Silver Lining, page 6
Her eyebrows rose above her sunglasses. “You’ll let me?”
I tilted my head to the side and flashed my best smile. Yes, the lioness was back, and I was quickly becoming addicted to her spirit. “Yes.”
She pursed her lips as her fists came to her sides. “What is your condition?”
“That you let me kiss you again.”
After a moment of deliberate calculation, she nodded. “I can live with that.”
I took a step closer. “A real kiss.”
“Was the last one not real?” Lifting her chin, she stood her ground as I snaked my arms around her waist.
“You’re something else, Lena.”
Her hands came to my shoulders. “I’m not the prey.” She pushed up on her tiptoes as her lips met mine.
The sounds of the surf and din of other beachgoers disappeared as we both took and gave in equal proportions. My face tilted to deepen the kiss as her soft body molded against my hard one. My tongue sought entrance first, quickly followed by hers. Twirling around and around, soft mews filled my ears.
Lena’s hands moved higher to my hair.
When our kiss ended, she stared up at me. “That was a real kiss.”
“Then I guess that was my one condition.”
She opened her hand and showed me the hair tie she’d tugged from my hair. “This is yours.” As I reached for it, she closed her fingers. “I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you at the bar.”
Running my fingers through my now-free-flowing hair, I smirked. “Are you going to give it back?”
“Nope.” She took a step back. “Not until I return and find you here. It’s my insurance policy to be sure you don’t stand me up.”
Stand her up.
The thought never entered my mind.
“I can’t imagine you ever being stood up.”
“Or you,” she said, peering over her slender shoulder.
I stood watching as she walked toward the resort. The slight sway of her round ass and the way she carried herself told me that her confidence was back. What I didn’t know was why it had waned. It had seemed as if she were genuinely upset that we’d reached the property line of the resort.
Recalling my mother’s fears, I considered that perhaps Lena had similar concerns, having heard stories of terror and doom. If that were the case, I’d spend this week ensuring that she was safe, that the lioness was in all her glory.
As I was about to get a bottle of water, I looked up, seeing a man approach Lena near the pool.
My shoulders straightened and my heart beat faster. Without thinking, I took off toward the pool. In the seconds it took for me to get there, they were both gone. I stood on the concrete with my hair dangling near my jaw, looking in all directions. The resort had multiple buildings, pools, and shops. I had no idea which building held her suite.
Shit.
Why didn’t we exchange numbers?
“Señor, may I help you?”
The waiter was one I’d seen yesterday.
“There was just a woman here. She was in a blue dress. Auburn hair. Big sunglasses. She was carrying a white bag.”
The waiter nodded. “Sí, I saw her. I believe she left with her husband.”
Her husband?
“No, she isn’t married.” At least that’s what she’d said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know for sure. She greeted him by name. Adam. Yes, that was his name.”
Who the fuck is Adam?
“Okay,” I mumbled. “Thanks.”
“Sí, may I get you anything?”
Well, fuck. Maybe I was the one about to be stood up. I turned toward the beach and pointed to the cabana I’d rented for the day. “I’m in cabana six. Could someone bring out a bottle of champagne on ice. Two glasses.”
“Sí. Two?”
“Yes.”
As I turned back toward the beach, I decided I would either learn about Adam and who he is to Lena, or if she didn’t come back, I’d drink the champagne double fisted. The warm breeze from the sea blew my hair back as I lifted my chin.
Reaching for my hair tie, I realized it wasn’t on my wrist. No, Lena took it.
She’d be back.
Back out at the cabana, I pulled my new shirt over my head and tossed it onto the mattress.
Do I have time to go get the shirt I left at the store?
If I hurried.
Chapter Eleven
Lena
As we made our way to my suite, I told Adam about the couple in the sea grapes. I wasn’t sure why I told him. The time was past. The couple was benign, but the truth was the situation frightened me. The fact it affected me the way it did made me mad.
“We need to learn who’s responsible for the poison and the fish,” I said after he made sure the suite was clear.
“They’re working on it back in Montana. That’s why you’re here.”
Inhaling, I closed my eyes. Exhaling, I said, “Come in while I change.”
Adam stepped inside the suite, securing the door behind him. “Ma’am, there are only a few people who know your location. The airplane rental was done under a rarely used shell company. Other than Mr. Wilde, your assistant Gigi, and Montgomery security, no one knows.”
“I hate this,” I confessed. Letting my hands drop to my sides, I spun around the living room area of the suite. Beyond the French doors was a balcony with a private pool and the Caribbean Ocean sparkling to the horizon. “I’m not prey.”
“Ma’am?”
“I’m not prey. That’s not who I am.”
Adam nodded in agreement.
“Whoever this is,” I confessed, “they’re getting to me. They’re in my head, and it makes me question what I shouldn’t question.”
“Like what?”
“Like could CJ have purposely taken me down the beach to the property line.” I shook my head and tossed my large bag onto the sofa. “I don’t want to think that way about him.” I shrugged. “I like him.”
Adam’s eyes opened wide as his eyebrow rose.
“I know,” I replied. “I just met him. I want to trust him, only for this week. But what about the opposite? What if him being with me even for a week puts him in danger?”
“Kelsey said you don’t want us to do a background check.”
“I didn’t.” I shook my head. “No, I still don’t want to know more about him than what I learn from him. It’s the fish stalker. It’s that he went further than stalking when he sent the poisoned candy.”
“He?”
“I’m assuming it’s a man. You know I think it could be Logan Butler.”
Adam shook his head. “We haven’t ruled him out. There’s no doubt he knows it was you who stepped in with the SPAC and the grand jury indictment with his brother’s investments. However, we have no proof of him being in Missoula. Our people say he’s in Chicago.”
“What about Phillip?” Phillip was my brother-in-law, my sister’s husband. “I know he’s in prison. Could he have a connection?”
“We’ve spoken with the warden. It’s unlikely.”
I sat on the arm of the sofa. “I should be thinking about the sexy man waiting for me at the beach, and instead, I’m racking my brain about who would hate me enough to do this.” My gaze met Adam’s. “It’s personal. Violating my home and attempting my demise.”
Leaning against the wall, Adam crossed his ankles and sighed. “I’d like to do a background check on CJ. If it comes back clear, I won’t say a word. You’ll know he’s safe or seems safe. If I find any red flags, I’ll tell you.”
Nodding, I looked down at my lap and back up, my focus on the man I trusted with my safety. “I don’t want to know any information other than” —I inhaled— “if there’s any reason to think CJ could be connected to my stalker.”
“For the record, men are usually more direct with their threats. Women are more likely to use poison.”
Over twenty years ago, Logan had been more direct.
My sister poisoned some people. She’d also used a weapon.
In other words, patterns were present to be broken.
I asked, “Are you saying that you think the stalker is a woman?”
“Ms. Montgomery, we don’t know. Whoever this is, he or she is very careful. The note that came with the candy was handwritten. The writing is being analyzed. The postmark was Missoula.”
My stomach twisted.
This person was in the same city as me or as where I lived.
“Won’t they see that I’m not in town, not going to the office?”
“Yes,” Adam answered. “You aren’t there. No one can track you here.”
Standing, I brushed the front of my sundress. “I’m going to change into my bathing suit and cover-up. Were you able to secure a cabana near cabana number six?”
“Kelsey is already there. We’re in fourteen. It’s about twenty yards away. We can see the back of number six. We’ll be watching everyone who gets close.”
I let out a long sigh. “Thank you. Thank you for caring—for doing your job.”
“We care.” His lips curled into a smile. “Relax. If I learn anything alarming, we’ll interrupt.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was wearing a bathing suit and beach cover. Adam and I were headed back to the cabana.
“We can part ways at the pool,” he suggested.
“I have my phone.”
“And your watch,” he said with a grin. “All you know is C.J.?”
“Yes, as far as a name. It’s all that was written on the sign reserving the cabana. I also know that he’s originally from Ohio. Currently lives in Austin.”
“Do you know his profession?”
“No, but he doesn’t know mine either. He said he was between gigs.” I furrowed my brow. “Hell, maybe he’s in entertainment.” I thought about that. “Oh, the last thing I need is to be involved with some famous band member that will get my picture on social media. If that’s it, tell me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As I walked across the warm sand toward the cabana, I knew talking to Adam helped clear my mind. I was being watched, protected. I didn’t want to be told about CJ, but it would ease my anxiousness to learn he wasn’t a threat.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t a threat to him.
Stepping around the flowing curtains, my smile returned. The turquoise of the ocean paled in comparison to the gaze now scanning me, from my wide-brimmed hat to my toes. I knew CJ worked out, or at least ran, but seeing him in only his swim trunks was a beautiful sight. With his hair untethered, it curled near his chiseled jawline. His shoulders were broad and muscles defined, including the six- or eight-pack of abs. The muscles didn’t stop there, visible in his long legs.
“You came back.”
Hearing his deep voice brought back memories of our kiss.
Removing the hair tie from my wrist, I extended it toward the sexy, shirtless man on the mattress. “I believe this is yours.”
CJ patted the mattress beside him. “And this spot is yours.”
Next to the mattress within the cabana was an ice bucket on a stand and a small table with two champagne flutes.
“I don’t remember seeing that earlier.”
“Because it wasn’t here. I figured we’d share, or if you stood me up, I would go back to plan A.”
“Plan A?”
“Wallowing.”
I scoffed. “Plan B?”
“A week with no bigger worries.”
“I like that.” Feeling the need to explain my extended absence, I added, “I had to discuss something with someone. I didn’t mean to make you think I wouldn’t return.”
“I was hopeful.” He lifted the hair tie. “Your insurance policy and all.”
Laying my beach bag on the straw mat, I knelt on the side of the mattress and peered out toward the ocean. “This is nice.”
“And private.”
My gaze met CJ’s as I unbuttoned the front of my beach cover-up. One by one. His breathing deepened as his eyes stayed glued to the progressive opening. Soon I was standing in only my bikini.
“You are so beautiful.”
“Back atcha.”
CJ sat taller. “No, Lena. You’re stunning.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
He lifted his chin. “Come here.” It wasn’t a request, and yet I didn’t mind.
As soon as I lay back against the inclined mattress, CJ leaned closer and removed my sunglasses. Cupping my cheek with his large palm, he didn’t hesitate to bring his lips to mine. My core twisted with need at his ability to kiss.
Kissing was an underrated skill, and if I were to give CJ’s ability a grade, it would be A+. His lips and tongue fit perfectly with mine. His warmth raising the temperature within me from simmering to boiling, in seconds I was lost as he unapologetically took what I was willing to give.
My palms teased over his arms and shoulders, feeling the definition I’d ogled moments earlier. As his wide chest pressed against my breasts, my hunger for him grew, causing my nipples to bead.
Without forethought, my fingers weaved through his dark mane.
The heat in his touch was everywhere, running his hands over my arms and shoulders and finally down my side, caressing my breast and moving down to my thigh. We struggled for air as we devoured one another, both starving for more of what was right here. I tipped my head up as his lips moved lower.
Nips and kisses peppered my skin. Down my neck, over my collarbone, between my breasts.
Chapter Twelve
CJ
Lena tasted like sunshine on a cloudy day. That one ray that reached through the clouds as a reminder that the storm would pass. With all her talk of being the aggressor, she was sensual and so fucking responsive.
My questions about Adam disappeared the moment Lena came around the side of the cabana. I’d never claimed to have the ability to read people, but that beautiful smile didn’t belong to a woman actively cheating on her husband—a husband who was here at this resort.
As she unbuttoned her cover-up, I was mesmerized, wanting her to continue disrobing. Alas, she stopped at the cover-up, her bathing suit still in place.
Now, as I lowered myself, kissing and nipping her flawless skin, I teased the edge of her bathing suit top. Pushing the material away, I took her nipple between my lips, swirling the hardened bead with my tongue.
Her fingers in my hair held me in place as I released her other breast. Moans and sounds came from her lips as her body fidgeted below mine with need.
It was as if we were alone on a desert island, not in a cabana at a large resort.
Lifting my head, I met her light-chocolate gaze. “Tell me to stop. I won’t want to, but I will.”
Her pink lips curled upward. “If I wanted you to stop, you’d know.” Palming my cheeks, she reached for my chin and tugged me toward her. When our noses were close, she asked, “Do you think they know what people do in these secluded cabanas?”
Lowering my timbre, I asked, “What do you want to do in this secluded cabana?”
“Exactly what we’re doing.”
“It’s a start, but I want more.”
Lena nodded. “I do too.”
I ran my thumb over her lips, pinkened from our kissing.
Laying the mattress back, I resumed my exploration, meticulously lavishing each and every inch of exposed flesh with my attention. Goose bumps came to life, and Lena’s back arched as I nipped and sucked her hard nipples.
My dick hardened as I trailed my lips down her stomach.
With her legs parted, I kissed the insides of her thighs.
Her arousal was sweet, dampening the material covering her core.
For the first time in recent history, my thoughts were consumed with something other than Architech. As Lena writhed beneath my adoration, I wanted nothing more than to please her. Brushing my nose against the crotch of her swimsuit, I inhaled.
Peering upward, I saw her stare on mine. “I want to taste you.”
Her tits moved up and down as her breathing deepened. Nodding, she replied, “I want that too.” Her focus changed from me to the ocean and back to me. “We aren’t alone. Public indecency isn’t on my bucket list.”
She was right.
Tilting my head, I smiled. “Private indecency has moved up my list.”
Lena grinned. “I don’t want us to end up in a video on some social-media platform.”
Pulling myself over her, I lowered my lips, giving each of her round tits a last kiss before tucking them back into their assigned cups. When I looked up, I saw her pout.
“When I take you,” I said, my tenor deep and my cadence steady, “I want you to have the privacy and freedom to scream my name.” I grinned. “And I want the freedom to see all of you without either of us wondering if anyone else can see.”
“When you take me?”
Moving back to where her lips were close enough to kiss, I nodded. “Yes, when.”
As I crawled up the mattress beside her, the tenting of my swim trunks was on full display.
Lena’s cheeks took on a rosy hue as she spoke. “I want the privacy to help you with your current situation.”
The mental image of Lena on her knees had me on the verge of coming.
Her hand lowered to the front of my suit, pressing and running her palm over my erection. Despite my already-hardened state, under her touch, my dick went from wood to steel, and my balls tightened. My arousal was due to more than her touch, but also the way her chocolate stare stayed fixed on me. This woman was every bit the lioness I presumed. Yes, she’d accept pleasure—on her terms. Giving pleasure would be on her terms as well.
Taking her hand away, I brought it to my lips and kissed her palm. “Fuck, Lena. This cabana was a bad idea.”
After a chaste kiss and readjusting her lounge, she sat back and sighed. “It’s not a bad idea.” Her smile was stunning. “However, it isn’t completely achieving our goal.”
“What was our goal again?”
Her gaze sparkled with the reflection of the sun beyond our curtains. “Big issues. I’m most definitely thinking about what appears to be a particularly large issue at the moment.”
