“I am.”
“You knew I’d come in after you.”
“Maybe. Maybe I always sleep naked.”
“Do you?”
“Not usually.”
I chuckle, feeling a bit of relief. “I’m sorry for being an ass. I just find myself feeling … frustrated by things between us sometimes.”
“I know,” she whispers softly. Then her hand reaches up to my face, her fingers feeling the ridges of my jaw, my nose, my eyes. “That’s why I’m naked. Thought maybe it would help you alleviate some of that frustration I saw in your face.”
“It might take a while.” I take her hand on my face and pull it down to my mouth to kiss each finger. “I’m really frustrated.” I add and surprise her by hauling her from next to me to on top of me. She giggles and my frustration starts to ebb already.
“I’m dedicated to the cause. I’m willing to work hard.” Hard pretty much describes me just from having her naked body near mine.
The captain announces we have twenty minutes until landing. I hate to wake her. She looks so peaceful and I took an hour and a half of her nap for other things before she fell asleep. I clean up and brush my teeth in the small en suite bathroom and she wakes when I climb back into bed.
“Good nap?” I say before gently kissing her lips.
“You smell good.” She snuggles up against me, pressing her warm sexy body to my already clothed one.
“It’s time to get up. We’re going to land soon.”
She stretches and pouts. “But I’m so comfy.”
I swat her ass. “You can be comfy for almost a week in my bed. In fact, I intend to spend an inordinate amount of time in my bed, making you comfy. But right now you need to get up and get dressed so we can land.”
Begrudgingly she gets up. She walks her naked self to the bathroom. “Ummm. Cooper.”
“Yes.”
“Is this a, a… . hickey?”
“Where?” I pretend not to know what she’s talking about as I walk up behind her in the bathroom and our gaze meets in the mirror.
“Right here.” She points to her right breast, where there’s an unmistakable bright red mark.
“Hmmm.” I cup her breast from behind. “It might be. I guess I didn’t realize how much frustration I had to let go of.”
“Hmm … mmm.” She eyes me suspiciously.
“I’m glad it’s there though. Because this week, you’re all mine and we don’t have to worry about any cameras catching you since no one knows where we are.”
chapter twenty-nine
Kate
I’m not sure if it was the sex or the nap, or maybe even the Caribbean sunshine warming us as we step onto the tarmac in Barbados, but Cooper’s a different man than the one I boarded the plane with.
“What do you want to do first?” he asks as he laces our fingers together. It feels odd to walk in public with him like this. We’ve basically been in hiding since we met.
“Hmmm … what are my choices?”
“We could have sex in the yard, by the pool. Or at the beach. The master bedroom has a Jacuzzi if you prefer that.”
“Do all my choices include sex?”
“They all begin and end with sex. How you’d like to fill the hours in between, I’m happy to oblige whatever suits your fancy.”
“How very generous of you, Mr. Montgomery.”
“I thought so.” He kisses my lips and gives me a carefree smile that makes him look younger than his years. His face is relaxed. It’s a look I haven’t seen in a while and he wears it well.
A uniformed officer comes to meet us as we reach the building and does a quick check and stamps our passports. “What about our bags?” I ask as we enter the airport terminal.
“They’ll be brought to the car that we’ll meet out front of baggage claim. It’s a small airport, so there isn’t a special area for private planes. We’ve already cleared customs, so we can just walk through the airport and exit where everyone else does.”
The airport is busy, but Cooper navigates us through swiftly. As we walk through the baggage claim area, I spot a uniformed man holding a sign that reads Montgomery.
“I guess that’s us?” I say, but Cooper doesn’t hear me. He’s preoccupied looking off in another direction.
“Cooper?” He still doesn’t respond, so I trace his line of sight. I don’t see anything unusual. Mostly it’s just a group of tourists in Hawaiian shirts and straw hats anxious to get their luggage. Then I notice a man in the group who stands out. He’s grabbing a bag from the conveyor belt, but that’s not what makes him different. Dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and pants—head to toe in black, his bald head is the only thing that shines from his otherwise dark façade.
“Cooper?” I call again. “Do you see someone you know?”
“Hmm?” He turns to me, having heard my voice, but still not hearing my words.
“I asked if you saw someone you knew. You seemed distracted.”
“Actually … give me a minute, I’ll be right back.” He deposits me next to the man holding the Montgomery sign and takes off in the direction of the baggage claim he was staring at. The man I thought he was looking at is already gone, but I watch as Cooper surveys the surrounding area.
“Everything okay?” I ask wearily when he returns.
“Fine,” he responds and we walk to the waiting limousine. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but my mind must be playing tricks on me since you robbed me from the nap I was planning on taking.” He kisses me chastely, then waves off the driver so he can open the door for me himself.
A woman is waiting at the top of the driveway when we pull up to the house—if you would call where we arrive at a house. Mansion, estate, perhaps just paradise might most deftly describe the vision that looms in front of me.
Up until now, everything about Cooper Montgomery seemed to match the man—a sleek penthouse suite, expensive-yet-old classic car. His assets are clearly luxurious, yet they have an understated quality about them. Like he doesn’t need to show off the grandness to appreciate its value. But this—there is no mistaking the brazen grandeur of this home.
Flooded in white except for the massive dark-wood double front doors, the home stretches out far and wide amid lush tropical plantings.
“Welcome home, Mr. Montgomery, Ms. Monroe. Sugar Rose is ready for your arrival.” The woman greets us with a thick island accent and broad smile.
“Thank you, Marguerite. It’s good to see you.” I hear Cooper have a short conversation with the woman, but I’m too busy looking around in awe to pay much attention.
“You like it?”
“It’s stunning. I can’t believe how big it is.”
“That’s not the first time I’ve heard you say that,” he leans downs and whispers to me as we walk to the entrance with Marguerite in tow.
I shake my head. Before me is the man I first met—smiling, playful and full of himself. It’s nice to have him back.
As Cooper talks to Marguerite, I walk slowly through the spacious home. The massive two-story living room is framed with a wall of glass that leads out to an equally impressive manicured yard. An oversized infinity pool makes it difficult to tell where the yard ends and the ocean beyond it begins.
A warm ocean breeze blows on my skin as I walk outside, bringing the smell and taste of the ocean to my lips.
“What do you think?” Cooper comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“It’s paradise.”
He kisses my shoulder. “I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s amazing. Although it’s not what I expected.”
“Is that good or bad?” His lips at the nape of my neck vibrate against the skin.
“Actually, I don’t think it’s either. It’s beautiful. It just doesn’t seem like your style.”
“It’s not. My father built it for my mother.” He kisses his way up to my ear. “Sugar Rose. My mother was Rose, but my father called her Sugar.”
“That’s so sweet.”
“Inside or outside?” he asks.
“What I like better?”
“No, where you want me to fuck you first.”
“No beating around the bush with you, is there?”
“Not when it comes to you, love.” His hand tugs at my skirt to lift it. I’m lightheaded from the feel of him hardening against me from behind, but it’s the way he just called me love that makes my knees weak.
“What about Marguerite?”
“Gone. No one for miles except for me and you.”
I turn and face him. He wastes no time in taking my mouth. There’s a hunger in his kiss that would never reveal he’d just been inside me only a few hours ago on the plane.
“Pool,” I whisper against his lips when we break for air. At first his brows dip, but then he realizes what I’m saying. “The edge, where it looks out to the ocean.”
I take his hand and begin to lead him in that direction. But he scoops me up off my feet and carries me instead. I love that he gives me choices, but then takes control back almost immediately. It’s like he wants to please me, but he needs to do it in his own way.
He stops to undress us both before walking into the pool with me in his arms. Reaching the edge, he sets me on my feet and spreads my arms wide along the tile hidden just below the surface. His erection pushes against my back as he moves closer. “You should probably hold on,” he says in a raspy voice. “I want to fuck you deep.”