Through The Lens (Creative Hearts Book 1) (15 page)

“Hey, you!” Mika jumped up, over onto her side.

Ale laughed and leaned in for a kiss, his lips soft and wet, easing her into complacency.
 

She moaned against him. “You’re getting me all wet.”

“Wow. You have turned into quite the tease when I wasn’t looking,” he moaned into her lips.
 

She laughed and gave him a small shove. “Stop. What if Tai or Tong are watching? We’re supposed to be employer and employee here,” she halfheartedly protested.

Ale leaned back on one elbow and looked at her, his face serious. “I’ve got news for you. That story went out the window a long time ago. They didn’t believe that tale the first time we kissed.”

Mika let out a reluctant chuckle. “I guess you’re right. But please, we have to be purely professional when the crew arrives tomorrow.”

He leaned forward to nip at her bare shoulder, causing her nipples to harden, and she reached up to cover herself. “I’m serious, Ale. I won’t be the punch line of someone’s jokes. Alejandro’s little plaything. I can just hear it now.”

His eyes darkened. “I’d never let you be anyone’s joke, and I don’t like you even considering it.”

She arched a brow. “That’s all well and good, but you can’t control what people say or think. Believe me, by this time tomorrow, things will look different.”

He eyed her intently for a moment, then leaned in and kissed her again, running his tongue along hers in a languid rhythm. Pulling her into him. Making her a part of him. By the time he pulled away, she was dazed, as if coming out of a trance. He trailed a long finger down her neck and along her collarbone, sending a shiver through her center to her core. “Tomorrow means nothing to me when it comes to you.” He swatted at her thigh. “Now swim with me before I have my way with you here on this sand with Tai no doubt watching from that balcony up there. Who knows, she might even put it on YouTube and start an island matchmaking service.”

Mika blinked and looked back toward the huts. Yes, Tai was watching. Seeing Mika’s gaze, she waved and gave a broad didn’t-I-tell-you-so smile. Mika buried her face in her hands, but Ale turned and waved back to Tai.
 

“That woman has no shame. I like it.”

“Turns out neither do I,” Mika mumbled.

*

Tai had prepared a seafood dinner for the two of them. Mika was moved by the amount of care the woman took to make their balcony table beautiful and romantic. It was decorated with colorful tropical flowers and she’d put out an extravagant platter of exotic fruit good enough for the finest New York restaurant. Mika also noticed she’d put extra flowers in Ale’s room beside his bed and, to top things off, along the sheets. Yeah, the jig was up for sure. Well, she’d be back to her room come tomorrow. Probably tonight, since she’d decided that she’d tell Ale about the job after dinner. This was it.

The meal was quiet. Mika could tell Ale was deep in thought. Was he as nervous as she was about the crew tomorrow? Was the reality of what they did now starting to set in? She worried her bottom lip.

“What’s that for?”

“What?” she asked, looking up from a deep study of her wine.

“That worried look. I don’t like it.”

“Well, I could say the same about you. You look like a man with a lot on his mind.”

He grinned in his usual devil-may-care way, but she knew it was an act to cover the look she saw just a moment before. “Only you are on my mind at this moment.”

It was a dangerous question, but she had to ask. “What are you thinking about me?”

“I’m thinking of how beautiful you are, how happy I am that we came here, how glad I am that you messed up those plans. The gods must have been smiling to let such a rare occurrence happen.”

“Now you’re messing with me.”

“No.” He lowered his voice suddenly, solemn. “I just want you to know how glad I am we came together in this way.”

She tried to smile, but it seemed to get stuck halfway. She mentally cursed the tears coming to her eyes. “I’m happy too, Ale. This has been wonderful and I’ll treasure it forever.”

He sucked in his breath. “You say that like this is the end. You know it doesn’t have to be.”

“Ale, please don’t. You have to listen to me. There is something that—”

“No.” He cut her off raising a hand and violently pushing his chair back, coming around the table toward her. He pulled her up and into his arms knocking the breath from her lungs. His mouth came down hard on hers, bringing her back to their first kiss and
 
shocking her into submission. A heady rush shot from her head to her core. If asked, she would swear her legs wrapped around his body on their own.
 

“I’m tired of you talking about all the reasons why we can’t work things out. Not when there are so many reasons why we can.” He pressed his body against hers. “You fit me, and I fit you. That can’t be denied,” he grumbled. Then he kissed her again, carrying her from the balcony toward the bedroom.

All thoughts of talk and the job fluttered away on the sea breeze as Mika watched Ale lean back and strip off his shirt, as if his skin were suddenly on fire. He had deposited her on the massive bed and in the stream of moonlight, a ripple of excitement threaded through her body. He quickly took off his shorts and underwear, kicking off his shoes. He glowered down at her. Pinned her with his eyes. She wanted to reach out and touch him but was momentarily stunned, her limbs unable to move. This was it. Truly the last time. The end.

But for now there he was, in all his glorious beauty. Long, lean, and hard everywhere. He stood at attention. Ready to have her. She felt the pool of wetness ready for him already between her thighs, as she fought to control her breath, and he leaned forward, coming over her. She reached her arms up, silently pleading for him as her chest heaved. With every breath, Mika strained for him. She felt him hard against her thigh and wanted nothing more than to have him inside of her. Completely filling her. Being one with her.

But she would wait and let him direct. Let him take control this one last time.

He pulled her top over her head and raised her arms, twisting her hands and wrists in the fabric so it banded over her head. She closed her eyes as he flipped open her front bra clasps. The cool breeze tickled her nipples before his warm tongue covered them. In her rush of desire, she sighed his name.
 

His hands reached under her skirt and gave her panties a gentle tug, pulling them down and off her ankles. His hands trailed back up and between her legs as his mouth traveled downwards from her nipples. She was captured by him. He spread her thighs wide and teased her hard center with his knowing tongue. She arched and lifted her hips off the bed as suddenly, without warning, she was gone, lost with the flowing tide. “Please. I have to feel you,” she pleaded, looking through glazed eyes.

Ale moved up her body, trailing kisses along the way. He eased the fabric from Mika’s wrists, and she wrapped her arms around him like a lifeline. He kissed her softly as he made his way to her entrance. Then he leaned back, running a gentle thumb across her hardened nipples. “My beauty,” he said as he eased in and out of her in slow, circular motions. He breathed deeply, moaning. “You undo me,” he said, and their gazes locked in a moment of pure passion.

Mika pulled him toward her in a passionate kiss, then ground into him as hard and fast as she could. Clinging tightly onto him, she wanted to give her all tonight and take from him as much as he could give, so neither of them would ever forget. She raked her nails across his tight backside, eliciting a slow hiss from him.
 

“Oh, beauty, yes. Let go for me.”

“I already have,” she whimpered into his chest.

“Oh god, Mika, so have I,” he responded.

It was all she needed to hear. With those words, she tumbled over into the abyss. And with her legs wrapped tightly around him, she took Ale spinning right along with her.

*

Alejandro opened his eyes and looked around, taking in the muted darkness.
 

It was tomorrow.
 

At least technically. And Mika had once again scooted out of his grasp. He looked over at her. Tousled, lush, delicious, and still beautiful. How could he not have noticed how much before? But he knew he did— he’d just done a damn good job of burying his feelings. She was amazing, and what she did to him, he couldn’t explain.
 

He ran his hands roughly through his hair. He wasn’t half as ready for this shoot as he usually was. He’d much rather spend an indefinite amount of time alone with her, in bed with his sweet Mika.

But was it all just in bed? No. It was more than that. He knew it in his gut, and no amount of denying on either of their sides would change that.
 

Alejandro eased out of the bed, careful not to wake Mika, and tugged on a pair of boxers. Man, she really drove him to serious distraction. He was at the top of his game in his industry for a reason. He should at least try to focus his mind for tomorrow. He went over to the equipment bags, intent on mapping out more clearly the setup for the shoot. Their cove—should they start there? That was an incredible location. Thoughts of Mika in front of the tree flashed in his mind and he checked himself before he audibly groaned aloud. Amazingly she even got him to get in front of the camera. Crazy. He must have looked like a fool.
 

He went over to her bag to check out the images she took. Seeing the first, he laughed and thought of pressing delete. It really was hard to be on the other side of the lens. Mika was right about that. But he went further to more shots, ones that weren’t posed, when he was just working and thought she was, too. There he was, camera raised, eyes focused, ready to get the next shot. He clicked. In another, he looked frustrated, and he was pointing far into the distance trying to explain something to a crew member. Then in the next, he was smiling. He remembered that moment as Mika yelled up to him that he was nuts and only he could see the far-off color formations between the trees that he was trying to capture to mimic the models’ wardrobes. But she had seen what he was trying to do, and she had made it all right, coming to where he was and explaining what he needed to the frustrated crew member. That was Mika, taking it all in hand and making it all work out.

He gnawed at his bottom lip and clicked again. The next was of him in the studio, head back on the couch, eyes closed after a late night of work. He remembered her gentle hands that night as she shook him to tell him she was headed home and it was time for him to turn in too. She had looked down at him with that easy smile of hers and he nodded. Getting up, they’d gone their separate ways once he had escorted her downstairs and insisted on putting her in a cab to get her home to her Harlem apartment. They’d done that dance so many times. She saying she was fine with the subway, and he countering that it was too late and threatening to fire her if she didn’t take the company-provided car. He laughed to himself at the thought. Even then, it felt so comfortable, so right. He could always let his guard down with her enough that he could just close his eyes and drift off to sleep. He looked down at the screen once again and let out a frustrated growl.
 

Mika, why didn’t you tell me? We both wasted so much time.
 

He turned off her camera, suddenly feeling like he was intruding on her private thoughts. Hell, maybe he was getting too deep into his own heart—he didn’t know, but the evidence was clear: there was something very real with the two of them. In Mika’s case, she may deny it but the photos said something else. She saw him just as he saw her. He would get her to open up to him somehow, to understand that this thing with them could be so much more. Would be so much more.
 

An idea hit him. He’d take her away. The south of France. They needed a trip—and not a
work
trip. Somewhere beautiful and just for her. He remembered, while working late one night, discussing locations. She’d never been to Venice, but had always wanted to go. Maybe there or Tuscany, that was another place on her list of must-sees. He stilled, cringing, thinking of all the times he’d had her make his dinner reservations for his many dates. How she’d remind him when he’d get caught up in work and forget some woman left waiting. He looked over at her in the bed. “Shit. I’m so sorry, beauty. Seems I’ve got lots to make up for,” he whispered.
 

As he put the camera back, he spied what must have been part of Mika’s shoot set-up list. A scrunched paper wedged in the bottom of the bag. His lips quirked unto a grin. She was always working. Time to get his mind on work, too. Ale angled the paper to the shaft of moonlight streaming through the window and scanned the list. His jaw tightened, along with his fingers around the already crinkled paper. Fuck. Sweat pricked at his brow and he could feel his throat tightening. Suddenly breathing was an effort.
 

He turned and looked over at her sleeping, her naked form twisted in the sheets, skin glistening in the moonlight. Even now, his fingers itched to touch her at the same time he wanted to shake her. He longed to run his hand along the curve of her spine. He looked back at the letter and felt a twist in his gut. Words popped out at him. “thank you” and “accepting our position.” Shit. Could it be true? He looked at her. Her lashes, so long, rested softly on her cheeks. His angel. His own glorious angel sent to stab him in the heart.