Hide My Soul: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Novel (Hide Me Series Book 4) (7 page)

Katerina allowed herself to be led away from the nightclub, back to their hotel. The hotel she had almost started to think of as home. They'd lived there for weeks now, eating every meal out, having other people clean up after them, relaxing, and delighting in their love for each other. But she would follow wherever West went.

The humid night air pressed against them. It was just after midnight, and Jordan and Blaise were still dancing the night away. Katerina was on too much of a high to feel tired herself, but she knew where they were going. To their marriage bed. Their first night of passion as husband and wife. A secret thrill went through her as she relished the thought. West always brought her to new levels of ecstasy and she knew he had something planned tonight. Something big.

He pulled her into the lobby and right past the elevators. "Aren't we going upstairs?" she asked.

"Not just yet," he said. He pulled her out the back door and she noticed at once the entrance to the pool was blocked by large partitions. In fact, the entire area of the pool that she could see was blocked from sight. A sign read,
Pool area closed for private party
. Katerina could see a soft, flickering glow bouncing off the partitions, into the sky. The ocean breezes picked up her hair and rustled the flowers behind her ears.

West took her around the first partition to where a man was sitting in a chair. The man nodded. "Mr. Shepherd," he said, and stood, then put a key in the lock on the gate, letting them in, then swinging the gate shut behind them.

West led them around another partition. Beyond it lay the pool, and what Katerina could only guess to be at least a million candles, all lit, creating a soft, seductive radiance that took her breath away.

"West," she began, the tears starting in her eyes again. She'd never been romanced like this in her life. She carefully packed the memory away in the hope chest of her mind, just like the memory of the wedding. Even if he never did another romantic thing for her in her life, which seemed unlikely, she would remember this one and own it forever as proof of his love for her.

He smiled at her, cutting off her thoughts, and led her down a candle-lined path to a large cabana with a couch, table, and chairs. On the table sat more candles, strawberries, two slim glasses with an ice-bucket and champagne, and a chocolate fountain. A table in the back was lined with other food, more solid stuff, but Katerina ignored it. The only thing she was hungry for was West.

West placed her gently into one of the chairs, then fed her a strawberry. He held a flute of champagne to her lips and watched her take a sip. "Mrs. Shepherd, your wish is my command this evening. Anything you want, it's yours. All you have to do is say the word."

Katerina sighed, her breath mingling with the breeze coming through the open flaps of the cabana. "It's so lovely, West."

"Not as lovely as you."

Katerina caught his fingers and pulled him to her. He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Mrs. Shepherd, what is your desire?"

"Only you," Katerina said softly. "You forever and ever."

West dropped to his knees in front of her and spanned her waist with his hands. "You have me. Forever. I swear it."

He claimed her mouth, his intense need and desire obvious. Katerina ran her hands through his hair, feeling her breath flying from her lungs in pants and gasps. Their wedding had been foreplay, the dancing almost sex with their clothes on. But here they finally were, alone. West plundered her mouth, the sensual feel of his tongue sliding against her winding through her body, making her shudder with sensation.

Finally, he released her mouth and gazed into her eyes. She could feel the humid night air pressing on her. He inclined his head towards the bench at the rear of the cabana. "I brought your swimsuit."

Katerina stood, feeling her body throb with need. West stood with her and slid his hand down her arm as she walked to her suit. She turned back to him. "You want to swim?"

He shrugged. "I want to do anything you want to do. I thought you might enjoy candlelight swimming on your wedding night. Or we could walk down to the ocean. They've cordoned off our section of beach, so it's completely private."

Katerina thought of Jordan and Blaise and the experience they'd shared out on the naked beach. Did she dare? She gave West the tiniest of grins and sashayed over to him. "Unzip me," she said, turning around.

West pulled her zipper down, slowly, his hand caressing the skin of her back. Katerina stepped out of the dress carefully and folded it, placing it on the bench next to her bathing suit. She heard a quick intake of breath behind her. She turned to see West gazing at her, lust and desire written clearly on his face.

"Now unhook me," she ordered, turning again. She could have stepped out of the corset, but she wanted his hands on her.

West did as he was told, finally pulling the corset from her body. Katerina bent, hoping he was watching closely, and rolled her panties down to the floor, stepping out of them neatly. She pulled the flowers from her hair, then the pins, and placed everything on the table, clearly feeling the masculine energy pulsing behind her as West watched her movements. Then she walked out of the cabana, bold as love, completely naked, and dove into the deep end of the pool. Katerina opened her eyes underwater, loving the flicker of the candles above the surface of the pool, looking so much like uncertain moonlight.

She reached the far end of the pool, flipped, took a practiced breath, and headed back towards where she had left West.

She surfaced, water flowing deliciously off of her, and looked for West, still standing in the shadows of the cabana. She crossed her arms on the side of the pool and kicked her feet. "Come on in, I won't bite."

West chuckled hotly but didn't move. She saw his jacket come off, then his vest and shirt. She watched the outline of his muscles move fluidly with his actions. God, he was hot. Over six feet of muscled, man-candy. She could watch him all night. Off came his shoes, then his pants. Katerina held her breath. He pulled off his boxers, standing naked and sumptuous, only hesitating for a second. He walked toward her and Katerina could see him in the candlelight. Her eyes focused on his erection and satisfaction spread through her.

He lowered himself into the water, his cock jutting magnificently out in front of him. Before it could disappear under the surface, Katerina caught it in her hand, her tongue aching to taste him. To tease him.

She positioned herself in front of him and he groaned in anticipation.

"I'm surprised at you, Katerina," he choked out before she could get her mouth on him. Her grip and her resolve wilted.

"Surprised?" she asked.

He looked pointedly at her hand, then looked straight up at the hotel. Katerina followed his gaze. There were less balconies on this side of the hotel, only the most expensive suites faced the ocean directly, but they did exist. In her brief glance, Katerina did not see one person, but her heart leapt into her throat. She hadn't thought of the balconies!

"Oh my God!" she squeaked, grabbing West and pulling him into the water and ducking so her bare breasts dropped under the surface. West chuckled, his deep voice reverberating around the enclosed area.

"Is this what you were planning?" she hissed at him.

"I thought maybe we could take a moonlight swim, then have a little fun in the cabana," he told her, taking her in his arms. "It's open to the night air, but no one can see us in there."

"Oh," she said, laying her head on his chest.

"But I like this idea too," West said, gathering her wet hair over one shoulder and kissing her neck on the other side.

"No, West, no way," she breathed, her core heating up again, even through the cooling effects of the water swirling around her.

"No one is watching," West rasped, the sandpaper in his voice fueling her ever-present desire for him.

"You don't know that," she offered weakly as he kissed her collarbone, his stubble raking deliciously over her soft skin, causing tingles to slither up and down her spine.

"Just give me a minute," he breathed, pulling her in closer. "You feel so good. Now that I've got you naked against me, I don't want to let you go."

Katerina allowed herself to be pulled up close to him, feeling his erection pulse hotly between them. Her skin slipped liquidly against his, the sensation only increasing her desire.

She tilted her head back, giving West greater access to her neck, but also looking up, searching for someone watching them. She saw no one, but that didn't mean anything. West's lips increased their pressure on the spots he knew to be the most sensitive on her and she sucked in a breath, caught on the cusp of a decision. No one could see anything right now that they wouldn't see on any street in the country.

She dropped her attention back to West and his talented lips. His hands slipped under her ass, pulling her closer. Katerina wrapped her legs around him and surrendered herself to him, letting him ply her with kisses, with words of love, with hot passion that threatened to undo her.

West ran a hand up her back into her hair and she gazed directly into his eyes.

"I love you," he said, as if the words came of their own accord, as if he couldn't not say them.

"I love you too," she responded, and dropped a hand between them, finding his cock, loving the way the expression on his rugged face hardened at her touch.

With one deft movement, Katerina grasped his erection and slipped it to her entrance, feeling it throbbing there.

West's eyes widened slightly in surprise, seeming to ask her,
did she really want to do this
?

She did. "Yes, West," she breathed. She could do something out of character just this once. She could tack on a night of wild, public sex to the memories of this day she never wanted to forget.

He needed no more encouragement. He pulled her hips down sharply and filled her completely. She moaned into his neck as the sensation of fullness went on and on. She tried to wriggle her hips, create friction that would send her over the edge, but West pushed her against the wall of the pool, then pinned her wrists to her sides, effectively holding her completely still.

He locked gazes with her, demanding her complete surrender, telling her he was in charge of their love-making. He would decide when and how she could respond. It made her mad with desire when he behaved like that and he knew it, slowly ramping it up each time they made love, trying to find her limit. So far, they hadn't found one.

Katerina whimpered and bared her neck to him. She was completely and totally his to command. Whatever he wanted, whatever he needed, whatever he demanded.

"Look at me, Katerina," he ordered.

She did. The gaze went on for an eternity, their souls uniting, having their own marriage. Katerina felt herself still and soften, even while West hardened to girded steel inside her. He stood perfectly still, molding himself to her, staring into her essence, making her wonder if the real marriage was only now occurring. Was this the moment they stopped being two and truly became one?

Almost floating in the water, with liquid pushing at her on every side and West's hard body anchoring her in place, Katerina felt swirling passion churn inside her like she'd never felt before. Her breath came in hard gasps and pants, like she was on the verge of orgasm. Her heart raced in her chest, and her core throbbed in a heavenly pulse of bliss.

West's stare became more intense until she felt drowned in it, consumed by it. All the loving and sexy words he'd ever said to her tumbled through that gaze, making her heady with lust. Her body tingled and flushed and she felt on the verge of something, something big, even though West wasn't moving an inch.

He throbbed inside of her, and Katerina focused on the feeling. That combined with his passionate gaze were so primal, so animalistic, that she almost cried from the excess. West moved slightly and the graze of his skin against hers made her cry out. Oh God, she was so close! But she never wanted this to end!

West let go of her hands and skimmed the top of her breasts, his eyes never leaving hers. Her skin burned where he had touched it. The slight sensation raced through her body straight to her sex. She whimpered with the force of it.

West dropped his thumbs to her nipples and grazed them in slow, tortuous circles. Katerina couldn't help herself. She bucked her hips against him and leaned her head back, a low groan escaping her.

"Stop moving, Katerina, and look at me," he growled.

Katerina stopped, not knowing how in the world she managed it. She pulled her head upright and found his ceaseless gaze.

"You're going to come for me, Katerina," he rasped, his voice low, demanding.

"I want to," she panted, her eyes never leaving his.

"Do it, baby, come all over me," he ordered. "Without moving."

Katerina clenched her inner walls once around him and he groaned, never looking away from her. She felt the cascade start immediately and she gave herself over to it completely, a low whimper escaping her. Her eyes slipped closed as her hands stole to West's shoulders and held on for dear life.

"Open your eyes," he directed. "Look at me while you come."

Katerina forced her eyes open even as her body flew apart. Pulsating, euphoric wave after wave flowed out of her womb, making her cry out, while she watched West scrutinize her in complete satisfaction.