Part 10 (1/2)

He kissed her forehead. ”How do you do that?”

She shrugged. ”What?”

”I've never met anyone who works so hard to make the people around her feel better about themselves.”

She gave him a very unladylike snort. ”That's because you don't hang out with the right people.”

d.a.m.n, she'd hit that one right. Everyone he knew was out for themselves. There wasn't a single person he could trust, and there was certainly no one who would lift him up the way she did. This time with her was more precious than even he had realized, and he intended to make the most of it.

”Hey-” She touched his cheek. ”Whatever you're thinking. Stop it. This afternoon is for frolic.” She batted her eyelashes at him and he couldn't help but laugh.

”So, how does one commence this frolicking?” He twisted a strand of her wet hair gently around his finger. ”Would it start like this?” He leaned down and kissed her neck. ”Or maybe like this?” Cupping her right breast, he thumbed her nipple to attention.

”Mmm.” She groaned and shoved her pelvis into his erection, grinding her hips against him. ”Yes. I'd say you catch on quick.” She pushed him toward the opening of the tent. ”I think it's time to make use of this sheikh and princess setup you have going here.”

”Sheikh?” He nipped at her neck again, and then let her push him toward the mouth of the tent.

”Yes. You are the handsome and mysterious sheikh. You've plied me with wine-” she held up the can of soda ”-and now you're going to have your way with me.” She shoved him down on the bed, set the c.o.ke on a nearby table and then crawled on top of him.

”I'm going to have my way with you?” His voice was hoa.r.s.e as she moved her p.u.s.s.y against his erection. The warmth of her nearly made him come right then, but he forced himself to breathe and relax.

”Or vice versa. Does it really matter?” She gave him a wicked grin as she tugged off her bikini top, her pert b.r.e.a.s.t.s bouncing as she bent down to untie the string on his board shorts.

”No, it doesn't matter at all,” he said as he leaned up so he could take one of those b.r.e.a.s.t.s into his mouth, suckling the nipple until it was a hard peak.

She gasped and pushed herself farther into his mouth. As he suckled the other breast, he slid a finger into her bikini bottoms and into her p.u.s.s.y, pumping in and out, until he felt her shudder with release. Lifting her off of him, he put her gently onto the bed and pulled the bottoms off.

Expecting to see pleasure when he looked up, he was surprised by the worried look in her eyes. ”What is it?” He was instantly beside her, drawing her to him.

”Are you sure, um, that it's private?” she whispered. ”I'm not so sure I can be quiet. I tend to lose any sense at all when you're around.”

He chuckled and kissed her hard on the lips. ”It's private, baby. I promise. You are free to do whatever you want.” Moving down her naked body, he tongued her nub until she writhed and was shoving her wetness into his face. She was sweet as always, mixed with the salt of the sea. Nothing short of intoxicating, better than a full-bodied wine on a warm night.

”Oh, G.o.d, Jackson, please.” Her hands fisted the sheets and he slid two fingers in her p.u.s.s.y as he continued to nibble and lick. She bucked against him and her body shuddered again.

Jackson could wait no longer. He slid off his shorts and reached for one of the condoms he'd put under a pillow. Then he reached for her and slid her to the edge of the bed; wrapping her legs around his shoulders he lifted her hips and plunged into her. She met his pace, thrusting herself against him.

It was fast and furious and he didn't care. From the moans he gathered she didn't, either. Everything he felt for her went into those thrusts. She watched him with such intensity, and he her, as if they both knew this was something else. Something special. His c.o.c.k exploded inside her as she screamed her own release. Jackson had promised her privacy, but there was a good chance people on the other side of the island had heard her.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

”What's so funny?” She scooted back on the pillows as he disposed of the condom.

Jackson moved beside her, kissing her neck. He wouldn't dare call attention to her scream. He was certain she wasn't aware that she even did it. It gave him such pleasure to know he could drive her to such extremes. ”I tend to lose myself when I'm around you. That went a little faster than I'd planned.”

Snuggling against him, her chin under his chest felt so perfect. ”That was a two-way street, buddy,” she playfully chided. ”I wanted it hard and fast, and that's what you gave me.”

”I aim to please, ma'am.” He gave her his best Southern drawl.

She snorted again. He loved it when she did that.

”Well, I'd say that aim of yours is dead-on. I don't think I've ever-” She stopped herself.

”What is it?” He pulled away so he could see her face.

Rolling her eyes, she tried to duck her head again, but he held on to her chin.

”You can tell me, Mar. Anything. I'm the last person to judge.”

She smiled at him. ”I get that from you. You have a way of sizing up people and situations, but you're probably the least judgmental man I've ever met. Even with Gladstone. You gave him some tough love, but you didn't make him feel small, which is what most people would do.”

Jackson sighed. ”You're changing the subject. This isn't about me. It's about you. What were you going to say?”

”Darn, and I thought I was doing so good with the deflecting.”

He pushed her still-damp hair behind her ears. ”Say it, Mar. Whatever it is.”

”I've never had o.r.g.a.s.ms like this.” She said it as a whisper. ”I mean, I've had decent s.e.x, I guess. But never the mind-blowing stuff people talk about. Until now.”

Part of him was proud that he'd been able to bring her such joy. But the other part was angry when he thought of her with another man. Hold it. You're no saint. She'd told him that no other man had made her feel the way he did. He'd focus on that for now. But he understood what she'd meant. There was something between them that he'd never experienced before, either.

”See, now I'm totally embarra.s.sed. I can see it on your face, you think I'm ridiculous.” She started to sit up, and he grabbed her arm.

”You are many things. Beautiful,” he said as he kissed her lips. ”Smart,” he said as he kissed her forehead. ”And s.e.xy as h.e.l.l,” he said as he nibbled her earlobe. ”But never ridiculous.”

She shook her head. ”You're saying that to make me feel better.”

”No. If it makes you feel any better, it's not always been like this for me, either.”

That made her frown.

”What's wrong now?”

She screwed up her face. ”See, it kills me to think you've been with another woman. That's what I'm talking about. I've only known you a couple of days. I swear to you I'm not some stalker chick. There's a connection with you. I don't know why. Maybe because you seem to know exactly how to push the right b.u.t.tons with me.”

”I wouldn't mind it.” Jackson waggled an eyebrow at her.

She frowned again. ”What the h.e.l.l are you talking about now?”

”You, as a stalker. That might be kind of fun. You could follow me around in that bikini you were wearing earlier and hide behind bushes. Maybe show up on my doorstop naked. I'm seeing some real possibilities here.”

She snorted again, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

”You really should do that more often.” She touched his cheek again, this time her eyes tender with something he didn't quite understand. ”Your laugh makes me warm from my head to my toes.”

Jackson had done more laughing with her in the last few days than he had in years. ”Hmm. Are you warmer here?” He slid his hand across her flat belly. Then lower. ”Or here?”