Submersed (25 page)

             
I hoped he didn’t expect an answer because the words just wouldn’t form in my throat.

             
I raised an eyebrow as he proceeded to unbutton his jeans. When he reached for the zipper, I forced myself to watch him pull it down. He slid his jeans down his narrow hips and down his muscular legs before stepping out of them and tossing them on top of his shirt. Now he was just down to his black boxer briefs.

             
I swallowed in anticipation.

             
He hooked his thumbs under the waistband and I could hear myself suck in a lungful of air. Without hesitating, he slid the underwear off and dropped them on the pile.

             
I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands. I didn’t dare take my eyes off his face. I couldn’t let him see me look down. This was the first time I’d seen him completely naked and I was dying to take a peek, but didn’t dare.

             
Not yet.

             
Dillon walked back a couple steps. The split second his back was turned, I let myself peek at his butt. Instantly, I flushed red. “Dillon, what on earth are you doing?”

             
He turned around and grinned from ear to naked ear. “Who cares?” He threw his arms out. His tan skin was breathtaking against the white sand. “You said yourself there’s no one around. Now it’s your turn.” He folded his arms against his chest and tapped his foot impatiently.

             
I ignored his bidding and I let my eyes wander over his torso, those beautiful shoulders, his hard chest, sculpted abs.

             
Lazily, I let my eyes wander south. After all, we were at an impasse and I had time to kill. My breath hitched and my pulse quickened when my eyes arrived at the mother lode. His penis was long and thick and casually hung between his muscular thighs under dark, neatly trimmed hair. He looked like Poseidon rising from the ocean. I wanted to paint him and thought myself a pervert for it. There would be time for that later.

             
I clenched my toes into the sand to anchor my legs.

             
He gave me a minute to look him over before huffing out a lungful of air. “I’m waiting,
Livi
,” he prompted, sending my eyes back up to his face in the process.

             
I cleared my throat and fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. What did I have to lose? If he was repulsed by me, he might run the other way and I wouldn’t have to see him again. On the other hand, we were on an island and he would be stranded and I’d have to face him one way or another. At least until I could summon
Keoni
to come back with the boat.

             
Finally, after careful deliberation, I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it next to his on the sand. Immediately, I felt the late afternoon sun baking on my shoulders. Nerves had me shivering even though the air was balmy and warm. No one had ever stood and watched me undress before. And now Dillon was just a few feet away, his dark eyes watching my every move.

             
Next, I reached for the button on my jeans and it took me three tries before I could unbutton then. Eventually, I shimmied out of them, resisted the urge to fold them neatly to stall for more time and dropped them onto my shirt. I folded my arms across my stomach. It wasn’t fair. Dillon spent hours at the gym toning and sculpting and now I was expected to compete with
that
? This was madness.
Complete and utter madness.

             
I dug my toes into the sand to keep my legs from bolting and looked to him for that last boost of confidence. All that was left was my bra and underwear. They covered the same amount of skin as a bikini, but bikini
be
damned, I felt more exposed than ever.

             
Dillon uncrossed his arms and nodded once.

             
Before I could think of all the reasons this was asinine, I slowly reached back and unhooked my bra.

             
Here goes nothing
, I thought.

             
I tossed the bra away and quickly slid my panties off and flung them onto the pile.

             
After it was all done and I was naked as a jaybird, I forced myself to stand up straight and leave my hands at my sides instead of folding them over my middle. I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for Dillon’s laughter. I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my pulse roaring inside my head. I couldn’t hear the birds chirping in the trees or the water lapping at the shore.

             
Maybe Dillon had turned tail and ran down the beach, far, far away from me. Maybe he decided to risk a shark encounter and make a swim for the nearest island.

             
I couldn’t bear seeing his reaction to my naked body. What would I see when I finally willed my eyes open?
Disappointment, horror, disgust?

             
Blood pounded in my ears until I finally opened my eyes.

             
Dillon still stood a few feet in front of me. He hadn’t moved an inch. He was still there naked and glorious.

             
As for
the look on his face
, well, it was more like that of a child opening his first gift on Christmas
morning
. In fact, he was smiling that genuine smile of his. His eyes were even crinkled at the corners. “You’re beautiful,” he said. His voice was confident and sure with no trace of malice. 

             
From that moment on, I’d always use my week at
Bel
Ange
as a litmus test. If I could stand naked on a beach in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I could do anything.

             
Dillon leaned down, picked up a handful of sand, and closed the distance between us in three steps. “See this? This is all of your insecurities.
All the self-doubt, anxiety, self-consciousness.”
He let the sand sift through his fingers and fall at his feet. He bent down and cupped another handful and poured it into my hands. The sand was warm and gritty against my palms. He cupped his hands over mine. “This,” he said, squeezing my hands, “is all the bullshit.” He took his hands away. “Let it go,
Livi
. Let it all go.”

             
I looked down at my hands and could almost feel the negativity burning my fingers. I spread my fingers and let the sand sift slowly through my hands. When they were empty, I dusted off my hands and smiled up at him. He laced his fingers with mine and led me down the beach toward the water.

             
Automatically, I stiffened. Here I was already in a different zip code from my comfort zone and now he was leading me
further
away from the bungalow.

             
He stood up to his knees in water and looked out at the blue ocean. “Come on.” Gently, he pulled me further into the water until we were shoulder deep. He dug his feet into the sand until we were the same height.

             
I wrapped my arms around him and shivered at the feel of his skin against mine. There was nothing between us now. No clothes, no barriers, no inhibitions.

             
My insecurities were sitting in a pile on the beach.

             
Dillon kissed me in the water and I felt cleansed. He kissed me deep and passionately, telling me without words just how much he wanted me.

             
I wanted him just as much.

             
As I wound my arms around his neck, he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel his cock nudge at my opening. If there had been any doubt before, there wasn’t any now. I was ready for this.

             
When I was breathless from the kiss and thought he’d take me right there in the water, he murmured, “Let’s go inside.”

             
He cupped my bottom in his hands and I felt the water flow off our bodies as he lifted me out of the ocean. He carried me like I was weightless.
Over the sand, past our pile of clothes and back to the stone path.

             
With one eye on me and the other on the path, he carried me back into the bungalow. He didn‘t break the kiss until we were inside where he set me down next to our luggage. He bent down, rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a box of condoms.

             
I took Dillon’s hand and led him to the bedroom. It might have taken me months to get to this point, but I was ready now, without fear.
Without anxiety or self-doubt.

             
I felt weightless. My feet didn’t seem to touch the floor. I was leading
him
.

             
I wasn’t scared. If anything, I felt a surge of anticipation ripple through me when I took his hand. We were in the right place at the right time and I was ready to give myself to him.
Wholly and completely.

             
The bedroom was large with big windows that looked out to the ocean. A mosquito-netted four-poster king sized bed stood against the far wall. A fresh bouquet of flowe
rs sat on the table next to it.

             
Looking back now, whenever I smell Tahitian Gardenias I can’t help but think of Dillon and the first time we made love.

             
In the middle of the bedroom, he kissed me and nudged me to the bed until I felt the mattress bump the backs of my knees. I sat down and he stood in the V of my legs and kissed me.
Slow and deep.
Oh, so deep. Our tongues tangled together and I sucked in his breath and swallowed it.

             
I lay on the bed and he lay over me without crushing me. He tossed the condoms down and nudged my legs apart with his knee so he could settle himself between my thighs. When he looked at me, his lips were swollen and his eyes dark.

             
I pulled his head back down to me and crushed his lips to mine. My body arched up to his and I moaned. “Please,” I murmured. “I can’t wait any longer.”

             
Quickly, he rolled on a condom and aligned himself with my center. Ever so gently, inch by inch, he pushed himself inside me. I could feel my pussy stretch to accommodate his size. If
Bel
Ange
looked
like paradise, Dillon inside me
felt
like paradise.

             
He pulled back out, nearly all the way, before sinking back inside. It was slow and sensual and I could feel my insides heat up into a slow burn. The flames licked at me until I couldn’t see straight. All I could hear was Dillon’s breath pumping in and out of his chest. All I could taste was the passion on his lips and tongue, hot and thick. All I could feel was his warm body over mine and his heat moving inside me.

             
The intoxicatingly easy tempo quickly built up my orgasm. His pelvis was tilted at the perfect angle, rubbing my clit into
a frenzy
. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I clawed at his back and urged him deeper. My hips bucked and I grabbed his ass, pulling him closer, deeper still. No matter how hard he thrust, I feared I could never get enough. I cried out his name and begged him for more. I needed more, it wasn’t enough. He quickened his pace and then it was too much and I barreled to release as the climax roared through me.

             
Dillon was right about what he’d said that day in his bedroom. I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember my own name. Names didn’t matter. He was him and I was me. What mattered was that I was completely spent and satisfied beyond my wildest fantasies.

             
I saw colors. A rainbow of colors all swirled together like I’d thrown my palette against the wall and let the paint all run together. Dillon didn’t let up, but waited for my release to ebb before he followed with his own, emptying himself into my depths with a moan.

             
He laid over me, anchoring himself up with his elbows and I reached up to smooth his hair out of his face. We laid like that for a while until our breathing returned to normal, me holding on to Dillon for dear life and him still inside me. When he eventually pulled out, I was shocked at the emptiness he left behind.

             
He took care of the condom and tucked his arms back around me.

             
Dillon and I had only been at
Bel
Ange
for less than two hours and we were already lying naked in bed, our legs intertwined and tangled in the sheets.

             
I had my ear against Dillon’s chest, listening to his heart
thump
thump
and he lazily stroked my arm. I giggled in spite of myself.