“Lay on your stomach,” Darren orderedme.
Damnit.
I rolledover onto my stomach,finding the sand to be pretty comfortable as I sank into it on topof the blanket. Darren moved my hair out of the way, and slowlypulled the string of my bikini top open. Fuckingasshole.
Straddling myhips, he squeezed some sunscreen onto his hands and started rubbing it on my back. It was coldat first, but the warmth of his hands shadowed that within seconds.He made good work of the lotion as he practically massaged my back,getting in deep and making sure he didn’t leave a single squareinch uncovered. It actually felt really nice, and I moaned a littlein response. I could practically hear him smile as his skilledhands continued to ease the tension that had taken residence in themuscles of my back and shoulders. Hot baths and Jacuzzi jets werenice, but they never compared to the hands of aman.
When Darren wasdone, he pushed himself down to my legs and very gently spreadthem, as if he was afraid of startling me. But he had, and Iimmediately turned my head to see what he wasdoing.
“Relax,” he said. “I just don’t want to leave a single squareinch of you unprotected.”
Protected. Pfft. What the fuck does he know aboutprotection?
If he wanted meprotected, he should let me go, but I suppose it was a good signthat he had some concern for my well-being.
I relaxed a littleand let him finish rubbing the sunscreeninto my skin. When he was done, to mysurprise, he retied theback of my bikini andnudged me with his hands to turn me on to my back. He finished whatwas left of my legs, going extra slow, and he actually looked likehe was enjoying himself.
When he got to vof my thighs, I grew nervous again, worried he might take advantageof his position, but he didn’t. Squeezing more lotion into hishands, he rubbed it over the slight bulges of my abs, up the sidesof my rib cage, and finally ended at my hips. His hands ran underthe ties of the bathing suit and I couldn’t help but hold mybreath. Again, he bypassed my anxiety and went back up to my ribs.And then he went for my chest;though I had to give him props for trying to be as respectful aspossible, it was still strange to see. Once he had my chest andarms done, he moved away from me so I could situp.
“There, all done,” he said, smiling with satisfaction as if hehad done a good job.
Maybe he washaving a reflection week of his own?
“Thank you,” I said, wiping some of the contents of theleftover lotion onto my face.
“Thirsty?” he asked me.
“Yes,” I said, hoping he had some whiskey in that basket. Idoubted it, though.
What he pulled outinstead were two champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne. Hepopped the cork and poured us both a glass, handing meone.
“Cheers,” he said, holding his glass out to me. I clinked myglass to his and brought it to my lips. The taste was sweet andcrisp as it trickled down into my belly. I was more of a hardliquor kind of girl, but this was actually prettygood.
I laid back on myelbows, crossed my ankles, and looked out at the water. I wanted torun into it and swim as far away from here as I could. But I stilldidn’t know where here was and I was fairly certain I would die ahorrible painful death when the collar would surely activate andsend my lifeless body to the bottom of the ocean where no one wouldfind me.
“So you’ve really lived here all your life?” I asked, honestlycurious.
“Yes. Like I said, this was my family’s home,” hereplied.
I noddedin acknowledgment. He wasno stranger to this area then.
“It’s an awfully big house for just one person. Have you everthought about moving anywhere else?”
“Well, I have an apartment in upstate New York, a cabin inAspen, Colorado, and a private island in the Caribbean to name afew, so I guess that should answer yourquestion.”
“Wow, that’s a lot,” I replied a little shocked andenvious.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.” I shrugged.
“Do you know what I’m curious about?” he said deviously, hisbody leaning toward me as he eyed me up and down.
I turned to him,suddenly very cautious about his sudden curiosity.“What?”
“What your childhood was like.”
I narrowed my eyesat him. He was trying to get me to open up to him, but I suppose itwas fair since I had asked him the very samequestion.
I shrugged. “Itwas good. I was a very active kid. My parents let me joingymnastics when I was little. When I got bored of that and my dadhad nothing left to teach me about fighting, I went into martialarts. I’m sure you can already tell I was a bit ofa tomboy.”
“Yes, I can see that.” He almost chuckled. “And what aboutyour parents? What were they like?”
And now I’d hadenough.
“Why are you bothering to ask me this? I thought you didn’twant me thinking about my past life.”
Darren respondedwith a no nonsense glare and I felt myself growagitated.
OhGod, how dare I question him?
“Your childhood is different, and besides, I’m trying to learnas much as I can about you.”
“Why? So you can attempt to manipulate me somemore?”
“Jaden, just answer the goddamn question. Don’t ruin the nicetime we’re having.”
Yes,because we were having such a grand oletime.
I released my sighthrough my nose and glared at him.
“My mom is a hairdresserand my dad died when I was twenty-one.There, happy?”
I looked away fromhim now, pissed off I had given him that little bit of information,even though I was sure he was already aware of it. It was hard forme to talk about my dad, since the wound was still fresh. Evenafter four years, I had never really gotten over his death, and Iwasn’t sure I ever would.
“I know,” Darren said softly. “And I’m sorry. That must havebeen hard for you.”
Yeah, heknew. Of course, he knew. Heknew everything about me that was on paper. But thepaperdidn’tgive away shit when itcame to the real deal. My
