Tidal Wave (Paradise Lost Book 3) Read online

  I take hold of the first tank and set it on the refill pad and fit the nozzle over it. The compressor kicks on when I start to fill the tank and the walls of the shed vibrate. A shadow fills the doorway and I refuse to look up. I just keep filling.

  Slowly, something comes into my peripheral vision. When I jump back and focus on it, I see it’s the bright wrapper of an ice cream sandwich held in Blake’s hand. I shout over the compressor. “What the hell?”

  He grins at me, almost easy. “It’s tradition. I always have an ice cream after a dive. It’s the best thing in the world.”

  Ice cream? My heart flips. His daughter.

  The compressor suddenly dies and drops us into silence. He shoves the ice cream at me. “Here. You know you want it.”

  I don’t want to admit that’s why I buy that brand of ice cream sandwiches. Because it’s what Blake always ate when we dove together. I probably made Ellie love them by osmosis or some weird telepathy thing.

  ’Fess up, Lauren, admit buying that particular brand of ice cream is not the only thing you do because Blake loves it.

  I’d dive anyway, damnit. He is not why I love to be underwater.

  Okay, maybe you’d love it anyway. But he taught you. He loved you while you were underwater together. It’s part of him and now it’s part of you.

  I shove the ice cream away. “I don’t want it. I’ve got to fill these tanks.”

  “Come on, Lauren.” He sounds contrite. “I’m going to be here tomorrow. Can we not fight?”

  I attach the gauge to the tank and write down the psi and tank number on the chart next to the tank. “I’m not fighting. I’m working.”

  He’s downed his ice cream and waves the other one in front of me. “Here. You eat this, I’ll fill.”

  I try to get around him. “I don’t want your fucking ice cream.”

  His eyebrows dip and he lowers his voice. “You’re going to treat me like crap when I haven’t done anything.” He slams the ice cream on a workbench. “Don’t eat the fucking ice cream. Don’t enjoy life. Be miserable.”

  “You haven’t done anything? Are you kidding me? You walked out on me.”

  And Ellie.

  He doesn’t know about Ellie.

  And he won’t.

  “Left—” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You were marrying someone else. That pretty much looks like you left me.”

  Damn him. “I wasn’t going to marry Zach.”

  He fakes surprise. “You weren’t? It sure looked like it to me. The episodes where you picked out your dress and the venue.”

  “So you’re a real Liesa’s Life fan, huh?” I take a step toward him. “Those episodes didn’t air until it was all over.”

  That seems to make him boil. “It was everywhere for months. How you suddenly disappeared and there were all those rumors about you being pregnant. How you left your mother in debt. How you disappeared and everyone on the show lost their jobs.”

  God, now I want to throw the tank at him. “You were with me for all those months. You know how that works. Why would you believe anything they said in the tabloids or on the show?”

  “Why?” He takes a step toward me. “Because I was there. On the beach. I saw the crowd gathered, the arbor all flower-festooned at sunset. What else was I to believe?”

  Knowing he was there, so close, and still able to walk away from me tightens my throat. “I told you to trust me.”

  He’s not holding back now. He raises his voice. “You told me? Ordered me. Like I was one more of your minions.”

  Those fucking tears close my throat but I. Will. Not. Cry.

  Not one more tear for him.

  I want to slap him. Punch him. Kick him. Make him hurt the way I do. Because more than anything, I want to throw my arms around his neck and kiss that full mouth. I want to drag him to the floor of this tank shed and pull him on top of me.

  Instead, I grab another tank and haul it to the refill station. I clutch the nozzle.

  He jerks the nozzle from my hand. “No. It’s been four years. Talk to me.”

  I reach for the air hose and he jerks his arm over his head so I can’t get hold of it. I turn my back. “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Okay.” The brass nozzle clanks on the tank I left on the refill pad. His voice is low and dangerous. “No talking then.”

  I know what that means.

  I know that voice. I know what he wants.

  My pussy clenches and my breath catches. We were only together for a couple of months, but there’s no denying the desire cloaked by his words. My heart is pounding and I’m fighting every urge I have.

  I’ve longed for this release for four years. Every night, alone in my bed, with Ellie sleeping a few feet from me. I’ve thought of him. Blake.

  And now he’s here.

  But he’ll be gone in another day.

  If you know he’s leaving, he can’t hurt you.

  Why not do what you want while you can?

  Chapter 12

  Blake

  What am I doing?

  I shouldn’t be here. Lauren doesn’t want me anymore. If what she says is true, that she had planned on not marrying Zach and she’d only set it up so they could all escape the show, then it’s my fault we ended. She’s right to hate me.

  But I am here. And there isn’t a power in the universe that could make me turn around now. I don’t know what to expect, but when she finally looks me in the eyes, I know she’s not going to walk out of here, either.

  With her eyes taking hold of mine, she deliberately reaches slowly behind her and fiddles with the back of her bikini. It opens and hangs briefly on her shoulders before she shrugs and it falls to the floor.

  One look at her gorgeous breasts, the nipples swollen and hard, sends an electric jolt through me, zeroing in on my cock, which feels solid enough to be used as a battering ram. She pops out her hip and sends me a saucy look. “Are you going to just stand there or are you going to fuck me?”

  That’s it. My skin fires and I’m across the tank room without my feet touching the ground. My arms circle her and my hands act like heat-seeking missiles, find her ass and squeeze. “You want me to fuck you? Make you come?”

  She sucks in air. “Do remember how I like it?”

  I pull her against my hard-on and I tease her. “You like it any way I give it to you.”

  She laughs, the sound so sexy low in her throat. “You’re not the good boy the world thinks you are.”

  I jerk her into me again. “You wouldn’t want me to be.”

  She works at the tie of my board shorts. “I want you in lots of ways. Right here.”

  Oh god, what she does to me. My memory doesn’t come close to what I’m feeling as she frees me from my shorts and slips to her knees.

  She gives me that sly grin of hers, the one that tells me she’s going to make me feel really good. I gently place my hands on her head, surprised by the softness of her buzz cut. She flicks her tongue out and runs it around the head of my cock. She doesn’t touch me anywhere except with the tip of her tongue. My cock jumps and she kisses the top, gently sucking the opening, licking at the pre-come that leaks.

  She nibbles down the shaft licking and sucking and I’m nearly crazed. I’ve had blow jobs, hand jobs, fucked my share of pretty girls. No one has ever made me feel like she does.

  She works on me for several minutes before opening her eyes and looking at me. “Fuck my mouth, Blake. Make it good.”

  She takes hold of me at the base and opens her lips, dropping her mouth onto me and taking as much of me as she can. I am so hot I barely keep from grabbing her head and ramming into her. Oh god. I want this to last a long time but she knows exactly what she’s doing. She teases the tip then thrusts her lips down and sucks hard. The eruption starts deep inside me and I fight against it. But she’s too good.

  “I’m going to come,” I whisper, my hands tightening on the sides of her head without forcing her. She takes me deep and sucks
, bringing it all into her. It only takes a moment and I’m coming, my cock jerking and spasming against the back of her throat.

  She sucks hard, then licks and sucks again. While I lean back on the workbench, my knees like rubber.

  I love you, Liesa.

  I want only you.

  Forever.

  Chapter 13

  Lauren

  Blake comes in my mouth. So quickly. Too soon. I take him in and keep sucking, wanting more of him. I’m nearly in tears with my need to have him. I kiss and lick and suck him some more.

  Until he lowers himself to his knees. He plants his hands alongside my cheeks and pulls me into his face for a long, hard kiss. My pussy is soaking and throbbing with my need for him. His kiss is slow and deep, our tongues dancing a waltz. He’s breathing hard from his orgasm.

  “Oh god, do you know what you do to me?”

  I nip at his full lower lip. “Exactly what you showed me.” I know he’s going to reward me and make me scream in pleasure so I take my time kissing him.

  While he keeps his palms on my face, I let my hand trail down and stoke the base of his cock. “Mmmm. You don’t know when to stop, do you?”

  I pull away and lick the base of his neck. “From the feel of you, you’re not anywhere near wanting me to stop.”

  His palms slide down to my breasts and his fingers close around them. His breath catches and deepens. “So beautiful.”

  When he bends down, I lose contact with his hard cock but I’m glad to let his lips find my rock-like nipples. His first nip sends a rocket through me, making my pussy clench and it throbs, as if it’s a caged tiger pacing the fence.

  I’m suddenly impatient. “Fuck me, Blake. Please.”

  He smiles up at me and runs a hand down my ass to slip his fingers inside me. “Oh god.” I pant and my head drops back. It’s a good thing I’m on my knees or I would have dropped to the ground. “Now, please, Blake.”

  “I think we should make this last,” he says, pulling his fingers in and out, driving me wild.

  I suck his earlobe. “Please.”

  I feel him shudder at that. I know I’ve got him. He can’t hold back any more than I can. With gentle pressure, he helps me lower to my back on the tank room floor. He glances around and finds a couple of ratty towels. He jumps up. “Like the pantry. Remember?”

  “Nutella. I can’t eat it in polite company.” I don’t tell him that it’s a favorite of Ellie’s but I feel squeamish when I give it to her.

  He flashes me a wicked smile. “I get hard every time I smell it.”

  I give him an appreciative look. “Like you are now?”

  I move out of the way for him to spread the towels. “Nothing, not even Nutella, makes me as hard as you do.”

  “Show me what you can do with it, then.” I lay back and with my feet flat on the ground and my knees bent, I open myself up for him.

  He rests on his knees between my legs and looks at me. “I’ve missed this.”

  I’ve been here. Waiting for you.

  He must feel the same sense of urgency because talk seems to be over. He covers me with his body. The weight is so familiar and so missed. I wrap my legs around his hips, drawing him close.

  With a slow movement, his cock nudges at the opening of my pussy. I can’t take any teasing. I might come before he gets all the way in. But I wait, straining my hips to meet him.

  He thrusts in deeper and then lets out a strangled groan. “Oh god, Liesa, I’ve missed you.”

  I hate that he used that name. But I couldn’t stop fucking him if the tank shed exploded in fire. I have to have him, all of him. As hard and fast as he can give it to me. I unwrap my legs and plant my feet on the ground for more control as I thrust my hips up and open for his pounding into me.

  “Jesus.” He keeps pumping into me. His eyes never leave my face. Those deep eyes that always hold so much kindness. Now, they’ve turned almost black and they shine with passion.

  He might leave me tomorrow. I may never see him again, but I have him now.

  That’s all that matters.

  Suddenly I feel my own wave rise up. Too soon, but there’s no stopping it. The wave rushes over me, like high tide crashing into me when I turn my back. It drags me under and tumbles me and I have that moment of panic when I wonder if I’ll get sucked under and spit out in the middle of the ocean. I’m afraid I’ll drown.

  But Blake eases his pace and brings me slowly back to the tank room. He smiles down at me. “Still good?”

  “Still good,” I moan softly.

  He fucks me with a gentle rhythm, desire already start to rise in me again. “I’m the best you’ve had, huh?” His eyes twinkle with his teasing.

  Tightening my stomach muscles, I do a crunch that brings me close enough to kiss him. I can’t tell him he’s the only one. That I know he’s better for me than anyone else in the world and I don’t want to be with anyone else. Ever.

  I lay back, get leverage and lurch against him, bucking him off and rolling him over. I hover over him. “Maybe,” I say. Straddling his hips with my knees, I lower myself onto him, and bring him deep into my pussy, until there’s no space between us and I roll my hips just to watch his eyes lose focus and his mouth go slack. “God, Liesa.”

  There’s that name again. Like a pinprick. But I’m rubbing my clit at the base of his cock and I don’t care. He can call me Methuselah and I’d keep fucking him.

  In a crazy short time, we both come again. And only slightly more amount of time, again.

  I love you, Blake.

  Only you.

  Forever.

  We are spent and sweaty. I roll away from Blake’s slick body. “There’s a whole ocean out there. I need to wash off.”

  He jumps up and snatches towels from the floor. “Last one there is a rotten egg.”

  I grab his arm to throw him off balance and get the lead on him. He’s right behind me as I pile off the end of the dock, the cool sea closing over my head.

  It’s so good being in the water with him. This is where we belong. Together. The ocean around us.

  But it isn’t real. It isn’t forever. He’s going to leave me again tomorrow. He pops up from under the surge and plants a hand on my head, dunking me under. We wrestle for a bit, laughing, gulping salty water. I’m pretending this is our true love and we’ll be like this from now on.

  “God, it’s good to see you,” he says, treading water.

  I risk a small smile. “Yeah. One thing we’ve got going for us is that we’re good at fucking each other.”

  That wipes the smile from his face. “We’re good at more than that. We were friends first.”

  “So what? Now we’re fuck buddies.”

  Why am I being such a bitch?

  Because you want to let him know he can’t hurt you again. You aren’t giving your heart to be stomped on, you’re getting laid. That’s all.

  He frowns at me. “That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

  I start to swim for the dock. “So is walking away without a word.”

  He strokes after me. We make it to the wooden ladder at the end of the dock and I don’t hesitate to clamber up, knowing he’s watching my bare ass as I place my feet deliberately on each step and climb onto the deck to wrap a towel around me.

  He follows, slinging his towel low on his hips. “Maybe we could move past the misunderstanding,” he says.

  “Sure. I got over it years ago.” I shrug. Forcing indifference into my tone to cover the lie. “Like I said, you’re a good fuck. As long as you’re on the island, I don’t see any reason not to enjoy it. Do you?”

  He stares straight ahead, his jaw clenched as if set in steel.

  Chapter 14

  Lauren

  I don’t even know what to think. Feel. Satisfied? Holy mother. I don’t have sex for four years and see how many orgasms I can have. I’m exhausted. My body is so spent I can barely drag myself to the Tacoma.

  There’s no way I could resist Blake. I
don’t even feel guilty that I gave in. It’s what I’ve been dreaming about for four years. An itch I needed to scratch. And he damned-well scratched it good. I’m glad tomorrow is his last day here. I can live it up with him, knowing there’s no commitment. He’ll be gone and I won’t have to depend on him. But I can’t wait to see him tomorrow. I’m already wondering how to get him to do those things to me again. One more day before he leaves. I have to feel him inside me again.

  One more time.

  And that’s it. After that, I need to make my peace with him not being in our lives. But after this, I need to make myself understand I cannot and will not, go without sex again. He’s reminded me how good it is and I will, no matter what, find someone else.

  But I don’t have to. For one more day. I refuse to feel sad about him leaving. I’ve had too many years of that bullshit. If sex meant as little to him as he said it did, then I don’t have to carry it with me for the rest of my life.

  He’s a good fuck. He’s a lousy man. He is not someone I can rely on to be with me in the hard times. I already know I can do the hard stuff alone. Why allow someone into my compound and give myself the chance to start believing I could trust him, only to have him jerk the rug out from under me again?

  I hate Blake all over again.

  But that doesn’t mean I can’t fuck him.

  Right now, I’ve got to gather myself together and pick up Ellie from Gram’s house. I park Kylie’s pickup and let myself in the side gate. It takes only a second to stash the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer before I hurry into the piazza. I’d rather shower first, but Gram’s had Ellie all day and will want to have some relief from the constant motion and activity. Besides, I want to see how my girl got along today without me.

  Voices rumble from the gazebo on the other side of the mango tree. Again I wish I’d had time for a shower since I don’t know who Gram is entertaining. A man’s sincere solicitation makes me stop dead on the brick piazza. It’s followed by the sultry purring of a woman’s voice that instantly conjures up a mix of emotions so strong I’m almost nauseated. I might stay rooted here if I don’t hear Ellie’s high-pitched, excited voice, followed by Gram’s calm one.