“Hey, you made it.” He laughs and shakes Seb’s hand.
“This is April,” Sebastian introduces me. “This is my rent a friend, Spencer Jones.”
I chuckle as I shake his hand.
“Hey.” He smiles. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“You, too.” I smile and hunch my shoulders. Awkward.
“Come see the others,” Spencer says, gesturing to the pool.
“We’re on our way to our room,” Seb replies.
“It will only take a minute.” Spencer grabs my hand and begins to drag me toward the pool. “Look who I found!” he announces to the others.
A man looks up from his deckchair, and his big brown eyes meet mine. Okay, fuck. Who the hell is that gorgeous specimen with his dark hair, square jaw and… eish, power for days. “Julian Masters, this is April.”
I smile as I nervously shake his hand. Jeez, strong hands too.
“This is his wife, Brielle.” She’s pretty and natural-looking—younger than me by the looks of it.
“Hello.” I smile.
“And this hot as hell woman is my wife, Charlotte.” Charlotte is heavily pregnant and wearing a bikini. Her stomach is huge.
“Hi.” I smile.
Oh, great. They’re all lying around together in their swimsuits. This is my worst fucking nightmare.
The two women jump from their deckchairs and kiss me.
“It’s so great to finally meet you, April.” Says Brielle.
They both kiss Sebastian on the cheek, and he affectionately rubs Charlotte’s stomach. I can tell that they’re close.
“Okay, we have to check in. This poor guy is waiting for us,” Sebastian says.
We look over to see Paulie is waiting patiently under the palm trees.
“See you later,” Sebastian calls.
I give them a wave, and we both turn and follow Paulie.
We make it to our apartment, and my mouth falls open.
Wow.
It’s directly on the sand, overlooking the beach, with huge open bifold doors running along a gigantic deck. It’s made of timber with a thatched roof, and it looks like it’s come straight out of an island holiday brochure.
It’s possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
“This is the bedroom.” Paulie shows us through. The four-poster bed is strategically placed in the middle of the room, with a large green marble bathroom just off it, with an oversized sunken bathtub.
But it’s the glass wall view I can’t get over. There’s aqua blue sea as far as I can see.
“You have twenty-four-hour room service for anything that you need. Just dial 9.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, thank you,” Sebastian says as he tips him.
Paulie leaves us alone, and Sebastian’s eyes find mine.
“Seb.” I smile. “This is incredible.”
His eyes glow with tenderness. “It is, isn’t it?”
I know he isn’t talking about the place. He’s talking about me.
He takes me into his arms and kisses me, slow and tender, leading me down the path that we travel, where nothing else matters but each other.
I know I’ve been in love before, and I know I must have felt like this, but I don’t remember this closeness. The attachment between us is so deep.
“Let’s go swimming in that Indian Ocean,” he murmurs against my lips.
“But… your friends?”
“…Are a little too much sometimes, even for me.” He kisses me deeper, his tongue curling around mine. My feet lift off the floor. “I want you to myself today.”
My heart flutters. It’s as if he can sense that, after the chaotic and busy week we’ve had, I need time with him alone. Just the two of us.
“We’ll go out with them tonight.” He walks me back to the bed. “But today, you’re all mine.”
If heaven was a day, this would be it.
We swam, we laid in the sun, we made love, and we took a late afternoon nap to the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the shore.
Sebastian is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. There’s not a mobile phone in sight. In fact, I think he even switched it off. That’s unheard of.
But now we have dinner with his friends.
I hold my arms out. “Do I look okay?”
I’m wearing a strapless, fitted grey dress and sandal heels. My blonde hair is down in beach waves, and my makeup is minimal.
I’m relieved that I gave myself a little bit of a spray tan. I would have looked like an anemic snowman if I hadn’t.
Sebastian smirks at me. “You look beautiful.”
I inhale deeply.
“Stop it.” He takes my hand and lifts it to his lips to kiss my fingertips. “It’s just another dinner. This is not like you. I’ve never known you to be nervous before.”
“Well, this is important.”
“Why?”
“Because…” I shrug. “They’re your friends, and I know that first impressions count.”
He pours me another glass of champagne. “I have a plan.” He passes the glass to me, and we toast.
“Such as?”
“You drink copious amounts of cocktails to eradicate your nerves.”
I smile against my glass.
“And I’ll take advantage of you when we get home.”
I giggle. “I think you’ve taken advantage of me a few times today already.”
“You took advantage of me.” He slides his hand down my body and up under my dress. He cups my behind, and I smile as I sip my champagne.
The man is a bona fide sex maniac.
He puts his mouth to my ear. “How does that sound?” he whispers.
Goosebumps scatter up my spine. His fingers slip under the side of my panties, and he glides his fingertips through my sex.
“Hmm.” My eyes flutter closed as I take another sip of my champagne. “Keep talking.”
He bites my neck with force at exactly the same time as he impales me with two thick fingers.
Oh…
My knees nearly buckle out from under me.
His dark eyes hold mine as he works me, his thick fingers touching my most secret place. “Oh, my girl loves to fuck my hand.”
My eyes close.
He jerks his hand hard. “Doesn’t she?”
“Yes,” I whimper.
He lifts my leg to sit up on the chair, and he starts to really work me. Two fingers… then three, his teeth grazing my neck, biting my ear, and his quivering breath skimming my skin.
Four fingers…
Ouch.
I clench around him, and he smiles against my neck.
“You have no fucking idea how hot you feel stretched out like this.”
My body shudders, and I bear down on him.
He puts his mouth to my ear. “You’re going to come on my tongue tonight.” He growls. “Hard.”
Oh, yes…I am.
I shudder, and he takes his hands out of my pants and stands up straight. With his dark eyes fixed on mine, he sucks his fingers dry.
I pant as I melt into a puddle.
“I want to come now,” I whisper.
“No.” He straightens my dress and pulls it down. He neatens up my hair.