“I don’t care what your plan is, you can fuck right off with it.” I glared at the clownish woman with her garish hair and her mean eyes and turned to face the window. The sun was long set but I could still see crashing waves in the moonlight, off in the distance. I would much rather be out there with Laney than stuck in here with Carol. “If you don’t like it, I’d be more than happy to leave.”

“Fine, Jake, you win this time,” the grouchy woman said with a sigh. “But we’ll see how long it lasts.”

I didn’t turn as she left the large office we were using to discuss eliminations. “The choice is made then, gentlemen?”

Skip looked at us all and then turned. “Good. Follow me.”

We followed the man through the hallway and back down to the dining room. The ladies had waited for over an hour as I argued against eliminating Laney. Trent and Carol had been all for it. David and I both stood our ground until they relented.

“Ladies, please, I need your attention. Tonight, we will be eliminating four of you.” The room filled with gasps as the ladies realized that we were getting close to the end of this game.

If four were eliminated, that would leave five to choose from and the viewers would be going wild. The program was supposed to run throughout the month of December and conclude on Christmas Eve. I still had no idea how they were going to do it, but I knew they’d want something spectacular.

We men stood behind Skip, waiting for the furor to calm.

“When I call your name, please go to your room and pack your bags. You’ll be leaving the island immediately.” Skip pursed his lips together, as though he’d tasted something awful, and took a deep breath.

“Abby, Samantha, Edina, and Sally, you have all been eliminated by our bachelors. You may go.” Skip said the names in staccato fashion, as though he were pulling the sticky bandage from a sensitive wound. He gave the camera a look that would surely be interpreted as his heart breaking, but I knew the man was really just after a drink.

The sounds of sobbing and goodbyes broke the silence his words left, while we men stood there like lumps. I thought there was quite a bit wrong with this program, quite a bit, but I wasn’t putting it together. To me it seemed almost amateurish, not well thought out, but I wasn’t the one paying for it, so I kept my thoughts to myself. Let them work out why the show would do poorly after it had aired.

I felt almost ashamed of myself as one woman walked past, Edina I think, her mascara running down her face as tears continued to spill from her eyes. I’d been struck by the brutality of the show from the beginning, but that look of defeat was terrible to witness. The cynical side of me said she’d not been attached to any of us men, that she was either crying because she’d failed and had been eliminated or because she thought she’d lost her chance at a rich lifestyle. Then, I thought that maybe she was just sad to leave the friends she’d made.

I wished Gran had never signed me up for the show. Lying that wasn’t really lying, our lives controlled by morons, and girls walking away crying. Brutal stuff that wasn’t my normal style. I hated it, really. I felt as helpless now to change my future as I did when I first learned my parents hadn’t made it out of the fire.

I tried to push the thought away. My teeth clenched together even though I knew I must look rather grim, but the pain came through anyway. I sought out Laney’s eyes and saw how calm she was, how she had eyes only for me, and a smile that made me think only of sex. I wanted to hold her, to lose myself in her, if only we could find some time alone!

“Ladies, there are only five of you left. Make your moves wisely.” Skip spoke to the ladies with the voice of a wise old man imparting great knowledge and I had to fight to keep my eyes from rolling. “Gentlemen, you have five minutes to speak with the ladies before we must separate you again.”

I headed straight for Laney, I wanted to tell her to meet me in the ballroom later, once the lights had all gone out. Carol tried to block me, but I walked past her with speed, not letting her stand in my way this time. I took Laney’s hands, whispered to her quickly, and waited until she’d given me a look of understanding. I’d see her later, I didn’t care where Carol dragged me off to now.

“Jake, why do I keep finding you around Miss Plain Jane here? Come here, baby, let me show you how a real woman shows her appreciation.” With that Arabella planted a kiss on me designed to knock my socks off. Her full lips, passionate tongue play, and wandering hands might have done it if her touch didn’t make me cringe.

I gently pushed her away, wiping at my mouth furiously as I grabbed a discarded glass of wine to wash her taste away. She stood there with a look of self-satisfaction on her face, but it slipped a little when I wiped my tongue with a napkin.

“What have you been eating?” I asked as Skip called out for the men to leave.

Carol might have convinced Arabella I was the one for her, but I’d made it clear—I hoped—that I wasn’t interested. Normally I would be appalled at such rude behavior, but Arabella acted like she already owned me and I wanted her to know it wasn’t true.

I went back to my room and showered. I didn’t know what the night had in store, but I wanted that woman’s taste and touch washed away from me before I went anywhere near Laney.

* * *

I crept along the dark hallway, one ear trained to listen for other footsteps as I headed for the ballroom just after midnight. I didn’t know if Laney would show or not, but I hoped she would. I let myself into the room and, with only socks on my feet, I found my way to a window and opened a curtain to allow the moonlight in.

I brought two ladderback chairs to the window, pulled out a bottle of water and two plastic cups from the stash in my room, and passed the time by reading an eBook on my phone. I didn’t have too long to wait before the door cracked and a face whitened by moonlight peeked in.

I stood and couldn’t help but grin when I saw her feet in white cotton socks. I knew she was a smart girl. I liked the sage green flannel pajamas she had on too, mainly because they had buttons. I have a thing about buttons, well, opening them. Especially when Laney is the one with the buttons to open.

She came to me without a word, her fingers settled over my lips until she stood on tiptoe and brought my face down to hers. In an instant I needed her, I wanted her, and I pulled her close, our tongues tracing around each other sinuously. I moved back, dragging us both to the wall so I could lean back as she pressed her softness into me.

I couldn’t hold back a groan of pleasure as she pressed her lower abdomen into me, I was already on fire for her and my hands tried to pull her impossibly tighter to me. I wanted to be a part of her, inside of her, surrounding her.

Our lips joined in a frenzied dance, the long wait making it impossible to go slow. I popped the buttons of her pajamas with nimble fingers, needing to feel the silken warmth of her flesh in my palms. I found her breasts bare and eager to fill my hands, and I knew the tips had to ache they were so tight. I broke the kiss and dipped my head down, pulling her up just enough to get her nipple between my teeth.

I heard her hiss in a breath as her fingers dived into my hair, her back arched to press her breast deeper into the wet heat I offered her. I sucked at the nipple until her hips started to dance against me, and then I found the other nipple, only to tease her into a groaning sob of pleasure. Her fingers played over my head for a moment and I wished I hadn’t cut off my hair. It would feel so good to have my hair come down around my shoulders as her fingers wound into the tresses. It didn’t seem to matter though, as her fingers dove into what was left. Her purr of delight made me grin. Women loved my hair, short or long.

My teeth scraped at the delicate flesh for a moment longer, my fingers pinching the other in just the right way, before I swiped at both with my tongue. I wanted to bury myself in Laney, I wanted to lose myself in her velvet walls, but first, I wanted to hear her come.

She started to protest as I slid down her body, pushing the softness of her pants away as I did so, but I soothed her.

“Shh. Let me taste you, Laney. I’ve dreamed about what you taste like, and I want to know if I was right.” I scattered light kisses along her stomach, further down, just below her belly button, my fingers brushed the spaces I’d missed until her pants were gone. I turned her, pushed her against the wall, and spread her thighs apart as I sank to my knees before her.

“What are you doing to me, Jake?” She whispered raggedly, her body already yearning towards me. Her body knew what it wanted, even if she didn’t.

“Making you mine.” With that, I grasped at her bottom with both hands and tilted her slick center into my mouth.

I spread her nether lips with my tongue, tasted her briefly, and closed my eyes in pleasure as her delicate taste filled my senses. She was so very good.

Her fingers wound into my hair once more as her breath caught in her chest. I heard her panting as my tongue split her open, but when I found her clit and sucked it into my mouth, she cried out my name. That’s what I wanted, that’s what I needed, to hear Laney sobbing my name out in a moan of pure pleasure.

I was rock hard in my pants, painfully hard, but Laney needed to come and come she would before I even thought about my own relief.

I pressed her abdomen back into the wall, knowing that the tilt would put pressure on her inner walls. Just as I heard her gasping, I used that same hand to seek out her heated core and pressed into her. Deep and slow, I explored her with my fingers and my mouth, as I savored the delicate tightness of her, the way she clenched around my finger with each new penetration of my finger.

I glanced up and saw a vision of raw desire in the moonlight, Laney’s face frozen in concentration as she drew near to ultimate pleasure. I almost stopped, I almost stood to plunge myself into her, but I held onto my self-control. I used my tongue to dart at her taut clit, and her hips danced once more, dancing to my tune as I stroked her with my finger.

She mewled helplessly, wanting more, wanting what was just out of reach, until I felt the first fluttering spasm of her walls contracting in pure surrender. I drank her in as she came apart, her abdomen fluttering as my practiced tongue pushed her higher. She gulped in air as the waves passed through her body, her back arched, and I had to hang on to keep my tongue centered on her.

Laney’s ecstasy only made me impossibly harder, and I wanted to bury myself in her desperately, but she wasn’t done. I’ve made women come before, I’ve seen some beautiful sights, but Laney’s pleasure went on and on, she became little more than the embodiment of pleasure as I stroked her higher.

I heard a sound of satisfaction and realized it had rumbled out of my own chest as she finally started to come down. Laney had gone off like a volcano, but now she was coming down. Her juices covered my face, her scent filled my head, and I knew I would never be able to get her out of my mind.

I swiped at my mouth as I stood and placed one hand against the wall as I leaned into her.

“That was beautiful,” I said as I looked down at her. Her eyes were dazed and I knew she wanted to sink to the floor. My hand on her waist held her up, and visions of those long, muscled thighs wrapped around me made me groan in pain.

“That was... wow, that was amazing.”

She was still catching her breath and I let my forehead fall to hers so that we could look at each other directly.

“You know we’re fucked, right? At least until this show is over and I can get you in my own bed.” I made a mental note to tell my personal assistant to find a nice tiny apartment somewhere near where Gran lived.

“Where do you live?” She asked, as if only then realizing we might live in different states.

I knew I couldn’t tell her exactly where I lived, it was against the rules, but I could tell her the state. “South Carolina, the same as you. It’s not that big, we won’t be far apart.”

I wanted to keep talking, I wanted to tell her everything there was to know about me, but I also wanted to hear her gasping my name again, desperately.

I was about to suggest we find somewhere more suitable to sit when I heard voices outside.

“They have to be here somewhere. Find them.”

Carol and her meddling assistants! Fuck!

“Hurry, get your pants on.”

“But you...” Her voice trailed off as the knob on the door rattled.

I froze because I couldn’t remember if Laney had locked the door or not. I turned to hide her body as the knob rattled once more.