Naked Hope (16 page)

Several moments of quiet ensued. “Because I was here when the accident happened. I came to make the final inspection with the builder. I’d left home in an angry rush and didn’t have my cellphone. The land lines hadn’t been connected yet, I didn’t have an internet connection, didn’t know any of the neighbors, and the local sheriff was out dealing with a highway wreck. No one knew how to reach me.”

All at once, Jill understood the earlier look that had passed between the two men. She swallowed hard, not wanting him to mistake her compassion for pity. “So Baines came for you.” She kissed his ear and the side of his throat. “I’m sorry to have reminded you.”

“After the accident, I didn’t have the heart to come up here.” Gavin pulled her close. “Are you cold?”

“Not me. I’m a fresh air freak.”

“Then what do you say we just stay here for a bit and watch the stars come up.”

She could hear the smile in his voice.

As the sun fell below the horizon, Gavin asked, “How is it that this thing never slides down too far?” His hand rested high on her ribcage.

Jill giggled, glad to see this side of him return. “The sweater looks looser than it is.”

“Nothing about that sweater looks loose.”

“No? Tell me, what would you do if it slid down…say…to here?” She sat up and rolled her shoulders. The sweater dropped until it barely covered her breasts.

Eyebrows lifted, he grinned. “You’re a tease.”

“Well, my being a tease isn’t the problem. It’s too dark out here to see much of anything.”

Gavin hopped up, flipped a switch, and a dozen small lamps shaped like candles illuminated the deck.

She shivered and rubbed her hands along her arms. “Maybe we’re going to need some blankets after all.”

“No problem.” He reached under the lounger and produced a blanket.

Her stomach fluttered. Into his ear, she murmured, “You’ve thought of everything. You realize, of course, if we continue like this, we’ll miss seeing the stars come out.”

“Oh, we’ll see them,” he told her as he tucked the blanket around their bodies. “I have a skylight over my bed.”

Was he always this confident? She really shouldn’t let him get away with it—the assumption that she would end up in his bed. And yet, wouldn’t she?
She grazed her mouth against his and whispered, “You present a convincing argument.”

Saturday proved to be colder than expected so they switched their plans and rode horses. Neither had very much experience but the horses knew what to do. Afterward, Jill indulged in a long soak. She stepped naked out on the deck to towel dry her hair, and then nearly dropped her towel, surprised to see Gavin arguing with Adrienne Rush in the driveway. They were too far away to hear their conversation, but Jill recognized the body language.

Gavin was cold.

Adrienne was hot as a grease fire and about as unpredictable.

Jill stepped back inside, hoping Gavin didn’t intend to invite in the woman. After a moment, her curiosity emerged and she stepped out again just as Adrienne looked her way.

The woman pivoted, climbed into her car, and slammed the door. Her tires screeched like sirens as she drove off.

Jill was both intrigued and annoyed when Gavin made no mention of Adrienne’s visit.

By Sunday, the weather turned perfect for a day on the lake. They packed their favorite snacks, wine, a lot of sun block, and very few clothes.

“We’ll be cruising in remote waters.”

Jill slid on a pair of sunglasses. “Which means?”

“We won’t run into anyone.”

“Well, I should hope not. Boating accidents are the worst.” She wiggled her glasses, grinning.

“I meant, we’ll be alone.”

She rubbed her chin. “I know there’s a message in there somewhere.”

“You won’t need much in the way of clothes.”

A slow smile played on her lips. “Why you devil.”

Gavin appeared entirely at ease captaining the cruiser out in open water, and Jill wondered if there was anything he didn’t know how to do. She stood behind him, sliding her hands under his T-shirt, her fingers splayed across his well-defined abdominal muscles. The shoreline stood majestic with its giant boulders and occasional wildlife. They were alone with only the wind and an occasional wave for company.

Gavin weighed anchor and reached for her hand. “You haven’t been on the upper deck yet.”

“Oh, I’ve been there,” she said, unzipping her jacket more from the heat of his gaze, than the brilliant sun overhead.

His gaze followed her movements. “But you haven’t been up there with me.” He pushed the jacket off her shoulders. When it dropped to the floor, he clasped his hands at the small of her back. “And I’ve been looking forward to going up there with you all morning.” He smoothed the hair from her face. “I’ll just get the sun block.”

“I already took it up.”

“The champagne, then.”

She touched her hands to her throat, feigning shock. “It’s not even noon yet.”

“Oh, we won’t drink much.”

Moments later, he was back with a cold bottle of champagne and two glasses. They climbed to the upper deck. Jill had precious little time to take in the massive bed topped with green-and-white striped indoor/outdoor cushions before Gavin swung her onto the bed and straddled her.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I like this,” he said, untying her bikini top. “In fact, I’d like a closer look.” He pretended to inspect it. “Yes, superior workmanship.” He stripped it from her and let it drop.

“And these,” he chanted, untying one side of the scanty bottoms. “They’re not necessary.” He bit softly at her ear. “It’s my opinion there’s nothing like the feel of sun on bare skin.” He untied the other side and pulled them from between her legs.

Her heart raced, her breath caught. Her body thrilled at the possibilities of what he’d do next as the cruiser swayed gently in the wind.

****

She laughed that throaty laugh of hers, desire burning in her eyes. “I’d like to tell you how beautiful you are. How much I enjoy doing this.” He ran a hand across the flat of her belly. “And this.” He kissed the curve of her neck. “And this.” He bent his head to the soft place between her legs, stroking and tasting, lost in her scent and the desire to drive her beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. “But this isn’t a time for talking.”

He loved the way she opened for him with complete abandon, the way his mouth fit over her, and the way his tongue felt as if it belonged inside her. The sound of her moaning hardened his body almost to the point of pain. He stroked her with his tongue, his fingers playing her margins, a half-beat behind his mouth, driven by the visual of her naked abandon. As her body erupted, he covered her sex with his mouth drawing out her orgasm in elongated shudders. And afterward, as her body quieted, he couldn’t resist using his tongue, eliciting aftershocks that sent her trembling over the edge, yet again.

He rolled off the bed. “Be right back.” Moments later, he returned with a basket, which he placed on the floor beside the bed.

She sat up, desire darkening her eyes. With a touch as light as the breeze, her hands rode his body down the flat of his torso and rested at his hips., Looking into his eyes, she waited.

He wanted to get back on the bed with her, to tell her that her bare skin was the only aphrodisiac any man would need.

But she stopped him, placing the flat of her foot against his belly. “Take them off.”

He heard the demand in her voice and stared at her body.

“Take them off,” she repeated, lowering her foot and sliding a hand across his abdomen to loosen the top button of his jeans. She drew down the zipper and pushed them off.

The removal of his jeans revealed just how ready he was. All weekend, he’d wanted two things

to feel her body against his, and to be inside her. Everything else was a means to an end. Not because he didn’t care about her—because God help him, he did—to the point of not having any sense regarding her—but because her body provided the kind of haven-like ecstasy he’d thought existed only in music. And so, everything he’d done that weekend had been to please her so she would never be more than an arm’s length away.

With a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist and dipped her head.

When her tongue caught him, nothing else mattered except the feel of her mouth. One stroke blended into the next until he couldn’t separate the gentle suction from the way she bit at him, or the more intense assault that brought him teetering to the edge. His stomach muscles clenched. Blood pounded in his ears and his breathing was rendered wildly erratic. He tried to balance on the precipice—to delay the inevitable as long as possible, because to allow the explosive release meant the end of this frenzied delirium. Yet, just as the release came, he thought about her breasts, and the spicy way she tasted between her thighs. This was not the end, but merely the equivalent of a seven-measure rest while his body recovered.

He sank down onto the bed next to her.

Moments later, she asked, “What’s in the basket?”

He reached down and lifted the basket to his side table. “Food.”

She rolled over him to help herself to a grape.

He stopped her. “There’s a reason the food is on my side of the bed.”

“Bully.”

Gavin took up a mango, bit through the skin, and squeezed mango juice between her breasts, catching some with his tongue as it dribbled down. He eased her into a lying position, exploring all the different places the mango juice had gone.

She lay still, sighing.

He grinned. “I like it when you cooperate.” He placed a raspberry over each of her nipples and pâté under the curve of her breasts. On her belly, he dropped scoops of soft cheese and a smoked oyster in her navel. Over the softly rounded mound above her thighs, he spread a liberal amount of the chocolate sauce. He put his lips against her ear. “I’m ravenous. How do you feel knowing you’re about to be consumed?”

****

She shivered, anticipation making her heart hammer. The raspberries rolled.

Gavin caught one with his tongue and expertly steered it back, balancing it on her nipple. His mouth closed over the raspberry and the peak of her breast.

Each stroke of his tongue caught her nipple between his teeth.

His mouth traveled to the under curve of her breasts, scooping up pâté. He reached over her and dipped a cracker into the pâté, and gave her a bite. “Seems only fair you should have some, too.”

She shrieked with laughter as he drizzled chilled champagne over her shoulders, and made it disappear with his mouth, working his way back to her breasts and the flat of her torso. Her body burned for more.

“And now to the
fromages
. Do you prefer brie or perhaps some Saint Amrita?”

Without waiting for her answer, he moved downward and sucked the oyster from its cradle and cheese from her belly, occasionally stopping to prepare her a cracker, or drop a grape into her mouth. The combination of eating and being eaten made her feel like a wanton, wild for his every stroke.

Every part of her raged with desire by the time he moved between her legs

“Have I told you how fond I am of chocolate?” His lips dragged back and forth just above her labia as he spoke. When she moaned, he kissed the inside of her thighs and took another taste of the chocolate.

“But even better than chocolate is this.”

His tongue edged its way inside, coaxing her soft flesh to open. As he stroked, the heat of his breath mingled with her rising need until she closed her legs around him, arching her back as the spasms burst inside her like a geyser. He paused just long enough, then opened her legs wider and massaged the space on either side of her soft folds, imprisoning her clitoris. Her body swelled just as the wind picked up and blew her to pieces, scattering her far across the water.

Several moments later, when she was ready, she reached for him. He eased himself inside, his mouth at her breasts and his hands beneath her, making sure she felt every touch, every stroke, every caress.

“Jillian.”

He said her name like a one-word poem. Her body contracted around him.

“Jillian,” he repeated, his breath hot on her neck.

The rest was lost to the language of carnal synchronicity.

****

They spent their last night of the weekend on the terrace, listening to the waves lap against the shore. Dusk gave way to dark. One after another, stars dotted the horizon until the sky looked as though it would detonate.

The time had come. She couldn’t put it off any longer, although she hated to risk the harmony they’d achieved. “The night is perfect,” she murmured.

“Perfect,” he echoed, kissing the hollow of her throat.

“The last of our long weekend together.”

He kissed the curve of her breast.

“We have to talk about it.”

He paused.

“We have to talk about Olivia and the changes that are ahead.”

“The idea was to keep the weekend about us.” He resumed his movements, kissing the hollow of her throat. “And I’m inclined to suggest we spend as many weekends up here as we can, before the worst of the cold sets in.”

Her body stilled. “Gavin, this weekend has been lovely but we can’t continue.”

He rolled away and sat up.

Her stomach tightened. Already he was pulling away. “You committed to focusing on Olivia. She’s starting in a program where the odds are stacked against her

”

“I don’t know why you think that,” he interrupted.

Jill stared, his face a half-shadow in the torchlight. “I know you don’t. But take it from me, they are. You’re not the best judge of what she can and can’t do.”

Gavin stood, walked to the railing, and stared off into the night

“She’ll need everything you have to give. You told me she’s your only priority, and she’ll need to be. So I’m holding you to your commitment, Gavin. We would be so irresponsible to gamble with Olivia’s success.” Jill spread her arms wide. “For her sake, for the sake of my program, and for the children who will come after her. Don’t you see? You and I, we can’t do this right now.”

His hands jammed deep in the pockets of his hoodie. “It’s that easy to walk away?”