The private beach stretches not far from the back door, the sound of lapping waves echoing in the background.

  “This is beautiful. Listen...” I say, and hold my breath.

  The seagulls’ cries rip into the silence.

  Smiling, he soaks in my eyes.

  “You want to go out tonight? There are good restaurants in the area,” he says.

  “No, not really. I want to cook.”

  “You don’t need to.”

  “I love to cook… and write about it. That’s what I was blogging about before I got into the cock business.”

  He purses his lips into a naughty smile, his face flushed.

  “Speaking of that...” he says.

  “Yes?”

  I look at him, puzzled, and then my eyes dip as he smoothly palms his groin and bites the inside of his cheeks. I give it a double take before I bend over a bag starting to unpack.

  “Don’t do that,” I say, smiling.

  “Why’s that?”

  “You turn me on.”

  “That’s the whole fucking point,” he says.

  He loops his arm around my waist just as I spin around, bump into him, and make him lose his balance. Stumbling back, he crashes into the wall, pulling me with him.

  A lopsided smile parts his lips.

  “What’s so bad if I turn you on?” he asks softly, his eyes getting hazy.

  One hand slides inside my T-shirt while the other works my fly open. He pushes the shorts down and brings his hands to my back. One grabs my ass while the other pulls the thong to the side.

  He brushes the soft, slick flesh that’s already tingling between my thighs.

  “You’re fucking good,” I say, breathing shallowly. “I might...” I mumble, incoherent, my eyes half closed, my hips rocking against his fingers.

  I bring my hand to his groin, cup his bulge, and run the heel of my palm up and down his length.

  “You were saying...?” he asks with a throaty voice.

  Smoothly, he pulls the T-shirt off me, unclasps my bra and tosses it to the floor. He pushes the shorts and my panties down all the way to my ankles. I kick them off. He curls his fingers between my legs and smoothly enters me. My breath catches in my throat, my eyes going to his lips.

  “I wanted to say I'd like to suck you...” I say, barely breathing.

  “That was a minute ago...” he says, his eyes glittering, amused.

  “Yes... that’s true,” I admit, squeezing him through his jeans.

  “Right now, I want you to fuck me...” I say, tugging at his belt.

  His eyes light up, flooded with lust. He pushes himself off the wall, spins me in his place, and turns me around, my back to him.

  “Raise your arms,” he says.

  I brace my hands against the wall. I hear the sound of his belt unbuckling and the hiss of his zipper going down. He touches my ankles and nudges my feet apart and then runs his hand up between my legs, teasing me to no end. I push my bottom out, and he slowly drags the tip of his cock between my butt cheeks.

  He rubs the puckered back ring until my core starts clenching, dripping wetness. Holding his erection firm against me, he presses some more, my body responding, my butt clenching, the new sensation bringing more pleasure to me.

  “Jagger?”

  He moves the tip lower, pressing it against my entrance.

  “Please...”

  “Didn’t I say you’re gonna beg for it?” he murmurs as he slowly slides in, my core clamping on him, soaking him with my arousal.

  He pulls back and drives in hard, spearing me with his thick length. A scream rolls off my lips, and his hand slips over my mouth.

  “Shh, baby...” he says, his fingers rubbing my clit.

  I push back against him, and he rams again.

  “You want to come, baby?”

  I nod.

  “Then you have to be good and listen to me. All right?”

  I nod again, and he takes his hand off my mouth and curls it around my neck.

  “That’s fucking it...” he says, plunging into me.

  Deep.

  He tightens the other arm around my waist and starts rocking his body, hot and possessive, entering me, over and over again. My head falls back against his shoulder, moans rolling off my lips.

  “It’s good...?” he purrs in my ear as he thrusts again.

  I don’t have time to respond, the storm of pleasure rising fast.

  “Jagger??”

  He hardens his body, flexes his muscles, and pushes into me with full force, hammering me for a few good minutes before my body breaks apart into bits of throbbing pleasure, his warm release creaming my walls.

  “Fuck, fuck...” I mumble.

  My nails drag down the wall as we’re still shuddering. His arms wrap around me, his lips pressing on my hair.

  “What was that Jagger...?” I ask through gasps.

  He doesn’t say anything, only laughs softly.

  “Oh, Jagger! I haven’t seen you in a while,” the woman at the counter chirps, and a red pepper slips out off my hand.

  I pick it up off the floor, throw it in the cart, and crane my neck out. It doesn’t surprise me that she knows him. It’s the tone of her voice that tells me a different story.

  She sounded more like, Oh, Jagger! I haven’t seen you in a while, motherfucker.

  As soon as I make a turn for the cheese section, the counter and the woman come into view. It’s a woman in her fifties, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears beige slacks and a colorful, sleeveless blouse, her clothing paired with an amethyst necklace and matching earrings.

  She’s the owner, I suspect.

  To her credit, the gourmet store is tastefully decorated and stocked with locally grown produce, a large variety of cheeses, wines, meats, and seafood. There’s a great selection of imported gourmet food as well.

  Glancing at me from time to time, she makes small talk with Jagger before she swings her gaze to the back room.

  “Adrienne? Look who’s here,” she says, and I brace myself.

  I join them and park myself next to Jagger.

  Surreptitiously, I examine his face, but I can’t glean much. His expression is unreadable.

  The woman goes silent as she packs the fish, the scallops, and the caviar. I plop the shopping basket on the counter, and she starts bagging the vegetables and the cheese when Adrienne walks through the back door.

  She stops behind the counter, her face lighting up when she lays her eyes on him, but not so much when she spots me.

  She has attractive features, and long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. A soft blush covers her face as she locks eyes with Jagger.

  Tension sets in his jaw.

  “Adrienne,” he says, no inflection in his voice.

  She swiftly glances in my direction.

  She’s my age, perhaps older, and I don’t need more to understand. They make light conversation about the weather, their mutual friends, and his parents, and then she cuts her eyes to me one more time before she says goodbye to him and vanishes into the back room.

  He pays for the groceries, grabs the paper bags, gives the lady at the counter a soft nod and motions to me. We slip through the main door in utter silence.

  Back in the car, he stays quiet, his mood completely changed.

  “Can we get something sweet?” I ask.

  “Sure,” he says, sounding relieved.

  Minutes later, we enter a bakery. I pick Napoleons, chocolate croissants, cherry and blueberry danishes. He follows me around without saying a word.

  We drive away, and I gaze at him.

  “So, are you gonna talk or pout?”

  He looks away.

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” he says.

  “How old is she?”

  He whips his head in my direction, and I can’t suppress a knowing smile.

  “Adrienne. How old is she?”I ask again.

  A faint blush creeps up his cheeks, and I find it adorable.

  “She’s twenty-eight,” he says after he studies me for a moment.

  “Hmm... So there were women older than me.”

  He remains silent.

  “Jagger?”

  “It’s all in the past.”

  “See, normally I wouldn’t give a damn about it, but now I’m curious. Why are you in such a bad mood because of this woman?” I ask, no longer amused.

  “It’s not because of her. It’s because of you, and if I tell you, you’re going to freak out.”

  “No, I’m not. Try me,” I say, and he goes mum again. “You said you never felt for anyone before. Did you lie to me?”

  He gives me a side glance, and I look back at him, poker-faced.

  “No, I didn’t. And I didn’t fall in love with her. She did.”

  He looks away.

  “Is this the truth?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “Seventeen?! For fuck’s sake. That made her what? Twenty-five?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did she pursue you?”

  “No. I did. She used to work at my friend’s estate. It was summer, and I had nothing better to do. So that’s the story,” he says curtly.

  “That’s not the whole story, and you damn well know it.The woman with the store. Is that her mom?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what happened?”

  He takes a long breath.

  “I broke up with her,” he says, nervous.

  “Oh...You did...” I say, my disappointment glaring.

  Now I know why he didn’t want me to know. I was right, of course, I was, and if the past is any indication...

  “I was much younger,” he says, and I find his argument adorable but laughable.

  “Jagger... There’s no such a thing. You are young now, very young... You think twenty one makes you a man?”

  His face turns scarlet as his eyes go dark, bleeding anger. Oh, shit. That was the worst possible thing I could’ve said to him.

  He yanks the steering wheel to the side, makes a sharp turn, pulls in front of his house, and stops the car with a jolt.

  He grabs the grocery bags, jumps out of the car, and strides to the house. By the time I make it inside, the bags are on the kitchen counter, and he’s nowhere in sight.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  That was so stupid, and so not true.

  “Jagger?”

  A noise comes from the walk-in-closet, and I walk in just as he pulls his swimming trunks up.

  I freeze in the doorway.

  “Jagger?” I call him with a soft voice.

  “Leave me alone!” he barks.

  “I’m sorry. What I said was stupid. Really, really stupid. And it’s not the truth.”

  His teeth clench, his lips trembling with fury.

  “Really? How come it’s not the truth when this is exactly what you think about me?” he bellows so loud the seagulls must’ve taken off the shore.

  “But it’s still stupid, and I’m the first to recognize it. I didn’t give it much thought, and I truly regret it. You were right not to tell me. It’s hard for me not to think that if it happened to her, it could happen to me too. That’s why I lashed out at you. But that doesn’t mean it’s true.” I erase the space between us. “Listen, I wish I could be this mature woman, who knows everything and is never insecure, but I’m not. At least not when it comes to you... In a sense, you’re my first real man, Jagger, and that’s the truth.”

  He looks at me as if he wants to make sure I’m telling the truth, and as I wrap my arms around him, the tension loses its grip on him. He slides his hands onto the back of my thighs, lifts me up and plops me on a small island with a red top and lots of drawers that sits in the middle of the walk-in closet.

  He wedges himself between my legs, his hands gliding up my thighs, his eyes steady on mine.

  “I didn’t break up with her because she was older. I wasn’t the man for her. I couldn’t give her what she needed. She could’ve been seventeen for all I cared. It had nothing to do with her age. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know how far we’ll go Violet, but if it ends between us, I don’t want it to be because of some stupid thing from the past or something said in the spur of the moment. At least give me the benefit of the doubt. All right?”

  I take a long breath and nod, clenching my teeth to stop my chin from trembling.

  “What is it, now?”

  “Nothing, I just feel like shit,” I say and smile, but tears rush to my eyes.

  His hand goes to the back of my hair as his arm curls around me.

  “We’re good, baby. Just relax a bit. Okay?”

  I nod against his chest, his scent rolling into my nostrils. A sweet, warm feeling fills my heart.

  He frames my face and gives me a kiss, and my tears start trickling down. He runs his fingers across my cheeks and brushes them off.

  “You need help with the cooking?”

  “No, I’m good. Go swimming.”

  14

  By the time the grilled bass, pan seared sea scallops with lemon sauce, spinach salad, and baked potato wedges are done, the sun starts dipping below the horizon. I cover the pots and plates with tinfoil and set the table before I slip into my swimsuit and walk outside.

  The sky looks like a painting, the sunset gleaming red against the growing darkness. The beach is empty.

  I lay my towel against a bank of drifted sand and look at the horizon. The water spreads out in front of me, scarlet as the sky. Rolling monotonously, the waves lap against the shore.

  A sense of intoxicating freedom courses through my body.

  His silhouette looks dark against the glowing sky, his back arched, his arms slicing the water. I wish I could swim like him.

  Minutes later, he walks out of the ocean, the crepuscular light draping over his shoulders. He flicks his head a few times, runs his hands through his hair and swaggers toward me. Long strides, wide shoulders, the teasing rolling of his hips.

  He lies down and hovers over me, the beads of water dripping on my skin.

  “Where’d you get the swimsuit, Strip-mart?” he says, squinting at the small triangles of fabric that hardly cover anything.

  “It’s a bit small,” I say, pushing up on my elbow, tipping my head back to take him in. His lips curve into a naughty smile.

  “It’s fucking perfect,” he says and runs his palm down my chest, slipping his fingers beneath the strings, in one smooth motion peeling the Lilliputian bra off my breasts.

  My hard nipples point at him.

  “Food is ready,” I say softly, drinking in his unfocused eyes.

  “I’m not hungry for food,” he murmurs, his fingers squeezing my nipples.

  He cups one breast and tenderly kneads it, while he licks and sucks the peak of the other.

  My body curves up, my chest pressing against his face, filling his mouth. Following suit, my legs spread apart. He runs his hand further down, hooks his finger inside my bikini, and rips it off me.

  His fingers come back to me and gently brush the soft folds and swollen clit.

  “Mmm... You’re already wet...” he murmurs, nuzzling my neck, flicking his tongue over my skin, gently biting my earlobe.

  Swarms of tingles swirl over my body, a moan tearing off my lips as he kisses my arching neck.

  “That’s good,” I murmur, my hand slipping inside his shorts, smoothly stroking his erection.

  I hitch my leg over his thigh, his heavy cock pressed on my clit.

  “I want you,” I say, my eyes dipping to his lips.

  The smooth tip rubs the flesh between my folds. His fingers slide into my hair.

  “Go on...” he says, gently rolling his hips.

  “I wanted you every single time, from that first night in the pool and then the evening in the back alley...”

  He flashes a mysterious smile.

  “Yes...”

  “And when you left me naked in my kitchen, and then the night you had the party and ran after me... There was not a single moment when I didn’t want you,” I say my fingers brushing his face.

  He slowly enters me.

  Short bursts of air enter my lungs, my thighs locking around him.

  “Yes...” I breathe out.

  He rocks his hips, pulling back and filling me up again.

  A flutter ripples through my belly, my center hugging him.

  “Oh, damn it...” I mumble, pushing the air out in a long moan, my hands clutching on his back.

  He stills for a moment, while I’m deliciously throbbing around him.

  “You’re milking me, baby...”

  He pulls back and thrusts again, and my pulsations quicken. I start writhing under him just before he grabs the back of my head, holds me tight and speeds up, ramming into me, taking me to the very peak.

  Our breaths come fast and heavy. He plows through me, a rumbling growl rocking his chest as he pulls me up all the way, making me ride with him that heart-grabbing crest.

  The last time I slept naked, was taken care of around the clock, and came too many times to count was... never? I feel as if I was thrown out of a speeding car and rolled a few good yards on the pavement.

  To say I’m sore it’s an understatement. I may need a few stitches just to get everything in working order, and yet, I’m floating on a cloud.

  Ribbons of light slip through the curtains, the sound of lapping waves rolling in my ears.

  Clawing at the sheets, I bury my face in the pillow, drunk on the smell of him and sex. It smells so fresh and intoxicating. It smells like a new life.

  My new life.

  Grinning like a fool, I roll to my back.

  The sheet glides to my thighs just as the door swings open, and a man’s voice shoots in the air.

  “Jagger?”

  Sparkling blue eyes seize me from the doorway, my mouth dropped open. A memory sidles up to my awareness telling me he looks familiar.

  His eyebrows flick up with surprise, and it’s only when a sly smile narrows his eyes, and his gaze starts roaming over my body, that I realize I’m naked.

  He cuts his eyes up, connecting with mine briefly before a scream explodes in my throat. Jagger bursts out of the bathroom, wet, holding a crumpled towel over his groin.