One Plus One (7 page)

Blade grabbed his friend’s proffered hand, shook it, and then pulled him in for a big man hug.

“You have no idea how good that makes me feel. You have my blessing, you brave soul. I thought you’d never take the dive.”

“I hoped you’d be happy for us.”

* * * *

Blade left the ship, the ferry, and the sand buggy behind. He ignored the suitcases behind the seats of the buggy when he arrived at the cottage. He’d fetch them later; right now he had more pressing matters on his mind.

Blade’s belly warmed and his testicles tightened as he stepped inside. His mind filled with the image of a naked Lacinda. He wanted her in every which way, him thrusting inside her sex with the hard-on he’d been toting around since he first saw her. But he wanted her to want him, without a spike of help, simply all on her own.

Music; one of Barry White’s songs whispered through the kitchen, reminding him of the previous night. He followed the sound through the yellow bedroom to the bathroom door. It stood cracked open, and he pushed it a bit further.

Lacinda’s head rested on the far edge of the Jacuzzi. Steam lifted off the foamy water and her glistening bare shoulders. He stepped into the room. Her eyes remained closed. Blade watched her breasts lift on her inhale. Her rosebud nipples appeared and then disappeared below the bubbling fragrant concoction. His cock pressed against his zipper, rooting for escape.

Lacinda’s eyes opened. She screamed and jerked, splashing water over the edge across the floor. Blade saw something like defiance spark in her eyes. She glared at him.

“What are you doing here? I was expecting someone else.”

“I believe I owe you a massage.” Blade said the first thing that came to him. He didn’t need her spooked or give himself away just yet. Lacinda arched a brow.

“Did Mazie send you?” Her head looked like it drifted over the water until it rested near Blade’s feet. He barely made out the slender outline of her body under the shuffling milky water.

“Actually, yes. I hope that’s okay.”

Lacinda’s expression relaxed with Blade’s affirmation. She climbed the couple of steps out of the Jacuzzi and stood in front of him dripping wet. Naked.

Damn, Mazie lied about spiking Lacinda’s wine.

Chapter Ten

Lacinda

Lacinda stood defiant in front of Mazie’s partner, who she now knew as Blade Connors. She watched his eyes rake over her naked body. She hated how her body responded, a shiver started at her scalp and settled at her center, and her nipples hardened for him. She reminded herself this wasn’t pleasure, this was revenge.
Keep your head in the game.

Barry’s last song ended, the air went too silent, heavy with the energy radiating between them. Lacinda saw the bulge in Blade’s pants and her first instinct was to unzip and release him. She came so close, his masculine scent drawing her.

She caught herself, remembering her mission. Instead, she parted her legs and watched him delude himself. Big mistake. Air cooled her crevice, but the sticky moisture remained, along with a yearning she ignored. Lacinda cleared her throat and Blade blinked, shaking his head as if he just came back from wherever he’d gone inside his head.

“Yes, where was I? Oh, shall I give you a massage then?”

“I’d like that. Where do you want me?” Lacinda decided she’d treat him like a whore. Like the way she knew he thought of her. Mazie taught her well. She knew just what to do.

“The beach is secluded here, how about out on the patio where you can have the warmth of the sun and the sound of the surf?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Lacinda walked past him without grabbing a towel, her body rigid and tall. She’d teach him, even if she wasn’t quite sure where the patio was located.

Thankfully, once she stepped down into the sunken living room, Blade took the lead. He opened one side of a pair of French doors. As gracefully as she could while staving off inhibitions, Lacinda stepped through the doors.

Adirondack furniture was strategically placed around an open fire pit, facing the ocean. A light breeze cast the moist, relaxing scent of the ocean. She settled onto her front side in an Adirondack lounger.

“I’ll be just a moment.” Blade left her alone.

Lacinda questioned her plan. These people managed to make her someone she was not and now she seemed caught up in lowering herself to their standard in a stupid game of cat and mouse. She shook it off.

My game now, my rules, they need to be taught a lesson.

Blade walked back and dropped a basket of goodies beside the chair. He stooped down on his knees.

“There are a number of scents here, choose one. Cherry, vanilla, musk, jasmine, you name it and I bet I can find it.”

Lacinda raised her head and peeked inside. It was full of tiny lotion bottles.

Yeah, I bet you do have every fragrance under the rainbow for your entourage of women
.

“What’s your favorite?” Lacinda figured out her game plan. She’d lead him to her basket and stop him right before he plunged into it.

“Really? No one’s asked for my favorite before.” Blade hesitated, like it was a hard decision. Finally, “Ah, a blend of musk and vanilla, how does that sound?”

“You’re the boss.” Lacinda closed her eyes, willing her body not to betray her intention. Blade’s fingers bunched her hair and flipped it over her shoulder. She heard him rubbing lotion between his palms and the fragrance infiltrated the air. His warm hands traveled her body from shoulder to foot, spreading lotion and manipulating muscle, never touching near her privates, even though he spent extra time on her buttocks.

“Time to flip,” he whispered, husky and low beside her ear. Lacinda jumped, not expecting him so close. He grabbed her shoulder and hip opposite from him and rolled her while scooting her over so she didn’t fall off the lounger.

Lacinda’s nipples beaded even more from the sudden exposure. She ignored the desperate urge to cover herself. Instead, she slightly parted her thighs like Mazie had with Travis the day before.

“Lacinda, shall I lotion your breasts? I can move around them if you’d feel more comfortable.”

“Do it all, please.” Lacinda drew her knees up and parted her legs more. She heard Blade gasp and a moan followed. His fingers grazed across both of her nipples. An immediate shot of sparks coiled down her breast and settled between her thighs. Her crevice tingled and she harnessed her hips from thrusting.

He took his time kneading her breasts until she thought she would scream. A battle raged between her and her body, no arching into his palms. She bit her bottom lip, hoping the pain would keep her from both screaming and arching her back.

Lacinda couldn’t stop from trembling under Blade’s soothing touch. He finished her belly and moved down to her feet. His progress slowed up her calves, knees and thighs. Her legs went limp and splayed open.

She peeked at Blade through her lashes. He’d stopped his hands on the inside of her thighs and stared at her private place. She watched him physically battle touching her there. Hot moisture gathered under his gaze. Her body had its own tactics of fighting her plan of action.
Keep to the plan, lead him in and cut him off.

She raised her hips gently until Blade’s fingers slid into her crevice. An unintentional moan escaped Lacinda’s lips. Blade groaned as if in answer and climbed onto the bottom of the lounger between her legs. He pushed her thighs even more open, exposing her completely.

Lacinda’s hips rocked, making her feel out of control. She needed her game-face on, before it was too late. But her body wouldn’t listen. Blade’s fingertips slid into her folds, circling her clit. Her back arched. Blade palmed her breast and then pinched her nipple, sending another shot of sparks to where his other fingers continued circling.

His fingertips moved down her center and she thrust herself into them. He pulled his hand away before his fingers dipped inside her.

“I can’t do this.” Blade moved away from her. “Lacinda, I can’t take you this way. I think Mazie spiked your wine.”

Lacinda sat up. What was he talking about? He didn’t want her if he thought she was drugged?

“You think Mazie spiked my wine?” She’d stay on the game, even though this part didn’t make sense, Blade not wanting to take advantage of a woman on drugs.

“All I know is that I’m desperate for you. I can’t stand not having you, but I don’t want you if it takes you being drugged to want me.”

“Aren’t you the one who has been leading me on since the beginning? Playing at limo driver, steward, captain, for God’s sakes, and masseuse…who the hell are you really? You’ve never even told me your name, and yet you know mine. In fact, I even told you about Alex when you were the limo driver.” The surf crashing over the rocky surface beyond the sandy beach, described her insides. She churned all right. “You’re telling me you won’t take me if I’m drugged?”

Blade looked away, turning toward the ocean. He didn’t say anything. Lacinda waited in silence, not sure what to think. He played her all along, and now he suddenly didn’t want her manipulated? Like he had a conscience. She almost screwed her own game plan in the ass, so close. Her body craved him.

“So, you’re the guy I’m supposed to be spending the next few weeks with on this island. But, yet, you came here posing as a masseuse, not the male winner of the contest. Again, a lie.” Lacinda stood up from the chair, a few feet away from Blade’s back. “You chose me from my questionnaire, like you handpicked me from a litter. Let me tell you something about this whole damn getup–Alex might not have been a passionate, adventurous lover, but at least he wasn’t a blatant liar. He never manipulated me like you have.” She headed inside, needing distance from him. Mazie would have to turn the damn cruise ship around. She stopped at the doorway, and said, “By the way, Blade, Mazie didn’t spike my wine.”

Blade’s head snapped back toward Lacinda. “You know my name?”

“I discovered who you are in an office here, did some investigating, saw some of your pictures, and came to the conclusion that you
were
playing me, from the beginning.”

“You thought I would use you?” Blade walked toward her, his midnight blues soft, like his voice.

Lacinda ran inside. She needed clothes for this conversation. Her heart thundered in her chest like a waterfall, and her whole body tingled in anticipation, like a traitor, as if it knew something she didn’t. Blade caught her, swinging her around to face him. He wove his fingers through hers and she let him, God only knew why.

“You and Mazie are only playing a game. You think your money can buy anything, a person to play with, me. Some grand prize winner. I feel betrayed, angry. I decided I’d play with you, but my scheme is backfiring because I can’t stop my body from responding when you’re near.” She cast her eyes downward, her only option for fighting what his midnight blues were doing to her insides.

“That wasn’t Mazie’s intention. It wasn’t my intention, hurting you or making you feel used or abused, although you most likely would have been by someone on that cruise. The cruise was meant for three lusty weeks of fun, or did you forget that part?” Bitterness whipped through his words and he squeezed her fingers. “There were hundreds of entries I read; only yours resonated.”

Lacinda wouldn’t follow him there, otherwise how could she justify her anger? “You seem pretty sure about me, more than you should be from the answers on that questionnaire. Did you hire someone to investigate me as well?”

Blade hesitated. Lacinda waited for his answer. He pulled her onto the couch and sat beside her. His body heat spread across her skin. He sighed, long and heavy.

“I did. But, before you jump off the deep end, I have businesses to protect and people who work for me to protect. I wanted to meet you and felt like I already knew you from the answers on the questionnaire, but I still needed more information, like if you had a criminal record. Surely you can understand that, with everything I have at stake.”

Lacinda’s body trembled, her heart wept in a mixture of emotions, heavy in her chest.

“Are you cold?” A look of concern crossed Blade’s face, which pissed her off.

She ignored his question, and spewed her own words, “I’m a commodity for you, and a pretty cheap one at that.” She yanked her fingers from his and jumped off the couch. All the while she walked away, Mazie’s words echoed in Lacinda’s head, “Who is telling you not to do this one thing that might be the best thing you’ve ever done in your entire life?”

“Lacinda, in your heart you know that’s not true. Tell me you’re all right.” Blade followed her.

“No, I’m not all right,” she spoke over her shoulder. “You want someone I’m not, and I don’t belong here.” She stepped through the yellow bedroom and into the bathroom, closing the door in Blade’s face.

“Call Mazie, tell her to turn the boat around.”

Chapter Eleven

Lacinda

Days of silence followed. Blade kept to himself, occupied in his office, and Lacinda walked the beach or read books in the sun. She’d find meals prepared by him set out for her. She’d see him from a distance if she walked too far away from the cottage. Blade built warm fires in the great stone fireplace every night, leaving it for Lacinda’s enjoyment.

The ship never came back for her, so Lacinda figured Blade never made the arrangements. His forlorn and longing looks she caught every now and then tore at her heart, but he never spoke a word. She wondered if she’d broken him.

She continuously thought about the mean things she’d directed at him, comparing him to Alex. What had she expected on this cruise? It was about singles hooking up, getting it on together, and then leaving when it was all over. Maybe they’d begin a relationship or maybe not–it was simply a lusty vacation get-away, and she’d turned it into something else. Blade hadn’t.

Lacinda lay in the same Adirondack chair where Blade had massaged her. Warm sunlight kissed her skin, reminding her of Blade’s fingertips. She missed him, his selfless, passionate attention. Something she never had from Alex.