Chapter 29
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Istared into his incredibly blue eyes, my heart racing and my soul desperately hoping that he was right. When we weren’t on opposite sides, being with him felt so natural that I couldn’t imagine going back to constantly having distance between us.
Acting on that same instinct that had been nagging at me ever since we’d arrived, I left my lounger and lay down with him on his instead. Sullivan shifted to make space for me, his arm draping around my waist. I settled on my back while he lay on his side, fitted against mine.
A lock of that sandy hair fell across his forehead, his skin already a little bit more golden after the day spent in the sunshine. He stared down at me, his eyes sparkling as he smiled. “You’re gorgeous. I feel like I haven’t stopped staring at you all day.”
A tingle shot through me. “Same. You’re a real treat to look at with your shirt off, Mr. Crowne. Maybe you’re right and we should take more vacations. Preferably to places like this, where the minimum amount of clothes is acceptable.”
He grinned, but it was more thoughtful than I’d expected. “Are you actually volunteering to accompany me, then?”
I hesitated before nodding. “Strictly for quality assurance, but yes.”
“Of course.”
He slid an arm under my head and I rested it against his shoulder, both of us just watching the waves roll in. Finally, I glanced over at him again, my gaze raking across the light stubble on his strong jaw.
“I don’t feel like I have to fight you here,” I murmured.
Those eyes crinkled at the corners. “That’s probably because you don’t.”
I tilted my face up, searching his. “What happens when we go back?”
He brushed a strand of windblown hair from my cheek, taking a beat to think it over. “Like I said, we’ll figure it out, Bree.”
“That’s not a plan,” I said softly, my heart already aching when I thought about the fact that we were flying home tomorrow.
“It’s not, but it’s the only honest answer I’ve got.” He bent over to press a lingering kiss to my forehead. “Do you have a plan?”
“Nope, and that’s terrifying.”
“Most worthwhile things are.”
“So we’ll keep thinking?”
“We’ll keep thinking.” He leaned down and kissed me again, slow, sun-warm, and tasting faintly of salt and citrus.
Everything about us this weekend had started feeling dangerously like possibility, but I was determined not to overthink it. Instead, I just leaned into his touch until eventually we broke apart when a waiter cleared his throat behind us.
“Dinner will be served shortly,” he said, gone by the time I managed to wrench my mouth away from Sullivan’s.
We were both flushed, and I laughed when he groaned and rolled onto his stomach, glancing up at me with a slight grin on his lips. “I’m going to need a minute before I get up.”
I collapsed beside him on my back, pressing my hand to my chest and taking in deep gulps of air. “Same. I can’t believe it’s already time to eat again. I’m still so full.”
“It’s their personal mission to have to roll us back onto the plane,” he said somberly, then winked. “I would say we could skip it, but we already know your feelings about the food here.”
“True. Maybe I’ll feel better after a glass of wine,” I mused out loud, finally sitting up and watching the water while we both wrestled our bodies back under control.
A little while later, we walked down the beach hand in hand. A hostess showed us to our table under strings of light in a quiet alcove near the pool. The sun was dipping low on the horizon. A band played live, upbeat music near the buffet.
We danced, we drank, and somehow, we even managed to eat again. After a nighttime swim in the most gorgeous pool, we finally made our way back to our room and the door hadn’t even fully shut behind us before I reached for his hand and pulled him to me.
“I really like you,” I whispered against his lips, looking up at him in the soft glow of the ambient lighting shining in from outside.
Our bungalow was shielded from view from the outside by luscious, thick greenery, our walls glass on two sides, and yet, no one could see us right now. There was only him and me, and I’d never needed it to be that way as much as I did right now.
My heart was reaching for him as much as my body, and as always, he seemed to know exactly what I needed even if I hadn’t known it myself.
He brought his forehead down to mine and took my face in his hands, kissing me deeply and slowly, like the kiss itself was as much of a promise as his next words.
“I really like you too, Bree,” he murmured. “As long as we’re on the same page about wanting to figure this out, we’ll get there eventually.”
“Okay,” I said softly, and in that moment, I truly believed it.
Sullivan reached for the ties of my bikini and tugged them free. His eyes searched mine like he was asking for permission even as he was doing it. I nodded, reaching for the waistband of his swim trunks and slowly pushing them off in turn.
Our swimwear was still soaked from our swim on our way back to the bungalow, and it landed with wet thuds on the floor, but neither of us moved to hang anything up. We just crashed together once we were naked, our skin not damp anymore, but sticky and sun-warmed after the day we’d had.
He walked me slowly back toward the bed, tumbling onto it with me when the mattress brushed against my knees. My arms hooked around his neck and he didn’t hesitate, sealing his lips over mine for a kiss that stole my breath—and maybe even a little part of my heart.
One of his hands knotted into my hair, holding me still so he could devour my mouth while his free hand dropped to my thigh, his strong fingers digging into my flesh.
He kissed me deeply and fervently, our tongues clashing, stroking, and caressing. My body came alive under his touch. It didn’t matter how often we’d done this. It was somehow still just getting better, every one of my nerve endings suddenly humming with need as he kissed me.
My hips started rocking against him of their own accord, my clit aching too much to wait any longer. Against me, I felt his need matching my own, his shaft rock hard as it slid between my folds.
I sank my fingers into that sandy hair, holding him to me and welcoming his passionate kisses after a day spent having to keep it fit for public consumption. Little bolts of electricity shot through me, a dull ache building between my legs.
Sullivan pushed his hips forward, pressing himself harder against me. I moaned, following it up with a whimper when he brought his hands to the sides of my breasts and started kneading them. He finally broke our feverish kisses and dropped his head to my nipple, sucking one into his mouth.
The heat of his tongue and his skin seeped into me, my hands running up and down the ropes of muscle in his back. When he brought his lips back to mine, he kissed me like I meant something to him, slower now, and desire crashed over me like a wave.
Physically, I was still aching for him, but this need was also deeper, flaring out from someplace tucked within the depths of my very being.
I broke our kisses to look up at him, his lips swollen and his eyelids at half-mast, the intensity of his gaze almost enough to make me shatter just looking at him.
“Sullivan.”
“Yeah?”
“I want you.”
A crooked smile ghosted across his lips before he kissed me again, a little harder and faster than before. “I want you too, Bree. Always.”
“No, I don’t mean like that.” I held his gaze, feeling my cheeks flush. “Well, like that too. Obviously, but do you think we can see each other more often when we get home?”
His eyebrows swept up in surprise. He jerked his chin in a nod and kissed me again before reaching for a condom on the nightstand. He rolled it on with precise, quick movements, coming back to position his hard cock at my opening.
“Whatever you want, Bree.” He held my gaze, groaning out loud when he rolled his hips and pushed himself into me.
Heat rocketed through my body, moans spilling from my lips when he took one of my legs and hooked it up, bending my knee and holding it there. My back arched, my breath getting stuck in my lungs as pleasure skated through me.
“Yes, Sullivan,” I sighed. “Oh, god. Yes.”
He reached for my breast with his free hand, pinching and squeezing my nipple as he moved inside me with slow, controlled thrusts. I felt him everywhere, even just his eyes on me like another caress as he dragged against every sensitive part of me inside and out.
Finally when my eyes screwed shut and I started writhing against him, he groaned and tightened his hold on my knee, picking up his pace until my hips bucked furiously to keep up.
Every stroke hit exactly where I needed it, the rhythm so perfect that it didn’t take long before I felt an orgasm speeding up on me.
“Fuck. You feel so fucking good.” The rasped words pushed me closer to the edge and I rocked faster against him, angling my hips until he was so deep that I no longer knew where I ended and he began.
His muscles locked and he released my breast to press his thumb against my clit, rubbing circles around it. The speed and pressure quickly gave me exactly what I needed, my body tensing in anticipation.
“Come for me, Bree,” he murmured, his eyes practically begging.
Like the plea had been the key sliding into a lock, the climax hit and thundered through me, wave after wave of pleasure dragging me under. I clung to his shoulders as I came, riding out the blissful storm with him hot on my heels. “Sullivan!”
My pussy gripped him hard, dragging him right over the edge with me. I felt him tense, his hips jerking as his cock twitched deep inside. He let out a long, low groan, burying his head in the crook of my neck as he breathed out my name.
Once our bodies stilled, he quickly took care of the condom and then held me until we both drifted off the sleep.
My last thought before I surrendered was that I hoped we really would somehow figure everything out because we were leaving our island paradise tomorrow and I definitely hadn’t had enough of Sullivan Crowne.
The flight back felt different, quieter in a way that made me think I wasn’t the only one that felt like things had changed between us this weekend. Sullivan barely let go of me once we were in the air.
His arm stayed wrapped around my shoulders, my legs tucked beneath me across the leather seat while the ocean faded into clouds outside the window.
Every now and then, his fingers would drift absentmindedly along my arm or trace slow patterns against my knee, like he needed the reminder that I was still there.
I liked that he needed it, but I couldn’t deny that I was nervous about what would happen once we landed. This whole weekend had been an unbelievable series of perfect events, and now that I knew him better, I was in so much deeper than I had been before.
“You’re thinking loud again,” he murmured, tightening his grip on me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about.”
He hummed, clearly unconvinced as he pressed a lazy kiss into my hair. The simple affection sent a warm, steady ache through my chest.
On the way here, this trip had felt reckless, thrilling, and slightly insane. A stolen weekend with a man I technically wasn’t supposed to be seeing, flying to another country like it was as normal as grabbing takeout after work.
Now it didn’t feel reckless at all. Instead, it felt real, and judging by the way he kept pulling me closer every time I shifted, I had a feeling he was starting to realize that too.
“We’re going to wrinkle your suit,” I said softly when he pulled me even closer.
He shrugged a shoulder. “It’ll be worth it.”
“You say that now.”
“I’ll say it later too.”
I smiled again. “Are you sure about that? I thought you had to pop in at the hospital after you drop me off home.”
“I do, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a Sunday night. No one is going to care what I look like.” He rested his head on top of mine when I laid it down on his shoulder. “Get some rest, sweetheart. It’s going to be a long week.”
“Sweetheart?”
“I’m trying it out.” I felt him grin against the top of my head. “What do you think? Does it work for you?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Yeah, I think it does.”
“Good. It works for me too.”
I settled against him, trying to ignore the reality that tomorrow morning we had to go back to pretending we barely knew each other.
A familiar knot of anxiety tried to tighten in my stomach, but Sullivan’s hand slid into mine before it could take root, his fingers lacing through mine with quiet certainty.
“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured, like he knew exactly where my thoughts had gone.
I wasn’t so sure that he was right, but by the time the plane began its descent, I knew for sure that something between us had shifted. This wasn’t just about stolen moments anymore. It wasn’t just chemistry either.
It had become infinitely deeper than just that and the way he refused to let go of my hand as the ground rushed up to meet us made me think he knew it too.