May (Calendar Girl #5) (4 page)

The stranger’s gaze slid over me like a burning caress, so heated I fanned my face trying to remove the searing feeling that encapsulated my skin. An Italian accented voice called out some commands, and finally, Mr. Tattoo looked away, releasing the hold he had over me. I was freed but felt an odd, niggling sense of loss instead. The way this man looked at me was a calling, a beacon of desire needling at my psyche. One I was all too familiar with, as the space between my thighs swelled and softened. I stood and watched as the man behind the camera took a dozen more photos then abruptly made a slashing gesture with his hand.

“
Finito
!” he said, followed by a, “
Perfetto
.”

Ripping my eyes away from the overly delicious male, I watched as the photographer twisted around, his face turned toward me. He had on a woven, brown fedora style sun hat, cargo shorts, and a white linen shirt that was held together by a single button that did nothing to hide the svelte body underneath it. He smiled wide and trudged over to me, sand kicking up with each step. I stood stock-still where the limo driver had suggested when he parked and pointed at the tent on the beach. He said my boss was behind the camera. I hadn’t anticipated my client would also be the man taking the pictures for the campaign. Either way, it didn’t matter much to me. Work was work, and as long as it came with a hundred thousand dollar check, I was all in.

As he came closer up the beach, I could see a soft smile, white teeth, and small wrinkles at the edges of his kind blue eyes and more around his mouth. His handsome face showed he’d aged well, and his salt and pepper hair spiked out from under the fedora.

“
Bella donna
,” he said grasping my shoulders in a warm embrace then leaning forward and air kissing both cheeks. “I am Angel D’Amico, and you are more beautiful than I anticipated when my wife said we must have you for our campaign.”

At the mention of his wife, a statuesque Latina exited a white tent, her brown skin glimmering in the sunlight. A fiery red sarong-style halter dress wrapped around her curvaceous form and flapped in the breeze. Her dark hair was long and whisked out as if she had a personal fan blowing directly on her to accentuate her features. Talk about beauty. This woman had loads of it. Angel clapped his hands as the woman headed our way. “Ah, my wife. Takes away breath, yes?” His Italian accent was more prevalent. I nodded because she had stolen my breath; she was that stunning.

A huge smile graced her lips. “Mia, it is so lovely to have you as part of our project.” She also leaned forward and air kissed both of my cheeks. Now that she was close, I could see she had also been kissed by age, but it did not take away from her beauty. Aunt Millie told me that the designer and his wife were around fifty. These two could easily pass for early forties. “I am Rosa, Angel’s wife. We are excited to have you here.”

I tugged my bag up my shoulder and pushed my hair off my forehead. “I’m happy to be here. The island, well, what I’ve seen of it coming from the airport is beautiful.”

“It is. You can take the next couple days getting acquainted with it. We just shot Tai and will plan to do singles of you.” Angel looked over his shoulder as Mr. Tattoo pounded back a bottle of water and grabbed a shirt from someone who looked like an assistant. “Tai, come, meet your partner for the month.”

Partner? Millie didn’t say anything about having a partner. Just as I was about to question his comment, the man they called Tai moved to meet us. When I say moved, really the entire Earth might as well have split open and separated, carving out a path for him. All sound seemed to disappear and the entire environment zeroed in on nothing but this man’s progression across the sand. He was breathtaking. The muscles in his giant thighs pulsed and tensed with each step. A fine layer of abdominal squares rippled, the skin indenting around each shape with his movements. His chest shone like an opal, smooth, swirling with colors. Then again, that could be the heat and my vision ebbing around his shape.

When he reached the small huddle we created with our three bodies, the addition of his giant frame had me almost stepping back, the space now seeming far too small. Hell, the beach was far too small when you had such animal magnetism and male perfection standing on it. The ocean probably cried its own salty tears wishing he’d grace its silky depths with his presence.

Angel stretched out a hand in front of me. “Tai Niko, meet Mia Saunders. She’s going to be staying in the bungalow next to yours and doing all the couple shoots with you this month. We’re presenting you as the tropics couple for the “Beauty Comes in All Sizes” campaign.”

Tai’s brown eyes locked onto mine. He licked his plump bottom lip seductively then made a sound as though he was kissing his teeth before those lush pieces of pink flesh pursed. I did my best not to swoon, but the heat generated by this man felt like a wall of fire. He sucked in a slow breath, his nostrils flaring as his eyes swept all over my body. I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t even move or breathe under his scrutiny. “You’re radiant. I will enjoy working you,” he said, but his eyes said far more than “working” with me. Wait… what?

“You mean working
with
me?” I clarified shaking my head.

Once more, his head tilted down, and his gaze stared at my feet. In that moment, I realized he was lacking hair, as in almost all of his hair. He had a scruff on his dome, much like the way ‘The Rock’ kept his lack of locks. Looking him over, he very much resembled the actor, Dwayne Johnson. Huge, latte colored skin, darkened even more by the suns tropical rays, tattooed, only Tai seemed far more traditional in his Samoan features and heritage than the actor.

Tai puckered his sexy lips together and smirked. “No, that’s not at all what I meant.”

Damn. This month was going to be one helluva ride. Hopefully, that ride included being on top of or under a six foot godlike Samoan man named Tai.

***

A ray of light split through the room and landed on my face, waking me up from the most glorious dream of naked Twister with a sexy Samoan. I got up and padded through my morning routine, making coffee, snacking on some fresh pineapple and other various island fruits from the fully stocked fridge. The bungalow the D’Amicos had me in was the type of place people dreamed of staying in on vacation. South of Honolulu, we were right on Diamond Head Beach. As in, I could open the sliding door and touch the sand with my toes within ten feet. An unobstructed view of the ocean was my backdrop. I opened the doors, letting in the morning ocean breeze and the sound of the surf.

Not being able to wait any longer, I pulled on a white bikini, grabbed a towel, and made for the ocean. It had been far too long since I’d been on a beach. The last time was when I was with Wes.

Wes. I wasn’t going to go there. When I got to the airport in Vegas, there was a picture of Gina DeLuca on the cover of a tabloid with the heading “New Love Interest for Gina” and the image below showed a picture of the beautiful actress having lunch with none other than my Wes. Well, not
my
Wes, but I had him first so by ownership rights, that would make him mine right? Then again, she had him now and possession was nine-tenths of the law. What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t own Wes any more than he owned me. He might have a piece of my heart maybe, but not the whole enchilada. We’d made that very clear, even though there are still some feelings brewing; we both agreed to leave that in the background while we lived our lives. And that was what I intended to do.

Live my life.

Dropping my towel on the sand about thirty feet from the ocean’s edges, I looked out over the aquamarine water. It was so clear you could see straight through to the stand at the bottom for at least a hundred or so feet before the water got deeper. There was one lone surfer wearing a pair of black board shorts catching some serious waves out in the distance. He definitely had mad skillz. I watched for a while, mesmerized by the movements. The man caught a few ankle busters and then made a 360, slamming his large body back onto the board and paddling back out. Within moments, he was up on his board and hitting a magical A-frame wave, rushing through it like a pro.

Before long, the surfer headed my way on a snapper wave. It seemed like it happened in slow motion. The black swirls from shoulder to ankle caught my eye first. Then my eyes roamed up the wet, slick surface of the widest chest I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. Tony, back in Chicago, was the largest by far and definitely no slouch. Still, even he had nothing on this giant. A man like Tai Niko made a woman like me, five foot eight and a curvy size eight body—bordering on a ten when you factor in the giant tits and junk in the trunk—feel miniscule in comparison. I loved feeling small.

His board hit the beach, and he popped off perfectly, hitting the sand as if he did it every day before leaning over and yanking up his board. He carried it under one bulging bicep like it weighed nothing.

“Hey,
haole
,” he said and I narrowed my eyes.
Mental note…look up the word
haole
on Wikipedia
.

“Didn’t realize that was you out there. You’re good,” I nodded my chin at the ocean trying to find any reason not to stare and drool over his magnificent frame.

His sculpted jaw ticked as he smirked. “I should be. I teach surfing on the days I’m not modeling or working the shows with my family.”

“You teach?”

“Why? You want a lesson?” His tone was alluring and seductive.

That was most definitely my cue to flirt back. “You gonna teach me how to ride?” I arched a brow into a fine point.

His mouth pushed into that delectable purse as his eyes seemed to walk all over my bikini-clad curves. “I’ll teach you how to
ride
all day and all night, girlie.” When he said the word girlie, it didn’t sound the way a woman said it to her best friend. No, from him it sounded more like a growl, where he enunciated the “grrr” sound giving it a “grrrllleee” vibe. One that pinpointed lusty spikes straight through me to the point that my toes curled instinctively, and my hoo-hah clenched delightfully.

“Is that right? We still talking about surfing?” I called his bluff.

I meant it to sound playful. Though I imagine playing with him in other ways would be a lot more fun. Me and my vagina were definitely on board for that ride.

“What do you think?” His dark eyes turned pitch black. Lust swirled in those inky depths, and my feminine side jumped for joy and did the chicken dance.

‘Go big or go home’ is the catch phrase people use in moments like this. Well, I intended to make that fucker my theme song, because I was definitely going “big” before I went home. “Baby, I’ll take whatever ride you’re offering.” I responded boldly, knowing I was poking the beast. This time, I wanted whatever came from it. Wanted it so badly, my knees were weakening.

Tai’s nostrils flared as he sucked in a noisy breath. With a loud thud his board hit the sand, a large paw looped around my waist, and I was slammed against his chest, his lips crushing mine. The kiss was savage, brutal, filled with nothing but an insatiable hunger.

We ate from one another’s mouths. Stinging bites of lips, and nips of tongues. Fluttering licks meant to consume, taste, and plunder as we took from one another. Without question, comment, or discussion, Tai lifted me, slid his hands over the ass he’d been squeezing and yanked me up his body. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on, unable to let go of his addictive taste for even a moment to see where we were going. It wasn’t until my bikini top was off, my back hit a cloud like surface, and Tai’s lips clamped onto my nipple that I realized we were no longer on the beach. At that moment, I didn’t care. I wanted him more than my next breath.  

Holding his nearly bald head to my breast was extremely satisfying. Not as much as digging my nails into his dome and leaving crescent shaped indentations on the prickly sphere. He was not bothered by my aggressiveness; he was far more aggressive in his own movements. His teeth sunk into the tightened bud and I cried out. Tai released my swollen breast, grinned maniacally, and clamped onto its twin, giving it the same delightful torture from his hot mouth. His hands were all over me. Plumping my other breast, clenching the rounded skin of my bum, and finally locking behind my head when he took my mouth again. With Tai, it was all about the taking.

“Gonna take you hard, then soft, and finish with something in between. Then I’m gonna do it all over again,” he growled, pulling off my body. He reached a long, muscled arm to his nightstand for a foil packet. Thank God, someone was thinking clearly. My mind was a haze of lust so intense, I just wanted him to stick his sizable erection so far into me I’d forget my own name.

Tai’s board shorts dropped to the tile floor, and I leaned up on my forearms. That sight would fill future fantasies for decades. His tattoo did not stop at his midsection. No, that beauty covered the entire left side of his body. Black patterns formed so many symbols and images I couldn’t grasp them all. Tai grinned wickedly, wrapped a hand around his flesh, and lazily stroked his massive cock. When I say massive, I mean, it’s one of those that you know for a fact will hurt the first time going in, but you will accept that pain like a badge of honor and not complain. And you will take it again and again because nothing will ever come close to the fullness.

“Jesus, you’re a big boy… everywhere.” I gawked at his sculpted perfection.

He continued to watch me squirm, hips rotating uselessly, my body getting hotter, and pussy getting wetter with every stroke of his delicious flesh. I could no more stop my mouth from watering or my response to his naked form, nor did I want to.

Wanton. Achy. Swollen.

Those were the predominant feelings rushing through my overheated skin as I looked at him. “Remove your suit.” He practically growled his request. No, not request…
demand.
I should have balked at his dominance, but I was so worked up I simply acted by pulling the two strings and letting it fall open along with my spread thighs. “Wider. I want to see your flower open and wet.” Tai sucked in a harsh breath when I acquiesced. I bit down on my lip to hold back a moan as I revealed myself to him in a way that could be considered demeaning, but with him, it somehow felt forbidden, hot, and ramped up my desire for him to a scalding burn.