Wicked Proposition (36 page)

She gasped at the crude implication and jumped
to her feet, her green eyes flashing as she pushed her chair back
and flung him a distasteful glance.

“I will most certainly not! And I will not
reside under this roof with a common whore, either! You can satisfy
your lust elsewhere, Nicholas, as you so obviously do. I will not
stand for it if she lives here as well! I am healed now and I can
make my own way. I do not have to stay here any longer.”

“Sit down. I am not done speaking to you,” he
ordered harshly, angry at her threats to leave. His threat to move
Solange in had only been made to irritate her. “You are behaving
like a spoiled child!”

“And you are behaving like a rutting swine!” she
said scornfully and shoved the chair under the table where it
slammed against the tables edge. “I am leaving and there is nothing
you can do about it!” she flung as she stormed past him.

His hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist and he
wrenched her backward, his blue eyes darkening in anger.

“You are going nowhere, Catherine!” he gritted
out and dragged her into his lap. “You will realize that I am the
master here and you will mind your tongue!”

She gasped as he pulled her across his lap and
raised his hand. She thrashed as she realized his intent. She
howled with rage as his large hand came down hard upon her bottom.
Tears stung at her eyes as he spanked her once, twice, thrice.

She bit her lip and refused to give him the
satisfaction of hearing her cry out again. She counted five
spankings before he pushed her off his lap and she backed away from
him.

She was looking at him with such revulsion and
anger he was momentarily riddled with guilt, until she speared him
with her gaze and spoke through clenched teeth, tears shining in
her eyes.

“I will leave here and you cannot stop me!” She
turned and was gone, leaving him to stare after her in anguish as
he absorbed her words.

He could not stop her if that was her intent.
His heart thudded in his chest, thinking he had pushed her too far
with trying to provoke her jealousy. He had broken off with Solange
at the first sign of her anger noticing where he went at night. He
wanted no confusion who he wanted, especially now.

He pushed away from the table and rose to go
after her and thought better of it. She was in a temper. He did not
trust himself to not toss her over his shoulder and take her to his
room to prove he was indeed the master here.

###

Catherine was so overwrought that she decided to
go walking on the beach. She needed to think. The heat of the day
made a swim sound glorious. She often used the secluded pool a mile
down the beach from the house, unaware it was also his swimming
spot. She grabbed a bathing sheet before she left the house through
the gardens.

The scent of jasmine and gardenia was thick in
the air and tantalized her senses as she walked down the jungle
path. She smiled as she heard exotic birds squawking in the
distance.

She could hardly believe she had threatened
Nicholas she would leave here. It was paradise. It was her home.
She could think of no other place she would ever feel so safe.

Here she had found herself once more.

True, she knew ugliness existed once in her
past. The distorted images no longer bothered her. She no longer
knew what they meant, and no longer cared. Catherine hurried down
the dirt path to the white, sandy beach. She was still simmering in
anger after her argument with Nicholas.

The tumultuous feelings she had for Nicholas now
confused her. As always, she was besieged with the visions of the
past. She made her way nearly a mile from the residence to a
private cove hidden by dense foliage.

Catherine slipped her dress over her head and
hung it over a bush. She slipped off her underclothes and kicked
off her shoes. She waded naked into the sparkling azure water of
the pool, sighing at the feel of the cool water on her heated skin.
She submerged and came up feeling refreshed and invigorated. She
floated upon her back for a time, listening to the sounds of the
ocean.

She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling the sun
on her face. Her skin would burn easily and she would hear stern
lectures from Mrs. Bingham. She swam to the rocks at the edge of
the pool where a huge palm tree overhung the water and shaded the
area. She treaded water for a time and listened to the sounds of
the jungle and the birds squawking in the distance.

###

Nicholas finished his lunch and went in search
of Catherine, hoping she had time to calm down. His search proved
the girl had gone into hiding and he gave up upon it. He sighed,
realizing he had probably scared her with his treatment of her. He
stepped out onto the veranda and eyed the gardens below
approvingly.

It was the hottest part of the day and he
suddenly remembered his swimming spot. A swim sounded refreshing
indeed. He mused Catherine was probably in her room hiding from him
as he took the stone steps to the path that led to the beach.

Nicholas walked down the beach. When he stepped
within the cove, he stopped abruptly as he encountered the gown
hanging over the bush. He swore viciously and stepped closer and
saw her. She floated with her arms over her head, her full lush
breasts bobbing temptingly above the water. His cock stirred in his
breeches and his eyes took in the sight of her naked splendor with
raw lust.

She flipped onto her belly and paddled away and
the sight of her naked derriere made him groan as it flipped above
the water. His hands went to the fastenings of his breeches and he
stripped before he changed his mind and returned to the house. He
tossed off his shirt and joined her in the pool silently. He dove
under the water. He swam stealthily underneath her. His hand snaked
out and grabbed her dainty ankle and pulled her under the
water.

Catherine screamed and flailed as she was pulled
under the water. She saw Nicholas and she pulled away, kicking at
him as she hit the surface of the water. She was sputtering and
spewing water. He came up chuckling at her.

“You are an awful, wretched man! You scared me
to death, Nicholas!” she yelled and pushed her wet hair out of her
eyes as she met his merry blue ones. They crinkled teasingly as
they met hers. “You should not be here with me. Go away!” she said
suddenly as he swam closer, his expression intent as when he kissed
her in the parlor.

Her buttocks still smarted from his anger and
she did not want to fight with him anymore. She swam backward as he
grew nearer.

“Afraid you can’t trust yourself with me?”
Nicholas asked tauntingly, his eyes never leaving hers. The
coolness of the ocean had little effect on his ardor.

The temptation to swim the mere five feet that
separated them was great, despite his decision to go slowly with
her. Opportunity had knocked and he was not turning back now
without an answer.

“It is not decent! You are very vain if you
think yourself so irresistible to me! You come home smelling like a
whore and expect me to greet you with open arms? You are sadly
mistaken!”

“Come now, Catherine, you enjoyed my kissing you
before. You are merely jealous I spend my nights with another,” he
said softly and his blue eyes met hers knowingly. “You want me to
do more than kiss you and we both know it. If I to touch you right
now, you would come into my arms and beg me to make love to
you.”

“I would do no such thing! I wish to leave now!
You will let me pass!” she said angrily and refused to meet his
teasing gaze. “Mrs. Bingham will be looking for me. You will look
away from me now while I swim to shore. I will not indulge your
lust as does this Solange creature. It is obvious she doesn’t do a
very good job if you are here sniffing after me.”

“I would be careful if I were you,” he warned
softly, his eyes promising she would regret it if she continued to
bait him further.

“Why? Would you force me just to prove you are
the master?” she snarled and splashed him in the face. “You are a
master of fools if you think I will bow to you! Go seek out your
whore and leave me alone!”

A determined light entered his gaze as it dipped
to view her delectable breasts under the water, her nipples
hardened from the cool water. He swam closer, the intent in his
gaze obvious as she swam away with a cry of denial.

“Come, sweetheart and I will show you what you
are missing!” he cajoled in determination as he pursued her across
the pool. He took his time, enjoying seeing her look of shock as
she read the obvious lust in his features. “I fear we need to begin
your lessons in this area as well.”

“Oh! You are impossible!” she cried and swam
away from him. “And to think I thought you as pious as a saint when
all along you were nothing more than a lecher!”

She very nearly got a few feet from him when he
leapt after her and caught her by the leg. His hand gripped her
calf and dragged her back to him.

He was able to touch the bottom of the pool. He
dragged her thrashing naked body to his chest. He looked down at
her with anger and desire flaring in his eyes.

“I am no saint, love! And neither are you!” He
growled as he adjusted her against him, the proof of his words
jutting against her thigh.

He held her against him and nearly went mad as
she wiggled and thrashed in his arms. Her delicious nudity against
his aroused body was his undoing and his mouth crashed down on hers
forcefully.

His hands went to her hips and held her still
against him. She sobbed as his hard shaft brushed her femininity
making her quiver against him. His mouth was hard and insistent,
parting her lips as his fingers dug into her buttocks, rubbing her
against him, forcing her to feel how his body needed hers.

She was weightless in the water and he balanced
her so she sat upon the length of his cock, his blue eyes never
leaving her startled green ones.

He lifted his head and regarded her with a taut
expression. “Tell me you want me, Catherine,” he asked, a smile
tugging at his lips at her dazed expression. “Tell me,” he
whispered as the tip of his cock rubbed at her opening with slow,
seeking insistence. “You lie when you say you do not care if I seek
out another. We both know you want me as much as I want you. I dare
you to admit it and end both our suffering now.”

“I want you,” she whispered hoarsely and her
eyes widened as he thrust hungrily inside of her.

She gasped and her eyes darkened with need, her
arms wrapping around his neck as he held her in the water. A low
moan of passion escaped him as he clutched her hips tightly and
imbedded himself deeply within her. She gripped his shoulders, her
face pressed into his neck.

Nicholas closed his eyes in ecstasy. He
luxuriated in the feel of her clenching around him once more. He
waded out of the water, carrying her to the shoreline. He came down
upon her hungrily, their bodied still joined.

His arms balanced himself above her as he moved
deep within her. Her legs wrapped around his plunging hips tightly.
She thrashed wildly in the sand beneath him while the water lapped
about them, her fingers digging into his back. Low moans escaped
his lips as he pressed her down into the sand, his lips covering
hers as they made love wildly, bucking frantically and arching to
get closer.

No gentleness remained as they strained
together. Nicholas was dazed as he sank into her feeling the water
rush beneath them, feeling him lose himself within her. His body
tensed and went rigid as the blood roared in his ears. Catherine
tightened around him, trembling violently in his arms. Soft cries
escaped her parted lips as she clutched his dark head to her,
gripping handfuls of his hair and tugged his mouth back to
hers.

She lay limp beneath him finally, unable to meet
his eyes as he rolled off of her finally and went in search of her
bathing sheet. He tossed it to her as he passed, wading back into
the pool. Catherine sat up in the sand and wanted to cry suddenly
for giving herself to him like this. All her recent fantasies had
not prepared her for the way this happened.

With no promises between them, she feared the
worst now. She had more than enjoyed it. Her eyes darkened as she
watched him frolic in the water. The temptation to join him was
there. Her hurt she had succumbed before receiving some promise
from him was palpable. She brushed at the sand that encrusted her
body in disgust. He grinned at her as he swam, seeing her pouting
at the shore.

She avoided his gaze and stomped behind a tree
to towel dry herself, ignoring the delicious ache between her legs.
She dressed and towel dried her hair. She brushed the remaining
sand off her, feeling wretched as she came out behind the tree.

She watched as he swam in the pool, oblivious to
her distress. He stepped out of the water and she sucked in her
breath as he walked towards her, unashamedly naked. His huge
arousal was still evident as he reached for the towel, his blue
eyes teasing as they met her stare.

She noticed his scar to avoid looking at any
other part of him and frowned, reaching out to touch it
lightly.

“How did you come by this?” she asked curiously,
seeing him stiffen suddenly and his expression changed.

He dressed quickly, yanking the shirt over his
head to hide the scar from her view. He appeared unwilling to tell
her.

“That is the consequence of being a smuggler and
nothing more,” he said and shrugged dismissively. “Why? Does it
disgust you?”

She shook her head and asked him no more,
sensing he would tell her nothing. She was still angry he had
destroyed the easy relationship between them by making her
acquiesce to his desires.

It changed everything and she was sorry that she
had deliberately pushed him. She wanted him and was ashamed to
realize she could not bear him going to another any longer.