Queen’s Knight (Invitation to Eden) (8 page)

He finally obliged, moving up her body and taking her mouth. He grabbed one ankle, moving her leg to his shoulder as he slid effortlessly inside her, and Dani gasped. He seemed intent on taking it slow and casual, but when she clamped down around him it was his turn to groan and his pace sped up.

Dani grabbed the headboard, breathy moans pushed out of her by Evan’s thrusts. It didn’t take her long at all to orgasm, but Evan kept going, lifting her leg until her hips were almost sideways and continuing. The new position felt deeper, more intimate, and her cries mingled with his as he finally came, shuddering against her.

They collapsed bonelessly onto the bed, a tangled mess of limbs. “So,” Dani managed to get out between pants, “you’re in a good mood.”

“Yeah,” Evan replied eventually, breathing hard as well. “The Maashole was pissed off all day while Jeremiah and I played golf. Was awesome to watch.”

Dani rolled herself over and propped herself up on her elbow, giving Evan a befuddled look. “And that made you horny?”

“Hell no, that made me happy. Seeing you in that oversized t-shirt and nothing else made me horny.”

She laughed softly as Evan twisted a strand of her blonde hair around his finger. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, tracing his fingertip over one breast and across her nipple. Dani smoothed his hair from his brow, caressing his forehead with her thumb.

“Come back to New York with me.”

Dani’s hand stilled, pain squeezing around her heart.

Evan continued, not sensing her inner turmoil. “You can stay until you’re ready to leave, or I can help pay for the rest of the funding. It’s down to just a couple thousand, right?”

Annoyance bubbled up at his words. “I can take care of myself, thank you,” she said coldly, rolling out of bed and reaching for a robe.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Evan called after her, but she kept walking, sitting down at the table next to the window. The serenity this view usually gave eluded her, especially when Evan followed and sat next to her. “It would only be temporary...”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. The idea of being with this man, of
staying
with him...god, how could she explain to him how tempting that was? To give the traveling up and be with him, even if only for a while. When she looked at his beautiful face, she could see a future there, one that might make her happy for a while but would change all her plans.

But Dani couldn’t tell him that; it would give him hope for something she just couldn’t allow. She wasn’t ready to stop, not yet, no matter how much she might be in... Oh, no.

God, was she really going to even consider the L-word?

“I don’t understand what the difference is between what I’m offering and what you have here,” he continued, frustration breaking through in his voice too. He reached for her hand and Dani snatched it away, too confused suddenly by her own emotions. Immediately she regretted her reaction when she saw the dismay and hurt warring on his face.

“This isn’t going to work,” she whispered, then jumped as his hand smacked down on the table in front of her.

“Like hell it won’t!”

Dani stared miserably at Evan’s angry face. She saw the same desperation in his eyes that she felt, but how could she tell him the truth? That she desperately wanted to go with him, to see his city, to spend every morning waking up beside him. They’d been with each other for less than a week, and already she was dreaming of giving up her life for him.

How could she tell him how much that temptation scared her?

*

“W
ell then,” she muttered, “why don’t you quit, give it all up, and come riding with me.”

Evan stopped and gave her a frustrated look, which she returned.
See how it feels,
she thought silently as they stared down one another.
Not so nice when the shoe’s on the other foot, is it?

Raking a hand through his hair, Evan tried again. “Look, I’m not asking you to stay with me, I just...”

I’m not asking you to stay.
That phrase hurt more than she thought, and when she stepped away from him she knew Evan realized his mistake. “You don’t even know what you want,” she said dully. “All you’ve mentioned is what your father wants, what your family had you working towards. What do
you
want to do with your life?”

It was his turn to flinch away, and Dani’s heart sank as she saw anger rise up on his face. God, she wanted to apologize, make him happy again, but what she’d said was the truth. He was leaving the island in the morning, going back to his life, and she... Dani wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she had a plan and would stick with it.

That realization hurt.

“Fine,” he muttered, looking like he wanted to say more. Dani stiffened, readying herself for the angry onslaught of words, but Evan’s jaw clenched as if he was keeping them inside. “Fine,” he spat again, and without another word finished dressing and left the bedroom.

Dani fell back on the bed, covering her eyes as if that would keep the tears inside, as she heard him rustling in the small living room. When the front door slammed, however, her breath hitched, and wetness pricked the edges of her eyes.

I’m not going to cry, I’m not.

He’d looked so hurt at her comments, she wanted to run after him and apologize, ask him to spend his last few hours with her. Instead, she rolled over in the bed, burying her face in the pillow to hide her tears.

*

H
is feet felt heavier with every step away from the castle, but Evan followed after the trio of businessmen in front of him. Jeremiah’s plane was ready to take off, the pilot and crew in place, it just needed passengers. Their time was up, they’d all checked out, but Evan wasn’t ready to leave the island.

He wasn’t ready to leave her.

Ahead of him, Griffin had his arm around the woman who was friends with Dani, talking softly to her. She was subdued, hanging onto the rotund older man, her head on his shoulder.
Rose
, that was her name. Watching the two of them made Evan’s chest hurt.

For the third time, Evan looked back, hoping to see familiar blonde hair seeing him off. The castle rose against the island, lit softly by the rising sun. The sight was magnificent, but not what he wanted. Nobody had followed them onto the tarmac; no familiar blonde-haired women ran to him crying their goodbyes.

I’m an idiot.
He should go back and, if not drag her to New York with him, at least give her a proper goodbye. Yet, he kept walking, the plane growing larger until he was at the foot of the steps.

Jeremiah and the others had already disappeared inside; apparently, Evan had lagged further behind than he realized. Beside him, the woman Rose crossed her arms and glared silently at Evan.

He very obviously didn’t have one fan, at least.

Sighing, Evan started up the steps as the workers put the few suitcases into the bottom of the plane, then closed it up. He took his seat, looking out toward the castle.

“God, I can’t wait to get out of here,” Preston muttered, but everyone ignored him. His nose was still swollen from his last
conversation
with Evan, and a dark ring sat beneath one eye.

“I could have stayed a while longer,” Griffin said a moment later, staring out the window. His voice was wistful as he waved again to Rose. “What a woman.”

The plane pulled out and began taxiing down the runway. Jungle lined one side of the asphalt, as wild and beautiful as anything they’d seen on the island. He remembered her words, that the island was alive and constantly showing new sides of itself.

Then, from somewhere over the roar of the small plane’s engines, he heard the familiar sound of a two-stroke engine.

A dirt bike appeared out of the jungle and made a beeline for the plane. Blonde hair streamed out from under the helmet, and a white flag with black writing was duct taped to the rear subframe of the motorcycle. The red bike curved slightly, accelerating until it was racing parallel with the aircraft and Evan’s window. The rider stood up on the pegs, twisting her upper body and raising one hand in a farewell salute.

Evan’s heartbeat grew almost too hard for his chest. The flag billowed in the wind, the wind whipping it to and fro, making words difficult to read. His breath caught in his throat however when he finally got the message.

You’re still invited, Prince Charming
.

Why don’t you quit and come riding with me.
Her words echoed in his head, and Evan flattened his hand beside the window.

Dani never got very far ahead of Evan’s window and the pilot probably didn’t see her, because he continued to accelerate. He watched her throttle hand twist down, and the nose of the bike shot into the air. She held that wheelie, one hand raised in the air, and Evan returned her wave.

Then the plane pulled forward, wheels leaving the tarmac, and the bike and flag disappeared from sight.

His heart in his throat, Evan gripped the arms of his chair, wondering if he’d made a huge mistake. Across from him, he saw Lucy watching him. Her seat was on the same side of the plane as his and, from the sympathy Evan saw in her eyes, she’d noticed the bike. She reached out and took Jeremiah’s hand, and the CEO, without looking, hugged her hand to his chest, staring out the opposite window. If he’d seen the motorcycle, he never acknowledged it.

“Hell of a goodbye you got there,” Griffin said from beside him, and Evan looked at the older man.

“Yeah,” he replied softly, and then turned back to the window. “Yeah, it was.”

––––––––

W
hen had the spacious board room at Hamilton Industries ever seemed so...confining?

The men seated around the table murmured, their low voices a low din inside the room, but Evan sat apart. He hadn’t been among them long enough to form any bonds with the men around him, and wasn’t interested in joining today.

The chair at the end of the table was empty, still awaiting the arrival of the CEO. Since their arrival back on the mainland, Jeremiah had kept himself secluded, saying he’d make his final decision soon. Then today he’d called a surprise meeting of the board members, including Evan, Griffin and Preston.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was coming.

All he could do was think about the post he’d read earlier on Facebook, the one that left sent him reeling. It had been two weeks since he’d left the island, said goodbye to the blonde woman who’d set his soul on fire, however briefly. He pulled it up again, scrolling through the messages to find hers.

“Fully funded and ready to go! World, here I come! And to Prince Charming, wherever you are now, that offer’s still open.

Evan set the phone onto the tabletop with a clatter that drew a few raised eyebrows, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, let alone think straight. He ran a hand across his face, breath suddenly tight in his throat. What was his problem? He missed her, wanted to see her again? Or was it more than that?

His father’s voice rang through his head, the same words he’d heard all his life:
Don’t screw this up.
Only that morning, the older man had repeated the phrase to his son, albeit in a less firm tone than normal. Whether or not he had information Evan didn’t was irrelevant; there had been pride in the man’s voice but no affirmation in his words. Even thinking about it made him tense more.

You can be whoever you want.

That sweet voice echoed through his mind like a balm. He closed his eyes, laying his head back on the chair. God, he could almost smell her, feel her against his skin. His cock twitched, and he drew in a shaky breath.

Why the hell was he here?

Because years had gone into this journey, countless hours of careful planning and strategy to get where he was at that moment. Every move he’d made had led Evan here, to this point. Even though Evan was sure he’d failed Jeremiah’s test on the island, even though Preston had monopolized the other man’s attention, Evan still had a chance. All the planning of practically the last decade had come to this.

But whose planning, whose dreams? Who the hell was he anymore, anyway? The boy who’d enjoyed living on the edge, riding bikes on his grandfather’s property and across unknown trails with a wild blonde woman? Or the businessman for whom the pursuit of money was everything?

Chairs scraped across the floor as the murmuring subsided, and Evan opened his eyes to see Jeremiah enter the room. Behind him was his lawyer David, as well as his assistant-slash-fiancé Lucy.

“I’ll get right down to it, gentleman,” the CEO started before even reaching his chair. “It’s no surprise that I am looking to hand off Hamilton Industries. The hardest part, for me at least,” he shared a look with his lawyer, “has been trying to decide to whom will I leave it.”

Why am I here?

A rushing in Evan’s ears drowned out the rest of the man’s words. He balled his fists, the nails digging into his palms.

“So, I’ve decided...”

“Mr. Hamilton!”

Jeremiah stopped mid-sentence and stared at Evan. The younger man hadn’t even realized he’d stood, but looked down as the other faces on the board turned to look at him. Expressions ranged from mild disdain to incredulity for interrupting the notoriously touchy Jeremiah.

Evan’s mouth worked silently for several seconds. His mind was blank; he had no idea what to say. Then, it was as though peace settled over him, and he breathed out the words.

“I quit. Respectfully sir, I...quit.”

Immediately, the table broke out into louder murmuring, but Evan didn’t care. With those simple words, he’d sealed his fate. It didn’t matter if he took them back, played this off as a joke. There was no way he could go back to where he was before, no way he’d be believed or trusted to quite the same degree again.

Then again, there was no way in
hell
he was going to take them back.

Shoving his seat back, Evan bypassed all the other men on his way to the door, jerking it open and stepping outside. Away from the stares of the other men, he felt a final weight fall from his shoulders. Nobody even noticed him out here; phones rang and people bustled through their busy lives, not taking notice of the lone man standing outside the board room door.