Episode 19
EPISODE 19
A PIECE OF MY HEART
Ariel
Brett’s kiss…
Time seems suspended as we stand in the night breeze, the stars twinkling above us. Our lips slide together, our tongues tangle as the kiss becomes deeper and more passionate.
In the distance, the waves hit the shore—a soft crash.
Everything—the ambiance, the man, the kiss—is perfect, so perfect.
Until he pulls away.
Is something wrong? Should I ask? I open my mouth?—
He cups my cheek with his warm hand. “Your lips taste just as sweet as I knew they would.”
I turn my head slightly, leaning into his hand.
“So beautiful,” he whispers. Then he drops his hand from my cheek and entwines his fingers with mine. “Let’s take that walk.” He kicks off his shoes.
I slide out of my flip-flops and step onto the soft sand. It’s cool and comforting on my toes. We walk toward the water a bit, and then Brett turns so we’re walking alongside it while staying on dry sand.
“Tell me something,” he says.
“Of course.”
“Why did you choose to come here, Ariel?”
Is that a trick question? I got an offer I couldn’t refuse, but I suspect that’s not the answer Brett is looking for.
“For the chance to meet you, of course.”
I’m not sure where that answer came from. I’ve never been good at the sexy banter thing, but I’ll go with it.
Brett chuckles. It’s like a raspy growl that I can feel as well as hear. “What about the others?”
“What others?” I say with as much innocence as I can muster.
He squeezes my hand. “I’m not making any promises, Ariel.”
“Did I ask for any?”
“You’re so young. So innocent.”
“I’m far from innocent, Brett.”
“You know how to kiss, for sure.” He stops, turns toward me, and pushes a lock of hair off my forehead. “But I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I let out a light scoff. “I know the rules. I know the odds. I’m just happy to be here.”
That much is true. But my God, this man… He’s magnificent with his golden hair and light-brown stubble. His searing blue eyes that somehow look even bluer in the moonlight. And his body—six feet three inches of bronze muscle.
So much for not getting starry-eyed.
“I’d like to take you somewhere,” he says. “But it’s late now. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Sadness wells in me. Is he saying the evening is over? He said he wanted to get to know me.
“I’m not even sure what time it is,” I reply.
He chuckles again. “I’m not either. The number one rule for tonight was no phones. No distractions.”
“You have to follow Evangeline’s rules too?”
“Evangeline didn’t make these rules, Ariel. She made suggestions, of course, but the guys and I had the final say.”
“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”
It’s definitely time for me to stop saying stupid things. Of course the men made the rules. They’re the ones paying out of their asses for this.
“Anyway,” Brett continues, “I should probably do the responsible thing and take you safely back to the mansion.”
I look to the sky, admire the brightness and abundance of the stars. “I’m responsible every day at home, Brett. I work. I pay my bills. I help my mother out when she needs me. Frankly, it feels pretty nice not to be responsible for once.”
He smiles, and my heart nearly melts into a puddle. “I hear you. I work all the time to keep my company at the top of its game. I’m responsible not only to myself but to my thousands of employees. Maybe you’re right, Ariel. Maybe I don’t need to be responsible tonight.”
I return his smile. My hands itch to reach toward him, to touch him, to slide down his neck, unbutton that shirt, and caress his sculpted chest.
“Here’s to irresponsibility!” He sweeps me into his arms, holding me as if I weighed no more than a small child.
“Brett!” I laugh. “What are you doing?”
“Being irresponsible. I’m going to find a private place, and then I’m going to lay you down, part those pretty legs of yours, and see if your other lips are as sexy as the ones I just kissed.”
My heart thumps like a hummingbird’s wings on a summer morning. Did he really just say he’s going to eat me? My heartbeat takes over my body, especially between my legs.
Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump.
“Are you wet for me?” His deep voice sears into my soul.
“Do you want me to be?”
“God, yes.” He inhales. “You are. I smell you, Ariel. I smell you mingled with the sea breeze, the salty ocean, the lush palm trees. And wildflowers. You smell like wildflowers.”
“That’s my body spray,” I say on a breath.
“It’s sweet and sassy, just like you are.” He inhales again. “I’m going to make you come tonight, Ariel. I’m going to make you come so hard and so many times that you’ll be begging me to stop.”
I swallow. My nipples are hard and ready, and as he carries me, the jostling pushes them against the soft fabric of my dress. God…
His lips. His full, firm lips. I want them on my nipples. I want them between my legs.
With everything in me, I want what he’s offering.
I may only have tonight…but that will have to be enough.
A moment later, he stops. “This is a good place. A nice even surface of sand.” He lays me gently down.
He stands above me, and he unbuttons his shirt. I’ve seen his chest before. I’ve pressed against it on the dance floor and I’ve sat next to it in the hot tub.
But it’s still a magnificent masterpiece, and I feel like it’s being unveiled for the first time.
I can’t help but suck in a breath. My heart is still going nuts like Mama’s old hound dog chasing a scent.
I’m here. Lying on soft sand, the ocean breeze drifting over me.
And Brett Dawson… He takes his shirt off, kneels on the sand, and lifts my behind, placing the shirt underneath me as he lifts my dress to my waist.
I lose a piece of my fluttering heart then, a piece I know I’ll never get back, no matter how this turns out for me. His shirt… He’s making sure I don’t get sand anywhere.
I close my eyes, inhale the crisp aroma of minerals and saltwater, and I bring my hands to my breasts and cup them.
A groan. A groan from Brett.
I toy with my nipples through the crepey fabric as Brett slides his fingers under the waistband of my lacy white panties and pulls them over my legs.
I’m bare now.
He can see me in the moonlight.
He can see the most intimate part of me.
Another groan as he spreads my legs. “You’re lovely. As plump and sweet as those ruby-red lips I can’t wait to kiss again.”
I sigh in reply.
“Open your eyes, Ariel.”
I obey, and his handsome face becomes clear and silvery in the light of the night sky.
“Watch me,” he commands. “Watch me eat you.”
My gulp is nearly audible as I nod.
Then his tongue… His velvet tongue… He flicks it over my clit just once, and prickles shoot through me.
Then he’s licking me, sucking me, pulling my pussy lips with his teeth. I try to grasp something but the sand sifts through my fingers as I arch my back.
“God, fucking delicious,” he rasps.
He told me to watch, but I tilt my head back and close my eyes as my hips undulate against him. That stubble, scraping my inner thighs, his breath warm against my sensitive flesh, and that tongue…
Until he stops.
“You’re not watching, Ariel.”
My eyes pop open.
“Keep those eyes open,” he commands, “or I’ll have to spank that pretty little ass of yours.”
I gasp, though the thought doesn’t disturb me. Rather, I imagine the palm of his strong hand, the sting of his slap…
Until I can’t imagine at all because he’s sliding his tongue over my pussy again, teasing my clit. I lift my hips and grind against his lips, his chin, his glorious stubble. I’m climbing, climbing, climbing, and?—
I leap into oblivion when he pushes a finger into me, massaging that spongy place that makes me go mad.
“That’s it, beautiful. Come for me. Come for me, Ariel.”
Every clench of my pussy, every beat of my heart—everything, everything, everything…
Brett clamps his lips over my clit and sucks gently, and then not so gently. I’m reeling, clutching at the grains of sand around me, squeezing my thighs to bring him closer to me.
“You like that? You like my finger in your tight pussy?”
“Yes, God, yes!”
“I like it too. You’re as sweet as I imagined. More so, even.” He glides his tongue over my clit once more.
Once more…I erupt.
And once more…I lose a tiny piece of my heart.