he put them?Unwillingly, he ripped his lips away from her. ‘Alexa, wait.’
Her eyes, unfocused, were black with the same crazed lust swarming through him. ‘Why?’ Still challenging, even now, she dug her fingers tighter to his backside and rubbed herself against him. He shuddered.
‘I can’t find—’
‘I’m on the pill.’ Her eyes rolled back as she rocked her hips. ‘Have you been tested?’
His control was shot to bits, his mind in turmoil and her wetness skimming his naked flesh with every thrust wouldn’t allow him to think as rationally as he knew deep down he should. ‘Yes. You?’
She nodded, another mewl slipped out of her mouth and all doubts vanished. Ric reared back and thrust into her in one quick jerk. They both gasped and stared at each other for a long second. Her body was tight around him, hot, and he’d never felt anything as amazing. Flesh and heat drawing him in, as deep as he could go. His arms shook where he hovered above her.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked. She was a little too snug and the frown above her brow could have been discomfort. He reared away but her legs encircled his waist and hauled him back.
‘Gimme a minute.’
A minute, was she crazy?
He forced a smile and locked his jaw. Her muscles tightened around him and he groaned.
Ric felt like he’d held on forever. Her expression relaxed and she released a heavy sigh. Cupping her cheeks with his hands, he rubbed the silky skin beneath his fingers. Her face was angular, but also seemed soft. Those kiss-swollen lips made him want to nibble on them for days and the cloudy platinum eyes intensified the pull inside him.
Maybe sex would break it once and for all, m
aybe after tonight he wouldn’t feel it any more. It not, he was certain two weeks was enough to work her out of his system.
‘Okay, go,’ she said, squeezing her internal muscles and rocking her hips up to meet him.
His head dipped down and he gave in to his desire, nipping and licking those kiss-swollen lips as he gently rocked into her. Their breathing was drowned out by his heartbeat pounding in his ears, her cries every time he skimmed that place deep inside her made him want to take it slower, make this last.
Lifting his head, he watched ecstasy play across her features, saw the depth of her lust shining from her eyes. But then it all went to hell and something shifted. Alexa snapped her eyes shut, but not before he caught it, the look of hope and trust that he’d seen earlier mixed with some other emotion he didn’t want to see—to understand.
Her hips met his thrusts, her body so warm and welcoming that he thought pulling away would kill him, but the dread filling his stomach told him no more slow and nice. The guilt eating away at him was insane. He’d promised her nothing more, so why did he feel like the worst kind of bastard?
Ric untangled her legs from his waist and leaned back on his knees. Her eyes opened, confusion was all he could see and he almost let out a sigh of relief. Still, he lifted her bottom onto his thighs and placed her ankles against his chest. This way he kept control, this way he could stop the slow, sensual strokes and make it about their joint pleasure, nothing else.
He picked up pace, thrust in and out with quick, short movements. Her channel tightened and her thighs shook as he slid deeper, her cries morphed into groans and he watched her firm breasts bob and quiver, driving him crazy. Her eyes never opened and he had the idea that if he couldn’t see her, he could make this last long enough to feel her release.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he shifted the angle of his thrusts, grabbed onto her hips and held her in place. Her body shuddered, her muscles tightened and then convulsed around him. Alexa’s cry of pleasure was the last thing he registered before the heat, the pressure, drained from his stomach and shot out of him and into her.
Ric collapsed on top of her, still lodged deep inside. Alexa wrapped her legs around him, holding him in place and her fingers trailed soothing circles on his heaving back. The afterglow felt different somehow, safe, and he dimly registered that the pull inside him had only intensified, but the fog of sleep crept into his brain before it could register the emotion.
Alexa knew she was in trouble. Ric had rolled away from her hold at some point, but now his body was plastered to every inch of her back and his half-mast erection prodded her bottom. But the trouble didn’t come from the sex, nope, that had been the most mind-blowing experience of her life—just like he’d promised. The trouble came from her daft heart ripping itself open when he was lodged inside her.
She hadn’t hid the emotions in time, had seen the panic on his face, then his withdrawal with the shift of positions. She’d let him pull away; let him take control because she’d been terrified of falling harder than she already had. His soothing breaths in her ear made her shiver and feel comforted at the same time. If she could get out of his hold without waking him, she’d be in her own bed by now.
Ric’s body tensed, the arms around her grew rigid and she thought he’d woken, thought he’d chuck her out. She held her breath and waited. A slew of Spanish came from his mouth and the tone was panicked, scared even. Turning in his arms, she watched his face and saw his frown, his rigid jaw, his fear. Was he having a nightmare? Her heart cracked open again.
Alexa held his face. ‘Ric, you’re dreaming. It’s okay.’ She stroked his jaw, massaged away the frown line creasing his brow.
His body relaxed and his grip loosened around her. Exhaling, she squirmed free and slipped out of the bed. Another glance at his still frame and she turned to leave. God her heart hurt way more than it should. As she made her way through to her own room, she made a promise to herself to get over this silly infatuation, the sooner the better, because it had just been about sex, nothing more.
The smell of coffee woke her from a restless sleep. Alexa rubbed her eyes, then rolled over. It still felt way too early and her legs, everything south of her navel, hurt. Something grabbed her hip and pulled her onto her back. Her eyes flew open in shock.
Ric sat on the edge of her bed, his jaw tight and his expression—as bloody usual—shuttered. She eyed the cup in his hand longingly, but the naked chest behind it distracted her.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked. Having sex with him didn’t give him the right to wake her before the sun was up.
‘It’s five o’clock. Time to get up.’
Her eyes widened as she stared at him, uncomprehending. Five? No wonder her brain was mush.
‘We have work to do.’
Alexa groaned and rolled over, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘Go away.’
The bed shook with his laugh. ‘I bet I could find a way to wake you up.’
His hands slid up her bared leg, all the way to the hem of the silky nightgown she wore. Her hormones zinged to life, like he’d left her body programmed to respond to his touch. But her heart throbbed out a painful beat in her chest and she rolled away from him.
‘I’m up,’ she said and slid off the opposite side of the bed. ‘Scoot. I need to shower.’
He hadn’t moved, just sat there and stared at her with disbelief.
‘Shoo.’ She waved her hands, but his intent gaze told her he wasn’t going anywhere until he said what he wanted to. Alexa rubbed her eyes again. Sighing, she sat back down on the bed, her thigh muscles stiff. ‘Spit it out, Castillo.’
‘Why did you sneak back to your own room?’
She watched his face, but couldn’t see any emotion, any deeper meaning to his question. Fine, if he wanted to be blasé about their night together, she could do that.
Alexa shrugged. ‘You talk in your sleep.’
Panic flickered across his face before he composed himself. ‘Oh? What did I say?’
If his voice hadn’t been wary she’d have admitted he sounded scared, terrified even and asked him what the nightmare was about. ‘I don’t know, you were muttering in Spanish.’
His shoulders sagged a notch, then he looked at her with a serious expression. ‘Are you really on the pill?’
‘You’re kidding me.’ She shook her head. How dare he ask her that after she’d already told him she was. ‘Isn’t that something you should have checked before you went ahead and came inside me?’
Ric stood, anger hardening his jaw. ‘So you lied to me?’
She stomped over to a bag on the floor, pulled out a foil packet and threw it at him. He picked up the strip and studied it. She hadn’t missed a bloody day, the arrogant, assuming git. ‘I wouldn’t lie about that.’
She turned, headed for the en suite then paused. What was she doing? Turning back to him, she glared. ‘Get out.’
He placed the strip on the bedside table. ‘I had to make sure.’
His words cut her deeper than the realisation that she was falling for a man like him had. Fighting the stinging in her eyes, she forced herself to keep her expression blank. ‘I said get out. It’s Sunday and I’ve got my own work to do.’
‘Alexa—’
‘Don’t Alexa me.’ Anger was good. Anger kept her from the pain of his distrust. ‘When I agreed to work with you, I didn’t agree to weekends. I have my own company, my own work. You agreed to let me, now out.’
Fury shone from his eyes, but he turned and left. She exhaled, her anger leaving her body with the breath and pain sneaked in, catching her right in the throat. With blurry vision, she turned and headed for the shower. How she was going to manage two weeks with him when it felt like her heart would break was a mystery, but she’d come too far with the event to back out now.
And now, more than ever, Alexa wanted to change the world’s opinion of her. To make her father, Ric and everyone else see that she’d changed, that she was an adult who cared about things other
than herself. That would have to get her through the next fortnight. Only problem was, she wasn’t sure that it would be enough.
Chapter Eleven
Ric had made a mess of things with Alexa.
He’d pushed her into admitting their attraction, been so lost in lust he hadn’t stopped to make sure she was on the pill and had accused her of lying, even though deep down he knew she’d been telling the truth. Alexa said herself she didn’t want marriage or kids and she wouldn’t trick him like most of the women he’d been with. If Alexa wanted something, she’d tell him.
He tried to concentrate on what felt like the millionth version of the revised contract on his desk, but his mind kept flicking back to her. The pain in her eyes lodged behind her anger was harsher than a kick to the gut and he couldn’t hide from his guilt.
This morning, when he’d woken alone and reached for her, felt the cold sheets on the other side of his bed, he panicked. Usually, he didn’t allow women to spend the night; he hadn’t ever slept next to anyone. The fact that she’d been the one to leave stung. Then to find out he had another nightmare and she witnessed it, made the last of his rational thinking take a hike. He lashed out, tried to distract them both with the accusation about the pill. It was a stupid thing to do.
He ran a hand through his hair and checked the clock. Late afternoon sun shone through the window but he still felt cold. He had to make it up to her somehow.
The penthouse was quiet except for the rhythmic tapping of keys on a laptop. He made his way to her room, paused in the doorway at the sight of her cross-legged on the middle of the bed, a Mac on her lap. He’d never seen her so focused, so serious before. The pull inside urged him forward.
She looked up, her expression blank. ‘Two tics.’ Her forefingers hammered the keys faster and he wondered again what her business was. ‘Ok.’ This time when she turned to him, she closed her laptop lid. ‘What do you want?’
