Queen’s Knight (Invitation to Eden) (7 page)

“My turn.”

Dani was already so close from riding him, but this was deeper, harder. Evan held nothing back, and the orgasm Dani had felt hovering roared over her, lighting up all her nerve endings. She cried out, raking her nails over Evan’s shoulders. He captured her lips but didn’t let up on his thrusts, and the waves of pleasure kept rolling over her.

He leaned down and bit her neck, sucking at the skin there, then all of a sudden pulled out. His hands were rough as he forced her over onto her belly, but Dani didn’t mind in the slightest. Her body was still humming when he looped an arm under her hips, raised her backside into the air, and pushed himself between her legs again.

The angle here felt even deeper, as if he were reaching to find her core. His thrusts lit her body up all over again, and Dani cried out in time with his thrusts. Evan’s hard breaths filled her senses, his fingers reaching around to tweak her nipples, and inexplicably another burst of pleasure built up inside her.

“Oh god,” he murmured, laying his forehead against the back of her shoulder, and Dani knew he was close. She tilted her hips up more, bearing down, and felt her own orgasm take her just as Evan gave a stuttered cry. His teeth closed over her shoulder, and she felt him pulse inside her as he came.

Without disengaging, he wrapped his arms around her chest and pulled them sideways so they were spooning. Neither was inclined to move, but Dani shifted. “You want to clean up?”

“Give me a minute,” Evan murmured, nuzzling her neck. Dani subsided, enjoying the feel of his arms around her too much to care. She hugged his arms to her chest, laying a soft kiss against one knuckle of his hand, and Evan tightened his hold on her body.

I could stay like this forever,
she thought, and tried not to delve too deeply into whether that would be a problem or not.

––––––––

“S
o, how did you get to be working on the island?”

Evan lay beside Dani, staring down at her naked form. His free hand was making slow circles around her belly button, tracing the dips and curves of her stomach and hip bones. Dani’s eyes fluttered closed and she gave a small sigh. “Would you believe that it fell into my lap?”

“Seriously?”

She nodded, folding her arms under her head. Evan was content, for now at least, just touching her, and she seemed to be enjoying it. Already he wanted...“So my bike had broken down in a Costa Rican monsoon. I’d only just managed to find someone with a truck willing to take me to the nearest village...”

Evan’s hand stopped in surprise, and Dani gave a mewl of dismay. He hadn’t been expecting anything like
that
. “Hang on, rewind that story a bit and start again.”

Dani gave him an impish grin. “I had just finished with Carnival down in Guatemala, which has one of the most insane celebrations I’ve ever seen. Carnival is basically what Mardi Gras is to the southern states here in the US, except that all of Central America celebrates it. I’d been told that Mazatenango, Guatemala is the place to go, so I arranged to be there in time for Carnival.”

“What was it like?”

“Crazy!” She laughed at the memory. “I’ve been to Mardi Gras down in New Orleans before and that’s its own kind of insanity, but this was...incredible. The colors, the parades, the dancing. There’s always something to do, especially at night. There’s an air of pure fun and folks just want to have a good time.”

Dani trailed off, smiling, and Evan swallowed. She was so beautiful like that, laid out before him, but he wanted to hear more of her stories. “So, afterwards?”

She snorted. “Ever been in a tropical rainstorm? I’d timed my trip to coincide with the Central America dry season in the hopes of having good riding weather. I’d arranged passage on a ship in Panama and needed to be there by a specific date, but I thought I was fine. Just as I was leaving Mazatenango though, unseasonal rains moved in.

“The way out is through hilly terrain, and even with my knobby tires I had problems. Still, I managed to make it to the border with time to spare, only to have my chain break on me. So imagine me on the side of the road in the rain, trying to fix my chain while buses carrying folks from Carnival passed, spraying me with more muddy water.”

Evan’s lips turned up in a smile at the image, and Dani slapped his arm. Undaunted, Evan scooted himself back and lay beside her on the bed, folding his arms across her belly and laying his chin atop them. “Keep going, this is just getting interesting.”

She shot him a narrow-eyed look but continued. “Anyway, I managed to get it fixed enough to get me into Costa Rica three days later. I’d hoped to get a new chain and sprockets in San Jose since the one I had was borked, but it broke again on me right after the border.

“So there I was, having to push my bike down a muddy road, soak to the bone with rain and mud. I’d finally found a ride to the largest town and was waiting for the truck to show up when out of nowhere this helicopter appears. Mind you, it’s pouring rain outside, but this thing touches down in this tiny area and out jumps a man in a suit. Comes straight up to me and hands me a letter without a word.”

“What was it?” Evan asked.

“My invite here to the island.” She was staring at the ceiling, lost in the wonder of the memory. “At first I thought they had the wrong person, but as he held a large umbrella over me, I saw it really was my name on the envelope. I opened it and inside was a gold invitation, made out to me, inviting me to spend time at someplace called Eden.”

Dani trailed off, and Evan nudged her. “I’m assuming you got a lift from something other than that truck,” he teased, and she glared at him.

“There comes a time in a girl’s life when she needs more than tents and sleeping bags. I was tempted to say no simply because it sounded too good to be true, but...what if it wasn’t? What sort of adventure would I be missing? And seriously,” she added with a snort, “what could be worse than that muddy little patch of rainforest?”

“Damn.” Evan squinted at her. “You’re not having me on, are you?”

She grinned. “Got the whole thing on video at my website, if you wanna check it out sometime.” She nudged him. “How did your invite come?”

“In the mail.” Evan deflated. When had his life ever had that kind of adventure? “I guess I’m pretty boring compared to you.”

“If you’d met me five years ago, you’d be singing a different tune.”

“Oh?” Evan asked, intrigued again, but this time she shook her head.

“If we’re opening up and spilling secrets, it’s your turn. What made you want to become a businessman?”

An interesting question. Evan shrugged. “It was always expected. My father was a businessman, and his father before that. Our family owns a lot of commercial businesses and deals in real estate, much like Hamilton Industries. As the only child, I’m set to inherit that, but my father wanted more.”

“And you?”

“I do too.”
At least, I thought so.
“He encouraged me to pursue my own businesses, forge my own path. When I got an internship with HI that turned into a job offer, I worked my way up the ranks. It was easy for me; I’d been brought up in that world, knew the games, had already had several lucrative businesses of my own. I was fast-tracked to the top but wanted more, then heard that the CEO was stepping down and looking for a successor.”

“So you applied?”

“It wasn’t quite that simple, but I let it be known I was interested. There were interviews of course, background checks, even a psychologist’s screening. Word came that I was one of the top candidates, which pleased my father. I think he’d like the thought of his family empire merging with HI, even though we never quite achieved the prestige of the Hamilton’s.”

“And that’s what you want then? Prestige and wealth?”

Something in Dani’s voice made Evan look at her. She was gazing at him sadly, and her hand reached out to run through his hair. He trapped her hand with his and kissed the palm, and beneath him felt her belly flutter. “I don’t know,” he murmured. “How did you know what you wanted?”

“I didn’t always. When my brother died...” Her throat worked for a moment before she continued. “I’d always dreamed of seeing the world, but never got bit by the travel bug. My family didn’t travel much, and I grew up a bit of a homebody in the same town. Grew up, dated the son of a family friend, figured I’d get married and settle down close by my parents. My brother, James, on the other hand...”

She trailed off, and her eyes grew wistful. “My mom always said he was full of piss and vinegar, but we loved him so. The boy couldn’t stand still; he always had to be doing something, anything. Whereas I was the good girl, he kept getting into trouble, and drove our parents nuts. I loved listening to his stories, always envied his adventures; it seemed like he discovered something new every day.

“He loved motorcycles though. Adored them. My father gave him a tiny dirt bike at eight and he took to the dirt trails any time he could. By fifteen, he was racing locally, and his first official “car” was a Honda sport bike. But his first love was always the dirt.”

Dani broke off and looked down at her hands, fidgeting with the sheet. “I’d just gotten engaged to my high school sweetheart David and Christmas was around the corner. James was off in Utah enjoying the desert on bikes with friends, but had promised he’d be home in time.”

“But he never made it back,” Evan finished a moment later when Dani trailed off.

“It was so stupid too. He and his buddy had stopped to help a motorist on the side of the road, and it turned into a botched robbery. My brother was shot first thing, as if to prove they meant business. Afterwards, they got him to a hospital, but it was too late. That was the worst Christmas ever.”

Evan crawled up the bed and laid down beside Dani, gathering her into his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder, staring straight at the wall as she continued. “He didn’t have much stuff, and hadn’t gotten around to writing a will. My parents wanted to sell his bikes, but I couldn’t let them.

“About a month after he’d died, I was cleaning out his room when I found a journal filled with places to visit. He’d labeled it his bucket list, and it included monuments, festivals, and landmarks all around the world. It broke my heart, that he’d never get to see these places, but then I found the picture.”

She pointed over to her night stand, and Evan reached out and blindly picked it up. A young boy beside a motorcycle beamed at the camera, holding a little girl no more than three astride the bike. Dani sniffled, a watery smile on her face. “He’d taught me how to ride years before, although I hadn’t really pursued it like he had. His journal had annotations beside a few of the locations listed, notes that included me. I think he wanted to take me with him, or at least had places he knew I’d like to see.

“So one night, I loaded up the bags, let a note for my parents and fiancé on the kitchen table, and early the next morning I took off down the road, determined to see what I’d missed.” She gave a small laugh. “I didn’t come home for nearly two years, but by then, everything had changed.”

“And you’ve been going ever since.”

Dani nodded, turning to look at Evan. She wound her arms around his neck, smiling down at him. “Coming up on four years on the road, and I’m still seeing new things every day. Along the way I gained sponsors and friends, who gave me gear and tools and encouraged me to share my travels. The blog I started gets hits from all around the globe, and I have readers who constantly give me new ideas on where to go. I’ve got a financial campaign going now that, if I reach it, I’ll be able to afford to do a true round-the-world trip instead of just the Americas.”

“You could come to New York.”

Evan hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but continued anyway. “It doesn’t have to be immediately, but I could show you around Manhattan, let you see what an urban jungle looks like.”

Her eyes grew troubled, then she shook her head as if to clear it. Sitting up, she put one hand on Evan’s chest and rolled him sideways, straddling his waist. “I just want to focus on right now,” she murmured, bending down to lay a soft kiss to his lips. “Right here, right now, with you.”

Evan kissed her eagerly, gripping her hips and pushing her lower down his body. She chuckled at his needy demand, reaching between their bodies to grasp his throbbing member and guide it slowly inside her, inch by inch. “I just want you,” she murmured, her breath hitching as he surged up inside her, desperate to feel more.

Evan dug his fingers into her hips, their moans mingling as they danced, and tried to imagine they were in a Costa Rican rain forest.

––––––––

O
ver the next three days, when Dani wasn’t conducting tours for guests, she stayed in bed. Normally this wouldn’t be too out of place, except now she had a guest. An insatiable one.

Not that she minded in the least.

Evan alternated between dominating and tender, and Dani couldn’t get enough. The lightest touch of his fingertips could set her body ablaze, and he wasn’t shy about taking advantage. Not that she always let him; she gave as good as she got, leaving him as wrung out and boneless as he’d left her.

Turnabout was fair play.

She had several groups inquire about guided hiking tours, so it wasn’t all play. While she was out showing them the island, Evan often accompanied the tour, a silent participant as interested in her as in the land around them. A few times however, he stayed behind to entertain his boss Jeremiah, and Dani found she missed him.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Her blog had been getting more hits lately too, as well as the threads she ran concurrently on various forums. People were clamoring for more pictures, more ride report. Her crowd-funding project was almost at goal too; all it would take was a few more people and her dream could become a reality.

So why did that thought make her so sad?

Evan’s group would be leaving the next day, and she tried not to think about it. Not thinking was easy right now, what with the teasing pleasure Evan was creating with his mouth and fingers. Dani’s hands knotted in the covers as Evan’s tongue followed the rim of her opening, moaning as his fingers rubbed pleasurably inside her. She reached for him, hands tugging at his hair. “Evan, please...”