Dare to Surrender (12 page)

“Has Lucy Dare checked in yet?” I asked, following her up a narrow, winding pathway.

She turned, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “I don’t recognize that guest’s name. The Master has placed you in the penthouse,” she went on, as if my question hadn’t been asked.

“There must be some mistake. I’m here to work. To help decorate the new club opening on the island. Elite?”

The other woman shook her head. I’d obviously asked another question she wasn’t aware of the answer to. “I assure you there are no mistakes made here. You’re in the penthouse.” Again, she’d ignored my inquiry.

As we approached the castle, sliding glass doors immediately opened for us, and a blast of cool air assaulted me from inside. I gratefully stepped into what was clearly a lobby. It was darker than I’d expected, and I pulled my sunglasses off, allowing my eyes to adjust as I looked around. Dimly lit sconces adorned the mirrored walls, but I couldn’t see myself in what must be tempered glass.

“We’ve recently upgraded the room keys, so if you’ll just give me your hand,” Connie said, capturing my attention.

She snapped a bracelet on my wrist and went on to explain. “Just line up the ‘E’ to the one on your door and the lock disengages. A little bit of technology we
borrowed
from Disney,” she said with a smile.

I laughed. “This is as far from Disney as you can get,” I murmured. “Unless you’re in the Haunted Mansion.”

Connie merely treated me to her smile. “This will allow you into the spa, the gym, and any other areas of the resort you might wish to visit while you are here.”

I would be working, not lounging, but I decided not to question her again. Surely I’d find Lucy soon, and all would be explained.

“Ready to see your accommodations?”

I nodded, and Connie gestured across the lobby. I followed her, surprised when we stopped near a stone wall. “Where is the elevat—”

Before I could finish my sentence, the
wall
opened, revealing the hidden lift. “Oh my.”

We stepped on, and the doors closed behind us. “How thoroughly modern.”

“Sensors,” the other woman explained.

“Lift your hand and align the bracelet with the penthouse.” I did as she asked, and soon we were in motion.

In complete awe, I wondered what awaited me next. I didn’t have to wonder for long. The doors glided open.

“Your penthouse awaits,” Connie said, sweeping her arm, gesturing for me to go first.

Unlike the darkened lobby, white floors and a wall of windows letting bright sunshine into the room beckoned, and I stepped directly into the luxurious suite. The enormity of the space hit me at once, and I shook my head, overwhelmed. Marbled floors, mirrored walls, plush carpeting in a living room with a cream couch and dark wood furniture. And a baby grand piano sitting in the center.

“No, this is wrong,” I said, turning back to Connie, but the elevator doors finished closing on my words, and she’d disappeared.

Hesitantly and feeling like Alice in Wonderland, I made my way into the suite. Surely the other woman would return and tell me there had been an error and I was in one of the regular rooms on a lower floor. In the meantime, I decided to explore.

I glanced around, making my way to the bedroom, surprised to see that my suitcase had been brought up and placed on a luggage stand near the closet.

“That was fast.” And odd, like everything else on the island so far.

Unsure of what to do with myself, especially since butterflies had once again had taken up residence in the pit of my stomach, I walked back to the foyer area. My hands went to the faux pearls at my neck, fingering them nervously. I’d bought them with the island-appropriate clothing for this trip.

I looked out the window, the view of the tranquil blue ocean and beautiful island below a panorama of indescribable beauty. Something I’d enjoy more if I understood what I was doing here.

I heard the whooshing sound of the elevator doors, and relief poured through me. “Lucy?” I asked, spinning around. Finally, everything would begin to make sense.

“Not Lucy.” The familiar masculine voice wound its way through my veins, easing my fears, answering every unasked question.

Excitement flooded through me. It had been so long, and I’d missed him so much. To this day, it didn’t matter that the time we’d shared together had been brief. To me, it meant everything.

He was just as I remembered, with his stern expression, features carved into what I considered perfection, full lips, strong jaw, and those intense eyes focused on me. A white dress shirt, sleeves rolled immaculately, and black slacks, with more casual shoes than his norm, completed the outfit.

He stared at me, his expression unreadable, maybe even vulnerable, and my heart thudded inside my chest. I studied him in return. His handsome face had occupied every dream I’d had, but he was here now. A reality.
My reality
, I thought, those sinfully sexy eyes eating me alive.

“Iz.”

He held out his arms.

And my world suddenly righted itself once more.

I ran to him and jumped into his waiting embrace, wanting to be as close as possible. I clung to him, running my hands up his strong back, threading up through his silky hair. Hair that had grown longer since I’d seen him last.

There’d been many times in the last months when I had tried to convince myself the connection between us could not have been as strong as I remembered. The desire not as potent. That distance and might-have-beens were clouding my judgment and memory.

I’d been wrong.

Everything between us was solid, not a figment of my imagination, and right now, he was very real. Not just the thick erection snug against my core but the invisible thread that bound us together. Just then, his big hand cupped the back of my head, and he sealed his warm mouth over mine, and I knew at that moment, I’d come home.

He kissed me like I mattered, and the time melted away, and the kiss turned ravenous. Hungry. He devoured me, and him being Gabe, I expected nothing less. I merely wrapped my legs around his waist and held on, losing myself in the way he slicked his tongue inside my mouth, mimicking the physical act of making love. The thing we hadn’t yet done.

He continued his assault, his fingers tight in my hair, tugging at my scalp, and my brain short-circuited from the pleasure. Real damned fireworks went off behind my eyes. No doubt about it, I was done for. Nobody else could ever live up to him.

He nipped at my lower lip, and I moaned, my pelvis grinding against him, seeking pressure to relieve the growing ache.

“Slow down,” he said in a rough, harsh voice.

Of course he’d had to end the kiss to speak, and I whimpered at the loss of contact.

His glittering gaze met mine. “Just because I missed you doesn’t mean I’m going to let you control things.”

I’d missed the bossiness in his tone, not that I’d let him know that. Instead of arguing, I set about getting what I wanted, gliding my lips over his strong jaw, nuzzling my nose into the crook of his neck, where I could inhale his musky aftershave and lose myself in the masculine scent.

When he didn’t take the bait, throw me on the couch, or slam me against the wall, I went for the kill, nibbling on his earlobe with my teeth. “I need you inside me,” I said, my pussy throbbing with heat and damp with desire.

“And you’ll have me when I say so.”

“I hate your control,” I muttered.

He grinned, his white teeth and handsome smile making me melt all over again. “You’ll love it in a few minutes.” He set me on my feet, but not before gliding me down the length of his body, allowing me to feel what I did to him.

My breasts might be heavy, my nipples tight as they rasped against my shirt, but his bulging erection told me that I wasn’t alone in this hazy cloud of desire. His gaze never leaving mine, he gripped my pearls in one hand, pulling me forward with them, rubbing his nose against mine. “Behave and we’ll both get what we want.”

I managed a nod. My legs barely held me up, and the pull of the pearls at the back of my neck reminded me Gabe wouldn’t let me fall. But apparently he would lead me to the bedroom by the necklace, and knowing what awaited me, I went along like a good girl. I briefly wondered if I’d lost my mind, but when he turned to me, those dark eyes glittering with need, I no longer cared.

“Too many clothes,” he said, more to himself than to me.

He skimmed his hands along my bare arms, shoulder to wrist, and I shivered. He guided his palms up from my waist to beneath my armpit, taking my tank top along with him. Baring my breasts to his gaze.

He paused, deliberately grazing his thumbs over the underside of the soft mounds, over the lace of my bra, just allowing himself the luxury of touch and time. The pads of his thumbs reached inward, tracing the lines of my areolas but never touching the distended peaks just begging for the pressure of his fingertip. My clit throbbed, the dampness pooling between my legs overwhelming and embarrassing, but I wasn’t going to mention it. I didn’t want him to stop, even if his maddeningly slow pace might kill me, and I shifted restlessly on my feet.

He reached up and tweaked one nipple hard, and I squeaked aloud, then sucked in a shallow breath. “What was that for?”

“You left me, you made me wait months, and now it’s going to be at my speed, not yours.”

“Whatever happened to wham, bam, thank you, ma’am?” I asked grumpily, thinking of Lance. He might not have satisfied me all that much, but at least I didn’t have to suffer through such intense arousal and near pain of wanting and being denied.

Gabe’s indigo eyes narrowed. “Is that what you expect from me? From us? You have to know I’d put your pleasure first.”

And I had to admit the pain had morphed into something different. A warm pleasure suffused my body, and as if there was an invisible connection between my nipples and my sex, there was a direct correlation to the need he’d inspired with that hard pinch.

I relaxed at his words. This wasn’t about torturing me, this was about pleasure. Mine. And hopefully his. I felt my shoulders dropping, my breathing slowing.

“That’s better,” he said in a husky voice. He slid my top up and over my head, then paused to fold it and place it on the dresser.

I waited obediently, allowing my mind to empty. He returned to me, those dark eyes intense, and he unhooked my bra, slowly easing the lace material down the slope of my breast, revealing my lush curves and the darkened nipples, aroused and erect. For him.

He sucked in an approving breath. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, Iz.”

My lashes fluttered down. I couldn’t meet his gaze any more than I could believe him. Yes, he wanted me. I still hadn’t figured out exactly why or what he saw in me that my long-term, live-in lover hadn’t.

A strong hand tilted my chin up. “Eyes open. You can’t believe what I’m telling you if you don’t watch my face when I say it.”

I swallowed hard. Looked into his gorgeous face, his expression taut.

“You can’t think this is easy for me, denying myself the pleasure of my cock sliding into your soaking-wet pussy
now
.”

Another thing I wasn’t used to. The blunt words. The honest sex talk. I felt myself blush.

“I want you so badly I ache with it.” He pulled me flush to him, his erection so hard and thick against my belly.

I lost the ability to breathe.

“I just want you to know what you mean to me,” he continued, his honest words lulling me into submission. “This isn’t some one-night stand. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.” He growled the words in disgust. “You deserve much more than that.”

I sighed. So gruff sometimes, yet so sweet at others. All part of this enigmatic man.

He placed my bra with my top, returned and unbuttoned my slacks. My belly quivered at his deft touch. Pants slid down my thighs, my panties along with them, both pooling at my feet.

My heart pounded hard in my chest. I fought the embarrassment of being naked while he was so elegantly dressed. I stepped out, and he patiently bent down, folding the pants and adding them to the pile.

“Shoes?” I asked, gesturing to the sandals I’d chosen, thong-style with glittering rhinestones.

To my surprise, he knelt and slid them off my feet. Those, he placed on the floor near the dresser. My meticulous man. I bit the inside of my cheek. Not mine … I wasn’t sure what this was. Nor did I know what I wanted it to be.

But when his hand came down on my shoulder, nothing mattered beyond now.

I reached for the pearls, intending to pull them off too.

“Leave them. I want to fuck you with nothing but those pearls between us.”

He was so sure of himself, so sexy, and I was … a lot inexperienced and even more naïve. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted from me and was even less certain I could satisfy him. My history with Lance had proven that.

“Okay, enough thinking.”

He lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing, dropping me onto the bed in one smooth move. Without warning, he had both my wrists over my head, and somehow, he secured me to the headboard using the bracelet on one hand and cuffs I hadn’t noticed before.

“You’re kidding.”

“Not one bit.”

“Don’t you want me to touch you too?” I asked, confused.

“Next time. After I’ve had my fill and know it won’t be the rushed affair you seem to desire.” He began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing tanned skin, a sexy, liberal sprinkling of dark chest hair, and a six-pack that spoke of hours in the gym.

Watching him as he hung the shirt over the chair, the muscles in his back and forearms flexing as he moved, I let out a moan.

He turned. Grinned. Eyes on mine, he undid his pants, slipping them off, no underwear to be concerned about hindering him in any way. And then he stood before me nude, his thighs as strong as the rest of him, his cock larger than I’d imagined, thick and long and completely erect.

“Oh God.”

“I thought we’d clarified that last time. Just me.”

“There is no
just
about you,” I muttered under my breath, my nipples erect and clearly as impressed with his body as my mind.