Billionaire's Island Bride (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (6 page)

A wave of
embarrassment washed over Erin and she was just about to turn her face away
when he hooked his thumbs into the waistband and pushed the garment off his
hips and down his legs.  Too late.  No time to avert her eyes.  She could not
have looked away if her life depended on it, so mesmerized was she by the sight
of his nakedness, his manhood so rigid with want.

He came to her
then, sliding onto the bed with her, covering her lips with a kiss that stole
her breath from her.  And while he kissed her senseless his hands slid down to
unhook her bra and free her tingling breasts to the caress of his hands.  He
released her lips just long enough to divest her of panties and high heels and
then he was sliding the solid length of his body up her nakedness and back to
her waiting lips.

***

After he’d had his
fill Dare broke the kiss and slid off the bed to grab his trousers.  He pulled
a condom from his wallet and ripped the packet open with his teeth.  As he
sheathed himself he stared down at the girl lying on his sofa, her eyes tightly
closed, her teeth biting down on her lower lip.  What the hell kind of game was
she playing?

She’d rolled with
him every step of the way, flirting with him in the restaurant, coming back to
his villa, kissing him with an eagerness that was ample evidence of her
desire.  And she’d said she wanted this.

Now she was acting
like some sort of vestal virgin who’d never done this before.  Maybe it was an
act.  Did she think ravishing inexperienced maidens was his fetish?  He almost
laughed out loud.  He knew girls like her.  Tease - that was what they called
them.  Well, she'd better get ready for the teasing of her life.

Dare returned to
the bed where he slid his hand along her thigh then up to her mound where he
began to stroke and tease.  He was getting her ready for him.

She moaned and her
legs began to part for him but still she kept her eyes closed.

It was only when
he moved up and over her that her eyes flew open and as he stared into those
brown eyes so cloudy with passion he positioned his hips over hers and sank
deep inside her.

Erin stiffened and
there was a momentary flash of something akin to panic but then she closed her
eyes again, shutting him out, hiding from him the depth of her soul.

Unfazed, Dare
dipped his head and brushed her ear with his lips.  He smiled when she moaned
in response.  He had supreme confidence in his ability to stoke the embers of
passion in this woman.  She would not be passive in his arms.

For a whisper of a
moment he lay still, giving her time to adjust to his entry, and then he was
moving, thrusting slowly at first then more forcefully as she writhed in his
arms.  When she gasped and clung to him the fire inside him flared up and
trapped his breath in his lungs, making him gasp for air.

Soon it was his
body that was in control and he was thrusting toward his peak, driving into her
until all his lust, passion and desire exploded inside her, leaving him panting
and drained. 

He looked at her
then and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat.  She was staring up
at him, her eyes misty with tears, and she was smiling.  Had it been as good
for her as it had been for him?  It had been sweet, too sweet in fact.  He’d
peaked a lot quicker than normal.  There was something about this girl that
drove him to distraction, made him lose his cool.  But not to worry.  The night
was still young and he planned to drink his fill of her, get her out of his
system then purge her for good.  By the end of the night Miss Erin Samuels
would know not to mess with the big boys. 

***

The sun was just
peeping out on the world and the birds were beginning the morning’s serenade
when Erin woke to feel warm hands on her breasts.  Eyes still closed, she
sighed and turned to give Dare greater access to her and when he replaced his
hands with his lips she moaned beneath his caress.

They made sweet
love that morning and although her body ached from the vigor of Dare’s
attention, it was a pleasing ache that came with a feeling of total
satisfaction.  She’d never experienced anything like this in her life.

When he turned his
head on the pillow and looked over at her she felt the blush rise in her face. 
She’d actually spent the entire night in this man’s bed.  Who would have
thought that she’d have had the courage?  She, who had avoided men like the
plague?  She felt a giggle rise in her throat as her thoughts went to her
roommates.  They would rib her mercilessly when she got back.  Her first ‘sleep
over’ with a man.  She could hardly believe it herself.  She would just have to
put this down to ‘island fever’.

But it was more
than ‘island fever’.  Since the day they met there was something about Dare
that had drawn her to him.  Maybe that was why she’d picked him out of all the
men at the bar.  It was almost as if she’d had no choice in the matter.  And
then they’d had this night together.  This wonderful, wonderful night.  At
first she’d been scared but then she’d relaxed in his care, feeling that for
the first time in her life she’d found a man she could trust.

She was still
curled up beside him in the bed, lost in her thoughts, when Dare’s voice pulled
her out of her reverie.

“Well, you’ve
served your purpose.  Time to go.”

At Dare’s words Erin’s
eyes snapped back into focus and she stared up at him.  “Excuse me?”

“Time to go,” he
said again.  He leaned back on his pillow and locked his arms behind his head
in a gesture of relaxation.  “You wanted a taste of a billionaire and I wanted
a taste of you.  We both got what we wanted so now it’s time for you to get
out.”

Dear God, what was
he saying?  Eyes wide, Erin clutched the sheet to her breasts and sat up. 
“Are…are you throwing me out?”  She held her breath, praying he would burst out
laughing and tell her he’d been pulling her leg.  But no, to her horror he was
nodding, a smug expression on his face.

“Yep,” he said and
this time he did laugh but it was a bitter laugh that sounded mean and ugly to
her ears.

“I know girls like
you,” he said, his voice harsh and brittle as brass, “gold-diggers on the
lookout for the richest man they can find.  You get him to sleep with you, get
him to fall for you and then you take him for all he’s got.”  He chuckled. 
“I’m on to your game, babe.  This is one rich dude you’re not going to take for
a ride.”

The blood turned
to ice in Erin’s veins.  If he’d hauled off and slapped her across the face she
could not have been more shocked.  Or hurt.  Or devastated.

She now realized
the truth.  Dare, this man she thought she had come to know, had never been
attracted to her.  He’d never felt anything for her.  All he had wanted was to
get her into his bed, use her, and then toss her away like disposable
dinnerware.

Heat rushed to her
face then drained away leaving her cold and shivering and dazed.  Then as the
chill of his words encircled her heart, turning it into a solid block of ice, she
dropped the covers, no longer caring, and stumbled out of the bed.  Almost
blindly, she fumbled around on the floor reaching for her bra under the chair,
her panties under the bed and her dress, now a crumpled mass of black silk on
the floor.  It looked like exactly how she felt – trampled, damaged and
discarded.

With a sob she
kneeled on the floor and put on her panties and bra then pulled the dress over
her head.  Her purse and her shoes were nowhere to be seen.

Slowly she got up
and walked on unsteady feet across the room.  She wanted to cry.  She wanted to
throw herself on the floor and bawl.  But she would not.  She would never give
this man the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt her.  Even though she
was dying inside she lifted her chin and without a backward glance she walked
out of the room.

She found her
shoes and purse in the living room.  She retrieved them and then she walked out
of Dare’s villa and out of his life.

***

A heel.  That was
what Dare felt like as he lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling.  It had
been over twenty minutes since Erin left his villa and still he had not moved. 
The look on the girl’s face, the sight of her dejection had floored him.

Had he made a
mistake?  Had he been wrong in how he’d judged her?  It couldn’t be.  She’d
come on to him at the pool and just like he’d expected she’d found a way to
conveniently bump into him again, this time at the bar.  She’d even jumped at
his invitation to dinner.  And even more telling, she’d had no objection when
he had taken her to his place.  She’d given him every indication that she was
after something and he’d been right to cut her loose.

Then why did he
feel so low?  Was it because of the panic he’d seen in her eyes?  Was it the
way she’d clung to him each time they made love?  Was it the hurt he’d seen in
her eyes?

Dare shook his
head.  No, she couldn’t be feeling hurt at his rejection.  Anger, maybe. 
Disappointment.  But not hurt.  She’d gone into this with her eyes wide open,
knowing the risk of trying to seduce a man.  She must have been prepared for
either outcome.

This was what his
brain was telling him.  He just wished that other side of him, that weaker part
that dealt with his emotions, would just shut up and accept.  He’d been right
in doing what he did.  The girl needed to pay. 

So why did he feel
like such a jerk?

CHAPTER FOUR

It was just after
six in the morning when Erin sneaked into the villa, quiet as a cat, and hid
herself in her bedroom.  Thank God the girls were still fast asleep.

She went into the
bathroom and locked the door and there, in the privacy of that space, she slid
down to the rug on the floor, hid her face in her hands, and wept.

She had never been
so humiliated in her life.  To think that she had trusted this man, had felt an
emotional connection with him, and then he’d turned out to be the same as the
jerks she’d known all her life.  She would never trust a man again.  Life was
infinitely better when she was alone.

With a sniff, Erin
got up from the floor.  She stepped out of her shoes then stripped off her
dress and underwear, removing from her body all memories of the night before. 
From here on Dare would be a distant memory, just someone stored away in her collection
of experiences.  That was all.  She stepped into the tub, turned on the shower
and submerged herself in the cleansing flow.

Erin was relieved
when the girls got up later that morning and seemed to have forgotten about her
date.  They must have come in late last night, half drunk as usual.  They seem
to have totally forgotten that she’d even gone out.  Only Robyn seemed to be
regarding her with some interest.  Finally, as Erin was packing the plates back
onto the room service trolley, she spoke.

“So,” she said,
dragging out the word as she eyed Erin from across the room, “how did it go
with lover boy last night?”

“L…lover boy?”  Erin’s
heart sank as she realized she hadn't escaped.  Robyn wanted answers and what Robyn
wanted Robyn got.

“Yeah, your date. 
What?  Did it bomb?”  The girl looked almost eager to hear bad news.

"Yes.  Yes,
it did.”  Erin seized on the direction the conversation had taken.  All Robyn
wanted to know was that she’d had a terrible time and then she’d leave her
alone.

“Aww, that’s too
bad.” Tammy went over and put her arm around Erin’s shoulder.  “Don’t let it
get you down, though.  We can still have some fun tonight.”

Tonight.  For her
there would be no fun.  It would be their last night on the island before
heading back to Vancouver and she planned to spend it hidden away in her room.

If she’d spent her
time as she normally did, alone and lost in an art history text, she would not
have fallen into the trap set by the devil himself.  She’d learned her lesson. 
Home was the safest place to be.

She said none of
this out loud, though.  She kept her thoughts to herself and pasted a brave
smile on her face.  “Sure,” she said brightly.  “There’s always tonight.” 

After breakfast
Maria, Tammy and Robyn went down to the beach to take advantage of their last
opportunity to tan under the hot Caribbean sun and dip in the ocean.  It was
also their last chance to preen in front of the many available college guys who
had come to the island looking for fun.  When they’d hounded Erin to come along
she had flatly refused.  She would not risk running into Dare again.

As long as she
stayed in the villa she would be safe.  Thank goodness she’d never told him her
last name.  He would have no way of finding her.  Not that she thought he’d be
looking.  She had absolutely no desire for him to even consider looking for
her.  That was what she told herself but the puddle of pain at the pit of her
stomach was testament to the lie she’d been feeding herself.  She was hurting
and there was no denying that.