Chapter Sixteen
With eyes bound shut, Becca had a very clear mental image of Cal tying another scarf around her mouth. Oh God. Her body convulsed at the thought, and the aftershocks intensified when Cal tightened his grip on the wet silk between her legs, pulling it taut against her swollen clit, gently sawing back and forth.
Was that her making that sound? Like some wildebeest in heat?
“Becca,” he whispered harshly. “You need to be quiet.”
“Mmm.” She rolled her head back and forth across the soft grass beneath her. It was so hard to keep silent because what he was doing felt oh-so-fucking-good.
She rolled her head to one side, hoping to muffle her moans against her shoulder. But it was almost impossible when Cal’s mouth covered her. He teased her clit over the strained silk, scraping his teeth over her flesh, the sensation dulled because of the scarf covering her pussy, but also heightened because of her inability to move or see.
Using the lip of the pool as leverage, she thrust her hips up, needing more.
“I’m going to make you come with my mouth,” he said, his voice raw with need. “I need to see your body go rigid with pleasure.”
He bent to nip at her, and she squealed despite his warnings. “I love the sounds you make, but you need to stay quiet. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Becca panted, both wanting to obey but also wanting to be gagged. How could that be? How could she be willing to be at this man’s mercy so soon after he’d hurt her? It was illogical.
But right now? Becca didn’t care. Not when his hands and mouth and tongue were doing such wonderful and naughty things to her body. She gulped air as he twisted the silk into a cord and pulled it snug against her flesh, playing it back and forth like it was a string on a guitar. Using his tongue to strum.
“Cal,” she tried to say his name softly, but it came out ragged because he was making chords of pleasure echo through her body. “Oh, fuck, Cal…”
With hands on her open thighs, he spread her wider, and even though Becca was blindfolded, she clearly saw a picture of him between her legs. His dark hair brushing her thighs. His large hands in contrast to her pale skin, glancing up at her while his mouth remained on her, his gaze hazy with lust.
The orgasm that roared through her was made more intense by the ties that bound her wrists and covered her eyes. She forgot everything. About the contest, the resort, her sister…
Mostly she forgot about staying quiet.
All she could do was feel. Wave after euphoric wave rolled through her, two big ones followed by three small ones, chased by another biggie that crashed into a wave coming from another direction, cascading ripples of bliss in all directions.
Then next thing she knew, Cal had pulled her to a sitting position, unbound her wrists and removed the blindfold from her face. She could barely sit, barely see, barely breathe.
He undid the belt from around her waist and then helped her into the water with him.
Glorious. She dipped down until her shoulders were submerged and then stood again.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m great.”
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Cal pulled her against his chest, whispering, “Do you have any idea how amazing you look when you come?”
She didn’t answer because his lips were on hers, warm and wet, gentle at first but growing in intensity. Kind of like the massive erection that was growing between them.
“God, I want to be inside of you.”
“Then be inside of me.” She reached between them, fisted his cock, and guided it between her parted legs.
“No condoms.”
“Oh.” Becca pulled back. “I guess it’s a little early for the clean bill of health talk.” She was about to swim away, but Cal pulled her back.
“Actually,” he said. “I had to have a full physical as part of my contract for this week. For liability purposes.”
Oh God. The thought of unprotected sex—of Cal’s glorious cock sliding into her body, skin on skin…holy fuck—had Becca squeezing her thighs together in a vain attempt to suppress the eagerness brewing at her apex.
She’d never had unprotected sex before. She’d wanted to, but her last boyfriend, Jerry, had a body fluid aversion.
Not that she was about to tell Cal any of that. “I’m all good, too. And I’m on the IUD.”
“So…” Cal tugged her closer, nudged her thighs apart, and adjusted his hips so that his cock was situated gloriously between her legs.
Jesus.
“What do you want to do?” he asked softly, his hips moving in a subtle fucking motion.
Even though she’d just experienced a lovely climax, the mere thought of having Cal inside of her, sans barrier, had her primed and willing.
Are you sure, Becca?
Yes.
“I want you,” Becca replied, tightening the muscles of her thighs. “I want you inside of me. I want you to come inside of me.”
Cal exhaled. He cupped her jaw with such tenderness that for a moment Becca forgot this was only a holiday fling. “Thank God.”
Then Becca forgot absolutely everything as Cal guided his cock to the entrance of her slick channel. And thrust.
Her head fell back so that the surface of the water acted as a pillow. Cal hoisted her ass into his hands, telling her to wrap her legs around his waist as he backed her up to the edge of the pool.
How could something feel so good?
Was it the fact that she was experiencing so many firsts? First time having sex outside, first time being blindfolded, first time having sex in a pool. First time going skin-to-skin.
Oh. God.
How could she ever go back to condoms?
How could she ever make love to another man after this? It would never get any better, Becca knew that for a fact. Being with Cal far exceeded anything she’d ever dreamed of, let alone anything she would ever find again.
Out of nowhere, a sob rose in Becca’s chest just as Calum drove into her with a long, powerful stroke.
“Baby,” Cal gasped in her ear. “I love the pool, but I need you on the grass, on your back.”
She nodded eagerly, the water and steam covering up the fact that she had tears streaking down her face.
Cal could never know how meaningful this experience was to her.
After climbing out of the pool, Cal extended his hand to her, pulling her easily from the depths up onto the surface. The night air was so warm and her skin already so overheated that the tiniest breeze felt like a delicious caress. When Cal guided her down onto the soft grass, Becca sighed with a strange mixture of contentment and poignancy.
This might very well be the highlight of her life, in terms of sexual experiences, and she wanted to savor every second.
So, when Cal lowered himself, she committed to memory the way his weight felt on top of her, how his body made her feel so small and feminine. When he kissed her while simultaneously working his cock into her body, she basked in the sensation, concentrating on each nerve ending, the ones in her lips and tongue, the ones that surrounded her entrance, the pressure on her clit, and those that lined her channel as his flesh slid inside hers, deeper and deeper.
As he withdrew, Becca realized that new nerve endings were activated, like her walls were composed of velvet that changed color depending on which way you stroked it.
“I need to—”
“Yes,” she finished for him, straining her hips toward him, urging him to completion all the while wishing this could go on forever.
“Christ.”
Cal grasped her wrists and slammed them down on the ground beside her head, pressing them into the grass so that he could prop himself up. His hips moved with wild abandon as he drove himself into her, harder and harder, faster and faster. Becca fought her natural urge to close her eyes because she needed to see his face, see the moment before he came—that instant of pleasure pain—and the moment after, when his features relaxed into euphoria.
“Becca!”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Releasing her wrists, Calum gripped her hips with a strength that took her breath away. He pulled her flush in order to pump a few short strokes before one hard one where their bodies were so close, so connected, she couldn’t tell where he ended and she started.
He collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily, making lovely little contented sounds.
Or, was that her?
And as much as the sex was phenomenal, how she felt now, lying spent with Cal on top of her as she gazed up at the starry sky… Well, it was almost the best part of the evening.
Almost.
And she tried to absorb every aspect of it. The feel of Cal’s heart against her chest. The soft twitches of his body inside of hers. The sound of his breathing as he made satisfied sounds in her ear.
The realization that, unfortunately, everything had to come to an end.
Dammit.
Cal rolled off her, and Becca felt the loss of him immediately, though she was determined not to show it.
Once they were on their feet, she went about gathering up all the pieces of her discarded costume.
“Here.” Cal was dressed from the waist down and was offering his shirt to her.
“It’s okay, I came prepared.” She found her beach bag hidden by a bench and quickly dressed in the shorts and T-shirt she’d brought.
“Look,” Cal said once they were both dressed. “I’d love to invite you back to my villa, but…I’ve got an early conference call in the morning.”
She couldn’t have gone back to his villa even if she’d wanted to, but the idea that he wasn’t inviting her stung. “No problem. I need to get back to check on Grace.”
Yep. The fantasy was over and life, as she knew it, would return tomorrow.
Why tomorrow? Why not right now? Wasn’t it best to end things on a note of perfection?
“Let me walk you back, then.”
“Cal?” Was that really her voice sounding like she was on the verge of tears, dammit?
“Yes?”
“This was…” Should she tell him the truth? That this was by far the most magical night of her life, and that she didn’t want it to end, that in fact what she wanted was to have more. Much more.
No.
“This was fun. Like, really fun.” Her voice broke. “But, you were right, earlier. I think we’re both a distraction for each other. I should be back at the room taking care of Grace. And you should be concentrating on business.” She sucked in a breath. “And the pageant.”
Cal didn’t reply.
“So, I think maybe we should quit while we’re ahead. What do you think?”
Please disagree with me. Please tell me you want more, too. Tell me you don’t care about any of that other stuff.
Tell me I’m worth the distraction.
Cal regarded her thoughtfully in the near darkness, making it impossible to know what he was thinking. He rubbed his jaw but still didn’t answer.
“Cal?”
“I think you’re right.”
…
The conference call with Nolan, his lawyer, and a few other key players did not go well. Shares were soaring with the popularity of the web broadcast. No one was interested in selling now, and support for the management changes Cal had proposed were waning. In essence, this stupid contest was killing the deal.
“What are our options?” Cal asked after everyone hung up except Nolan.
“Option one? We sell our shares and make a tidy profit with little to no effort.”
No effort? Did he think this whole week had been no effort?
You wouldn’t have met Becca if not for this week.
“What’s option two?”
“Well,” Nolan hedged. “We could call in Health and Safety. With a resort this size in a hot and humid location, I’m sure there’s a violation of some description to be found.”
That was playing dirty. Cal didn’t like to play that way. But then, he’d invested a lot of time and money into this deal, in addition to the personal exposure he’d put himself through. “Let me think about it,” Cal said.
“Don’t think too long. The vote is tomorrow.”
“I know. Give me an hour.”
Cal was just about to hang up when Nolan said, “Holy shit, Cal, what’s going—?” Nolan didn’t finish his sentence because Cal’s phone beeped and then died. He plugged it in without bothering to call Nolan back. He didn’t need more bad news.
Cal massaged his temples. Funny, his lie to Becca last night had become prophetic. The whole time he’d been on the phone with his team this morning, he’d had her at the back of his mind.
Let’s quit while we’re ahead.
Wise words and yet, he didn’t want it to be over. Not when it felt like things were only just beginning. Even as he headed over to the breakfast buffet, Cal should have been thinking about his next move in regard to the resort, but instead, he was looking for Becca in the crowds of people.
She wasn’t there. As Cal’s gaze surveyed the buffet lines and tables of people, he only saw other tourists and former contestants, who all seemed to know who he was by the way they stopped and stared as he passed by.
He reached for his phone but realized he’d left it plugged in at the villa. That was okay. He needed a few minutes to think without the interruption of a vibrating phone in his pocket. Nolan had likely tried to call him back after his phone had died. Well, his second-in-command would just have to be patient.
As Cal stood in line for an omelet, he wished that he’d just ordered room service like every other morning. Too many people were staring and whispering. Seriously, he couldn’t wait to get back to New York where he could blend in.
He watched the chef prepare omelet after omelet. His hair was in a chef’s cap, his utensils seemed clean, but…maybe Health and Safety was the way to go. If he didn’t get control of the real estate after all of this, what good would it have been?
“You have some nerve.”
“Excuse me?” Cal turned to the voice behind him. It was an ex-contestant, Kaitlyn Jones, who stood waiting in line, her hands on her hips.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry. What?”
“You’ve been playing us this whole time. You’re not even single.”
“What are you talking about?”
The woman pointed to a TV screen that was suspended from the ceiling in the corner of the dining room. A news channel was showing a breaking story in entertainment. His face flashed onto the screen.
“Oh, shit.” he muttered aloud.
“You’re an asshole, do you know that?” She glared at him as if she wanted to do something more, like hit him, but then glanced back at the TV and grumbled something before stomping away.
Oh, no. A sick feeling erupted in the pit of his stomach, and Cal abandoned the omelet line, making a beeline for the exit. He needed to find Becca. Now.
Outside of the buffet, Cal saw Eddie approaching up a walkway. His face was grim, and he was waving his phone in the air. “Don’t you ever fucking answer your phone?”
“It’s at the villa.” Cal waited until Eddie was closer to ask, “What the hell is going on?”
“You don’t know? Fuck. This is a nightmare, that’s what this is.”
Cal frowned as Eddie showed him a Twitter feed on his phone. Pictures of him with Becca and the hashtags: #leasteligiblebachelor, #pretender, #mysterygirlfriend.
“Oh, fuck…” Calum bit out. “You didn’t.”
“Wasn’t me, man.” Eddie closed Twitter and opened a Huffington Post article. The headline, “Calum Price Isn’t So Eligible After All.”
“Who is the mystery woman he’s been getting up close and personal with? Sources say she’s not a contestant…”
“I don’t know who did it,” Eddie said. “Must be someone in the crew. These were posted early this morning, and social media has blown up with it.”
“Dammit.” Calum turned in the direction of Becca’s villa. He had to find her, had to ease the blow. It didn’t matter that she’d told him it was over last night. He had to warn her about what was going on before it was too late.
Eddied grabbed his arm. “Wait. Before you go to her…” Eddie paused, looking around to make sure they weren’t overheard.
“What?”
“Things are bad right now. In fact, they couldn’t possibly be much worse. But they’re salvageable.”
“Salvageable? How?”
“By us creating the narrative.”
“What do you mean?”
“We make up the story. That you just met this woman, that you were both single and fell madly in love…”
“I did just meet this woman.”
“Right.” Eddie winked. “But then, once you met her sister, you realized you had feelings for her, too. A good old-fashioned love triangle.”
“What good would that do?”
“It’s easy. We eliminate the other contestants, and we bring on Becca as the rival to the woman who is favored to win, her very own sister, Grace. The two women go head-to-head. Beauty versus brains for the final day of the contest.”
“Becca would never agree to that.”
“Oh, I think she will. Because you’re going to be the one to convince her.”