Caught Up in You (23 page)

Andrew finally stood upright again, though Wyatt could see the move was strained.
He straightened his shirt. “No need. Just guys being guys.”

Reluctantly, the two men released their death grip on Wyatt. One stepped toward Andrew.
“Do you want us to send the medic, sir?”

Wyatt barely resisted giving Andrew a real need for a medic, but he knew that would
only end up with him in some dirty island prison overnight and Kelsey left on her
own here. Not an option.
Kelsey
. Jesus. If Gwen had told Carmichael, who was to say she hadn’t told others or that
Carmichael hadn’t spread the gossip. Now Kelsey was out with women who potentially
knew her secret. He needed to get out of here and go to her.

Carmichael declined medical attention and dismissed both the guards and the poker
dealer, then turned to Wyatt. “Let’s call us even now, all right? You got a free shot
at me, and I resisted letting them throw you in a jail cell.”

Wyatt gritted his teeth. “I have no idea what you’re trying to accomplish—”

“A partnership,” Carmichael said with a snake-oil salesman smile. “Just like Scott
has with your daddy. And I promise it will be more than beneficial to both of us.
You don’t need to like me to make money off me. Don’t let your pride make you stupid.”

“Fuck you and your money.” Wyatt turned and headed toward the door.

Carmichael chuckled. “Go have a drink and cool off, old friend. Once you realize you’re
letting adolescent emotions get in the way of a good business decision, we’ll talk.”

TWENTY-TWO

Wyatt stormed into the cabana, slamming the door so
hard behind him that the waterscape painting on the far wall tilted askew and almost
fell off the nail. Kelsey froze at the side of the bed, her open suitcase lying in
front of her.

“Un-fucking-believable! Goddamn it all. Why I fucking agreed to come to some party
hosted by Satan himself—”

Kelsey shook her head, the tears she’d cried over the last half hour threatening to
return. “I’m sorry, Wyatt. I’m so sorry . . .”

His gaze snapped toward her, pinning her like a butterfly to a board. “What the hell
are you apologizing for?”

“Someone figured it out, didn’t they? I didn’t say the right things. I choked.” She
looked down at the bed. “I’m such a fucking disaster. I don’t even know how to
appear
normal.”

“Kelsey—”

“I’m so sorry that I’ve . . . embarrassed you. You should’ve just taken a normal girl
here with you. I know how much your reputation��”

He was across the room in the span between blinks. She looked down at her toes, still
fighting tears, but he pushed his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her face upward.
“Listen to me. You didn’t do anything. Gwen told Carmichael. And a ‘normal’ girl?
What the fuck does that even mean?”

“Normal. A girl who doesn’t have so many skeletons waiting to pounce, one who can
go to a spa day with other women and talk about things like high school and college
and her job without having to make shit up.”

“Stop it,” he said firmly. “I would never, ever be embarrassed by you.”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “You don’t have to—hell,
I’d
be embarrassed by me, Wyatt. The way some of those women looked at me today when
I stumbled over my answers.”

Her stomach flipped over at the memory of it, settling down into the pedicure chair
all smiles only to see that judgment in the others’ eyes when they started throwing
probing questions at her. That . . . dismissal.
You are no longer worthy of our regard
.

“No,” he said, his tone as sharp as an ax through ice. “Do not give those women and
their opinions that kind of power over you.
I’m
embarrassed that I even know people who would cast you aside because you come from
a different background than they do. Fucking elitist bullshit.”

She shook her head, another awful realization hitting her, and tears snuck by this
time. Those women had acted like they were on a mission today, like they were playing
some kind of game they were sure they’d win. Kelsey had thought she’d attracted that
shrewd speculation because she’d struggled with some of her answers. But if Gwen had
told Carmichael, what if . . . “Oh, God.”

“What’s wrong?”

All of it started to make too much sense. “What if they
know
, Wyatt? I thought I’d made a mistake somehow today, so they’d figured out I didn’t
come from money. But God, what if they weren’t just being suspicious and nosy but
already knew it all? What if Gwen told them
everything
?”

Wyatt’s jaw clenched. “I’ll make sure she rues the day if she did.”

A sick dread washed through Kelsey. “They’re all going to assume you paid me to be
here, that I’m a hooker.”

“Screw what they think. You and I know that’s not the case.” He looked from her, to
the clothes clutched in her hands, to the open suitcase on the bed. “What are you
doing?”

“What do you think? I’m packing. I already called and verified there’s another boat
to the main island in an hour. We need to get out of here.”

He took the shirt she’d been holding in her hand and tossed it to the bed. “We’re
not going anywhere.”

“What?”
Her voice was shrill in the quiet room. “We can’t stay. Especially now. Everyone—”

“Can go fuck themselves,” he said, his eyes blazing. “Running away now makes us look
ashamed, like we’ve been caught in some big scandal. We haven’t. Neither of us have
lied—you like to cook, you want to go to culinary school, and you want a bakery.”

“We told them I was your girlfriend.”

He circled his arms around her waist, his expression softening. “So let’s make that
the truth, too.”

She blinked up at him. “What are you talking about? We said—”

“Don’t freak out. I know we promised each other this was just for fun, that it would
end when we get back home. But this week has been one of the best I can remember,
and I’m not so ready to give this up yet. Are you?”

She averted her gaze, unable to handle the earnest look in his eyes. More time with
Wyatt? It was about as alluring a prospect as she could imagine. But it was so risky.
Anxiety curled in her belly, her heart waging a battle with her head, and her libido
cheering for the wrong team. “Wyatt . . .”

“I’m not saying til death do us part or anything, love. But what does girlfriend/boyfriend
have to mean beyond the fact that we’re seeing each other and no one else for a little
while?” He stroked the base of her spine, sending hot chills along the column. “And
all these assholes can move onto some other gossip when they see that you didn’t disappear
the minute we got back to town.”

“Is that what this is about? Making the ruse look more real?” she asked.

The corner of his mouth lifted and he kissed the tip of her nose, which was probably
still bright red from crying. “No, this is complete and utter selfishness on my part.
I want you, Kelsey. In my bed. At my side. And I want it for longer than two more
days. The other is just a convenient side effect.”

She pressed the top of her head to his chest, the weight of temptation crushing her.
Wyatt had been the subject of her fantasies for so long and now she was living them.
Being with him was fun and sexy and goddammit, it made her feel happy. It was so,
so dangerous. Was it better to taste the best, most delicious chocolate in the world,
knowing you’d only get a few bites? Or was it better to have never tasted it and live
your life not knowing what you’d missed?

She’d already had far too many nibbles of the forbidden confection known as Wyatt
Austin and now he was offering more—girlfriend, more time, a legitimate place in his
life—at least for a little while. “Wyatt, this scares me.”

He rubbed her bare arms and sighed. “It kind of scares me, too. But this doesn’t change
anything except the amount of time. Let’s give ourselves a month. If you had decided
to do all your training with me, you would’ve spent the full month with me anyway.
Believe me, I never had any intention of letting you finish it up with the lumberjack.”

She laughed against his chest.

“Plus, I just punched our illustrious host in the stomach in front of security so
I’m feeling ballsy today.”

She pulled back, her jaw going slack. “You did what?”

“He’s lucky I didn’t throw him through a damn window.”

“What the hell happened?” He frowned, and she knew instantly. “He said something about
me, didn’t he?”

“I don’t want you going anywhere near him for the rest of the trip,” he said, leaning
over to close her suitcase and pull it off the bed. “And I was right not to want his
business. He’s not above board.”

“What do you mean?”

“He alluded to some things that have my warning bells going off.” He set her suitcase
back in the closet, a weariness settling over his features. “Honestly, I don’t even
want to think about some of the implications he made. I need to talk to my father,
but he’s still at that therapy thing with my mom. Until then, I’m done worrying about
it. It’s probably Carmichael blowing smoke anyway.”

She sat on the bed, exhausted by the roller coaster of the last few hours. “So what
now?”

He reached behind him and pulled off his T-shirt, distracting Kelsey with that lickable
torso of his. “Right now, we’re taking a lazy afternoon nap because you look wiped
out and we’re going to need our energy to deal with everyone tonight.”

She lifted a brow. “That’s all I’m going to need energy for?”

He slipped out of his shorts, leaving him blessedly naked, giving her a view of the
kind of sheer male beauty that made every tender part of her tighten. “Guess you’ll
have to stick around and find out.”

She started tugging off her own clothes. “Tease. How am I supposed to sleep with you
lying next to me, looking like that?”

He grinned and slipped beneath the sheets, pulling them back on her side. “Come ’ere,
love.”

She climbed into the bed, and he dragged her against him, pressing his lips to hers
and brushing his fingers along her backside. The kiss was languid, his tongue parting
her lips and stroking against hers in a soft, sensual tangle. Her body went liquid,
her muscles going lax in his hold as he deepened the kiss. If he thought
this
was going to lead to a nap, he was delusional. Sleep was suddenly the farthest thing
from her mind.

He traced a blunt fingertip along the crack of her ass, a feather-light touch that
had heat gathering low and fast. She moaned into his kiss when he teased at her back
entrance. He broke away from the kiss. “I need to have you here, love.”

She nipped at his bottom lip, damn near purring at the feel of his dexterous fingertips
exploring her. “You can have me any way you want me, Wyatt.”

The flash of wickedness in his eyes had her heartbeat stuttering mid-beat. He sat
up and flipped her onto her belly as if she weighed nothing. Her face buried into
the soft pile of pillows. “I wasn’t asking. But I also want you to rest.”

She turned her head. “I don’t need—”

He popped her thigh with a stinging smack, stealing her protest. “Quiet. I will tell
you what you need and don’t. And what you need is some sleep. I kept you up too late
last night.”

The sound of the bedside drawer being pulled open had her dragging her bottom lip
between her teeth. He wouldn’t let her look in there, but she knew that’s where he
kept all his fun stuff.

“Lift your hips up, love.” She did as she was told, and he tucked something small
with soft nubbed latex against her clit. The small but powerful vibrator hummed to
life against her. She let out a soft gasp, but Wyatt didn’t stop in his ministrations.
Straps wound around her hips and thighs, securing the vibe against her. “Maybe this
will take the edge off and let you get some rest.”

Slippery liquid and warm fingers moved against her back opening, making everything
clench inside her.
Ah, God
. The thought of him inside her, taking her there, had her entire system quivering
in anticipation. And with the tortuous slow-slow-fast pattern of the vibrator, she
felt on the verge of losing it already.

Wyatt eased a finger inside her, and she had to fight not to writhe on the bed. “Please,
Wyatt.”

A low sound of pleasure from him. “Patience, love. Though I don’t think I’ve ever
seen anything sexier than you begging for my cock in your ass. Believe me, I’ll have
you before the night ends. But right now, I’m going to help you be ready for me.”

She buried her head back in the pillows and let out a groan of frustration, which
only earned her a dark chuckle from Wyatt. Then his finger was gone and something
far bigger was sliding inside her. Her breath whooshed out of her, the edge of discomfort
turning a dial inside her, translating all that stimulation from the vibrator into
something wholly more intense, forbidden. Her moan was long and pitiful.

“Shh,” Wyatt said, caressing her back with his free hand while continuing to ease
the implement inside her. “Relax, beautiful. This plug isn’t as big as I am. I need
to know you can take this so that I won’t hurt you later.”

She breathed through the overwhelming need to come, trying to focus on relaxing the
tension coiling in her body. He nudged the plug deeper and the wider end slipped past
the ring of muscle, earning a little cry from her as her body fully accepted the plug.
The flared based tucked against her opening, holding everything in place.

“That’s it, love. Now just ride the sensation of it all,” Wyatt said, his voice as
soothing as a thousand massaging hands. He trailed his fingers down her spine and
over the globes of her ass. “And let me enjoy you while you come.”

Wyatt clasped her hips and lifted her upward until she was on her knees, her back
sloping down to the bed. She couldn’t even help him get herself into that position.
Her nerve endings were starting to spark and flame with need and all she could do
was . . . exist and accept it all.

Then, as if he was determined to strip any shred of conscious control she may have
left, his tongue was teasing at her soaked pussy and kissing her. Her clit pulsed
against the vibrator and, without willing it to happen, her hips rocked against his
mouth. He responded by thrusting his tongue inside her, his nose nudging and jostling
the base of the plug.

“Holy shit.” She squeezed her eyes shut, the involuntary sounds she was making muffled
in the thick pillows. Her skin felt as if she were wrapped in live wire, everything
humming with energy, alive. This man was going to kill her.

Wyatt didn’t let up. He fucked her with his tongue, his own sexy grunts and groans
providing her with a soundtrack she wouldn’t soon forget. This man didn’t simply go
down on her, he fucking annihilated her. Never had she been with a man who seemed
to relish giving pleasure with his mouth as much as he enjoyed receiving it. He turned
it into a goddamned art.

Her fists balled in the sheets, the pressure building to nuclear meltdown level, and
Wyatt’s fingers dug into her inner thighs, holding her in place, reminding her who
was in control, who was unraveling her. The dam broke and a cry tore from her throat
as everything went white behind her eyelids, pleasure crashing down around her.

Wyatt helped her ride the wave as long as possible, then flipped off the vibrator
when her gasping cries softened. She sank forward in a boneless heap. After a quick
trip to wash his hands, Wyatt quietly removed the harness, kissing each spot of skin
the strap had reddened, and gave her a little swat, right at the center of her ass,
rocking the plug and sending a sharp aftershock through her.