Starstruck (Fusion #1) (5 page)

Feeling his strokes lessen, Indi determined that Xander was
getting ready to pull out of her mouth, but she did not want him to think she
was one of those girls who were not prepared to swallow. Gazing upwards, she
met his glazed expression as she continued to resist his withdrawal until she
was sure he’d got the message that she wasn’t finished with him.

Xander allowed Indi to conduct the pace as she continued to
torment him with her tongue, wrapping it around his tip while her mouth and
hand continued to stroke his length. His hands reached out to massage her
breasts as he grunted and groaned his appreciation until he finally released
himself into her throat. Resisting the urge to gag, she swallowed the stream of
fluid until she milked him dry of every drop.

Sighing in contentment, Xander pulled out of her mouth just
as his legs buckled from under him, causing him to fall sideways on to the bed.
In the process, he tugged her from her perched position to lie down, partially
on top of him. The unexpected change of position raised a squeal from her
throat as his hands caressed the bare flesh in the spot where he’d learned she
was most ticklish.  

Lifting his head, Xander trailed light kisses down her neck
and collarbone. “Fuck, baby, that was so good,” he murmured against her
skin as he pulled her further up his body and into his strong arms, his naked
skin against hers.

Indi’s mind and pulse raced at his use of such a term of
endearment.
Was he feeling their connection as deeply as she was?

“I love the feel of you against me,” he continued while
stroking the small of her back and nuzzling her neck.  Her own arms rested
above his head, levering her upper body off of him slightly as she tilted her
neck into his nuzzling mouth to enjoy the thrill of his touch. They lay
like that for quite a while, just kissing and cuddling quietly, until they
finally separated to drift off to sleep.

Xander

Xander awoke the next morning, bright and early, wrapped in Indi’s
arms.  After showering and indulging in a delicious breakfast made for
them by the hotel kitchen, they headed off to prepare their horses for a trek
across the farmland.

The two of them were just finishing tacking up their horses
with the rest of the riding group when Xander’s mobile started buzzing. Pulling
it from his pocket, he pulled a face as he looked down at the screen.  As
he put it to his ear, he continued attending to the horse while he waited for
the caller to speak.

“I received your voicemail,” John Keats stated matter-of-factly.

“And?” Xander’s voice was tense as he couldn’t help but be
reminded of the life he would be going back to as he heard his father’s tones.

“Why are you always determined to think the worse of me?”

“Perhaps because you always seem to go out of your way to do
things that you know will make me see you in that light.” The sharpness with which
he spoke caused Indi to look over at him with a quizzical expression.

“I only do things out of necessity to protect our family’s
reputation and provide for you kids.”

“So you admit it was you who leaked the details?” asked Xander
as his voice rose several octaves. The last thing he wanted was the papers
getting hold of the engagement story when he wanted to break it off as soon as
he got home.

“Why would I need to do that? You’ve already signed the
papers. I had nothing further to gain by making it public knowledge.”

“Well, if it wasn’t you then it must have been one of your
minions, because the people who work for me can be trusted not to divulge my
secrets whereas yours seem not to have the same morals.” Xander flexed his
fists in exasperation as he tried to contain his temper, becoming aware of
several other people looking in his direction. He was not convinced that his
father hadn’t had a hand in his privacy being invaded.

“I’ve already put the necessary enquiries in motion to find
out who did this. You may think the worst of me for forcing your hand in this
marriage, but I never wanted our family business plastered over some gossip
rag.”

Xander sighed, noting that everyone in the group was now waiting
for him to finish the conversation so they could get going. “Look, we will
discuss this further when I get back, but I’ve got to cut this short now.”

Meeting the inquisitive gazes of both his bodyguards, Xander
shook his head in warning for them not to ask any questions about the
conversation. Then he looked apologetically in the general direction of Indi
and their guide and said, “Sorry about the hold-up. I’m ready now.”

Xander and Indi spent the remainder of the morning riding in
the direction of the northeastern slopes of the volcano for his second planned
excursion, accompanied by Hayden.  As they were not able to make the whole
journey by horse in the time they had, Adam picked them up in his car at a
pre-arranged point.

Xander had promised his sister, Livvie, he would check out a
vineyard she wanted to buy, with the aim of adding it to their growing wine-property
portfolio.  He had looked into purchasing the place on a previous trip,
but the asking price had never been right. His assistant, Sam, had therefore prearranged
for them to be greeted by the vineyard’s owner, Pepe.

“Xander, it’s delightful to see you again.”  The older
man of about sixty greeted Xander with a firm handshake.  “It has been a
year or two, I believe.”

“Yes, indeed it has, Pepe.  This is my friend, Indi,
who will be accompanying us today.”  Xander gave the man a sincere smile,
relishing the fuzzy feeling he gained from introducing Indi to people of his
acquaintance.  He had never been serious enough about a woman before to feel
the need to introduce them to his business acquaintances, but her presence made
him strangely content with the idea.

“Enchanted,” Pepe replied, kissing Indi on either side of
her face in greeting. 

“So, have you simply come to taste our wine this time,
Xander, or maybe you’re prepared to make an offer a tired old man can no longer
refuse?”  Pepe smiled as he placed a friendly pat on Xander’s back. 

Although the deal they discussed fell through last time, Xander
had shared many pleasant meals with Pepe and his family. He chuckled and
replied, “Well, maybe both.”

Indi looked on as they chatted some more, but he could not tell
what she was thinking. As Pepe led the way into the winery, Xander placed a
hand on the small of Indi’s back, guiding her to walk in front of him slightly,
and leaving Adam and Hayden to remain by the vehicle.  For the next hour,
Indi was shown each stage of the process of winemaking before they finally
entered a cellar where previous years’ vintages were stacked high.

“How long have you been making wine here?”  Indi asked
Pepe as she stared in awe at the vast number of bottles. 

“My family has been doing this for nearly ninety years. My
grandfather started it from scratch, then my uncle, father and me. 
Unfortunately, my sons have no interest in taking it over, so I’m going to sell
it, so I don’t have to work so hard for what is remaining of my life.”

“It is sad that something so beautiful will have to leave
your family,” she said, looking out over the green expanse of grapevines monopolising
the horizon.  “My own family had to do something similar when my
grandfather died.  He owned a successful horse-breeding ranch in America,
which had been in our family for generations, but his beneficiaries weren’t
interested in taking it on, so it had to be sold.”

Xander raised an eyebrow at this revelation, not realising
her family was anything but English. He made a mental note to ask her about it
later.  Regardless of his initial intention not to share many details of
his life back home with Indi, they had grown much closer than he ever imagined,
and she already knew the vague background to his relationship with his father.
She was so easy to open up to that he had not given it a second thought when he
began divulging more of his private life than he normally would.

Pepe nodded, knowingly.  “Come; let me allow you to
taste the latest selection of wine.”  He took them to a section of the
cellar without any racking up on the wall. Instead, small oak barrels lay on
their sides with short taps at the front of them.  One of Pepe’s staff was
already waiting with several different bottles of varying colours of wine and some
glasses for them.

Xander gestured for Indi to take a seat at the table while
Pepe instructed his assistant to pour some tasters for them to start
sampling.  They started with one of the whites from the previous year
before moving on to rose, and then red wine, which she preferred.

“I actually like this best,” said Indi in her finest Italian
as she held the remnants to her nose once again.  “I think I taste vanilla
and perhaps some type of cherry?”

“Si,” Pepe responded.  “Con un suggerimento di moka.”

“What kind of blend? I think I can get a differing
taste?”  Xander joined in with his less than perfect Italian.

“This is a best reserve, so half Cabernet Sauvignon and half
Shiraz, mostly.”

They whiled away the rest of the afternoon discussing some
of the historical places they had already visited with the additional insight of
a native Sicilian point of view.

As Xander reminisced with Pepe, he enjoyed the way Indi
flushed quite often at the mere mention of their private night tour of the Valley
of the Temples whenever he caught her eye. Xander had paid for them to have
exclusive access to the place, and they had managed to slip away from both
bodyguards and their guide long enough for him to sink his cock inside her
tight core.  The little summer dresses she wore drove him crazy most days;
she made him feel like a horny teenager, considering the amount of times he had
acted on his constant craving of endless quickies with her wherever the mood
took.

Indi must have been having the same thoughts as him, because
as soon as Pepe was called away by one of his staff, leaving them quite alone
in this part of the cellar, she ran her hands underneath his T-shirt and over
his stomach in just the way he liked, and then they headed down south. 

“I don’t think I can wait any longer to be inside you, baby,”
Xander groaned. Turning her so that she was facing away from him, he manoeuvred
her over one of the large barrels in the darkest corner, which his eyes had
sought out at such short notice.

Lifting the flared skirt of the dress, he ran his hands over
her exposed butt, kneading the flesh tenderly before slapping each cheek.
Running a finger along the cleft of her sex where her thong material rested, he
could feel her wet arousal against the tip.  “Oh, Indi, forever ready for
me to have my wicked way with you,” he murmured as he leaned against her back
and pressed his mouth to her ear gently while unzipping his shorts eagerly and
pulling his erection free.

Xander knew they would not have long before someone came to
find them, so brushing Indi’s thong to one side, he slipped inside her in one
powerful thrust and began pounding fully into her core.  Normally, he
preferred to savour his moments buried within her, but his strong need for her
at this moment drove him into a fast rhythm from the very start. Closing his eyes,
he gave himself up to the building rippling of ecstasy shuddering from his head
to his toes. He blocked out everything except her ragged pants of breath and quietened
murmurs of pleasure.

Every nerve ending was alive with feeling. Faster, harder,
deeper he plunged as his bare cock was consumed by her quivering inner muscles tightening
around him, causing his pleasure to intensify, pulling him over the edge of the
height of orgasm as he spurted his seed into her.  “Baby, fuck, baby,” he
groaned, muffling his sounds in the small of her back as he collapsed against
her, utterly spent of energy.

Fucking her with the danger of being caught thoroughly
turned him on, especially the bonus of not having to wear a condom, which sometimes
hindered his sensitivity. Xander had never gone bare with any other woman
before, and he loved it; loved the idea of sharing new experiences with only
her. It did not matter if they made a kid either.  That would certainly
stuff up his father’s plan to pass off his child as Xander’s rather than his
own, so he could avoid yet another expensive divorce.

When Xander had first agreed to the engagement, he had done
it out of some strange sense of family loyalty, even though his father had
never showed any towards him. The way in which the man would only consider
Caitlin made Xander suspicious that there was more to this sham marriage than
he was being told, so he paid for someone separate from the band and family security
to put surveillance on them. This brought to light the real reason for John
Keats pushing Caitlin upon him. He obviously thought that with Xander away travelling,
Caitlin would remain at the family house, enabling them to continue their
affair, under the guise of her being his daughter in law. That was where the photos
came in. 

 “I can’t believe we just did that,” Indi whispered,
her eyes glazed over and looking like she’d just had a good seeing to.

Xander felt a surge of unadulterated satisfaction mixed with
a stronger, almost unfamiliar emotion that it was him who had made her look
that way. “Woman, you look far too sexy in this kind of dress. They drive me
crazy, and when I get you back to the villa I’m gonna spend all night long
showing you repeatedly how much,” he promised huskily, giving her one last
lingering kiss before they both pulled their disarranged clothing back into a
semblance of order.

“Do I look okay?” Indi checked as they walked back into the brighter
side of the cellar, where they had been left by Pepe and his assistant.

“You’re asking the wrong guy, baby. I think you look perfect
all the time.” Xander ran a hand over her arse and laughed.  He could not believe
he felt this happy and unhindered. Just being around Indi’s vibrancy brought
out a more relaxed side to him, and he felt that he would gladly marry her
today, regardless of knowing hardly anything about her.

“Xander!” she cried out, slapping him on his chest playfully
just as the vineyard’s owner came back into view.

“Apologies, I’m sorry to have been gone for so long,” Pepe
told them. “Let’s adjourn to the house to go through the finer details of the
price.”

At the invitation of his assistant, Indi left them to
negotiate in private while she was shown around the vines that stretched along
the property for as far as the eye could see.

***

Later, with an agreement reached, Xander declined Pepe’s
offer to stay for dinner, as he wanted to head back to the villa to go over some
business before continuing his bedroom entertainment with Indi. He just could
not get enough of her.

“Are you staying at your own place tonight?” Indi enquired
as Hayden drove the car up the narrow lane leading to their villas.

“No, why would you think that, honey?” Xander frowned at her
question. He thought she understood that he wanted to spend every possible
moment in her company.

“You mentioned you had some business you needed to catch up with.”

“I just need to grab my laptop and then I can do whatever
needs doing at your place, unless, of course, you want some quiet without me?”
He gazed at her, trying to gauge her facial expression.
Was she bored of spending
all her time with him?
His heart constricted in pain at such an idea.

“No, I like having you around,” she admitted quietly. Glancing
over at Adam and Hayden, who were standing at the front of the car, she
reddened from her confession.

“Good, because I like being around you, too.” Xander leaned
over and gave Indi a quick kiss of reassurance before manoeuvring out of the
back seat of the car. Adam, meanwhile, had opened the door on Indi’s
side.  Once the luggage had been unloaded, the three men headed into their
own villa, leaving Indi to make her own way to hers.