Essence of Desire (37 page)

“Yes.”

And with one deep thrust he penetrated her and sighed deeply when he came to the hilt inside of her. When she began to wiggle a bit, he said. ”No, baby, let’s savor the moment.”

And they did. He wanted to experience the feel of being inside a woman unprotected, to feel her hot, moist muscles hold him in, clasp him tight. Emotions, more powerful than he’d ever known flowed through him, sank to his bones and capitalized on his love, making him even more aware of her as a woman. His woman.

His mate for life.

He reached down and tightened his hands on her thighs in a firm grip, tilted her bottom back at an angle for even deeper penetration. Then he began moving inside of her, slow at first, pulling out and then pushing all the way back in. Her inner muscles clenched him tight with every retreat and reentry. Over and over again. And when she tilted her head around to him, he took the mouth she offered.

Their tongues mingled in a frenzied mating, stirring even more passion, fueling more desire. He picked up the pace, modified the rhythm of their bodies, kept their mouths locked as they became one, their movements sensuously fluid, while the strokes filling her became even more powerful and charged.

And then he felt it, muscle-deep spasms that began at his toes and moved upward and when they touched his sex buried deep inside of her, his entire body began to detonate. His throat tightened the moment his body exploded. He quickened his pace, deepened his thrusts and when she tore her mouth from his and let out a deep moan, he knew that even if he’d worn a condom, all of his very generous release would not have been contained in latex. Not this time.

He heard his name flow over and over from her lips while he continued shooting inside of her seemingly nonstop and knew their bodies had never ever before been at such a passionate moment. She arched her back and he closed his eyes, held her tight as love flowed through him; as the very essence of his desire flowed from him to her. Coating her womb. Uniting them. Binding them. Forging them in a way he’d never thought possible.

A short while later with his front spooning her feminine curves, he felt the heat of her backside against his stomach, their legs entangled, their minds clear, totally sated and bodies still connected, they surrendered to sleep.

***

Royce knew the exact moment Michelle had awakened. He glanced over at her and the glow from her eyes told him she had enjoyed their night together. He held out his arms and she shifted across the mattress to him and he wondered how she had gotten so far away from him during the night.

“I need to take a shower,” she said.

He wanted to take one with her but the stall wouldn’t accommodate the both of them the way he’d like. Next time they would get a suite. “You’ll take a shower after this,” he whispered and then he was making love to her all over again.

***

The sound of a cell phone woke Royce. Recognizing the ring-tone as not his own, he pushed up in bed and heard the sound of the shower to remember exactly where Michelle had gone off to. He grabbed her phone from where she had placed it beside his on the nightstand, and saw it was her office calling. He clicked it on. “Yes.”

“Michelle?”

He recognized her secretary’s voice. “No, Jill, this is Royce. Michelle is unavailable right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

“I just wanted to let her know about what’s going on with one of our bookings, Bare All Resort. They’ve been in the news and now we are getting some cancellations.”

Royce nodded. Something like that was bound to happen. But still, there was nothing Michelle could do about it, especially not now while out on a cruise. He wanted them to enjoy their time together without worrying about anything going on in Orlando.

“I’m aware of everything going on with Bare All Resort and will keep Michelle abreast of it,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t be doing so until the end of the cruise.

“Okay, thanks. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

He clicked off the phone and placed it back on the nightstand. He intended to dominate all of Michelle’s time and thoughts for the rest of the cruise. What was going on back in Orlando would be the last thing on her mind. He would make sure of it.

“Did you enjoy spending time with me, sweetheart?”

Michelle glanced over at the man standing in her living room. They had just walked into her home, coming straight from the airport. He had been kind enough to help bring her luggage inside. She had taken two suitcases to his one.

For as long as she lived, she would never forget the last five days she’d spent with Royce. Everything had been simply wonderful. “Yes, I had a wonderful time. Thanks for inviting me along,” she said and meaning it.

“Anytime. Let me grab your last piece of luggage out of the car.”

Michelle watched him leave to go back outside thinking that the first night in his cabin had set the pace on how things would be for them. Their days had been spent having fun with other couples they had met or by themselves. She had enjoyed all the sightseeing and shopping she’d done in New Brunswick where they had walked hand in hand through the shops and browsed a number of community festivals that were being held close to the pier. Before returning to the ship they had eaten lunch at one of the oceanfront cafés.

She had recalled studying about Nova Scotia in school, mainly about how the Underground Railroad has brought escaped slaves seeking freedom to the Canadian township. It was a place rich with beauty, heritage and culture. And their seacoast beaches with towering cliffs were simply breathtaking.

When Royce returned she would ask him if he wanted to go someplace to grab lunch later after he’d gone home and gotten settled. The sound of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. She pulled it out of her purse and immediately answered it when she saw it was Jill. Since her secretary hadn’t contacted her during the entire trip she figured everything must have gone smoothly.

“Yes, Jill?”

“Michelle, hey, welcome back. How did things go? I’m surprised I didn’t hear from you.”

Michelle chuckled. “Things were great and why would you hear from me when I knew you could handle things without me.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence but a few people did call to cancel after they heard the news.”

Michelle lifted a brow. “What news?”

“About the Bare All Resort. It’s been in the papers. Someone who worked there had been taking photographs and posting them on the Internet.”

“What!”

“Yes, can you believe it? There’s a FBI investigation going on and so far it seems the owners had no knowledge of what one of their employees was doing.”

Michelle signed deeply, angry someone would do something like that and a little agitated that Jill hadn’t contacted her to tell her about it. This was major since she had a number of bookings for that resort. “Jill, I wished you would have called to tell me about it.”

“Actually, I did. I called you on Tuesday morning on your cell phone. Mr. Parker answered and said you were unavailable and that he was aware of what was going on with the resort and would let you know.”

Michelle blinked, surprised. “Royce said that?”

“Yes. He evidently forgot to mention it.”

Anger seeped into Michelle’s pores. “Evidently.” When she heard Royce coming back inside, she said. “Look, Jill, I’ll call you later. I’ll be headed over to the office later to see how many bookings I’ve lost.”

“Not too many. The ones who canceled are first timers. The others, the ones who have been there before believed the owners didn’t have knowledge of what was going on and plan to go back,” Jill was saying.

“Thanks.” She clicked off the phone and was putting it in her shirt pocket when Royce walked back in.

“How would you like to go over to my place and help me unpack?” he said, smiling as he sat her luggage down by the sofa.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “And how would you like to tell me why you didn’t tell me about Bare All Resort? Jill said she called.”

“She did but it was old news by then. Jordan had called me the night before,” he said calmly.

Michelle’s head begin spinning. “Hold up. Time out. Why would Jordan call you about them?”

“Because he knew I had agreed to go there with you later this year and I wanted him to check out the place, to make sure it was okay. That’s when he found out they were under FBI investigation.”

She moved her hands from her chest to her hips. “And just when did you find that out?”

He shrugged. “Around an hour or so after the ship left New York’s port. I was going to tell you but figured there was nothing you could do about it anyway and I didn’t want to ruin your vacation.”

Michelle breathed in deeply. “And why didn’t you tell me that Jill called?”

“I forgot. If you remember when you came out of the shower we got busy doing other things and then we had to hurry and get dressed to meet with the St. Johns for breakfast.”

“You had three other days to tell me, Royce.”

“Yes, I didn’t think of it. Had it been something urgent, I would have told you immediately. To be honest, I hadn’t planned to mention anything to you until the end of the cruise. When I spoke with Jordan he told me about the investigation. I figured he would have called back if it needed our immediate attention and when he didn’t, I knew it wasn’t anything that couldn’t hold until you got back.”

Michelle couldn’t believe what he was saying. Who gave him the right to make decisions for her? To handle things on her behalf? He had some nerves. What he’d done displayed such blatant arrogance. “You had no right to make decisions regarding me, Royce. I should have been told what was going on?”

“There was nothing you could have done.”

He had stated it so calmly, so matter-of-factly that Michelle had to breathe in deeply to retain her composure. And the fact that he had folded his arms across his chest, showing all his muscles, and standing in that position with his feet braced apart that she found so damn sexy, wasn’t helping matters.

What he’d done was the one thing she would not tolerate from a man, thinking he could take charge of her, her life, and her business. “I think you should leave.”

Her request surprised him. “Leave?”

“Yes. Things won’t work between us, Royce. I shouldn’t be surprised by your actions. It’s just the kind of thing I can’t tolerate; a man assuming he knows what’s best for me.”

“Was it wrong for me to want you to have five uninterrupted, trouble-free days with me, Michelle? If you do then I apologize. But if the tables had been turned, I would have given them to you. I plan on giving them to you when we go on our little get-together in a few months.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think I see what you’ve done? You had Jordan check out the place hoping he would find something so you could have an excuse not to go. Well, it seems you hit gold. Now you don’t have to worry about taking me anywhere.”

“That’s not how it is, Michelle.”

“Isn’t it? It really doesn’t matter. You had no right to make decisions for me. Please leave.”

For a moment she thought he would not adhere to her request and then he turned and headed toward her door.

Michelle slid her fingers into her ears and frowned at her sister. “I refuse to listen to what you have to say Dominique. Royce was wrong.”

Dominique rolled her eyes. “Will you stop acting childish for a second and take your fingers out of your ears.”

It was only when Michelle took her hands down did Dominique continue. “Okay, I admit Royce should have mentioned something to you about it, but why can’t you give him the benefit of the doubt? There was nothing wrong with him wanting you all to himself for a few days.”

“In my opinion, there was. That just goes to show what a domineering man he is,” Michelle snapped.

“The kind you can’t tolerate.”

“Right and he probably was glad that it happened so he can get out of taking me to that nudist camp like he promised.”

“Now, I know for a fact that’s not true since he told Jordan to check out another place that the two of you can go to.”

Michelle was surprised to hear that, but still…Royce had no right doing what he did. It just showed what a controlling man he was.

“Must have been some five days.”

Michelle frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Your actions are of a woman who’s scared and running. I know you, Michelle. I know you like a book. Granted what Royce did deserved a tongue lashing, which I’m sure you gave him. But all this other drama is happening for a reason. You know what I think?”

Michelle reached out to grab the bottle of salad dressing to pour on her salad. “Not interested in what you think.”

“I’ll tell you anyway. I think Royce got next to you on that cruise. You enjoyed his company. You enjoyed him. Now you’re back and you need a reason to put distance between you and this incident just happened to fall right in your hands.

Now it was Michelle’s turn to roll her eyes. “That’s crazy.”