Chapter Four
Caroline had tried to be honest with Blake, with Javier, and herself. After trying so hard to be a faithful partner and a good daughter, she’d thrown away the stability she’d built with her fiancé. Worse, from Javier’s words, it seemed she’d destroyed the possibility of cultivating a trusting relationship with the man she still loved.
Her only chance to break through to Javier virtually guaranteed heartbreak. By expressing her feelings physically, she hoped the connection would translate emotionally to him.
She lifted her hand and caressed his neck from his hairline to the inside of his collar, then touched her lips to his jaw.
His head snapped back, his expression full of banked fury and another emotion she couldn’t pinpoint. “Be careful what you start. You might get more than you bargained for.”
“You can’t give me more than I want.” Not when I want it all.
“Wanna bet?” He dared her with his eyes and grasped the opening of her silk shirt.
“Yes.”
With a yank, he shredded the fabric, buttons pinging across the room.
She gasped. “You’re ripping my clothes!”
His lips curled into a sexy, aroused smile, and the hard edge in his gaze melted away. “Yeah. Having second thoughts?”
Not a single one. No man ever wanted her so much that he ripped her clothes to get to her body. Javier elevated her from mere woman to sex goddess. “I’m hot, and I’m wet. I’m shaking because I want you so much. Touch me, please.”
He groaned, his erection pulsing. Only Caroline could turn him into a quivering mass with just words. Only she could issue a royal decree in just such a way.
“Touch you like this?” He tugged the black lacy cups of her bra down until her nipples peeked over the top, then squeezed one pink areola between his thumb and forefinger.
She moaned and reached for the buttons of his shirt, carefully working them open.
“Or like this?” Embarrassed he’d ripped her clothes in an out-of-control frenzy and, doubly determined to bring her to the same state, he bent his head and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking the sensitive bud. She writhed and arched in response, forcing him to press her into the back of the couch to pin her movements and preserve his own control.
“Yes.” She slid her fingers inside his shirt, clutching his shoulders. Raising her leg, she curled it around his waist, still gyrating her body against his.
He’d imagined Caroline willing, begging for him and surrounding him so many times. But he hadn’t anticipated being reduced to begging, too. Lifting his head, he braced shaky arms on the sofa on either side of her. “I’m doing you. Got it? We’re having sex my way.”
With parted lips and blue eyes glazed with passion, she nodded. “Just touch me again. I need you so much. You complete me.”
He slammed his mouth back over hers but couldn’t undo the fatal mistake of allowing her to say what his soul longed to hear. She might have forgotten they were engaging in a purely physical one-night stand. He wouldn’t forget.
Peeling her leg from around his waist, he worked open the zipper to her tailored suit pants and shoved them down her hips. He couldn’t let her repeat how much she wanted him, and kept his mouth sealed to hers. But she didn’t need to say a word to let him know exactly how much she liked what he did to her. The pounding of her heart and her enthusiasm as she tangled her tongue with his gave her away.
So she wanted him, but how far would she go before she retreated to her safe, comfortable life? The sooner he discovered the answer, the sooner he could separate his fantasies from reality and prove only the fantasy appealed to him.
Raising his head, he demanded, “Lift your leg.”
She settled hands on his shoulders, meeting his gaze without hesitation.
Feeling the balance of control slipping toward her, he pushed her slacks and panties off one ankle, leaving them hanging from her other leg. Then he shifted her to the end of the couch, guiding her foot up to the armrest.
She stared at him, her creamy skin flushed, her face as vulnerable as her body.
He pressed one finger inside her, inching into her slick, hot tightness, memories of the past sweeping through him. Keeping the encounter completely physical might have worked if he’d been able to break eye contact. Instead, he trembled, needing her to believe he’d honor the trust she’d placed in him by allowing him to touch her.
He shifted, trying not to let her body’s sweetness dissolve him into a quivering mass.
“Don’t stop. Please.”
“I don’t intend to. I’m going to make you come, then keep touching you until you come again.” Focusing exclusively on her pleasure, he added a second finger.
Eyes glazed, she moaned, surrendering her body to him. “Please, oh please yes.” Her hips jerked, and she convulsed, drowning him with her passion.
His own muscles lurched in response, and he yanked his hand away. Despite his pledge, he couldn’t give her a second orgasm without coming in his jeans.
Limp, she leaned into the couch armrest. “Come back inside me. I want everything you promised.”
The longing on her face squeezed his heart. They were supposed to be engaging in sex. Only sex, no emotion. Instead, he wanted to promise her forever, to offer her a glittery ring she’d be proud to wear. “This armrest has potential. Let’s see what else we can do here.”
After considering the furniture for a moment, she stood and looped her arms around his neck, nipping at his lower lip. “I can sit on it and wrap my legs around you. But you still need to take your pants off, you know.”
He ached to give her what she wanted. Unfortunately, if he continued to stare into her face, he’d fall head-first in love, a love she didn’t reciprocate with the same devotion. “I want you on your knees on the armrest, your ass facing me.”
Her teasing grin fell into uncertainty.
While he was doing those things, he would stay in control—of the situation, of his body, of his emotions. “I’m going to take care of you and give you what you want, I promise.”
Caressing his cheek with her fingertips, she immediately threatened every ounce of that control. “I know you will.” She dropped her hand and turned her back on him, tucking her knees under her on the armrest.
“Javier.” She tipped her head to the side, her blonde hair falling over her cheek. “Please do me.”
She lifted her hips, raising her ass to him.
He swallowed, amazed at the gift of trust, afraid he wouldn’t be able to live up to the experience she deserved. Her smooth skin contrasted with his calloused hands. He swept his thumbs across her wet pussy then into her hot sex.
She bucked and moaned. “Yes, more. Deeper.”
Even writhing with need, she still issued orders. He wanted to follow each one to the letter, giving her exactly what she wanted. Easing his thumbs out, he cupped her round cheeks. He hoped her trembling was a sign she needed him—just as his shaking hands gave away how much he needed her.
Releasing her before she noticed his weakness, he unbuckled and opened his pants. The need was only physical. Sex wouldn’t give them a lasting connection. Desperate to achieve that connection nonetheless, he ripped open the condom, rolling it on his rock hard erection.
She reached back and dug her fingers into his thigh. “I missed you so much.”
Grasping her hips, he glided inside her ready pussy. He squeezed his eyes closed and couldn’t stop the moan torn from his throat. “You are so damn wet and tight. Fricking amazing. I didn’t want it to be as good as I remembered.”
Hell, he sucked at impersonal one-night stand stuff.
“It’s not like before,” she said, roaming her fingers along the back of his leg. “It’s better.”
Unable to allow her to touch him for fear of combusting, he pulled her hand away and extended it forward on the couch. He leaned over her smooth back, brushing his chin on the thin, lacy bra he had yet to remove. When she accepted him deeper, bliss overcame him.
Need built too fast and strong to corral. He tried pulling back but hurtled closer to the brink. “I can’t wait. You have to come now.”
“Yes. I want it,” she promised.
Leaving her less than completely satisfied when he did orgasm wasn’t an option. The building release would be every bit as earthshattering for her as it promised to be for him. He palmed her ass again and massaged his thumb along the crevice between the cheeks.
She bucked her hips, smacking his pelvis, and his control disintegrated. Pulling her tight to the base of his shaft, he fingered her clitoris.
Spasming around his cock, she screamed his name.
He squeezed his eyes closed and bent over her, releasing into her. He’d found the missing part of his soul. His past and his future collided, completing his life.
Except, she’d just used him for a freaking one-night stand.
“Sex with you is amazing,” Caroline whispered, still shaking but safe and treasured, spooned in his arms. “You are amazing, Javier Alvarado.” She turned her head to meet his gaze.
For a moment, he appeared to return the sentiment, before his expression hardened. “I hope you remember tonight every time you have boring, vanilla sex with your husband.” Releasing her, he stepped back.
Nearly whimpering at the loss, she rolled on her back then sat up. The sex had changed her, connecting her to him on an elemental level. Surely, he felt it, too, and would believe the truth she spoke from her heart.
“I told you, I’m not marrying anyone. I couldn’t when I never stopped loving you.”
He fumbled in the process of fastening his belt buckle. “This has nothing to do with love, querida.”
“Then what is it?” Throwing her words back in her face chilled her, but a small part of her thrilled at his use of her old nickname. Even if he didn’t recognize it, she emotionally engaged him.
“A one-night stand where we used each other to get a good fuck.” He strode toward the exit.
Despite his intention to shock her, she prayed he didn’t believe his own words. “Javier, wait.”
Damn it, he’d stayed dressed, while her bra sat at a crooked angle over her breasts and her pants hung around one ankle. He paused and glanced over his shoulder. His gaze raked her, revealing no hint of emotion or tenderness under his stone mask. “I got what I wanted, and I don’t ever want to see you again.” He slammed the door behind him.
Caroline stared at it for a moment then sank back on the sofa. Opening her body and her heart, she’d given him everything she had. He took what he wanted, nothing more, nothing less. Making the same mistake as millions of women throughout history, she’d believed she could reach him emotionally through physical expression. And she failed.
Too late to reverse the evening’s strategy, she resolved to make better choices going forward. Starting with eradicating reminders of the night, she removed the twisted bra and pants then gathered the remains of her shirt and stuffed everything in the garbage.
Flipping the security lock in place, she stumbled to the bathroom, indulging in a long cry and a longer hot bath. She loved Javier, always had. She’d been foolish and wrong to come so close to marrying someone else, and even more so to imagine sex would convince the man she loved to return her feelings.
Using her business degree and résumé of solid experience, she had to create her own life apart from the father she’d tried so hard to please and even further from the love of her life.
Despite having no plans to meet anyone and no one to impress, she dressed in a business pant suit with a full blazer. Her image and her pride were the only things within her control. With precious little of either one to fall back on, she intended to preserve what she did have.
Picking up the phone, she took a deep breath and dialed. No one answered, hardly a surprise considering the time, so she waited for the tone to leave a message.
“Alberto, this is Caroline Sunburst. Thank you for offering me the opportunity to interview with your beautiful resort. The position is and will always remain my dream job, but unfortunately, I need to remove my name from consideration. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality.” She paused and swallowed hard, but didn’t lower the receiver. After burning her bridges at Sunburst Hotels by abruptly calling off the wedding and embarrassing her family, she couldn’t afford to turn her back on any business contacts. “I do have an unusual request,” she continued, her long cry earlier allowing her to keep her voice even. “If you hear of any similar positions open at other resorts, would you be so kind as to pass my name on to them? I’m willing to go anywhere.”
The farther away the better, she added silently, replacing the phone. With trembling fingers she shouldered her purse, grabbed the handle of her rolling suitcase, and walked into the empty hall.
Moments later, she checked out at the registration desk and requested a cab to take her somewhere to start over—far away from her broken heart and tattered dreams.