Heart's Paradise (12 page)

“You’ll be the end of me,” he said. God, he was about to lose it. He cupped his throbbing cock through his boxer briefs, needing to cool down.

Phoebe pushed up onto her knees. Rain streamed down her body, off the tips of her nipples and spikey eyelashes. A wicked sea nymph, he thought, not an angel. One which had appeared on the blazing sand five days before, because what other explanation could there be for the power she held? She owned him, from the moment Jonathon had laid eyes on her days ago, Phoebe had owned him.

That strange softening, shifting in his heart left him smiling like a fool. She reached down and moved his hand aside, pulling his cock out and taking hold of his shaft. He blinked rain out of his eyes as she stroked up to his tip, squeezing his glans lightly. Her lips drew up into the devil’s grin and she dropped down to her hands and knees. She took him inside her hot mouth and he let out a shuddering breath. He turned his face up to the rain as she took him to the back of her throat.

“Angel, angel, angel…”

Pulsating thrills shot through him, making it hard to stay upright. He stared at her tantalizing ass. He reached out, stroking her lower back, running a hand over her fleshy backside before giving her a firm smack on the butt. She squealed in surprise, but he held her head in place with his other hand, and she sucked him harder.

Jonathon squeezed his eyes shut, testing the boundaries of his endurance while she worked magic on his cock. He trembled and bared his teeth, stretching out the pleasure as long as possible, wanting the delirious moment to last an eternity. Never had a blow-job felt so incredible. His balls tightened, and finally he pulled back from her lips.

He guided her onto her back on the sand, and kissed the tops of her breasts. Water beaded on her skin and he sucked the moisture away, leaving red marks behind as he traveled over her chest. He paused long enough to love her nipples until they formed rigid peaks. First one and then the other.
Fascinating.
The word played over and over in his mind, because every single inch of her fit the description. Experience warred with an impatience he hadn’t felt since losing his virginity in his teens.

He moved down to her stomach. His lips, teeth, and tongue traced every inch of the flat plane. Along the break where her tan met paler skin on her pelvis, over the stretch marks where she’d carried her daughter, before he nipped at her hip bones.

Phoebe thrust her hips up, begging him for more. He sat back on his heels and parted her knees. Driving rain beat his shoulders, and washed down her inner thighs. She moaned and arched. Reaching down, her slim fingers slipped within her pussy, and he watched as she opened her labia to the pelting drops of rain. He let the rain do the work, and each time a fat drop hit just the right spot she’d suck air through her teeth. A hedonistic show and he grasped his cock, feeling its steely length, realizing he hadn’t been as hard in years.

He worked his cock. Pleasure swelled, wanting to swallow him whole. Jonathon was a lost man when it came to Phoebe Heart.

Chapter 10

The rain shower drove between her thighs. The drops felt like the light, teasing taps of a lover’s fingers on her clit while the running rain felt like his sensual caress. Phoebe rubbed her pussy, needing to ease the tightness, needing release from the frustration. Jonathon’s molten gaze watched her, his own hand moving up and down his cock. She studied the motion, storing it away. Next time she’d know how to handle him.

Next time?
an inner voice taunted. Phoebe didn’t want to ponder why she was already planning a next time between the two of them. She was in the middle of another big mistake and her weakness mocked her. Jonathon had said he wanted to make love to her, but she couldn’t allow something so intimate. Sex was sex, but making love opened doors she didn’t want to peer through. She’d always been strong, a rock for her daughter and sometimes her mother.

Why can’t I be human too? Why can’t I have my own weaknesses?

Jonathon stood and shoved his underwear down his hips. His erection thrust forward, bobbing as he dropped back to his knees. He was between her legs, his palms stroking down her inner thighs. She moved her hand away. He licked his lips, leaned down, and his tongue…
God, his tongue…
The firm pressure of it sent her eyes rolling back, and she arched, opening wider. Shocks of pleasure tore through her, making her buck against his face.

He grasped behind her knees, pushing her legs up and out, splaying her as wide as her body would allow. He licked, tickled, and teased her in ways that left her suspended between orgasm and chaos. First toying her clit between his lips, next thrusting his tongue within her walls, then moving on before she lost herself to the delirious pleasure. His coarse beard only added a new raspy sensation, an added eroticism she hadn’t experienced before.

Phoebe snapped her teeth together, first cursing him to stop then begging him to never stop. She heard him chuckle, before he growled, causing a small vibration that pushed her so close she saw the blessed light of climax. And being an expert thief, a man who knew how to snatch away what she wanted most, he stole the moment, leaving her still suspended.

She turned her head to the side, away from the pounding rain nipping sharply at her sensitized nipples. She covered them with her hands, then gave in and rolled them between her thumb and forefingers. Squeezing until the sting mixed with her lust.

“Are you ready to come, angel?” he asked against her nether lips.

What a ridiculous question. “Yes,” she said on a gasp. She’d been strung so tight she half-feared what might follow.

Jonathon pressed his lips to her clit, shook his head, and that’s all it took to make her shatter. Her scream of ecstasy startled several birds that took flight in the tree above them. But the relief she’d expected afterward wouldn’t come. Her muscles were still drawn, her body trembling, her legs shaking as he eased her feet back down. Choked sobs tore from her throat, and she writhed on the sand. She reached between her thighs, but found her clit too sensitive to touch.

Jonathon crawled away from her, only to return with a condom rolled down his cock. Phoebe reached for him. He wedged his hips between her thighs and braced his hands on each side of her shoulders, blocking out the rain. His tip teased her entrance before he slowly slid inside an inch. The erotic fullness made her gasp and claw at his rain-slickened back. It’d been the completion she’d craved, a connection with him not even the orgasm could fulfill.

His silver gaze burrowed into hers, he was digging into her thoughts. She felt the intrusion but didn’t have the power to stop him.

“Who are you, angel?” he asked, the deep rumble of his voice blending seamlessly with the roll of thunder overhead.

“I’m no one.” Because that’d been their unspoken deal once so long ago.

Jonathon’s eyebrows drew together, and he looked almost…sad. “No, Phoebe. In this moment you’re everything. Absolutely everything.”

The kiss that followed tore her open, exposing her in ways she should’ve never allowed. Not the sloppy, wet groping she would’ve expected, but a tender exploration of his mouth. A lover’s lips making love to hers. A kiss asking questions, but denying easy answers.

He took shallow thrusts, building a slow burn that swept through her in waves. She wanted to feel his full girth, the length of him inside of her, but he held back. The cords of his neck strained with the tight set of his jaw. The tempo increased. She couldn’t catch her breath. He paused, reached between them, and rubbed her clit in a tight circle.

The shockwave of the unexpected climax shot to the tips of her fingers and toes. He pulled her up, settling her over his lap, burying deep inside her walls as her ragged, gasping cries filled the air. The rain had eased back to a hard drizzle as she rocked against him, extending the orgasm’s pleasure. Nothing existed save for the sensations tearing her apart and putting her back together over and over.

“Ah, Phoebe, angel, you’re everything,” Jonathon said against her ear. He balled her hair in his hands and kissed her hard before he drew back a breath from her lips. “Everything and more, never doubt that for a moment.”

She pulled back and stared into his heavy-lidded eyes. His meaningless love mutterings still had an effect she didn’t want to dwell on. It was only sex, they weren’t making love.

“How do you want to come?” she asked.

“Mmmm.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. “Get on your knees.”

She rose, slowly, letting him fall out, then got on her hands and knees. He kneeled behind her, massaging her backside.

“Beautiful.” His baritone voice reignited the flame of desire. He stroked the tip of his cock within her pussy. She pushed back, and he slid inside her walls. He grasped her hips, shoving into her, deep strokes that sent wracking shivers through her muscles. She dropped to her elbows, digging her fingers into the wet sand.

Jonathon reached beneath her, flicking his fingertips over her clit. The stimulation she needed, and stars burst behind her closed eyelids. She collapsed into his hold. He yanked her hard against his pelvis, and his guttural shout sounded like that of a man in pain as he pumped through his climax. He collapsed onto the sand next to her. Phoebe rolled onto her back, breathing hard. They lay in silence as Phoebe pulled herself together.

Afterglow refused to allow her to linger on regret. The rain shower stopped, and sunrays burst through the clouds. She squinted against the glare as Jonathon sat up. His face was as warm as the sun as he looked down at her. He didn’t conceal his happiness any more than he hid the gentle, worshipful look in his eyes. The teasing light was safer.

“I can actually call this island paradise now,” he said. “Heart’s Paradise has a nice ring to it, eh?”

“We won’t have a fire tonight,” was all she could think to say. She stood up and brushed sand off her legs, stomach, and chest.

“All the more reason to find ways to stay warm.” He hopped to his feet and brushed sand off his legs and torso. “Good sex always puts me in the mood for an ice cream sundae. But great sex like we just had puts me in the mood for more great sex.” He grabbed her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her before she had time to react. When he pulled away, she couldn’t catch her breath. “I only wish we had someplace dry and less sandy. I have sand
everywhere
.”

Phoebe couldn’t help but laugh. She had to admit, she would’ve loved a dip in the ocean to wash some of the grit away. Instead, she used the wet, empty bag that had held her flint, and wiped down as best she could. Jonathon used his second drop bag, doing the same. Afterward, he collected fresh water in their bottles, and she found some wild berries. Her empty belly growled, the haunt of hunger always with her, even after she finished a handful of the tart berries.

She thought of how Jonathon donated to needy families. Phoebe glanced over and found her island companion watching her. As soon as their eyes met he smiled broadly and his eyes twinkled in an expression of contentment.

He wears his heart on his sleeve.
He seemed incapable of containing his emotions. Maybe he’d never had to learn to keep what he was feeling in check. He had a casual view on life, so why not have an equally casual view with what his heart might settle on for a moment? Regardless of the inner voice of warning, she smiled back, feeling the same contentment seep through her tired body.

I’m treading dangerous ground.

Chapter 11

Come morning when Jonathon awoke he found Phoebe gone from his side, but he heard her shuffling around beyond the shelter entrance. It’d been heaven curling around her soft curves through the night hours. Feeling her nestled against him had helped him sleep better than he had since arriving on the island. While training for
Paradise
he hadn’t dated outside of the
Good Morning Dallas
co-anchor, but it wasn’t the idea of a woman in his arms helping him rest. It’d been the idea of Phoebe in his arms. She fit him just right. Even when his arm had fallen asleep with her head nestled upon it, he’d still drifted off like a baby.

Thinking about her brought a smile to his lips, and he stretched his tired love-sore muscles. They’d used two more condoms before she’d gone out and collected sugar apples for their dinner the night before. Another one when they’d settled into the hut for the evening. The box was one of those obnoxiously large economy-sized boxes, so they had plenty left. His new lover was eager and open-minded, and as he discovered, rather flexible.

He reached down and cupped his morning wood, finding his dick over-sensitive from use. A quick self-directed hand job was out of the question, he’d have to wait a few hours. Hopefully then, he’d be buried inside Phoebe again.

He felt like a school boy with her, a silly teenager with his first real crush. Jonathon lay inside the hut a bit longer, wallowing in the happy, sappy feelings she brought out in him. They could make it work somehow, he thought. Outside of the show, they’d find a way to close the gap between them. A serious relationship seemed an alien thought, but he wanted to give it a try. Her daughter might be an obstacle she’d throw between them, but he got along great with the kids in his family so why not her kid? If nothing else, four big sisters and a growing passel of nieces gave him the upper hand in everything from changing diapers to dealing with PMS.

You’ve only known her six days. Why rush things?
The voice of warning in the back of his mind sounded like his father, and he frowned. True, he’d only known Phoebe for six days. On top of that, he was half-starved and physically exhausted. The two of them were dealing with extreme circumstances which forced them together. Extreme circumstances could bring on misguided feelings of love.

He swallowed.
Love?
Six days was certainly not enough time to fall in love, despite the connection he’d felt since first meeting her. Six days and a sore dick was exactly what was needed to breed an intense infatuation, though.