Resolving myself, I met his eyes. We had now. A couple of months at best. Carpe diem.
He laced his fingers with mine before bringing my hand to his mouth, kissing the skin, then gently biting it, sending shivers down my body.
OUR HOTEL ROOM overlooked a pool and grassy area. Surf crashed beyond the white painted trunks of swaying palm trees. Although we were a few miles closer to Elmina, the castle couldn’t be seen from our resort. Still, its history shadowed my mood. Or perhaps it was the conversation at lunch. After arriving, I’d feigned sleepiness from lunch and a desire to nap. Kai took his laptop and sat on our balcony, giving me the space I needed but hadn’t asked for.
I couldn’t turn off my brain enough to rest.
Kai had a daughter. An ex-wife. A daughter.
Last year I’d ended a relationship when the man wanted me to meet his children. It hadn’t been right to move forward when I never wanted to be a mother, let alone a step-monster. I rolled onto my side, staring through the screen at Kai’s long, lean body sitting in a chair only feet away from the bed. His tan, athletic legs were propped up on the railing. The bright sunlight highlighted the fine blond hairs on his arms and legs. I had a strong urge to run my nose along his limbs, feeling that hair against my skin, knowing he’d smell of sun and spice.
Groaning, I rolled to the other side, my back to the golden boy.
What about him turned me into an uncertain, insecure ball of girly doubt?
Ugh, I sounded like Maggie last summer when Gil reentered her life.
My hand punched the pillow on Kai’s side a few times, before grabbing it and putting it over my face.
“Are you attempting to suffocate yourself?” His voice sounded muffled through the pillow.
“Maybe,” I mumbled into the fabric.
“I can’t hear you.” He lifted the pillow away.
When I sat up and tried to grab it, we ended up tugging at it for a minute in some sort of lame pillow fight. I huffed and let him win.
“I think that might have been my first pillow fight.” He grinned at me.
“You call that a pillow fight?” I reached over and swiped his other pillow, whacking him on the shoulder.
He didn’t duck. After a handful of seconds standing there with his mouth gaping open and the pillow hanging limply by his side, he responded with a full swing, aiming for my head.
Falling backward on the bed, it was my turn to be shocked.
No way would he get away with that. I knelt and let him have it, ducking from his attacks. Soon both of us were laughing and breathless. I collapsed against the mattress, keeping the pillow over my face for protection. When the blows ceased, I peeked up at him from under the corner of the pillowcase. He stood over me, a broad grin on his gorgeous face. Hair tousled, his laughter shaking his chest, he was glorious, irresistible.
Damn him.
“Come here.” I summoned him with my finger.
The bed bounced where he landed next to me. “That was fun.”
“I can think of more fun we can have on this bed.” I tugged him closer by his shirt.
“Oh really?” he asked. “What did you have in mind?” A long leg moved across mine, pinning me down.
“Something involving less clothing.”
“I approve of that more than being whacked with a foam pillow.” His eyes sparkled as he shifted over me. Grabbing my hands, he pulled them above my head, holding both in one of his while his hips anchored me. “Now that I have you where I want you, will you tell me what’s happening inside that big, beautiful brain of yours?”
I lost myself in the deep blue of his eyes for a moment. “Nothing.”
He raised an eyebrow and squinted down at me. “Nothing is the wrong answer.”
I closed my eyes to his intense gaze.
“Hey, no hiding.” He released my hands to tap my forehead.
“I’m not hiding.” I opened one eye. A single eyeful of Kai was enough. “Talking wasn’t what I had in mind when I said more fun than a pillow fight, just saying.”
“I figured.” He rolled his hips into mine, showing me he had more on his mind than talking.
My eyes fluttered closed at the contact while heat gathered in my center. “You can’t expect me to concentrate on thinking when you have me pinned to the bed.”
“Should I get up?”
“No!” I shouted.
He chuckled as he gently bit the skin at the corner of my jaw.
“Let’s make a deal. Less talking now, more talking later.” With both eyes open, I attempted to assure him I meant it.
“Deal, but I won’t forget.” His steely gaze held the resolution of his promise.
“Deal. Now make me forget my name.” I pulled his face down to mine.
His lips paused a breath away, and he whispered, “My pleasure.”
Our lips pressed together; tongues explored while our hands roamed. I nipped his bottom lip, pulling it into my mouth and sucking. He expressed his approval by moaning and thrusting his hips, rubbing my clit with the seam of his shorts through the thin cotton of my skirt. Besides fucking Kai, my next favorite thing was making out with him like teenagers. Only we never stopped with the dry humping.
I raised my hips, encouraging him to roll over, but instead of following my silent command he pulled my hands above my head again.
“I’m in charge now.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine. “Hold on.”
My eyes widened with excitement, and I obediently wrapped my hands around the wood slats of the bed.
“Good girl. I’ve decided you think too much.”
“What’s your solution for that?”
“I’ll do the thinking for the both of us.” He knelt and unbuttoned his shirt. The white fabric slowly parted to expose his chest, the ripple of abs below his pecs, and finally, the thin trail of hair leading to Gerhard.
“Eyes up here, sweetheart.”
I flicked my gaze to his, then focused it to his hands where he undid his belt. When they paused, I lifted my eyes again. “What?”
“You weren’t following instructions.”
“But that’s my favorite part. It’s like Christmas and unwrapping the best present.”
Shaking his head, he licked the corner of his lips. “What should I do with you?”
“You could always gag me,” I suggested.
“I could, but I enjoy your mouth too much.” He stretched down to kiss me, but pulled away before I could extend the kiss further.
I pouted. Clearly, I didn’t like giving up control.
He kissed me again and swirled his tongue with mine. He whispered, “Play along and I’ll give you everything you crave. Stay still.”
I nodded and tightened my grip on the bed. Now completely naked, he spread my legs. An impulse to squirm bubbled up inside me. I wondered if he’d spank me as punishment. Warmth turned to heat.
He stripped me of my clothing, and I lay splayed in front of him, my hands resting above me. While he observed me, I studied his body, memorizing every line and curve. Lost in the sight of him, I squeaked when he pulled my legs down to the edge. He knelt on the floor and rested his hands on my open thighs.
“Beautiful,” he whispered from between my hip bones.
Closing my eyes, I sighed with pleasure while he kissed an arc from one thigh to the other. It tickled and teased, driving me to beg.
“Please.”
I needed more stimulation. My fingers played with my nipples, tugging and pinching as my hands cupped my breasts. Soon his fingers entered me—first two, then three—turning and curving to hit a place inside of me that made my spine arch. My feet sought traction, needing to tense and brace as pleasure took over while he sucked, licked, and kissed my clitoris.
“Fuck,” I said when he curled his fingers and stilled his tongue, pressing down right on the spot, sending me over the edge. He held my legs open when I tried to close them to release some of the pain, which followed such intense pleasure.
While I rode out the waves of my orgasm, he kept his fingers inside, but eased away from my oversensitive clit.
I was legless with bliss.
“Well, that worked.” He smiled smugly from between my thighs.
“You’re a snake charmer, Hendriks.”
“More like a pussy charmer. I’m not done with you yet. Roll over.” His voice held a stern edge when he stood.
I complied, moving to the center of the bed.
“Up on your knees.”
I braced my weight on my forearms and curved my ass up seductively.
He slapped me on one cheek, and then the other. A warm tingle replaced the initial sting.
“I love your curves,” he said.
I turned to peek at him. His eyes were focused where his hand caressed the swell of my bottom. He stepped over to his luggage for a condom before returning to the bed.
“Head forward.”
I liked his bossiness.
I faced forward and waited for his weight to dip the mattress behind me.
The hairs on his legs I’d admired earlier tickled my thighs when he settled himself behind me. I inhaled and held my breath, waiting for the moment he entered me, slowly exhaling when he did.
I tilted forward when he thrust behind me, finally giving into gravity and letting my chest hit the bed. It changed the angle, allowing him to be even deeper when he rocked.
This wasn’t slow lovemaking. This was passion unleashed as he pummeled my body with his.
Groaning, Kai pulled out. He flipped me over and entered me again.
Our gazes locked, our breaths mingled. Fighting the temptation to close them and break our connection, I kept my eyes open.