Pushing her hands through his hair, she held his head clamped close to hers. His tongue
was a silken quiver of movement. A flicker of warm molten metal. A dance of joy. The
way he had with his mouth was like nothing else. Was kissing always like this? She
searched her blank memory. Nothing. Surely she’d remember something like
this.
His lips were soft, cushioned, but held no mercy, and Felicity surrendered to their
demands willingly. Opening her mouth ever wider to allow for the challenge and taunting
of his tongue, she swirled him around her taste buds and let his essence fill her
up. He tasted of the chocolate they’d shared. And something…something strong, male,
ripe.
Sooo good.
She wanted to murmur into his mouth. To let the moans that kept hitching at her throat
explode into the world, but his kisses stole them away. They stole everything away.
The warm island night curled itself around them, providing a bubble of heat, focus,
and desire that felt impenetrable. Felicity curled her toes, digging them into the
sand to get better purchase as she strained to plaster herself to Rick’s body. His
hands were everywhere, leaving a trail of burning tracer marks across her arms, down
her torso, over her waist. In her mind’s eye she saw them, orange streaks of light,
scorching tracks of need.
Opening her eyes, Felicity felt the world whirl. The canopy of stars above waltzed
across the sky, glittering, glowing, giving light to Rick’s dark hair. The firelight
flickered across the sand, the sigh of the ocean mingled with their breath, the creak
of tropical trees joined her own internal monologue, egging Rick on.
“God, you’re sexy.” The growl undid her and Felicity felt her core turn to liquid.
As if they were urging her on, her panties practically melted, her wet, hot center
ready and oh-so-willing for Rick to plunge himself in deep. To take everything she
offered. To destroy her world and then rebuild it, inch by scintillating inch.
Chapter Seven
His fingers drank the heat from her skin. Deepening the kiss still further, Rick danced
his tongue with hers, tasting her, taunting her. After five months, his body was hungry,
ravenous, and the woman under his hands writhed as if she too had been starved too
long. Pulling back from her mouth, he bent to her neck and licked.
“Oh.” Her fingers twisted through his hair, and Rick smiled as the sensitive spot
on her neck provided the same results it always had.
Good. At least that hadn’t changed.
He nipped at her throat this time, the thrill of her skin under his teeth exquisite,
delicate, ripe. He let his hands travel down her arms, swelling with greedy pride
as a moan bubbled at the back of her throat. Pulling her closer, his blood surged
as he felt the hard buds of her nipples rub against his chest.
Too many clothes.
As if she heard his thoughts, she pulled at her shirt and he helped, pushing back
the fabric and untying the knots that held her bikini in record time before stripping
off his own jacket and shirt.
Better
. Cupping one full breast in his hand, he tasted it, and the salt mixed with the surprisingly
familiar tang of her skin. Chancing a glance up, he watched her face in the firelight.
As he licked around the hard bud of her pert nipple, her face became vulnerable. It
pulled at something inside him, made his heart soften and his thighs tighten.
Mine.
Shifting to shuck the rest of his clothes, he wrangled her pants down and off and
then paused as her full naked body lay open and willing in front of him. Trailing
a hand down her stomach he reveled in the warmth of her skin. She was soft. Supple.
Practically steaming.
He wanted this to be good for her. Slow and gentle and enticing. He wanted to win
her back. Mind, body and…heart? Maybe. Whatever, the woman beneath him was practically
mewling with a very fierce desire. That was close enough, wasn’t it? She was definitely
not
un
happy. His cock was going to burn a hole in the sand if he didn’t let it have her
very soon.
Not exactly going slow, McCarthy
. He and Felicity had always had chemistry that was off the charts.
You didn’t really think you were going to be completely calm and objective about this,
did you?
Maybe. Maybe he’d been a little cocky.
Good one.
These last months she’d been in his mind so often it was hardly surprising that his
body was raring to go. One minute he’d be signing off on the purchase of a new microscopy
unit, and the next his mind would be full of her chatting to him over dinner before
wrapping her legs around his torso as dessert. And now, here she was. He put his hands
around her waist and felt the tips of his fingers touch each other. Letting one hand
slip down the top of her thigh, it took everything he had not to plunge between her
legs and seek out the wet warmth there.
“I want you. Now.” Her words were strangled and Rick’s cock responded by getting hard
enough to crack coconuts.
Slow, remember. You’re wooing her, so take your own advice.
She shifted beneath him and his cock brushed dangerously closely to her clit. He
looked down at Felicity, her blue eyes made almost purple by the dark night and the
flickering glimmer of the fire. They might have always had chemistry, but the woman
beneath him was not the Felicity he’d known only a few months ago. Mouth open, desire
clear in her eyes, this woman was a creature of sensation, someone for whom life should
be milked of all its experiences. She was beautiful, brilliant, boundless. Someone
he’d hardly trust with his business.
But someone he’d trust with his heart?
Maybe. If he’d met this Felicity, would he have asked her to marry him?
Felicity shifted again and he groaned. “Isn’t patience supposed to be a virtue?”
“Patience is for other people,” Felicity hissed. Grabbing his hand, she pushed it
against her mound and all of Rick’s thoughts of going slowly disintegrated. Slipping
his fingers into her hot, wet entrance, he held back a groan as she clamped around
him. She was ready. So ready. Reaching for his wallet, he swiftly unwrapped and smoothed
on the condom before he rolled on top of her. Spreading her legs with one of his,
he didn’t wait for another invitation, thrusting his ready cock deep inside her.
Good. Lord.
Think of something distracting. Blue jeans. Puppies. Slow down, man.
Maybe it was the enforced celibacy, but holding on had never been a problem before.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Rick pulled his quivering release back and found a
quieter rhythm he could maintain a semblance of focus with.
Rolling his hips, Rick searched for the spot that would leave
her
senseless instead. In, in, in, he filled her, opened her legs wider with his, felt
her strain to rub her clit against him as he rode her. She arched up underneath him,
swallowing every last centimeter of his rock-hard length. Had it always been like
this? The thought flickered through Rick’s mind and then disappeared, lost in the
thrust and slide and swelling of their flesh in perfect motion. They were just two
bodies of need. Total, unconscious, overwhelming need.
Slipping a hand between them, Rick tweaked her nipple, then flattened his hand, massaging
the full cup of her breast with his palm.
“Oh boy, oh yes, oh please.”
Doubling his efforts, Rick upped the speed of his thrusts, charging toward the climax
he’d been fantasizing about for these long lonely months and was now ready to release.
“Yes, baby. Rick, yes, now!” The woman underneath him clawed at his shoulders, her
nails dragging down over his biceps, her demands eliciting a new level of intensity
in his lust.
Letting himself go, Rick surged into her, even as Felicity’s muscles clamped around
his cock and milked it for every last pleasure-giving drop.
For a few long moments, only the panting of their breath mingled with the hush of
the jungle and the hiss of the ocean. Rick put his sweating forehead to hers before
dropping a kiss on her nose.
“Well, if there were any ghosts, I think we probably scared them away.” She was going
for droll, but there was a tentativeness in her words that hadn’t been there before.
Rick chuckled as he rolled off her. “
You
probably scared them away, you mean.”
“Sure. Play the strong, silent type. At least I scared off any small animals at the
same time.”
Even after sex like that, she was going to play the joker card? Trying to check her
eyes in the dimming firelight was nearly impossible now, but Rick didn’t sense any
emotional darkness in her. Sure, she was using all that bluster to cover something,
but maybe it was just fear. He was a stranger, after all. Rick was surprised at the
softness the thought brought on in him. Compassion again, for a woman who would have
dismissed the mention of the word unless it got her closer to a goal. But this Felicity
brought it out in him.
He looked down at his spent cock. “Lucky I always carry protection. Although I can’t
guarantee that the expiration date was still valid.”
His attempt at humor fell flat.
“Oh. Right. Great. Yes, I didn’t really think I’d be needing anything like that. Lucky
your wallet was close by.” She squirmed out from under him, clearly suddenly self-conscious.
At least there wasn’t going to be an accidental pregnancy to add to the messed-up
mix.
But she didn’t seem too worried about it before he’d reached for his wallet. Was she
a one-night-stand kind of girl now?
That was way out of line with the cautious, über-safe Felicity he’d known. And if
any of those one-nighters were unprotected, not very smart. No. Unprotected sex wasn’t
her thing. Not then. Not now, given her current awkwardness.
Chalk it up to the heat of the moment.
It certainly had been plenty hot.
“I really don’t ever do this. Just in case you’re wondering. Like, really, really,
never.”
Well, that seemed to clear that one up.
“Come here, then.” Hoping to ease the disquiet that had sprung up between them, he
opened his arms and she snuggled into them. “We’re just doing what destiny requested,
remember,” he tried, and was rewarded by a faint snicker.
“I guess I shouldn’t argue with destiny,” she managed sleepily.
Good.
Because destiny had decided Felicity Williams was going to be his wife and business
partner and a little thing like amnesia was not going to get in the way. A pang of
guilt rushed through Rick as he looked down at the naked woman in his arms.
It’s not like she wasn’t into it. And you’re going to tell her who you are soon.
Yep. Very soon. She clearly had no idea who he was, or probably how important she’d
been to him and Biogena before the accident. The possibility that she’d been going
to sell secrets to Novotech seemed ridiculous now. The meeting in her diary had to
have some other explanation.
His body thrummed with the charge of what had just passed between them. He wouldn’t
mind being inside her again, either. He hoped she’d be keen on another round of naked-strangers-in-paradise
before he told her the whole story. A few more encounters like this and, whether her
memory came back or not, he’d be a whole lot closer to getting destiny
and
Felicity Williams on his side, exactly where they should be.
…
Felicity felt the heat rush to her face as she opened her eyes and saw her naked body
bathed in sunshine.
I am light. I am…I am not going to blush.
She reached for her shirt just as Rick turned back toward her.
“Morning, beautiful.”
“Beautiful?”
“You seemed pretty happy about me calling you that last night.”
Oh, God.
So it wasn’t just a dream. She pushed her arm through her sleeve.
“It’d be a shame to cover all that up yet. Perhaps we could take a swim instead. It’s
not like there’s anyone around.”
Felicity pulled the shirt closed, then gave herself a shake. What was she ashamed
of? They were grown-ups, and he’d obviously enjoyed himself as much as she had. If
she was going to be stranded on a desert island with a handsome stranger she’d already
had knife-in-the-toaster-on-steroids sex with, what kind of idiot would she be if
she didn’t let herself enjoy it? Just a little. Maybe this was what her self-preservation
mode had decided was right for her. Maybe she was ready.
“So there’s no one here to rescue us yet?” she asked.
“Nope. Don’t like our chances either.”
“What do you mean? The ship will have worked out we’re not there by now and sent help.”
“Sure. But that doesn’t mean any help is going to be able to get here.” Rick gestured
behind him.
Needing to see for herself, Felicity stood and walked swiftly to the beach, trying
for all she was worth not to look as anxious as she felt. “Shitballs.”
“Looks more like bad weather to me. Although an ocean full of shitballs would be ambitiously
horrible. Maybe you could write for Hollywood,” he said as he came up behind her.
“Wise guy.”
“Is it that bad? Deserted island, romantic paradise…yada, yada?” He swept his arm
around.
Felicity looked back to the ocean where waves were breaking out on the reef and sending
towers of spray at least twenty feet into the air. The small gap in the rocky ring
that surrounded the island and that boats motored through to get to the jetty churned,
as if Davy Jones himself had set up shop just below it. She turned to Rick. Being
stuck here with him wasn’t exactly what she had planned, and it sure didn’t fit with
what she thought was good for her. It didn’t fit with who she’d been five years ago
and, from what she could work out, it didn’t fit with her current self either. But
maybe she needed a few more things that didn’t fit. Last night’s sex had certainly
made her happy. If she was honest, being with Rick since they’d gotten to the island
had made her happy. Maybe doing things differently would jolt her memory. Anything
was worth a try, wasn’t it?
Truth be told, Rick was pretty great company now that he’d shed his sharkskin suit.
Her Prince Cashypants list sprang to mind and she added
hot in bed
. Still, all the attributes in the world didn’t change the fact that this was a temporary
thing. A true tropical island fantasy. And it didn’t change the fact that they were
now truly stranded. “You realize we don’t have any food, any water, and a pretty crap
shelter. When that’s sorted and the sun comes out, then you can crack jokes.”
“Who says I was joking?”
“Yeah, good one,” she said, but her smile didn’t match the sternness of her words.
She sat on the sand and let a handful pour through her fingers.
“At least it’s warm, it’s not raining, and you get to say I told you so. I believe
I’m witnessing the true impracticality of a linen jacket,” he said gently as he sat
next to her holding up a limp, saggy, entirely ruined sleeve.
Pouting, she bit back the impulse to laugh.
“First things first. I’m starving. And this is doing me no favors whatsoever.” He
pulled off the jacket and his shirt before scratching at the sand on his neck. “Maybe
you wouldn’t mind sparing this little morsel of yourself for a hungry soul in need.”
He leaned in and gently nipped her neck, just at the point where she…
oh man.
The shiver started at Felicity’s shoulders and moved down her chest to her stomach.
She was sure Brendon had never made her shiver like that, and yet somehow, the feeling
wasn’t unfamiliar. In fact it was the opposite, it felt right. She felt right.
“You okay? Look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Felicity shook her head. “Just remembering something.”
Or not.
His head snapped toward her and his eyes sharpened, all focus, all intensity. “Really?
What did you remember?”
“Oh, um…” She searched for something benign. “That there was a spring where you fell
yesterday. It looked like it came right off the top of the mountain so it should be
clean. We can fill my bottle and maybe make a couple of banana leaves into a water
bowl or something.”