My Boss’s Secret by Taryn Quinn

Four

“Doyou think it’s weird we’ve had sex in multiple positions, but we don’t know each other’s name?”

I stroked a hand down her still damp hair, currently spread over my chest as she nibbled at a chocolate-covered strawberry. We were on our second platter this afternoon. The first had been part of breakfast.

My girl had a healthy appetite in more ways than one.

“If you want, I’ll tell you my name.” I tried to sound casual. This wasn’t any big thing, even if it felt that way more with every passing moment. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

My heartbeat kicked up as she leaned up to offer me a bite of berry, smearing chocolate over my lips with a giggle as I nipped her fingers and chewed. Her laughter was already my favorite sound in the entire world.

Right after the sound of her moans. That breathless hitching cry would always rank first. I was a lucky SOB that I’d heard her make that noise pretty damn often already.

She fed both of us for a few minutes, trading off. One for her, one for me. Until the platter was empty and she flashed me a pout. “All gone.”

Before I could offer to order another ten dozen strawberries if it would make her happy, she pushed the platter aside and shifted onto her belly, baring her beautiful tits at me, all pink and swollen from my scruff, lips, and teeth. She might not want strings, but she would wear my marks for as long as they lasted.

Not long enough. They’re as temporary as you are, pal.

She folded her arms on my chest and rested her chin on them. “What’s your favorite color?”

I tried to school my features to keep my disappointment from showing. It wasn’t any big deal. We’d made an arrangement, and I was a man of my word. Besides, I was the king of one-night-stands.

Even if this had already gone so far beyond that, both in duration and intensity.

I tapped her nose. “I offer my name, and you ask for my favorite color?”

“A name is given to you, not chosen for yourself. But you pick your favorite color. So, that’s more personal.”

“Hmm. Black.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Why black?”

“Because it’s every color all in one.”

“Indecisive and fickle. Got it.”

“I’m not the least bit indecisive. I went for you the first time I saw you.” I rolled her under me, thereby knocking the empty berry platter off the bed.

“Whoops.” Her sunlit hair spilled every which way as she laughed up at me, her hazel eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. “We made a mess.”

“Not the first time.” I notched my already interested cock between her thighs, still slick from the shower we’d had not long ago.

That was our second since last night, thanks to our nighttime—and daytime—entertainment. I’d lost track of how many times I’d come. The same went for her.

All I knew was my cock was sore but happy. Just like the rest of me, except for the knocking on my brain every time she reminded me how temporary this all was.

“What’s yours?” I tugged on a lock of her hair, wrapping it around my finger like a corkscrew. It was thick and shiny, and she always moaned when I gripped it while she licked her way down my body. She hadn’t sucked me off yet, but the day was young.

The hourglass wasn’t ticking down audibly second by second, like a metronome. That was all in my head.

“Wow, seriously?” She sounded awed. “I figured this topic would be a nice refresher, and yet you’re still knocking at heaven’s door.”

I glanced down between us, smothering a laugh as I shifted away from the wet pearly gates. “Damn right it’s heaven. But I need my latex wings before I fly in.”

“You’re ridiculous. And cute. But ridiculous.” She cupped my cheeks and kissed me hard, rolling on top of me to straddle me in the center of the bed. She stretched her arms over her head on a yawn, and sweet mercy, my tongue practically lolled out of my mouth.

At first, she’d been shy about being naked with so much glass surrounding us. I hadn’t moved to close the curtains either. Who wanted to block the view to paradise? Then she’d realized how private this part of the beach really was, and she’d relaxed. I hoped that maybe my influence was rubbing off on her too.

Just like her giggles and easy affection when she wasn’t thinking too hard were having the same effect on me.

“These fucking tits.” I grasped one in my palm, rolling the stiff nipple between my fingers. “I’d like to go to sleep between them. Wake up there. Live in the valley between your mountains of glory.”

“Mountains? Oh my God. You’re a dork.” She dipped down to kiss me, her thick ropes of hair sheltering us briefly from the unrelenting sun streaming in through the French doors.

“Your dork,” I said between kisses.

“Mine,” she agreed all too readily.

We’d created this fantasy world and for now, we could live here and pretend it would never end.

At least for a little while longer.

“Green,” she said a few minutes later when we ran out of oxygen and needed to gasp for air.

“Green?”

“Yeah.” She traced the edge of her pale pink nail under my eye. “This exact green. It’s like emerald shot with lighter streaks of peridot.”

My ears went hot. “My eyes are not striped, thank you.”

“No, not striped. Not exactly. The color’s like…layered. So when your expression shifts, different facets—”

I grabbed her and she squealed out a laugh when I shifted her under me again. “Kindly.” Kiss. “Shut.” Kiss. “Up.”

“They’re still manly,” she assured me when I allowed her to speak again. “Beautiful eyes are an asset, not a curse.” She pressed her face into my biceps as I glowered. “I don’t hate you because you’re beautiful.”

“You’re a menace.”

“Your menace,” she shot back.

A glowing ember settled in the empty pit in my chest where my heart had once resided. “Mine is right.” I caught her lower lip between my teeth before I set about proving it.

Again.

And again.

* * *

As obsessed as I was with having her gorgeous body wrapped around me at all times, I did have to check in with work. Vacations—even doctor mandated ones—didn’t care about my abundant client cases.

We’d used up the condoms I had and a couple from her strip, courtesy of grandma. I was quite fond of that woman, even if the providing your granddaughter with protection thing struck me as extremely strange.

Even my dad wouldn’t have done that for me, though he had offered me a five-thousand dollar bottle of vintage wine “to enjoy together” when I’d brought Rina home with me from college. By then, I’d been way past losing my virginity, but I’d also been under the drinking age. But boys will be boys, and rich dads liked to spoil their favorite sons.

I hadn’t been the favorite even then. But I’d been further up the totem pole than I was now, that was for sure.

“My hands are a mess.”

Her voice broke through my busy inner dialogue. I glanced over at her as she studied her nails and wrinkled her nose.

“They’re beautiful,” I said distantly, flipping through emails on my phone.

Nothing that pressing. Lots of client emails forwarded from Eli, one of the junior associates in my firm, because of course I had to handle every-damn-thing, vacation or not.

The problem with being extremely hands-on with your clients? They expected that white glove treatment 24/7, 365 days a year. Especially since I didn’t take vacations.

I wouldn’t have taken this one either if my doctor hadn’t basically ordered me to. She hadn’t listened to any of my excuses either.

And I had many of them.

“Says the man who helped wreck my nails.”

“So, let’s book a manicurist along with the masseuse.”

I looked up to find her staring at me from where she was curled up in the chair. Her hair was wrapped on top of her head in a towel and she wore only a loosely belted plush hotel robe. Her cute feet were bare.

We’d debated going out and exploring, but we’d contented ourselves with other, more personal sights. Besides, I’d rather gaze at her than at stalls of sunglasses and bags any day.

“They’d have to come here because I don’t have any other clothes with me. If I wear the Cinderella dress back to my room, my grandmother will think I’m a hussy. We have adjoining suites.”

“You mean she’d be thrilled you were a hussy, since you haven’t gotten any since the dawn of time.”

She tossed a rolled-up newspaper at my head, nailing me with it, and I rubbed my forehead and grinned. Damn good aim.

“Just because you can get some anytime you step outside, you don’t have to judge.”

“Not judging. I told you it’d been awhile for me too.”

“A year. Pfft. I have underwear older than that.”

“Do they all have bunny tails?”

“You’re asking for it.”

I tossed aside my phone without looking where it ended up. “I am. Are you going to give it to me?”

“Do you still want it to be operational after you’re gone? Because I’m pretty sure we’re in the red zone now.” She pressed her legs together with a wince. “I mean, absolutely no complaints but—”

I didn’t hear anything after the “you’re gone” part. It was just a haze of white noise in my ears.

I rose to move to the room phone. “We both can use that massage. And they have estheticians on staff so you can get a fresh manicure.”

“Wait.”

I paused with my hand on the phone. If I clenched it harder than necessary, she couldn’t tell. “Yeah?”

“You mean that sexy couples’ massage, right?”

“Yes, if you’re okay with it.”

She bit her lip.

“I’ve seen you from every possible angle. What’s the problem?”

“Not all angles,” she said stubbornly, sliding her hands under her arms as if she was chilled.

Which was patently impossible. The room was temperature moderated to be absolutely perfect, with a warm breeze floating off the ocean.

“Any that are left, I’ll see by the time we’re through.” I put extra emphasis on the final word to see if it affected her the way it did me.

She never even blinked.

“Not just you. He’ll see me.”

“The masseuse I’m contacting is female.” I tightened my jaw. “Her partner works here as well. Then you can choose which one you feel more comfortable with.”

She immediately brightened. “Sounds good. Thanks.”

I rolled my shoulders and turned to make the call.

After I finished, I found her on the deck. She was leaning on the railing, the shoulder of her robe dipping off alluringly. I kissed her bare skin, and she smiled up at me, but the lines of tension were back around her eyes.

Was she worried about the whole massage deal or were second thoughts slipping in? As seductive as this whole scenario was, I was already chomping at the bit to know more about how her fascinating mind worked.

Fuck it all, why wasn’t the physical enough now? It always had been before.

I hadn’t been lying last night when I’d said it was the best experience of my life. I was just a greedy bastard. I wanted more than her sighs and her kisses and her smiles. I wanted the time to learn all about her.

Dial it back or she’ll run. You know that.

I lowered my chin to the top of her head and took a long breath of her rich vanilla scent mixed with the sea. “You’re going to burn out here.” I tugged the robe back into place. “Delicate fair skin.”

“How do you do it?” she asked softly.

“What?”

“Just roll with everything as it comes. Not that I know you that well. I’m trying not to think about how little I know about you.” A hitching laugh left her as she shielded her eyes and turned back to me. “I need my damn sunglasses.”

“I can have your things sent over here. Or I can order some clothes and some sunglasses for you to be delivered.”

“And what, I’ll just never go back to my room? Never talk to my grandmother? I’ve already swiped away all her messages. I know she wants deets, but they can wait.”

“Deets?” I swallowed. “Deets?”

She grinned and turned her face into my chest. I wasn’t wearing anything but my boxers, but I had a good base tan going already.

Mediterranean skin, my paler than snow mom always said. She was the light one and my father was the dark. Balance in all things.

I’d given up long ago finding that for myself.

“Not that detailed. She just wants to make sure I’m having fun. I haven’t in so long.” She peeked up at me, her hair falling forward around her pretty face. “Why me?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“It felt right.”

Truer words. So right, I couldn’t imagine walking away. “Right for a couple days,” I said lightly, wanting her to argue with me. To deny it.

She kissed the spot where my heart pounded so hard that I wondered how she didn’t see it through my skin. “The best kind of right. No worries about what comes after. It can stay this wonderful, perfect thing.”

I filled my hands with her hair and relished the sensation of her in my arms. Curling against me with more trust than I would’ve ever expected.

“How did you end up here?” I stroked her hair. “Just needed a getaway with your grandmother?”

She sighed, her breath puffing against my chest. “We’re on her honeymoon.”

“Come again?”

“Yeah. My sixty-nine-year-old Grams can get remarried years later—well, she intended to, anyway—and I haven’t even managed it once. Not that I’m ready for marriage,” she added hastily. “Besides, my cat doesn’t like men.”

“So much information.” I pressed my finger against her nose until she gave in and smiled. “Marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“How do you know? Were you married?”

The hint of suspicion in her voice would’ve made me laugh if I hadn’t wanted to avoid this line of conversation altogether. “Just saying. Obviously, it wasn’t that great for your grandmother or else she’d be with her guy instead of you. Or wait, are you saying you came with them on their honeymoon? Which is a bit…odd.”

“Too odd for you?” Only her fluttering lashes clued me into her bullshitting me.

“Nothing about you is too odd for me. We should go meet them. Go on a double date. And hey, we have some condoms left, maybe they need some? We could share.”

“I can’t with you.” She looped her arms around my neck. “No, they broke up and Grams decided she wasn’t wasting a perfectly good trip.”

“What happened?”

“I think they realized they were settling down too fast.”

“At almost seventy? Assuming he’s her age too.”

She jerked a shoulder. “You don’t know my Grams.”

“No.” But I wanted to, I realized. She sounded like a character.

And I never would, because we’d put this…whatever the hell it was in a box, and we were both determined not to drag it back into our real life.

Or I had been determined before last night.

“She knew I was overdue for a change of scenery since I haven’t been on vacation in forever,” she continued, interrupting my thoughts, “and my boss almost lost his mind because I dared to give him only a week’s notice. He’s kind of a hard ass. But Pres—” She broke off as chimes sounded in the next room.

“Do you need to get that?”

She shook her head. “No. That’s just Grams texting. I’ll reply later. She’s probably just saying you’re hot. Which you are. But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Thanks. I think.” I rubbed her ass through the robe. “You didn’t show her my ass, right?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, you mean that sneaky naked shot I took? I thought you missed that.” She laughed when I poked her in the side. “No. That’s just for me.” She sighed. “I just want to be with you. Nothing else intruding. Is that too selfish?”

“And you wondered why I want your clothes sent here, or better yet, I want to buy you a whole new trip wardrobe?” I nibbled her earlobe. “You looked so fucking sexy in that red dress and those Cinderella shoes. I didn’t get to see your moves yet.”

“Oh, you’ve seen a lot of them. I wouldn’t mind dancing with you though. We could skip the massage—”

“Do you trust me?”

She swallowed audibly. “Would I be here if I didn’t?”

“Then trust me that you’ll enjoy this. It’s a different sort of experience for me too. We’ll figure it out together.”

“If you’ve never had a couples’ massage, how can I trust you that I will enjoy it?”

Her pragmatism made me fall silent. “Hmm. Good point. Okay, don’t trust me. Maybe it’ll suck. We can wing it together. The tables will be in the same room. And if Orlo doesn’t touch you the way you prefer, then we can swap.”

“Orlo?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t actually know what I prefer.” She bit her lip. “Can I keep my robe on?”

“How about your cute bunny panties? As long I’m the only one who can pull your fluffy little tail…” I trailed off and laughed as she leaned up on her tiptoes to stop me from talking.

“Shut up, sexy island stranger,” she breathed between kisses.

“Shutting up, my sexy Cinderella.”