Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 26

E L L A S T A N F O R D

Javier went to get his swimming trunks, beach towel, and other stuff. Ella was waiting at the hotel’s lobby. While he was away, she was trying to rethink again her decision of spending time with him. It would be ridiculous and quite childish of her to object it on the last minutes. And before she could think of another reason to make her objection valid, he had returned.

The hotel had a private section of sand and its own changing cabins. Half an hour later, she emerged from the tiny cabin to find Javier standing at the edge of the water in black trunks, staring out across the blue sea. Unlike herself, he was bronzed by the sun, the hard lean body fit and athletic, his broad shoulders and smooth-skinned back tapering to slim hips and long, muscled, thighs. Reluctantly she walked towards him, conscious of the glances she was getting from some of the young men playing beach-ball over a fixed net a few yards away. One of them gave a low whistle, calling something to her in Italian which she did not understand.

Javier turned and watched her walk forward. She felt acutely embarrassed by the brevity of the red bikini, but angrily defiant both of herself and the observer. Her dark hair floated around her shoulders in a silken curtain which brushed her bare skin as she moved.

“You look a few years younger,” he murmured as she joined him.

She glanced at the bare brown chest, roughened by fine dark hair, and instantly regretted it for the sight only cause her lips to feel dry. “I am going to swim,” she said decidedly as a way to distant herself from him. She walked towards the edge and dived into the water, thinking that he would stay behind and enjoy the sun.

He surprised her by following closely behind her. His dark head appearing in the waves in front of her, rising and sinking above the sea, his arms moving rhythmically over his head. Ella was caught in surprise and accidentally leaned back too much that she would have diped her head backward if it was not for his muscular hand gripping her waist. Water streamed from her hair as she finally found her balance, the long wet strands clinging to her face.

“I thought you would go for sun bathing.”

“Well, someone has to keep an eye on you,” he answered with a shrug.

“What?” She narrowed her eyes, feeling slightly offended. “I am not a child. I am fine on my own.”

“I did not say you were a child. Stop putting words in my mouth, Miss Stanford. You have been doing that a lot lately.” He gave her a hard look then heavily sighed. “You are swimming quite far from the crowd and I am worried that you might get a muscle cramp.”

And only then had she noticed that they were both had gone further from the beach than she had realised. “Oh.”

She breathed faster than usual, tired by the swim. He seemed to notice that as he moved her to a raft that she just noticed he had brought with him. He helped her got on top of it before hauling himself aboard.

The sparkle of the sun on the water dazzled her eyes for a moment. Ella gazed back at the beach, watching the glitter of hotel windows, the shimmering vista of palm trees, white buildings, small figures on the sands.

He looked away, seemingly annoyed by her behavior, though his hand was still resting on her waist. Then suddenly he pushed back her damp, darkened hair with a casual hand, and the touch woke a sweetness in her which made her turn on him, her voice cutting. “Please don’t touch me!” The response was instinctive, angry and self-protective.

His blue eyes hardened. “You have been saying that for too long. I am sick of hearing it!”

His hands grabbed her, digging into the sun-warmed, wet flesh until she gasped.

“Look, Sir, this is really not appropriate!” she said in alarm, but he pushed her backwards despite her attempt to resist, until her back met the raft, his body pressing her down on to the solid bottom of the raft. His hands held her head in a vice as she fought him, twisting side-ways to escape. “We can not do this.”

Their eyes stared, locked in a silent duel, then he lowered to her parted lips and she was as conscious of that look as if he kissed her. She simply could not get away, his lean thigh muscles anchored her firmly beneath him, the broad shoulders pinned her down so that she could barely move. Javier moved his fingers, slowly sifting through the damp fronds of her long hair. She could feel the rapid pace of her heart against her breast, and in the sunny silence trapping them together she could hear the thud of his heart above her.

Admitting defeat, she lay still, watching him. The violence seemed to have gone out of him. His hands shifted along her cheek, the fingers gentle, sensitively caressing her skin until one drew softly along the quivering line of her mouth, outlining it as if he were curious about the feel and shape of it. Her hands were tensed against the wide brown shoulders, but she made no further move to escape. The warmth of his body percolated to her own, their wet skin touching, the strong thighs and calves pressed against her legs.

She tried to find anything that she could use to reason with him, but her mind could not think of anything. All she could think was the rocking of the raft beneath her back and the slow erotic movements of Javier’s hand across her face.

“Jiev,” she said, forcing the name to her lips in an effort to bring herself back from the brink of utter subjection.

“Hmm?” he murmured in response and she could tell that he was smiling by the feel of his lips on her.

“Look, I do not want you to touch me,” she said, carrying so little conviction.

“That is not the impression I get,” he said, his mouth hardening.

“I do not love you.”

“Perhaps,” he shrugged as his mouth loosened and a mischiveous smile was formed on his handsome face. “But you want me,” he said softly, “as much us I want you. We have both known it for years.”

Shock held her silent, then she swallowed. “You are so self-absorbed! I have never wanted you and I do not want you now!”

“I never take you for a liar so do not start becoming one, Ella,” he said, untouched by her scorn. “Just admit it.” Before she could tell him that there was nothing she could admit, he added, “Admit I could have you if I paid your price.”

“Price?” Her voice rose with anger. “What price? What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Marriage. Commitment,” he said coolly. “You have quaint old-fashioned notions about getting married, don't you, Ella?”

“This is a pointless discussion,” she said irritably. “Let go of me, Sir, before I knee you and you will have a hard time to recover. You have been frustrating me for these past few days!”

“Is that what I have been doing?” he asked mockingly. “Frankly, my dear, you do not seem to be frustrated. In fact, I quite believe I could hear excitement in your heartbeat.” His hands trapped her face and her traitorous heart beat violently. “Stop resisting me, Ella. I want you. I want you so badly,” he said suddenly, his voice thickening.

His words and husky voice were like a signal to her repressed emotions. As his mouth sought hers she met his lips with famished hunger, her hands reaching for his body in frantic movements of restless passion, experimentally finding where the strong neck met the upward lift of his head, the tense muscles of shoulder and arm, the long powerful back which curved down to his hips, his skin wet with salt under her fingertips. Everything else fled from her mind. Their lips fused endlessly, her softness yielding to the fierce demand of the cruel mouth, beyond protest, drugged by unknown sensual reactions, abject, mindless, only conscious of the erotic pressures of hands, lips, body. Their caresses grew fevered, an exchanged passion which underlined that Javier had spoken the truth when he had said he could have her if he wanted her.