Chapter 19
LIZA
Darek’s lips were supple but eager at the same time. He tilted his head to get better access to my mouth. The gentle pressure turned harder and more demanding. I opened for him instinctively. I had wanted the kiss from the first moment I laid eyes on him at the coffee shop.
One of his hands slid from my cheek to my neck, fingers threading in my hair.
The other came to rest at the small of my back, pulling our bodies flush.
When my tongue brushed his, he groaned low.
The sound rumbled straight through me until my knees actually buckled.
I grabbed two fistfuls of his T-shirt to stay upright.
“Liza,” he whispered against my mouth.
He was asking me to tell him to stop. There was no way in hell I was going to do that. In for a penny, in for a pound. I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to. I was all in.
I tugged him harder, kissed him deeper, letting my need answer instead. There was a warm feeling that had spread through me. The man could kiss. Like really kiss. I was already wet and he had done nothing more than kiss me.
“I can’t stop,” he murmured against my lips.
“Good.”
And then we were moving. He was half-dragging, half-carrying me across the deck with our mouths never breaking.
We stumbled through a doorway into what had to be the master stateroom.
I had a vague impression of luxury. Dark wood, soft lighting and a massive bed.
I wasn’t paying attention to the décor. I was too busy trying to get closer to Darek, trying to eliminate every millimeter of space between us.
I needed him naked. I had to feel his skin against my own.
He kicked the door shut behind us and spun me around, pressing my back against it. His mouth found mine again, hungry and urgent. I felt his hands slide down my sides, over my hips, gripping me like he was afraid I might disappear.
“Tell me you want this,” he said against my lips.
“I want this. God, I want this so much.”
That seemed to unleash something in him.
His hands moved to the hem of my dress, bunching the fabric as he pulled it up and over my head in one smooth motion.
I stood there in just my bra and underwear, suddenly aware of how exposed I was.
I wasn’t even a little self-conscious. The desire pumping through my veins pushed all of that aside.
And the way he was looking at me was intense.
“You’re perfect,” he breathed.
“Your turn.” I grabbed his shirt and yanked it over his head, finally getting to see what I’d been fantasizing about.
And holy hell, the reality was even better than my imagination.
Broad shoulders, defined chest, those corded forearms I’d admired extended up into biceps that made my mouth water.
There was a light dusting of hair across his chest that trailed down to disappear beneath his waistband.
I ran my hands over his chest, feeling the heat of his skin and the rapid beat of his heart. He groaned and captured my mouth again, walking me backward until my legs hit the edge of the bed.
We fell onto it together, a tangle of limbs and desperate kisses. His weight pressed me into the mattress. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer, needing more contact, more friction, more of everything.
His hand slid up my side to cup my breast through the lace of my bra. I arched into his touch. He took advantage of my open mouth to deepen the kiss, his tongue tangling with mine. Heat flooded my system. I felt warm and gooey and so fucking hot for the man.
“This has been driving me insane,” he murmured against my neck, his lips trailing down to my collarbone. “Watching you in my house, at dinner, in that fucking bathing suit—I’ve been losing my mind.”
“Good,” I managed to say. “I’ve been losing mine too.”
He reached behind me and unhooked my bra with a quick flick of his fingers. He tossed it aside. Then his mouth was on my breast, his tongue circling my nipple. I forgot how to form coherent thoughts. I tangled my fingers in his hair, holding him to me, drowning in sensation.
His other hand slid down my stomach to the waistband of my underwear. He paused, looking up at me with those storm-blue eyes.
“Yes,” I said before he could ask. “Please, yes.”
He hooked his fingers in the fabric and pulled them down my legs, leaving me completely bare beneath him. I should have felt vulnerable. Instead, I felt powerful. Wanted. Desired in a way I had never experienced before.
I reached for his belt, fumbling with the buckle in my eagerness. He helped me, unfastening it and shoving his pants and boxers down in one motion. Then there was nothing between us, just skin on skin, heat and need and this overwhelming sense of rightness.
And holy shit.
How was it possible for one man to be so gorgeous? Hard body. Large dick. How was the man single?
His hand slid between my legs. I was only a little embarrassed by how wet I was. His fingers found me slick and ready. I gasped as he stroked through my folds, teasing but not quite giving me what I desperately needed. My hips bucked involuntarily, seeking more pressure, more friction.
“So wet for me,” he murmured, his voice rough with desire. “I’ve been thinking about this. About touching you like this.”
“Then stop teasing,” I managed to say, my voice breathy and desperate.
He slid one finger inside me. I moaned with my head falling back against the pillow. He worked me slowly at first, watching my face as he learned what made me gasp and squirm. When he added a second finger and curled them just right, I nearly came apart.
“Darek,” I breathed.
“I know what you need.” His thumb found my clit, circling in slow, deliberate strokes that had me panting. “But I want to watch you come first. I want to see your face when you fall apart.”
His fingers moved faster, deeper, hitting that perfect spot inside me while his thumb maintained that maddening pressure on my clit. Tension coiled tighter and tighter in my core, my whole body drawing taut like a bowstring.
“That’s it,” he encouraged, his voice low and commanding. “Let go for me, Liza.”
I shattered. The orgasm crashed through me in waves, my inner walls clenching around his fingers as I cried out. He worked me through it, drawing out every last tremor of pleasure until I was boneless and gasping beneath him.
“Beautiful,” he murmured.
I reached for him, wrapping my hand around his cock. He was hard and hot in my palm, already leaking at the tip. I stroked him slowly, watching his eyes darken and his jaw clench.
“Condom,” he said, reaching for the nightstand. “Give me one second.”
I watched as he rolled it on, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. It was really happening. We were really doing this.
He settled between my legs, his weight braced on his forearms. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
He kissed me again, slow and deep, and he pushed inside me. I gasped at the sensation, the stretch, the fullness. He paused, giving me time to adjust, his forehead pressed to mine.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Better than okay. Don’t stop.”
He started to move with slow strokes, like he was savoring every moment. But I could feel the tension in his body, the restraint he was exercising. I didn’t want restraint. I wanted everything.
I dug my nails into his back. “More.”
He groaned and complied, his hips snapping against mine with more force. It was exactly what I needed. The frantic pace, the desperate edge, the feeling of being completely consumed by him.
We moved together, each trying to get him deeper inside me.
Every thrust hit exactly the right spot, sending sparks of pleasure through my entire body.
Oh God. I was going to have another orgasm.
For a fleeting moment, I wondered if I would survive it.
My body was still trembling from the first one.
“Darek,” I gasped. “I’m close.”
“Thank god.” His voice was strained. “I’ve been trying to hold back.”
Hearing his need drove me over the edge. I shattered, crying out as waves of pleasure crashed over me. He followed seconds later, burying his face in my neck as he came with a groan that I felt all the way through my body.
We were quiet for a moment, skin cooling in the air-conditioned cabin. I could sense the night coming to an end even though I wanted to freeze this moment forever.
“We should get dressed,” Darek said eventually. “Before we dock.”
“Right. Yes. That would be smart.”
But neither of us moved immediately. We just lay there, tangled together, postponing the moment when we would have to face what we had done.
Finally, I sat up and started gathering my clothes. A glance in the mirror told me my hair had that thoroughly ravished look that no amount of finger-combing was going to fix. But I did my best and tried to make myself presentable while Darek did the same.
He pulled on his shirt. I watched the muscles in his back flex, remembering what it had felt like to run my hands over them. This was bad. I was already thinking about the next time, already wanting him again when we’d barely finished the first time.
“So,” he said, turning to face me. “That happened.”
“It definitely happened.”
“It was amazing.”
“Really amazing,” I agreed. “But it probably can’t happen again.”
The words hurt to say, but they needed to be said. We had crossed a line we’d explicitly agreed not to cross, and now we had to deal with the consequences.
“Why not?” He stepped closer. I could see he was already thinking about kissing me again.
“Because we agreed. Nothing physical, nothing that would complicate the arrangement. And this complicates things.”
“Things were already complicated.”
“More complicated then. We can’t afford to let this become messy.”
He sighed. “You’re right. But that doesn’t make resisting you any easier.”
I smiled and shook my head. “On that, we are agreed.”
“We should go up,” Darek said, glancing at his watch. “We’ll be docking soon.”
I nodded and followed him out of the cabin, both of us pointedly not looking at each other. Like if we didn’t acknowledge what had just happened, we could pretend it away.
Above deck, the lights of Cloudhaven were visible in the distance. The crew was preparing to dock.
“I’ll get Daisie,” he said.
“I’m going to pack my stuff,” I murmured.
This was fine. Everything was fine. We’d had a moment of weakness, but now we were back on track. Professional. Focused on the goal.
The drive back to the estate was quiet. Daisie fell back asleep immediately. Darek and I sat in silence, both staring straight ahead.
When we got home, Darek carried Daisie to bed while I went to my room. I showered, washing away the scent of him. I needed to wash away the memory of what we had done.
It didn’t work.
I climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling, my body satisfied but my mind racing. We had scratched the itch but it did nothing to satisfy my craving for him. It only made it worse.
We would pretend things were fine and nothing had changed.
And we would be lying to each other and to ourselves.