Risky Pleasures (5 page)

One thing the article hadn’t focused on was how many companies Cody Enterprises had taken over in the past years, and how many people had lost their jobs because of those takeovers. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a man who liked being in total control, and he would handle any of his personal relationships the same way he handled his business.

Even when kissing her earlier today, he hadn’t taken anything slowly. He had seen an opportunity and seized it. He had seen what he wanted and gone after it. With him there would be no compromise. It would be all or nothing, and only on his terms.

She walked around the house, pulling down the blinds. When she walked into the living room she couldn’t help but stare at the roses. No doubt there was a purpose behind Cameron sending them. He probably assumed that this was the first step in breaking down her defenses, and that the next time he saw her she would be easier to bend his way. If that’s what he thought, he definitely had another think coming.

She glanced out the window, realizing how much she’d missed spending any time on the beach today. Suddenly, the stubborn streak within her decided not to let Cameron’s presence keep her from enjoying her time here. Tomorrow she would get up, pack a lunch and spend the day on the beach. She’d meant what she’d said when she’d told Cameron she wanted to be left alone.

Now she would see how good he was at following orders.

T
he man wasn’t good at following orders, Vanessa concluded the very next morning when she opened the front door to find Cameron standing there. Evidently he hadn’t taken her seriously.

“What do you want, Cameron? I thought I told you to stay away from me,” she said glaring at him.

“You did and I recall telling you that I wouldn’t.”

He leaned against the bamboo post, seemingly completely at ease. She watched him slip his hands into the pockets of his shorts and wished he hadn’t done that. It drew her attention to what he was wearing—a muscle shirt and a pair of denim shorts that emphasized his masculine physique. She touched her stomach when her inner muscles became achy, and released a moan.

“Are you okay?”

Her glare deepened. “No, I’m not okay. I don’t like being harassed.”

“And you think that’s what I’m doing? Harassing you?”

“Yes.”

“Then I need to use another approach.”

“What you need to do is turn around, go back to your place and leave me alone.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that. We need to talk.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “We have nothing to talk about since I have nothing to say to you.”

“But I have something to say to you. I’d like to offer you a business proposition.”

Her eyes widened slightly before returning to angry slits. “A business proposition?”

“Yes. One where you’ll be in full control and calling all the shots.”

Before Vanessa’s mind could take in what he had said and dissect what he meant, he added, “I think I need to clear something up right now, Vanessa, something you might have assumed. I’m not interested in a committed relationship…with anyone.”

Now, that really threw her. Not that she was surprised he wasn’t interested in a committed relationship, since most single men weren’t. But it did leave her curious as to why he had been hot on her tail for the last three years. Or was it just as she’d thought? To him it had been a challenge, nothing more than a game he’d had every intention of winning.

Evidently he read the question in her eyes because he responded by saying, “The reason I’ve been pursuing you with such single-minded determination is that I think you’re a very desirable woman and I want you. It’s as simple as that.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. Nothing with Cameron was ever simple. “So you bought a house just to be near me for a couple of weeks because you
want
me?”

“Yeah, and in a bad way. Three years’ worth of wanting to be exact. I’ve dreamed of having you in my bed every night, and I figured it was time to turn my dreams into reality.”

Although she wished it was otherwise, his words were having a naughty effect on her. Sensations, warm and tingly, began flowing all through her veins, and the salty air from the nearby ocean was getting replaced with his scent, a pungent fragrance that was all man.

“It won’t happen,” she said with conviction.

“What won’t happen?”

“Me, you, together that way.”

“I think it will, because you’re a very passionate woman, although it appears you keep all that passion hidden. I would love to tap into it.”

Hidden passion that he wanted to tap into? She wondered what kind of alcohol he’d been drinking this morning. “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She decided not to tell him that she’d been told by one man just how passionless she was.

“Then let me break everything down for you. Let me make my offer. One that you can accept or reject.”

“And if I reject it?”

“Then I promise to leave you alone for the remainder of your stay here as you’ve requested. In fact, I’ll make arrangements to fly back to the States. But I’m hoping that you will accept it.”

“And if I do?”

“If you do, I will take you on the sexual adventure of your life. Entertain old fantasies and create new ones. I plan to take us both over the edge, and when it’s over, you’ll go your way and I’ll go mine, and I promise not to bother you again.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that. My offer is that for the remainder of your days here, I will become your sex mate while we indulge in all sorts of wild and wicked play time.”

Vanessa felt her stomach fluttering again. Now she wished she’d had a taste of whatever alcohol he had consumed that morning. She needed it. What he was proposing—although similar in nature to what Sienna had suggested—was crazy, absolutely ludicrous, outright insane. Still, his words refused to stop swimming around in her mind, and, as he stood there on her front porch in the sunlight, looking more handsome than any man had a right to look, she was tempted. Boy, was she tempted.

Pulling on her last bit of control, she said, “And what makes you think I want a sex mate?”

He took a step closer. “Your kiss. A man can tell a lot from a woman’s kiss. Hunger, wariness, pain. I tasted all three. You want me as much as I want you. Being honest with yourself and admitting it is the first step. I can see it even now in your eyes, the heat, the yearning, the need.”

He reached out and took her hand in his. Before she could pull it back, he rubbed his thumb across the underside of her wrist “Feel it here,” he said of her pulse. “Your passion points. They’re beating like crazy and drumming out a message you’ve ignored too long.”

She pulled her hand back. “It’s all in your mind,” she said, then moistened her lips when they suddenly felt dry.

“I don’t think so and I’m willing to prove you wrong.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t want you proving anything.”

“Don’t you? Let’s move on to your wariness. I tasted that, too. You want me, but you don’t fully trust me. You’re confused about where I’m coming from and, more importantly, where I’m going when it’s over. I think I’ve made it clear what I want out of a relationship with you. And it’s not wedding bells. But then I’m sure you feel the same way.”

Before she could respond he continued, “And last but not least, I tasted pain, which is why you probably find it hard to trust me or any other man. But that’s okay. I plan to take the pain away and replace it with pleasure of the most intense kind. After me you won’t even remember your last fling.”

Vanessa studied Cameron carefully. She gazed back into the intense eyes staring at her and felt another tug of her inner muscles. They were getting achier by the minute. Four years was a long time and her body was letting her know it. What Cameron had said wasn’t helping matters. He wanted her for a sex mate. He wanted to tap into what he claimed was her hidden passion.

“Think about my proposition, Vanessa, and if you’re interested in what I’m proposing, meet me on the beach at noon. Like I said, I’ll let you set the parameters and call the shots. Turning over total control to anyone isn’t easy for me, but I’ll do it because I want you that bad. I’ll take you on any terms.”

She swallowed the tightness in her throat. “And what happens after you’ve had me? What if you get tired of me after the first time?” She couldn’t forget that Harlan had done exactly that.

Cameron’s soft chuckle caressed her skin. “Trust me, that’s not possible. I doubt I’ll be tired of you after the first thousand years. But how long the affair lasts will be up to you, and I promise to adhere to your time frame.”

He took a step back. “Think about everything I’ve said and if you’re interested, I’ll see you on the beach at noon.”

As Vanessa watched him walk away she knew she had to get a grip. Over the past three years the man had tilted her world, and now he was proposing to rock it in a way it had never been rocked before. She inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly. No, she told herself, the thought of a meaningless fling with Cameron was too much. She wouldn’t even think about it.

She thought about it all morning. Pacing the confines of her sister’s living room, she went through the pros and cons of Cameron’s proposal, and it seemed the pros were tilting the scale.

If he had suggested such a thing five years ago, she would have told him just where he could go. But that would have been her pre-Harlan days, a time when she wanted to believe in romance and a forever kind of love.

She had grown up believing that two people could meet, fall in love and stay together for the rest of their lives, until death did them part. Her parents had done it, and so had her aunt and uncle. And when she had been looking at things through rose-colored glasses, she had wanted that same special love for herself.

But Harlan had taught her one vital lesson in life, something she wouldn’t ever forget: All that glittered wasn’t gold. She was older and smarter now and didn’t look through those rose-colored glasses anymore. After she’d thoroughly analyzed that summer in Europe, the one thing that stood out was how each day Harlan wanted to change her, mold her into the person he wanted by suggesting certain outfits for her to wear, foods that he preferred she eat and activities he’d rather they did. It was always what he wanted, without any consideration for what she wanted. It had always been about Harlan. He had controlled everything.

Even their lovemaking.

That night he hadn’t asked for any suggestions or ideas. He’d done things his way, mainly for his own satisfaction. And if he thought she had failed in pleasing him, well, if the truth were known, he hadn’t pleased her, either. But at the time she had fancied herself too much in love to care.

Now she did care.

After not having been intimate with a man since Harlan, the thought of a relationship with one just for sex should be a turnoff. But knowing the man involved was Cameron was quite the opposite. He turned her on. Besides, the dynamics of a man-woman relationship weren’t what they used to be. Men, she told herself, no longer courted you. They seduced you.

So what was wrong with seducing them back?

There would be no misunderstandings in their relationship. There would be a beginning and an end. And most importantly, it would be a way finally to get Cameron to leave her alone and a way finally to get the one thing her body needed. A man.

But not just any man.

It needed the man who’d so ruthlessly invaded her dreams, the man who could stare at her from across a room and make heat swell within her. The man who could start her pulse—her pleasure points—to beating in a way that sent blood racing through her veins.

And she would be the one in control.

That
was the one thing that appealed to her. How would Cameron react once stripped of control? Once unable to call the shots? He would have a hard time of it, no doubt, but she would enjoy every single minute.

Every single inch of him.

She sighed deeply. Was she crazy to consider such a thing? Or was she crazy not to? She would be going into the affair with both eyes open, with no unrealistic expectations. There would be no future in the brief relationship they shared but at least her celibate days would come to an end. For the rest of her stay on this island, she would put out of her mind that Cameron Cody had to be the most insufferably irritating man she’d ever met and instead concentrate on how he was also the handsomest and sexiest. Being around him, looking into the darkness of his eyes, studying those intriguing lips and knowing what it would feel like being touched by those big, strong hands, being made love to with an intensity that took her breath away, was worth the risk.

For a short while she wouldn’t feel guilty about being so incredibly attracted to him. She would take Sienna’s advice and finally take her “edge off.” And what better person to do it with than a man who was so utterly male? She and Cameron were spontaneous combustion just waiting to explode, just as Sienna claimed.

Besides, it was about time someone taught Cameron a lesson in humility. Not everything in life got played by his terms, his wants and his desires. People weren’t like corporations; he couldn’t just come in and take over their lives because they caught his eye for the moment.

A smile touched the corners of her lips. For the second time in his life Cameron Cody was about to get outdone by a Steele. The first time her family had effectively shown him that family devotion was worth a lot more than his money. Now, with single-minded determination, she intended to show him that there were some things you just couldn’t control. He was about to discover that all his management theories couldn’t be applied to a personal relationship, not even a short-term one.

Whether Cameron realized it, he had met his match.