Constant Craving [Rapture Island 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (5 page)

“Of course. I think we could both use a shower. Besides, I bought several of those becoming outfits for you in an assortment of fabrics and colors, and although you look beautiful in that one, I can’t wait to see you in all of them.”

Kelsey groaned. “That’s what I was afraid of. I wish you’d let me pay for them. I hate the feeling of being in someone’s debt.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Kelsey. I enjoyed it very much. I’ve looked forward to every aspect of our week together.”

They’d arrived at their floor, and when the elevator opened, she rushed out, but Gabriel apparently had no difficulty in keeping up with her.

Producing a key card, he kept his steps even with hers. “Is there a problem?”

She’d never before felt so out of her element, and feeling so vulnerable put her at a disadvantage. Her arousal made it even worse, leaving her feeling exposed, and it had begun to fray her temper. “I don’t know how to do this!”

He unlocked the door and pushed it open, gesturing for her to precede him. “You look beautiful, darling, but I can understand that feeling so vulnerable would shake you. Seeing you dressed that way, knowing that only two jeweled clasps stand between me and having you naked is testing my control to the limits.”

“Don’t. Please, Gabriel, don’t lie to me. I know you’ve been with many beautiful women who know how to play this game, and I must seem really naïve to you. But please don’t play with me that way.”

She felt stupid and confused, a feeling she hated.

Still, she found her gaze drawn to him, wanting his hands on her so badly she trembled. “Please, Gabriel. Try to understand. I don’t know how to play your games.”

Frowning, Gabriel folded his arms across his chest and stared at her with narrowed eyes. “If you were mine, you’d pay for calling me a liar.”

Swallowing heavily, she studied his expression, trying to figure out if he was serious or teasing her. “What would you do? Spank me? Beat me? Whip me? I mean, if you were dominating me, what kind of things would you do to me if I called you a liar?”

She sucked in a breath at the feel of Gabriel’s hot hands on her shoulders. She panicked at the surge of need and tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold, keeping her firmly in place with an ease that impressed her.

Bending close, he brushed his lips against her ear, sending arrows of electricity to her nipples and clit. “I would make you very aware of the fact that you’d displeased me.”

She knew just how easily he could overpower her, but she wasn’t afraid of him.

Not physically, at least.

She feared the way he made her feel—feared the rippling waves of alarm created by his threatening but silky tone that ignited her senses.

Furious at herself for being one of the undoubtedly countless women that fell under his spell, Kelsey clenched her jaw, fisting her hands at her sides and struggling to hold back tears.

Turning to face him fully, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me something. How would you do that? What kind of women put up with that stuff?”

And why the hell did she want so badly to be one of them
?

She couldn’t shake the feeling that there had to be more to his lifestyle than she imagined, and that he’d begun to show her bits and pieces of it.

Gabriel’s eyes hardened. “By
stuff
, I assume you’re talking about a woman giving herself to me? That’s something you’re going to have to find out for yourself.”

Fighting back a jealousy she had no right to feel, Kelsey turned away and closed her eyes as images of Gabriel touching other women—naked, beautiful women—raced through her mind. She shouldn’t care that he’d been with other women. She shouldn’t care that he found pleasure in women who could submit to him the way he wanted.

Shaken by her own mixed feelings, she shrugged and stared out the doors to the ocean. “I don’t understand what you want from me.”

Aware of the tense silence behind her, and feeling Gabriel’s sharp gaze, Kelsey stepped out onto the balcony for air. “I’m out of my element here…and with you.”

She didn’t think he moved, but knew she had his undivided attention.

To her surprise, Gabriel moved in behind her, his footsteps nearly silent on the marble floor.

But she felt him.

Turning, she took a step back and met his gaze, holding her breath.

Staring into her eyes with his dark, hooded ones, Gabriel smiled, a sad, tender smile that made it hard to breathe.

“Desire and fear—a powerful combination. An arousing one. It’s also a highly unpredictable one.”

Each word stroked her arousal, his deep, intimate voice as seductive as a caress.

“You think you know me, but you don’t. Just because you can convince other women to give in to you, that doesn’t mean I will. Or can.”

His smile widened, the smug satisfaction in it fueling her anger. “You only attack when you’re feeling vulnerable. You
do
want me, but you’re afraid. I understand that, Kelsey.”

She feared he didn’t understand just how much she wanted him, or how much the strength of that need scared her. She was afraid he didn’t know just how important he’d become to her, or how much she feared losing that. “Please, Gabriel. You don’t understand! How can you be so calm about this?”

Staring down at her with hooded eyes, he reached out to tuck her blowing hair behind her ear. “I understand more than you can imagine. I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand—me, yourself, or what you and I can be to each other. I wouldn’t be any good to you if I got upset every time I encountered an obstacle, and I sure as hell wouldn’t be as successful. Why don’t you go take a shower, or better yet, a hot bath, and we’ll sit here, have a drink, and talk?”

She didn’t trust the gleam in his eyes. “Talk? Just talk?”

“Just talk.” He held out his arms as if that would make him appear less threatening, but she didn’t think anything would do that. “Trust me. I want you to be more comfortable with me than you obviously are.”

Kelsey sucked in a breath, frozen in place when he reached out a finger and traced the upper curve of her breast above the silky material.

Other than the light stroke of his finger, he didn’t touch her, but she felt the effects of his light caress everywhere. “We have a lot to talk about, don’t you think? We can talk about why you’re so afraid of men, and you can ask me the kind of questions I know you’re dying to ask.”

Her nipples beaded so tightly they ached, making even the slide of the material against them almost unbearable. “You’ll answer questions about your lifestyle?”

“Of course.” Glancing up, he smiled, a smile filled with secrets. “I want you to be comfortable with me, Kelsey.”

He dropped his hand to his side, his smile tender. “Why don’t we both get showered and changed into something more suitable. A tuxedo with sand in it isn’t very comfortable, and I’m sure you’ll feel better when you get cleaned up. I’ll order some wine.”

With a smile, he turned away. “I’ll get you another outfit. I bought you quite a few and I’m dying to see you in all of them. I really do like dressing you. I like taking care of you, even if it’s only temporary.”

Bending close, he brushed his lips over hers in a soft caress, and lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “I’ll just have to see what I can do to convince you to make it permanent.”

“These outfits are stupid. You can’t even call them clothes. Two skimpy pieces of material. Nick and Steve should be shot.”

Gabriel hid a smile at her indignation, letting his gaze sweep over her. He wanted to laugh out loud at her look of confusion and desire in her eyes, a look he suspected had a lot to do with the way the material felt against her breasts and bottom, and the amount of skin it revealed. “I think they’re perfect.”

Even though she glared at him, she couldn’t hide the hunger in her eyes and the emotion she probably thought he couldn’t see. Her defensiveness rose with her arousal, the vulnerability created by her need and the awareness of the amount of soft skin showing unsettling her. In defense, she lashed out, and probably didn’t realize how fluid her movements had become, or that she kept arching her back, thrusting her breasts out in what he believed to be an unintentional invitation.

She looked stunning in the outfit he’d had made for her, the outfits required for women who visited the island something he and Nick had designed together.

Smiling, he let his gaze rake over her, his attention lingering on her beaded nipples. “You look beautiful, and I’m sure you feel sexy as hell in it. It’s the ideal thing for a submissive to wear. Sexy, easy access, and always a threat of being revealed. It keeps a woman on edge.”

He was on edge himself, his cock hard and demanding as every movement she made gave him a flash of velvety skin. The brief glimpses he’d gotten of her heart-shaped ass and soft curls covering her mound tormented him and made his hands itch to touch her.

Dressed in one of the sarongs and brief tops, this one made of soft, pale green cotton that emphasized the green in her beautiful eyes, she looked good enough to eat.

His mouth watered for a taste of her, and the thought of burying his face between her creamy thighs and eliciting cries of shocked pleasure from her had his cock lengthening and thickening almost painfully.

Patience, Gabriel.

Her long hair, still wet from her shower, hung down her back in a thick, dark curtain, one that would lighten to honey blonde when it dried. Even now it started to curl around her face, and he found himself fascinated by the waves that became more prominent as her hair dried.

She usually wore it pulled back into a tight ponytail, a look that had sparked fantasies of wrapping his fist around it and guiding her to her knees.

The thought of seeing her with that ponytail secured with her head forced back, perhaps with an anal hook, on her knees, and with her legs spread wide had kept him awake countless hours.

He’d thought about her for months,
wanted
her for months. Each time he saw her, he became more convinced that she would be the kind of woman he should stay away from.

He couldn’t, though. Like an addict, he wanted more.

She could change his life. She
would
change his life.

In many ways, she already had.

His emotions had gotten involved, and the thought of taking her, taming the passion he knew he would find inside her, gradually become more explicit, until he could almost taste her.

He wanted to guide her. Teach her.

He wanted to make her
his
.

The irresistible combination of brash rudeness she used as a defense mechanism, loneliness and vulnerability was nothing more than a challenge to him at first, a challenge any Dom worth his salt would revel in.

As he got to know her, it became something more—something deeper. He found her so overwhelming and so arousing to his senses that he couldn’t stay away from her, torturing himself at every opportunity.

She still challenged him on many levels, but her sadness and loneliness made him desperately want to be the man to heal her. He wanted her to see what an incredibly desirable woman she was, and that she
could
love.

One day, he’d looked across the small coffee shop, watching her as she waited on customers, and knew he’d somehow fallen in love with her.

Bit by bit, she’d stolen his heart, and he hadn’t even realized it until it was too late to get it back.

Nick, Steve, and Julianna’s wedding gave him the perfect opportunity to focus her attention on him. He wanted to prove to her that he was man enough to handle her, and that she had nothing to fear from him.

He’d wanted to ease her into the lifestyle, but he didn’t have much time for more than a crash course, one that he hoped would prove to her that they could be the perfect couple.

Kelsey was a woman who didn’t give up control easily, another challenge that only made him want her more.

He wanted to tear down her defenses and show her that she could be vulnerable with him. He wanted her to see that he was just as vulnerable with her, and that only by letting their defenses down would they be able to have the loving and exciting relationship they both needed.

He would be balancing on a thin edge, convincing her that she had the power to hurt him, while retaining the control needed to satisfy both of them.

Emotionally, she brought him to his knees, but sexually…hell, he could only imagine the passion he would unleash. She would be pure dynamite, and he knew it would take every ounce of control he possessed to handle her.

Hiding a smile, he let his gaze rake over her. He’d known it would happen one day. He’d known he’d find a woman he wanted to Master for the rest of his life, but had assumed it would be a submissive, a woman who’d already accepted the lifestyle.

Of course, he’d never done anything the easy way.

He had to fall in love with a woman who liked to be in control in relationships,
and
who had trust issues.