by Marian Tee
For once in her life, she waited and gave the tiny, sensible voice inside her head a chance to issue its warning about frogs. She had dated and had her heart broken by twenty-eight men, and that voice had issued warnings about each and every one of them. That voice had told her they were all frogs, and they wouldn’t change – they’d stay frogs – even if she kissed them, but she hadn’t listened to it. Not once.
So where was it now? Why wasn’t it warning her?
Nik’s lips left her all of a sudden, and Daria had to swallow back a moan of protest. While she wasn’t shy about showing her affections, Daria also knew she had to at least try not to crowd him. At the end of the day, she and Nik still barely knew each other. While she was almost 100% sure about his place in her life, she had to take it easy on the poor guy and not terrify Nik with how much she, well, liked him.
“We should go.” Nik’s tightly spoken words drew Daria’s attention back to him. He was breathing hard, fierce hunger glittering in his dark eyes as he stared at her. Even so, it was just as evident Nik was determined not to let his desire take control.
And that’s probably why there weren’t any frog alerts, Daria thought dizzily. Aside from being the only man who hadn’t assumed she would be an easy lay just because she liked to flirt, Nik was also the man she had asked God for.
She knew the reason would sound silly to most people, but Daria believed in it with her whole heart. She had sincerely asked God for someone He thought was good for her, never mind what Daria thought she wanted, and He had given her Nik.
And sure, their first meeting hadn’t exactly screamed serendipity – in fact, Nik had initially thought she was mental for throwing a Gatorade bottle at his head, twice – but who cared about that?
God works in mysterious ways, Daria told herself. That their first meeting was more like grounds for a lawsuit shouldn’t and didn’t matter.
As Daria raised her gaze to Nik, something inside her turn warm, soft, and gooey when his gaze immediately captured hers like it was his right to have her stare at him all the time.
This was what mattered, she thought feverishly. This feeling that she had been waiting for him all her life—
This.
Something that she shied away from labeling just yet, mostly because in her own mind, she was scared saying it out loud would make her seem crazy. People didn’t feel this so soon, and this happening at first sight could only be make-believe but—
Daria mentally shook her head. None of that mattered, she reminded herself. She could leave it unnamed for now, and it wouldn’t make a difference. What she should concentrate right now instead was—
Nik stiffened at the look in Daria’s gray eyes. “No,” he rejected in a clipped voice. Whatever she was planning, it was certain to be a bad idea.
But it only made Daria plant her hands on his shoulders, and stiffening even more, he demanded, “What the hell are you doing?”
She didn’t seem to hear him, too busy looking around them, and Nik found himself doing the same. The empty alley, a narrow sanded pathway, led straight to the island’s tourism office behind them. It was closed for the weekend, but there were posters on its windows, encouraging guests to download the office’s free app.
That was interesting to know, Nik thought with a frown, but what did that have to do with them? He turned his head back to Daria to ask, but the moment he did, Daria rose to her toes and, clutching his shoulders more tightly, covered his mouth with hers.
Nik froze.
His entire adult life, he had only two important rules.
Never mix business with pleasure.
Never let pleasure rule him.
Nik had seen how sex – often masquerading as love – ruined the people he had foolishly trusted. His own foster mother, one whom he had lived with for years and thought of as his own parent, had turned on him in the end, and all because she had supposedly lost her heart to a greedy con artist.
He had never allowed anyone to be close to him since then, had never allowed himself to be in a situation where he was not fully in control, and yet with the woman in his arms – the woman trying to seduce him with fake, innocent kisses and succeeding –
Nik had ended up violating almost all of the rules he stood for, and he had no damn idea why.
Forcibly ending the kiss, Nik shook his head at Daria. “This isn’t the time or place—”
Most would have quaked at the forbidding note in his voice, but it only made Daria laugh and shower tiny and arousing kisses all over his face as she whispered, “Of course it is.” More kisses. “We’re alone. I checked.”
Ah. So that was why she had looked around. Even so, he didn’t do stuff like this, and Nik struggled not to let the seductive trail of Daria’s kisses sway him. “It does not matter if we are alone. We must stop—” But instead it was Nik who stopped talking as Daria sucked on his lower lip.
A vision of Daria sucking on his cock teased his mind.
His imagination ran wild, and he found himself releasing her hair so he could hold her by the nape and keep her in place.
Sensing Nik’s control was starting to slip, Daria kissed the corner of his mouth, wanting to destroy it completely. “I’m only going to stop if you can say that like you mean it,” she said throatily.
Her words inflamed him, but bitterness also ate at Nik because of it. “For someone who only had sex once in her life,” he said tightly, “you’re certainly too good at this.”
“Only because of you,” Daria answered honestly, too lost in the heated feel of Nik’s presence to notice the emotion underlining his words. Even though she had a long dating history behind her, none of those frogs had ever seen her naked. None of them had made her want to see any of them naked, and none of them had certainly managed to make her interested in going beyond kissing…
Until now.
Until Nik.
Until she felt…this.
As soon as the thought of this occurred, she deliberately pushed it away, knowing it just wasn’t yet time. Instead, she concentrated on the desire that licked her entire body, and it was a fairly easy task. She only had to remember the first night she had spent in Nik’s arms—
Up, down, up, down, up—
Trying not to melt at Nik’s intense gaze, she told him with mocking gravity, “You’re absolutely wrong.”
Nik tensed.
“I didn’t have sex once in my life.”
His face turned expressionless at Daria’s words. Did this mean she’d confess the truth about her past now? And if she did, he asked himself tautly, what then?
Chapter Two
Nik’s question turned out to be moot. Daria, her arms still around his neck, her breasts rubbing tantalizingly against his chest with every breath she took, only cocked her head to the side, an impish smile on her face as she murmured, “I had sex with just one man in my life, but we made love four times.”
Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar.
Nik was torn between pushing Daria away and kissing her punishingly until she wasn’t able to think of more lies to feed him. How the hell could someone look so innocent – she even felt innocent, dammit, despite her provocative manners – and yet be so used to acting with deceit?
The first time they had met, Daria had told him she had never been with anyone else. And yet when he had gotten his security team to check her background, he had learned that Daria was nothing but a money-grubbing witch with a talent for toying with rich men.
In front of him, Daria flashed Nik a seductive smile as she said huskily, “That’s where all my experience comes from.”
Self-loathing burned deep inside him as his body reacted to Daria’s voice, his desire only growing stronger even as she uttered another blatant lie.
Nik strove to bury his anger deep inside him. Allowing the rage to fester would make him more prone to mistakes, might even make Daria realize he was on to her, and he was determined to avoid that at all costs.
Nik’s plans for revenge depended on making Daria fall i
n love with him – someone she thought was a poor local, ideal for a summer fling but one she would undoubtedly discard upon leaving the island.
Daria’s smile wavered a little when she thought she glimpsed a hard light in Nik’s eyes. It was almost like he hated…her. The unexpected thought had her blinking, but when she looked at his eyes again, it was gone. Even so, she asked hesitantly, “Is something wrong?”
Nik forced his lips to curve into a mocking smile. “Nothing’s wrong.” He leveled a look at her. “Except for the fact that you seem hell-bent on seducing me in public.”
His deadpan tone had her relaxing, and all her worries fled. “Oh, you realized?” she teased. Tiptoeing again, she brushed her lips against his. “I really want you.”
The way she started rubbing himself against him had his cock throbbing. His teeth gnashed. “Daria—”
She responded by pushing her body closer to his, causing Nik to bite back an expletive. “Does the word ‘public’ not mean anything to you?” he grated at her even as his hold on Daria tightened and he found himself torn between arousal and self-disgust at how goddamn weak he was against her.
Daria only gave him a solemn nod. “It does.” Her eyes twinkled. “It means the chances of getting caught…” Her voice turned sultry. “—are going to make things more exciting—”
His control snapped.
A gasp escaped Daria as Nik hauled her to him, but the sound soon turned into a breathless laugh as he swept her up in his arms.
Carrying her, Nik walked further down the alley, and when they rounded the corner, she instinctively wrapped her legs around Nik’s waist as he pushed her against the wall. The new position hid her from view but allowed Nik to see anyone coming through the alley.
Nik’s hooded eyes captured hers. “You make me do the craziest things.” His voice was rough with desire, but there was also an odd note in it, and the sound tugged at her heartstrings.
He was so serious, she thought. Did he ever laugh? That she had to wonder made her heart squeeze even more painfully, for him, and she unthinkingly reached up to touch his face, whispering, “Once in a while, crazy is good.”
His body stirred at the words, but the tender light in her gaze made Nik’s chest tighten in a way he didn’t like.
Disturbed and distrustful, Nik sought to eliminate everything except the fiery need between them. Instead of answering her, he caught her lips in a kiss, his tongue thrusting inside her mouth without preliminaries.
She kissed him back, her hunger matching his. It was the only true thing about her, Nik’s sexual experience recognizing Daria’s genuine desire for him. And that, Nik thought grimly, was what he’d use to teach her a lesson she would never forget.
Lowering Daria back to her feet, he swiftly worked on getting her bikini bottom out of the way, stuffing the tiny triangle into his pocket. When she was up in his arms again, her back against the wall, her eyes wide on his, he didn’t waste any time, his fingers immediately finding her sex, which was already slick and wet.
Daria moaned at the first stroke of his fingers, and her hands moved over his shoulder. She clawed his back, and the pain made his cock throb harder. Another stroke, and she let out a keening cry, forcing him to cover her mouth with his.
“Keep quiet.” He punctuated the command by biting her lower lip, but the punishment backfired as it only made Daria moan again.
He kissed her harder, and lifting his head just enough so he could scowl down at her, he muttered, “Dammit, Daria. You’ll have people coming here if you keep—”
As he spoke, Daria chose the exact same moment to rub her breasts insistently against him, and the feel of her pointed nipples brushing against his chest made him bite back a groan.
“Please, Nik.” Daria knew she was being shameless, begging for Nik to make love to her in public, but she just didn’t care. She wanted him. Now.
Her gaze locking with his again, she started grinding herself against Nik’s rock-hard body, seducing him, imploring him, doing everything she could do to make him surrender. “Nik, please—”
The sexual tremor in her voice was too much, and Nik was undone. He kissed Daria again, but this time, it was to keep them both quiet while he proceeded to do what they both wanted. He was going to fuck her, and public places be damned.
Nik shifting his hold on her body and him reaching to unzip his pants made up the only foreplay she got before his cock slid into her slippery entrance. Even so, it didn’t make any difference. There was no awkward fumbling, Nik’s expertise only ensuring the most sensual excitement as their bodies became one. His thrusts were deep, forceful, and steady, his grip on her hips tight and controlling as he drove Daria closer to the brink of ecstasy with every plunge of his cock. She wanted him so bad, wanted him to fuck her harder and faster, but it was obvious Nik wanted her to die first.
“Oh…God…Nik.” She clutched at his shoulders desperately as he pounded into her.
His head lifted up. “Show me your breasts.”
Her pussy quivered at the order, and the way her inner muscles tightened around his cock prompted a groan out of Nik. Daria’s fingers shook as she reached for her strapless summer dress. The gartered hem allowed her to push the dress down easily, revealing the bandeau top she had on.
“Fuck.” Nik’s eyes nearly crossed at the sight of her bikini top. It was the tiniest thing, made of lace and gold silk. It dipped low to reveal the abundant swell of her breasts before meeting in the center with a huge-ass ribbon that just begged to be unknotted.
“What the fuck is that?” His eyes blazed at her. “No fucking way anyone’s going to see you wear that but me. “
His possessiveness made her toes curl, but Daria managed to arch an eyebrow at him. “And why’s that?” The words were supposed to come out demanding, but instead they came out like a flirtatious invitation with her breathless voice.
His voice turned steely. “Because I don’t share the woman I fuck.” He punctuated his words with a deeper thrust of his cock, and as she gasped at the agonizing pleasure of his penetration, he ordered, “Now, feed me your breasts.”
Daria didn’t bother playing hard to get after that. She wanted him too much to bear it. Unknotting the ribbon on her bikini top, she tossed it down to the sand and when she cupped her breasts, Nik’s head bent down. She raised her breasts up, and Nik caught one nipple in his mouth.
Oooooooh.
Her head fell back, and Daria was unable to think after that. She could only feel, could only pant, she could only hold on to Nik while he sucked on her breasts and pounded into her with his cock. That he could do both seemed like an acrobatic feat to her inexperienced mind, but somehow Nik managed to make it all work.
Daria’s nipples were the sweetest things he had ever tasted. He could have devoured them forever, but Nik eventually forced himself to tear his mouth off her. His gaze immediately swung back to the alley, his dislike of public displays not letting him forget that anyone could walk towards them at any moment.
“Nik, Oh God, Nik.”
Daria’s whispers made Nik’s hips pump faster, his cock driving in and out of her body like a well-oiled machine. God. Damn. It. What made this woman so different from the rest, Nik asked himself savagely. Even though he already knew the truth about her, why couldn’t he stop himself from wanting her? Why did every little thing about her seemed designed to seduce him into obeying her every command?
Just as he started to feel the first stirrings of a powerful orgasm building up inside him, Nik spotted a bunch of teenage boys heading their way, talking about finding a private place to smoke.
One of them saw him and pointed his way. The whole group turned towards him, and Nik saw their eyes widen as they took in the way his body was moving forward and backward, like a man having sex – which he was – and finally, Daria’s naked leg, which dangled over his left arm.
When their dazed eyes moved back up to his face, Nik didn’t even bother to glare or scowl. He simply returned the
ir gazes with a promise.
One step closer, and they would die.
It was a promise he was fully capable of keeping since he always had his security team with him, working incognito. One sign from Nik, and the men would be kicked off the island.
Fortunately, the men weren’t dumb enough to misread the deadly look in Nik’s gaze. But as soon as they started to turn away, Daria chose that moment to let out the sexiest little whimper.
“Nik, please, let me come.”
It was like a siren’s call, a voice that no sane, hot-blooded man would have the power to resist. Upon hearing the sound, Nik wasn’t even surprised when it caused the boys to jerk to a stop before slowly turning around to look back at him.
Nik’s teeth gnashed. A part of him wanted to take the time to get rid of the other guys, but the larger part of him was already lost, caught in a web of sexual euphoria that only orgasm could release him from.
His gaze slid back to Daria—
Big mistake.
Large gray eyes begged him to give in, and Nik’s cock once again won over his brain.
Pulling his gaze away from Daria’s with an effort, Nik focused on driving both of them over the edge. As he pounded into her, he reached down to tease her clit. The smallest brush of his fingers against the swollen flesh had her eyes widening, and her panting became increasingly louder and more erotic.
“Keep it down,” he gritted out, unable to kiss her into silence since he still had to keep his gaze on the boys, making sure they weren’t tempted to come any closer. They could watch him all they want if that was what they were into, but no fucking way would Nik allow them to see Daria while she had her breasts unbound and she was about to come.
Daria’s fingers dug into his back. “I can’t.” Her head fell back again. “So good.”
In front of Nik, he saw the boys shift on their feet, visibly affected by the sound of Daria’s words.
God. Damn. It.
“Then come.” Nik gave it everything he got, no longer thinking of prolonging their pleasure. He withdrew his cock to the fullest before sinking it back into her aching depths. “Come now.” He did the same thing again with his cock but this time, he also tugged at her clit.
