Chapter Eleven

 

 

 

Maia could feel a difference in the air the moment she woke up. Before she even opened her eyes. The air was thick and hot. Humidity clung to the skin that was exposed above the tangle of sheets. The room was charged with electricity. And it had nothing to do with Alex.

Speaking of Alex, he was nowhere she could see. Not that she could see much of anything. The crystalline water that she’d gotten accustomed to waking to was dark. And a push of the button to clear her view didn’t help her see anything in the seething water.

“Alex?” She hated to admit it but she would feel better if she knew where he was.

“I’m up here, Maia.”

She wrapped the sheet around herself and padded up the stairs to find him pacing in nothing more than a low-slung pair of jeans in deep conversation on his phone.

His steps stalled a second as he took a moment to look at Maia. A slow smile spread over her lips as he waved at the coffee table where a small breakfast feast sat waiting for her. Coffee, fruit, croissants all beckoned.

She smiled her thanks and sat.

Alex winked. With the phone wedged between his ear and shoulder, he poured the coffee and placed it before her.

Maia took a sip and speared a mango cube. From his side of the conversation, it didn’t sound good.

He finished it quickly and gave her a grim smile before pecking her on the cheek. “Morning.” He slid onto the seat next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders as if it was something they did every morning.

“Hi.” She chewed the delectable morsel of fruit. “So what’s going on?”

“It looks like we might be stuck here a little longer than expected. There’s a storm preventing us from leaving today.” Alex took a sip of his coffee. “I hope that doesn’t upset you.”

It clearly didn’t bother him too much.

She shrugged. “Don’t you have work to get back to?”

“Nothing that I can’t manage from here for the moment.” He pointed at the satellite phone he had just been using. “You’re welcome to use it for however long the battery lasts.”

“Thanks.” Maia couldn’t help but notice how relaxed he was. Since meeting again, he seemed truly at peace. Even though they were apparently stuck, he was smiling, the crease between his eyebrows was gone, and she could just feel that the energy from him had changed. If she didn’t know better, she would think that he was basking in the glow of an intimate vacation rather than being trapped by a storm.

“Do you think we’ll be stuck here a long time?”

Alex shrugged. “Would that be so bad?”

Not if they spent all their time like they had the night before. The look in his eyes as he caught her gaze told her he was thinking the same thing. As much as she would love to forget that there was a world outside this place, Maia knew that the bubble would burst sometime. It was better not to live under any delusions.

She shook her head. “Not if it’s only for a few days.”

He sat back. “Is spending time with me so arduous?”

“Of course not. The last few days have been amazing. But we do have lives we have to get back to. And what about the staff who are stuck here as well?”

“They are safe and will be well compensated.” He slipped a piece of mango between her lips. “Anything else?”

“Alex…” Maia took a long breath, biding her time as she chewed and swallowed the succulent fruit.

She didn’t even know what she wanted to say. It was just reflex to say no, to try to put as much space between them as possible. But hadn’t their time at the resort proved that they could be good together? Who wouldn’t want to spend time away from the world in a beautiful place with a handsome man who could do the things to her that Alex did? Was she crazy fighting this? It was as though everything were trying to drive them together. Even Mother Nature was conspiring against her. Maia was tired of fighting herself.

“Yes?” He used his finger to lazily trace circles over her shoulder.

“It sounds wonderful.”

The smile spread slowly over his lips. “I thought so too.” Alex dragged her with him as he leaned back.

The wind roared past the windows, causing the villa to tremble with the force of it.

Maia shivered a little with it. “Are we going to be okay here?”

“We should be fine as long as it doesn’t get any worse. The last weather update I received said that it was going to be nothing more than a few days of high winds and a little rain.” He smiled impishly. “Just enough to keep us from leaving paradise for a while.”

Maia had to laugh at that. “I never would have taken you for someone who skips out on work.”

He shook his head. “I’m not. I can’t actually remember the last time that I wasn’t in a hotel for anything but business.” Alex closed his eyes and let his head drop back on the couch, a broad smile on his lips. “This feels good.”

She knew the feeling. “I suppose it is weird, isn’t it? You’d think from the way we make our livings we’d be living the high life. It’s an endless stream of traveling, exotic locales, beautiful hotels. But I can’t remember the last time I just stopped and took a breath. Enjoyed myself instead of wondering about square footage of a room. Or if there’s something interesting to see or do in the area.”

The chuckled that rumbled through him made her smile. “I guess we’re just a couple of workaholics.”

Yet another thing they had in common.

She sat leaning against him for a long while. Just listening to the storm raging outside. Things couldn’t have been more different on the inside of the villa. It was still. Tranquil. She knew he felt it too.

But the chemistry simmering between them hadn’t changed. It crackled in the air. She only had to look at him to want him. Maia knew from the way his eyes had darkened that he wanted her too.

“How are we going to fill our time without work to do?” Maia twisted around to straddle his hips.

His hands instantly went to her waist, holding her still as he ground himself against her. “I can think of a few ways.”

“Only a few?”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Maybe.” She knew that he wasn’t one to back down. Every obstacle was faced and summarily conquered. And that was when they were still at university. She could only imagine what he was capable of now. All Maia knew was that she wanted to find out.

She let the sheet drop a little and was rewarded with an even bigger smile. Alex glided his hands up her sides to cup her breasts, pushing them together as he buried his face between them.

When his hot mouth closed around the hard peak and his tongue joined in, Maia wouldn’t have cared if the storm tore down the walls around them.

It wasn’t until Alex groaned and carefully slid out from under her that she heard the insistent knocking at the door. She scrambled to cover herself as Alex made his way to the door. He turned to check that she was ready, but the smoldering look that he gave her as his eyes swept over her told Maia that he could still see parts of her that aroused his interest.

“I guess I’ll go get dressed.” She was already partway down the stairs when she heard him greet whoever it was brave enough to wander about.

It took a few minutes to find something suitable, but she was caught up watching the rain ripple on the darkened surface of the water as it rolled. The fish were pulled to and fro by the force of the waves. It mirrored what she felt like being around Alex again. She gravitated toward him unable to break free. Not that she wanted to.

She never imagined that she would see Alex again. And now she was stuck in paradise with him, almost content. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the smooth, cool surface of the glass. Maia smiled to herself.

Familiar arms coiled around her. “Thinking about me, I hope.”

Chuckling, she spun in his arms to hook hers around his neck. “I was, actually. I can’t believe I’m this relaxed in the middle of a storm.”

“I’m glad you have confidence in me and the villa to keep you safe.” He dropped a kiss on her nose.

“So who was at the door?”

“The caretaker wanted to make sure we had emergency supplies. Just in case.”

“That was thoughtful of him.”

He gave her a sardonic arch of an eyebrow. “More like he can’t afford to have the boss hurt in the storm.”

She rolled her eyes at his jaded comment. He would have seen it too, if the lights hadn’t chosen that moment to go out. The dim light coming in from the window gave the room an eerie blue-gray glow. At least it was enough to see by. Sort of.

“And not a moment too soon.” He took her hand and led her back up the stairs.

Two large boxes sat on the floor of the living room.

“Shall we see what we’ve got?” Alex pushed them toward the couch with his foot and sat, tugging Maia to sit on his lap.

The first was filled with food. Fresh and packaged. Enough to last the week if they needed it to. Alex pulled a lantern out of the other and turned it on. There were three others as well as various sized glow sticks, extra blankets, first-aid kits, even an extra battery for the satellite phone. Digging further there was pretty much anything else they could need in any emergency.

Maia was impressed by the high-tech gear, but was a little disappointed that they wouldn’t be living by candlelight for a little while. “I was expecting candles.”

Alex reached in and pulled out a fist full of long, tapered candles. “It looks like they’ve thought of everything.”

Maia grinned. She would have to mention the staff’s attention to detail in her article. “I really shouldn’t be having such a good time during a storm.”

“That would make the two of us.”

“So what can we do today?” The rain pounding the roof and battering the windows made sure that they wouldn’t be venturing outside any time soon.

His chuckle rumbled through her. “I’m sure I will be able to think of something to help keep you occupied.” Alex nuzzled the soft skin under her ear, pausing to nip her earlobe playfully.

Maia let her head fall to the side, giving him easier access, letting him do whatever he pleased. She readily let the haze of pleasure cloud her mind as he slid his hands over her skin.

A shrill ring from the satellite phone brought her back to reality.

Groaning, Alex shifted her in his lap so he could reach the table and retrieve the insistently ringing phone and growled into it. “This had better be good.” His expression changed when he heard the voice on the other end. “Sorry, Papa. Yes, we’re both fine.”

She waved at Alex, indicating that she would leave. He shook his head, but she didn’t want to intrude on the conversation. Besides, she wanted to primp a little.

After a brisk shower, she stared at her clothes and cursed herself for not bringing something sexier. How was she to know that she would need it? It wasn’t as though she went prowling for men on her trips. She spent the majority of her time exploring, fact finding then writing everything down. Most of her clothing was either comfortable, functional or suitable for business meetings.

Maia slipped into a simple white maxi dress and left her hair loose and her face bare. As she made her way back up, Maia noticed that the floor above was deathly silent except for the wail of the wind outside. “Alex?”

She found him at the doors of the balcony that overlooked the water. His stormy gaze rivaled the tempest raging outside. “Alex? What’s the matter?”

Dread crept along her skin as he ignored her and continued to stare. What had his father told him? Whatever it was, it had to have been awful.

She circled around to stand next to him. “What’s wrong? Is your father okay?”

He looked at her then, his eyes desolate and filled with pain. “I want the truth when I ask you this.”

Maia’s stomach dropped, but she nodded. She knew what was coming. It was time they cleared the air and stopped pretending.

“When I returned here and had that accident… Did I leave you while you were pregnant?”