Baddest Bad Boys (35 page)

He did the opposite, turning slightly toward her and spreading his legs slightly. She took advantage of the moment and cupped his testicles, massaging them gently. They felt heavy. Full. And as she caressed his sac, his cock grew longer.

She glanced up, saw that he watched her through hooded eyes. If you’re going to do it, do it. Opening her mouth, she closed it over the head, easing in the first two inches. The heat of it surprised her. His body jerked as he drew a sharp breath.

“I’ve got to go,” he said, voice strained.

His reaction emboldened her. She swirled her tongue on the underside of his shaft, tracing the ridge of the head. She tightened her lips, took in another inch. The width of him stretched her mouth. He was so hard, yet the skin so deliciously soft. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the clean taste of him.

His hand slid into her hair, moving the wet mass back off her shoulders. To better see?

“That feels good, sweetheart,” he praised.

Encouraged, she pulled back, then pressed forward again, taking in more of him. His wet shaft glided easily over her lips. She quickly found a rhythm that mimicked the in-out of lovemaking. Then she remembered something he did that had driven her crazy.

When Ellie started sucking, Max’s knees locked. His fingers tightened in her hair. Then abruptly he pulled away, completely.

She glanced up. “Did I do something wrong?”

He pulled her to her feet. They stood, both panting. “Hell, no! You’re doing everything right. Too right.”

“Are you afraid you’ll come, then?”

“I know I’ll come. I’m afraid I’ll be too rough, El.”

She smiled, pleased to know she had that effect on him. She touched his penis, felt it lurch in her hand. “We can’t leave you like this.”

“We’re not.”

Grasping her waist, Max lifted her straight up. “Wrap your legs around my hips.”

As she did, she felt Max press up inside, filling her with a suddenness that stole her breath.

“Hold on. We’re going to storm the beach together.”

 

Max woke up on the fourth morning with a hard-on. Ellie was curled into a ball beside him on the bed, exhausted from making love on and off during the night.

The recriminations came out of nowhere, pounding him.

You shouldn’t have walked away seven years ago. You should have told her you loved her on her wedding day. You shouldn’t have avoided her all these years since Stefan’s death.

All true. Damn it, he and Ellie needed to talk. About everything—their feelings, their past, their present. It was their only hope for a future together.

Which meant he needed to come clean about his real reasons for bringing her to the island. The police had made a grisly discovery that night, when Max had stayed behind at the beach house. A rape kit, they’d called it. Her attacker had brought everything he’d needed to subdue and terrorize. And that very same night, the bastard had the balls to send her another e-mail, promising to wait her out, to finish the job. Max had intercepted that message before Ellie saw it, but so far police had little luck tracing it. Her stalker was a pro, and seemed determined to get to her.

In the end, Ellie’s proposed deal had turned out to be a convenient means to keep her out of sight, and more importantly, out of harm’s way while a trap was set for her attacker. That Max hadn’t told Ellie any of this made sense at one time. He hadn’t wanted to upset her, hadn’t wanted to risk her refusal. Hadn’t wanted to pass up the chance of seven days in her arms.

But how would she react when he told her the truth today? The good news was, they were on an island. She couldn’t run far. He debated briefly about waking her, coming clean right now. Except that would ruin some of his other plans.

He had to go to Charleston this morning, for what he hoped was the last renegotiation with Haru Mizuno. Damn it, if anything else came up with this merger, he’d consider pulling the plug. He didn’t expect things to be easy, but when this many problems occurred, there was a reason—beyond Murphy’s Law.

While in Charleston, Max would also sign off on a new shareholder agreement. Effective today, he was relinquishing his control of her shares. He had resisted before, because he’d wanted to keep her in his life. Now…

He still wanted her in his life. But only if it were her choice. Which meant giving her the freedom to walk away. His feelings for Ellie weren’t simple. Or neat. Love never was. That self-admission had been difficult.

As expected, there was an outcry of resistance at his corporate headquarters over his decision to release her stock. “What if she sells out?” his attorney, also a good friend, had asked. “You could be saddled with a partner with different goals. Or worse, a hidden agenda.”

“I’ll deal with it. No matter what, I’ll always be the majority shareholder,” Max had replied.

What he didn’t tell his attorney was that Ellie had given him an envelope last night, containing their original signed agreements. “It’s part of our deal,” she’d said. The deal. Well, he planned to hand those papers back to her today, along with his new ones.

Then he’d offer her a totally different proposal.

Which reminded him: he wanted to leave early and stop by a jeweler, too.

 

Ellie couldn’t stay in bed after Max left. He had woken her the same way every morning, coaxing her up from sleep with his body before driving her crazy.

This morning had been different. Their lovemaking had been so excruciatingly slow and tender, she had gotten tears in her eyes. The tears returned now just thinking about it, making her glad she was alone.

Last night she’d been upset to learn Max had a business meeting scheduled for today. But after he’d explained how important the Japanese merger was, she’d felt bad for, well, pouting. That’s when she’d decided to go ahead and give him the stock documents.

She’d gone to her room and returned with a thick envelope. He’d set it aside, unopened, refusing to discuss it before their week was up. She knew he assumed the envelope held the signed copies of the business proposal he’d sent weeks ago. How shocked would he be to learn she’d reworked the papers? That she intended to sign over all her shares of DSI to him?

Their deal had nothing to do with it. It’s what she’d intended all along. The problem was that now she felt bad using the shares for sexual exploitation. She loved Max. And while that particular self-acknowledgment hadn’t been too shocking, admitting it had uncovered a bigger truth. This morning, when Max had made love to her so gently, she’d realized she’d never stopped loving him.

And one day, one week, would never get Max out of her system.

What the hell did she do now?

 

Ellie checked her e-mail, relieved to note that the stalker-creep hadn’t sent any new missives. Had Max’s presence at the beach house that night scared him off for good? She hoped so. Being here had certainly put the incident far from her mind.

Since Max was off working, she decided to follow suit and tried to work on the design proposal for Peter Fourakis’s hotel chain. But everything she came up with felt canned, forced. Which was frustrating, considering what a job like this could do for relaunching her career. A nod from a job this large, with Peter’s backing, would go a long way toward erasing her social stigma. And guaranteed opportunities like this were rare. This job was in the bag, Peter had told her.

She frowned. That was part of the problem, wasn’t it? Peter would accept anything she came up with. And for all the wrong reasons. While he was one of the few people not interested in her wealth, he was interested in her stake in DeLuca Shipping. Max and Peter had been intense rivals since their college days.

Damn it, she was weary of people wanting—and in some cases, not wanting—to do business with her because of the DeLuca name. Couldn’t anyone understand that she wanted to make it on her own merit?

Maybe it was time to put her money where her mouth was. Sitting forward, she deleted the proposal. She would send Peter a note of explanation later.

Restless, she changed into a swimsuit and went for a walk on the beach. The weather was perfect, the sun bright. Seagulls marched along the sand, moving in unison as she approached. Then, when she got too near, they’d flap away, landing behind her. If only her problems could be sidestepped as easily.

She bent down to pick up a seashell. The sound of a boat motor caught her attention. She held a hand above her eyes, and saw the telltale white breakwater of a large powerboat headed to the island. Max! She felt a rush of warmth low in her abdomen and headed to the dock to wait.

Then she had a better idea. He had remarked last night that the only place they hadn’t made love yet was in the swimming pool. She intended to fix that.

At the house, she went to her room long enough to brush her hair and grab a towel. She had time, as the boat hadn’t docked yet and had to be moored and secured.

On the patio, she angled one of the lounge chairs closer to the library doors, wanting to make certain that if Max went to his office first, he’d spot her. As she spread her towel out, she recalled their lovemaking from this morning. Max had said he couldn’t get enough of her. Did he mean that?

She stretched out in the chair, then impulsively stripped off her top. If he came in with business still on his mind, she intended to distract him.

It seemed like hours passed before she heard one of the doors open. She had her eyes closed, and imagined Max looking at her. Her nipples tightened. Unable to stand it any longer, she sat up and smiled.

Then froze.

Bridgette St. Regis stood in the opening, her finger pointed at Ellie. Beside Bridgette was a man with a camera, busily snapping photographs of her. Ellie realized she had left the front door unlocked, thinking of Max walking in.

Furious, she grabbed the towel and covered herself before striding over to them. “What do you think you’re doing?” she said to the man with the camera. He ignored her, continuing to take photos almost frantically.

Bridgette gave her a malicious smile. “Have you met Guido? He’s under exclusive contract with Hot Life. You’ll probably make the cover, so I’d smile.”

Ellie thrust out her hand to block the lens. “Quit taking my picture,” she demanded. Then she turned on Bridgette. “Max won’t be happy you’re here. I know you are not welcome.”

“Don’t underestimate my pull with Max,” Bridgette said. “We’ve been lovers a long time.”

Ellie started to speak, then stopped. She wasn’t about to stand around and discuss Max with this woman. She turned and made her way into the house. She’d call Max herself and—

But just as she stepped inside, she saw Gerard Warhaven sprint through the front door. Her relief at seeing Max’s security chief was tangible. “Where’s Max?”

“He’s not back yet. But there’s a marine charter at the dock,” he began. “Who came—”

His response confused Ellie. “Wait. If you didn’t come with Max…” She slapped her forehead. The guest houses. Max had avoided showing her those. Now she knew why. “You’ve been here all along, haven’t you?”

Gerard didn’t deny it. “Mr. DeLuca will explain later. For now, I need you to go to your room and stay there until I get to the bottom of this.” Dismissing her, he moved past her, having spotted Bridgette and the reporter by the pool.

Furious, Ellie went up the stairs and quickly threw on the first clothes she found. She was a fool to think her so-called deal had really captured Max’s attention. Gerard’s presence was proof that Max had a private agenda, one that he hadn’t shared with her.

From the upstairs window she saw that the boat and its driver were still moored at the dock. Grabbing her briefcase and purse, she made her way down the back staircase. From the hall, she saw Gerard and Bridgette arguing with the photographer.

Silently, Ellie slipped out a side door and hurried to the dock. Right now she wanted to get as far away as possible. The boat driver stood when she approached.

“Where’s that other lady?” he asked. “She owes me fare.”

Ellie climbed in the boat. “They’re staying. And I’ll pay double if we can leave right now.”

“Money is money.” The man shrugged and fired up the engine. In the distance, Ellie heard a shout. She looked up, saw Gerard frantically waving from the house.

“What about him?” the driver asked.

“Get out of here before he makes it to the dock and I’ll make it triple.”

 

Bridgette St. Regis watched the boat pull away. Scaring Ellie off had been easy. But now she had to think fast. She’d been told the island’s caretaker was old. The young blond dude was a surprise, but she had yet to meet a young blond dude she couldn’t handle.

She tugged her décolletage lower as she pulled a tiny cell phone out and punched in a few numbers.

“She just left. Wait at the docks and follow her so no one sees you. And send that boat back out for me!”