Secret Fantasy(25)
Author: Carly Phillips

“Moving before I wake up permanently twisted like a pretzel.”

She laughed. “You could have just woken me.”

“And miss the opportunity to hold you in my arms? Not a chance.”

He carried her into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed, going so far as to pull down the covers and tuck her in, then lower himself onto the mattress beside her. Such a parental gesture, yet there was nothing familial about the heat in Doug’s eyes or the sizzling awareness he ignited inside her. Her pulse rate kicked into overtime as she waited for whatever he had to say.

He picked up a lock of her hair, twisting a long strand around his fingertip, seemingly distracted, but Juliette knew better. He was savoring every touch, every feel, just as she did whenever he was near. She curled into the downy softness of the pillows beneath her.

“Rain’s stopped,” he murmured.

“You’re leaving.” Unexpected, unreasonable disappointment filled her.

“I don’t have a choice.” His gaze fell from her face to the low neckline on her shirt. His fingers followed the movement, tracing the straight edging from her collarbone downward, brushing her chest and lingering in the deep vee nestled between her br**sts.

His tanned skin contrasted with her paler flesh and though his touch was gentle, his intent was sexual. And Juliette experienced an instant flare of heat. Suddenly the silk top, which had been so soft seconds earlier, rasped against her hardened ni**les. Nothing would ease the tension inside her except his touch, and from the determined look in his eyes, that wouldn’t be happening now.

Let loose. Be yourself. What other way to break past his stubborn convictions? “Of course you have a choice. You can stay.”

His jaw clenched tight. “Not yet.”

She wanted to question him further, find out what kind of hurt he believed he’d inflicted in the past or why he felt the need to atone now. “Why…”

Before she could finish, he dipped his head and lowered his lips to hers for another one of his long, drugging kisses. The kind that sapped her energy and stopped all rational thought. And the kind that told her whatever reason he wasn’t staying the night had nothing to do with his feelings for her.

While he worked magic with his mouth, his fingertips eased inside her shirt and though he encountered the barrier of her flimsy bra, he wasn’t deterred. With a light touch, he held her nipple between two fingers, rolling and flicking with enough pressure to first ease the ache and then increase it.

She raised her arms, seeking to touch him, too, but he gripped her hands and held them against the mattress, keeping himself in charge. And her at his mercy. She sighed into him, letting him know with her mouth, the only way she could, how much she enjoyed his ministrations and how badly she wanted more.

“I don’t want to go.” He leaned his forehead against hers.

His admission sent talons of hope soaring through her veins. “Then don’t.”

“You’ve been hurt recently.”

She stiffened at the reminder. “I never said that.”

“Your ex-fiancé wanted what you could do for him and not you. I’d call that hurt.”

“And you ought to know?” She deliberately pressed harder.

“Something like that.”

Accepting his vague answer for now, she stored further questions away for another time.

He lifted her chin in his hand. “If I stay, we both know where this is headed.”

She nodded, her heart filling with heated warmth.

“But for your sake you need to be sure.”

“I think I know what my body is telling me.” And right now it was screaming for his touch.

He laughed but didn’t sound at all amused. “I want your mind to know it, too. And that takes time.”

More like he needed time, Juliette thought. As difficult as it was, she heeded his boundaries but Juliette didn’t plan on leaving the island without breaking past his barriers and experiencing complete intimacy—his body, deep inside hers. She trembled at the thought of making love with Doug, knowing she’d never be the same afterward.

He lifted the covers and tucked them around her, then leaned forward for another brief kiss. “Night.”

She sighed. Knowing what was right and necessary didn’t make saying goodbye any easier.

WHEN THE TELEPHONE rang, Juliette was in another world. Alone with Doug on a deserted island, surrounded by bright sun and tropical flowers with the softest petals—for which Doug found the most inventive, arousing uses. She didn’t want to be disturbed, but the persistent ringing wouldn’t abate.

Reaching over, she grabbed the receiver. “Hello.” If she had to be awakened, she hoped it would be by Doug.

“When I sent you on this trip I didn’t think you’d forget to check in. How are you?” Gillian’s concerned voice came through loud and clear.

“There aren’t supposed to be phones in paradise,” Juliette wailed. But she couldn’t deny she was happy to hear from her sister even if the feminine voice wasn’t her first choice.

She closed her eyes, but her dream slipped further and further from her grasp, replaced by reality: a too-cold room courtesy of the air conditioner, a too-cold bed thanks to Doug’s late-night departure and a humming, lingering emptiness because her dream had stopped short of satisfaction.

“If you’re in paradise, why do you sound so miserable?” Gillian asked.

“Not miserable.” Lonely for the man who’d left too quickly last evening. Juliette sat up in bed, letting the morning sun stream through the blinds and bathe her in warmth. “And I recall leaving a message on your answering machine the day I got down here.”

Gillian cleared her throat. “Yes, well, would you believe I was out and too busy to get back to you?”

“Too afraid is more like it. I know you, Gillian Stanton. You were afraid to hear what I had to say about you arranging a fantasy vacation without telling me—oh, and switching my wardrobe. You knew I’d have a few choice words on that subject, too.”

“When I didn’t hear back from you again I got worried.”

She wasn’t surprised her sister had all but ignored the issue at hand. “You should be worried,” Juliette muttered. “It would serve you right.”

“That bad an idea?”

She didn’t miss the hesitancy in Gillian’s voice and decided she’d tortured her sister enough. Besides, she needed her twin and best friend’s advice. “It was probably the best idea you’ve had in this lifetime,” she admitted.