Off Chance (34 page)

“Fuck, Rowan,” he says between clenched teeth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck that feels good.”

I answer by pulling myself off him and pushing back, and his moan in response has me smiling.

Then it’s on.

Flynn sets a hard, fast pace while he grips tight to my hips. Sweat drips from his chest onto my back, soaking through my dress, and his thighs slap against mine. He’s hitting me deep... so very deep, and I can feel an orgasm building fast. I try to hold it off, so I can wait for him, but I don’t know if I have that much willpower. I want to succumb too greatly.

“Rowan,” Flynn says in almost a pained voice. “I’m not going to last... I can’t hold it. If you’re not with me, baby, I swear I’ll take care of you after.”

I suppress my giggle that Flynn is so turned on, he has no control, and my heart melts that he’s still thinking of me... always thinking of me. Those words alone cause my body to start spasming. “Too late, Flynn... I’m coming.”

Flynn gives one super hard thrust, practically knocking me onto my stomach, and then he groans, “I’m coming, too.”

His fingers dig into my ass, and I’m sure I’ll have ten little bruises showing for all the world to see when I wear my bathing suit.

Oh, well. So worth it.

Flynn makes a few more pumps into me and then collapses onto my back, pushing me into the mattress. I turn my head to the side at the last second to prevent getting smothered by the pillows, but then Flynn immediately rolls off me.

We are both gasping for breath. I turn my head to look at him. He’s lying on his back, staring at the ceiling with a silly smile in full bloom. He reaches a hand out and glides it over my naked butt.

Turning his head to face me he says, “You wreck me.”

“You wreck me, too,” I whisper.

The Caldwell and Burnham clans make quite the entrance to Parrot’s, the outdoor beach bar that sits just off the main building. Steel drum music beats low and the sun is dipped halfway into the water, throwing orange and pink sparkles everywhere.

Flynn holds my hand the entire time, and introduces me to everyone. Sometimes he moves his hand to my back, lightly rubbing through the cotton material of my dress. My mind keeps flitting back to the carnality we just enjoyed in our room, and I want nothing more than to abandon these people and figure out what other dirty things Flynn can do to me.

But we must socialize first.

First up is Emily’s brother, Ryan, and his wife, Danny, along with their six-month-old daughter, Amelia. They’re both gracious, saying they had heard all about me from Emily. I’m not sure what to make of that, but I’ll have to assume she said good things.

Danny is interesting. She’s one of those people that you just have an instant connection with. While both Ryan and Danny give me a warm hug upon introduction, when Danny wraps her arms around me, I feel an instant trust with her. It’s freakin’ weird and I’m really looking forward to getting to know her to find out why that is. About the only other person I’ve ever felt that way before was with Flynn, and even then, I was distrustful. I suppose maybe opening myself up to Flynn, and seeing that not everyone is out to hurt me, is opening me up to other people.

I’m completely intimidated by meeting Emily and Ryan’s parents. Flynn has filled me in on them, and apparently, I’m meeting an honest to God U.S. Congressman and his wife. To make matters worse, apparently Congressman Burnham... who insists I call him Alex—yeah right—is thinking about running for President, and that thought alone has my hands breaking out into a slimy sweat. Which is completely awkward when he holds his hand out to me to shake. Still, they seems nice enough and then I watch as Celia Burnham practically wrestles her grand-daughter away from Danny, who laughs as she gives her up, only to step into her husband’s embrace and lay her head on his massive chest.

Yup... Ryan Burnham is a hottie.

Next up is Flynn’s cousin, Linc, and his girlfriend, Ever. Again, no doubt that Linc and Flynn are related, and they could easily pass as brothers... which puts him in the smokin’ hot category. Ever is ethereally beautiful with the loveliest and widest blue eyes I’ve ever seen on a human. It’s like she knows everything about you.

Linc and Flynn are the closest in age of the Caldwell clan and are very close. Flynn talks to Linc by phone or text almost as much as Renner, and he has the NHL package at the apartment so he watches as many of Linc’s games as he can. He also watches the Rangers and Ryan, but he pulls for the Coyotes now that Linc is playing there. I’m still a die-hard Rangers fan though and that’s not going to change.

As we’re talking to Linc and Ever, we hear a scream from behind us and Flynn whips around, his entire face lighting up in a smile. A red-haired woman across the bar has her eyes locked with Flynn’s, and then she’s running to him. She jumps up and he catches her soundly as she wraps her arms and legs around him. He hugs her tight and it only took the flame hair for me to know this was Renner.

Walking up behind her with a smirk is a holy mother of God hottie that I can only guess is Cillian. He’s the only one thumbing his nose at the tropics as he wears a pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt with his band’s logo, and a chain hanging from his back pocket, extended over to clip to a front belt loop. He has two shiny, silver hoops stuck in his bottom lip and yeah... he’s a panty dropper.

So this is the lead singer of Over The Edge? Flynn introduced me to their music not long after I moved in, and we play it quite frequently around the apartment, although I doubt Flynn would ever admit that to Cillian. It seems they didn’t get off to the greatest of starts.

Flynn releases Renner and I watch as Cillian extends his hand to Flynn, who doesn’t hesitate and shakes it. But they quickly release and then Flynn pulls Renner in for another hug. While he does so, Cillian turns to me.

“You must be Rowan. I’m Cillian.” He holds his hand out and I shake it.

“Nice to meet you,” I say quietly, again a bit overwhelmed with the amount of famousness I’ve been meeting today. Hmmmm... let’s see... a Congressman, two NHL players, and an Irish rock star. Yeah, nothing unusual about this day.

Flynn releases Renner again and pulls me to his side. “Ren... this is Rowan.”

Renner grabs me and pulls me into a hug so swiftly, I almost get whiplash. She babbles in my ear. “I’m so glad to meet you. Flynn talks about you all the time. I almost made Cillian bring me to the States last month so I could get a gander at the girl that has my big bro all worked up.”

I blush over those words but I’m secretly pleased as well. It’s one thing to know that Flynn has feelings for me, because I see it in his eyes... the way he talks to me, and now the way he touches me so intimately. But it’s a completely different thing for me to know that Flynn shares his feelings about me with others. It humbles me, and yeah... scares me just a little because I’m starting to understand that Flynn may have already gone off the deep end where I’m concerned.

Me? I feel like I’ve stepped over the edge, but lashed out and grabbed ahold of a rocky ledge, with my toes just dangling in the water... afraid to let go and take the plunge. I wonder if I’ll ever really trust and just do it… just let go?

Pulling back, I smile at Renner. Before I can even respond, she’s grabbing me and pulling me to the bar. “Come on, girlfriend. Let’s drink something coconutty and bond.”

I glance back at Flynn and he’s laughing at me, his eyes warm and full of something so powerful, it makes me swallow hard. It exhilarates and frightens me, and I have to wonder which emotion I’ll ultimately let overtake me.

“Wanna go swimming again?” I ask Rowan, glancing over at her as she lies beside me on the warm beach.

She’s stretched out on her stomach, her cheek resting on her hands, with her eyes closed. She looks so peaceful and it’s a look that I’m so glad can lay naturally on her face.

We’ve been out here all morning, soaking up the sun and just chillin’ with each other. Nix and Emily had to go into St. Thomas to get their marriage license, and Renner and Cillian decided to tag along. I have no clue where all the parents are, but for now, I’m enjoying some alone time with Rowan.

After renting some snorkeling gear, we swam out in the small lagoon and tried to find some sea turtles. No such luck but we did swim over some really pretty reefs, teaming with colorful fish. I tried to talk Rowan into some scuba diving but she was having none of it. She muttered something about “shark bait” and “not enough money in the world”. I didn’t have the heart to tell her sharks could swim into this lagoon but I’d never get her back out in the water if I did that.

Rowan sits up and I can’t help but notice the way her breasts sway underneath her tiny bikini top. She didn’t own a bathing suit so yesterday afternoon, she bought one in the resort’s gift shop. I tried to talk her into a sedate one-piece because, frankly, I don’t like the idea of her assets hanging out for everyone to see. Those are for my eyes only. She merely threw it back at me and grabbed the tiny pile of dental floss that she’s now wearing. I have to admit, though, the turquoise blue material looks beautiful against her skin and it makes me want to peel her out of it.

In fact, I’m thinking maybe we should take a beach break and hit the room for a while. I’m now obsessed with getting that bikini off her. I lean over and rub my nose along her neck. She sighs and brings her fingers up to glide through my hair. She tilts her head and brings her lips against mine. I press the advantage and slip my tongue in, deepening the kiss.

“Hey you two, get a room.”

Cursing, I pull back from Rowan, who wipes at her lips with the tips of her fingers and smiles. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Linc headed our way. He’s wearing a pair of board shorts and a New York Rangers t-shirt.

“Isn’t it sacrilege or something for you to wear that shirt?”

Linc looks down at his chest, no doubt not even conscious of what clothes he threw on. Shrugging his shoulders, he says, “Hope I don’t get struck by lightning.”

He takes the towel in his hand and unfurls it, laying it in the sand next to mine. He plops his butt down with a sigh.

Glancing over his shoulder back toward the building where our rooms are housed, he looks back to me. “Okay... I need your advice before Ever gets down here.” Linc glances at Rowan. “You’re a woman! I could use your advice too.”

“Thanks for noticing,” Rowan says dryly.

Linc’s mouth turns upward and he wiggles his eyebrows at her. “Oh, I noticed all right.”

A low growl emits from my throat. “Hey... eyes back on me, buddy, or I’ll introduce your face to my fist.”

Linc lets out a chuckle and I smile at him, but I’m dead serious. If he looked at Rowan’s perfect body a second longer, we’d have gone at it. “So, what’s up?”

He glances one more time over his shoulder and then leans in toward us conspiratorially. “Okay... so I’m going to pop the big question to Ever the night after the wedding. I talked to the resort manager, and he’s going to arrange for us to have a private dinner on the beach. He’s going to set up a small table, candles... they even have this canopy that is like nothing but some bamboo poles stuck in the sand with some filmy material or some shit like that that goes over the top. So Rowan... do you think that sounds romantic?”