Startled, she sucked in a breath, her heart beating a tattoo in her chest, but she still couldn’t move. She refused to. Her breath came faster and her left hand went up to her neck, rubbing down to the exposed part of her upper chest then back up again to her neck as she forced herself to take deep and even calming breaths.
She went rigid when she felt his body brush up against her back. The breath from his lips was right at her left ear. She swallowed hard, eyes tightly shut; she held herself perfectly still. His forehead brushed against the side of her head, from her chin to her cheek and up to her temple. His lips quickly and lightly swept over her earlobe. Her knees buckled then and she bit down hard on her lower lip.
“Talia,” he whispered heatedly into her ear.
She swayed on her feet. She felt his hands on her waist. A light pressure followed as his fingers pressed into the sides of her abdomen, his thumbs into her back in a light squeeze.
Talia stared at the screen not sure if she was reading the words right. Her throat tightened and her heart pounded hard against her ribs as she looked in disbelief at the words on the page. After several more seconds of reading and re-reading the email, with the mouse in her right hand, she clicked refresh but nothing changed when she read through it again. The words on the screen remained the same. Her hands grew clammy as she clenched and unclenched them, tension like a circuit ran up and down her body, through her arms and down her legs repeatedly. Surely those words couldn’t mean what they said. She thought to herself seeking comfort as the words settled heavily on her head, the reality too great for her to admit. There must be a mistake, there had to be. No, no, she was reading the words wrong, that had to be it.“Carrie,” Talia called over her shoulder, a slight tremor in her voice, “come here real quick. Just for a sec.”“What
Rafe sat at the yacht’s bow sofa, a glass of whiskey in one hand and his head filled with thoughts of Talia.She must have gotten the email by now, he thought to himself, flooded with a mix of guilt and shame.For the first time in his life, Rafe had run from a fight. Knowing Talia’s reaction and refusing to face it had chased him out of the office early. He had also for the first time in his life knocked off work early and, making it worse, not for the most honorable of reasons. He had taken the cowards way out and scheduled the email to go out an hour after he had left the office, all to avoid the confrontation that was sure to come. The shame, also due to another cowardly act, had him reject her project proposal without even opening the cover page to read it.He sighed heavily, rubbing his free hand over his face. She haunted him, in his sleep and in his waking hours. He closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t count with both hands
Talia stirred, turning onto her belly and burrowing further in the soft plush pillows under her cheek. She didn’t want to wake up. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well and so comfortably. It felt like she was laying in a bed of clouds. Had her mother been here? She didn’t remember her beddings being so soft and wonderful. Just as she was drifting off back to sleep, the bed swayed from side to side under her and Talia froze. What was that? Was that an earthquake? No, earthquakes didn’t sway, they shook, loudly, and when was the last time there was an earthquake in Boston?Talia opened her eyes then, blinking a few times to clear her vision. She tilted her head a little in wonder, pushing her chin further into the pillow. Since when was the wall so close to her bed?Were those shutters?She turned her head to face the other side. That window did not look familiar.Shouldn’t there be a build
Twenty minutes later, Talia made her way out of the room. In the short corridor, straight ahead the open door allowed her to see into another bedroom. That bed appeared to be just as large as the one she had occupied.Was that his room? The nosey part of her wanted to go in for a little tour. She had thought that the one she was using was his because it smelled of him. But then again, he had been in there a few times when he looked after her. As she walked ahead a few steps, on her right was another room but with two single beds. The yacht was like a small luxurious three bedroom apartment, she could see its appeal. Why stay in a hotel when he had such a beautiful space? And even better — depending on who was asked — he could take his floating home anywhere in the wide, quiet ocean. Just thinking about her noisy neighbors, the loud car horns, and the kids playing in the alley, she could definitely see the appeal. If she wasn’t so afraid of being sur
She jerked frontward when he tugged her forward by their clasped hands to follow behind him, and as he was explaining, whatever it was that he was explaining, she watched the emotions play on his face. His eyes lit up, his grin spread from ear to ear and his free hand waved around as he pointed behind them at what he called the aft, unchecked and like he had not a care in the world. When he was this animated, he looked… human. She could see now why he preferred the yacht over the hotel.Freedom.He was free to be himself, his true self without having to put on a front for anyone, always guarded, always watchful, always predatory, and, depending on the situation, ready to defend or attack. Talia wondered if he even realized that at that moment, he was doing none of that. Did he know he was acting differently than normal? Did he recognize that he had two completely opposite personas?It must be exhausting. How does he handle it?Considering
His lips pulled in a short smile as he approached her holding yet another tray. “Here. Some fruits, cheese and crackers.” He settled the tray next to the one he’d carried the wine on. “Here’s hoping your stomach doesn’t revolt.” She placed her hand on her belly and tried to sense some sea sickness. There wasn’t even a dizzy spell. Ha… maybe her fear of open waters was all in her head, catalyzed by sinking ship movies. Maybe she could even take a swim. She chortled at that. And end up in a Jaws sequel? No thanks. “So far so good.” She pinched a grape from its stem. “Grazie.” “Prego,” he returned with a slight nod of his head. He moved to reclaim his seat, to Talia’s irritation. Why won’t he sit next to me? she wondered, popping the grape into her mouth. Why do you care? That’s not why you are here. True, that wasn’t why she was there. She placed the wine glass on the tray and turned around to face him with her legs crossed. The hand lifting the drink to his lips paused and he lo
She looked up and caught his eyes, but the piercing look in them made her lean back, away from him. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard to remove it as her breaths came a little faster. His hands pressed into the leather on each side of her, the throw still clumped in his fists as he leaned closer to her, unblinking, the intensity of his gaze reflected by the pulsing muscle in his neck.He was staring at her lips with such passion that it heated her up so much so she wasn’t cold anymore. It might as well have been summer already. In fact, she needed an iced drink at that very moment. This, this was… Talia swallowed again, this was so not going to end well. His eyes looked down and she breathed a little easier, grateful for the respite. She needed to get herself together and out of that situation before it became unbearable to resist any longer.“DeLu — mmh!”Caught off guard, Talia stayed frozen staring at his closed eyes as his lips closed around hers. He kissed her, h
“I almost slept with him.”Talia made the announcement in the dark and noisy dance floor of the club to Carrie. After agonizing and overthinking about what had happened on DeLuca’s yacht the previous night, she’d decided to join her friend on her weekend club hopping, hoping the loud music and dancing, and of course the alcohol, would help take her mind off things, but she just couldn’t get over the frustration of that night. What annoyed her most was she wasn’t sure what frustrated her most: the almost that never happened or what happened that led to the almost.“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.” Carrie stopped bobbing and turned fully to face her, her brows raised right up to her hairline.Talia took a sip of her martini and said again, “I said, I almost slept with him.”Carrie’s head reared back and she blinked several times before she chuckled, an evil snarky laug