Girl Gear 3: Bound to Happen (17 page)

She swallowed hard and moaned, digging her fingers through the fabric of Ray's trunks and into his thighs. "What are you doing to me?"

"I hope I'm making you feel good. I hope I'm making you happy." He strung a trail of open-mouth kisses along her shoulder to her neck, the arm pressed across her collarbone drifting lower, coming to rest on her rib cage just beneath her breasts.

Sydney
couldn't stand it any longer. She worked a hand between their bodies and pulled on the strings holding her top in place. The scraps of bright yellow fell free, exposing her to the mist of warm rain and the warm air and the heat from Ray's arm. She was on her way to heaven. Ray moaned, the rumble rolling through his chest and into
Sydney
's back. She felt his response to the tips of her toes.

"God, you're beautiful." He pulled his hand from her panties and cupped the full weight of both breasts, hugging her back and close to his body. "I don't know if I can get enough of you. I want to do so many things…"

He let the sentence trail.
Sydney
, aroused beyond belief, picked it up. "Tell me. Tell me what you want to do. I want to hear you say it."

The sound he made was half chuckle, half roar of pain. He released her breasts and wrapped both his arms around her middle. He hugged her close, his cheek to her cheek. "You like to hear a man talk dirty?"

She shook her head. "Not a man. You. I want to hear it from you."

"God, Sydney. Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

"Tell me," she whispered. "Show me."

He took one of her hands, guided their joined fingers between their bodies and closed her hold around his erection. "Feel that? That's what you do to me. No woman has ever made me ache like this. No woman has ever made me this hard."

Hard barely began to describe what
Sydney
held in her hand. He was hugely erect, turgid and swollen beyond belief. He was long and impressively thick. None of this was what she remembered.

She wanted him between her legs. But they were in an empty pagoda with a floor of sand, no walls, no furniture, nothing to use for support. And she certainly hadn't thought to bring a condom when she'd set out this morning.

But they were both in desperate need of relief and she was in no state of mind or body to be honorable or disciplined. She wanted to come. She wanted to make him come. And she was ready to act the part of the spoiled
littie
rich girl if it meant she would get her way.

She started to turn in his arms, only to have Ray hold her in place. "Ray, please. Let's go back to the villa. To bed. I don't care about the rain. We can make love in the shower. And in bed. We should have the place to ourselves."

"I have you to myself right here. The air is warm and the rain makes the perfect music." He nuzzled his nose into the curve where her neck met her shoulder. His hands he held wrapped around her biceps. "We have everything we need."

They didn't have anything, to
Sydney
's way of thinking. "Do you have a condom?"

"We don't need a condom."

"What are you talking—"

"Shh. Trust me." He let her go for the length of time it took him to shuck off his shirt. Then he pulled her close again, his hands again filled with her breasts. "I want you to do something for me."

"What?" she managed, frustrated beyond words and getting more so by the minute. His hair-dusted skin tickled her back, and she snuggled up against him. Whatever he had in mind would not come close to the fun they could be having in bed.

"Take off your shorts. Your panties, too."

She pulled in a sharp breath. He wanted her naked. In the privacy of the pagoda, in the open air, in the mist from the rain … he wanted her bared to his eyes, his hands, his body.

Sydney
closed her eyes, finished loosening the drawstring of the shorts and tagged them over her hips and down her legs, taking off her panties at the same time. The breeze caressed skin covered with a fine wet sheen.

She ran her hands down her face, then over her breasts and to her belly and her thighs. Then she turned to undress Ray.

He held her still, facing away. "Let me do this."

She wanted to ask him, "Do what?" but he was already taking off his shorts and then showing her, with his hands holding her hands, moving her fingers the way he wanted them to move over the length to the head of his cock. He groaned, a deep, resonant sound that sent a shiver down her spine.

Her hands were greedy, measuring his response as she stroked, using his release of clear fluid to ease the friction. Leaning back against his chest, she reached deep between his legs, taking the heavy weight of his testicles in her palms and gently caressing the pouch of tender skin. He was so incredibly soft and warm. So beautifully, utterly male.

This time when he groaned, he pulled her hands away and drew her body flush to his. Naked skin to naked skin. And then he said, "Spread your legs."

She parted her thighs as he nudged them apart with his knee. Then he pressed forward with his body, sliding his erection between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together, trapping him there, but gently, with a grip that still allowed him to stroke.

"I need to know if you're protected from pregnancy." He moved his hands back to her belly. The heels of his palms pressed beneath her navel; his fingers delved lower to separate her folds. "I want to do this. But if there's a chance you could get pregnant, I want to make sure I don't come anywhere near you."

She shook her head. It wasn't pregnancy that concerned her. "I'm on the Pill. But—"

"I'm safe,
Sydney
," he said, cutting off her objection. "I do dangerous work and I'm tested regularly. The only thing you could catch from me is a baby, but I don't think either one of us is ready for that."

No. She wasn't. "What about other…"

"Other women?" he asked. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I haven't been with anyone for three years. Not since the trip with Patrick."

"Ray…I…" She didn't even know what to say. He was such a physical man. How could he not—

"Shh. Don't say anything. No talking about the past, remember?" He whispered the words into her ear. "This is about now. Only now."

He was right. This was about now. This was the reason she was here. This was what she wanted. Never had she felt so safe in the arms of a man.

So she closed her eyes and let Ray have his way.

He moved his hands, sliding them between her legs and over her mound, slicking one finger through her folds while his other hand held her open, exposing her clit to the air and his touch.

And all the while he thrust, using their shared moisture to ease his way between her legs. His hand took up the same rhythm, his fingers filling her, stroking in and out, his thumb circling the hard nub where desire burned.

She couldn't take it anymore. His strong body at her back, the sound of the wind and the rain and the sea all around, his hands working sexual magic from her belly to her womb, while he made the motions of love between her thighs.

She cried out and let go. He pressed his palm hard to her mound. She shuddered, digging her fingers into his hips behind her. And he continued to stroke, to thrust, his penis sliding slickly against her skin.

His motions increased in speed and intensity. His body pumped hard and suddenly he jerked back one hand, gripping his shaft and pressing the head of his penis hard to her leg. The warmth of his release pulsed against her. And all she could do was hold him close.

DRAPING AN ARM
around
Sydney
's shoulders, Ray headed out into the downpour. They'd waited for a little while after making love, holding one another close while they'd silently stood and waited for the storm to pass. Their breathing had settled into the same pattern, and neither one of them had felt the need to speak. But the clouds didn't seem to have any intention of dissipating, and
Sydney
was beginning to shiver. The screened walls of the pagoda were doing what they could to block the blowing rain, which was turning out to be a whole lot of nothing. Ray was just as wet now as he'd been when he'd first run under the shelter.

They needed to get back to the villa and dried off. Not to mention that it was lunchtime and Ray could eat the rump out of a rhino. Sex did that to him. Even modified sex. Add the fact that the sex was with
Sydney
and, well, he was starved.

He couldn't remember another completion that had been so damn satisfying and so damn scary at the same time. He wasn't sure where things between them would go from here other than to the nearest proper bed at the earliest opportunity. He wasn't going to leave here without having her all the way. And after that? Hell, he couldn't think straight until after that, so he might as well enjoy the here and now.

The rain picked up in intensity and
Sydney
wrapped her arms around his waist, her hands laced on his far side, her face buried close to his shoulder. God, but she was gorgeous. Yes, in her physical appearance, all long-limbed and slender, but lushly curved the way a woman should be. But it was the beauty of her inner self that had caught him off guard.

It was the way she took care of and gave so much of herself to those around her. She was making sure Chloe had the time she needed to go back to school. And
Sydney
never complained about Macy's monthly game nights or the meetings he'd heard the partners held at Lauren's loft. Meetings that, from what he understood, were more monkey than business.

Hell,
Sydney
even refused to let the housekeeper do the job she was paid to do. No, she had to be right there in the kitchen helping out while still playing hostess. He wasn't sure he'd ever known a woman more generous.

But nothing had prepared him for the way she'd come apart in his hands. He'd never doubted her passionate nature. He'd experienced her response when he'd taken her virginity. Thing was, back then he hadn't known what he'd held in his hands. All these years later and he knew. He knew.

Sydney Ford was a rare woman, complicated and complex. Which made him feel even more privileged to have been her first lover, never mind why. Whether he'd only been in the right place at the right time, or he'd been the only right one for
Sydney
, he'd still been lucky that she'd left that graduation party with him.

Of course he couldn't help being curious. Understanding the workings of
Sydney
's eighteen-year-old mind would help him better understand who she'd become. And knowing that would help him figure out the easiest way to let her go.

Because he had to let her go.

His arm tightened reflexively around her shoulders. He was having too much fun, growing too close to her, wanting more than he could possibly have. He'd realized the danger yesterday during the time they'd spent playing in the lagoon. Their fun had been natural, comfortable, incredibly sexy and a springboard to deeper, more dangerous waters.

He had to keep his focus on his work. There were no guarantees he'd walk away from his next assignment, so that ruled out making a serious commitment. He couldn't do that to a woman.

He couldn't do that to
Sydney
.

And only God knew where he'd find the strength to do it to himself.

7

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^
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Eight years earlier…

SYDNEY
COULD NOT
believe she was so clueless. So ignorant. So totally stupid and so totally lame. She'd actually thought things would be different, that graduation and the looming reality of college would've changed her classmates' mental focus. But no. Collectively they couldn't have produced one forward-thinking brain.

Half the kids in her graduating class acted as if they belonged in grade school. The rest were caught in a high-school time warp with little hope for the future. Forget maturity. Forget the idea of growing up. Forget a single one of them realizing she wasn't at all what they assumed her to be.