Suzie grabbed a towel for her hair and sat on the bed. She couldn’t quite believe she’d walked naked into the bedroom without worrying about how she looked or what he’d think. But the way Nate looked at her filled her with confidence. And she was so horny, she was tempted to slip one hand between her legs to caress where she ached.

No more doubts. No more over-thinking things. If she didn’t do this, her nether regions were going to burst.

Where was he? If he didn’t hurry she’d have to start without him.

Nate came into the doorway and stopped, looking at her. He was still wearing his swimming shorts and his arousal was obvious. The sight made her want him even more. And now she knew what had taken him so long — he had a box of condoms in one hand. He really was a genius.

He stayed where he was, not moving any closer, and Suzie frowned. Had he changed his mind?

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m taking a moment to enjoy the view.” He stepped towards the bed, his gaze devoring her body. “I knew the Fiji Islands would be beautiful, but I never expected to see anything so stunning.”

His words sent a warm feeling into her belly. Suzie arched her back a little so her breasts would jut towards him and her waist would look smaller. She wasn’t usually such an exhibitionist, but he seemed to bring it out in her. “If you don’t hurry up, the view might take matters into her own hands.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’d like to see that.”

The hunger in his eyes was all the encouragement she needed to run her hands over her breasts, first cupping them, then teasing her nipples into hard points. “Careful what you wish for, because you might get it.”

Nate licked his lips. His swimming shorts were stretched out in front, the fabric under serious pressure. “Wishes can come true,” he said in a voice so husky, Suzie’s warm feeling expanded, spreading through her limbs. To have a man like him look at her with such appreciation was the most powerful aphrodisiac she could imagine. He was so handsome it made a girl want to write poetry or sing opera. Or slide one hand oh-so-slowly over her belly and down to the wet cleft between her legs.

Nate’s lips parted as his gaze followed her hand’s progress. He was breathing hard and his eyes were hazy with lust. Putting on a show for him didn’t make her self-conscious. It made her feel powerful, and so aroused she could hardly stand it.

“Come here,” she whispered. If he made her wait a second longer, she was going to scream.

He pushed off his swimming shorts and stepped out of them. Suzie leaned back to admire him. He was the beautiful one, with the ridges of his muscles of his stomach and thigh muscles more defined than any Greek statue. And he was well-endowed enough that if he were to be a statue model, Michelango would need an extra block of marble. Forget the fig leaf, he’d need a palm leaf to cover that monster.

Then Nate was beside her, and his kiss drove every thought from her head. All she felt was the pleasure of his touch and the strength of her need.

With one hand Nate caressed her breast, his touch sending thrills of pleasure into her as strong as electric shocks. Suzie ran her hand over the hard slabs of muscle in his back, then gasped when he took her nipple in his mouth. Oh, that felt so good. She took hold of his shaft, stroking him, groaning at the knowledge of how wonderful he was going to feel when he thrust into her. She was ready for him. More than ready. She grabbed one of the condoms, ripped it open, then rolled it onto him. Now he was ready too.

“Don’t keep me waiting,” she whispered.

He bit her ear lobe and his warm breath in her ear gave her goosebumps. “What’s your hurry?” His tongue flicked lightly around the rim of her ear, sending shivers down the back of her neck. “I’ve waited years for this moment. I’m going to enjoy every inch of you.”

She bit her lip as his mouth moved slowly down the side of her throat. One hand moved gently over the sensitive skin on the underside of her breast, exploring its curve. Oh sweet mother of dragons, that felt good. Too good. He was going to torment her by taking her to the brink of orgasm without letting her plunge over the edge. And she had to go over. She’d never needed anything as badly.

“You’re trembling,” he murmured.

She lifted one hand, then clenched it. Yup, she was shaking. She’d never done that before, but then again, she’d never felt like this before either. He’d wired her into an amplifier somehow, turned all her senses way up. Could it be the way he touched her? His hands and mouth were skilled, but it was more than that. Not just his delicious musk smell mixed with salt, or the sureness of his movements, the strong-willed maleness of him.

No, it was all those things mixed together, with a pinch of something unexplained. Something that spoke to the deepest, most sensual parts of her. Whatever had caused it, the need inside her was achingly strong, and felt so good she never wanted it to stop.

“You like that?” he murmured, kissing her neck while he teased her nipple with his fingers.

“Uh-huh,” she managed.

“And that?” He ran his hand over her belly and she spread her legs wider.

When his hand moved back up to her breast, she could have screamed. Didn’t she know how badly she needed him?

In fact, the strength of her need was a little scary. She didn’t like letting any man have this much power over her, not after what she’d been through with the bad boys she’d dated. Lord help her if any of them had been able to affect her so strongly. She would have been at the mercy of someone who would have broken her heart and probably taken her for everything she had. She didn’t want to think about how bad it might have gotten.

But this was Nate. She’d discovered how honorable he was. Nothing like the losers she used to date. Besides, it was a one-time-only thing.

And nothing mattered now except the throbbing urgency she felt. She threw her leg over his and pushed forward so his hardness pressed into her belly. The top of her thigh rubbed against his leg, but it wasn’t nearly enough, not by a long way. All it did was intensify the need inside her, the emptiness that demanded to be filled.

He stroked down her belly, then — thank the sweet goodness — his fingers moved between her legs. She moved her body backwards to give his hand better access. His touch was gentle, his fingers gliding over her, teasing her with soft caresses. She longed to order him to thrust into her, to give her the release she was so desperate for, but she was afraid that might make him draw out this unbearable pleasure-pain out longer instead.

“You want more?” he asked, kissing the hollow at the base of her throat.

He knew she did, and he was enjoying stringing her out. “Yes,” she managed, clamping her lips to stop herself from adding the word please. She wouldn’t beg.

“I want it hard,” she said instead.

“I’m not ready to give you that. Not yet.”

“But—”

He cut off her objection with a long, deep kiss. Then he moved down her body and his tongue found the place that ached.

She gasped with the shaft of intense pleasure that shot up her body. Dimly she knew she was grabbing a fistful of bedclothes with one hand and a fistful of his hair with the other. Then everything disappeared but the sensation of his tongue on her and his fingers plunging into her.

The pressure of her impeding orgasm built with incredible force. It felt like a torrent of seething water building behind a dam that would give away at any moment. She clung to his hair and the bed as though they were the only things keeping her attached to this world. And when the tidal wave of sensation finally grew so huge that the dam burst, she was swept away, tumbled over and over.

It wasn’t until the wave started to recede that she realized she’d been crying out his name.

He moved up over her and held her close while aftershocks shuddered through her. She clung to him until she got both her senses and her strength back. He didn’t try to kiss her again. His cheek was against her hair. His body pressed down on hers, skin against skin, and they were both breathing hard.

“I think I needed that,” she gasped finally.

He let out a long, low chuckle that did the impossible and reignited her desire. His shaft was rock hard against her hip. He had to be suffering.

And just because he’d given her the most intense, incredible orgasm of her life, didn’t mean she couldn’t tease him a little.

“Okay,” she said, pretending to push him away. “So that’s done. Now, you’d better get that engine started and I’ll go—”

He let out a little growl, deep in the back of his throat. Then he moved over her, between her legs. She gasped as he pushed inside her and dug her fingernails into his back, pulling him closer. She’d thought nothing could feel better than the orgasm she’d just had. But this was different. A pleasure less violent, but deeper somehow.

She wrapped her legs behind him and he put his hand on the back of one thigh and pushed it higher still, angling her the way he wanted her.

She was going to come again.

The feeling of him moving over her, pushing into her, was too good. His glorious muscles were flexing under her hands. His eyes had darkened and she could feel him trying to hold back his own orgasm. His iron will was as hard as his body, but she could feel his pleasure cresting, intensifying hers.

Nothing could have prepared her for what came next.

Forget rushing water — her second orgasm slammed into her with the force of a ten-ton articulated lorry. Then it reversed over her a few times for good measure.

At some point, while she was screaming, he must have come too. She barely noticed.

By then she was a quivering mess of road-kill, every nerve and pleasure-center in her body firing at once.

Finally, they collapsed together in a tangle of weak limbs. He rolled over and pulled her against his front, his arms tight around her, and nuzzled her neck.

“Sweet mother of dragons,” she said, trying to get her breath back. “That was epic.”

He gave a low laugh next to her ear, and his warm breath sent more pleasurable shivers down her spine. “Good word. Describes it perfectly. And did you just make a Game of Thrones reference?”

“So? I like Game of Thrones.”

“Careful. You’re going to get me going again.”

He let her go so he could take off the condom, then lay on his back. She snuggled against him with his arm around her shoulders and her face on his chest. Her hair was still wet, but he didn’t seem to care. He stroked it gently back from her face.

Suzie made slow circles around one of his nipples with one finger, loving the feeling of complete relaxation that filled her. Being nestled in his arms was heaven after orgasms as incredible as the ones she’d just had. She felt so good, she had to be glowing.

Nate was so different from the other guys she’d been out with. Maybe Laura was right and she should give up on bad boys. Not that dating Nate was an option, he’d already made that clear. Did he have some kind of commitment issue, or was he just not into seeing anyone at the moment?

Not that she wanted to ruin the moment, but if he was feeling even a fraction as relaxed as she was, maybe he’d give her some answers.

“How come you came to Laura’s wedding by yourself?” she asked, her voice lazy. “You didn’t want to bring a date?”

“I don’t do relationships.”

“What, never? Like, you’ve never had a girlfriend?”

“Nope.”

She lifted her head so she could blink her amazement at him. “Why not?”

“I’ve had enough pain in my life. I don’t want any more.” He didn’t sound sad about it, just matter-of-fact.

“Sounds like you’ve had your heart broken.” She couldn’t help a stab of jealousy when she thought of the woman who’d captured his heart and trampled on it. She was probably a genius like him. A tall, gorgeous blonde with a PHD and legs that went all the way up to her eyebrows. Had to be.

“No. Not a woman.” His hand ran slowly up and down her arm. It felt good.

“Then…?”

He hesitated a moment. Then he said, “If I can’t protect the people I care about, I’d rather not care about them in the first place.”

“What do you mean you can’t protect them?”

“I can’t always keep bad things from happening.”

“Seriously?” She frowned, trying to understand. “You don’t want a relationship in case something bad happens?”

He grunted. It was a noise of agreement, but he obviously wasn’t loving the direction the conversation was taking. Still, she wasn’t ready to let it go. “But you must take risks when it comes to business? So why not relationships?”

“Business is different. If something goes wrong, I can fix it. People aren’t like that. Things go wrong out of nowhere and there’s not a thing you can do about it. I can’t fix someone who’s sick, or depressed. Or dead.”

His voice went flat on the last word. That’s right, his mother had died in eleventh grade. There was never a good age to lose a parent, but that had to have been hard on him.

Suzie put her head back on his shoulder and moved her hand to his waist to squeeze him closer. She’d spent the next year upset about a rumor, while he’d been dealing with the loss of his mother and moving away from his home and friends. The realization made her regret having been angry with him.

Still, she didn’t get why that would turn him off relationships.

“Why are you single?” he asked.

Great. The truth was too embarrassing to share, but after asking him probing questions she could hardly object.

“Because I always fall for the worst kind of men. They aren’t usually content with just breaking my heart. One of them stole my purse on his way out the door. Another wrote off my car.”

That wasn’t even the worst of it, but she’d never tell anyone about the man who’d gotten so drunk his bowels had let go on her bathroom floor. She’d found him asleep next to it with his pants around his ankles. If anyone ever invented a memory-wipe machine, that memory would be the first to go.

“You still go for guys like Troy then?”

“Not anymore,” she said, only half joking. “It’s strictly millionaires from now on.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how they sounded. “Oh. I mean… I didn’t mean you.”

“It’s okay.” He brushed her damp hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “I’ve known you for a long time, remember. I knew what you meant.”

She frowned. They’d barely known each other at school, and she hadn’t seen him since. Besides, she wasn’t the same reckless teenaged girl she used to be. Now she had bills to pay. Responsibilities. Come to think of it, what was she doing lying in bed when she had a plane to catch?

“What time is it?” She pulled away from his warm body with an effort. “We should get up.”

Instead of moving, he put his hands behind his head. “A squid isn’t exactly a fish, but fair is fair. You won our bet and you can collect your prize, if you still want to.”

Her prize? For a moment she couldn’t think, then the terms of their wager came flooding back. He’d promised to call the coastguard if she won. “Yes, of course I do.”

“By the time the coastguard turns up, I’ll probably have fixed the electrics anyway.”

Where was her bikini? Oh yes, on the floor in the saloon. Getting to her feet, Suzie reached into the small bathroom and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself. “You promised.”

“I did.” He sighed, then got up and pulled on a pair of shorts. She followed him into the saloon. Taking a chart from beside the radio, he unrolled it onto the table.

“We’re here.” He pointed to a tiny shape on the chart. A light blue shape indicated a reef around the tiny circle of land.

“Monuriki Island,” she read.

“Shame it’s too small to have a resort on it.” Nate flipped a switch on the electrical board, turned a dial on the radio and picked up the handset. “Lantana Island, this is the Lady of Lantana. Over.” They listened to the radio crackle for a minute or two, then Nate said, “Dalton, are you there? Over.” He waited a moment longer, then shrugged. “Maybe he’s on his way to find us.”

“Try the coastguard,” she said.

He fiddled with the dial. “Coastguard, this is the sailing vessel Lady of Lantana. Do you read me? Over.”

There was nothing but static for a moment, then a woman’s voice came through the receiver, sounding surprisingly loud and clear. “Lady of Lantana, this is the coastguard. Over.”

“Coastguard, we’re having problems with our electronics and can’t get our engine started. We’re currently anchored next to Monuriki Island.”

“Roger. Are you in any danger? Over.”

“No danger. Over.”

“We’re dealing with another emergency and have no boats available to help. Are there other vessels in the area you can call on for assistance? Over.”

“None. But I’m trying to fix the electrical problem myself. Over.”

“Roger. Will you call back in a few hours if you still need assistance? Over.”

“Roger that. Over and out.”

Suzie’s heart sank. “If they can’t come and get us, we could be stuck here for another night.” Which meant she’d miss another flight. And her time to convince the bride to let her make a last-minute adjustment to the menu for Friday’s wedding was running out fast.

Nate flicked off the switch he’d turned on for the radio, then gave her a deep kiss that made her tingle all over. “I know you’re in a hurry to get home, but I don’t hate the idea of spending the night together.”

So his one-time-only rule included a day and a night? It was tempting to let herself melt against him and forget she had to be anywhere but in his arms. Instead she forced herself to pull away.

“You should keep working on the electronics in case the coastguard can’t rescue us.”

“I’ll get the engine going, run my test and drop you off before sunset.” His gaze grazed the front of her towel, where it rode low across her breasts. “Although you’re not making it easy for me to think of anything but going back to bed.”

An answering shiver passed over her body and her nipples hardened. But if they spent any more time in bed, she may as well kiss her plans for Friday goodbye. “Later,” she said to both him and her body. “Once we’re at Denarau.”

“If you still want to try cooking the calamari, you should be able to do it without power. The stove uses gas and you can light the elements with a match.”

“Okay.” All that activity had made her hungry, and no doubt Nate was starving. Suzie went to the cupboard and looked in, hitching up her towel and tying it more tightly around her. “It’s a pity we don’t have butter, but there’s olive oil and dried garlic.”

She opened the far cupboard and pulled out a bottle of lime juice cordial. She’d always squeezed fresh juice when she cooked seafood, but cordial might work instead as a marinade. At least she had plenty of squid to experiment with. In fact, she was getting excited about the possibilities. There were chilli flakes and cayenne pepper to add some spice. Some dried herbs to season the dishes with. And what if she made a beer batter and deep fried some squid slices?

Okay, so she had limited supplies and a sad lack of fresh vegetables or fruit, but she could get inventive with what she had. Come to think of it, if she came up with something that tasted good enough, she could add a squid dish to her list of options for Friday’s wedding. But she was getting ahead of herself. First problem would be to make it edible, let alone create a gourmet recipe.

She’d have a shower first, then tackle the squid. She pushed her tangle of curls off her neck with one hand, keeping hold of the towel with the other. Her hair was still damp and stiff with salt. It must look a complete mess, and without washing it she’d never manage to get a comb through her thick curls.

Nate opened the cupboard to grab a soda. “Want a warm drink?”

“It’s a shame the wine isn’t cold,” mused Suzie, thinking about the range of drinks she’d be serving at Friday’s wedding. “What goes well with calamari? Something light and refreshing.”

“I might be able to chill some drinks in time for lunch.” Nate pulled out a couple of small bottles. “How about an apple cider?”

“Perfect,” she agreed. “If I could somehow, magically, have it cold.”

He gave a mock bow. “Of course.” He went into the cabin and came out a moment later with a pair of socks. He put a bottle in each one, then held them up with the bottles dangling inside.

“What on earth?”

“I’ll hang them in the sea and they’ll be cold in time for lunch.”

“Where did you learn that trick?”

He gave a mock frown, pretending to be shocked by her question. “I can’t reveal all my secrets, can I?”

He carried the socks up to the deck and Suzie fished the squid out of the bowl of water that was keeping it cool. When she put it on the chopping board, it lay like a dead sea monster, its large eye glaring at her accusingly. She should cut it up before she showered, in case there was any ink left in it to splatter her.

First, she hitched her towel up and tied it firmly. “Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered to the squid. “You don’t think I can do this, do you? Well, think again.”

Grasping its body firmly, she picked up a knife. Why did it have to be so slimy? With gritted teeth, she started cutting. If Nate could produce cold drinks, she’d show him he wasn’t the only one who could perform magic. The squid looked nothing like the clean white tube she’d got from the fishmonger, but that wouldn’t stop her. She’d make this slippery, ugly sea creature taste delicious if it was the last thing she did. She had something to prove, to herself as much as him.

Yeah, she could do this.

Now, where was that garlic?