Rough Draft: Big Easy (13 page)

Jett had launched an all-out assault on her with passion, driving her to orgasm after orgasm…with his fingers, his lips, her vibrator. He’d taken her a dozen different ways, but he’d never consummated the relationship, never made love to her the way he wanted to.

Though she’d played fair, stroking and sucking him to completion, she still held back, refused to give him what he knew they both wanted. It was frustrating, maddening, and the devil in him had to admit, hot as hell.

The hours since their arrival on Eden had flown by in a blur. Nonstop activity that meant nothing…and everything. They’d shared drinks by the pool with other guests as they tried to ferret out information. They’d gone for long swims in the ocean and taken long walks on the beach because Carissa insisted she needed to exercise after all the delicious food they’d gorged themselves on. They’d attended several of Eden’s planned social events, in their attempts to discover the murderer.

In the midst of all of that, Jett’s pent-up words had been released, and he spent several hours each day tapping away on his laptop while Carissa went shopping with Stella or explored the island on her own.

Each night they’d returned to the dungeon and Jett continued her instruction on the beauty of BDSM. The shared kinks and desires had broken something free, changed the easy relationship they’d always shared, adding a different, more heated dimension.

Both of them walked around like live wires, sparking at the slightest glancing brushes, electricity seeking an outlet, until Jett had no choice but to drag her to their room or find some out-of-the-way custodial closet where he’d tug down her pants and finger her until she came. Sometimes it was Carissa who broke first and Jett would be forced to remain stone-faced as she stroked his cock under the table in the restaurant or in the ocean. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

The only thing that kept Jett from breaking his vow was Stella. She had attached herself to Carissa, constantly seeking them out during the day, planting herself beside Carissa for several hours.

Carissa had initially cultivated the association in an attempt to discover more about Gregory. The murder investigation was never far from their minds, both Jett and Carissa analyzing the information they had, sifting through the clues. They’d spent many afternoons tossing out suppositions, frustrated that their investigation hadn’t yielded many results. They’d hit a brick wall.

Both of them agreed Phillip seemed to top their list in terms of motive. The Dom continued to come to the club each night, sitting in the corner nursing a drink while watching Stella. He never chose a sub to play with. Instead, he simply sat and observed.

However, as more time passed, Jett began to suspect that Carissa had a soft spot for Stella. Carissa was a sucker for a stray cat and Stella definitely fit that mold. The woman was a bit odd and Jett found himself growing more curious about her.

Carissa knew Jett was excited by his newly broken writer’s block, so she would escape with Stella each afternoon in order to give him time to write. He appreciated her patience with him. Now that he’d found his voice again, Jett was afraid to let the momentum die. Carissa understood that and gave him the time he needed to keep the words flowing. He’d caught her trying to sneak peeks over his shoulder, but each time he teasingly told her she’d just have to wait to buy the book.

Throwing himself into his work was helping in another regard as well. He let the story harness some of his unending horniness and give him a brief respite from his pursuit of Carissa. He suspected it was his unrequited feelings for her that were molding the story. The rough draft hitting the pages was every bit as intense as his past books crime-wise, but this one was a bit different. A new, more erotic element had found its way into the story as well. Jett didn’t have a clue if his readers would enjoy it, but personally, he thought it was shaping up to be the best book he’d ever written.

Jett lay on his back staring at the ceiling, listening to the water running as Carissa showered. It was Thursday night and he was worn out.

Carissa stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a terrycloth robe. She walked to the closet and started to pull out the mini-skirt she’d worn her first night in the dungeon. Clearly she expected them to repeat the same pattern as every other night, however, the dark circles under her eyes told him she was tired too. For a vacation, it had been a bit of a whirlwind.

“Put that away.”

She turned. “What?”

“We’re not going to the dungeon tonight.”

“What about the investigation?”

“We’re here on vacation, Rissa. Don’t you think it’s time we took a little time to focus on just us?”

She nodded. “I’d like that. You’ve sort of thrown me for a loop this week and I’m afraid I’m handling all of this very badly.”

He chuckled. “What do you say we take a night off? Late dinner downstairs? Just friends?”

“I’d like that.”

They needed to get out of the room. And away from the damn bed. Carissa put on a pretty sundress that fired his libido more than her mini-skirt. Or her bikini. Or the leather corset. Then it occurred to Jett that she could walk around in a feed sack and he’d still want her.

There was no way he could sit across the table from her and not want her. Despite offering to do the just friends thing, he knew that ship had sailed. He simply couldn’t look at her without feeling a million different things that had nothing to do with platonic friendship.

He was in love with her. He was starting to think he’d been in love with her for years, but was too stupid and blind to realize it.

“I’m ready.”

He smiled and offered her a friendly hand. By the time they’d been seated in the restaurant, Jett was starting to feel like he could breathe again. However he didn’t hold out much hope that he’d make it through the night without reaching for her in their shared bed.

Jett ordered a bottle of wine and once it had been delivered, they sat quietly, listening to a man playing the piano. Jett was surprised by how relaxed he was, given the incredible tension he’d been suffering.

“Not exactly the vacation we’d planned, is it?” she asked after a few minutes of silent contemplation. The lines around her eyes and mouth had eased and he was glad he’d called for the temporary truce.

“No. I guess not. Although you did manage to help me break the writer’s block. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for that, Rissa.”

She smiled and shook her head, refusing to take credit for doing anything. He was used to her demurring and downplaying his compliments. “You would have figured it out on your own. You were born to be a writer, Jett. So what’s the story about?”

He grinned. “Nope. No spoilers. You’ll just have to wait until I’m finished.”

She pouted prettily. “That’s not fair. You’ve kept me in suspense for months over Riley’s fate. What happens?”

In his last book, Jett had left the hero in a life or death situation, a stupid move on his part that had left his readers even more rabid than usual for the next story. He shrugged, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

“You’re a heartless bastard, you know that, right?”

Jett laughed. “I may have been told that a time or two or twenty in my life.”

Carissa took another sip of her wine, then sighed. “I love this song.”

Jett listened to the music. It was familiar and yet he couldn’t quite place it. “Where have I heard this before?”

“It’s the theme to
Forrest Gump
.”

He nodded slowly. “Your favorite movie.”

“Yep.”

He and Carissa had spent one playful night at the Royal Lunch reciting almost the entire movie with each other—her playing Jenny to his Forrest.

Jett leaned back. “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

“And I sure wasn’t expecting what I got this week.”

She’d opened the door. Jett was glad. It was time to talk.

“Me either. But I’m not sorry about it, Rissa.”

She toyed with the stem of her wineglass. “You know I love you, Jett.”

They were the words he wanted to hear from her, but he understood the tone, the sentiment. She meant she loved him as a friend.

“This could be as easy as breathing. As far as I can see, we’re compatible right down the line—sexually, emotionally, sarcastically.”

Carissa rolled her eyes at his last comparison, then she threw him for a loop. “Are we? Really?”

It was clear she didn’t think so.

He started to ask her where she thought they didn’t match up when one of the resort employees walked up to their table. “Are you Jett Lewis?”

Jett nodded. “Yes.”

“There’s a call at the front desk from your mother.”

Jett rose quickly.

Carissa stood as well. “Why wouldn’t she call your cell?”

Jett shrugged. “My service has been spotty at best while we’ve been here. Maybe she couldn’t get through.”

“I hope everything is okay.”

He silently prayed for the same thing, but he feared the worse. His mother wouldn’t call him on vacation if it weren’t an emergency. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

He walked to the lobby, but he was stopped before he could reach the front desk.

“Jett.”

He turned to find Stella standing next to him. “I’m sorry, Stella. I can’t talk right now. There’s a phone call for–”

“There’s no call.”

Jett frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I called the front desk and pretended to be your mother.”

“Why would you do that?”

Stella looked around. She appeared to be terrified.

“I was trying to get you away from Carissa. I don’t want her involved in this. It’s dangerous.”

Jett had thought Stella was a bit of an airhead as she contributed very little to any conversation they’d ever had—always distracted and laughing just a beat or two after he and Carissa, as if she hadn’t gotten the joke. It appeared she was more intelligent than he’d given her credit for.

“What’s dangerous?”

Stella bit her lip and glanced around the lobby again. “Do you think we could talk about this outside? I’m afraid I’m being watched.”

Jett nodded, following Stella toward an employee’s exit. They stepped out onto a small path that was overgrown with lush, green vegetation. There were two tracks that looked like they’d been made by the golf carts employees used to transport things all over the island. Two carts were parked next to them.

“Who do you think is watching you, Stella?”

She shrugged. “No one. I just wanted to get you alone.”

Before Jett could respond, he felt something sharp pierce his arm. He tried to swat at the sting, thinking a mosquito had bitten him. However, he couldn’t move and his vision went hazy. Black spots obscured his view. All he could see as his strength began to fail was Stella smiling, her face distorted with an unhinged glee, as she pushed him into the passenger seat of the golf cart.

It was her.

Stella was the killer.

And he was a dead man.

Carissa glanced around the lobby, expecting to find Jett there. When he hadn’t returned to the table after ten minutes, she began to worry and decided to look for him. She inquired at the front desk, only to be told Jett hadn’t shown up to his phone call and the person calling had hung up.

Panic began to set in.

“Carissa? Are you okay?”

Carissa bit back a curse as Phillip approached her. The man was at the top of the very short list of suspects she and Jett had managed to put together. If he’d done anything to Jett, Carissa would kill him.

“I was just looking for Jett.”

Phillip scanned the lobby. “I haven’t seen him.”

“He probably just slipped back up to the room.”

“You seem concerned. Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head and started toward the elevator. Unfortunately, Phillip began to follow.

“You really don’t have to come with me, Phillip. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Where’s Stella? I noticed the two of you seem to have become quite inseparable the past few days.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. Every alarm in her brain was sounding loud and clear. “I haven’t seen her tonight. Jett and I were enjoying a dinner together when he received a phone call from home. I’m sure everything is fine.”

Phillip’s expression darkened. “I don’t think you should walk around the hotel alone, Carissa. People have a tendency to come up missing on Eden.”

Carissa’s blood began to run cold. No one had reported Gregory’s disappearance and only a handful of people knew about the murder. The only way he could know Gregory was missing was if he’d committed the crime.

What if Phillip had lured Jett away in an attempt to separate them?

She decided to play dumb. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Actually if you want to help, maybe you could check the dungeon for me.”

“Jett wouldn’t go there without you.”

It was clear Phillip had no intention of letting her out of his sight. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Carissa reached for Phillip’s arms. Her quick motions caught him off guard and he raised his hands to hers as she yelled loudly.

“Let me go!”

Several people in the lobby, including a security guard near the front entrance, began to approach them as Carissa held tight to Phillip, making it look like he was grabbing her.

Phillip tried to break her grasp as she continued to yell for help.

“What are you doing?” Phillip asked, obviously concerned.

The large security guard placed a firm hand on Phillip’s shoulder, which he foolishly tried to shrug off.

Carissa released Phillip, then staggered away, holding her hand to her heart as if upset by the attack.

Another member of the security force arrived. Phillip proclaimed his innocence, insisting she had grabbed
him
. It was clear no one was buying Phillip’s story as she pretended to cry. “He was trying to force me to his room.”

Phillip scowled. “What? No, I wasn’t.”

Carissa slowly backed away, feigning genuine fear as the security guards dragged Phillip toward an office behind the front desk. “Please come with us, sir. We need to ask you a few questions.”