Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
TRISTAN
I’m so deep into edits, listening to music through my headphones, that I don’t hear the knock on the door. I startle when Lexi walks into my closet and rips me out of my underwater world.
“Sorry,” she says on a laugh as she leans against the door jamb. “I see you still have it in you to concentrate at this hour.”
“When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Or so they say.”
“That much fun, uh?” She steps in and looks at my screen. “Show me?”
I press play on the clip I’m working on.
It’s an octopus playing with a few cowrie shells.
“First he has dinner; then he entertains himself with the leftovers. It would seem he has a collection of shells.” I watch with her for a half a minute, still equally enchanted.
“It’s quite close up… I was lucky. Now you need to imagine it with some music and a voice-over and so on. ”
“He’s so cute. And he really is playing?”
“Yep.” The octopus gathers all the cowrie shells and drops them, repeatedly. “They’re intelligent creatures.”
“It’s amazing,” she says. “You have such talent, and your love really shows.”
“It does?” Weird that she would say that. Her praise has me swallowing hard, as it’s good to hear from someone who knows me. “Roger and I have been seeing this same octopus for a few days now. He’s quite the star, and it’s as if he put on this act for us—”
“If you say so, but I like to think you’re part of the magic too.” She sinks into Roger’s seat. “Do you think you’ll have enough footage to finish your project?”
“Yes, and some more.”
“Good.”
“The wedding’s over?”
“Dinner’s done, and now it’s only the bar flowing and some very loud music. It’s kind of weird, given how quiet it usually is around here.”
“I can imagine.” Our cottage is situated far from the general guest area and with the wind carrying the sound away, I wasn’t aware of the music at all. “You’re off to bed?” Please be off to bed. Up close and personal like this is doing nothing for my resolve.
“Tris…” Lexi breaks off, and I look down at where she’s working her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think Jem knows we’re faking our engagement.”
I lean back in my chair. “Why? We’ve been fine.” I’ve been making a hell of an effort, though it’s slowly suffocating my heart. The more I act, the more it feels real. The more I want it to be real. Wait—what? That thought zapped through my head so fast I feel somewhat whiplashed.
“I don’t know. The way she watches my every move and the things she says… They’re making me uncomfortable, and we still have quite a bit of time to kill on this island.”
“Babes—”
“What if she knows? What if she reports to Beaumont? It could end us.”
I take a deep breath and rush my fingers through my hair, trying to lean deeper into my chair.
But it’s as stiff as a plank and not conducive to relaxing.
“Here’s the thing, Lexi. Nobody ever knows what goes on between two people and in their relationship.
Trust me. It could be all golden on the outside, while it’s rotting on the inside.
It could be a shredded shit show on the outside, but solid gold on the inside. For Jem to speculate—”
“I’m scared of the consequences if someone finds out.”
Fuck me. “You’re a real worrier, aren’t you? As if you didn’t have enough on your plate with Mia Reed and doing a good job around here. Have a little faith.”
“I know.” She shakes her head and sighs. “God, I know. I’m extra.”
“I love your extra, but you need to relax, okay? We’re doing our jobs, aren’t we?
Dives are going great, and that wedding was fantastic.
We’re not sleeping with the guests or other staff, and faking an engagement is hardly illegal.
” I reach for her hands where she’s fidgeting with them in her lap.
Every time I touch her, there’s this flow of energy.
Even now, as she stills, my bigger hand cupping hers, there’s an undeniable need buzzing between us.
“I told you we needed to make this easy on ourselves. Stressing about every last thing isn’t going to help.
Jem’s just being Jem. She likes getting up people’s asses, having her fingers on every last pulse point, so don’t feed the control freak inside her by falling for her little traps. ”
Lexi chuckles. “True.”
I let go of her hands, and she stands. “Nighty night then.”
“Sleep tight.” I wait for her to close the door before I lean back with a groan.
There’s only one way this is going to end.
As Lexi said, we still have time to kill, but nothing is killing this tension between us.
Fuck it. Maybe just once… Maybe just the tip.
I break out in a dry chuckle. Who the hell am I trying to fool?
And to be honest, I’ve been mean, toying with her.
Hot and cold, off and on. She’s going to drive me nuts, and I likely deserve it.
The need to taste her has only built since our recent, intense kiss.
And it’s only made worse because she seems open to the idea. At least temporarily.
I force myself to focus on work for another forty minutes, so Lexi has time to fall asleep.
When I emerge into our bedroom, it’s as I expected: she’s out.
I quietly get ready for bed. All the windows are open, allowing that blessed breeze to cool us off, so I make sure the mosquito net’s slit is overlapping and enclosing us.
As I get into bed, I glance in her direction, only to find her eyes glinting in the dark.
“Sorry. Shit. Did I wake you up?”
“Can’t sleep.”
There’s trouble. And then there’s this. Us. Together. Awake. In bed. Best I divert to known territory. “Still worried about Jem and her jabs?”
“No…” she starts and then chuckles. “I’ve been doing some bedtime sleuthing.”
I lean up onto my elbow. “Bedtime sleuthing? What’s that?”
Lexi scoots a bit closer, and the massive bed suddenly feels very small. “You know…working through events, eliminating suspects, and coming to conclusions,” she whispers, as if we’re on to some conspiracy.
“I see.” My hand itches to reach for her hip and pull her closer. “I wasn’t aware of any crimes…” Ah. Actually I am.
She smiles, and I freeze as her hand settles on mine for a second before she slides her fingers up my arm, my biceps, to my shoulder and down a pec, where she circles my hardened nipple with a fingertip.
Holy fuck. She plays dirty. Soon I’ll be straining against my underwear, but instead of stopping her, I do nothing.
“You haven’t seen a black charger, by any chance?” Her fingertip still turns idle circles around my nipple, and the least I can do is return the favor, but—
“A black charger?” I’m so busted.
“It’s got a long shaft and rounded tip. You know, to insert into…”
Jesus Christ. This is a losing battle if there ever was one.
This is what abstinence around the hottest woman on the planet does to a guy.
I’m a fucking goner. I tug her closer and shift into her so we’re flush against each other.
She hitches her leg onto my thigh, and my cock goes fuuuuckkk.
I can feel pre-cum drooling from the tip in anticipation as I grip the back of her thigh and make sure we connect for some mutual pressure.
“Into…?” I ask as I lower my mouth to her hairline and run my lips in soft kisses toward her ear. I grin as I suck her earlobe, and I’m rewarded with a soft moan and a hip roll against my cock.
“You know…my vibrator you put in the bedside drawer? With a battery that was definitely not dead when I used it the last time?” Her breathing is shallow as we continue the slow-dance version of a dry hump, grinding against each other.
“Hmm…” Not going to answer that. Not yet. I clasp her hand and shift it above her head as I lean into her, my thigh pushing hers up, forcing her open for me. I run my nose along hers, tempting her lips with mine as I brush over them. “A vibrator? And when last did you come with your toy, angel?”
“Tristan,” she breathes.
“Come on, we’re engaged, Lexi. No secrets here.”
She chuckles against my lips. “So long ago I’m basically going nuts.”
Uh-huh. You and me both, babes. The hand has become decidedly dull lately with her and her cute ass and perky tits in my face all the time. “So, you’re missing your toy?” I perch up on a fist, making sure I deepen the pressure on her mound and clit. She moans, clearly into this.
“Oh God, Tris… I miss the charger more right now, to be honest. The vibrator is pretty useless in its current state.”
I smile, knowing I’m going against every bit of logic my brain has provided since she walked in on me at Evan’s house. When it comes to this girl, I’m a lost cause. “Do you want me to help you out instead?”
As answer I get a wanton rub of her pussy against my cock, and she pulls me down for a kiss. I sink into her, wrapping her tongue with mine, and this—this—is what I should have known. Lexi is a needy and greedy little siren, and I’ve been made to please.
We deepen the kiss, seeming in mutual awe of what’s happening at long last. My pulse is all over the place, and I need to slow us down.
I take hold of her hand and guide it to join the other above her head.
Once she gets the hint that I want her to stay like that, and she’s not getting out of my trap, I loosen my hold, lean up on one hand, and with the other push her thigh higher, opening her as wide as she can go. “Good girl.”
She arches her back and pushes her pelvis up again, riding the pressure of my cock where she needs it.
Never mind a good girl, Lexi might just be a very good girl.
I groan as I thrust against the layer of her silky shorts and slide my hand underneath her cami so my fingertips can caress a hard little nipple.
She’s pure perfection, and fuck, I need more.
I pause, having to take a breath before I break away from her.
“Don’t stop,” she murmurs. “I’m so close.”
“You are?” Jeez, I’ve hardly started.
“Tristan—”
“Soon, angel.” I get up on my knees. “Sit up.” I hold out a hand for her.
Lexi moans in protest, but she does as I ask, and as soon as she’s upright, I strip her cami off, leaving her beautiful breasts in full view at last. Even more beautiful than the first time—
“Fuck it, babes, you’re going to destroy me.
” I pull her in for a kiss that gets hot with lips and tongue, a sensual mimic of what we’ve both wanted for ages.
She’s out of breath when I lean her back and languidly work my way to her breast, licking and sucking at that seductive tip until she drives her fingers into my hair.
“Make me come, Tristan. I can’t wait anymore.”
But I’m in no hurry and make sure her other nipple enjoys the same attention before I settle back, my desperate cock pressed against her sex, eager to ride her to orgasm. “We’re going to do it like this?”
“Don’t you have condoms?” she asks.
“Didn’t exactly plan to have sex…so no.” Idiot. There could be some in my diving bag, but I don’t want to go dig now. That would give me time to think, and that’s the last thing I want.
“They sell some in the boutique.”
“We can put it on our tab tomorrow.”
Lexi giggles, and I kiss down her neck, ready with some alternative plans. “This little set of yours has been driving me wild since you burst into Evan’s bathroom.” I roll on my side and tug at the waist of her silk bottoms. She wriggles so I can pull them down.
“It has?” she whispers as she kicks them off, keeping one leg bent and the other straightened out.
She’s naked now and my eyes are thirsty to take in every inch of her.
“Totally.” In the moonlight coming from outside, her skin is creamy and smooth, and I want to run my tongue and lips over all of it.
I brush my hand up her thigh and my fingers trace the line of her sex.
She’s wet, and I groan as I dip my finger into her flesh, into that sweet, tight opening of hers.
She opens her legs wider, and it’s like pouring a fucking tank of gasoline on an open fire. I watch her face as I fuck her with my fingers, hard and aching to be inside of her.
“Oh my God.” Her hand is in my hair, her breath a warm flow over my skin. “This is going to be so quick.”
Damn. I want everything but quick. I want days and hours.
Weeks and months. I add a finger and up the pace.
She’s eager, her hips an echo of my every move.
I caress her cheek with my lips and run my tongue along her bottom lip.
“Come for me, angel. I promise that as soon as we’re good to go, I’ll fuck you and make you come on my cock so many times you’ll forget what day it is. ”
“Tris…” She inhales sharply and then seems to hold her breath. “Oh my God—”