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For long, agonizing moments, he stood there, saying nothing, barely breathing. When she saw the beginning of his slow smile, she almost crumbled inside. “Don’t...don’t you dare laugh at me, Adam Stone.”
His eyes glittered in the darkness, and his hands cupped her hips, gently squeezing. “Honey, I’m so far from laughing right now, I couldn’t even work up a chuckle.” He gave her a light, barely there kiss on her lips, then dropped to his knees in front of her.
Alarmed, she started to step back, but he held onto her.
“This has been coming a long time, Mel.” His fingers on her hips flexed, caressing her. “Damn, I’ve wanted you so long, I can’t remember when I haven’t wanted you.”
“You...you didn’t even like me.”
“I liked you too much.”
Not giving her time to mull that stark confession over, he slid his hot palms up and down the backs of her thighs. He made her knees weak, her stomach jumpy. “You’re perfect, Mel. Sleek and sexy.” He glanced up at her, his expression fixed. “How the hell did you disguise yourself so well?”
He evidently didn’t want an answer. He leaned forward and placed a warm, damp kiss on her navel. Stunned, she braced her hands on his shoulders and drew in a shaky breath. “Adam, I feel...funny.” She could barely get the words out around the tightness in her throat.
“It’s the coconut,” he whispered, nibbling on her belly with his lips and rubbing his cheek against her. “It’s an aphrodisiac.”
“Don’t...don’t be ridiculous.” She moaned when his hands glided higher, coasting over her bottom, then gripping her tight, pulling her closer to his kiss. His tongue dipped into her navel.
“True,” he countered, concentrating his kisses over the low-riding waistband of her silky tap pants, “it’s in the guidebook.”
“Adam...”
“Aren’t you turned on just a little, Mel?”
Oh, yes. But what she felt had nothing to do with coconut and everything to do with Adam Stone. It seemed he knew exactly how to touch her, where to kiss her, how to make her frantic with need. She’d pictured being with Adam many times, but she’d never imagined anything quite this intense.
Grasping her waist, he lowered her slowly, trailing kisses up her body as she sank onto her knees in the sand. His mouth lingered at her midriff; his tongue licked a hot path from rib to rib. He nudged aside the halter and placed damp, openmouthed kisses on one tingling breast, only inches away from her painfully tight nipple. He nuzzled into her cleavage. “I’d like to eat you up from head to toe, Mel. You taste so damn good.”
This time she couldn’t stop the groan. Embarrassed by her unrestrained response, she tried to add a bit of jest to the moment. “Did...did you feed me the coconut on purpose?”
He drew the tender skin of her throat against his teeth, leaving his mark behind and eliciting another raw moan. “Right now, I’d do whatever it takes. God knows we’ll never have another opportunity like this one.”
He didn’t say it, but she knew that once they were rescued, he’d consider their time at an end. If this was all she would ever have, she didn’t want to waste it.
Both his hands cupped her head, and he gently touched his mouth to hers. “Tell me you want me, too, sweetheart.”
She gasped out a resounding, “Yes.”
Before the agreement had finished leaving her mouth, Adam devoured it, sucking it from her, his tongue searching for and finding hers. This wasn’t to be a slow interlude, evidently, given his feverish pace. But she didn’t mind. She felt ready to fracture with need. With each new touch, each deeper kiss, she wanted him more.
He pulled away to shake out her skirt across the sand. Then, staring into her eyes, he shoved down his boxers. Mel swayed on her knees, he was so perfect, so sexy.
Blindly, she reached out to cup him in her palms. He made a deep sound of pleasure and pain, fisted his hands on his thighs and tilted his head back. His eyes were tightly closed.
She wrapped her fingers around his throbbing erection and stroked. When her thumb glided over the tip of him, she found a drop of moisture. Fascinated, she gently spread it around and around, until his entire body trembled.
“Enough.” He gripped her wrists and pulled her away. “I can’t take it, Mel. Not yet. Maybe after...”
She started to protest, but he didn’t give her time. His hands cupped her breasts; his thumbs brushed her nipples. When she groaned, he said, “You’re wearing too many clothes, honey. I want to see you naked. I want to kiss you everywhere.”
Everywhere? It took him mere seconds to untie her halter and bare her breasts. She felt another stab of vulnerability, until he bent to greedily suck one nipple. There were no preliminaries, no forewarnings. Just the hot, moist pull of his mouth and the rough stroke of his tongue. It was so intense she tried to draw away with a short, startled exclamation. But he held her close, his callused hands spread wide on her back, gently refusing to let her retreat.
After long minutes he released her, only to switch to her other nipple.
“Adam...”
“It’s the coconut, sweetheart.” He nipped her with his teeth, and she trembled, tangling her fingers in the silky hair over his nape, trying to bring his mouth to hers. But he didn’t budge. “I intend to drink my fill, Mel, so quit fighting me.”
His fill turned out to be long minutes of sheer agony. Before he finished she was spread on her back, half on, half off the skirt, and he had settled comfortably between her thighs. She couldn’t keep her hips still, thrusting up against him, but that only seemed to encourage him, to make him more ruthless. When she tugged on his hair, hurting his injured head, he captured both her wrists in one hand and pinned her arms over her head.
Leaning back on his knees, his eyes glowing in the darkness, he whispered, “It feels like a lifetime I’ve been waiting to see you like this.” The atmosphere vibrated with his potent sexuality, making her feel decadent and drunk with erotic need.
“I can’t tell you how many times I imagined coming after you, forcing you to help me get over my obsession. I wanted you just like this, open to me, accepting me.”
As he spoke, he kept her arms immobile, stroking his free hand slowly down her side, closer and closer to the notch of her thighs. Tingling from the inside out, she opened herself a little wider, making it easy for him, trying to hurry him.
“That’s it, Mel. Show me that you want me.”
“I do.”
“Not enough. Not yet.”
His long fingers slid over the soft material of her shorts, right where she needed his touch most. No man had ever done this to her, and it seemed so right that Adam would be the first to make her feel this way. She had the vague impression of knowing this was what she’d waited for. He was what she’d waited for.
“Please...” She felt so close to something she’d never experienced, and she desperately wanted it. She strained against him, lifting her hips as high as she could.
He pulled back. His eyes were midnight dark as he looked at her, seeing everything. With a slight shake of his head, he whispered, “Not yet, baby.”
Gasping, she scrambled up and reached for him. Adam let her get as far as her knees, then caught the waistband of her shorts and started working them down. She tried to kiss him but he dodged her mouth, chuckling softly.
“It’s okay, Mel. I promise. I’ll take care of you.”
“I want you to take care of me now.”
He smiled, amused by her sudden lack of inhibition and uncharacteristic brazenness. “So impatient,” he chided.
“You’re the one who fed me the damn coconut!”
He slid her shorts and her panties down to her knees, then eased her onto her back to slip them the rest of the way off. He tossed them aside, and with a hand on each knee, spread her thighs wide. “Such long, sexy legs, Mel. Not at all what I imagined. Even better...” He bent to kiss the inside of one knee. “Hell, I’m glad I went overboard.”
“Really?” She tried to keep her mind clear, to be coherent, but the cool brush of his silky hair on the sensitive inside of her thigh was startling. The fact that this was Adam, the town bad boy, the man who’d taken over her dreams, made it all the more incredible.
He kissed her belly a few inches below her belly button, then licked the spot. “Absolutely,” he said with a throaty groan, then started licking his way downward.
“Adam.”
His mouth closed over her, and she stiffened at the acute pleasure. Never in her wildest imagination had she been able to aptly prepare for such a thing. Her muscles went taut while her insides seemed fluid. His rasping tongue delved and stroked and licked, and when he slipped one long finger inside her she climaxed with a raw groan that ripped from her throat and echoed around the quiet island. Adam held her there, insatiable, refusing to let the pleasure dwindle until her body went utterly limp.
He released her, gently lowering her thighs and moving to her side. She felt so drained, she didn’t at first realize that he had separated himself from her. Then she felt his hand cup her breast.
“Your heart is still pounding,” he said with deep satisfaction.
“That’s...that’s good.” A heartbeat, considering she felt like she’d died, was definitely a promising sign.
She could hear his smile in the way he spoke. “You didn’t do a very good job of staying on the skirt. You’re more in the sand than out of it.”
What was he babbling about? What difference did it make if she was in the sand? Blindly, she reached out to him, wanting to draw him close again. He caught her hand and held it. “Mel, I lied about the coconut.”
He obviously thought her beyond naive, bordering on stupid. But she played along. “No aphrodisiac?”
“Of course not. But you did want me.”
Very slowly, his words sank in. She heard the wonder and the insistence. She turned her head to face him. “I still do, Adam.”
“Are you sure?”
He sounded uncertain, and for a man like Adam, that had to be unique. It was her turn to smile. Despite the lethargy that tried to rule her body, she rolled on top of him. He gladly went to his back and helped hold her in place, his hands firm on her bottom. She kissed his nose, his bristly chin. “No woman needs an aphrodisiac when you’re around. You breathe and women want to jump your bones.”
“You were never interested, Mel.” He stroked her hair and gave her a slight smile. “No matter what I did, you managed to turn up your nose at me like I didn’t exist.”
Her eyes widened. “You really think that?” Then another thought invaded her fogged brain and she asked, “Do you mean to tell me you constantly provoked me just to get my attention?”
She might not have believed him, despite the recent display of his desire, if she hadn’t seen the look in his eyes. But there was so much feeling there, so much raw emotion.
His hands cupped her head, his thumb brushed her cheek. “I’m sorry I was sometimes mean. As a kid, it seemed so damn unfair that you had everything, even things I hadn’t dared dream of. You sort of represented everything that was missing in my life, all the stuff my parents worked so hard for but could never get.”
She felt the prickle of tears and knew he wouldn’t appreciate her sympathy. She swallowed hard.
“But somewhere along the way,” he continued, “I started wanting you, not the material things you had. I’d stopped being mean by the time we were thirteen, Mel, but you didn’t notice. You still avoided me.” With a smile, he said, “You could get that pretty little nose so high in the air, I could have thrown myself at your feet and you wouldn’t have seen me.”
He was so wrong, but how could she explain all the various things he’d made her feel over the years? Yes, she’d often been angry at him, but she’d also felt alive whenever he was near. Adam never ignored her like the rest of the town did. He didn’t give her only distant politeness. And he didn’t hide what he felt behind proper manners, as her parents were wont to do. Her mother and father loved her, she’d never doubted that. But they considered an excess of emotion uncouth. They’d always been careful in how they expressed their feelings.
Not Adam. No, he teased and harassed and provoked—and she’d always responded to him, whether he knew it or not. In many ways, she’d equally dreaded and looked forward to her daily confrontations with him.
Twining her fingers in his chest hair, she said, “I was never...indifferent to you, Adam.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “No, most times you hated me. And all I could think about was getting you out of your dainty little pants. Hell, there were days I’d get hard just seeing you in town or in school. You had a way of walking, like a queen, that drove me crazy. Even when I thought you were skinny—”
“I am skinny.”
He shook his head. “No. You’re thin, but you’ve got all the right curves in all the right places. If I’d known what you were hiding under those schoolgirl jumpers, I’d never have survived puberty.”
She felt her cheeks heat, and Adam hugged her closer. His gaze was hot, probing. “I wanted you so bad, Mel, it’s a wonder I survived. But I always knew you were out of bounds.”
Daringly, she slipped her hand down his side to his hip. Hard muscle and bone moved as he shifted from her touch. “I’m not out of bounds now.” His eyes closed; his breathing came faster. Melanie leaned forward and kissed his chin. “Now, there’s just you and me—and I want you.”
He gripped her buttocks even tighter and rocked her against the long length of his erection. “I need to be inside you, sweetheart.”
She wasn’t experienced and couldn’t tease as well as he. Already she wanted him again and felt no shame in admitting it. “Yes, please.”
He laughed on a shaky breath. “You always were so damn proper.”
“What we’re doing now is far from proper, Adam Stone, and you know it.”
His hands shifted, stroking her thighs. “All right, not proper. But you have to admit it feels damn right.”
Nothing had ever felt more right in her entire life. Being with Adam seemed totally natural, because Adam was so natural. Loving him would be so easy. But nothing for the future had changed, and she doubted it ever would, not with the way Adam resented her background. But for right now, it just didn’t matter.
Quickly rolling her onto her back, Adam sat up and reached for his bag. He lifted out a small foil pack and hastily tore it open with his teeth.
Melanie watched him in fascination. “Are you really such a hound dog that you carry condoms everywhere?”
Sitting by her side, he placed one hand on her belly and stroked. “Mel...I travel a lot, honey. And I avoid commitments like the plague.”
Her eyes closed, both from the pain of his admission and the gentle stroking of his rough palm.
“I’m a man,” he continued. His control seemed tightly leashed, but ready to break at any moment. “I enjoy sex, I won’t lie about that. But as a rule, I don’t believe in one-night stands.”
She shifted, not really wanting details, unable to imagine him with someone else in just this way.
“Melanie, look at me.”
She did, surprised by the use of her full name.
“I quit prowling after high school, sweetheart. But I am human, so I carry protection whether I plan on doing anything or not. I guess I’m old-fashioned enough to think if you make a baby, you should be a father, and I’m not ready to take a chance on that yet.”
Melanie turned her face away. He couldn’t have been more blunt, and while his words hurt, she understood. Adam had been given very little in life, and his attitude was actually commendable.
If only her heart weren’t already involved.
“Mel?”
Choking back the hurt, she looked at him and smiled. “You talk too damn much, Stone, you know that?”
“And you’re just a bit demanding.” He pulled her on top of him again and situated her until she sat astride his hips. “I like it.” Automatically, Melanie braced her hands on his chest and tightened her thighs. Slowly, he entered her.
She groaned at the incredible tightness.
“Mel?” His voice was strained, filled with disbelief.
“Not now, Adam.” Later, when she could catch her breath, she’d explain to him why she’d waited so long to experience sex. But now the experiencing was at hand, and she didn’t want to be distracted for a single moment.
Adam’s chest rose and fell with his labored breaths. He pressed deeper. “Damn, you’re snug.” Every muscle in his arms and shoulders pulled taut with restraint.
She tipped her head back and concentrated on relaxing, on accepting him.
“Yeah. All the way, honey,” he urged. “All the way...”
The natural resistance of her body gave way, and he buried himself completely inside her.
Mel dropped forward against his chest, overwhelmed with his size and strength. His fingers bit into her buttocks, holding her and his control tightly. Then he broke.
“I’m sorry,” he growled through clenched teeth, even as he rolled her to her back. He thrust smoothly, deeply, lifting her hips high into the rhythm of his. Heat poured off his body.
Stunned, Melanie felt the pressure building again and she held on tight. His sudden fierceness fired her own. The friction was exquisite, the weight of his body on hers, his scent. As she started to climax, Adam pressed his face into the side of her neck and groaned out his own release.
Afterward they lay limp, both overheated, their limbs tangled. Melanie thought it was the most wondrous experience imaginable. Finally, as if the effort cost him, Adam shifted to her side, then tucked her close again. “Sleep.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. There in the tranquillity of the island, the moon shadows of palm leaves dancing over the white sand, the salty breeze from the ocean touching her skin, she felt more peace than she’d felt in all her life. Sleeping there with Adam was the easiest thing she’d ever done.
Loving, and leaving him, would be the hardest.
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