Xander (Billionaire Racers Book 1) (12 page)
Read Xander (Billionaire Racers Book 1) Online
Authors: Marsh,Anne
Tags: #Romance, #Fiction, #Contemporary
She wants
more
. More words, more time, more of me. I am not sure I know how to give that to her, even if I want to. Certainly, these are not things that can be purchased in a store. My money will not help me here.
If I am to be a good husband, I have to figure this out. I have to provide whatever she needs. All these thoughts go flying out of my head, however, when I reach the end of the dock and realize that Lily is sailing. I would be happy to teach her, but she has apparently taken her education into her own hands. There are things you can learn from books, but I do not believe sailing is one of them. She certainly should not be out there alone. I blurt out my surprise, she glares at me, and then her ridiculously tiny little boat heels hard starboard.
I drop the flowers I brought and dive off the dock. Foolishly, she is not wearing a life jacket and we will have words about that after I have made sure she is safe. She may have hit her head or be trapped under the boat. Perhaps the mast struck her. At least a thousand possibilities rush through my mind as I close the distance between us.
She pops to the surface, laughing and cursing, as I reach her. She seems okay, thank God. I wrap my arms around her just in case, and she does not seem to mind. She laughs and floats, twining her arms around my neck. This is not a bad thing at all,
“You’ve ruined your suit,” she says breathlessly.
“They are just clothes.” I run my hands over her, checking for injuries, and she giggles.
“Did you at least take your phone out before you decided to go swimming?”
I frown at her. “Before I came to rescue you. And you are far more important than my phone, Lily.”
She is better dressed for swimming than I am. Her T-shirt is now plastered against her, but she is wearing a bikini beneath it and her hair is slicked back in a ponytail. I realize she expected this to happen. I am the only one who is surprised.
“You should kiss your wife hello,” she admonishes me.
“
Da
, but you should hang on.” I absolutely should kiss her, particularly when she smiles so shyly up at me. Perhaps she also wants another chance for us. I bend my head toward her, watching her face. She wraps herself around me and I cannot stop touching her. We are in the water and I should bring her to the beach. This is not my best idea, but how can I not kiss her when she asks?
I am certain she sees the possessiveness on my face. I want her to be mine almost as much I desire to be hers. She parts her lips, tipping her head back to give me access. I cannot breathe. I want her so very much. When I brush my mouth over hers, she exhales and I inhale. How can I not? She is breathing for both of us now, so I concentrate on getting our kiss right. I press my mouth against hers, parting her lips with mine. I taste her with my tongue, stroking into her mouth.
She is as perfect as I remember.
I kiss her until neither of us can breathe and we are both making rough sounds of need. This is why the beach would be so much better. There is only so much I can do for out here in the water. When I break off our kiss, she stares up at me, dazed. I like this look on her face. It means she is as lost in me as I am in her. We are partners in this.
“Why are you learning to sail, my Lily?” I float, holding her close to me. We can talk before we get out of the water. There is every chance she does not want to remain married to me, so I will enjoy these moments now.
She grins at me. “I was thinking about racing.”
“In a dinghy?” It would be the world’s slowest race.
Pink tinges her face. “In the Billionaire Race.”
This is more interesting. I agree. “Why would you want to race there?”
Her grip on my neck tightens. “So I could make a bet, of course.”
“And what would you be wanting to win?” I twirl her around in the water.
“A billionaire.”
I run my hands down her back. “You would make this so easy for me?”
“Easy?” I can tell from the look on her face that she is not convinced.
“
Da
. Easy because you would race slowly in this small boat. I would win and then you would be honor-bound to pay up whatever I wanted.”
“Is that really how it works?”
“It does not matter because you already have this billionaire and you do not need another.” This is not the right thing to say either. I know my money is not a plus—she would be happier if I was a normal man. There is only one thing that makes me different from that unknown man she has not yet met. “I love you. You are my Lily, my heart, my everything. I am hoping you will take a chance on this man.”
We are still bobbing up and down in the ocean. This is irresponsible of me. I should be taking better care of her—although she does not seem to mind so much. There is a small smile playing about her mouth and I must brush another kiss over her lips.
“I love you, Xander.” She holds tight enough to drown me, to pull me under, but I do not mind.
“Even though you don’t know me?” I give her back the words she said when we were in the Bahamas.
“I know more,” she says and there is a new expression on her face. I think she may mean it, and something in me flares to life. “I know you don’t value your phone. That if a friend is in trouble, you will leap before you look. That you will always come for me, even if the timing isn’t so perfect.”
“
Da
. You learn fast.” And because she is right, I must kiss her again, for a long time.
“Your turn,” she tells me when I finally let her go.
“We are taking turns now?” I stroke my fingers through her wet hair, wrapping the slick tail around my wrist and pulling her closer. “Should I tell you something?”
“
Da
.” She winks at me.
“Then it should be a good something.”
“Xander—”
I slide my hands lower, cupping her ass and curving my fingers inward. This bikini bottom of hers is delightful. It is tied over her hips with strings. One tug and she is bare for me. “Here is something. I have always loved you, my Liliya. You should know this already.”
“You—”
I stroke inside her. “From the moment I saw you, I was lost. I belonged to you.”
“You set me up,” she protests.
“I gave you an opportunity to come to me,” I tease and ease my fingers deeper. Her breath catches. “But I should have asked. I should have been patient and waited for you to see me. But you were my
angel
and I loved you.”
I tease her, touch her deep inside where she is slick, her channel squeezing my finger. She is wet for me here too, and I am nearly mindless with the way she makes me feel. I want to be inside her because I cannot possibly be too close to her.
“I am the head of the Petrov family now,” she declares. Her voice catches as I stroke a spot deep inside her. She likes that. She moves in my arms and I pull my finger free and head for the shore.
“I knew you could be,” I tell her. Lily is amazing. She will run rings around the rest of the mafia. “I am a lucky man.”
“Are you sure?” She wraps her arms around my neck as I wade out of the ocean. Suits are not made for swimming in. I abandon my shoes, but the rest will have to wait. I do not mind looking a little ridiculous in a good cause. I set her down on her feet, hugging her tight.
“I will show you.”
I lift my hands so she can see the tattoos on my knuckles. My hands are a roadmap of where I have been,
da
, but also of where I would like to go. The dark Cyrillic characters spell out my allegiances to the Russian mafia, but there is another word inked over them all.
Liliya Moia
. My Lily. I have added the dark red flowers just this week because now everyone who looks at me will see the truth inked on my skin. I am hers.
“I have always worn you here on my skin. I have just been waiting for you to come closer.”
I press her closer to my body and kiss her until she tugs me down to the sand. We kiss and then we make love, outside where anyone can see us because we are together now and it is good that the whole world know I am hers.
EXCERPT
I’m the asshole. The player. The guy who gives you a screaming orgasm but not his number or his heart.
Never the heart.
Hearts are strictly off-limits in my world. I don’t do forevers because my relationships come with shelf lives, and none of them last longer than a day or two. My last date claimed her orgasm lasted longer than our relationship. She wasn’t wrong.
None of this explains why I’m standing outside the zany yellow-and-white bakery Valentina Fuentes owns in Angel Cay, wondering what she’ll throw at me today. What names she’ll call me. Whether she’ll yell or cry or just slam the fucking door in my face and remind me that I screwed it all up. That from her point of view, she’s the payoff for a bet that should never have been made.
Whatever she does, I deserve it because I didn’t walk. I ran like a coward because I was too scared to figure out how hearts worked until I’d broken mine. I want a hell of a lot more from Vali than a Band-Aid, too.
I’ve fucked my way through a legion of women since my high school glory days. Women love a US Navy SEAL, and I loved them right back. Now that I look back, I wasn’t terribly discriminating, but I made sure my partners had a great time. I was Finn Callahan, the Orgasm King. Funny how that’s not enough anymore. I mean, I thought making a woman feel good, making her scream my name because I was that fucking good, making her melt for me, was enough. You see, when I made the woman of my hour forget everything but me, I got to forget too. I didn’t have to think about past battles or shit I’d gotten wrong or how maybe I shouldn’t have been the guy who came home. How there were other, better men who never left Afghanistan or Iraq or a godforsaken Colombian jungle. I mean, I know how to fight the good fight and give it my all, but if I were God and it came down to picking and choosing, Finn Callahan name wouldn’t be on the top of the Save List.
I’d be dead last.
So I need to open the door. Stop lingering on the sidewalk like the worst kind of pussy. It’s just that I don’t know what to say when I step through that door. Because when I’m around Vali, I’m not Mr. Sex-on-a-Stick SEAL. She sees through the bullshit and she sees
me
.
And I’m certain I can never be enough for her.
I need to man up.
I need to open that door and step through it… pin all my hopes and dreams on the one-in-a-million lottery ticket that maybe it’s not too late. Maybe Valentina Fuentes hasn’t come to her senses, and maybe she’s still sweet for this SEAL.
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Men of Angel Cay (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights)
Lonesome Cowboys
Smoke Jumpers
When SEALs Come Home
WHEN SEALS COME HOME BOXED SET I
WHEN SEALS COME HOME BOXED SET II
The Hotshots
SEALs of Discovery Island
BEFORE HE WAS WICKED
(Free prequel!)
SEALs of Fantasy Island
Blue Moon Brides
