Breaking the Playboy's Rules

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  It would be a photographer’s dream to see such exquisite colour and light, the hues changing with each passing second, the intensity of the sun as it peeped its golden eye above the horizon promising a beautiful day ahead.

  In the distance she could see a faint disturbance in the smoothness of the sea’s surface, and then the distinctive shape of a dorsal fin, soon followed by the smooth silver back of a breaching dolphin. And then eight or more followed the first, and she gasped out loud as they breached in tandem, as if following some sort of ancient aquatic choreography. ‘Oh, wow! Hunter, look—dolphins!’

  The sheets rustled as Hunter threw them off and he came and joined her by the window, completely and utterly naked. He placed his arms around her waist, standing behind her, drawing her back against his body. Being so much taller than her, he had an uninterrupted view of the ocean and its pod of playful dolphins over her right shoulder. And she had the delight of feeling his hardened body pressing against her bottom.

  ‘Nature at its finest,’ he said, and began to nibble her right ear.

  Millie shivered and turned in his arms, winding her arms around his neck, but not before a greedy glance at his morning erection. She gave him a sultry smile. ‘That’s for sure.’

  He lowered his mouth to hers in a long, drugging kiss that made her forget all about the glorious sunrise and sea life. His proud length throbbed against her belly, a potent reminder of the pleasure she had experienced in his arms in the early hours.

  ‘Where are we?’ she asked against his lips.

  ‘In heaven.’ He nudged her lower lip with his mouth. ‘Or at least, we soon will be.’

  Millie laughed and kissed him back. ‘I meant apart from sensual heaven. I must have fallen asleep after you got the boat moving last night.’

  ‘I’ve taken us far enough away for us to have some privacy. A mate of mine has a private island a short distance from here. We can moor there, so we can have a picnic on the beach.’

  ‘That sounds amazing. I think I’m going to remember this weekend for the rest of my life.’

  He smiled a lazy smile. ‘Never let it be said I don’t know how to show a lady a good time.’

  ‘You’re definitely excellent at doing that.’

  Hunter brought his mouth back to hers in a scorching kiss that made every hair on her head rise in a Mexican wave. Her blood began to pound in her core, swelling her most intimate tissues, making them throb with a delicate pulsing ache that only he could assuage. His tongue danced with hers in an erotic imitation of love-making and she all but melted into a pool of longing.

  He broke the kiss to peel the silk wrap from her body and it slipped to the floor at their feet. His hands ran down from the tops of her shoulders to her hips and back again—slow, caressing, mesmerising strokes that made her pulse race with anticipation. His gaze was sheened with lust, glittering, primal lust of a man who wanted a woman so badly it was killing him to stay in control. It thrilled her to think she was able to stir him up so much, and only fair, given the sensual havoc he caused her. Her body trembled under his touch, aching with need, hungry to feel the hot, hard friction of his body within hers.

  ‘Make love to me. Please.’ She didn’t care that she sounded as if she was begging. Damn it, she was begging.

  ‘Don’t you want breakfast first?’ There was a teasing glint in his gaze.

  ‘Later.’ She bit gently on his lower lip and added, ‘I’m hungry for you right now.’

  Hunter lifted her as if she weighed nothing more than a feather pillow and laid her on the bed. He came down beside her, his hands stroking her body into a frenzy of want. He circled her belly button with a lazy finger, tiptoeing it lower, lower, lower until he got to her feminine folds. Her back lifted off the bed in heady anticipation, her breath catching in her throat. He separated her and gently began to caress her already sensitive flesh, his eyes watching her response as if spellbound.

  Millie was the one who was spellbound. Spellbound, mesmerised, dazed by the sensations he was creating in her body. Spasms, contractions and flickers of pleasure darted through her flesh, tension building, the ache for release increasing in intensity. She was getting closer and closer to the edge, the build-up tightening every nerve to a centre of concentration. And then she flew up into outer space, the sensations ricocheting through her body with rocket-ship speed. Spinning her round and round until she was gasping with the sheer bliss of a planet-dislodging orgasm.

  Hunter waited until she was coming back to earth before he applied a condom and moved over her, turning her so she was straddling him, his hands holding her by the hips. His eyes were dark and lustrous with desire, his erection full and thick inside her. She squeezed herself around him, rocking with him, watching the contorted expression of pleasure play out on his face. It excited her to see him as undone by her as she was by him just moments ago. His pace increased, her pace increased, his groans and gasps matching hers. And then they were both riding the wave together, spilling out the other end in a tangle of limbs, the sound of their ragged breathing the only sound other than the sea lapping at the hull of the boat.

  Millie lay across him, her head buried in his neck, breathing in the scent of him, storing it in her memory for the time when she would no longer be with him. How long would it be? A week or two? A month? A couple of months? He hadn’t specified the time frame, only that their fling would be temporary.

  It occurred to her that one day in the not-too-distant future he would be photographed by the press with someone else. Someone who would occupy his bed for a short time and be completely satisfied with the arrangement.

  The thing was, could she truly be satisfied with a fling?

  You’re going to have to be. Those are the rules.

  Millie rolled over onto her back and untangled her legs from his, her thoughts still in turmoil. Was she making another prison for herself? Her prison with Julian had been the lack of true love. But her prison with Hunter would be an over-supply of it.

  If she fell in love. If. Such a small word for a massive change of circumstances. Circumstances Hunter was at pains to avoid, no matter what. And so had she been, until now...

  Commitment. Life-long love. Marriage and children.

  Those were the things she had denied herself, pretending she didn’t want them any more. But the truth was, she hadn’t wanted them with Julian.

  Hunter reached for her and gathered her close, rolling onto his side, resting on one elbow. He brushed hair away from her face with his other hand, his mouth tilted in a wistful smile. ‘This was a great idea, stealing you away for a weekend.’ He interlaced his fingers with hers. ‘I wish I could keep you with me longer.’ His voice went down a semitone, low and deep with a trace of huskiness.

  Longer as in past the weekend, or longer as in for ever? The unspoken words seemed to hover in the silence. Millie returned his smile and lowered her gaze, circling each of his hard, flat male nipples with a slow-moving finger. ‘We both have our businesses to run. A long weekend is about the only holiday I get these days.’

  ‘Are you breaking even? Making a profit?’

  Millie gave a slight grimace. ‘I was until I had to help Mum out.’ She sighed and added, ‘That’s why it means so much to me that you waived your fees. It’s the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me.’

  He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth, pulling back to look at her with a hooded gaze. ‘My career has never been about making heaps of money. I enjoy the financial reward, and I’ve had good results with investments and shares and so on, but it’s not something that drives me.’

  He gave a rueful twist of his mouth and continued, ‘I wish there had been someone who could have helped my mother during the divorce. It still sits like a stone in my gut that she got so done over. She believed everything my father told her. He spun her lie after lie after lie. I know it killed her in the
end—the stress of him leaving her practically destitute and with a disabled child to take care of. It tortures me that she might have survived her blood cancer if she’d been stronger, both physically and mentally. But she just seemed to get ground down and then stopped fighting.’

  He took a deep breath and let it out in a ragged stream. ‘It was the saddest day of my life when she passed away.’

  ‘Oh, Hunter,’ Millie said, reaching up to stroke his face with a tender hand, tears clogging the back of her throat. ‘I’m sure she would be so proud of how you take care of Emma. And how you’ve set out to help other people with your work. You truly are the most wonderful man. I’m even more ashamed now that I didn’t see it the first time I met you.’

  One side of his mouth lifted in a smile and he brushed his thumb over her lower lip, sending tingles through her flesh. ‘You’re making me sound like a saint, and I’m hardly that.’

  Millie stroked his jaw, delighting in the sexy rasp of his stubble against her fingers. ‘I’ve been thinking about Emma and how she’s so reliant on you when Rupinder is away. Have you thought of getting her a therapy dog?’

  Hunter frowned. ‘A dog? Are you crazy? She can’t take care of herself, let alone a dog.’ His tone was dismissive, and a coldness came over his face that chilled her to the bone. He moved away from her and scooped up a pair of undershorts and stepped into them. ‘Look—sorry to be blunt, but Emma is my problem, not yours.’

  Millie sat up and pulled the sheet up to cover her body, suddenly feeling naked and exposed under his searing gaze. ‘Have I upset you? I didn’t mean to. I was just offering a suggestion that—’

  ‘That is unwelcome, unworkable and unnecessary.’ He turned his back on her to continue dressing, his movements jerky with barely suppressed anger.

  Millie pushed away the covers, got off the bed and slipped on the bathrobe, tying the waist ties with equally jerky movements. ‘I don’t understand why a simple suggestion should trigger such a response in you. I was only trying to help.’

  Hunter turned to face her, his expression dark and forbidding. ‘I’ve been responsible for my sister for years. I know what works and what doesn’t, and a dog would make things way more complicated than they already are. Dogs need to be walked and fed, and trained appropriately. Emma isn’t capable of it.’ He blew out a breath and added in a weighty tone, ‘And dogs rarely outlive their owners. What would that do to Emma if the wretched thing dies?’

  Millie bit her lip, understanding his logic, but also seeing the other side of the argument. ‘No pet comes with a guarantee of a long, healthy life, but a therapy dog is trained to be a companion and helper to people with disabilities. They come fully trained for the person’s needs. Perhaps you could ask the carers to help with the walking and feeding? And maybe Emma is capable of more than you give her credit for. She could groom it, at the very least. The dog would be with Emma all the time, night and day. It would provide continuity and comfort when Rupinder or whoever goes on leave. Dogs can be sensitive to mood and can be trained to detect when a seizure is about to happen. Surely there are more positives than negatives in getting one?’

  His expression became one of grave reflection, as if he was mentally sorting through her arguments in a logical and sequential fashion. Then, after a long moment, he finger-combed his hair and let out another long, serrated breath. ‘Look—I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.’

  Millie smiled and approached him, placing her arms around his waist and looking up into his eyes. ‘I seriously don’t think you’ll be disappointed. You’ve had a dog before—I saw the photo at your house. It looked like you were great mates.’

  A shadow flickered through his gaze and he gathered her closer. ‘I had a dog called Midge but she had to be given away when we moved into a tiny flat after my parents’ divorce. That was the second-saddest day of my life.’

  Millie tightened her arms around him, as if reaching back in time to comfort the young boy who had lost his faithful friend in such a heart-wrenching way. ‘That’s terrible, Hunter. So terribly sad. How did Emma cope with that?’

  ‘She didn’t.’ Another deep, ragged sigh. ‘In the end, I had to pretend it was no big deal to me so I didn’t ramp up her distress.’

  Millie leaned back to gaze into his shadowed eyes. ‘I can see now why you got so triggered by my suggestion of a therapy dog...’

  He gave a glimmer of a smile, his arms a strong, warm band around her. ‘You have a habit of triggering me in lots of ways.’

  ‘Good or bad triggers?’

  He bent down to press a light-as-air kiss to her lips. ‘I think you already know the answer to that.’ And his mouth came down and covered hers in a spine-tingling kiss.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  AN HOUR OR so later, Hunter anchored the yacht a short distance from the private island and, using the Jet Ski that was housed in a special section of the craft, took Millie and a picnic breakfast to the secluded cove. She hopped off the Jet Ski into the shallow water and waded the rest of the way to the golden sand.

  If she had been asked to imagine paradise, then this would have been it. The beach was accessible only by boat or Jet Ski, and vertiginous cliffs rose on either side of it, creating absolute privacy. The beach was about four hundred metres in width and the water the quintessential deep Aegean blue, and as you got closer to the shore, the more shallow water, with its sandy bottom, became a stunning turquoise and then a gorgeous cyan.

  ‘This is just...amazing...’ Millie could barely find the words to describe the exquisite beauty surrounding her.

  ‘It is pretty special.’ Hunter leaned down to put the picnic hamper and their towels on the sand. He straightened and smiled. ‘Breakfast or swim first?’

  Millie laughed and began to strip off her shorts and top, leaving just her bikini on. ‘Definitely a swim.’

  His eyes roved over her from head to foot, his pupils darkening with unbridled lust. ‘You don’t need your bikini.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  His gaze smouldered. ‘Absolutely.’

  Millie untied the strings of her bikini top and tossed it to the towel he had laid down and spread out just moments before. Next, she untied the strings at her hips, letting the bottoms fall to her feet. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought to be standing naked in front of a gorgeous man on a jaw-droppingly beautiful beach. Nor had she ever thought said man would look at her as if she was even more stunning than their surroundings.

  ‘Aren’t you going to get undressed?’ she asked.

  ‘Sorry. I got distracted by the view.’ He hauled his white T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the towel. Next came his shorts and underwear and Millie couldn’t drag her eyes away from his gloriously male body.

  Hunter held out a hand to her and she slipped hers into it, shivering at the scorching look in his brown eyes. ‘Have you ever skinny-dipped before?’

  ‘No. I seem to do lots of things with you that I’ve never done before.’ Like fall in love.

  Millie knew she had taken the fatal last footstep and was now madly, fiercely, desperately in love with him. How could she not be? It had been stupid of her to think she could keep her feelings out of their arrangement. Their arrangement was all about feelings. Feelings she had never felt before. Feelings that had sparked at their first meeting, flickered into a bright flame at their second and by their third she’d been all in. Engulfed by desire, which she had fooled herself was only a physical thing. A mutually driven lust that would burn out in time.

  But it wasn’t burning out, it was burning brighter, hotter, more intensely.

  And, like a silly little moth, she was flying right into the heart of the blistering flame.

  * * *

  Hunter led Millie into the warm water, determined to refrain from making love to her until after they had a swim. But it was hard. Damn hard. She looked l
ike a beautiful mermaid, slim with curves in all the right places, her hair a long silk curtain down her back. But making love in the water was tricky when it came to condoms and the one thing he wouldn’t do was make love without a condom. The last thing he needed was another complication in his life, and an unexpected pregnancy would top the list.

  He held her hand until they were waist-deep and then turned her into him, running his hands down the sides of her body, his own body thick, tight and hot with desire. ‘We’re supposed to be swimming,’ he said, leaning down to nibble at her ear lobe, breathing in the scent of her until he was almost drunk with it.

  ‘I’m not stopping you.’ She nestled closer, sliding one of her hands down between their bodies to stroke him.

  He pulled her hand away even though it almost killed him. ‘Yes, you are, little minx.’ He tapped her on the end of the nose and added, ‘Hold that thought until after breakfast.’ He gave her bottom a playful pat. ‘Now, go and swim.’

  Millie gave him a mock pout and then turned and swam off with neat fluid strokes. He watched her, spellbound for a few seconds, before striking out after her. She was a lot harder to catch than he’d expected, and he had to up his kick-and stroke-rate to get to her.

  He finally caught her around the waist and trod water with her, smiling down at her sparkling eyes and laughing mouth. ‘Now I’ve got you.’

  Her legs wound around his waist and her naked body tempted his to the point of pain. ‘So you have. But not for long.’ Water droplets clung to the end of her long eyelashes and her lips curved upwards in a smile that made something in his chest tighten like a vice.

  Not for long... The words were a jarring reminder of the time frame on their fling. His timeframe. But that was the way he wanted it, wasn’t it? He couldn’t offer her anything other than this—a short-term fling that would burn out just like any other had in the past.

  So why, then, wasn’t it burning out?

  There was no boredom on his part, no sense of claustrophobia or dissatisfaction. The sex was mind-blowing, her company and conversation were stimulating and he enjoyed every minute he spent with her. Yes, even when she offered unwelcome suggestions about getting a therapy dog for Emma. Millie had made him think about it, more deeply than she probably realised.