Whose Bride Is She Anyway (22 page)

His cock, ramrod stiff and flush with heat lay at the tight opening of her pussy. “Can we talk now?” She teased him, lifting her hips to encourage his cock’s entrance.

With a shift of his hips, he plunged into her and let out a growl of satisfaction as her muscles clenched him. “Woman, I tried to talk to you, but you wouldn’t listen, you just can’t keep your hands off me.”

Raising her hips, she jerked beneath him, buried her head in his neck and giggled “Whaddaya say we talk later, fuck
now
?”

He stroked her slowly, gliding easily from the wet, tight ent rance, only to plunge into her once more. There would never be enough of this woman for him. August would never tire of lying between her legs, feeling her smooth skin beneath his as she whispered his name in his ear. His heart clenched tightly in his chest when her breath quickened and his cock began to pulse with heat.

She thrashed beneath him, straining against him, dropping her heels to the bed and rising up on her elbows. He felt her body tighten as her head fell back. He kissed the smooth hollow of her neck, pumping into her, rocking against her hard as she came, yelping his name.

August let go as hot, thick spurts of come coursed through his cock. Tara collapsed back on the bed and closed her eyes.

Kissing each of her eyelids, he stayed inside her, savoring the tight canal.

“Oh, Mr. Guthrie, it would seem what you lack in conversational skills, you more than make up for orally.”

He nipped her nose, “I tried, you wouldn’t let me … you kept doing that thing with your lips and tongue, ya know?” He pretended indignation.

Tara laughed and snuggled under him. “Well, now you know how I feel. You completely ignore me when I try to talk to you, then distract me with this…” She tugged the base of his cock, “this weapon of love. How can a girl think when you’re waving this thing around?”

“So, it’s true. You’re just using me and then you’ll discard me when you’re through with me. I
am
a boy-toy. ” He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. There’d been a time when that would have been just fine and dandy, but Tara was different. He didn’t mind the boy-toy part, so long as the long term part came with it.

“The best damn one I’ve ever had too. Besides, if I recall, you said you wouldn’t mind being my sex toy. ” She grinned up at him.

“Okay, wench, listen up. From now on, we are going to engage in conversation for at least a half an hour before we get anywhere near each other. Otherwise, you can’t keep your hands off me and then I’ll end up feeling used and abused. Cheap maybe.” He was joking away his concerns, but he was in for a fall if Tara really was just using him and that was territory he didn’t want to venture into.

Running her hands over his back, she kneaded his flesh. “I can’t keep my hands off you? Hah! Who’s the one who can’t get through a meal without pulling my clothes off? I figured I’d fight fire with fire.”

Well yeah, that was true. August felt a bit better. She was using his own weapon against him and loving it. “Point taken. I promise to let you eat first, then rip your clothes off.”

“Well all right then. So how is Vinny feeling about winning another date with Kelsey? I heard she’s sick again, or something equally as gross as that rash. ”

Rolling off her, August went to the bathroom to clean up. “Yeah, she’s got the runs or something. One of the guys said he could hear her yelping all the way over by the pool. ”

“She’s been having a lot of trouble here. It’s been one thing after the other.”

He slid back between the sheets and hauled her next to him. “Yep, but it saved me from another possible date with her.”

“We’re getting closer to the end of the competition. What’s going to happen if you end up one of the last two standing? The way the jury’s going, I’d say you’re a shoo-in.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that. Here’s my plan. If I’m not voted out before the last man standing round and
if
Kelsey chooses me, I’m going to have no choice but to go on camera and tell Kelsey ‘no can do’. Finishing the competition is in my contract. I’d leave if I could, believe me. I don’t know what that will mean in the aftermath. It’s not exactly lying if I tell the press that I don’t really want Kelsey, because I don’t. I just can’t tell them I want
you
instead. The contract doesn’t have a “I don’t want to play anymore’ clause. It’s nobody’s fault but the show’s if I won’t marry her. It’s not like I can get out of this even though I want to. However, I think that may cause controversy anyway because no one has ever turned down the million bucks. I didn’t stay for the free trip and I don’t care about the money. I can’t help my competitive streak, winning the dates was just the Neanderthal in me screaming to prove I’m a bad-ass. It’s stupid and macho, but that’s the truth. Plus, my roundabout way of cheating meant I could stay here with
you
.” August tilted her chin up with a finger. “Do you get what I’m saying? ”

Tara nodded and smiled at him, returning his gaze.

“I might be voted out between now and then and that’s fine by me. There’s one more date competition. That’s when the jury has to vote out man number three, and then Kelsey chooses between the two contestants left, correct?” He hoped he would be voted out. It would save a lot of unwanted attention from the press.

Tara nodded again. Now was the time to show her he was as serious as ever about pursuing this thing between them,
after
they got off the island. “Then I’m going to forfeit a date or trip and fall flat on my ass in the next date competition.
Whatever
it takes to be voted out before the Last Man Standing round. This way you won’t have to be dishonest about
not
voting for me and the jury
can’t
vote for me if I really screw up a competition for a date
and
I won’t end up in the final two no matter what happens.” There it was. August wanted her to know that he meant business and when he decided to cheat in order to stay in the game, it was all about not wanting to leave
her.
He didn’t give a shit about the million bucks that was up for grabs and he wasn’t going to marry Kelsey, no matter what. Now he had to do the “L” thing… Telling Tara he loved her was on the tip of his tongue, but it was stuck like it always was when something important needed to be said.

“August, the jury could still vote for you anyway and you’ll have to leave if you fudge a competition and the jury gets smart enough to realize you’re not the man for Kelsey. I know it’s only for a few days, but I don’t think I like that,” she groaned, straddling his thigh.

Tightening his arms around her, he hoped that meant she wanted this thing between them too. “Will you miss your boy-toy if I get ditched?”

Laughing Tara smiled up at him. “Well, duh? Who’s going to keep me warm at night?”

“Damn well better not be anyone in here keeping you anything at night, while I’m gone.”

“You’re pretty territorial aren’t you? ”

“Yep.”

“What are you going to do to screw up the chance to win a date?”

“I have no clue what the competition for the date will be tomorrow, but I’ll focus on losing at all costs. I promise. That will leave only three days before the show is over. How about I meet you back at the mainland, can you take the extra time off?”

Tracing his nipple, she asked, “If I do take more time off, what will you do with me back on the mainland?”

Sliding down her body, August suckled her nipples in slow easy strokes, running his hands over her back and legs as he nibbled. “What do you think?”

Bracing her hands on his shoulders, Tara giggled, that sweet laugh that made his insides turn over and his cock thicken again. “August, “she moaned as she filled his mouth with her breast, “I think I’m the toy here. Will you feed me on the mainland
before
the activities?”

He pressed his hands between her thighs, running one underneath her and over her ass, as the other fondled the swell of her pussy. “If I promise to feed you, will you promise to shut up for now?”

“A meal or no deal, August Guthrie,” she bargained.

Latching himself once more to her clit, August sighed as he nuzzled it. Her scent made him wild, made his cock burn with need all over again. “I promise to feed you…” he said between long strokes of his tongue.

“Then I think I can shut up now… Oh, August…” She shivered against him. He smiled at the familiar call of his name on her lips. It wasn’t going to be easy to leave her for three days, but he would do it if it meant in the end she’d be with him.

He immersed himself in the taste and texture of her body, forgetting everything else but the call of his cock.

Dead Man Walking

T
ara stared aghast, as did everyone else on the jury while August pretended not to know how to put the oversized puzzle pieces together. Aaron and Vinny ran around the big square, slapping puzzle pieces together while August yawned and feigned confusion.

“What’s the matter with August?” Diana asked. “He’s usually like a house on fire and today he can’t even put a simple puzzle together?”

Andy frowned. “I don’t get it either. He’s pretty smart. He won that trivia contest hands down and now he’s standing around acting like he can’t put one foot in front of the other.”

Oh God, he was really flubbing this. It was a little too obvious that he was faking this competition for a date. The jury knew how smart he was, for crap’s sake and they weren’t going to fall for him not getting something as simple as putting together a puzzle. Tara sent August as many signals as she could to get his ass in gear, but he was ignoring them. “Maybe he’s just tired. I think this whole ordeal is getting to everyone.” Tara hoped that would help cover his sad attempts at losing, cuz he was pretty unconvincing as far as she was concerned.

“Yeah, he does look tired and who wouldn’t be after all this emotional upheaval, ” Diana offered.

Ms. Mary yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes. “Can’t say as I blame the guy. These late nights are killing this old woman. ”

Tara heaved a sigh of relief. August continued to gaze with a blank stare at the puzzle when Aaron began jumping up and down.

Ah, a winner…

The jury clapped dutifully as Aaron was proclaimed the winner and the jury was sent off to do the final voting. Tara shot one last glimpse at August, his big body tan and glistening in the hot sun. Her heart did its typical nosedive as he lifted the corner of his mouth in a sort of smile at her. Tara had to believe he’d done this for her. Now she could only hope the jury would vote him out and they’d see one another on the mainland in a couple of days.

Tara shivered. Then, she had some ‘splaining to do…

* * *

“So August is out, guys? I mean, he was one of the stiffest contenders.” Tara kept her voice light and breezy, but was a mess of nerves on the inside.

Walter nodded his agreement. “Look at how he behaved today. He’s been tired before, Tara, and it sure as hell didn’t stop him from beating the pants off of everyone before. I’m reading it as a sign. ”

Diana cocked her head. “A what?”

Andy jumped in with his two cents. “I think what Walter means is this is August’s way of telling us he’s fried. It’s subtle and hard to pick out, but I’d like to think I know my species well enough to know when a guy wants out.”

Tara rolled her eyes. Thank God for Andy and his species observations.

The jury, after much deliberation decided August couldn’t possibly want Kelsey as much as he seemed to if being tired was his only excuse for screwing up the puzzle. He’d excelled in everything else, fought like a champ and now he was appearing disinterested to them. It was a good thing no one seemed to think that was odd. They talked about it and decided if you had to vote on intent alone, then Aaron and Vinny were the most consistent winners thus far. They went over all of the video tapes from the Impressions Sessions too and while August competed well physically, mentally the jury decided he wasn’t very good at expressing himself and that’s what would make the best overall mate for Kelsey.

Tara almost snorted when Walter brought that up. If Walter only knew
how
August expressed himself to
her
…

Tara scooped up the voting box and placed it in the voting room, returning to give her final edict for the jury. “Okay guys, you know what to do. Fill out your votes and I’ll tally them up.”

As Tara took her turn and wrote out her vote she didn’t feel a single scrap of guilt when she chose Aaron instead of August as one of the final two. Poor Aaron, he had no idea what he was getting into, but, it didn’t matter who she chose. Tonight August would be eliminated entirely by the looks of the final votes and he would leave the island.

She’d held her breath and for the most part, her tongue, while the jury did exactly what she wanted them to do without even breaking a sweat.

August just might have managed to do it, Tara thought. He’d probably be voted out. Tara returned to the jury room where everyone was chatting softly.

Mary sighed long and loud. “Damn, I feel sorry for August. I hope what Andy says is true about him wanting out.”

Tara bit her lip. So did she. “It’s been a long road, huh, Ms. Mary? You look worn out.”

“Yep. I am, dear. It’s been fun and a nice break from real life, but I’m ready to call it a day. ”

Tara hugged Mary’s shoulders. “Me too.”

Soon she and August would be free to pursue a relationship away from the show. Aaron was nice enough, maybe he and Kelsey really would fall in love. Tara almost knew that was wishful thinking. Kelsey probably couldn’t love anyone but herself. But maybe if the right man came along that would change. Aaron was gentle and kind and unassuming.

God love him. If he only knew what he was competing for.

At least Kelsey wouldn’t have August.

“Only three more days,” Gianni commented. “And then it’s back to the land of the living. I gotta tell you, I’m almost glad to have to go back to work. I have to think less there.”

Andy chuckled. “I know what you mean. This easy living isn’t so easy after awhile.”

Three days… Tara’s heart throbbed painfully in her chest at the thought of August leaving the island. It was only three days, but already she was too far gone to even consider it. It was for the best. They only had three more nights until the end of the competition and the promise of something more to come when this stupid show was over.

Smiling to herself, she let the warm fuzzies have their moment. Tara Douglas was falling in love and she knew it.

“What are you smiling about, Tara? Diana asked.

Tara tilted her head. “I was just thinking that I wish I could take all of you back to Colorado with me. I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of you. ”

Mary chucked her under the chin. “You’re a nice girl, Tara Douglas. If my son weren’t already married, I just know he could fall in love with you. ”

Love… Did August feel the same way? They’d only known one another for a little over three weeks. Maybe she was just a fling and he wouldn’t stick around on the mainland to wait for her.

That would suck royally.

Tara fingered the note in her pocket that he’d left for her this morning.
Let’s continue this conversation on the Mainland… See you in three days, August.
Surely he wouldn’t make promises he didn’t intend to keep. What would be the point of leaving her a note, if he was just going to boink her and go back home?

“It’s funny,” Diana said. “My reasons for coming here were to get a free vacation. Now I just want to go home so I can not have to think about picking a husband for someone. It’s such an important decision to leave in the hands of virtual strangers.”

A free vacation … if only that was why Tara had come in the first place.

She had to tell August
why
she’d come to the show. If she wasn’t honest, completely honest, then there was no point to this. He would find out sooner or later anyway. When they got back home, he’d look her up in the yearbook and then he’d know who the infamous Tara Douglas from the class of nineteen-ninety-two was. Someone from school would have eventually cackled about it even if he had graduated early.

Well, Tara reasoned with herself, she didn’t have to tell him but, she
had
to tell him. She didn’t go through with her diabolical plan anyway, so it didn’t make a difference.

But it’s the thought that counts…

Yeah, yeah, she knew that. Nonetheless, she had to tell August, there just wasn’t any putting it off anymore. If he thought she was a flaming bitch because she could be so devious and hold a grudge for so long, then so be it. She was human and like him, she’d wanted to show Kelsey a thing or two about the new Tara. It was wrong, she could admit that. Now she was just going to hope that this thing she and August had would turn into something more than just the screwing of the millennium and he’d understand her motivation for wanting Kelsey to suffer. Though, the screwing gig had its merits… No one affected her quite the way he did, she felt not a single inhibition with him and that had to mean something, because it wasn’t the case with the few men she’d encountered. Sexually this was the most freeing experience of her life and now she wanted more than just the sex. Her heart told her it was right to pursue this, to take this path and find out where it led as long as she was truthful with August from here on out.

Tara wanted the whole shebang.

“Okay guys, we all done?”

They jury each nodded their tired heads and Tara sighed. This was it.

As she headed back to the voting room to tally the votes she felt a measure of relief. Turning back to the voting box, she sealed it and handed it over to one of the staff. Soon this would all be over and she could go back to her life, hopefully that would include the very sexy, insatiable, wickedly hot, August Guthrie.

* * *

What the hell?

August groaned as he watched Aaron pack.
Oh, this sucked big-time
.

“Dude, I wish you luck, cuz if anyone deserves Kelsey, it’s you. You competed like a real pro. I know you were just tired today, otherwise my ass would have been toast.” Aaron jammed his hand under August’s nose; August shook it and slapped him on the back.

“Man, I’m really sorry. I hope everything is okay back home.” Aaron’s brother had been in a serious surfing accident. A freak occurrence was the word around the island that came down just after the jury picked Aaron for the last man standing round.

“I just can’t believe he was so stupid, ya know? He knows better than to surf without a buddy. The doctors say he’s pretty shaky right now. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him, ya know? I just want to go home and see him in case—well, in—case…” Aaron threw his duffle bag over his shoulder and headed toward the door, unable to finish the thought.

August nodded his understanding. “Good luck, Aaron. Keep in touch. ” As the door closed behind him, August ran a hand over his face. Damn, poor Aaron. August sat silently, holding a good thought for Aaron’s brother.

Now what the fuck was he going to do? Aaron’s leaving meant that he and Vinny were the last men standing. He’d gotten just what he didn’t want.

A
win
by
default.

Shit, how could he even think such a thing when Aaron’s brother might be dying? It didn’t change anything anyway.

This meant Vinny won the kewpie doll … cuz August didn’t want it.

August ran over the contract in his mind and cringed. He had no choice but to stick this out because the contract clearly stated if someone was to default by injury or unfair play, the next man in the running won the coveted second spot and must complete the competition. Aaron’s brother’s accident was enough to allow him to leave the island, but it also locked August into staying.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

August ran a hand over his chin. It changed nothing; he was still saying no to Kelsey. It just meant he couldn’t slink off unnoticed. Now he’d have to publicly tell Kelsey he wasn’t marrying her if she chose him. No big deal. Well, except he really hated the public thing. It would be a much easier transition if he and Tara could just fade to black. Now if Kelsey chose him as her groom, he’d have some explaining to do to the press—who’d want to know why he’d ditched a million bucks for the first time in the show’s history. Maybe Kelsey would pick Vinny. Lord,
please
let her pick Vinny. He didn’t care anymore what the press might do to him. Aaron’s brother’s life hung precariously in the balance and that was more important than the controversy the press would create when August told her no. So August would do what he had to. He wasn’t marrying Kelsey, but he’d fight off the press and hope Aaron’s brother was okay.

He exhaled slowly and grabbed the handle of the door. A beefy hand caught him by the shoulder as he was leaving the room. “August, could we talk for a minute?”

“Yeah, Vin, what’s up?”

Vinny led him back into the room, pulled out two chairs and motioned for August to sit down.

His head hung low as he folded his arms over his knees. “Stinks about Aaron’s brother.”

“Yeah, it does stink. I feel pretty shitty for the kid.”

Vinny agreed, “Me too. I heard you have to stay now. Look, I gotta talk to you about that. Man to man and all. ”

Well, for crap’s sake, now what?
“Yeah, Kelsey and I, we’re just not right for each other and I was kinda glad when the jury voted me out. Shoot, Vin, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“With Aaron gone, well, this kind of bites.”

If he only knew just how much it bit. Vinny should be doing the happy dance and soon he’d do the dance of victory, because Kelsey would be all his—lock, stock and pus-filled rash. “Yeah, it does bite for Aaron, he really dug Kelsey. ”

“It bites for me too.” Vinny sighed and gazed intently at August.

Okay, now he was confused. How could this possibly suck for Vinny? “Why does it bite, Vin? You’ll win Kelsey and if she chooses you and accepts your proposal, a million bucks.” August watched the tattoo on Vinny’s arm ripple as he shifted positions.

“Cuz I’m
gay
, August.”

Oh, Hell, that
did
bite. Who’s
your
daddy?

August remained silent, he didn’t know what to say or think or do. The repercussions of this were monumental. Now there was
no one
to marry Kelsey.

“I know what you’re thinking, August, but, I did it for the money and now I realize I just can’t go through with it. I thought the jury would pick you and Aaron, so I’d be in the clear and just look like the guy from Brooklyn who was ditched. But now, with Aaron gone, it’s just you and me. I was pretty sure Kelsey would pick you and then everything would be all right. But what if she doesn’t? I’m fucked. If I go to the producers and tell them I’m gay, it’s over for me. I signed a friggin’ contract that looked pretty heterosexual to these eyes. If the producers hassle me, they’ll dig shit up that’s better left buried. I can’t afford to have the press get wind of the fact that I’m gay. ”