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Roux couldn’t decide if she was glad they were finally leaving the farm and Steve’s family behind or miserable about saying goodbye. Steve had taken what she’d expected to be a frivolous, carefree weekend and turned it into an emotionally exhausting ordeal in only a few hours. She doubted he realized how hard families were for her to handle even in small doses, and she was currently overdosed on the Aimeses. But like any addict, that didn’t necessarily mean she was prepared to stop seeking more of the same.
“I knew they’d love you,” Steve said as they sped down the gravel road, sending up an enormous dust plume in their wake.
“Quite a risk you took there,” she said. “They might have hated me.”
“Not possible.” He didn’t look at her, but he grinned crookedly. “You were perfect. That was exactly the recharge I needed.”
Recharge? “I feel completely drained.” Perhaps she shouldn’t admit something like that to him.
“You didn’t enjoy yourself?”
“I did,” she said. “Your family is amazing.” She plucked a stray dog hair from her shirt. “A bit too amazing. I have my sisters, and Mama Ramona, but—”
“My family reminded you of all you’ve lost.” He laid a hand on her knee, and her heart rate accelerated. “I didn’t think. I’m sorry. I thought you’d like the farm—the garden, the animals.”
“I loved the farm.” She covered his hand with hers and squeezed. “And your family and the house and the meal and the piano. It was just a lot to absorb in such a short time. I’m glad you brought me here and let me see a side of you I’d never imagined existed.”
“Not many people have seen that side. Not even my closest friends. Well, except Zach. Zach has been here with me. Dana adores him. But not my bandmates. Not even Logan.”
“Did you bring Bianca often?” She wasn’t sure why that thought made her tense with jealousy.
“A few times. I kept hoping it would grow on her, but she hated it.”
“Did you bring me here as some sort of a test?”
His head jerked in her direction, and she knew she’d caught on to the truth.
“A test?” He laughed sharply. “No.”
Right. “Did I pass?”
After pulling to a stop at the end of the gravel road, he shifted to look at her. His smile warmed his eyes and her entire body.
“With flying colors.”
“You passed my test too,” she said.
“What test was that?”
“You didn’t laugh at me for being excited about vegetables.”
“I was laughing on the inside. There is nothing exciting about vegetables.”
He brushed her hair behind her ear, his gaze holding hers with such intensity that her toes curled. As much as she’d enjoyed their little midwestern pit stop, she was definitely looking forward to being alone with him for the rest of the weekend.
A semi roared past on the connecting highway and drew Steve’s attention back to driving. Roux stifled a sigh of disappointment as he turned the car onto the blacktop. She was so craving a kiss from the unexpectedly complex man beside her. He wasn’t anything like she thought he would be and everything she wanted.
At the small local airport, Roux could tell the pilot—Jordan—was annoyed, but she didn’t yell at Steve for making them late. Roux got the feeling that she was used to him mucking up her schedule. Now that Roux knew him better, she realized he wasn’t intentionally self-centered and inconsiderate, just used to getting his way.
“Sorry for making us late,” Roux apologized, not sure why she felt the need to cover for Steve. “There were kittens.” And a thousand other wonderful things to see.
Jordan smiled. “Steve didn’t mention kittens.”
“They were so adorable,” Roux said. “I thought my heart would burst.”
Jordan blinked, tilting her head to one side as if trying to figure out what country Roux was from. “I wondered why he wanted to stop here, but now I get it.” She grinned, and after saying, “Enjoy your flight,” she slipped into the cockpit.
The copilot—who looked as unprofessional in his black T-shirt and worn jeans as Jordan looked professional in her pristine uniform—pulled the outer door shut and secured it while Roux and Steve found their seats.
Roux fastened her seat belt, wondering how long it would stay on this time, and said, “Your bringing me to the family farm made me feel special, but I have to ask: How many women have you taken to this island of yours?”
He went still, and then pulled his fingers through his thick mane of brown hair. He fashioned it into a loose sloppy bun on the back of his head, accentuating his high cheekbones, strong jaw, and exotic eyes with one simple accessory. Roux was so busy staring that she’d forgotten that she’d asked him a question until he responded.
“Not many,” he said, but he shifted in his seat, and she couldn’t help but think that he was lying or at the very least understating his prowess. She doubted he’d ever done that before. He seemed more likely to brag about his innumerable conquests.
“By whose standards?” she asked. She was starting to fall for this guy and needed to know what she was up against. In the past she’d always been so very careful not to fall too hard for any man. Keeping them at a distance made it harder for them to break her heart, and even after what she’d been through as a child, she had to admit the tender organ was embarrassingly soft.
“By any standards. It’s not my island, by the way. It’s Dare’s.”
Her jaw dropped. “Dare’s?”
“He’s with his family this break—probably helping Trey get ready for his wedding—so he let me borrow it.”
She shook her head at the outlandish idea of borrowing an island.
“I never expected Dare to—” She flushed. Why wouldn’t Dare own an island for private orgies? She was sure he was a hot-blooded man. Just because he was introverted didn’t mean he couldn’t whisk some lucky woman off to a tropical paradise for a little alone time.
“As far as I know, he has never brought a woman here either,” Steve said, leaning back against his seat as the small jet began to taxi.
Either?
“It’s where we go to ensure we aren’t recognized,” he added, “to completely let down our guard and relax. To get away.”
“Not to party yourself into oblivion and have wild sex orgies?”
He grinned. “What kind of perverted maniac do you think I am?”
“The right kind.”
He laughed, the rich, deep sound making her heart pound. “I hope I can live up to your wildest expectations.”
He already had, but he wasn’t exactly what she’d expected. He was so much more. Once the plane lifted off and reached altitude, she anticipated him jumping her eager bones, but they got to talking about high school. Surprisingly, he’d been a football, basketball, and baseball jock even though he’d been several years younger than his classmates; not so surprisingly, she’d been involved in multiple animal welfare projects, many of which she continued to champion when she wasn’t following Iona toward stardom.
“If I wasn’t your biggest fan, I’d encourage you to go to college to become a veterinarian or a zoologist or something,” he said, stroking the hand he held on the armrest between them.
“I thought about it,” she admitted. “But I’m content. Inspired even. And even though I’ll never make much money helping animals at a shelter, I do feel like I make a difference. That’s what’s important to me.”
“You won’t need to worry about money. Your music is going to make you a very wealthy woman.”
She tried to cling to his confidence in her, and the self-assuredness that Iona tried to instill in the entire band, but she couldn’t quite believe their tragic little songs would ever catch on well enough for Baroquen to have true success.
“I hate to admit that Sam Baily is right about anything,” Steve said, “but he was right about Baroquen. The band is going to be a music sensation. And it’s going to happen quickly. That’s why I had to swoop in and claim you for myself before every man on the planet notices you and wants what I have.”
She swallowed, trying not to let his words cloud her judgment, searching for a way to lessen the heaviness of his claims over her. She wanted to be his—she couldn’t deny that. But this relationship—if that was where this was truly headed—was moving far too fast for her sensibilities.
“I think we—you—need to slow down a little,” she said, even as her heart cried out that it didn’t want him to slow down in the slightest.
“I’ve hardly touched you since we got on this plane,” he said, squeezing her hand as if he refused to break that final contact.
“I’m not talking about the physical part being too fast. If anything, I wish that part was going faster. It’s the emotional entanglement that’s making me anxious.”
“I thought nice girls wanted all the feelings before focusing on the physical.”
She grinned at him. “You think I came with you for feelings?”
“I assumed they’d be a requirement.”
“More of a nuisance. I just want a quick and dirty affair.” She knew she was saying that to try to keep him at a distance because he was already much too close. He leaned across her seat and kissed her, stealing all rational thought with the sweep of his tongue against her lips.
He pulled away slowly, his eyes searching hers. “That’s just too fucking bad, Red. I always get what I want, and our affair can be dirty, but it will not end quickly. It won’t end at all.”
“We can’t continue this in Europe.” While they’d been at Pops’s farm, she’d started imagining how much fun they could have exploring all the sites in Europe, but she had to think rationally. The next three months would make or break her band, and she couldn’t let herself be distracted, no matter how much she wanted this man.
“And that’s the only thing making you hesitate?”
She stared into his eyes, thinking of all the reasons she should be cautious. The fact that he was the most famous rock drummer in the world was a major consideration, but his party-boy reputation held a close second, and his womanizing ways were straight at the top of her precautionary list. But the longer she stared at him, the less any of those things mattered, and yes, the tour was the only barrier that truly made her hesitate to toss her heart at his feet and give the uncommon connection between them a chance to grow.
“Yes,” she said. “The only thing.”
“I’m tempted to call off the entire tour,” he said.
Her heart leapt into her throat. That was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Her hand flew out to grasp his forearm, but before she could beg him to reconsider, he added, “But I wouldn’t do that to you.”
She released her breath, her head swimming from lack of air. Iona wouldn’t hesitate to murder her for destroying their big opportunity over some guy. Even if that guy was Steve Aimes.
“So the next few days will have to be spectacular enough to tide me over for three months,” he said.
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a woman,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. Jeez, until a couple of hours ago, she had never even had an orgasm while with a man. Did he expect her to suddenly become some sex kitten? Because he was going to be entirely disappointed.
“Don’t worry,” he said, brushing his fingers lightly over her cheek as he continued to stare into her eyes. She couldn’t look away or even blink. “I’m already completely hooked.”
“Me too.”
“I’m glad. I was starting to think this infatuation was one-sided.”
She shook her head. “I’ve always been very cautious about matters of the heart.” She instinctually reached for the bullet on her bracelet and squeezed it into her palm. “Maybe because I came so close to losing it for real.”
“Just thinking about that makes me ache,” he whispered. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers. “The world would be a much darker place without you in it.”
She cupped his jaw in her hands and tilted her head to claim his mouth. His words were so sweet that they made her ache with emotion, yet the moment their lips met, that ache shifted into something entirely physical. God, she wanted him. She hoped he’d ravish her soon.
He kissed her so deeply and so thoroughly that she moaned. Her trembling hands slid down his neck to his chest, exploring hard muscles concealed beneath soft cotton. Her fingers bumped over the ridges of his abs, and she silently cursed the armrest between them. Still, the barrier didn’t stop her hand from sliding up under his shirt to touch the warm, smooth skin beneath the fabric. When she discovered a narrow strip of coarse hair just beneath his navel, she followed it down to the waistband of his jeans. Dare she? She peeked at his face from under her lashes and found his eyes closed, his face twisted in an agonized expression. Did he like being touched or . . . She pressed a hand against the hard ridge in his pants, and his breath caught. He pushed his head back against the seat but didn’t encourage or discourage her exploration. She wasn’t used to initiating sexual encounters. It was a little intimidating, but also liberating and arousing.
“Would it be okay if I . . .”
“You don’t have to ask,” he said, pressing her hand against his hard-on. “I’m completely at your mercy. Do as you please.”
She glanced up at the lit fasten-seat-belt sign and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at it. Still, there was plenty she could do to his gorgeous body before they reached altitude and she could free herself from her seat.
“Put your hands on the armrest and don’t move,” she said, half expecting him to refuse her request. When he did exactly as instructed, a thrill of empowerment raced through her. He clung to the armrests as she pushed his shirt up his belly and stroked his skin in slow, teasing motions. He squirmed but didn’t protest further as she took her time getting to know the rock-hard abs he was famous for. Lord, this man had a body that should be thoroughly appreciated. The strong and well-defined muscles quivered beneath her fingertips, drawing a satisfied smile to her lips. She enjoyed building his anticipation as well as her own.
She unfastened the top button of his jeans, and an excited hiss escaped him. Hiding a wicked grin by tilting her chin down, she moved her attention back to his belly.
“I could stroke your abs all day,” she said, her typically husky voice even scratchier than usual.
“There are other parts of me that would enjoy a good stroke,” he said tightly.
“Let’s see if I can figure out which parts you’re referring to.”
“You know damn well what I’m referring to.”
“Maybe I should use my mouth instead of my hands,” she said.
“Yes. Yes, you should.”
Arching over the seat put strain on her lower back, but she managed to lock a sucking kiss to his side. His belly tightened, and he huffed out a breath, but he didn’t release his white-knuckled grip on the armrests. She kissed a trail down his side, one hand resting flat against his stomach. Her lips continued their journey as far as she could reach, but until she could take off her seat belt, her exploration remained limited.
“We have a problem,” she said, shifting her gaze up to his face to find him watching her. “I can’t reach.”
He grinned crookedly. “Just how small do you think it is?”
She remembered well that he was the opposite of small. Maybe she could reach his cock with her mouth. Well, the tip at the very least. Her hand slid down his belly to his fly, and he groaned as she slowly unbuttoned the remaining buttons there. The look of heated longing on his face made her squeeze her thighs together against a rush of achy needed. She forced her attention to where her hand was fumbling to release him from the confines of his pants, and when his cock sprang free, fully erect and straining, her breath caught. Every inch of this man’s body was exquisite. Her fingertips skimmed up the smooth skin of his cock and then trailed back down, slowly, gently, over and over again, until he was panting, his muscles went taut, and his cock twitched. She hadn’t realized they could do that.
Feeling a bit uncertain about her skill level—he must have gotten blow jobs from women far more experienced than she was—she bent over his lap and tentatively licked his cockhead. He gasped excitedly, encouraging her boldness. She sucked his tip into her mouth, rubbing her lips over the rim and swirling her tongue over the glans as she sucked softly. He strained toward her, attempting to lift his hips, but his seat belt held him snuggly in place. Further encouraged, she slid a hand into his open fly and cupped his balls, loving the way they slid beneath the loose skin of his sac as she fondled them gently.
His hand shifted to her head, but he didn’t try to force it down to take him deeper into her mouth. He merely stroked her hair from her face with tenderness.
“That feels amazing,” he said huskily.
Her original intention was to tease him for as long as he could stand it, but now she just wanted to make him come. To give him the intense pleasure he’d given her earlier. Her touch became bolder, caressing his balls, stroking his shaft. Her mouth took him deeper, suction tightening, tongue dancing against his most sensitive skin.
He groaned, his fingers tightening into a fist in her hair. The tug in her scalp each time she lowered her head seemed to tug at her pussy as well. She shifted uncomfortably, the emptiness between her thighs intensely unbearable. She couldn’t wait. Fuck the seat belt.
With a groan of impatience, she yanked open the latch, jerked her pants clean off, and sat on his lap, reaching between their bodies to direct his thick cock inside her. She rode him hard and fast, clutching the seatback in front of her. God, how he filled her. She couldn’t get enough.
“Fuck, you feel good, baby,” Steve said. His seat belt clicked open, and he shifted forward so she could sink deeper onto his lap. “Take what you want. Lose control.”
She had lost control, and while normally even the idea of losing control scared her, this lack of control was entirely rewarding. He was so hard, so thick . . . Their friction produced so much heat . . . Her excitement built, strengthening into a tight coil within her. Just let go, she coached herself. Let go. But the more she tried, the further release spiraled away. She was starting to fatigue.
Steve shifted against her back. “Need a hand, sweetheart?” he murmured close to her ear. He kissed her neck.
“A hand?”
His hand slid against her inner thigh, and then a fingertip rubbed up against her clit. Her pussy clenched, and she almost shot off his lap. She sank back down, not wanting him to ever fall free of her body. Not ever.
“Or maybe just a finger.” His teeth sank into her shoulder, and he expertly rubbed her to explosive orgasm within seconds. Her pussy clenched hard around his cock, spasms rippling from her center outward until every cell in her body was awakened by her release.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded, the up and down motion of her hips becoming jerky and less rhythmic as she gave him control over her release and trusted him to take her higher. Higher. Higher. Oh dear God, the man did not know how to disappoint.
“Not a chance,” he murmured against her shoulder. “We’re about to discover if you’re multi-orgasmic.”
She would have laughed if she could have done anything besides moan in pleasure and attempt to keep fucking him while her climax continued to rip through her. She knew she couldn’t come more than once. She’d tried it on herself and had never been able to reach a second orgasm. But then she’d never realized she could keep coming long after the first ripples of release tore through her. When at last he’d wrung every shred of pleasure from her weak body, she settled back onto his lap to catch her breath. He was still massaging her clit, and the sensitive flesh began to protest from over-stimulation. She caught Steve’s wrist to hold his hand still.
“Enough,” she panted.
“Not nearly enough.”
“I can’t take any more.”
“You’ll take everything I give you and like it.” He cupped her breast and pinched her nipple through her shirt.
She gasped in surprise as her pussy tightened around his cock with excitement and renewed need.
“Your pussy already knows it,” he said, the command in his tone making her shudder. “Now I just have to make the rest of you a believer.”
He wrapped an arm tight around her lower belly, grabbed the seat in front of them with his free hand, and in an incredible feat of strength, stood up with her still impaled by his cock. He pressed her front up against the back of the seat and shifted her legs so that her feet found the seat behind them. Once she had her balance, he shifted his hold to her hips, and began to thrust his hips.
He was rough as he pounded into her. She’d never had a man fuck her so hard. She never knew she could like it so much.
“Do you like to be fucked, sweet Roux?”
She caught his relentless rhythm, his brutal tempo, and rocked back to meet him. He fucked like he drummed—hard, fast, and rhythmic, putting his entire body into every beat.
“Answer me,” he demanded, his fingers pressing deep into her hips.
Had he asked her something? His deep voice echoed through her thoughts: Do you like to be fucked?
“Yes!”
“Say it.”
“I like to be fucked.” Her eyes shot open as her pussy tightened on the brink of release. “I’m gonna come!”
“Yeah, you are. And I’m going to fill your hot cunt to the brim with my cum.”
Her eyes widened at his crass words and widened further as her womb tightened and she reached orgasm a second time. This one felt different. Deeper. Less like ripples and more like intense spasms. She cried out, her body going stiff, trapped between the seat and his body. She would have sagged and slid to the floor if Steve hadn’t had a firm grip on her hips.
“I knew you had it in you.”
He patted her ass as if they were in the end zone and she’d just scored a touchdown.
“Now it’s my turn.”
When he pulled out, she cried out in protest. She wasn’t ready to part from him. Was he going to jack off onto her back? But he’d promised to fill her with his cum. She wanted that. She wanted him. She wanted all of him.
He dragged her limp body from between the seats and settled her onto her back on the sofa that ran along one side of the aisle. He peeled her shirt and bra from her body and shed his clothes before settling on top of her. The warmth of his bare skin against hers made her heart pound. Oh, this was nice. He felt so good nestled between her thighs. She wrapped both arms around his neck and stared up into his gorgeous brown eyes. He kissed her gently, reached between them and found her opening. He eased into her slowly, never breaking eye contact.
He was surprisingly tender as he took her with slow, churning strokes, peppering gentle kisses on her lips, her eyelids, her neck, and caressing her body as if she were a priceless work of art. Even as the heat between them rose and their skin became slick with sweat, he made her feel treasured and more than a little overwhelmed by the emotions swirling through her. His emotions were close to the surface as well. She could see the turbulence mixed with passion in his eyes. His raw vulnerability made her want to hold him and never let go. This was so much more than she’d bargained for. A gift, she realized, as he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm and wrist. How was it possible to love a man she barely knew? Not that she could tell him her feelings. He’d think she was stupid or insincere or wanted something as trivial as his fortune. But she only wanted one thing from him. She moved her free hand to the center of his chest and relished the feel of his heart pounding hard beneath her fingertips. His heart. That was what she wanted. His true heart. She knew he wouldn’t give it lightly. Not after it had been so thoroughly shattered by his ex-wife. But Roux vowed to never hurt him. Just love him and dare to believe he could someday love her in return.
He stroked her hair from her face and kissed her lips, and then he lifted his head to stare into her eyes again. “It’s been so long since I made love to a woman, I forgot how good it could be,” he said.
Her Steve-is-perfection fantasy bubble burst, and she jabbed him in the chest with one finger. “Liar.”
“Not a lie,” he said, capturing both her hands in his and pressing them to the sofa on either side of her head. “I fornicate, I fuck, I screw, but I don’t make love. Not like this.”
Now she felt bad. She blinked back tears and nodded, at a loss for words but wanting him to know that she understood this encounter was special to them both. She shouldn’t have belittled his sentiment. He kissed a drop of moisture from the corner of her eye and grinned down at her.
“Time for the grand finale.”
But she never wanted this to end. What if this was their last time together? What if it never felt this good again? What if her rational mind convinced her emotional one that all these feelings were just a product of physical attraction? What if, what if, what if . . . Her doubts scattered when Steve rose up on his knees, lifting her hips by supporting her lower back with one hand and placing the other over her mound. His thumb brushed her clit, and her entire body jerked in response.
“Ever come with a man?” he asked, the familiar cockiness in his tone a relief after all the overwhelming emotions he’d been stirring within her.
“Like having simultaneous orgasms?”
“Exactly like that.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Obviously not.”
“Well, you’re about to,” he said.
Doubtful. She’d already managed two explosive orgasms. He didn’t really think she was capable of a third, did he? Before she could even form a snarky comeback, he began to thrust. The shift in position had the head of his cock rubbing hard against her front wall. She gasped in surprise as an unfamiliar pleasurable sensation rocked through her pussy. That might not have been enough to send her flying on its own, but then his thumb began to massage her clit and within seconds she was thrashing in torment as he brought her to another peak.
“Yes,” she cried out. “Yes!”
She shattered, and he followed her over the edge. His hands shifted to her hips, pulling her hard onto his cock as he pushed into her.
“Oh God,” he groaned, his entire body quaking. He pulled out a couple of inches, but pressed balls deep again, still shuddering. “Mmm.” He pulled out all the way, and she felt a spurt of cum against her opening before he thrust into her one last time.
With a whoosh of breath, he shifted his legs out behind himself again and collapsed on top of her, squeezing her so tightly she could scarcely breathe. But she didn’t mind. She hugged him even closer.
They lay intertwined, breathing raggedly, for a long while.
Roux drifted in and out of sleep, not sure how much time had passed when the intercom crackled and startled her to full alertness.
Jordan announced, “We’ll be landing in about an hour. The persistent fasten-seat-belt sign is your punishment for making us late, Aimes. We have clear skies all around, and there’s a magnificent sunset forming off the right wing.”
Steve lifted his body off Roux’s and peered out the window over the back of the sofa. “She’s right,” he said. “You need to see this. It’s spectacular.”
She stared up at him, her heart pounding at his gorgeousness. “It sure is.”
He grinned when he recognized that she was staring at him and not at anything as mundane as a sunset. “So we’ve accomplished multiple orgasms and simultaneous orgasms this afternoon,” he said, settling over top of her with his weight supported on his elbows. “What should we tackle next?”
He stroked her hair from her face and kissed her brow. She melted into the sofa and released a contented sigh.
She had no idea what came next, but whatever it was, she was confident that he could deliver and that she’d enjoy both the journey and the ride.