by Taryn Belle
She forced herself to open her mouth. “My boyfriend in high school. He told me we could make a pile of money by doing a sex tape and selling it to some guy he knew. He said the guy had signed something saying he’d blur our faces out, but of course it was all a big lie. I did the tape with my boyfriend, but there was never any money. And when the shit with Matthew happened...the tape was all over the internet, and then Celebrity Life picked it up and aired it. That’s why I got fired.”
Alex inhaled sharply. “Oh, God, Nicola. Oh, God. I am so sorry.” Nicola finally met his eyes, and he reached for her hands. This time she left them in his. “I can’t imagine how horrible that was for you. And your father...” He shook his head. “For him to treat you that way—any female that way—just makes me so furious. He didn’t deserve to be your father.”
Nicola didn’t respond. What Alex said was true, of course, but Nicola knew she was responsible for her own choices. She hated people who tried to blame their actions on their childhood, their parents, their spouses. She had done something stupid, plain and simple.
Alex leaned in toward her, then pushed her hair back from her face. “Nicola, listen to me. We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. I don’t care, okay? I don’t care.”
Don’t care? It was too good to be true. “You don’t?” she asked hesitantly.
“I don’t. You are an amazing woman, and I’ll take it all—the bad with the good, the hard with the easy. Thank you for telling me.”
“Thank...?” She couldn’t believe it. Could it really be that simple? That a man—not just any man, but Alex—could actually know the worst about her and still want her?
She remembered a date she went on after the scandal...her one date before leaving LA. The guy had spent the whole night fishing around for details about Matthew Beck’s personal life, and then wondered aloud if Nicola would ever do a repeat performance of the sex tape. Alex was nothing like that. He was...a fantasy.
Relief swept through Nicola’s body as Alex’s hand slipped around her neck and up into her drenched hair. Holding her tight, he leaned in and kissed her hard. To Nicola it felt like a kiss that communicated all that was unsaid between them, the things that were too early to say and the things that were too hard to put into words. From the soil of all the painful experiences that had brought her to this time and place, she felt the first tender shoots of possibility for the life she’d been afraid she could never have. Emotionally raw, she felt laid open with vulnerability—and within that was something strangely but powerfully erotic.
When they finally pulled apart, Nicola was a little breathless. The rain had stopped by now aside from a soft patter. She stood up and ducked out of the cave. “I should check on Kiki,” she said, stretching her cramped legs.
“I’m sure Kiki is just fine,” Alex replied, joining her outside. Face-to-face, he kept his eyes fastened on Nicola’s in the dim light. She felt strangely transfixed, as if his eyes held a spell that worked only on her.
Nicola reached out and grabbed Alex’s now-soaked linen shirt in her fists and slowly pulled him closer to her. The flame that had started as a flicker a moment ago was quickly growing into an inferno inside her body. She hadn’t felt anything like this before—a magnetism that she was powerless to fight. And it was all because of this one man. Alex.
“I want you,” she whispered helplessly.
“I want you more,” Alex whispered back. In one smooth motion, he lifted her up onto his hips. She wrapped her legs around his damp shorts, feeling the connection between their bodies at their most intimate places. Still looking into Alex’s eyes, she slowly moved her pelvis against his. She was gratified to feel an instant response. “Do you have—”
“In my back pocket,” Alex replied with a sinful grin. “My room?”
“Too far.” One more word came from Nicola’s lips, uttered softly but with an unmistakable urgency: “Now.” She watched Alex swivel his head left and right, weighing his options, and then he carried her the fifty feet it took to reach the pool house. Nicola watched Alex slam the door shut behind them with his foot, and then she found herself in darkness.
Alex was smart. Instead of taking her to the main entrance—the lovely space with the chaise longues and minibar fridge where she could hear guests living it up right now—he’d taken her to the tiny room behind it where the inner workings of the pool were. Though it was private in here, she could hear people through the thin wall as if they were right beside her. But this only served to heighten her pulsing excitement. Still wrapped around his hips, she placed her hands on his face. “I can barely see you. We better be quiet,” she whispered.
In answer, Alex’s lips found hers and kissed her fiercely. Then he placed her down on something hard, and she realized she was sitting on the pool pump. She could feel it vibrating beneath her, but she could still see almost nothing. Nicola wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck as his tongue explored the inside of her mouth. With nothing but the sense of touch between them, every nerve in her body felt alive with electricity.
She heard Alex’s shorts unzipping, and then his breath was on her neck. She reached out and her hand ran directly into his rock-hard cock. She slid off the pump until her knees hit the floor, then wrapped her lips around his sweet, thick length and started to suck.
“Nicola, oh, God...”
Holding him firmly at his base, she licked his tip until she felt his legs start to tremble, then she pressed the entire length of him between her rain-slicked breasts. Squeezing her arms together, she moved up and down, letting him slide back and forth in her cleavage. Alex let out a muffled groan, and then his hands were under her armpits, pulling her up and spinning her around. She felt the pool pump hit the tops of her thighs. Alex’s hand was at the back of her neck now, tugging at her halter tie. Her top fell forward, exposing her naked breasts. Alex reached around for them while he trailed his tongue down her back. “You taste so fucking good,” he said in a low growl.
“Shh...no talking, remember?”
Nicola’s outfit was down around her ankles now, and she was about to slide her thong down when she heard a shuffling noise followed by low voices. Just outside their door.
Shit—now they had people all around them. She and Alex stayed perfectly quiet until they heard footsteps walking away.
“Thank fuck,” Alex said into her ear with a sigh of relief.
Weirdly, Nicola felt more turned on than ever. The brief moment she’d had when she thought they’d have to abort the mission had made her all the more hungry for what was about to happen. Alex’s tongue was on her lower back now, trailing downward as he slid her thong down her legs. She was about to step out of it when he stopped her.
“Just enough space for me,” he whispered. He bent her forward, holding her down by the back of the neck until her pussy was resting directly on the vibration. Then he pushed two fingers into her from behind. It felt so unbearably good that she was unable to control the moan that escaped her lips.
Was it her imagination, or did the conversation on the other side of the wall quiet for a moment? She was almost beyond caring—almost. Then she heard the rip of the condom foil, and Alex bent over her and whispered into her ear. “I’m going to fuck you now. And it’s going to feel incredible.”
That was when she stopped caring altogether.
Nicola tried to back up into him to make it happen faster, but he just pressed her more firmly into the pump. The vibration against her clit was driving her wild, and when he finally slid into her...sheer ecstasy. She felt him hunch over her as he drove into her harder and faster, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The sweat between their bodies created a slick heat on their skin. Alex pushed her legs together until her knees were touching. “Jesus, you are so tight and wet...”
The vibration combined with Alex’s thrusting cock—it was the most incredible thing Nicola had ever felt. Her orgasm was close, so c
lose now, and she knew that when it came it was going to spin the earth on its axis. She moaned again involuntarily, and then she was certain of it—the noise on the other side of the wall stopped. They had heard her.
The decent thing to do now would be to stop and stay perfectly silent until they resumed their chatter, but at the moment Nicola cared nothing for decency. She cared only about the incredible electric connection she was experiencing with the man behind her—and about meeting the insane orgasm that was now just seconds out of her reach. By this time their flesh was slapping together loudly anyway, so it probably made no difference, but she found Alex’s hand and brought it to her mouth. His fingers crept into her mouth, and she sucked at them greedily as he slammed into her.
And then she was there. Her entire body went rigid at the same time as Alex’s did, and she knew he was hitting at the same time she was. As the first wave washed over her, she squeezed her pelvic muscles to intensify the feeling and then rode crest after crest of mind-blowing heat. Her breath came out of her in a long moan that she was certain everyone at the party could hear, but Alex pressed his hand into her mouth as she heard him empty into her with a barely audible growl.
Finally, Alex collapsed onto her back. “My God, woman. What are you doing to me?” he gasped out.
Nicola was wondering the same thing about him.
CHAPTER NINE
FOR ALEX, sleep would not come. Beside him in their honeymoon suite bed, Nicola slept peacefully with her back curled into him. He disengaged his arm from under her neck and flipped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling in the dark.
What the hell was he going to do?
Alex had figured out who Nicola was the first night they slept together. As he lay staring at her face, her vague familiarity had finally clicked into place. So why hadn’t he said anything to her?
Because it was awkward. Since she hadn’t mentioned it, he got that it wasn’t something she wanted to lay out on their first date—or whatever you wanted to call that first crazy night together. He’d opened the door by throwing the Google question out to her, just in case she felt like talking about it. It had been clear from her reaction that she wasn’t ready, and that was okay. He trusted she would tell him in her own time.
Last night Alex’s reaction to her admission had been truthful—he really didn’t care. Alex was a man who believed in forming his own opinions about people rather than letting their reputations cloud his vision. He considered himself a good judge of character, an assertion that had nearly always proven correct in both his business and personal lives. And now once again he’d been right, but not only about Nicola.
John Brissoli. Alex had known he was a slippery snake just from their brief communications, but it was only when he was standing between Brissoli and Nicola at the party that he made a horrible connection in his head.
Nicola had been a victim of the paparazzi. And Brissoli’s website, Star*ucker, specialized in taking celebrities—and any civilians that happened to be along for the ride—down for the count. And to make matters even worse, if memory served Alex correctly, it was Star*ucker who had first released the sex tape featuring Nicola’s blurred face.
Standing there, Alex had realized there was no way he could admit to Nicola that he’d known who she was. She’d figure out that he was on the island to buy Brissoli’s company, and then she’d show him the door before he could say “huge fucking regret.” Worse, she might even think he was only showing interest in her so he could squeeze some new info out of her.
So he’d let her tell him the whole story as if he didn’t have a clue. It had damn near broken his heart, especially the bit about her family, but by the time she got to that part Alex had been too distracted by something else she’d mentioned to be fully present.
Celebrity Life. It was produced by one of the many companies his family’s conglomerate, Echelon Media Holdings, owned.
Nicola would fucking hate him.
He should have told her right then and there, come clean exactly like she just had, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Every excuse in the book had rolled through his head—that she was already upset, that he needed time to plan his words, that maybe he didn’t even need to tell her because after all, they didn’t necessarily have a future together.
But he knew it was all bullshit. Like it or not, he’d already come to care about Nicola a whole lot more than made sense considering their short time together. She wasn’t just a lay—she was amazing, and he knew he was falling for her fast and hard. So he’d settled on the best solution he could come up with at the time: he’d deepened both of their feelings by fucking her brains out.
Way to go, Stone.
He would tell her everything tomorrow morning, Alex decided. First thing.
No, you won’t. You’ll think of an excuse not to, and then you’ll feel even shittier.
It was true. It couldn’t wait. He had to tell her—now.
Alex took a deep breath, planning his opening words. Then he reached out and gave Nicola’s arm a little shake. “Nicola,” he whispered loudly.
She made a little noise of surprise in her throat, then she turned over to face him. “Hmm?”
“I need to talk to you,” he said, pushing her hair off her face. Her eyes fluttered open. The lamp in the corner, set to its sexy late-night mode, shed just enough light for Alex to see her face. It didn’t seem possible, but every time he saw her he found her more beautiful. Even like this—no, especially like this, with her eyes hazy and her lips slightly swollen, in his bed for him and him alone.
Until he told her the truth and she gave him his walking papers. After that would he always look back on their white-hot encounter from the night before, remembering that it was the last time he’d ever had sex with her?
His resolve wavered.
“Mmm. I need to talk to you, too,” Nicola said lazily, running her hand up his arm under the duvet.
Alex gave a small start. “You do?”
“Yes.” She ran her nails down Alex’s back, making him shiver.
Steady. Don’t get distracted.
Nicola hooked her knee around his leg and rolled on top of him, pressing her bare breasts into his chest. “But I forgot what I was going to say, so I’ll just let my body do the talking.”
Oh, God...he could feel his cock hardening under her taut belly. He gave one last weak protest. “Nicola, I really—”
“Shh...really what? Really want me on top, or really want to tie me up? Because I just happen to know that a pair of men’s socks will do the trick.”
Just happen to know.
Alex’s head filled with the agonizing vision of Nicola in another man’s bed, her arms tied up around her head, moaning with pleasure as he fucked her senseless. It wasn’t that she’d done it before that bothered Alex. It was that after he lost her, one day she’d do it again with another man.
That did it. Sliding his hands down to her ass, Alex kissed her with everything he had.
Claiming her.
Needing her.
Consumed by her.
“I’ll get the socks,” Nicola said breathlessly.
* * *
Scrambled eggs, toast and hash browns: Nicola’s favorite breakfast. She looked down at her plate of food, wishing she felt hungry. It worried her that she didn’t, because she knew exactly why. Nicola had been in love twice in her life, both relationships now a distant memory, but suddenly all the symptoms were coming back to her. Nerves on edge, distracted thoughts of him all day long and loss of appetite. That was how Nicola knew she was falling, and right now she was falling extremely hard for someone who lived three time zones away.
The noise of the Palms Inn breakfast room brought Nicola back to the moment. She picked up her fork and speared a single hash brown, gazing out the window at the storm’s aftermath. The sun was back, shining brightly as if last ni
ght had never happened. But the palm leaves and debris scattered around the grounds were proof that it had—as was the power outage that had hit the island save for the Palms Inn and Pablo’s, which, along with a few of the private homes, had their own generators.
“So,” she said to Alex, who was sitting across from her eating a cheese omelet. “I assume you didn’t get the chance to talk business last night?” Nicola tried her best to keep the edge out of her voice. It wasn’t Alex’s fault that he happened to be doing a deal with a man who’d given her the heebie-jeebies and then called her out right in front of Alex. Nicola didn’t know a lot about how business deals were done, but she knew it had little to do with personal compatibility and a lot to do with money.
Alex brought his napkin to his mouth and reached for his coffee. He’d been unusually quiet since they got up this morning, but Nicola put it down to work stress. Whatever was going on between the two of them, he had still come here for a purpose that hadn’t been met yet. And she realized now she may have made things worse for him by pulling him away from his contact last night.
“Not really,” Alex said, after sipping his coffee. “I didn’t know he was going to be at the party. I’d sent him an email earlier in the day, and I guess he figured he’d just show up.” He glanced out the window. “It’s a beautiful day. What do you have planned?”
“Just one dive this morning, then I have the rest of the day off.” She hesitated for a beat, and then, “Would you like to do something together? We could hike up the mountain. We’d just have to rent a Jeep from the gas station for the day.”
Alex nodded. “That would be great,” he replied, but Nicola thought his response lacked enthusiasm.
“Listen,” she started. “I hope I didn’t cause any problems for you last night? By taking off that way, I mean. You finally got in front of the guy, and I kind of distracted you by leaving so abruptly.”
He put his hand over hers. “I wanted to go after you. That was way more important to me than any business conversation.”
