Scorched (Surrender #4)(33)
Author: Melody Anne

“Everything happens for a reason. This will be the best wedding day ever,” Rachel promised.

“I have no doubt about it.”

Just then, all three men stepped from the water, walking up the beach together.

All conversation stopped as the girls watched the show almost in slow motion: water dripping down toned stomachs, hair practically sparkling in the hot sun, and strides, long and muscled, as the men made their way on the sand.

It was a calendar photo shoot come to life, and it was one hell of a picture. The three girls stared, their breathing becoming a bit more shallow as the oxygen seemed to be sucked from the air.

“Do you ladies mind sharing?” Rafe asked as they reached them.

Ari forgot to speak as she looked at Rafe, relaxed, tanned and sexy as hell. Oh, this man is about to declare to the world and God that he’s mine forever, she thought, dancing with glee inside.

“Of course not,” she replied, wanting nothing more than for him to join her on her chaise longue. She could forget there was anyone else on the beach as long as she was looking into the rich purple-blue eyes of her lover.

“You look good enough to eat,” Rafe said as he sat down at her feet, lifting her legs up and placing them in his lap.

“I was thinking the same thing about you,” she said, leaning forward for a kiss. She just couldn’t resist tasting his mouth.

“Why don’t I take you back to the palace so we can get cleaned up?” he asked, and her stomach clenched.

“Yes, I really should get out of this sun,” she agreed, leaping from the chair and bounding forward with Rafe right on her heels.

“Go for a walk with me, Lia,” Shane suggested while he grabbed a crystal glass full of ice-cold water from a table and guzzled it before sitting down on her chair.

“I’m fine right here,” she told him, knowing that if she went anywhere with him, talking would be the last thing on her mind.

“Yes, you are,” he replied with a deep rumble in his voice as he scanned her from head to toe, making her feel as if she’d just been thoroughly loved without the happy ending.

“Shane…” she began, still not knowing what she was going to say.

“These two need to be alone,” Adriane said as he held out a hand to Rachel.

Lia was horrified when her sister took his offered fingers and then walked away without another word to Lia.

Then it was just the two of them — she and Shane, all alone — because the guards followed Adriane, and this was his private beach.

“Alone at last and we didn’t even have to go anywhere,” Shane said as he leaned forward.

“I don’t want to do this, Shane,” Lia said, holding out her hand.

“Oh, yes, you do, baby. Just as much as I do,” he countered.

Closing the small distance between them, he kissed her the way she’d been imagining him doing all day.

Her will went from strong to gone in a heartbeat as his tongue slipped across her closed mouth.

What was one more mistake? she thought as she caved in to her body’s demands.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“I HAVE NEVER wanted so badly to pound someone into a bloody pulp!”

Ari walked beside Rafe as they strolled down the beach, watching as the sun slowly lowered, and its beautiful rays cast colors on the calm ocean water. She smiled as he ranted about Adriane and what a terrible man he was.

“He just thinks he can do whatever he wants — take her away and not suffer any consequences from it!”

Now it was time for her to speak. She’d been waiting. “And you have never done anything like that?” Her voice was quiet as she waited for her words to sink in.

“I wouldn’t…” he began to say as he stopped and turned toward her. She simply raised an eyebrow in response.

“Why are you with me?” he asked as he saw his past actions in a new and thoroughly unpleasant light which left him amazed to see her still standing before him.

“Is that an honest question? Do you want the real answer?”

He looked at her, his mind spinning while the muscles in his jaw tensed in apprehension of what she might say.

“Yes,” he finally said, taking her hand and leading her to a small hill looking over the picturesque beach.

“I’m with you because you saw the errors of your ways. I’m with you because before you, I was merely going through the motions of life, doing what I was supposed to be doing, being the perfect daughter, the honor student, the person I thought everyone wanted me to be. And then I met you.” She stopped for a minute. “You certainly weren’t part of what I was supposed to be doing. You terrified me, Rafe. You were a monster in my eyes.”

Rafe winced as she spoke, until she lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.

“I was afraid of you, but not for long. Then, something changed. I was angry that you were forcing me into the situation you did, but the bottom line is that I wouldn’t have stayed had I not also felt some excitement about it. Yes, I was mad, and, yes, there were times I wanted to throttle you, but you also made me feel things I never imagined feeling. You may have been a barbarian in your methods, but — I am almost ashamed to admit this — you stirred excitement in me that I had never felt before.”

“The entire time?” he asked, as if completely awed.

“Yes,” she admitted. “When you pushed me to do those things in the bedroom, I thought I would be filled with terror and maybe even disgust, but I was aroused. When you tied me to that toy, that circular apparatus, my entire body was turned on. I was afraid of you for all of two seconds. I’ve been turned on by you since the moment we met. Yes, you were a very sexy monster. I didn’t want to be only your plaything, only someone you thought you owned; I wanted your love, too. But the way you make me feel has never changed. I feel desired, and sexy, and the sex …well, it’s out of this world.” Ari’s face flushed.

“Out of this world, huh?” he asked, his eyes darkening as the sun sank, and its tangerine hue started to evaporate into the gentle wind.

“Oh, Rafe, the sex is indescribable!” she said as his hand trailed up her leg and slid beneath the hem of her shorts, making her breath rush from her mouth.

“So my sweet little Ari likes a bit of excitement in the bedroom?” he pushed.

“Oh, yes,” she gasped as his fingers reached the edge of her panties. Thank goodness for loose shorts. Ari leaned back to give him easier access.

“I have been so afraid of chasing you away that I’ve been a complete gentleman for the last few weeks. I figured that was what you wanted.”