The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) (8 page)

“Well, I didn’t want to spoil the fun we’re
having, you know.” Ari winked.

Christian gave her a mock eye roll and
chuckled.

“I’m teasing, hon, you’re hot!”

“Yeah, whatever.” He broke out into a wide
grin. “I love you, you know that?”

“Love you, too, baby,” she cooed beside
him. She leaned over and planted a warm kiss on his cheek. “Okay, now I don’t
want to distract you from driving. You have to watch those turns on these
hills.”

“Yeah, I think I have enough experience to
know that, darling.”

Arianna felt alive for the first time in
such a long while. Her stomach caved in for a moment.
Oh, my God! I almost gave this up. I almost gave up being with
Christian. What was I thinking? What was I on?

She loved the way Christian made her feel. Arianna
always enjoyed his warmth, his connection, his crazy-ass laughter and bad singing.
God, there wasn’t anything about Christian she did not love. She was so
grateful to the universe that he had showed up at Blue’s door when he did.

Arianna was so elated that Christian hadn’t
given up on connecting with her, even though she kept her distance during the
past month, vowing to never see him or get too close to him. She would give
anything for this moment. She would give anything to turn back the hands of
time. Just to think that she had hurt him. She hurt this wonderful man beside
her who wanted nothing more than to love her, to be with her, to make her
happy. How could she not want to be with Christian?

Oh,
Christian.

They had already packed what they needed
for their trip to the falls. She wore her white string bikini underneath her
orange cotton sundress. Of course, her sundress would be removed before her
climb up the falls. She applied sunscreen the requisite thirty minutes before
departure and had on comfortable footwear. Her towel was packed in her bag.
Christian had his bag jammed with his necessary items.

“Got your aqua socks for the climb?”
Christian said as he pulled up into the parking lot. He knew this was going to
be a fun, physical excursion, climbing up the beautiful rocks on the falls. He
was as fit as an Olympic swimmer, but would she be able to handle it?

“Oh, yeah. And I’ve got my waterproof
camera here. I’m going to ask the tour guide to take a picture of us climbing.”

Christian smiled as he got out of the car,
popping open the trunk. “Good.”

Bob Marley’s tune, “No Woman, No Cry,” was
blaring through speakers nearby as they joined in with a group of tourists at
the base of the falls getting ready for their climb. The energy was high and
pumping with the group they joined. The heavy, whooshing sounds of the
waterfalls gushing down on the boulders was refreshing on this hot summer day.

Just the thought of climbing up the six
hundred-foot high falls was both thrilling and frightening to Arianna’s soul.
It would take about forty-five minutes to an hour, an hour of pure entertainment
and fun with Christian.

“Ready, baby?” Christian said in a low,
deep voice, as he snaked his strong arm around her waist. Ari shivered when his
firm flesh touched hers. Christian always had that effect on her.

“Yeah,” she said over the roar of the falls.
The water cascaded off the boulders at full force and splashed on their skin.
She was already knee deep. She had her rubber aqua socks on as she gripped the
limestone boulders, walking upwards against the glorious rush of blue water.

She didn’t want to admit it to Christian yet
that she was part thrilled and part nervous. It had been quite a while since
she’d come to the Dunn’s River, but then she hadn’t climbed up the falls
before. She didn’t want to reveal that fact to Christian. He would think she
was crazy for coming to the falls in the past and missing out on the best
part—hiking up the falls.

“God, you look so good in that,” Christian
whispered in a low, deep voice in her ear as he hugged her. Electricity pumped
through her blood.

“Hmm. So do you, hon.”

Christian looked so hot in his blue swim
shorts. His legs were ultra-muscular. All that leg pressing at the gym paid off
for him. He was toned from his upper to his lower body with his rock hard abs
and muscular biceps. He was probably the fittest visitor there. He looked even
more devilishly handsome here. Christian was one of those drop dead gorgeous
men you couldn’t tear your eyes away from. Every time Arianna glanced at his
radiant good looks, she was awed.

The trip up the falls was probably one of
the most romantic things a couple could do. Up, higher they climbed up on the
boulders with the force of the water gushing downwards on them. It was a
delightful effect. The coolness was so refreshing. Arianna almost stumbled on a
boulder and Christian, of course, was there to hold her.

“Thanks,” she murmured, almost breathless.

“Welcome, baby. Thought you told me you’d
been here before,” he said with a cute grin.

“I…I have, just…not up here.”

He gave her an odd look. “Not here? Don’t
tell me you’ve been to the Dunn’s River and forgot to climb the falls. That’s
the best part!”

She looked back at him and playfully rolled
her eyes. “I guess I was waiting for you to be with me.”

He chuckled. “Well, I’m here now, baby.”

A strong gush of water washed over them
from the falls and she gasped. Laughter could be heard from the other visitors
who were clearly enjoying the excitement of it all. It was a pleasurable
experience.

Arianna giggled when Christian playfully
pinched her bottom. “Ah, Christian! There are people around,” she scolded him.

“You have the most beautiful smile I’ve
ever seen, you know that?” He pressed a kiss on her cheek. “And ass.”

She blushed, leaning into him as he held
her. For a moment, Ari embraced him and the water level got higher delightfully
flooding them waist high. The sensation was exhilarating. She turned to him and
pressed her lips to his, kissing him gently.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For this. For teaching me to relax again,
to laugh again.” They stood on a large boulder for a moment embracing as the
water gushed between them. Tourists were around in the near distance, laughing
and enjoying themselves as they climbed the rocks. Everyone was enjoying
themselves
.

Reggae music blared from somewhere. They
caught the soft sound of a nice ballad but couldn’t place the song. It was uber
romantic. She could stay there forever.

“You know I’m always looking out for you,
right?” Christian quizzed, his expression serious.

She nodded, her arms wrapped around his
neck. Arianna enjoyed the silky feel of his wet skin. His hair was silky damp,
sticking to his skin, like hers. They were delightfully soaked. Just like this
morning, they were soaked as they had been in the shower. The only difference
was that they were not alone now. They were out in the open. Out in public.
So no lovemaking here, but, oh, if they were back at the hotel.
There was nothing more sensual, more erotic than reveling in intimacy during a
soapy wet shower, pool or bath. Right now water gushed and splashed around them
as it cascaded off the famous, breathtakingly beautiful falls onto their skins
and on the rocks.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said in a low,
sensual voice as he guided her higher on the falls. There was nothing more
electrifying than having cool water gush down full force on your body while you
had the man of your dreams holding you, by your side.

In this place, in this moment, Arianna was
in heaven.

It was breathtaking, one of nature’s finest
creations. The greenery of the trees nearby provided an
awe
inspiring
sight as they made their way up step by step.

“It’s all about the journey, right?” Christian
commented, holding her. His eyes were on her the whole time it appeared. As she
looked nervously at the rocks walking up, he kept a grin on his lips, enjoying
her holding on to him, squeezing his hand as she moved upwards. “Relax, baby,
I’m right here.”

“I…I know,” she said, breathless, enjoying
the energy and the walk. This was much needed exercise and movement she craved to
energize her body, and what could be better than doing it with Christian?

“Relax, baby, you’re so tense,” he said,
holding her waist again. He was right.

“I…I never said this before,” she said over
the noise of the falling water. A flicker of apprehension coursed through her
veins.

“Tell me what?”

“I…I’m afraid of water,” she admitted, her
breath burning in her throat. A sense of inadequacy swept over her.

“What?”

“No. I mean, not water but…rivers and
stuff.”

“Oh, God, Arianna. Why didn’t you tell me
this before?”

“I don’t know. I just thought…well, you
know. I didn’t want to miss out. I mean, didn’t you tell me we shouldn’t let
fear control our lives?” she said, arching a brow as she paused, turning to
him.

“Stop, right here,” he said softly. He held
her firmly as they reached a pool of water on one of the boulder levels. It was
awesome. A steady stream of water gushed down, showering them. “Oh, God, you
look, wow…” he said, redirecting his train of thought for a moment. Ari looked
down at herself, realizing that the water completely soaked her bathing suit.
Her erect nipples were showing clearly through the wetness of her white bikini
bra. She blushed, a grin on her lips. Oh, Christian.

“Never mind! What do you mean you’re afraid
of water? Did something happen before?”

“Well,” she said, resting on a boulder as
the water drifted past them. “When I was younger, my mother and I went fishing
with Dad and…I fell off the boat. I couldn’t swim and…neither could Mom.”

“What happened?” Christian’s facial
expression grew more serious.
His tone static.

She shook her head. “Well, I obviously
didn’t drown,” she said smiling, trying to lighten the mood and make fun of the
situation. She saw how gutted Christian looked, but he was still clearly
concerned.

“I can see that,” Christian teased back,
his handsome face still serious. He waited for her to say more. He obviously
had no intention of going farther up the falls with her until he knew more
about her newly revealed fear of water.

Christian could not believe what he was
hearing. His gut was telling him to do everything in his power to protect Arianna.
Why the hell didn’t she tell him this before they headed to the falls? What was
she afraid of besides the water? He was hoping she would open up to him more.
But this?

God, he would kill himself if anything happened
to Arianna. She could have had a panic attack here, and he wouldn’t have even
had a clue as to why. Still, it was good that he knew now.

He thought Arianna looked gorgeous in her
string white bikini. Oh, man! He loved the way her body filled out in all the
right places. She had the roundest, finest ass he’d ever seen on a woman. Her
bottom was perfect. And her waist was nicely curved accentuating her sculpted,
child-bearing
size hips. Her voluptuous breasts were so full
and shapely. She had a heavenly cleavage to die for. Good thing he was with her
now though. He would have hated for her to be here so exposed with her
assets—and he wasn’t nearby. He didn’t want any man ogling his woman. He
could still taste the sweetness of having her this morning as they made love so
hungrily, passionately.

It tortured him to see her looking hot and
sexy in nothing but a stringy number like that, knowing full well he couldn’t
do a damn thing to her or with her out here—in public. Damn, he couldn’t
wait to get her back to the hotel. His sex was throbbing hard underneath his
swim trunks.

Her beautiful dark brown hair was now fully
wet and clung to her smooth, wet skin. Christian remembered a scene from an old
Bond movie, Dr. No, which happened to be filmed in Jamaica. In the scene that
came to his mind, that famous-at-the-time Swiss bombshell Ursula Andress
emerged from the sea in her well-known white bikini. She looked hot, but man,
those James Bond chicks had nothing on his girl. Arianna looked like a goddess,
and she didn’t even act like it. She was so sweet and so humble. God, it ached
for him to think about her being terrified of water. Instinctively, he wanted
to protect Arianna. He just wanted to be there for her anytime whenever she
needed him. Heck, even if she didn’t need him. Why in God’s name hadn’t she
told him about her fear of rivers before?

“Well,” she continued with her story. “I
probably got the fear of rivers from my mother. She froze when I fell
overboard. Luckily, Dad was nearby and he dove in and swam to save me.” She bit
down on her lip, looking up at the sky, shaking her head. He could see the hurt
in her eyes. “Dad was so upset. He got mad at my mom, saying that she didn’t
even try to save me. She just froze, but it wasn’t her fault. She was just…terrified
of rivers. She’s had a fear of a lot of things growing up. That was one of
them. Anyway,” she looked down at the water flowing around her. “I love the
water; it’s the fear of drowning that’s the problem.”