Romance in Dallas - Tycoon! (12 page)

But, with him asking about Ralph earlier, and
with the memories, all bad, flooding her, she just stood silently.
Taking down her hair, shaking it out, she approached him with the
ring. "I really cannot accept this, Ram." She placed it in his
hand.

And with that, she walked into the second
bedroom.

In seconds, he was behind her, pulling her
back against him. He looked down at her, his eyes hard and his body
stiff. "Say it," he said tersely. "I know you're in love with me,
damn you anyway. Why can't you tell me?"

She'd never heard that tone from him before.
Jerking away from him, Jace said, "You didn't tell me about the
other women in your life. I thought I was the first since your
wife."

He looked at her incredulously. "You are. Who
said differently?"

But she was silent.

He crossed his arms. "We could stay here all
night like this, darlin.' You really need to tell me."

The electricity between them crackled in the
air, before she said, "I need to get to bed. I have a patient to
attend to early in the morning."

He sighed then and ran a hand through his
hair. "That would be me, I assume."

She nodded.

"All right," he said slowly, as he turned to
leave, "I have to go somewhere now for a few minutes. Will you be
all right?"

"I've been all right now for years," she told
him softly.

Victoria and Marley were finishing what she
thought was a very boring lovemaking session, and she'd just
completed washing up when Ram called her.

Looking with astonishment at the name on her
phone, she quickly composed herself. "Yes, Ram?" she said in her
best sexy, low tone.

"Meet me. Downstairs. In the Le Fleur coffee
shop."

Not wanting to seem too available, she said,
"I was just getting ready for bed, Ram." But, she hastily added,
"What time did you want to meet?"

"Right now."

"Sure, let me just get dressed."

"Make it fast." And, he hung up in her
ear.

She was thrilled beyond mention at the tone
in his voice, hard, commanding, one she'd never heard before. "You
will go back to your room now," she told Marley. She always liked
to cover all her bases. What if Ramsey wanted to come back here?
she thought.

"So," he said, slowly dressing, "the big man
finally called you. Let me know if it's worth the wait, will you
dear?" he said sarcastically.

"Oh, do shut up. What to wear, my God, this
is so sudden."

Marley let himself out, and she decided a
mini dress might show off her legs, and she just made the
assumption he was a leg man, since her new breasts hadn't seemed to
impress him too much.

She was delighted to see he was already at a
back table in the café as she arrived.

"Ram," she said warmly, as he stood stiffly,
and gestured to a chair opposite him. "What can I do for you?"

His turquoise eyes settled on hers with a
hard look she didn't even realize he was capable of. "What's going
on, Victoria?" he asked.

She grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny,
and shifted in her seat. "I don't know what you mean, Ram
darling."

"You know what I'm talking about. My
companion. What exactly did you tell her? I saw y'all go into the
ladies room after she did."

"Why I don't know what you're talking about.
For heaven's sake, explain yourself, Ram."

A muscle in his jaw twitched, as he said in a
low tone, "Don't go near her again." He paused, while his eyes
pierced hers. "If you persist in this rumor mongering, I will
blackball you from every function you can even think of.
Understand?"

Her hand came up to her throat, then came
back down on his fist which rested on the table. "I would never do
anything to hurt you, Ramsey. How can you think such a thing?"

He smiled tightly. "Very easily. Take your
hands off me, and pay attention to my words." Then, he rose to
leave, "I mean what I say, Victoria."

Ram arrived back at the penthouse a few
minutes later. He walked immediately to the second bedroom, where
Jace stood, still dressed in her gold outfit, staring out the
window.

Without saying anything, he approached her
and took her gently by the arm, turning her towards him. Jace
looked as if she'd been crying, and his brows furrowed.

"What is it?" he said softly. "Tell me."

But she was silent, just staring at him with
accusing eyes.

He gathered her in his arms, while she
hesitantly put her arms around his neck.

He drew her close, then closer, as his arms
caressed her backside before lifting the dress. And he groaned as
he realized that all night she'd worn no underwear at all.

"Jace," he whispered, "I love you so, talk to
me. Tell me what you like and tell me about your past. Tell me
everything."

But Jace just couldn't seem to open up to
him, her guard was up, and she wasn't able to talk with him. Not
about any of it.

His hands roved her skin, smoothing,
caressing, while her breath left her at the sensations he created.
He lifted her leg and his fingers found her readiness, delved
inside then out, while she gasped with pleasure.

And she realized just how fickle her body
was, it betrayed the barriers in her mind, while he kissed her lips
hard, and nuzzled her neck. "Ram," she began, but the look he gave
her was dynamic, with his eyes a deep shade of turquoise now.

He slowly let her leg down, and his hands
smoothed her dress. "I'll let you sleep," he whispered, as he
stepped back. Then, in a firmer voice said, "We're going on the
yacht tomorrow. Just you and me. Be ready at six o'clock sharp.
Leave your cell phone and laptop here."

"But," she protested weakly, "what should I
bring? The table? And clothes?"

At the doorway, he said, "Leave the table
here. Clothes are optional." With that, he strolled out the door
towards the other bedroom.

True to his word, Ram knocked at her bedroom
door at five forty-five the next morning.

Bleary eyed, she threw the last of her
clothes into a small suitcase, and joined him in the outer room.
He'd set up coffee from room service, and she gratefully accepted a
hot cup of the brew.

"You ready?" he asked after a few
minutes.

"Yes." She never liked to talk in the
morning, it seemed to sap all her energy.

They arrived at the large dock area half hour
later, and she gasped as she saw the size of his yacht named
'Suzy-Q' probably, she thought, named after his wife. It had a
spacious deck area with padded lounging chairs.

"Look around if you like," he finally said,
as he took their suitcases from a deckhand on the dock.

Fascinated by the huge yacht, she saw a
Jacuzzi by the outside sunning area, and when she went inside the
large living room, she saw long, circular couches, built in tables,
a dining area with a glass table and eight chairs, then a circular
staircase below the bar area. Heading up, she saw the master
bedroom had not only a king bed, but built-in cabinets and also a
circular sofa. There were six other bedrooms, some with queen beds.
All sported unusual artwork on the walls, and she stopped to study
the paintings. They were modernistic in design, and she found
herself drawn into the core of them, noting the flair and
movement.

She heard Ram come up behind her. "Susan was
very talented," he said softly. "Well," he said, a bit louder, "are
you ready then?"

Turning to face him, she said, "Where are we
going?"

"I don't know yet," he said, "why? Do you
have a port in mind?"

She found herself blushing for some
unexplained reason, as he continued to stare at her.

"Do you have a coffee maker?" she asked
finally.

He laughed. "Yes. I've already started it.
Would I forget the coffee?"

As they rode along, Jace listened to the
swoosh of the waves against the heavy bow, and smelled the clean,
salt air. She found herself growing drowsy from the sun, and woke
to the sound of engines roaring, then backing quickly.

Looking around, she saw they were now in a
good sized cove, but no dock was apparent, as well as the shore
being empty and devoid of people.

She heard a thump, before Ram came down the
stairs from the upper captain deck.

"Where are we?" she asked him, shielding her
eyes from the sun.

"I'd tell you the latitude and longitude, but
just briefly I'd say we're out in the middle of nowhere."

Her eyes roamed over him, realized he wore a
t-shirt and jeans, before he quickly stripped both off and plunged
into the crystal clear light blue water.

Bounding to her feet, she watched him swim to
shore. "What are you doing?" she yelled after him.

He grinned back at her, and gestured for her
to swim to him. There was only one problem, she thought with
dismay. "I can't swim, Ram," she said to no one in particular.

After pacing the deck for a few minutes, she
spotted a life jacket. "If I can use this," she said out loud, "I
can manage to get over there."

Changing quickly to her bathing suit, she
searched for and finally found a ladder leading down to the
water.

"Well," she stated, "I can do this. I just
need to hold onto this jacket thing…" Her voice faded off and her
resolve started to crumble, as she perused the distance between the
yacht and the shoreline.

But she finally climbed down, grabbed the
jacket, and let herself slowly into the water. It was warm, she
thought gratefully, as she began paddling towards him.

Something happened, as she was half-way to
him, some water in her mouth or throat, and she choked, before she
went partially underwater. She panicked with her legs and arms
flailing frantically while she lost hold of the life jacket.

Ram saw her start to go under, and he quickly
ran and dove into the water. Soon, he arrived at the spot he last
saw her. But, she was nowhere to be seen. He dove to search, and
finally saw her halfway to the bottom, her hair flowing out from
her body like gossamer, bubbles floating from her mouth.

He reached her and grabbed her arm, pulling
her to the surface. She sputtered, and tried to fight him.

"Jace!" he yelled. "Stop, Jace!"

Her head whirled around and her arms still
thrashed. But after he held her at the surface a while, she seemed
to calm.

"What happened?" he asked, still holding her
up.

"Can't swim," she gasped.

"Jesus H, why didn't you tell me?" he said,
as he pulled her towards the yacht.

She had just enough strength to climb the
ladder slowly, before she collapsed on the deck.

Ram grabbed some deck towels and mopped at
her face and body. "You should have said something," he
admonished.

"You never gave me a chance," she said
weakly, as she finally was able to sit up.

"Here," he said, "sit on a chair."

And, that's where she stayed for the next
hour, without moving.

He finally sat next to her on the lounge
chair. "Would you like to lie down for a while? As I said, clothing
is optional. We're all by ourselves here, you know."

He watched her face, and noticed the subtle
change. "Come with me," he urged, as he took her hand.

Leading her up to the master bedroom, he
said, "Sit. I'll brush your hair." He'd rinsed it for her earlier,
along with her body, to get the salt water off, and now he pulled
out a brush.

Softly, he brushed it all to the ends, as she
tipped her head back. "Now," he said softly, "lie down. Rest." But
as she lay on the bed, he just couldn't bring himself to leave her.
Grabbing her from the back, nuzzling her neck briefly, he fell
asleep along with Jace.

It was dusk when he woke, with his arm thrown
casually across her waist, and he groaned and pulled her tightly
against him, against his hardness.

Jace responded to him, as her hand roved
along his thigh.

They both shucked off their bathing suits,
and stood on opposite sides of the large bed, watching each
other.

"God, you are so beautiful," he said gently,
as he lay back on the bed with his arms open for her.

"We're alone," she said sleepily, "all
alone?"

"Yes, sweet pea. We're all alone."

Lips against his now, she said, "And you'll
make love to me?"

He crushed her with a kiss, hard, harder
still, while his tongue delved in and out of her mouth, ran across
her lips, before he kissed his way to her neck.

She moaned as he drew her breast to his lips,
sucked on the nipple gently, slowly taking one breast then the
other.

His lips moved down her stomach, then to the
brief downy patch of hair between her legs.

Gasping now, she held his head gently, while
his tongue roamed in and out of her, on her bud, then flicking the
bud while his fingers rolled in and out of her wetness.

Not used to the heady sensation, she moaned
then cried out as he brought her quickly to her climax.

"Damn," he whispered, "I can't wait," and he
pulled himself inside her, thrusting gently, then harder, as she
cried out more and more, louder and louder.

But, he pulled out then and looked down at
her. "You want me, sugar pie?"

"Yes," she gasped, "please, now."

"You're sure?" he teased, still looking down.
Quickly, he rolled her over to be on top of him, but purposefully
avoiding pulling himself into her again.

She grabbed for him, but he rolled her on her
side. "Let's make it last," he said, grinning.

Her breathing was ragged now, as she said
"Hell with that. Now."

Bringing her leg around him, he entered her
quickly, while she gasped. They moved together in rhythm, as she
tensed, caressed his arm and his back, while the sensation made her
see stars, as she screamed loudly with the feel of it.