Tomorrow was almost here.
His chin brushed over her crown and she felt him harden against the small of her back. Teasing, she wriggled against him. “Aren’t you sick of me yet?”
“Nope.” His expert mouth found the sweep of her neck. Goosebumps erupted down her right side as his teeth danced over the still wanting sweep of skin. He whispered at her ear, “Stay with me.”
She froze, then blinked several times. Had she heard right?
“What do you mean, stay?”
He hummed at her temple. “Here. With me.”
What a crazy, wonderful idea, but…“Gabriel, I can’t.”
“Sure you can.” He urged her face around and kissed her thoroughly. Her lips felt swollen from his all-night attention, but she only melted again now. Kissing, in all its forms, was his absolute forte.
The kiss broke softly. With a growl in his throat, he circled the tip of her nose with his.
“Stay.”
She fisted her hand against his chest. Oh, God, how she wanted to. “It’s not that easy.”
The light in his gaze dimmed, and for the first time she saw something else in his eyes…something hard and close to unforgiving.
His voice dropped enough to make her shiver. “Is there someone else?”
“Of course not,” she shot back, and the light in his eyes faded back up.
“In that case…” he edged her around more “…let me convince you.”
Holding her chin in the vee of one hand, he tipped her back until she lay flat. The line of kisses he dropped down to her cleavage blew fresh life into embers wanting to flash hot again. And when his mouth tasted one tender nipple, and his tongue wove down to her midriff, her hands stretched towards him and her fingers twined through his hair.
She wanted to stay—so much that it hurt. But the idea was ridiculous. For one, as long as her ankle held up, she had a shift later today. Which led to a far bigger problem. Gabriel had no idea who she was. Or who she wasn’t. He’d given her the option of remaining Nina the Mysterious, and at the time withholding her identity had seemed the easier, more attractive option. But that had been before they’d slept together.
The last few hours had seemed surreal. She could almost convince herself she was just another rich guest enjoying a no-consequences holiday fling with a gorgeous playboy. But of course that dream couldn’t last. She couldn’t stay. Inevitably they would see each other at the resort and her secret would be out.
She pinched the bridge of her nose to stem the sting of emotion.
Okay. She would simply tell him now. Come clean with everything. Then the ball would be back in his court. He’d said, I’ll believe in you. Not light words. If it hadn’t been a line, he deserved the chance to prove he’d meant it. Prove to her that her faith in him wasn’t built purely on firelight and fantasy.
Willing her heart to quit crashing against her ribs, she found a rational voice. “Gabriel, there’s something I need to tell you.”
His tongue twirled languidly around her navel.
She gripped his arms and tried to pull him up. “Are you listening?”
His mouth only dropped lower. “I can multi-task.”
She didn’t doubt it. “There’s more you need to know.”
He grazed all the way up, until his eyes twinkled directly into hers. “All I need to know is…” he tasted her chin “…I want to be with you.”
He said it so easily. As if this could really mean more than a night or two if she let it. But she had to face facts. Clearly Gabriel was no novice at this kind of encounter. He’d known what he wanted and he’d set out to get it. She’d be crazy to believe this interlude meant anything more to him than a dab of icing on his holiday cake; she’d seen enough of his I’mkicking-back-on-vacation type to know. Hell, rather than irritated, he might be pleased to discover she was a waitress. The thanks-and-sorry-it-didn’t-work-out would be easier that way.
She realised he was looking deeply into her eyes.
A fingertip stroked her cheek. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She sighed. Oh, just everything.
“Gabriel…” She tried to find the right words to begin. “This day has been unbelievable. You make me feel so good. Too good.”
A sexy smile tugged the corner of his mouth before he suckled a line up her throat to her lips. “Trust me. There’s no such thing as too good.”
Nina woke with a start.
Blinking open her eyes, she remembered the rain…the hideaway cabin in the bush. Foremost she remembered waking in the midnight hours, and how Gabriel’s soft, skilled mouth and hard, practised body had claimed hers again and again.
Her every fibre lit up and tingled, recalling the bone-melting orgasms he’d given her. The way his tongue and hands had endlessly explored. She’d mindlessly given herself over to every wondrous stroke and squeeze.
Then he’d asked her to stay.
Her stomach somersaulted. She turned over, tried to focus her sleep-deprived brain, and realised she was alone amid the tangle of sheets. Where was Gabriel? She’d got severely sidetracked last night, but they still had a conversation to finish.
She had a confession to make.
Unfortunately talking quietly in romantic firelight was a far cry from coming clean in the cold light of day. She wasn’t a wealthy guest at Diamond Shores. She worked at the resort. She’d let Gabriel believe what he’d wanted about her identity, but now she needed to speak up.
He was attracted to her. He wanted this holiday fling to continue. Only he had no idea who the woman he was making love with was. Hell, she didn’t know who she was any more—or who’d she’d be next week. Next year.
Nina eased out of bed. Bringing a sheet along, she limped to the window. She had to believe he wouldn’t be upset by her news. They’d spent a glorious night together. Precious time not every couple got to enjoy.
She stopped by the window. He didn’t appear to be outside. When he hadn’t returned after a few minutes she removed her bandage and drew a bath. As she slipped into the warm water she fantasised about him sneaking in and surprising her. But when the bath cooled, she dried and dressed again in the shirt Gabriel had stripped from her late last night. She finger-brushed her teeth with some paste she found while her stomach knotted.
She needed to get this off her chest. How much longer would he be?
Through the smudge of glass, and a break in the canopy of palms and vines, a flawless dome of blue smiled down. The leaves looked greener, hanging low and heavy with morning dew. While the air had felt chilly last night, heat was already building inside the cabin. Another tropical day in paradise.
She’d felt so down of late. In limbo. Lost. Feeling alive again last night had felt so real! The light and smell and sound of everything had seemed amplified. Brighter. She wanted to feel that alive again, and now she knew how to make that happen.
Not by continuing this charade with Gabriel; hiding behind a fantasy, no matter how wonderful, wasn’t the answer. She had to step up and get her life back on track as quickly as possible. Until that opportunity arose, she’d put one hundred and ten percent into doing the best job she could here. Put her all into winning even a little respect from her co-workers.
Hope. A real belief that she could regain her pride. Her beautiful night here with Gabriel had given her that.
Her stomach growled. She’d eaten nothing but a handful of nuts since a scant salad yesterday at lunch. When a fruit bowl caught her eye, she chose an apple and chomped as she made her way aimlessly around.
She was about to make herself a coffee when a movement outside caught her eye. She tipped closer to the window and peered out.
Three…no, four wallabies!
When she swung open the door, air, fresh and minty, filled her lungs. She breathed deeply, listening to a symphony of birds, their squawks and chirps and whistles echoing off the treetops and jutting cliffs. To her left, the wallabies’ ears turned in her direction.
Three were sunning themselves, resting on their sides on a nearby red and black-patched ledge. The fourth had a joey in her pouch; Nina held her breath as two tiny ears and a black nose twitched from the soft furry purse on its mother’s tummy. They were similar to, but far smaller than, their marsupial kangaroo cousins. Their petite jaws munched rhythmically, and Nina longed to furrow her fingers through the thick brown fur of the curved backs. Their strong tails, which ended with a white tip, seemed to go on for ever.
Careful not to startle them, she bit off some apple, crept closer, then lobbed the fruit over. The mother used her tail and small front paws to edge away in the opposite direction. The others twitched their ears, but didn’t deign to turn their onyx long-lashed gazes towards their visitor. She sat on a nearby boulder, and after a time one wallaby rocked slowly over. It collected the apple in its paws and ignored her while it chewed.
This same scene would have existed fifty years ago. A hundred and fifty years ago. How peaceful it would be to live here without television or the internet, Nina thought. No sales pitches or rush-rush schedules. Just the gentle sights and sounds of timeless nature.
She was about to throw more apple when the wallabies straightened, fully alert. Their ears pricked up and then they bounded off, their tails acting as precision springboards. As they disappeared over the rocks and into the bush Nina heard it too—a motor, distant, but coming this way.