My heart slowed to match the sensual ebb and flow of the water as she turned and posed according to the photographer’s instructions.
Unlike at the first photoshoot, she appeared at ease here, with the wind rustling her hair and the waves lapping at her thighs.
A goddess in her natural element.
“And that’s a wrap!” Ricardo shouted after a short while. “You are gorgeous, darling. Absolute perfection.”
Stella responded with a shy smile. She dropped her arms an inch—not low enough to bare herself to the crew, but enough that the swells of her breasts peeked over her embrace.
A lethal spike of possessiveness surged through my blood.
I allowed my eyes to linger on her for a second longer before I dragged them away to assess Ricardo with a cold stare.
Half-naked models were de rigueur in the fashion world, but that didn’t stop me from suddenly wanting to gouge out the eyes of the only male member of the crew—one who was staring a bit too appreciatively at Stella.
Ricardo Frenelli, age forty-six, twice divorced with one daughter who had a bad cocaine habit, employed at Delamonte for the past eight years. Well-respected in the fashion industry, but he had a secret gambling problem and owed a shit ton of money to people you didn’t want to owe a penny to.
I’d done my research after the first photoshoot.
“Mr. Harper!” Emmanuelle finally noticed me.
Her greeting attracted the attention of everyone on the beach, including Ricardo, whose head whipped around to me. His tan blanched white at my smile.
People scared so easily these days.
A flutter of movement shifted my attention back to the ocean. Stella hadn’t moved from her spot in the water, but she’d turned to face me. Surprise, pleasure, and a hint of something unidentifiable passed through her eyes when they caught mine.
My ire toward Ricardo fell to the wayside, drowned out by the electric hum in the air.
I've met plenty of beautiful women in my life. Women with perfect hair, perfect skin, and perfect bodies. Supermodels and movie stars and heiresses molded by the best money could buy.
None of them held a candle to Stella. She glowed in a way that had nothing to do with her outer beauty.
Darkness was always drawn to light, but I wasn’t just drawn to her; I was fucking obsessed. I would throw myself into her flame and let it burn me alive if it meant her warmth was the last thing I felt before I died.
Her lips parted on a sharp exhale, like the force of my need was so great it pulled a physical reaction out of her.
“...didn’t realize you were coming.” Emmanuelle’s sycophantic voice buzzed like an irritating gnat in my ear. “You should’ve told us. We would’ve—”
“Leave.” I didn’t take my eyes off Stella, who stood so still she resembled a carved statue in the ocean.
Emmanuelle faltered. “Excuse me?”
“You and your crew have five minutes to vacate this beach. I’ll take Stella back in my boat.”
I’d chartered a private boat from the hotel and anchored it further down the beach, not far from Delamonte’s own charter.
Emmanuelle’s cheeks flushed crimson. I wasn’t her boss, but like most people, she was susceptible to authority no matter what form it came in. Still, she put up a last-ditch effort to stand her ground.
“We can’t pack that fast.” Nervousness diluted the impact of her protest. “We also need to clean and store the necklace first. It’s worth over seventy thou—”
“Bill it to me.”
I couldn’t give less fucks about how much the necklace cost. I wanted everyone except Stella gone.
When the director didn’t move, I raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to repeat myself?” I asked pleasantly. I checked my watch. “Four minutes, Ms. Lange.”
She finally picked up on the veiled warning in my tone and scurried off.
Two minutes later, the crew was gone, leaving nothing but footprints behind.
“Should I be worried?” The wind carried Stella’s sweet, teasing voice to my ears. She was still in the ocean, but the crew’s departure had broken the spell keeping her quiet. “You’re not planning on murdering me here now that you’ve scared off the crew, are you?”
“They were annoying me.” I walked closer to the shore until I reached the natural border demarcating dry sand from its damp, wave-tossed brethren. “And I didn’t scare them off. I merely requested they leave.”
“What would you have done if they hadn’t complied?”
A strong breeze whipped a curl across her face. She brushed it away with one hand while keeping her other arm over her chest.
She looked different here. Without the nearby threat of the stalker hanging over her head and the proximity of her family dragging her down, she was brighter, more carefree, with a playful sparkle in her eyes that outshone the emeralds around her neck.
“I would’ve let it go like the gentleman I am.” A smile worked its way onto my mouth at the way her brows formed twin arches of skepticism.
“You said you weren’t a gentleman.”
“I didn’t. You did.”
“And I was right.”
My smile morphed into a soft laugh that promised all sorts of ways I could further prove her right.
“Come here, Stella.”
31
CHRISTIAN/STELLA
CHRISTIAN
Stella didn’t move, though a hint of desire darkened her eyes at my velvet command.
“What’ll you do if I don’t comply?” Her tone remained light, but the electricity in the air intensified until it seeped beneath my skin and crackled in my veins.
My smile took on a more dangerous curve. “Stay in the water and find out.”
I’d give her ten seconds before I went in after her.
It’d been forty-eight hours since our last real interaction, and I already craved her closeness like an addict hungering for his next hit.
I’d given up any concept of distance between us. I wasn’t just fascinated with her—a puzzle to solve. Obsession felt simple to me now.
I needed her.
“You need to work on saying the word please. I promise it won’t kill you.”
Despite her dry observation, Stella finally moved. Her tall, slender frame cut through the shallows with fluid grace until the water cascaded off her and left only tiny, glittering droplets behind.
She stopped in front of me, so close I could smell the faint scent of coconut sunscreen and green florals mixed with the salty kiss of the ocean.
I didn’t believe in paradise, nor did I believe I could reach it even if it existed, but she smelled exactly like how I imagined paradise would smell.
“Can’t promise something that’s yet to be tested, sweetheart.” I brushed my fingers over the sun-warmed jewels draped around her neck.
Seventy thousand dollars for one moment alone with her.
It was worth it.
The rhythm of her breaths stuttered. “You’re telling me you’ve never said the word please.”
“Never needed to. People do what I want anyway.” A chuckle vibrated in my chest at Stella’s adorable grumble.
“I should’ve stayed in the water and made you say please before I got out. Teach you a lesson.” She eyed me with curiosity. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you had work.”