Page 46 of The Butterfly Effect
I cupped the back of her neck and leaned in until my lips were close to her ear. “Baby, I’m discovering there’s not much I won’t do if you’re involved.” I pressed my lips to hers, and she opened her mouth to grant me entry. After I swallowed the small moan she let slip, I pulled back from her.
“However, if we don’t go now, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and take you back to the room,” I whispered against her lips before stepping back and grabbing her hand.
We walked into the bar, where music was playing over the speakers. Strings of lights hung against the ceiling, and the overhead lights were dimmed. One of the walls was completely opened to the fresh air, and even in the dark, the view of the mountains against the ocean was breathtaking. A few couples danced on the tile floor, and others were scattered in small groups around the bar. Julianna smiled at the bartender, but with her hand tightly grasped in mine, I escorted her to the dance floor.
Her hair flipped over her shoulder when I spun her around and pulled her against me, sending a wave of honey and lavender in my direction. The music was upbeat and had a powerful bass line, and she rocked her body against mine, the skirt of her dress riding up her thighs when she straddled one of my legs. We rocked our hips side to side together with the beat of the music, and I moved my hand to her lower back, just above the curve of her ass.
When she met my gaze, it was like we were the only two left in the bar. I didn’t care anymore about the view or the couples around us because Julianna’s eyes staring back at me were the most incredible view there was. The way she looked at me held an intensity that sent a warm rush of heat to my core, and with the way she gnawed on her bottom lip, I assumed she had the same feeling.
She turned her body around and pressed her back to my chest, rubbing her ass against my groin. My dick threatened to harden in my pants as she continued to grind against me, and the way her breathing picked up indicated she was aroused as well. I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her tightly against me, sure she could feel the pounding of my heart against her back.
She moved her arm up and wrapped it around my neck, turning her head and pulling mine down until she could reach my lips. Her movements didn’t stop as she pressed her mouth to mine, and I growled into her mouth when she moved her hand from the back of my neck into my hair and tugged. When she started to slow her movements, becoming more focused on the way she was massaging my lips with hers, I turned her around to face me and tightened my grip on her waist, moving her body with mine. The hem of her dress slid slightly higher on her thigh, and the friction of my leg against her damp panties made her whimper against my lips.
The quick-paced music stopped andHold You in My Armsby Ray LaMontagne started to play. As the other couples made their way onto the dance floor, Julianna snaked her arms around my neck, and I wrapped my arms around her. She swayed her head to the song, causing her body to rub against mine. The words of the song were true, especially in that moment. I could hold her in my arms forever and never let her go. We moved to the song, gently rotating in circles. Every time I’d push her out from me and spin her in a circle, she’d let out a small squeal of excitement, so I did it as often as I could.
As the song ended, Julianna lifted up onto her toes and reached for my neck, pulling me down until her lips reached my ear. When she spoke, her voice was raspy and almost strained with need. “We should go back to the room. Now.”
Five daysin paradise went by so quickly, especially after William showed up. My original plan of spending most of the time at the pool with a romance novel quickly dissipated when he’d walked into the bar on the first night. The novels I was sure I would read still sat untouched in my suitcase, beneath the baggy sweats I’d brought to wear to bed but didn’t touch once.
A swelling sense of sadness overcame me as I kicked the soft white sand beneath my feet. This was the last walk we’d be taking on this beach. Our flight home left early in the morning, so we’d decided to take one last long walk on the beach before we had to return to our harsh reality. I still didn’t know what it was going to look like for us when we got back to Michigan.
He’d come all the way to St. Lucia for me, and we’d spent five incredible days together, but the reality was that he was the type of man who should end up with a rich woman. One who had a lot of status and knew a lot of influential people. Men like William Carlisle didn’t end up with low-level project managers like me, and I think deep down we both knew it. It was only a matter of time before that all crawled to the surface.
I looked at where William tightly held my hand between us, our fingers laced together, and my heart squeezed. The last days with just the two of us were probably the best days of my entire life. Every inch of me wanted to extend my reservation another few days and never leave our room, just stay wrapped up in his arms with no cares in the world, but he needed to get back. He said he had to take care of a few things and mentioned having to go see his father and brother. My heart sank, knowing that in only twenty-four hours we’d be back home in the cold and he’d be leaving for a few days.
“Are you okay? You’re quiet.” He’d been watching me, which he had done a lot over the past few days. We’d be in the pool or walking around the resort, and I’d just catch him staring at me. The massage therapist actually told him he’d have to stop looking at me so he could finish the massage, and William refused.
I nodded and looked up to meet his gaze. “I’m just thinking about what it’ll be like when we get home. I’m going to miss this.” I gestured first to our hands and then to the view around us.
William frowned at me, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows. “What do you think it’s going to be like when we get home?” Even with the frown on his face, he didn’t release or loosen his grip on my hand.
“I am just trying to be realistic. You’re so far out of my league we’re not even playing the same sport, William, and I’d be blind not to see that. I’m just bracing myself.” I tried to give him my besteverything is okaysmile, swallowing the lump that had suddenly appeared in my throat. I dug my toes into the sand as I took another step, and I looked down at the way the sand folded over my foot.
William came to an abrupt stop and pulled me to face him. “Out of your league? There is no league, Julianna. You are the entire league. I groveled and begged your best friend for your itinerary and flew across the world to get you. If you think I’m just letting you go after this, you’re wrong. You’re mine now. Your mouth is mine,” he said with a quick kiss on my lips. He moved his hands and gripped my breasts, brushing his pointer fingers over my hardening nipples. “These breasts are mine. And”—he moved one hand farther down and cupped between my legs—"this pussy is mine too. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, breathless. “Yes. I’m sorry. I just…”
He cut me off with another brief kiss on my lips, leaving me open-mouthed when he pulled back. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve met. Don’t ever dare think you’re not worthy of anything and everything you want.”
Without a word, I wrapped my arms around his neck and slammed my mouth against his, knocking him off-balance and back a couple of steps. He regained his balance and returned the kiss, desperately controlling my mouth with his, and as he ran his tongue along mine, he lifted me from the sand. I looped my legs around his waist, realizing my mistake when he took several steps into the water.
The waves continued to crash around his legs, and he dropped to the ground. He sat in the sand, landing so that I straddled him as the waves crashed around our waists, and I shrieked at the cold water.
I rocked my hips against him, never breaking the contact of my lips with his. My moans from the friction of his groin against me and the cold waves splashing against me were muffled against his mouth, and every time I’d unintentionally whimper, I’d feel him harden.
We’d spent at least half of every day we were at the resort tucked away in our room, completely wrapped up in each other. I lost count of the number of times he brought me to oblivion, but with the way he had me crying out, I was thankful for the thick walls and absent neighbors. The man made me completely insatiable, like I couldn’t get enough of the way his mouth felt on mine or the way he left trails of electricity behind on my skin with his fingers. Everything he did sent a wave of wet heat to my center, and within minutes I’d be pinned against him, desperately seeking another mutual rush.
It wasn’t just the way he knew how to control every inch of my body. William was a different man here, a gentler man. He’d made sure we ate a variety of delicious local foods, and he promised we would learn how to make the delicious fried plantains that had become my favorite. We’d had them with every meal and plenty of rum punch, even though I knew it’s too sweet for his tastes. We didn’t miss one of my excursions or spa appointments and at some point he’d managed to call ahead and get reservations added for the ones Andy had already helped me book.
I was willing to skip the scuba diving and the waterfall hike, and I could’ve easily been persuaded to skip my spa appointments, but William insisted we go to them all. He even joined me for sunrise meditation one morning, even though it meant pulling our naked bodies out of bed in the dark and putting on more clothing than we’d worn all week.
For our last day, William had booked us a horseback ride for two on the beach, complete with a picnic. Watching that man shirtless and riding a horse on the beach was a sight I will never forget. As my grandma had always said, that was a sight an old lady would look back on fondly. His muscles rippled as he moved with the horse, and I’d felt no shame every time he caught me staring at him throughout the ride. When he’d catch me, he’d tell me to watch where I was riding, but the grin that stayed on his face as he spoke said otherwise.
I placed my hands on his face and stared into his dark eyes, shivering from the waves that had soaked through my shorts and tank top. The material hung heavy over my breasts, and the shorts would be caked with wet sand when I stood up, even though I wasn’t sitting on the sand directly. The sun that had been setting over the water was almost gone, and before long, we’d be sitting in the sand in the dark.
William pressed another kiss to my lips before lifting me off of him and to my feet and following me to his. We stood there for a moment and laughed, wiping the sand from our legs and shorts. No matter how much we wiped at it, we never seemed to get it all. I shrugged and grabbed his hand, knowing there were showers by the entrance where we could rinse off before we got back on the shuttle.
When we got back to the room, William ordered room service and set the plates up on the table. I changed into a dry pair of panties and one of his button-down shirts, the same thing I’d been wearing around the room for most of the week. We sat in what had become our regular spots on either side of the bamboo-style table and ate in a contented silence. He watched me take another bite of the fish in front of me, and then he cleared his throat.
