“I see you’re wearing a bikini. Ready for the next part of the day?”

“There’s more?”

“Gabby, it’s barely midday. Of course, there’s more.”

After breakfast and the most beautiful sunrise I’d ever witnessed, we’d laid on the picnic blanket and talked about everything and anything. He told me a little about his work; I told him about back home. We shared our worst date stories, our first kisses, and our dream vacation spots. The ease with which conversation flowed between us was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. When the surfers began to arrive, we took that as our cue to leave.

Twenty minutes after getting back in the Jeep, he pulled off the main road and headed down a windy dirt track. I held on as the road got bumpier the longer we were on it.

“Pretty sure I’ve seen a scene like this in a movie I’ve watched. The fact that you’re a cop doesn’t ease my concern.”

His laughter filled the car, and everything Ebony had said to me before I left came back to me.

It was just a bit of fun.

After another couple of bumpy minutes, we pulled into a clearing, and my eyes shot wide. A secluded waterhole surrounded by mountains and a gushing waterfall greeted us. I had no words as I looked between Carson and the falls.

“Let’s go.”

I followed him out of the car, and now it was my turn to grab his hand. Instead of going to the clearing, we moved toward one of the rock faces and stopped. In silence, I watched him remove his shirt and flip-flops before he looked at me expectantly. Pulling off my sundress, I placed it on his pile of clothes along with my sunglasses and waited. Lacing his fingers with mine, he pulled me toward the water’s edge directly beside the falls. The gushing water was intense yet beautiful. The crystal-clear water inviting and cool against the heat of the day.

“Follow me,” he said softly after releasing my hand.

I watched in disbelief as he started swimming directly to the falls. When he realized I wasn’t following, he began treading water and looked back at me. Was he crazy?

“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Trust me, Gabrielle.”

The scary part was, I did trust him. The best part was hearing him use my full name. With a nod and an uneasy breath, I started swimming toward him. The rush of the falls grew louder the closer I got, and I almost chickened out. Then Carson reached out and grabbed me and pulled me around the side of the falls. With two steps, we were behind the rushing falls and facing a smaller waterhole with views of the entire beach. White, glittering sand, the bluest water I’d ever seen, and tiny specks of people enjoying the perfect summer day. I stared up at him in disbelief. How did this day continue to get better? To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement.

“Say something,” he said softly, squeezing my hand.

“This is perfect.”

“Come on, let’s get in the water and cool off before we head back to the hotel.”

I followed him in until I was in water up to my neck. The coolness of the water was refreshing against my sun-kissed skin.

“If only Red Polo douchebag could see us now,” Carson started with a smirk.

I looked at him and burst out laughing. I was laughing so hard that I was bobbing up and down and swallowing water, which made me laugh even harder. His hands shot through the water toward me and wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. Instinct kicked in, and I wrapped my legs and arms around him to hold on.

“Please don’t drown on me today,” he stated, his hands resting on my butt under the water.

“Look at you, saving me yet again.” I flirted and gently ran my nails through the hair on the back of his neck. I’d stopped laughing at this point, but there was nowhere I’d rather be than in his arms. “What are you thinking right now?”

“That I want to kiss you.”

I licked my lips, and my eyes dropped to his mouth. “Kiss me.”

With a softness I wasn’t expecting, Carson’s lips pressed against mine. Tenderly, he nibbled on my bottom lip, causing me to gasp. He took that moment and slid his tongue into my mouth. Like a slow melody playing out, our tongues danced together, learning our moves, tasting our edges, feeding on our need. The longer we kissed, the hungrier it became. I pressed against him, tightening my legs, and gripping his hair. His fingers dug into my butt every time I moaned into his mouth.

“Fuck.” He panted after we broke our kiss. “You are something else.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I blushed and dropped my forehead to his shoulder.

“Gabrielle Mackenzie, I was not expecting you,” he said, and I lifted my gaze to his. “But what a brilliant surprise you are.”

Again, my cheeks flushed.

Something I noticed I was doing an awful lot around him.

Later that night, I was antsy. After Carson had dropped me off, I’d gone upstairs and taken a nap before meeting Ebony for dinner and drinks. Now, my body was craving his touch. One kiss and now look at me. One perfect day and I wanted to jump him.

“Would you stop pacing? You’re making me exhausted just looking at you. Go to him. And I don’t want to see your pretty face until tomorrow,” Ebony ordered from her bed. “Holiday fling involves sex. Do not disappoint me. One of us has to be getting some, and I’m not getting any lady love, so you are taking one for the team.”

Five minutes later, I was nervous as hell, standing outside his door and waiting for him to open up.

The moment he opened the door, I knew I’d made the right decision. I craved his touch. I wanted more of it. I wanted his strength to engulf me. I wanted his body to cover me. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him to claim me. His eyes flashed with desire. My own dropped to his chest, still glistening from the water. They traveled farther down his body to find a fluffy white towel sitting low on his hips. Spectacular.

“What’s going on, Gabby?”

His voice deeper and thicker than usual collided with my clit, and I began to throb for him. I grew wet under his gaze. My body electrified just by being within his presence. I’d never needed something as much as I needed him inside me.

“You gave me the best date of my life today. I’ve never had that before. I’ve had boyfriends, but never that. A month ago, I split with my long-term boyfriend. I found him in our bed fucking someone I classed as a friend. We’d been together for five years. I considered my forever with him. In the space of a day, you’ve proved to me that he was shittier than I could have ever imagined. More of an asshole than my brothers deemed him to be. How? How did you do that?”

“You made it easy.”

Four words. That was all it took for me to push him into his room and pounce on him. Fuck my inhibitions. Fuck my hesitations. Fuck everything besides right now. I had three days of living in paradise left before I faced the shit waiting for me back home. Paradise I could spend with the sexiest holiday fling known to man.

Within seconds, I was in his arms and being hurled up his warm, hard body. My legs wrapped tightly around his hips, my fingers found his hair, and my mouth locked with his in a kiss so intense, so extreme, so heat-fueled that my body ignited. Moans and groans filled the room, hands clawed at each other, bodies rocked and grinded, begging for any relief. We kept moving. His fingers unzipped the back of my dress before pulling it down over my shoulders. My gasp tore around us when he pressed me against the coolness of the window. Through the opened door, the sound of waves crashing down below, and the scent of salt and the sea breeze entered the room. Paradise. Breaking our kiss, Carson met my eyes, and they blazed back at me. His mouth dropped to my exposed nipple and sucked hard. My eyes slammed shut as he devoured me. His lips, tongue, and teeth worked on both nipples while my pussy begged to be filled.

“I need you inside me,” I begged, pressing against him, desperate for any relief I could get from him.

He pulled his mouth from my nipple. “Tell me what you want.”

“You inside me.”

“Gabby, what do you want?”

I stared at him. My mind racing. My body on fire. My heart craving intimacy.

I gave him what we both needed.

“Fuck me, Carson.”

We began to move. Through the room. Away from the window. Onto the plush bed. Delicately, he lowered me onto the bed, but I knew there would be nothing delicate about what he was about to give me. Standing over me while I looked up at him, he peeled the dress off me, sliding it down my waist, over my hips, and down my thighs. His eyes never left my body. He drank me in. Memorizing all of me. He took his time. I’d never felt sexier in my life. Something about him erased all my inhibitions. I sucked in a breath when his fingertips glided down my body. He traced my breasts, circled my nipples, zigzagged over my belly before gripping the edge of my lace panties. Slowly, he pulled them over my hips, revealing my pussy and showing him exactly how much I wanted him. I dropped my thighs to the bed, completely exposing myself to him, putting myself on display in the most intimate of ways. His eyes flared. My heart raced. I couldn’t stop myself even if I tried. My hand moved down my belly, and my fingers swept over my swollen clit. My back arched off the bed, and my eyes slammed shut.

“Fuck, Gabby! Keep rubbing that sweet pussy of yours. Get it nice, wet, and creamy for me, so I can slam deep inside you and give us both what we want. You’re a fucking dream.”

His words only added fuel to my fire. My body trembled under his gaze, while my eyes begged for him to take me.

“Oh god, please Carson, I’m so close.”

The sound of foil ripping hit my ears, but I was too enthralled with the sight that greeted me when the towel fell to the floor to think or comprehend anything else. His body was insane. Sculptured like the finest marble and decorated with unique art. His mouthwatering cock was thick, long, hard, and veiny.

I needed him.

He didn’t waste any time. He lined up, then pushed the head of his thick cock just inside me before slamming home. Every glorious inch of his cock filled me entirely. My eyes slammed shut as my body adjusted to his size. The heat of his body washed over me, blanketing me with desire. As soon as I pushed my hips up slightly, he took the cue and began fucking me as if his life depended on it. Our bodies slapped together, our moans swam through the air as our connection took control.

It was fast.

Intense.

Mind-blowing.

It was everything I wanted yet didn’t know I needed.

I came hard. Shattering around him. Moaning his name. Clawing at his back. As soon as I came down from my high, he took his. His body stilled. He planted every inch of his cock inside me. He groaned my name. Then lost control.

It was mesmerizing to watch.

But more importantly.

It was mine to remember.