Rules of Entanglement (23 page)

Jackson led the way, making sure he held the brush aside for her as she trailed behind him or held her hand to steady her when they went over a slippery area. Little by little the sounds of rushing water grew louder. At last she caught sight of the light at the end of their foliage tunnel. Anticipation bubbled in her chest at what she would find. Maybe surprises weren’t so bad after all.

“Here we are,” he announced, taking her hand and leading her out into the clearing. “Welcome to Maris Falls.”

“Oh, Jackson!”

A clear pool of water surrounded on three sides by high cliffs dressed in lush greenery, and in the very center, a majestic waterfall draped itself over the edge, ending in a spectacular show of white spray and rainbows from the refracting light of the sun.

She turned to look at him. “This is your favorite place on the island.”

“Yeah. I come here to think, relax, contemplate existentialism. You know, the norm.”

She laughed and gazed back at the scene before her. “I’ve never seen anything so breathtakingly beautiful.”

“I have.”

At the husky sound of his voice, she found him staring at her, his meaning obvious in his heated gaze. Normally she’d throw out something saucy like, “Flattery will get you everywhere,” but suddenly her throat was dry and her wit seemed to have taken a hike up a different mountain.

“Um, so…” She cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Now what?”

“Now,” he said, shucking the heavy backpack from his shoulders and setting down the small cooler he’d carried, “we set up camp and go for a swim.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Give me the pack,” she said, holding out her hands. “I’m an excellent camp setter-upper.”

“You are, huh?”

“Yep. It was my minor in college. I’ll have us in the water in no time.”

“I have a better idea.” He dropped the pack behind him and stepped in front of her, grabbing her hips. Her hands gravitated to his pecs like magnets, the solid muscles fitting the curve of her palms as his full lips distracted her. “Why don’t you hop in the water and cool off. I’ll get stuff situated out here and join you in a minute.”

She bit the corner of her lip and glanced over at the cool, clear pool beckoning her, then back up at Jackson. “You sure?”

A huge smile split that glorious mouth right before he bestowed her with a searing kiss. “I’m sure.”

She couldn’t bring herself to argue any more. The humidity of the jungle they’d trudged through had definitely taken its toll on her during their hike. Sweat and grit covered her skin, and she felt truly disgusting. Allowing Jax to be so close to her while feeling so grimy shot way past her comfort level, but for some reason when it came to him, she found herself acting out of character a lot.

Vanessa wasted no time in stripping off her shorts, T-shirt, tennies, and socks until all that remained was her cerulean string bikini. It was her personal favorite. The suit was basically a collection of triangles: two that barely covered more than her nipples, leaving cleavage and side swells exposed, and two skimpy inverted ones to form the bottoms, which were joined only by strings tied in bows on her hips and showed plenty of ass. It left pretty much
nada
to the imagination.

“What in God’s name is that?”

“What is
what
?” Fearing he saw some sort of dangerous jungle animal, her heart leapt into her throat as she spun to see what he’d found. But he was staring at her. Air whooshed out of her lungs, and she took a few steadying breaths. “Don’t
do
that! You scared the crap out of me.”

“That is
not
a swimsuit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it is.”

“No,” he said, his gaze trapped between her shoulders and her thighs. “That’s a torture device. Do you wear that thing in public?”

She actually didn’t. It was reserved for pool parties with her friends or sunbathing on her balcony. “Why, Jackson?” Sauntering over to him, she ran a finger down the center of his chest and looked up through her eyelashes. “Would it make you jealous if other men saw me wearing it?”

“Try murderous,” he said through clenched teeth. “You’re damn near naked.”

She gave him a wicked grin and filed that information away for future reference. “Well, if seeing me in this barely anything bikini is actually torturing you…” She brought her hands up to the strings hanging at her hips, ready to release the bows. “I should probably just get rid of it.”

…

Jackson grabbed her wrists, holding them captive. “Don’t even think about it, V. It’s rare I see anyone up here, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. And no one but me gets to look at what’s mine.”

Shit. Way to give her your back, Maris.
He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. Putting any kind of claim on Vanessa would spook her. He might as well have just pushed her away with his hands. Today was supposed to be his day to show her how he felt about her—that he wanted more than just the three days he’d agreed to. But if he couldn’t keep his inner Neanderthal locked down, he wouldn’t have much of a chance.

She canted her head slightly and studied him. He could almost see her wheels spinning, but which way took her remained to be seen. At last she smiled and said, “Since you put it that way…”

Rising up on tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his. Just when he planned to take it to the next level and to hell with setting anything up, she pulled back, gave him a brilliant smile, and walked away with a little extra swing in her hips. When she reached the edge of the water, she tossed him a look over her shoulder just before diving into the clear, cool water.

Why hadn’t she closed down or reminded him he only had claim on her for another few hours?Was it possible she felt something more for him than just someone to fool around with on vacation? She broke the surface several yards away, laughing and treading water.

“Now
this
is heaven,” she said, turning around to study the surrounding area, then diving back under.

“Pretty damn close,” he said to himself. The only thing that would clinch it in his eyes was if Vanessa wanted to be with him. For good. He’d never felt a fraction for any woman like he did for her. They completed each other with a perfect balance of give and take.

She needed control in her daily life. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t stop until she got it. It was damn refreshing to be with someone who preferred to make the plans instead of waiting to be told an agenda. She also thrived on being the center of attention, and he was more than happy to sit back and watch her command a crowd.

Jackson had tried shedding his natural tendencies to take charge of things when he moved to the islands. After playing parent to his sister for five years, he longed for a life where someone else took the lead for a change. Except every time he tried the relationship thing, the women looked to him for everything from positions in the bedroom to what they should have for lunch. The former he didn’t mind. The latter drove him fucking crazy.

Jilli had once told Jax that on a subconscious level, he purposely chose more submissive women, despite wanting the opposite. That way he never had to worry about a long-term commitment because deep down he knew they weren’t compatible. At the time, he’d called “bullshit” on her female relationship psychobabble. But now he realized just how right she was.

The truth of the matter was, he
had
been afraid of finding someone he could get serious about. He’d grown rather fond of not having responsibility for anyone other than himself. And regardless of how strong either person was, when it came to relationships, they were a shared responsibility for the other person. As much as he’d loved his sister, for the years he’d taken care of her, he’d felt trapped. He never let her know that, of course. But with the sudden deaths of their parents, finding out he’d been adopted, and then putting his life on hold for half a decade to raise Lucie… Well, it’d been hard not to feel a little overwhelmed.

So yeah. Once he settled in Oahu, the last thing he’d wanted to do was chain himself to another human being, no matter the reason. He’d been perfectly content with his three-month average for keeping the occasional girlfriend and the friends-with-benefits situations he’d enjoyed while they lasted.

Which was why it was a total fluke that he and Vanessa were together in any sort of intimate capacity. Hell, under normal circumstances, even though his dominant demeanor might not have chased her off, her rules would’ve had her running in the opposite direction for sure.

But here they were. Like two halves of a puzzle that filled in the other’s empty spaces, making them whole for the first time. Jax knew in his soul there would never be another woman who completed him so perfectly.

And now that he’d found her, there stood a damn good chance he’d lose her. And he’d have no one to blame but himself.

It wouldn’t matter that things between them had worked out. That they’d had an amazing five days so far and, if his suspicions were right, that they both wanted more time with each other. She’d made her rules to protect herself from ending up with someone who could hurt her in any way like her parents did, and that included someone who lied. Vanessa wouldn’t see only the lies he told that first time. She’d see every minute they spent together as a deception. Everything he’d said to her. Everything he’d done to her. Everything he’d made her feel.

Jax knew he had one shot at this. He needed to show her just how much she meant to him—show her how much
he
meant to
her
—and hope like hell it would be enough.

It only took him a few minutes to spread out the blanket and check that all the snacks he’d brought with them hadn’t been jostled open and were still safe in their containers. He planned on cooking her dinner later at his place, but until then, he’d brought fun finger foods to keep their energy up. Because one thing was for certain: he planned on burning through a whole lot of their energy.

Jax shucked everything but his shorts in record time. To say he was anxious to play in his favorite swimming hole with Vanessa was a gross understatement. Turning around, he found her relaxing on a large, flat boulder on the other side of the natural pool. Propped up on her elbows, one leg bent, head hanging back, and a cascade of dark red hair spilling onto the rock below like the waterfall not far away. She looked like a water nymph, sunning herself and tempting men with the strongest resolves to fall under her spell. And he was no exception.

But just as he was about to get in, she said something that had him stopping with one foot hovering over the rippling water.

Without opening her eyes or breaking from her cover-shoot pose, she yelled to him to be heard over the splashes of the waterfall. “You’re taking forever over there. I didn’t realize you had to actually
make
the blanket before setting it out.”

Oh, really.
Her smack talking put a big-ass grin on his face and brought out his playful side.

“Be right in!”

Jogging around the edge of the pool to the path he knew well enough to navigate blind, he climbed up the rock formation to the top of the falls. Once he stood firmly on the large rock that jutted above the flow of the fast-moving water, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out for the attention of the bathing beauty some thirty feet below.

When she caught sight of him, she scrambled to her feet and yelled something that sounded an awful lot like a dig on his intelligence.

Pretending he hadn’t jumped from this very spot hundreds of times before was probably cruel, but the mischievous teen inside him couldn’t resist a little prank. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be fine! It doesn’t look too bad!”

Without another word he leapt far away from the rock wall’s edge and reveled in the sensation of free falling alongside the rushing water. Feet first, he plunged into the cool depths, feeling instantly revitalized as he sank to the bottom and then pushed up to break the surface.

“Are you out of your mind? You could’ve slipped and cracked your skull open.”

He looked over to see a livid water nymph kneeling and gripping the edge of her rock, glaring at him for all she was worth.

“What’s the matter, Red?” he asked as he swam over to her. “Afraid you’d lose me over a little cliff jump?”

“Of course not. I was worried about finding my way back down the mountain by myself after you bled out like an idiot.”

Damn, he loved that smart mouth of hers. Laughing, he yanked her into the water with him. She squealed in surprise and tried wresting herself from his hold, but he refused to yield. Soon she was laughing with him, and they spent a good half hour splashing and dunking each other in a back and forth game of cat and mouse.

Breathing heavily from their play, they hoisted themselves onto the rock platform she’d been sunning on earlier. Their legs dangled in the water as they leaned back on their hands. She exhaled heavily and stared out at the scenery before them. “This place is magical, Jackson.” She turned to look at him. “Thank you for bringing me. For sharing this part of your life with me.”

Her words had his gut clenching and his heart swelling. He wanted to share so much more with her if she’d let him. And he planned on telling her. But not now. Now he just wanted to lose himself in her smell, her taste, her body. Her.

Leaning over, he kissed her, slow and gentle, savoring the eager response she gave him. He wondered if she had any idea how easily she unraveled him.

He pulled back. “Ever stand under a waterfall?” She shook her head. “Come on.”

Jax guided her over to the right of the main falls where water still fell down the rock wall, but without the amount and force it had in the center. It also had a decent ledge to stand on, being closer to the shoreline. Holding her hand to keep her steady, he helped her until she had secure footing.

A wide smile broke over her face as she lifted her arms in the air to cut through the thin curtain of water spilling behind her. Jax was spellbound, watching her tip her head back and laugh with the sheer joy of experiencing one of Mother Nature’s wonders.