“Have you been farther around the coastline?”
“Not yet,” Alex said pleasantly. Beneath the water, his fingers stroked and played, delving in her folds then coasting along the sensitive skin of her perineum. “We decided to stop for a break.”
Lily shuddered violently, excitement building, her body reaching, striving to reach a pinnacle. The craving got to the agonizing, painful point where she just had to move despite the audience. Her hips tipped forward then back in counterpoint to his massaging fingers.
“We talked to another group who were out here yesterday. They saw a pod of dolphins. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them?”
“Alex.” His name came out on a longing whimper. The man in the nearest kayak gave her a funny look, but the slow, agonizing pace of Alex’s fingers never faltered.
“We saw a few seals.” As Alex spoke, his thumb traced lazy circles across her swollen clit. His fingers danced in deliberate forays around the rim of her entrance, teasing, tempting, driving her higher and closer to meltdown. Flames licked her nerve endings as she hovered on the cusp of ecstasy. But the emptiness inside needed filling. She desperately needed Alex’s cock to fill her. Now. Before she tumbled. Lily bit down on the inside of her mouth.
How could he act so calmly?
A wave, bigger than the preceding ones, brushed under the kayaks and lifted Lily off her feet. Her upper body lifted, exposing her breasts.
Lily caught a wolfish grin from Alex as his hand whipped out to cover her tight, distended nipples. Then a soft choking noise attracted her attention. The man in the yellow kayak had received a right eyeful, and his gaze remained on her shoulders, avidly waiting for the next wave to do its worst.
“We thought we’d laze around here for a while.” Alex’s eyes settled on her mouth, and for a moment, Lily thought he would kiss her. He didn’t. Instead, two fingers slipped inside her pussy. Regardless of the audience, Lily shifted closer to Alex and wrapped her arms around his waist. The head of his shaft dragged against her belly, and the friction made his eyes narrow.
Lily smiled. Not so unaffected after all. “I hope you see the dolphins,” she said. Between their bodies, her hand fisted around his engorged cock, and she rubbed her thumb across the tip.
Another wave rocked them together, and Lily laughed. She acted on her wicked thought, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Slowly, so slowly, she drew her body close, positioning his cock at the mouth of her pussy and pushing down until she impaled herself. The empty, achy sensation fled, replaced by fullness and promise.
“Ah, I think we’ll go.”
“Newlyweds,” Lily said over her shoulder. She felt Alex’s chest rise and fall in silent laughter. “Are they going?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank God! I thought I was going to combust. I don’t think I’m ready to do it in public, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.”
“That man saw more than I was happy with,” Alex growled.
“Just a flash of tit.”
“Mine,” he said on a slow groan as he grasped her hips, lifted her then eased her back. “For my eyes only.”
Lily loved his possessiveness, but was afraid to let herself hope. Live for the moment, she decided, as gravity and Alex’s hands slid her down his erection. Her sensitive clit brushed the length of his penis. The decadent slide sent her pulse soaring. Jolts of pleasurable excitement hazed her mind on the next glide along his cock. Her fingers entwined in his hair. “Faster.”
Their mouths meshed in a moist, erotic duel. Each breath came in harsh pants. Alex quickened his strokes. Flesh slapped against flesh. Lily kissed him then angled a trail of kisses down his neck. She bit lightly, and he made a dark sound.
“Goddess, do that again.”
A wave pushed against them, and tumbled over her head with a splash. Lily grinned once she’d wiped the water from her face. “Make me come first.”
Alex’s golden eyes darkened. He rotated his hips and inserted his finger between their locked bodies. A teasing foray across her achy nub stole her breath.
“Like that?”
“
Yesss
.”
“How’s this?” He swiveled his finger, exerted a fraction more pressure and hot pleasure streaked to her toes. Another deliberate revolution of his finger pushed her over the edge, cascading wave after wave of sweet delight through her shuddering body.
“Good,” Lily managed when she could breathe again. “Not bad.”
“Maybe I should try harder.” His hand toyed with her clit, wringing a twinge of sensation.
Her pussy remained pleasantly full and stretched by his thick shaft. “Harder sounds excellent.”
A growl vibrated through his chest as he barred his teeth. “You asked for it, moon heart.”
Alex plundered her mouth, ravishing. Taking. He grasped her hips with both hands, withdrawing then surged back into her with leashed power that sent a renewed surge of raw need spiraling through her veins.
“Alex.” Her hips jerked. Heat stabbed. Lily arched into his next thrust, angling her clit for his intimate touch in the perfect spot for friction.
He withdrew then slammed back inside. His groan came from low down in his chest. “Ah, Lily.”
Deep inside her sheath, she felt the rapid pulse of his cock, the spurt of his seed. Alex clutched her possessively, hips still pumping, his head thrown back and face screwed into an expression of agonized ecstasy. It excited Lily to know she could unravel him this way.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. The flare of languid desire in his golden gaze shot an arrow of heat spearing outward from her clit. One last slide as they slowly rocked together was all it took for Lily to explode into spasms of blissful pleasure.
“Rating out of ten?” he asked in a low smoky voice.
Lily opened her eyes to see a full out grin. “Nine,” she said promptly. “Although I’m happy to let you retake the test if you want.”
Alex snorted. “Ah, moon heart.” He lifted Lily off him and lowered her to her feet before kissing her thoroughly. “You might regret that remark…” One eye closed in a wink. “…when you have trouble walking tomorrow.”
The soft twittering of birds outside their cabin woke Lily. She lay, wrapped in Alex’s arms, savoring the warmth from his body and the tangible link to her lover.
Her lover
. A smile wandered across her lips. She opened her eyes.
“
Ahhhh
!” Lily ripped herself from the bed and recoiled until the wall blocked farther retreat. Her heart pounded in a terrified tattoo and lodged halfway up her throat. Dread backed up behind the bottleneck, only squeezing past in tiny whimpers.
The man she cuddled was not Alex.
“Lily?” The dark-haired man yawned, sat up in the bed and scratched his hairy chest.
A panicked whimper emerged from Lily’s tight throat. “Don’t…hurt me.”
“Lily! Lily! What wrong?” An urgent scratch came from outside the cabin door.
“Why would I hurt you?”
The rough, gravelly voice sounded nothing like Alex. Lily edged along the wall toward the door, unable to wrench her petrified gaze off the strange man. Killer presented security. And right at this moment, Lily didn’t feel safe, but she wanted to. Her hand closed around the brass doorknob. She twisted it, keeping her eye on the stranger in the bed. Holy heck, her limbs were shaking so badly she thought her knees would buckle. As she watched, the dark-haired man changed. His hair flashed from dark to gold and back. Lily blinked.
“Lily, hurry,” Killer barked.
Lily yanked on the handle, the door opened and Killer trotted into the cabin. The dog froze, the hair along her spine rising. A low, menacing growl vibrated deep in her throat.
“I don’t know who you are.” Lily scowled at the dark-haired man and tried to look menacing. “And I don’t care. Just leave and there won’t be any trouble.”
“Lily, what are you talking about? Killer, knock that off.”
“How do you know our names?” Lily demanded. “Where’s Alex? What have you done with him?” As she said his name, the man’s appearance flashed from dark-haired and plain to a more familiar golden cat.
A look that might have been anguish sprinted across his face. He rose from the bed and marched across to a mirror. His hand swept across his face. “Fuck.”
Killer trotted to Lily and leaned against her legs. Lily took comfort from the warm, furry body.
The dark-haired man turned to Lily and Killer.
His expression held sorrow.
“Holy Hannah!” Killer let out a whistle-bark. “Look at the dangly bits on him.”
Lily was trying not to. This man wasn’t Alex, yet she’d woken in bed with him. She hadn’t done the dirty with him. Had she? Her mind did an abrupt U-turn. She was so not going there.
“Lily, look.” Killer rubbed her wet nose over Lily’s bare leg to snare her attention. “That Alex.”
Lily gaped. Killer was right. Alex was flashing—rapidly changing from dark to blond and back.
“Why are you staring at me?” the man demanded.
“Are you really Alex?” Lily had trouble taking her eyes off him. His appearance changed with the frequency of a flickering light. Disconcerting and very weird.
“You flashing, too,” Killer barked to Lily. Disapproval coated her announcement. “Cover up bare bits.”
Good idea, then maybe she wouldn’t feel at such a disadvantage. She snatched a robe from inside the wardrobe and fumbled her way into it, tying the belt firmly at her waist.
Killer prowled a tight circle around the bedroom. Her nails clicked on the polished wooden floor. The dog stopped beside the rumpled bed. Then she leapt onto the smooth covers of the neighboring one. Her eyes narrowed. Her chest vibrated with an angry growl as she glared at Lily. “You sleep in same bed as Alex.”
“Yes.” Lily didn’t have a problem admitting it, not to Killer.
“Janaya be angry.”
“What’s it got to do with Janaya?” Lily didn’t have to pretend confusion. She didn’t owe her sister-in-law explanations about her private choices.
Killer clacked her teeth in disgust and bounded off the bed. “I won’t get collar. Won’t pay for shoddy job.”
“What collar?” dark-haired Alex asked from the en suite door.
“
Oops
.” Killer ran for the door. “Me go now. Maxwell waiting.” She shot outside.
Either the wind caught the cabin door or Killer gave it a shove because it slammed breaking the tense silence within the cabin.
Lily folded her arms across her chest. “I guess you have an explanation.”
“Yes.” Alex sank onto the end of the bed—the rumpled one that still bore the scent of their lovemaking.
She tried to maintain eye contact, but the rapid changes in his appearance made her dizzy. She had to glance away. “Well, are you going to tell me?”
“I—”
“Wait!” Fear struck Lily without warning. Maybe she didn’t want to know after all. Instinct told her she wouldn’t like his answers. Uneasiness made her shuffle from foot to foot. “I’m frightened,” she confessed, squeezing her eyes shut. “But I guess I knew what we had was short term.”
“Sit.” Alex pulled out a chair for her. “I’ll make coffee and we’ll talk.”
The wait did nothing to settle her nerves. This was worse than listening to Ambrose pontificate about why their marriage hadn’t worked and why the blame lay at her feet. Lily jumped to her feet and strode over to the window just for something to keep her occupied. Once there, she pulled up the cedar blinds and stared at the punga ferns and the sparkling sea beyond. Ambrose’s voice echoed through her mind. Her fault because she didn’t have what it took to attract a man.
“Lily, the coffee is ready.”
She turned from the vista, suddenly aware of the pungent scent of coffee beans. She thought she might throw up if she drank a cup of coffee.
Alex set two mugs of coffee on the table along with a selection of pastries.
The pastries sent her stomach wildly lurching. “Where did these come from?”
“They were delivered a few minutes ago. Didn’t you hear the door?”
Lily sucked in a slow breath, trying to draw on inner strength. She remembered that Alex had called her beautiful and clung to the thought. But fear still stalked her mind, negating all her efforts for calm. Alex’s appearance flashing off and on didn’t help. At least the changes seemed to have slowed.
Alex sat opposite. Lily glanced at him then ripped her gaze away to stare instead at her coffee mug. Maybe if she concentrated hard on the rising steam, she wouldn’t cry or throw up.
“My real name is Alexandre Bellangere.”
Lily did look at him then. She hadn’t expected a false name. “I’m more interested in what’s going on with your body. You’re switching colors like a traffic light. Is that one of the things I was meant to discover along the way?”
“On Dalcon,” Alex continued as if she’d never interrupted, “I am a member of the royal court. Males in my position don’t take up a trade since it’s considered common. I wanted—needed—the challenge, and so, I found a way to leave. I purchased a spell to change my appearance, firstly so I could leave without messy problems and secondly, so I didn’t attract attention.”