Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Axel
I need to back off.
I need to ignore how great Jade’s ass looks in those trousers. How fucking fantastic she smells. How there’s something vulnerable lurking in those green eyes, something that wants to draw me in.
She’s a guest. And that’s what she needs to remain.
But as I watch her wander around the temple taking photographs, tilting her head back, closing her eyes as though trying to pull some part of the essence of the place inside her, I want her.
I can’t deny it.
Something is pulling me to her, despite the walls I’ve put up for so long.
It’s been over two years since I’ve been with anyone.
Since I lost Susie. I thought I was doing okay, serene in my little bubble.
That I could stay like this forever, that I deserved to do so. But Jade has broken through, somehow.
I don’t know if I can fight it. Or whether I want to.
She comes back to me, her green eyes wide, her lips parted. She bounces slightly, and I try not to look at her tits. “This place is so beautiful.” She shows me a couple of shots on her phone, her voice bright with excitement. “I’ve never been anywhere like it.”
“We should go soon, if you want to get lunch.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. I do, I mean. Just let me take a couple more shots.” She wanders off again, limping slightly. Shit. I totally forgot about her injured leg. Strange, when I’m so aware of every other part of her.
I go after her. “Hey, we can go back to the cabins if you like. If your leg hurts.”
She grins. “My leg is fine. Just, can we come back here again? Another day?” She turns, slowly, one arm out. “It feels like a good sort of place to be. But then the whole island is a bit like that. At least, the bit I’ve seen so far.”
“You sure?”
“About what? The island, or my leg?” She’s glowing, the soft light reflecting from the pools shining in her eyes, making her hair gleam. Again I remind myself that she’s a guest and I…
I’m what? Too much of a chickenshit to make a move? Not really.
Too messed up to make a move? More likely.
Torturing myself? Definitely.
“Both. Neither. I’ll bring you here whenever you want, just ask.” Ask me for anything you want.
“Okay.”
She walks past me, close enough to brush against me, so I smell her frangipani scent, can almost touch her braid. She heads for the path, stopping to take a couple more shots along the vine-hung gorge.
I realise I’m just standing there, watching her ass. I snap myself out of it, and hurry after her.
Oh yeah. I might be screwed.
I need to remember why I made the choices I did.
Otherwise I could ruin everything.
Jade
I rest my cheek against Axel’s broad back, my arms wrapped around his waist, as we speed down from the hills towards the beach.
The day is still bright and sunny, and I wonder where he’s going to take me next.
I feel dreamy, still caught in the magic of the temple, the filtered green light, the beauty and simplicity of the place.
It feels as though I’ve stepped out of time, as though I’m somewhere totally removed from the rest of the world, my worries floating away.
I haven’t checked my messages at all. Even when I got my phone out to take photos, I deliberately swiped the screen without looking. Maybe I’m in denial. Or maybe I’m making a choice for myself and no one else. It feels like a long time since I’ve done that.
I hang on to Axel, letting him take me wherever he wants, while telling myself that this is all that can ever be between us.
He seems to have his demons; I definitely have mine.
And I don’t need to fall straight into another relationship, despite the pull I feel towards him.
I tell myself this as though I don’t have my hands on his hard abs, as though I’m not breathing in his warm scent like it’s incense, or imagining what those broad shoulders might look like without a shirt on.
In the end, I give up. Who am I kidding? I’d fall into bed with him in a minute if he asked. So, hopefully, he won’t.
“You hungry?” The words are almost swallowed by the wind, Axel turning his head so I catch a glimpse of his profile.
“Yes.” I pitch my voice above the road noise.
Axel doesn’t say anything else, but slows the bike, turning down a driveway cut into the dense jungle lining the road.
Gravel bounces against the wheels, the trees shadowy and green, like being underwater.
The drive opens out into a clearing, which contains a house made up of several traditional-style pavilions, with dark thatched roofs and pale plaster walls.
I catch the blue shimmer of a pool as Axel comes to a stop.
Birds call, and there’s the faint sound of running water.
It’s as tranquil a place as I’ve ever seen.
“I thought we were going to get food.”
“We are.” Axel grins, removing his helmet and running a hand through his hair. I try not to stare.
“Is this a restaurant?”
“Sort of.” He gets off the scooter, then helps me do the same.
“Sort of?”
“You’ll see. Come on.” He heads towards the house.
I follow, trying and failing to not check him out. I need to pull myself together.
Don’t I?
Axel
Jade pressed against me, her arms around my waist, is doing things to me. I need to stop and gather myself. She’s a guest, and I’ve literally known her for a handful of days. The fact that my dick seems to want to stand to attention whenever she’s near is something I need to deal with. Now.
So I pull off the road, taking her somewhere I know we’ll get a good lunch.
But now that we’re here, I wonder what the hell I was thinking.
This place is romantic as hell, for starters.
But as Jade takes the chair opposite mine, her green eyes wide as she looks around, I can’t seem to remember why that’s a problem anymore.
Which, in itself, is even more of an issue.
I swore I’d never love again after I lost Susie. I don’t deserve to, not after what happened to us, and to her. But sitting here, with this beautiful woman, I can see the possibility. And that’s terrifying.
“G’day, Axel.” Dominic, our host, bustles over, filling both our glasses from a frosty bottle of filtered water. He’s wearing boardshorts, an apron, and leather slides, his silvery-blond hair pushed back from his tanned face. “Here for lunch?”
“Hey, Dom. Yes, lunch. This is my … this is Jade. Jade, this is Dominic. He owns the place.”
“It’s gorgeous,” she says, smiling up at him.
You’re gorgeous, I want to say. But those are dangerous waters. I try to think of anything except how good Jade looks, shadows dappling her skin, light catching in her hair.
“Thanks, love. Now, you want the special today?”
Jade glances at me.
“Yep. Sounds perfect,” I say. “Thanks, Dom.”
“Sure thing. Just give me a minute.” Dom heads back inside.
I don’t care what he brings us. I just want him to go and leave me alone with this beautiful woman, beneath the rustling trees.
“The special?” Jade’s eyebrow quirks. I can’t stop looking at her.
“Dom is a chef. Well, he was, before he bought this place and came to live here. I don’t know much of his story, apart from the fact he’s Australian and used to run his own kitchen.
This isn’t officially a restaurant, but if you know him, and you know this place, you can drop in and he’ll make you a meal. ”
“There’s no menu?”
“Not officially. But fresh seafood and traditional Indonesian dishes are his speciality. Do you have any allergies?”
Jade shakes her head. “I’ll eat anything.” Colour blooms on her high cheekbones as she holds my gaze a moment too long.
I shift in my seat, trying not to imagine that lush mouth wrapped around my cock. For fuck’s sake, Axel. She’s a guest. Stop being a letch. Even if she is hot.
I take a mouthful of ice water, as though it might tame the fire inside me.
It doesn’t even come close.