Trapped in Paradise (9 page)

A little nervous—a lot nervous—she studied every inch of his handsome face. This was the man she wanted to share her life with; the one who had restored her trust. “I am truly in love with you.”

Lowering himself, he kissed her gently, then penetrated oh so shallow and waited. A tight fit. She couldn’t remember telling him how long it had been since her last sexual contact. She prayed she hadn’t told him when she’d been intoxicated. Either way, she was grateful he was taking it slow. As she became more accustomed to his body, he kept his strokes shallow.

“How is that?” he asked, his voice strained.

“Deeper,” she breathed and gyrated beneath him. Each stroke probed deeper and deeper, pushing her closer and closer to the edge.

Climax threatening to overtake her, she drew in one of her legs, changing her angle.  “Jeremy,” she panted.  “Umm this umm.”  Implosion shouldn’t feel so good.

He trapped her knee under his arm and continued pumping.  Her body sheathed him perfectly.  Caressing, pulling, now tightening with each stroke.  His gaze locked onto hers. She gripped his arms in hopes of not flying away as she cried out. Their climaxes ran together, merging, binding their souls together.

They needed to shower, but neither wanted to move. Jeremy brushed his lips over Saundra’s. “You’re my heart. I love you so much, that if you wanted to leave, I’d let you go.”

She lay atop him and rested her head on his chest. “I’m not going anywhere. I plan to stay trapped in paradise with you forever.”

EPILOGUE

The next day, Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman

As the shuttle boat that carried them from the Destiny to the pier readied to dock, Saundra found herself a tad bit disappointed.

Jeremy drew her hand to his heart. “Is something wrong?”

She looked over the throngs of people exiting the boat, rushing to the shops that lined the shore. “I just…” She sighed. “In a way, I expected to see Miranda.”

Chuckling, he stood and pulled her along. “That makes two of us. She is out of her mind.”

They followed the line of people onto shore, then strolled hand in hand along the boulevard. The shops and street vendors weren’t quite ready for customers yet, so they found a shady spot to sit and people watched.

“There they are!”

Saundra and Jeremy looked down the boulevard and saw Miranda flailing her arms and running toward them.

“It’s them! I found them!” Not too far behind were Marcus, the Wright family and some people Saundra didn’t know.

A deep belly-laugh erupted from Jeremy as he stood. “That’s my parents. She actually did it!” He drew Saundra into his arms. “I pray you want to marry me as much as I want to marry you, because I don’t think we have much choice in the matter,” he joked.

“I’d love nothing more.”

He bent and kissed her.

Miranda stopped short of the couple. “Save that for the honeymoon.” She grabbed Saundra by the hand and pulled her into her embrace. “I’m so happy for you.” She released her. “We have a ceremony to get ready for.”

“Can I at least introduce my fiancée to my parents?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, Miranda, he hasn’t met Mom and Dad,” she got out just as the rest of the family arrived.

“Two minutes, then we have to go. We’re on a tight schedule here. The wedding starts at eleven.”

“But we don’t have proper licensing or anything. I don’t know how to get married in another country.”

Disappointment clouded Miranda’s face. “Who do you think you’re dealing with here? I’ve had this planed for months. Everything has been taken care of.”

“Of course you have.”

After proper introductions to the family members, the couple was whisked away to begin their happily ever after.

THE END

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

This is my second story with physical abuse as a backdrop. If you know someone or are someone in an abusive relationship, you may not have any idea what to do or where to go. Here is a good place to start:
http://www.domesticviolence.org/

My other title that has domestic violence as a backdrop is
Whisper Something Sweet
and won the 2008 Emma Award for Best Steamy Romance of the year. Visit my website
http://deatrikingbey.com
for information on my releases and lots of good stuff.

Following are two titles from my eBook
Love’s Desire
, a short story collection that captures the essence of first love, love lost, love found and love’s passion. Stories range from highly erotic to sweet romance. For a free copy of
Love’s Desire,
let me know you’ve purchased one of my other eBooks at
[email protected]
.

Love’s Desire Sneak Peek…

Blind Date

How complicated was it to accept a simple donation?
Trisha thought from the backseat of the limousine. Her best friend had organized the fundraising event, thus couldn’t participate in the bachelor auction, so she had begged Trisha to. Purchasing some strange man for a date didn’t sound the least bit appealing to Trisha, but she gave Britney a $2000 donation for the charity.

Try to do a good thing and bam!
Britney had entered Trisha into the auction and won “time” with some guy who couldn’t get a date through traditional means. She chuckled. Okay, so the charity had screened the men and each was to be an effluent, upstanding citizen who was doing his part to help a worthy cause. Either way, she still didn’t want to be bothered, but agreed to attend the photo shoot. At least she was getting a good meal out of the deal.

The limousine stopped in front of a luxury condominium complex. “Is there a restaurant inside?” Trisha asked the driver.

“No, ma’am.” He glanced at the clock. “We’re running a little late. The photographer should already be there.”

If it weren’t for knowing Britney was on the up and up, there was no way Trisha would have walked into the building.
Gumbo and crab cakes…Nose don’t fail me now!
Trisha thought as she stood outside the condominium door. Cajun food was her favorite.

Inside the palatial, southwestern-designed abode, the photographer stood ready and waiting. She clicked a few pictures of Trisha in the living area.

“Dinner’s ready when you are,” said the most handsome man Trisha had ever seen in her life. Before she could respond, he disappeared into the kitchen.

“When is...” Trisha trailed off. She’d wanted to ask the photographer when her date would arrive, but had forgotten to open the stupid envelope with his profile in it that Britney had given her, so she didn’t even know the guy’s name.

“You can go ahead and eat. Your date was tied up and can’t make it.”

“Oh no he didn’t.” She laughed. “I guess it serves me right.” She pushed up from the sofa. “Come on. No sense in letting good food go to waste.”

“Nah, you go ahead. I want to snap a few shots of the view from the balcony.”

“Suit yourself.” In the kitchen, Trisha drew in a deep breath. “This is the most delicious meal I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Do you need any help?” she asked the chef.

“I’m good. Take a seat.” He held a chair out for her.

Cute, considerate and could cook, who could ask for anything more? 

“I’m David Bell.” He returned to the pot of rice, which she’d bet was sticky just the way she liked it. Britney had done a bang-up job of telling her “date” her taste in food.

“I’m Trisha Swanson. You aren’t going to make me eat by myself, are you?”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She motioned to the seat across from her. “There’s plenty of room.”

“In that case, I’d love to have dinner with you.” He plated their food and joined her at the table. “You really didn’t want to hold up your end of the auction, did you?” He set her food before her.

“This was Britney’s way of setting me up on a blind date. She seems to think all women should be happily married.” The aroma wafting up from the gumbo warmed her heart. “Yeah, I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

He chuckled. “You are an excellent ego booster. I’ll need to cook for you more often.”

Flirting, he was actually flirting with her and she liked it. He had this charm about him that just drew her.

“Don’t you ever want to marry?”

“I’m definitely open to the possibility, if the right guy comes along.” The two finished their meal over easy conversation and continued well into the night. Eventually the photographer popped in to say good-bye.

As they cleaned the kitchen together, Trisha didn’t want their time to end, and David seemed to be in the same predicament.

“Well…I guess the next meal is on me.”

“Sounds delicious.”

She broke out pen and paper to write a thank you to her missing host. Embarrassed, she asked, “This will sound horrible, but could you please tell me the name of my auction date?”

With an adorable smile, he took out his business card and handed it over.

After reading the card, she burst into laughter. “I’m so pleased to meet you, Mr. David Bell, Attorney at Law
.
”

“Sorry for the deception.”

Still laughing, all she could do was shake her head. “Now this was my kind of blind date.”

The End

Heart’s Desire

“I owe you an apology about the other night. I’ve put us both in an awkward position.” Feeling like an employee summoned to see the boss instead of the other way around, John glanced across his desk at Eric. Guilt ridden, John averted his gaze to the family pictures on the bookshelf in the distance. It felt as if all eyes were on him, judging him. He pushed away from the desk, the memories and the shame. “I’ve never acted so inappropriately. There’s no excuse for my behavior.” Wishing he’d remained seated, he rested his hands on the headrest of his executive chair.

Eric fidgeted with the stud trim of the leather arm chair. “What happens on the road stays on the road.”

“I appreciate your discretion, but I feel I owe you an explanation.” He held his hands up slightly. “Not excuses, but some reasoning.”

“You don’t owe me anything. Let’s forget it happened.”

“I wish I could.” His hands dropped to his sides. How could he explain something he didn’t fully understand himself? “Look at me: I hit the half-century mark a few weeks ago, any day now my gray hairs will outnumber my black hairs and Ben Gay is quickly becoming my best friend. I’m not blaming my behavior on a midlife crisis. I love my wife with all my heart, my business just entered the hundred-million-dollar club, my children are happy, and I have a grandson. My life is great, I have no complaints.”

An exhilarating rush flowed through him as images of Carmen undressing filled his mind. He turned toward the window. “I hate to admit his, but,” he smoothed his hand over his salt-and- pepper mustache, “it was great having a beautiful, twenty-year-old woman after me. For a brief period of time I was thirty again, young again, on the prowl again. Hell, you’re thirty. You know how it is.”  He lowered his head into his palms and massaged his temples. “I just thank God I came to my senses before it was too late.”

“You mean you took her to your room, but didn’t have sex?”

John glanced over his shoulder into Eric’s perplexed face. “I won’t lie. I came awfully close, but couldn’t do it.” He released an anxiety laugh. “I know. I could have gotten away with it. I missed my chance.” He went through the pictures that sat on his desk. His favorite one of Leslie, his wife, was missing. Or had he taken it home as he’d meant to?