I was making quite an impression on Arturo King, I decided as I slowly awoke. First the orgasm. Now a hangover.

I had never drank so much in my life, but I had been a nervous wreck at the party the night before. While Arturo guided me through the faces of people I knew, it was obvious the stares I received as those faces noticed who was at my back. It wasn’t my father that I followed throughout this crowd, but Arturo King. I knew I was drinking too much while I was drinking it, but between the questioning stares of me with Arturo and the lingering comments from Ana, I was on edge. I knew the first drink could take off the edge. The second could relax me. But somewhere during the night I added three and four. Three, I now labeled as courage, because I remembered telling Arturo what Ana said. Four, I checked off as stupidity.

I turned my head slowly to find a glass of water, orange juice, and two tablets on my bedside stand. I slowly pushed myself up on my elbows to find I was dressed in a man’s large T-shirt. It was white, and I realized that this was the shirt Arturo had on the night before.

I clapped my forehead as if I could magically remember anything else from the night before. Did I sleep with him? Surely he wouldn’t have taken advantage of me when I’d had too much to drink? No, I had accused him of many things last night, but taking advantage of a drunk woman was probably outside his boundaries.

On that point, I recalled what he did say to me about his boundaries last night. No woman had ever slept in this room before. He had not picnicked with another woman on the boat. He never brought a woman he was interested in to this home. For a brief moment I thought he was implying that he brought me only because he wasn’t interested in me. Then I remembered he had called me the most beautiful creature. It was definitely a line. One I thought he might have used on many women before, but it certainly had an effect. I did feel special from the words.

I heard the soft strum of guitar strings from the next room and slowly raised myself up to sitting. Drinking the water, then swallowing the tablets along with the orange juice, I noticed the door adjoining the two bedrooms was ajar. My stomach audibly growled as I ran my hands through my messy hair. My hair tie had been removed, allowing chestnut locks to fall over my shoulders and down my back while I slept. I pulled my knees forward and placed my head on them.

“How are you feeling?” a soft strong voice said from my side. I rolled my head on my knees to look in the direction of the secret door. Arturo stood in his morning glory of jeans, bare feet, and no shirt.

“Uhhh,” I moaned.

“That bad, huh?”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Nah, but you do make for an interesting drunk.”

I lifted my head quickly, looking in his direction and seeing silver dots. I clasped my temples, as if to hold my brain inside, and tried to focus on his face.

“What did I do?”

“Well, after I carried you to your room,” he emphasized.

I groaned.

“You told me I was the best kiss of your life.”

I moaned.

“You begged me to kiss you to wipe away the thoughts of Mel.”

I opened my mouth but no words escaped.

“Then, you told me you wanted to repeat the boat kiss.”

I closed my mouth and narrowed my eyes.

“Then, you told me you wanted the fucking org…”

“I did not,” I interrupted him.

He smirked.

“Do you at least remember our conversation in the car?”

“Yes.”

“After that?”

“Fuzzy.”

He raised an eyebrow at me as he leaned against the doorjamb that separated our rooms. He slid his hands into his jean pockets.

“Okay. Missing pieces,” I prompted him for information.

“Nothing happened. You were out cold.” He smiled a sly grin.

“How do I have your T-shirt on?”

“You begged me?”

“I didn’t.”

“Okay. I slipped my shirt over you and removed the dress. I didn’t see a thing.”

He paused. “Well, I might have peeked to see if you were wearing those red boy shorts.”

“And?”

“I’m lying.” He smiled. “I didn’t look.”

“You must be because I had on a coral-colored thong.”

In two giant strides Arturo crossed the room and jumped onto the bed, knocking me back with him landing on top of me, balancing himself on his forearms over me.

“You. Are. Killing. Me. Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”

“No,” I said honestly.

“Like I said last night. We’ll have to work on that. I will show you,” he smiled.

I was pinned to the bed, the sheet holding me captive between his arms. The only place to look was into Arturo’s brown eyes, which were almost black with desire. He wasn’t pressing into me like I wanted. He was holding all his weight above me. Torturing me.

“Guinevere, now that you are awake and sobering up, I want you to hear me clearly. There is no plan here. No scheme. No M.O. What happens, happens. Okay? I know what I want, but we won’t do anything until you’re ready.”

I shook my head at him to agree, but I knew what I wanted. I wanted him. Whether I would be placed on a list or not, I wanted that body-consuming feeling I had the other day. I wanted those lips on me, on more than just my mouth. I wanted his hands to roam over me. I wanted to give him my virginity, or have him take it away. However it might be stated, I wanted it to be him.

As if he knew what I wanted, as if he read it all in my eyes, he leaned forward and kissed me. It wasn’t the devouring kiss of two days ago. It was sweet and chaste, but a promise nonetheless of things to come.

He slowly pushed himself off of me and stood next to the bed.

“I have some work to do with the guys today, but I’d love to meet you by the pool for lunch and spend the afternoon there as well. Would that be okay for you?”

“Sure.”

He continued to look down at me as if he wanted to ask me something and then decided against it. He looked at my cello propped in its stand.

“Do you want to practice in the studio? It might be more spacious than this room.”

“Thank you. Maybe.” I smiled and pushed back my hair, holding it at the base of my neck. He kissed my forehead, wiped his hand down my cheek, and gave me one last look in the eyes before exiting the room.

I lay on my stomach, floating on a water raft in the pool. I heard the guys before I saw them. They were loud and rambunctious like schoolboys being let out on the last day of school. I could sense their excitement without having to see their faces, and I heard their laughter, and then silence. For a moment I thought I imagined them and then I heard a cough. I flipped over on the raft to find eight eyes on me and two not. Perk, Lansing, Tristan, and Arturo all stood on the side of the pool staring down at me. Mure had the decency to look the other way.

I had on a navy blue and white polka dot bikini today. The halter-top and low-cut bottoms covered me, but not much better than the red string bikini from two days ago. However, I didn’t expect the reaction I got out of the band. Perk swallowed hard. Tristan had a cocky grin on his face. Lansing simply stared, and Arturo smoldered.

“You are one fucking lucky dude,” Tristan said without shame. He slapped Arturo on the back and winked at me before heading toward the house. Lansing followed immediately after Tristan, shaking his head as if trying to rid it of the image.

“I’m going home,” Mure said and walked in the direction he held his gaze.

“Hi, Guinevere,” Perk croaked, tried to clear his throat and start again. It still came out as a squeak.

Arturo walked along the pool’s edge, keeping his gaze fixed on me. He stopped to kick off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head one-handed. I had the sense that Perk walked away, but I kept my eyes on Arturo. His exposed chest and tattooed arms took my breath away. He moved his hands to unbutton his jeans and pushed them off. He stood for a slight moment in black boxer briefs then took one step over the pool edge and melted into the water. The water wasn’t deep enough so he stopped short with only his lower half underwater. His gaze still did not leave mine.

“You are so beautiful,” he breathed.

I felt the heat of the blush creep up my face and I bit my bottom lip to contain my smile. He cupped my face and feasted on my lips. I shouldn’t have felt taken by surprise. I saw him coming. I anticipated the kiss. But I was unprepared for how quickly he swooped down onto me and consumed my lips. This was not the innocent kiss of this morning. This was hunger. This was thirst. This was survival.

He kissed me without a care. He nibbled on my bottom lip, causing me to moan in his mouth, and his tongue slammed into mine. We danced together inside my mouth before he sucked on my tongue and returned to a tortuous assault of my lips. I was breathless and clung to him as he continued to hold my face in his hands. I was being consumed by him, melting. The pulse came quickly between my legs and I pulled my knees upward to clench the feeling between my thighs. I attempted to sigh his name, but he wouldn’t release my lips.

He seemed to know what I wanted. He had to know what I needed, but he kept his hands steady on my face. I realized that he might be doing this in an effort to not touch me without my permission.

“Arturo. I…” I sighed against his lips. My breath escaped me heavily as he resumed his attempts to feast on me. He eventually pulled back slowly, stopping with one final peck.

“I can’t touch you with the guys close enough to watch. They could hardly handle looking at you. I would never allow them to see you like I saw you the other day.”

I looked at him, puzzled.

“When you came on the boat. It was the most gorgeous sight.”

The thought alone spurred him on to another delicious assault of my lips. For moments he continued in his hungry quest to mark each part of my lips before slowing again and pressing a final kiss to my nose.

I was dizzy with desire and breathless from the kisses, and I was sure my lips were bruised from his possessiveness, yet I relished that possession.

“Did you eat lunch yet?”

“I waited for you,” I said breathlessly.

“I’ll be right back.” He pushed himself up out of the pool with his tattooed arms and unashamedly walked toward the house, carrying his jeans and shirt in his hand. This time he didn’t have his gaze locked on me, but I couldn’t look away from him.