As the last of the dinner dishes are cleared, and the sun begins its nightly descent over the bay, I sit back and stretch out, my body sore after all the physical games we played today, everything from the tug of war to the scavenger hunt. I’d taken a few spills as we raced across the beach and the surrounding trees looking for clues to a puzzle. Then again, perhaps my muscles are aching thanks to Brax and the dirty, delicious way he pleasured me in the shower.

As the sexy image slams into my mind, my entire body quivers. I steal a glance at the man sitting close, but all I see is the back of his head as he chats with Alex, who is seated on the other side of him at the long table. The two seem to have hit it off quite well. I’m happy about that, because Tamara is my good friend at work and a few times we tried to get together outside the office. Unfortunately, we’ve yet to coordinate schedules. I chuckle quietly. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to coordinate the schedules of four very busy people.

Wait. Shit, what am I thinking?

The four of us will never see each other outside the office. Heck, after this weekend the only time I’ll see Brax is during the holiday or special dinners at Mom’s. Brax is always invited to those. Of course, I’m sure I’ll see San Francisco’s Most Eligible Bachelor in the papers, though. A knot forms in my stomach at that thought. Geez, I hate the jealousy that arouses in me. Brax isn’t mine, never was. He made that clear the day he laughed when I tried to kiss him.

I shift in my seat and catch the way Jason is leaning toward Brax and Alex from the other side of the table. He obviously wants to be a part of the conversation, not that I know what they’re talking about, since Brax has his head turned the other way.

As if sensing my discomfort, his hand slides to my thigh under the table and he gives it a squeeze. His way of letting me know he’s not ignoring me, and I appreciate his thoughtfulness. In fact, when it comes right down to it, Brax is always kind and thoughtful where I’m concerned—save for the name-calling and teasing. But really, he’s always been there for me, always coming to my rescue one way or another. Warmth spreads through my limbs, followed by a modicum of guilt. If I had my time back, I wouldn’t have asked him to pretend this weekend. It wasn’t fair of me to put him in such a position, even if I do plan to give him something in return.

Brax turns to me, leans close, his body a wall of warmth. “Richard asked me if I wanted to go out on the boat tonight. Alex is coming, but Tamara doesn’t enjoy sailing. She’s staying behind, so I think it’s just the guys. If you don’t want me to—”

“Go, enjoy yourself. You deserve to have a little fun this weekend.”

His body brushes mine, and I quiver when his warm breath tickles my flesh. “You don’t think I’ve been having fun?”

Well, there is no denying his arousal—I felt every hard inch of it—and it’s clear how much he enjoys being with me sexually. I whack his shoulder. “You know what I mean.”

“Hey, are you guys going out on the boat?” Jason asks.

Brax turns to him and his features change, harden. The muscles along his jaw ripple and I’ve known him long enough to understand that he’s not a fan of Jason’s? But why? What did Jason ever do to him?

Could it be jealousy?

Wait, is that what I want? For Brax to finally start noticing me as a woman. Is there some small part of me that asked him to play along, because deep down it was him I wanted all along?

Oh, God, I need therapy.

“Yeah, we’re heading out when the sun sets,” Brax informs him.

“Great, I’ll join you,” Jason says and finishes the beer in his glass.

Brax turns back to me. “I don’t think we’ll be too late.” He puts his hand on my cheek, his eyes a deeper shade of blue as they move over my face. “Wait up for me?”

“Of course,” I say. My heart beats triple time as he gazes at me like I’m the object of his affection. Is it possible that he feels the same way as I do, or am I just making up some ridiculous fantasy? They say sex and intimacy like we’ve been sharing can affect the chemical balance in the brain. Maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t really things. Things I want so desperately, but fear I can never have.

“Okay,” he whispers, and drops a soft kiss onto my mouth. I lean into him, and our lips linger, meander, neither of us in a hurry to break apart, despite the audience. When we finally part, I’m breathless, my body on hyperdrive.

“Maybe I won’t go,” he says and the woman in me feels a measure of satisfaction that I can do this to him.

“No, go,” I say. “I know how much you love sailing. We’ll just have a girls’ night with wine, and talk about you guys.” I glance at Val, who is busy chatting with Caleb from accounting. From the way she’s leaning in to him, it makes me wonder if she’s interested in him. It’s a good thing the office doesn’t have a no-fraternizing rule. If it did I’d never be able to date Braxton…er…I mean Jason. Although I must say, every time Jason and I talk all he wants to talk about is Braxton. I’m beginning to believe he likes my boyfriend…er…pretend boyfriend more than he likes me.

The plates are cleared, but I do notice how Brax always takes his to the big gray tub himself. I smile. I like that about him. He grew up rich, then made a huge success of himself, but he never takes anyone for granted.

As the guys all disappear, I wave to Val. “Hot tub?” I ask.

She snatches a full bottle of wine from the table and holds it up. “Like you have to ask me twice,” she says, teasing. “How about you, Tamara?”

“I’ll meet you both there in a few minutes. I have to change.”

“I’m wearing my suit,” I say and expose the thin strap beneath my summer dress.

“Same,” Val says.

I spot Michelle giving her husband a kiss, and wave her over. “Hey Michelle, we’re thinking hot tub, wine and gossip.”

She makes her way toward us, a smile on her face. “That sounds like my kind of party. I thought we’d never get rid of the guys,” she teases but it’s clear how much she and Richard are in love. I sigh. They have the kind of love I want.

As Michelle and Tamara dash ahead of us, we make our way to the hot tub. I glance at my friend, who is staring at me with a smirk on her face.

“What?” I ask, my flip flops snapping against my heels as we walk around the massive estate.

Val stops to sniff one of the rose bushes. “Don’t ‘what’ me,” she says as she stands back up. “You and Brax have been having crazy monkey sex.”

I nearly trip on the stone path, even though there is nothing in my way. “No, we have not,” I shoot back in denial.

“Liar,” she says and I shake my head. I never could keep anything from her.

Caving, I say, “Well it was all your idea.”

“And you are most welcome, my friend,” she says as she taps me on the nose.

“How did you know?”

She looks at me like I’m dense. “You both have sex written all over you. You can’t keep your hands or eyes off each other. If that wasn’t enough to give it away, the noises you both make at night would have.”

Mortified, I cover my mouth with my hand. “Ohmigod, no,” I say my words coming out muffled.

She waves a dismissive hand. “Relax. Your room is next to mine. No one else probably heard it, and I have to say I’m as jealous as hell.”

I let my hand fall. “You should be,” I say, shocking myself, as a little giggle bubbles in my throat.

Val laughs. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

I give a slow shake of my head and think through this crazy turn of events. I can’t believe I’m having wild, uninhibited monkey sex with my childhood nemesis. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.” My God, it’s crazy how giddy I feel when I talk about Brax. “He just brings something out in me. I feel free to just let go, and…”

“Enjoy?”

I nod. “Exactly.”

We reach the hot tub and I hold the bottle of wine as Val lifts the cover. One of the girls who’d been serving us dinner brings us four plastic wine glasses on a tray and sets them on the table near the tub.

“Thank you, that was so thoughtful,” I say as I open the wine.

After she disappears, leaving Val and me alone, Val turns to me and says, “I love all the dirty talk, by the way.”

My hand stills as I pour the wine into the glasses. “Ohmigod, you really can hear us.”

She laughs, and pulls her sundress over her head. “I only listened for a minute, and when I heard you were having fun, I put my ear plugs in.” She climbs into the warm water, and waves her hands around. “I’m so happy for you. I knew you two always belonged together.”

With two glasses of wine in hand, I take the first step into the water and stop. “What are you talking about?”

Her jaw falls open, then she says, “You can’t be serious?”

“About what?” I take the second step, and then hit the bottom of the tub. I hand Val a glass, and grab a seat across from her.

She takes a sip and begins, “Look, I know you’ve always liked him, and he crushed you when we were kids. But if you ask me, he’s always been into you, too.”

I make a face, like she’s lost it. “If he was, then why did he laugh at me when we were kids?”

She shrugs. “You’ll have to ask him that. But I’m telling you. I see the way he looks at you. We all do.”

A surge of hope rises in my throat. “Do you really think he’s into me?”

“I think the two of you need to stop fucking for five minutes and have a talk.”

I gulp at her crassness. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

Just then Michelle and Tamara come back. They each grab a glass of wine and join us. As they settle themselves, I rest my head on the cushion. Is it possible that Val is right? My pulse beats with hope, and while I’ve been enjoying all the sex, she’s right. We do have to take five minutes to talk—before I go ahead and stage a breakup.

Brax asked me to stay up, and I’ve been trying to. It’s well past midnight and there’s no sign of him. I heard footsteps in the hall earlier, but Brax has yet to come through our bedroom door. I feel jittery and nervous with the need to talk to him. I toss in the bed, then climb to my feet. I pad quietly to the window and off in the distance, beneath the moon, I see the boat. If they’re back, where the hell is Brax?

I swallow against a dry throat and walk to my door. I listen for a minute and when I don’t hear sound, I open it. I’m dressed only in my short, cotton nightie that doesn’t quite reach my knees, and wouldn’t want to run in to any of the guys. I tiptoe to the stairs, and hurry down the long flight. I do another quick check to make sure no one is up, and make my way to the kitchen. I glance around the dark, the kitchen lit only by the glow of under cabinet lighting. I grab a glass from the cupboard, and walk to the fridge. I press the water dispenser, and fill my cup. I’m about to take a drink when I hear a noise behind me.

I jump and turn, spilling cold water over my nightie. But it’s the shock of seeing Brax there that has my body quivering all over. I set the glass down. “Ohmigod, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” he says, although he doesn’t look sorry at all. No, he looks hot, needy, his gaze raking over me with heated desire. “We got in late.”

I look out the window, but the backyard is empty. “Where is everyone?”

The wicked glimmer in his eyes sends sparks though my body. “They all went to bed. They had a lot more to drink then me, so I told them I’d take care of the boat, make sure it was secured to the wharf before I hit the sack.”

I turn to face him, catch the whiff of beer on his breath. “I thought the captain wasn’t supposed to drink.”

He gives a nonchalant shrug. He’s far from drunk, but the drinks seem to have relaxed him a bit, loosened his mood.

“I had a couple of beers on the boat, nothing to impair my duties as captain, or stop me from properly fucking you tonight.” He pulls me to him and places a hard kiss on my mouth, a kiss full of hunger and need—a kiss that hints at more. If I had to guess, tonight’s sex is about something other than giving me an educational experience. My heart leaps. Is it possible that this man really is into me, that after this weekend we have a chance of something deeper, something more meaningful?

Do I dare hope?

“I was going to ask what you were wearing under this nightie, but I’d rather find out myself.” He slides a hand along my thigh until he reaches my bare sex.

“Jesus, fuck, you’re not wearing panties.” He spreads my wet lips and pushes a finger inside me.

I gasp. “What are you doing?” I ask, and push against him, my actions letting him know I don’t want him to stop. It feels so damn good, but anyone can walk in on us.

“Fucking my girl, what does it look like I’m doing?”

“We’re in the kitchen, Brax.”

Shut up, Eliza, you want this. Anytime, anywhere with this man.

“I don’t care.”

“We can’t have sex here,” I whisper, my last working brain cell struggling not to burn out from the lust firing my blood.

“Yes we can,” he says as he slides his hand up my nightie, and cups my breasts. Jesus that feel so good, too. “And we will.”

“We need to go to our room,” I murmur, one last ditch effort to take this somewhere private before we get caught. Then again, maybe that’s the whole thrill for him.

“No time,” he murmurs through hurried, open mouth kisses to my chin, my neck, my collarbone. Honest to God, I’ve never seen him like this before. So needy, so carnal…so hungry for me that he can’t even wait and take this to our room.

“Need to fuck you, Liza,” he pants. “Right here in the kitchen, right on the counter.”

The entire room closes in on me as I revel in this new side of him. I inch back and look at him, catch the intense heat in his eyes. Ohmigod, he’s going to eat me alive.

He spins me around, and cups the back of my neck like a man on a mission and bends me over the counter. The coolness is welcome against my cheek as my body goes from simmer to inferno. “You want my cock in here?” he asks, putting his hand between my legs again.

“Oh, God, Brax.”

“Tell me you want it, Liza,” he says, his control hanging by a thin thread that I’m desperate to tear.

“I want your cock,” I say, no longer caring if we’re overheard. The only thing driving me is this man and what he wants to do to my body.

“Whose cock do you want?”

“Yours Braxton,” I say. “It’s your cock I want inside me.”

He leans over me, nibbles on my ear as he squeezes my ass. “Who are you going to be thinking about when I fuck you and make you come so hard, you won’t be able to walk.”

“You. I’ll be thinking only about you.”

Using his foot, he nudges my legs open wider, until I’m fully offered up to him. “Good, because I’ll only be thinking of you too, Liza. It’s only ever been you,” he says, but I’m so far gone, I’m not sure if I’m hearing him right, or even able to comprehend what he’s saying. My sex clenches, eager for him to fill me, take us both to the place we desperately need to go.

He pushes a finger into me again, and I gasp as he fills me. “Jesus, you’re so wet for me.”

In slow steady moves, he slides his finger in and out, and I move with him, shamelessly taking what I need.

“That’s it, Liza. Fuck my fingers. Show me how desperate you are for my cock.”

Desperate doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I move against him, my breasts rubbing the counter through my nightie, stimulating my hard nipples. Pleasure sinks deep into my core as he slides his finger over the hot bundle of nerves inside me. I gasp, grip the counter, run my nails along it, trying to find something to grasp on to. He pulls his fingers out and I almost cry from the loss, but when his crown nuzzles my throbbing opening, I moan and rock in to him.

Warm hands slide over my back, then take a firm hold of my hips, his fingers biting into my skin hard enough to leave a bruise. But that’s okay, I want the bruise, I want to feel him on my body come tomorrow.

“Please…” I cry out.

“Is this what you’re begging for Liza?” His voice is hoarse, labored, and his body is tense as he inches into me, no condom, no barrier, nothing but the sleek smoothness of his hard cock entering my body.

Not wanting him to hold anything back with me, I say, “Take me, Brax. Put your cock in my cunt, and take me hard and fast. Take everything you want.”

A deep groan fills the air at my dirty little words, and in one quick thrust he’s filling me, seating his long length deep inside, the positon allowing him to reach places I’ve never been touched before.

“Oh, yesss…”

He moves, pistoning in and out of me, his fingers biting harder, like he can’t quite get close enough, deep enough.

Like he’s claiming me.

I whimper in bliss, and it amps up the urgency in him. His movements become quicker, more desperate, and I get the sense that he’s seeking more than release. He slides a hand around my body, presses his finger to my clit. The stimulation combined with his fast pace takes my body to the edge in record time.

“Brax,” I cry out in ecstasy as the heat builds inside me—between us—combustive enough to burn for a thousand lifetimes. “Yes,” I say as I come all over his cock. My cry mingles with his groan of pleasure as my liquid release scorches him and lubricates his penetrating cock.

His mouth finds my neck as his body presses me into the countertop. I pant, gasp, unable to fill my lungs.

He pumps into me, his cock demanding, frantic as I grind against him. Sensations wash over me, weakening my knees as I revel in the pleasure.

“Fuck, Liza,” he growls, and I writhe, squeeze my muscles around his steely cock. “I’m losing it.”

“Yes,” I murmur as he pounds impossibly harder, his hips jerking, giving me everything he has. “Lose it with me,” I say and glance at him over my shoulders. Gone is his guarded look. What I’m seeing instead is Braxton unleashed, wide open, and holding nothing back as he pistons into me, giving me every inch of his body, pounding like he’s pouring his entire soul, his entire being into me—no distance between us, physical or otherwise. Excitement flutters in my belly as he finally surrenders to his need.

“Fill me with your cum,” I say, as his pleasure becomes mine.

His eyes meet mine, dark, hungry…vulnerable…a man who sees nothing but me as he pummels, slamming home with thrusts that bring on another climax. My pussy squeezes as his cock swells inside me. He tosses his head back and fully lets go, warming my body with his hot cum as he freefalls over the edge, without a safety net.