Immersion (Magnetic Desires) (6 page)

Chapter Ten

Leo

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" I cocked an eyebrow as she exited her cabin carrying her suitcase. She was holding on to the damn thing so tight her knuckles were white.

"It’s none of your business." Teeth clenched, she manhandled the suitcase into the elevator.

"Sure, it is." I pulled the crumpled paper from my pocket and waved it in her face. The words were burned into my mind.

"You weren’t supposed to get that until I was off the boat."

"So, you’re running?"

"I can’t go back." Wide eyes and a trembling chin emphasized how scared she was. "I have to take my chances."

"No, you don’t." The suitcase thudded on the floor as I advanced on her. After Norah had given me the letter, I’d spent all night trying to decide whether to let her run, but I couldn’t let her go. The idea of never seeing her again cracked me open. For whatever reason, fate had pushed her into my path, and I couldn’t go back to the way I had been before her. "If what you said in the letter is the truth then I‘ll give you however much it is you need to pay Brady off. We’ll deal with it together."

She shook her head as she ran out of space to move. "I can’t let you."

Capturing her face in my hands, I bent down so there were mere inches between us. "I’m angry you kept this from me, but that doesn’t change how I feel about you. I still want you, Lola."

"Is that enough, Leo? Is what we have enough for you to trust me after what I told you?"

"Tell me you love me, and I’ll believe you. Tell me you won’t run."

Her gaze flicked from my eyes to my mouth and back again. "I love you, Leo. I won’t run."

My mouth crushed to hers, I took her words and everything else she offered as she wound her arms around my neck. Our bodies met at every point, no longer allowing the distance she'd once fought so hard to keep. Lifting her up, I held her prisoner against the wall and pressed the button that would take us to my floor. "Your suitcase. My room. Now."

She gripped my waist with her thighs and tangled her fingers in my hair as I took her mouth again. The elevator stopped all too soon, and I let her go to pick up her suitcase. The doors slid open to a group of people waiting to get in. Holding the suitcase across my legs to hide how she affected me, I grasped her hand and pulled her to my cabin. "I’m not going to spend a single second of the rest of this trip without you, got it?"

"Open the door Leo. Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time?"

I swiped my key card and tossed her suitcase inside the cabin.

Lola

The moment the door slammed shut behind us he had me in his arms. Two steps and the mattress dipped as he laid me down and covered my body with his own. Against my thigh, I could feel the hard bulge of his erection stifled by too much clothing. Our lips meshed, his hands crept under my shirt, cool against my heated skin. My pussy clenched with the desire unfurling through me, and I spread my legs to cradle him. Ready for him, I strained to bring him closer.

His gaze danced over me as he straddled my hips and his lip curled up wickedly. "I’m going to devour you, sweetheart. Every inch of your gorgeous body is going to be desperate for me."

"You talk too much." I grasped his belt and removed it with deft fingers. "Show me, Leo, show me I’m yours."

"You are mine." Cotton tore as he wrenched my sleeveless shirt from top to bottom, revealing my lace covered tits. Bowing his head, he inched his lips over my throat and collarbone while his fingers worked the buttons on my shorts. The last one gave way and he grasped the material and tugged them from my hips. Black panties hid nothing of my need for him, and elicited a sinful groan from between his lips. His tongue darted out over his lips, and he slid his fingers between my thighs, spearing a wave of sensation through my clit.

"I could slide inside you right now, you’re so fucking wet," he growled, pushing my panties aside to caress me.

God, I wanted him to. Ever so slowly, he pulled the lace from me and discarded it on the floor before cupping my pussy in his palm.

I ground into his hand. "Leo, I want you."

"Soon, love." He pulled me onto his lap so that I was straddling him.

My legs around him, I could feel the roughness of his pants and the hardness of his erection against my core. His hand slipped to the hooks on my bra, plucking them open as he tortured my mouth, his tongue making promises of devotion, loyalty, and his need to possess me with each slide against mine. Promises I wasn’t willing to wait for.

Raking my nails down his chest, I inched lower to remove the only clothing between us. The button popped free and I slid my fingers inside, brushing them over the tip of his erection before concentrating on pulling his pants away. His cock pulsed as I wrapped my hands around the hot length and stroked it. A wicked groan accompanied the surge of his hips against my hand, and I bent to sweep my tongue over his tip and taste him. Taking him in my mouth, I watched his eyes widen as I bobbed and sucked, swirling my tongue around his erection until his hips were bucking with each drag of my mouth over his dick.

"God, Lola," he ground from between his teeth as he grabbed my waist and pulled me up over him. "I want more than my cock in your mouth."

I screeched and dug my nails into his back as he rolled me over, and we landed with a thump on the floor. We both grinned like fools.  He kissed me again, his hands sliding over my body, his lips following where his hands went, leaving me molten. My back arched as he swept his fingers between my legs and inside of me. I bucked into his hand, drawing his fingers deeper into me but never enough to ease the ache. Instead, each stroke of his thumb on my clit, each push of his finger into me, added to the intensity of my need, and I sobbed for him to slip inside me and give me release.

My thighs tingled and tightened as he picked up speed, working my orgasm from me with his talented fingers. The heat inside radiated through every inch of me, until my release pulsed through me in an explosion of sensation that had me clenching around his fingers. He sat back on his heels with a smirk. "Satisfied?"

I sat up. "Hardly."

Knocking him onto his back, I straddled him and pressed against his erection. It jerked between my thighs, sending spirals of heat through my already sensitive clit. The heat of him so close to where I wanted him was too much temptation, and I ground against the hard length. "I want all of you, Leo."

His fingers dug into my hips, lifting me up to penetrate my core. I moaned as he filled me, my hands kneading at his chest. We ground against each other, each slow thrust rebuilding the after burn of my orgasm into the sharp ache of desire.

I froze. Together we were dynamite— explosive in our desire and ready to detonate without care for the consequences. "Damn it, Leo, condom."

"Shit." He pulled out and reached for his pants, rifling through the pockets until he found a packet. The condom free of its foil prison, he rolled it over his cock and settled inside me again. One hand kneaded my ass as he pumped into me, before he pulled me in for another kiss. I ground against him, my muscles clenching around him with each stroke, drawing him closer to the edge. Sitting up, he clutched at me, smashing me to him, hip against hip, our breathing ragged and our skin slicked with sweat. My teeth found his shoulder, nipped at the salted flesh, claiming him as mine.

A groan started low in his throat and his cock jerked inside me. I arched back and closed my eyes, letting the sensations he pulled from my body swirl through me and detonate an orgasm that had me shuddering and clinging to him as I cried out his name.

Chapter Eleven

Leo

I stroked her hair as she collapsed on top of me. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

"Give me five." Her lips caressed my skin.

"Five?" My chin tucked into her hair, I recalled how I couldn’t wait to hold her like this. It felt so long ago now, though it was barely days.

"Yes, five minutes. You didn’t think I was finished with you, did you?" The soft curve of her cheek against my chest made me smile, and I held her a little closer.

She was snappy, waspish, and stubborn, but the girl could give me a run for my money when it came to sex. And the fact she didn't back down for anyone, made this moment even more perfect.
I’m going to marry you. You know that, right?
I told her in my head. We’d get off the ship and sort out the bastard who had abused her. Brady would go down, no matter what it took.

Chin resting atop her hands on my chest, she gazed up at me. "What are you thinking, Leo?"

"I think you need a shower." I smirked. "One where I join you, and the tiles are the only thing getting clean."

"Are you suggesting we’re going to get dirty in the shower?"

I sat up, taking her with me. "I’m suggesting this trip is far from over, and I plan on having you against every surface in this room."

"Come on Leo, be realistic. You know you’re the one that’ll be up against it." She winked and stood up.

I slapped her ass, and she jumped before grinning at me over her shoulder as she swaggered to the bathroom. This girl was the one. She’d keep me on my toes for the rest of my life.

Lola

I yawned and stretched out my arms before rolling into his side and running my nails down his chest. Any moment I could wake back in my cabin, or worse, in the small apartment I’d shared with Brady’s other girls. My muscles were tender from not having left the bed in over twenty-four hours, but the ache was a reminder of what Leo and I shared. He shifted, and his eyelids fluttered open.

One glimpse of his beautiful eyes grounded me in reality. "Good morning, lover."

His mouth turned up in one corner, and he smoothed his palm over my hair. My heart leapt as he rolled me under him and captured my mouth with his.

"I’m not sure your statement is accurate, sweetheart," he murmured against my lips.

I raised an eyebrow.

"It’s not morning, and this is far better than good." Feather light caresses to the back of my leg made me squirm. "Are you hungry?"

My stomach grumbled loudly in response, and I giggled. Grabbing his ass with both hands, I ground myself against him. "Famished."

He groaned. "Have you always been this insatiable?"

"No. It’s definitely you."

There was the trademark grin that lit up his face and made me wet for him. "Let’s get some food, then I promise I’ll give you everything you want."

"Everything?" I let him go and he climbed out of bed, stretching as he walked to the bathroom. My breath hitched and heat pooled in my core while I stared at his lean, muscular body and the ink that covered the majority of his torso. Would I ever get enough of him? The spray of the shower echoed off the tiles in the bathroom, and I tucked my hands under my head, reveling in this daydream reality. Brady forced himself into my thoughts, unwelcome, and no matter how much I pushed him to the back of my mind, or how Leo tried to distract me I couldn't shake the certainty that he would be looking for me even now. My stomach twisted at the thought he might have found Tempest and made her talk, or that he could be waiting when the boat docked in two days, and I was bringing Leo into this mess. If anything happened to him, I would never be able to forgive myself. The shower shut off and I sat up. He came back into the room with a towel wrapped around his hips, his dark hair shaggy and dripping water. "I’m scared, Leo."

Brow drawn down, he pulled on jeans. "Huh?"

"Of Brady. What if he’s waiting for me at the dock? What if he found out where I went? If anything happened to you because of me—"

He dropped the towel over the end of the bed and pounced on me, stroking my cheek. "Nothing is going to happen to either of us."

"You can’t be certain." My lip quivered and my throat tightened around the lump of fear threatening to choke me.

"I’ll kill for you, Lola, if that’s what it takes." The tilt to his mouth was violent and his gaze sharp; he would protect me no matter what it took. "You’re mine now, and no one is going to take you from me."

"But—"

"But nothing," he growled. "You take me to Brady and let me handle him, then you’re coming home with me. Your place is with me, and that bastard isn’t going to get in the way."

The fear that had threatened to paralyze me dissolved under his protectiveness. "Okay."

"Go have a shower, gorgeous. We need to go eat."

I slipped from his arms and off the bed. His gaze followed me all the way to the bathroom.

Chapter Twelve

Leo

I settled her at the table, and took the seat opposite. My stomach growled loudly, and she chuckled while she rubbed her foot up my leg. The server approached and took our order.

"Can you behave yourself for five minutes, sweetheart?"

She shrugged and sank lower, bringing her foot to rest on my crotch. "You started it, remember?"

"And I’ll finish it, later when we’re not surrounded by people." I gripped her ankle and moved it back. "Besides, if I remember, you wanted nothing to do with me at the time."

"That’s true."

"I could gloat."

"It was easier for you. Your life is your own."

I took her hand and clasped it between mine. "That’s not true."

"Isn’t it?" Her forehead crinkled.

"My life is yours."

The server interrupted with our dinner, and I watched Lola pick at her plate. "What’s wrong?"

She glanced up at me. "I never thought I’d meet someone like you, and I’m so glad I did."

I pushed my plate aside and stood up. "Come on, we have something we need to take care of."

Tucked under my arm, she slid her hand into my back pocket. "What’s that?"

My lips to her hair, I inhaled her subtle perfume. "Let’s go rip up that contract. It’ll be good practice for when we see Brady."

"Okay." She beamed, and we made our way to Stag.

"Hey, Norah." I tapped my fingers on the bar and Lola popped onto a stool. "One last drink before we dock tomorrow?"

Norah spun around. "Your usual?"

"No." I glanced at Lola. "How about champagne? And while you’re at it, can I get that contract."

Norah raised an eyebrow and reached under the bar to retrieve it. "You mean napkin. So what’s the verdict?"

I took it from her and ripped it into shreds, letting them fall in a pile while I glanced at Lola. Taking her hand in mine, I pressed a kiss to her palm. "She loves me."

"She does," Lola mimicked.

I leaned over her, our lips mere inches apart. "You want to go back now?"

"Why did we ever leave?"

Norah hacked a fake cough. "You two are ridiculous. So I take it you said you’d marry him?"

I interrupted Lola before she could get a word out. "She’ll be my wife, Norah, just not today."

"Actually..." Lola swatted my chest. "He hasn’t brought it up again since the first day when I thought he was crazy."

"When you know, you know." I winked at her, the corners of my mouth twitching. "And I knew you were the girl for me."

"Then ask me." She stared at me, the same challenging look as the day we’d made the bet.

"Ask you?"

"Yes, ask me."

"I’ll get that champagne ready." Norah scuttled away.

I squatted down in front of her. "You think we should talk about this first?"

"I think I like you down there." The flirtatious wink she aimed at me was almost more than I could stand.

"Come on." My mind worked through what I wanted to say to her while I led her to the back of the boat.

I watched her walk to the railing, and stare out over the tranquil water etched in gold and orange. She’d thought I was crazy the first time I’d asked, and I couldn’t blame her. It didn't change the fact I’d meant every word, or that she'd been a lightning strike, brightening every part of my being. From the first time I'd seen her, I'd known she was the one. If she thought I was joking, then we had a problem because I wasn’t going to ask a third time.

I stalked over to stand at the railing beside her. "I’d marry you in a heartbeat. Do you know that? If you’d said yes on that first day I would have married you then." My chest tightened and my palms grew clammy. "I knew it was you from the moment I saw you. So I have to know. Are you seriously telling me to ask you? Cause I’m not going to ask a third time. If you’re playing with me, tell me."

Her gaze dipped before she brought it back to mine, and she cupped my face with her hand. "Leo, I don’t need time to know I want to be with you. I want to be your wife."

"Okay then." On my knees, as I had been that first day, I pulled a box from my pocket.

She gasped. "What? Do you carry one of those around in case you want to propose to a girl?"

"I bought this after I met you," I growled. "Now be quiet, I’m trying to ask you to be my wife."

One hand clamped over her mouth, she couldn't quite stifle her giggle. "Sorry."

"Are we going to do this, Lola? I can stand up if you’d prefer?"

Lola sank to her knees in front of me and clasped my hands in hers. "Leo, marry me?"

"Did you... did you just beat me to the punch line?" I gaped.

"You’ve given me everything. I want everyone to know how much you mean to me."

"Come here," I growled, and opened the box. Pulling out the ring, I took her hand and slid the square yellow diamond onto her finger.

"It’s beautiful," she whispered. "It’s too much."

"It’s not as beautiful as you, sweetheart." I pulled her into my arms and crushed my lips to hers in a lingering kiss.

Lola

Norah was waiting for us at the bar. A grin split her face as she poured flutes of champagne. "Leo Barclay, I thought there was a chance you wouldn’t get your way this time."

"I didn’t exactly." He nudged me gently in the ribs.

Norah glanced from him to me, and I sipped my champagne. "I asked him."

"You asked him?" She stared at us incredulously.

"How was I supposed to turn down such a pretty girl, Norah?" Leo winked.

She chuckled. "So now what?"

I gazed at Leo waiting for his answer.

"Tomorrow, we dock." He grasped my hand and held the back of it to his chest. "There are a few things we need to deal with, then I’m taking my soon-to-be-wife home."

I slid off the stool. "Home. I like the sound of that."

"Me too." He tucked me into his chest.

"But, we still have tonight." I smirked and cupped his junk before I tore out of his arms. "I’ll race you back to the cabin."

Behind me, I heard him say good-bye to Norah before chasing after me. I hightailed it to the elevator. He caught me as I pushed the button and the doors slid closed behind us. The wall met my back as he stalked me, his gaze full of lust.

"You and your games, sweetheart." He grabbed my waist and dragged me up against him. My heart fluttered, my breath racing from making him chase me.

I took his face in my palms and nipped at his lower lip. "You love my games."

He pressed me into the wall. "I love you."

Winding my arms around my future, I rose up on tiptoe and gave in to his demands.