CHAPTER 7
Lia
The following day, I was basking in the sun and warmth of the gorgeous beach in Playa, wondering what I did to deserve such a fantastic honeymoon.
Zeke had put us in a swanky resort suite with two bedrooms, and the luxurious resort had every available amenity.
Since we’d gotten in late last night, we’d both retreated to our rooms, and then slept late this morning.
God, I couldn’t remember a time when I’d been allowed to sleep until mid-morning. And if that had ever happened, I certainly hadn’t thrown on a swimsuit and headed to the beach when I’d woken up.
I turned my head to look at Zeke, who was in the lounger next to mine, my eyes fixed on the simple platinum band I’d put on his finger the day before. It winked brightly in the sun, and my belly clenched. Hard.
For some reason, I still couldn’t quite fathom Zeke as my husband, even if it was only going to last for a little while. Now that the craziness was over, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it…or him.
Maybe it was the fact that neither one of us was heavily clothed. Zeke was in a pair of board shorts, his perfectly formed body on full display.
To put it simply, my new husband had the body of a god. My eyes roamed over every inch of his muscular chest, and I itched to touch the smooth skin that covered his six-pack abs.
Tearing my eyes away, I reached for the fruity drink on the small table between us, trying to find some relief from the gnawing ache between my thighs.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said after I’d guzzled a large portion of my drink.
The beach was private, and only used by the resort. So it was far from crowded. Zeke and I had our own little portion of it, even if there were other guests around.
“Are you thawed out yet?” he asked in a teasing voice.
“Almost.” Seattle had been cool and rainy, so I pretty much felt like I was in paradise. “Thank you for this. I think I needed it.”
“I think we both did,” he agreed. “Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten away from Seattle.”
Zeke worked so hard that I couldn’t remember the last time he’d escaped, either. Sadly, I also couldn’t recollect the last time he’d really laughed and had fun. We’d both been so caught up in our lives that I suddenly realized that in some respects, we’d drifted apart.
Yeah, we saw each other a lot at the coffee shop because he stopped in often. But when had we quit going out together, having fun together?
Thinking back, I guess it had all been different since Stuart and I had started dating.
“I’ve missed you,” I said before I could censor my words.
“I missed you, too, Lia. A lot,” he said in a graveled voice.
“How did we start drifting apart?”
“When you decided Stuart was the best thing that ever happened to you,” he drawled. “I knew he wasn’t, and I couldn’t stand to watch him try to change you. You were perfect just the way you were.”
“Did I change?” I asked curiously, knowing full well that I had.
“Yes. Stuart somehow managed to dim the bright light you always seemed to carry around inside you. And you were never meant to be subdued.” He shot me a smile, but his expressive eyes were covered with a pair of dark sunglasses.
I leaned my head back against the lounge pillow and closed my eyes. “I’m not even sure how or when it happened,” I admitted. “Little by little, I just gave up disagreeing with him about everything from my clothing to my hair style. It was just easier. And he made me second-guess myself.”
“Why?” Zeke asked. “At one time, you’d tell the entire world to go screw themselves if they didn’t like you.”
I shrugged. “He knew how to manipulate my insecurities. I got to the point where I felt like being me wasn’t good enough.”
“He was so fucking wrong,” Zeke growled. “You know that, right? Nobody should ever want you to change in order to get their love and acceptance.”
“I know,” I replied. “But that’s easier to see when the relationship is over than when it’s happening. I guess I never really wanted to acknowledge that I was doing all the compromising.”
In short, Stuart was an asshole. He’d criticized me every single day, and I let myself absorb every fault he pointed out until I was a different version of myself. A Lia I really hadn’t liked.
And I’d merely been an observer.
I felt so damn lost that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to find myself again. Not that I actually missed him, but because I’d let him call the shots for so long and dictate who I was as a person.
My eyes flew open as I felt Zeke put his hand over mine. “Everything will be okay, Lia.”
For some reason, I desperately wanted to cry. “You tried to tell me, but I wasn’t listening.”
“I didn’t try hard enough,” he said roughly. “Let’s go cool off. You ready to go for a swim?”
I was beyond ready. “Do you want to go to the pool?”
He stood and pulled me up gently beside him. “Hell, no. The sea temperature has to be over eighty-five degrees.”
I glanced at the beautiful turquoise water before I lifted the cover-up I was wearing over my head, and tossed it in the chair. I’d only had one simple, black, one-piece swimming suit, so that was what I was wearing beneath it.
My body filled with anticipation as I bolted toward the Caribbean, kicking up some of the gorgeous white sand as I called, “I’ll get there first.”
Zeke didn’t catch up to me until I was in the water.
It was warm, but the shock of hitting the ocean waters and Zeke wrapping his arms around me from behind made me squeal.
“Cheater,” he accused.
I was in waist-deep water as I turned around and laughed. “All I did was run. You’re just getting slow.”
“You distracted me,” he said as he grinned down at me, his chest and face already wet from the initial splash we’d made when we’d plowed into the ocean waters. “A guy can’t possibly not be distracted when your beautiful ass is headed toward the water.”
He hauled me against him, and I trembled as he wrapped his powerful arms around my waist.
He felt so good. So warm. So damned…tempting.
Time stopped as his liquid blue eyes pinned mine as though he was searching for something. My heart kicked against my chest wall.
“Zeke,” I said breathlessly, not knowing what to say about the way he made me feel.
He was so close that I could feel his warm breath against my lips.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Lia,” he rasped right before his mouth covered mine.
My body caught fire, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, savoring every brush of my fingers against his bare skin.
Carnal desire flooded my senses, and I couldn’t get enough of his marauding mouth, so I pushed back, meeting every stroke of his tongue.
And it felt so perfect, so natural that I wasn’t afraid to let him in.
The way that Zeke consumed me felt so right that I couldn’t imagine it being wrong.
He was different, yet familiar at the same time. And I couldn’t get enough.
Water was lapping lovingly against my body, but all I could really feel was Zeke.
I clung to him like a second skin. And I didn’t want to ever let go. He touched me like I was the most necessary thing in the world to him.
It was addictive.
Seductive.
And completely all-consuming.
I was panting when he finally released my mouth, his lips trailing to the sensitive skin of my neck, leaving a trail of fire in his wake as he said, “I want you so damn much, Lia.”
Incredibly, I wanted him, too. More than I could express in words, but I tried. “I don’t understand this. We’re supposed to be friends.”
“Let it happen,” he said roughly against my neck. “Don’t second-guess the way we feel together.”
Since I’d never been a very sexual female, it was hard to just give in. I wasn’t sure why I felt like I had to figure it out when I knew Zeke was right. I could just let myself feel, because what I was experiencing was very, very real.
My core clenched painfully as Zeke’s mouth brushed against my ear. My body was demanding satisfaction. And dammit, I wanted to climb up his muscular body until I got exactly what I needed.
My instincts were so primal they were scary.
I let my head fall to one side to give him access to explore. “This doesn’t happen to me. Ever.”
He grasped my ass and pulled it flush with his body. “This happens to me all the time. Every damn time I see you,” he grunted.
I nearly melted as I felt his hard erection press against my lower belly.
“I never knew,” I answered in a rush.
“Now you do,” he answered abruptly. “The question is…are you game for a new adventure, a different dimension of our relationship?”
I knew he was asking me if I was okay with our friendship moving to a whole different level. “I’m scared,” I confessed. “I’m not used to feeling this out of control.”
“You’ll have to get used to it, and trust me,” he said as he slowly backed away and started to tug me into the deeper water.
I leaped onto his back and pushed his head underwater playfully. “I’ve always trusted you,” I told him as he surfaced.
I squealed as he lifted my body and tossed me so far that I was sputtering when I came up.
But he was there to lift me up and adjust my legs around his hips as he replied. “I want to make you come until you can’t remember your own name anymore.”
I ground my sex against his washboard stomach as I melted, knowing that I wanted exactly the same thing.
For this stolen period of time when we were alone in another part of the world, Zeke was my everything.
Let it happen. I heard his voice in my head, even though he hadn’t spoken, and I laid my head on his shoulder.
The way I felt at the moment, I was helpless to do anything else but let him in.