[4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer (15 page)

So why did he feel so terribly forlorn? He
wanted to slap himself around the face. He was like a moon-sick calf, staring
at Callie longingly the way a person on a diet might gaze in the window of a
chocolate shop. He wanted her, and although he’d thought having her might sate
his hunger, all it had done was give him a taste of her, and he wanted to taste
her again.

After finishing the last drop of her
coffee, Callie replaced the cup in the saucer. “Well, shall we take that walk
along the beach?”

“Yes, sure. It’s a lovely evening.”

It was the understatement of the year, he
thought as they left the restaurant and took the steps down to the sand. The
sun was sinking toward the horizon, but it was warm enough to combat the sea
breeze. The golden sand stretched away as far as the eye could see, and the
ocean sparkled blue. The sky looked like a Turner watercolor, all blues and
oranges and purples. But it was the woman by his side who held all his
attention.

For once, Gene had forgone his suit,
relaxing a little now he knew the STG were onto Kirk, and he wore jeans and a
short-sleeved blue shirt, open at the neck, smart and yet relaxed, too. Callie
had also changed from her business clothes into a long sundress that brushed
her feet, the tie-dyed purple and orange color a mirror image of the sunset.
She looked beautiful enough to make his heart ache, and her curves made his
hands itch to touch them.

For God’s sake
, he scolded himself as they bent to remove their shoes and let the
cool sand sink between their toes. He couldn’t make the mistake of giving in to
his lust again. He had to remain strong and fight his hormones.

He watched the breeze lift her blonde hair
off her neck and imagined placing his lips there, and felt a sweeping sense of
despair. He was pathetic. Hopeless. So, so weak. Because he wanted her, and his
desire for her was so strong he knew he couldn’t fight it.

Callie bent to pick up a piece of shell,
straightened, and turned it over in her hands. It was paua, the outside a dull
stone color, the inside a beautiful blend of shining blue and turquoise. For
some inexplicable reason, it made her feel happy.

She welcomed the emotion, because she’d
woken up feeling very flat and not at all her usual self. She’d scolded herself
for it all morning, both during breakfast and on the trip to Nelson. What had
she expected, for crying out loud? That Gene would declare his love for her and
get down on bended knee? They’d had sex. It was purely a physical thing and
hadn’t involved their feelings at all. And it had been great. They’d been
carried away by lust, as if they’d placed a pan of water on the stove to boil,
and now they’d removed it from the heat, things would simmer down and then
return to normal.

The problem was that things weren’t simmering
down. She couldn’t shake images of last night from her mind. They paraded
repeatedly through her brain as if they were suitcases on an airport conveyor
belt that someone had forgotten, going around and around. And not just images,
but sensations… the memory of his lips on hers, his tongue sliding into her
mouth, the smell of his aftershave, the way he’d picked her up and carried her
to the bed so he could thrust deeper and carry her away to ecstasy.

Sex with Jamie had been good, and she
couldn’t complain about any of the partners she’d had before him, but there had
been something about the intensity of sex with Gene that had been different.
Her previous relationships had led gradually to the bedroom, sometimes after
months of dating. She’d never felt such dark desire, such an intense need to
possess a person, and to be possessed in return. It had shocked her, and she
didn’t know what to make of that shock.

She’d tried to reason with herself that it
didn’t mean anything. Traveling with him had led to a false intimacy between
them, like when actors worked with makeup staff on a movie set. They didn’t
really have anything in common, and no doubt when Becky returned and he left to
continue with whatever he ended up doing, they’d never see each other again.

She felt as if every relationship she’d
experienced in the past had been childlike compared to last night’s, even the
one with Jamie. Although she knew she was being ridiculous, she felt like a
little girl who’d been playing at having boyfriends, as if she’d understood
nothing about men and sex until this moment. She’d grown up thinking that sex
should only be an expression of love between two people, and although she would
never have said so, she hadn’t understood when some of her friends had indulged
in one-night stands, not understanding why someone would desire sex without the
comfort of a steady relationship.

She hadn’t understood the pull of desire,
and the sheer craving for someone that could overwhelm everything.

But even though she told herself it meant
nothing, and she had to be grown up about this, and she couldn’t press Gene for
more because he’d made his feelings clear, her heart wanted more, and that was
what made her sad.

So she welcomed the small flutter of
happiness as she turned over the shell, and she looked up at Gene with a smile.

The look on his face made her catch her
breath and inhale sharply. “What?”

He shook his head, apparently speechless,
and then before she could say or do anything else, his arms were around her,
his lips were on hers, and he was kissing the living daylights out of her.

Callie gave a muffled exclamation, but he
didn’t release her, and in the end she went limp in his arms. Closing her eyes,
she gave in to the embrace and just accepted the kiss, opening up her senses
and making the most of him while she had him.

The warm water washed over her feet, and as
she curled her toes, they sank into the cool sand. The smell of the salty sea
mingled with the aroma from a barbecue someone was having further along the
beach, the smells of summer, bringing with them a lightening of her heart and a
curve to her lips.

Gene’s hands were warm on her back, and
when he realized she wasn’t trying to pull away, his kiss grew gentle, his lips
moving tenderly, while his tongue played with hers.

It took him a long time to finally move
back, and when he did, Callie held on to his arms, afraid that if she let go
her legs would give way.

“Um…” Her brain felt like a ball of knotted
wool. “Kind of getting conflicting messages here.”

“I know.” He cupped her face and tucked the
strand of hair that fluttered in the sea breeze behind her ear. “I apologize.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, and I am sorry. But I can’t keep
away from you. I thought that after last night all our passion would have
vanished, but I can’t stop thinking about you.” His thumb brushed her cheek,
his voice turning husky. “It wasn’t enough. I want you again. I want more of
you. Last time was hard and fast because I was afraid my brain wouldn’t let me
finish before the guilt took over. I want you again, but slowly this time. I
want you naked on the bed so I can kiss every inch of your skin. I want to
taste you and make you come on my tongue, then take you and make you come while
you look into my eyes. Will you let me, Callie?” She shivered, and he groaned.
“Do that again and I’ll take you here on the sand.”

“Gene…” Her heart pounded and her cheeks
had grown hot. “I don’t understand. What’s changed?”

“What’s changed is that I’ve accepted I’m
weak. I’m fooling myself if I think I can stay away from you.”

She tried to slow her breathing so she
didn’t hyperventilate. The look in his gray eyes was so intense it turned her
to mush inside. “I… I don’t know. Last night was so hard when you left, and
I’ve only just talked myself around.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I won’t do that to
you again. I thought I was doing the decent, honest thing, but I was wrong.
We’ll talk about where we go from here, I promise. I won’t make decisions for
both of us. Just… come to bed with me again.”

Callie felt dizzy. “Oh…”

He moved closer to her again, and slid his
hands onto her bottom so he could pull her hips to his. His erection pressed
against her mound, leaving her in no doubt as to his desire for her.

“Let me make love to you,” he murmured.
“Let me see if you taste like strawberries and cream, like I suspect.”

“Gene!” Her cheeks flamed.

He gave a sexy chuckle and nuzzled her ear.
“Let’s go back to the villa, and we’ll open the balcony doors. I’ll slowly
remove your clothes, and then you can just lie there and be pleasured in the
evening sun. How does that sound?”

“Fucking marvelous,” she said, worried she
was dribbling.

He laughed. “Nicely put.”

“On one condition, though. We both remove
our clothes.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but the
look on her face obviously convinced him she was serious. “Callie…”

“Once was impulse,” she said. “If we have
sex again, it means there’s more between us, and whatever happens, I want to
start off the right way. No secrets, Gene.”

He glanced away, looking out to sea, his
smile fading.

“I know you have a scar,” she whispered,
resting her hand on his hip. “Don’t be ashamed of it. It’s part of you, part of
your past. Don’t shut me out.” She didn’t say what she was thinking—that he’d
obviously shut Angela out, and that had brought about the end of their
relationship. There was no way of telling how things would pan out between
them, but she didn’t want to begin with them hiding more than they had to.

She cupped his cheek and rubbed a thumb
across his lips. “Deal?”

She felt them curve up. “Deal,” he said.

“Come on, then.” She took his hand and they
walked back across the sand, then up the grassy bank and along the road to the
villa. They didn’t say much as they walked, but excitement rode bareback on her
blood through her veins, and she could feel his tension and knew he was
experiencing the same sensations.

Still, she couldn’t eradicate a small
amount of doubt that lingered like sea spray in the air. Was she doing the
right thing? The more times she slept with him, the more she was going to fall
for him. She wasn’t the sort of person who could indulge in casual sex and
remain untouched emotionally. How would she feel if, once again, he brought her
to the dizzy heights of pleasure and then rolled over and cursed?

Nibbling her bottom lip, she unlocked the
door to her room and went in, and he closed the door behind him. As he’d
promised, he crossed to the far windows and opened them wide, letting in the
evening sun, smells, and sounds. The cry of seagulls and the sound of music
filtered through—someone was playing Barry White on the beach.

Gene laughed as he came back to her. “It
sounds as if I’ve set that up, but I promise I haven’t.”

Callie smiled, leaning back against a chest
of drawers, then moving forward hastily as she remembered what had happened the
previous night.

He tipped his head and studied her, then
turned away and walked over to the minibar. “How about a glass of wine?”

“Just a small one.” She felt suddenly
nervous, and not at all sure she wanted to go ahead with this. The heat of
passion was one thing, but the things he’d told her he wanted to do to her made
her hands shake as she accepted the glass half-filled with Sauvignon.

“Try to relax.” His doubt appeared to have
vanished, she wasn’t sure why, and he seemed full of confidence as he took her
hand and led her over to the window. “Look at that lovely view.”

It was gorgeous, the ocean reflecting the
copper-colored sky, the sun still holding enough heat to warm her as she sipped
the wine, then tilted her face up to let the cool liquid slide down her throat.

“You’re so beautiful.”

She looked up at him, her heart racing. He
was so much taller than she was, and although she loved his suits, in his
casual shirt and jeans he looked rakish and relaxed, like a cowboy who’d won a
lasso competition and was now claiming his prize.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t
want to.” He lifted a hand and rested a finger on her bare shoulder, then slid
it down her arm. “But I promise you’ll want to.”

Callie shivered, aware she was being
seduced. Last time, without meaning to, she’d done the seducing, by enticing
him with suggestive looks and encouraging him to give up his principles to take
her to bed. This time, though, he was the one doing the seducing. She knew that
if she said no loudly, he would accept it and wouldn’t push her—he was a
gentleman, after all. But he wouldn’t take her indecision or her silence as
proof that she wanted him to stop. If she didn’t want to end up in bed with
him, she was going to have to make it quite clear.

His finger reached her free hand, and he
lifted and turned it, then drew a spiral on her palm. She lowered her gaze to
watch his strong, tanned hand move up to brush the sensitive skin of her inner
wrist, then further up the ticklish skin to tease the crook of her elbow. She shuddered,
then bit her lip, conscious of what he’d said the last time she’d shivered.
Do
that again and I’ll take you here on the sand
. What a thought. Making love
outdoors in broad daylight, the risk of being discovered only adding to the
excitement coursing through her veins.

He swallowed another mouthful of wine, then
traced up to her shoulder, over the neckline of her dress, then across to the
other arm, continuing his gentle exploration of her body. She looked up and met
his eyes, feeling a sweeping sense of helplessness at the determination within
them. She could read the thoughts passing through his mind, because he’d
already told her them on the beach.

I want you naked on the bed so I can
kiss every inch of your skin. I want to taste you and make you come on my
tongue…

How could she fight against such a
beautiful seduction? Callie was lost, and there was nothing she could do about
it.