AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay…” I agree. I unbutton and kick off my shorts, matching my lover, and crawl up into the bed beside him.
It’s still very much the middle of the day, but for some reason, lounging in bed with Raoul, sexually satisfied, while the sun is still high in the sky, feels wonderful. Like a vacation away from reality.
He pulls me into his arms, our legs twining together, murmuring sweet nothings to me in Italian as I drift off. Nothing about this day makes sense, but at the same time, it’s perfect.
* * *
I’m usually notmuch of a midday napper, but apparently violence and oral sex takes it out of me. When I wake up, it’s after 7 p.m., and I’m the only one in the enormous bed. I reach over, bleary-eyed, but Raoul’s side isn’t even warm anymore. How strange.
I slide across the bed and stand, feet hitting the wooden floor. As I rise, I can feel the sensual muscle ache in the middle of my body, a gift from the mind-altering orgasm I have been given, and it lessens my annoyance at being left alone. Raoul seems like a busy man, maybe he has work to do. Whether that work is legal or not, I’m still not sure. But that’s none of my business at the moment.
His ease with fighting, coupled with the oddly vague way he had spoken about his past at the Palmetum had tipped me off that maybe Raoul was some sort of mobster or retired gun runner, but he’s told me again and again that he’s retired. So…what does it even matter, at this point? Sure, the abduction and then seduction isn’t really the epitome of appropriate early dating behavior, but something tells me Raoul is a man out of time. Nothing is normal with this gorgeous, dangerous man.
I find my purse dropped by the bedroom door. I had powered my phone off before going into work, and it’s still off when I fish it out of my bag. I shudder thinking about the messages and missed calls that await me, but there’s no getting out of it. I power it on, walking aimlessly through the villa in search of Raoul, until I’m out on the terrace. Alone.
Once fully on, my phone explodes in a cacophony of texts and alerts. Shockingly though, only once voicemail, and I bet I already know who it’s from. I tap the screen, putting it on speaker, and listen to Paul’s message, feeling nauseous.
Skye, I’ve got a lot of things to say to you, and you’re lucky I don’t press charges on you as an accomplice. I’m concussed, not that you care, but I promise you that I’ll find out where that Neanderthal is hiding you, and when I do, he’ll be arrested and you and I will have a real talk, face to face. You don’t get to be cocktease to me and then just bolt when you find someone bigger and richer. Obviously you’re fired, but if you play nice I might still let you have your last check. See you soon.
Revulsion pours over me. I save the message to show Raoul, even more determined to find him now.
I finally do as I’m standing at the top of the staircase that leads to the main floor right in front of the home’s entrance. He’s back in a white button up shirt and black pants, shirtsleeves rolled up, but my eyes are immediately drawn to the holstered handgun on his hip. I stare at it so long that it takes me some time to digest what I’m looking at.
Trevor, the driver, as well as a few other employees are bringing in bins of familiar looking things. Clothes, shoes, books, and all of the other obvious things that I might need brought over from my apartment are being stacked inside the front door, all overseen by Raoul.
He’s moving me in. Oh, God.
“Raoul,” I yell, and he looks up at me, a satisfied smile on his face. He looks accomplished. “This–-how—”?”
“Don’t worry,Tesorina, we can talk more later. For right now, though, I just want you to be comfortable and have your things while I keep you safe here.”
I think about the voicemail, Paul’s hand groping me, and my address on my paperwork back at Salt and Breeze. Stomach rolling, I look down at Raoul again, strong and safe, and know staying here is the safest thing I can do for myself, as crazy as it seems.
“Okay,” I say tentatively. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Skye. Anything at all.”
Chapter 5
Raoul
Iknow my little treasure is chafing at her bonds, and as necessary as it is for her to stay with me, I still want her to be happy while doing so. I’ve never been in a serious relationship, but my need to keep Skye happy is as natural as the tides themselves. Still, it becomes clear I have a lot to learn.
After our first sexual encounter, she needed some time to recover, which I gladly gave her. Skye soaks long hours in the marble bathtub, sometimes taking a book in to read, her blond curls piled on top of her head. Other days, she insists on walking down to the beach hand in hand so she can don her rather conservative one piece and swim, finding that little bit of freedom in the work her muscles put in. She never wants to come to my personal gym I frequent every morning, tucked into a small corner of the first floor, preferring this exercise under the blue sky.
Some days she lets me lick the salt from her skin right there on the sand, her bathing suit peeled off and my head between her thighs within minutes. Other times she’s famished, and we share meals together on the terrace, her favorite place in the house. Skye asks about going home here and there, but I think we both know it isn’t happening. Especially not after she showed me the voicemail her boss had left her. I haven’t felt closer to murder in years than I did listening to that slimy voice come through her phone speakers.
It doesn’t help that there is a strange vehicle that’s been observed driving by the villa at the same time every night, slowing each time as if the driver is looking for something. When I show Skye the security footage of it, she admits it looks like her manager's car, but it’s too dark to say for sure.
Paul has a week, maybe two, to stop. After that, he’s gone. It’s as simple as that.
Our days blur sometimes, between exploring the island together and coming home to explore each other more, but it never goes farther than oral sex. Skye will sometimes drive me to the point of madness with her mouth, but we both want more from each other. It just hasn’t happened yet.
Then, the days blur into weeks. She’s been living here for a little over two weeks when I wake up, harder than I’ve ever been in my entire life, and know that today has to be the day. Either Skye tells me why we haven’t made love yet, or we finally take that step. It’s time.
I tell my housekeeper Mariana to set up a picnic on my private beach for us, Skye's favorite spot. My lovely partner is a romantic, and I know she will be charmed. Anything I can do to make her smile is worth it.
I might be losing my edge. But it is what it is, and here in Tenerife, it’s a new life for me.
