Seven Nights Read online

  “Yes. That, and the personal attention Sean and I give, especially to our most important guests.”

  She glanced up. “Like the boat tour you were giving the past couple of days. It’s unusual for the owner of a resort to do something so personal.”

  Will nodded. “That was Sean’s brilliant idea. He and I trade off on host duties. In fact, today it’s his turn to play guide. Two very important guests arrived last night. Sean hosted a special dinner for them and today they’re going fishing in the marina.”

  “So Sean will be out today?” she asked, as innocently as she could muster.

  Will shrugged. “For a few hours, at least. I have a fantastic idea, though.”

  “And what is that?” Leah asked with a smile. She liked Will. It was obvious he looked out for Sean and really believed in him as a businessman.

  “Since you’re writing an article, I think you ought to go along with Sean and his party. That way you can personally attest to the kind of one-on-one attention we give our guests.”

  Leah bit her tongue before she could admit she’d already experienced Sean’s ‘personal touch’.

  “I think it’s a great idea,” she said with a smile. “Anything for my, uh, work.”

  “Sean feels the same way.” Will winked. “And I’m sure the couple in question won’t mind, either. Both of them are pretty press hungry.”

  “Who are they?” She took one last swig of her coffee and stood to walk with Will into the main dining room.

  “Jack Price and his current wife… is it wife number four? Anyway, Jack Price and Melanie Green.”

  Leah’s mouth dropped open. “The Academy Award winning actor and the supermodel?”

  “Those are the ones.” Will laughed. “I told you we have high class clientele. Anyway, you’ll get to see Sean hard at work. He’s a real pro in these situations. They’ll be eating out his hand by the end of the day. So, will you meet them at the docks around ten?”

  “I’ll be there.” She reached out a hand and Will shook it. “It’s really been a pleasure meeting you. I can see why Sean has so much faith in you.”

  Will smiled down at her. “Leah, I have faith in Sean. This whole place is his dream, I just shuffle the papers to make it fly.” His smile faded. “He’s a good friend. I’d hate to see him get hurt.”

  Leah felt the power of his statement. It was clearly directed at her. Only she knew that her former fiancé had more power to rip her apart than she could ever hope to hold over him. That was the way it had always been.

  “Have a good time,” Will said as he turned away and hurried out of the restaurant.

  Leah frowned. He’d said Sean was all business when it came to these guest outings. Maybe that was best. Trapped with him in a situation where their passion wouldn’t have a chance to overflow, she’d have a chance to let her investigative mind take back over. She had to get her detachment back somehow. Before it was too late.

  ***

  As if these stupid guest outings weren’t hard enough, Sean had to watch Leah sit on the deck in a black halter-top bikini. Black. Halter-top.

  It was his own fault. He’d been the one who’d chosen the swimwear. At the time it had seemed like a great idea. But when he’d picked it, he’d imagined her wearing it for his eyes only. He’d envisioned them alone on one of the resort’s secluded beaches. Slipping the knot at her neck loose and revealing her perfect breasts. Breasts he’d suck on for hours while she writhed beneath him, begging for his cock.

  He’d never pictured her wearing it when he couldn’t touch her. Or wearing it in the company of leering Jack Price, a ridiculously rich actor who was ogling her like she was the dessert cart after a fantastic meal.

  Leah laughed at something the Oscar winner said and her blond hair shivered against her bare back.

  “This is a great view, Sean.”

  Sean turned to watch supermodel Melanie Green sashay across the deck and take a spot beside him on the terrace. She looked down below to where her husband was grinning like an idiot. All he was missing was a little droplet of drool in the corner of his mouth when he looked at Leah.

  “I guess Jack is enjoying it, too,” she mused as she lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. “Does it bother you that he’s hitting on your wife?”

  Sean shook his head. “My wife?”

  “Isn’t Leah your wife?” Melanie blew out a circle of smoke between pouty, collagen-enhanced lips. “I assumed she was by the way you two look at each other. People that stupidly in love almost always make the mistake of getting married.”

  Stupidly in love. Sean sighed. Maybe he was, but Leah didn’t seem to have reached that point. He knew full well she’d enjoyed making love the night before. Yet she’d refused his offer to spend the night with him. That stung. To make things even worse, this morning she’d been coolly polite, almost aloof. She’d definitely behaved more like a reporter and less like a woman who’d spent a few passionate hours in the arms of a former lover.

  “Sean?”

  Melanie was staring at him like he’d sprouted a second head. It was evident she wasn’t used to being ignored. Sean forced himself to stop staring at Leah and put his attention back on his guest.

  “So, I take it you’re stupidly in love then, yourself, huh?” He laughed, but it sounded hollow.

  “Me?” The model cackled as she pushed a long wave of brown hair off her shoulder. Her red highlights glowed unnaturally in the bright sun. “Nah, I don’t believe in love. Jack and I are a business merger. I’m not saying we don’t have our fun, but…”

  She trailed off like the rest of her sentence was self-explanatory. Sean supposed it was. They had a good time in bed, but there was no love lost between them. He sighed. It wouldn’t have been that way with Leah. If they had married when they’d planned all those years ago… well, he knew it would have been a happy union.

  Except she’d run away. She’d turned back to the family who despised him without so much as a backward glance. He’d never understand why. Now all he could do was try to remind her of how good things could have been between them.

  “Why don’t we go down and join them, eh?” he asked. He’d taken just about all he could of Jack Price’s leering stares at Leah’s cleavage when she wasn’t looking.

  He motioned to the short staircase that led from the top deck of the yacht to the lower deck. Melanie smiled at him to reveal beautiful, chemically whitened teeth. Instead of taking his silent direction, she slipped her hand through his arm and pressed her body up flush against his side.

  “You guide me. I’m afraid my sea legs aren’t so great,” she said, too close to his ear for comfort.

  An uneasy smile was all Sean could manage. He certainly didn’t want Leah to see some supermodel cuddling up to him, but he had little choice. The famous couple were heavy hitters in both the Hollywood and New York sets. He had to impress them in order to promote the island. He only hoped it wouldn’t hurt his chances with Leah.

  Of course, if he had to be jealous of Jack Price, why shouldn’t she be of Melanie?

  As they reached the lower deck, Leah looked up. Her smile and laughter faded at the sight of the model clinging to Sean’s arm, but immediately she brightened like it didn’t bother her in the least.

  “There you two are.” She rose from the low seat at the front of the boat. “I was wondering when you were coming down. Melanie, I’m going to return your charming husband to you while I have a little talk with Sean.”

  She met his eyes and while her tone was light and carefree, her look was no nonsense. She wasn’t asking Sean to talk, she was ordering him.

  “Oh, do you have to run off?” Jack asked as Melanie sat down beside him and sprawled herself across his bare chest. Despite the sexy pose, she looked bored. “We were having such a nice time.”

  “I’m afraid so.” Leah’s tone was so friendly it couldn’t be trusted. Sean grinned. Even if she pretended to enjoy hanging out with a handsome movie star, she didn’t want to be with
him. “I have a few questions I have to ask Sean for my article.”

  “Oh, well if it’s for the article.” Suddenly Jack was all business. “I certainly won’t stand in the way. You got enough quotes from me, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, yes.” Leah’s smile thinned. “I have more than enough. Thank you for understanding.” She placed her hand into the crook of Sean’s arm, rather like Melanie had done earlier, except this time, Sean’s body reacted. “Sean, can we go below deck?”

  He nodded blindly. She could have asked him to swim to Miami with her and he would have agreed. It was a little scary the kind of power she held over him.

  Leah practically dragged him across the deck and down the short flight of stairs into the kitchen and sleeping area of the boat. There wasn’t much room in the crowded kitchen, meant for momentary food preparation rather than a long conversation.

  “How long do we have to spend time with these people?” Leah hissed under her breath as she slammed the flimsy door.

  Sean laughed as he leaned back on the low kitchen table. “Is that a question for your article?”

  She glared at him, but he saw a glimmer of humor in her eyes. “Look, I’m just getting a little tired of Stare Boy and Octopussy.”

  “Octopussy?” he repeated with raised eyebrows.

  “How many damn hands does she have to put on you?” Leah folded her arms and stared at him accusingly.

  “Wait a minute.” Sean pushed off from the table and took a few steps toward her. In the small kitchen that translated to being pressed up against her. To his triumph, she shifted slightly, her pupils dilating just enough that he knew his nearness affected her. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice?”

  She snorted, but the sound was weak. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous? I certainly have no claim on you.”

  “Don’t you?” Sean gave into the overpowering urge to wind a loose strand of blond hair around his finger. He brushed the very tips of his fingers across her cheek and her eyes fluttered shut. “I think you know that isn’t true, Leah.”

  She didn’t answer with words, but with a soft whimper as he eased his hand around to cup the nape of her neck. She looked up at him with a wary, need filled gaze, but she didn’t resist as he slowly lowered his head for a kiss.

  And when his lips met hers, she did much more than simply bear the touch. She responded. Her lips parted on a soft sigh and her arms, which had been clenched at her sides, came up around his neck to hold him closer. She kissed him like she needed him, like she’d missed him, and it was the sweetest moment Sean had ever experienced.

  She laughed, a husky sound that came from deep within her chest. Sean had been hard before, but now he hardened to an almost painful degree.

  “So, have you heard of the Mile High Club?” she whispered, her voice wickedly close to his ear. As she waited for his answer, she darted out her tongue and traced along the column of his neck.

  “Having sex on an airplane,” he managed to choke back. “Um, I can do that for you, but not at this particular moment.”

  She hooked one long leg around his and slowly rubbed herself against his throbbing cock. “Actually, I wondered if there’s an equivalent for sea travel.”

  Sean groaned as her fingers trailed a path of fire between their tightly pressed bodies. Finally, she found the waistband of his swim trunks. She peeled the elastic away and dropped her hand inside where she immediately captured his cock in a firm, yet gentle grip.

  Stars exploded in front of Sean’s eyes and it took every ounce of willpower to speak. “Y-You mean like a Thousand Leagues Club or something?” he asked, gasping as she inched her hand down the length of his erection, massaging lightly as she went.

  “That’s the idea.” She smiled up at him with wicked intent. “What do you think?”

  “I think.” He rolled his head back as she slid her hand over the shaft of his penis, then cupped the head before reversing the motion. “I think there are two clients not ten feet away from us, but that I just don’t give a damn anymore.”

  “Good.” Leah laughed as she leaned up to kiss him as hard and hot as he’d ever been kissed before. “I like that attitude.”

  Then her mouth was gone from his, instead dragging down his body. He realized what she was planning to do just about the moment she dropped to her knees, yanked his swim trunks down and took the full length of him between her lips.

  Sean gripped at anything to keep him upright and finally found the edge of the table. He leaned on it with his full weight, groaning as Leah slid her mouth up and down him. Her tongue curled around and around his shaft, delicious and maddening.

  “You’re going to have the entire boat rushing to your aid if you don’t quiet down a little,” she whispered, removing her mouth for a painful moment. Then she returned to her work.

  Sean bit his lower lip until he could taste blood as he tried not to cry out with pleasure, with need, with love. He let go of the table with one hand and plunged it deep into the warm perfumed mass of her hair. Little tendrils wound around the base of his erection, teasing him in time with her mouth and hands.

  “Leah, Leah,” he groaned. “I can’t… I’m going to…”

  Before he could finish, there was light rap at the door. Sean reached out and caught it just before the intruder could push it open and reveal this private, powerful moment to anyone on deck.

  “Sean, Leah?” It was Melanie’s sultry voice. “Everything okay in there? We’re coming into the dock.”

  Sean bit back a lewd curse. Why oh why did they have be interrupted now? Now of all moments in time?

  “We’ll be out in just a minute,” Leah said brightly, never releasing Sean’s penis and never breaking his gaze. “I just have one more question to ask and I think I’ll have everything I need.”

  There was a long pause and then the voice thick with knowing laughter responded, “All right.”

  Melanie’s footsteps faded away and Sean stared down at Leah. “Uh, I guess we should… stop.”

  “Why?” Before he could answer, she put her mouth back on him and with blinding speed he was back to the moment he’d been in before the knock on the door. Ready to explode.

  “I don’t want you to have to-” he began.

  She shook her head. “I don’t have to do anything,” she murmured against him and continued her work despite his attempts to pull back.

  With one last thrust, she drew him deeply into her mouth and Sean could no longer hold back. With a low groan, he spent, gripping her shoulders and hoping no one on deck could hear the moans he couldn’t hold back.

  “I’m sorry,” he panted, wiping a line of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “I wanted to give you some pleasure, too, but it sounds like we’re docking.”

  Leah grinned up at him, then rose to her feet, pulling up his swim trunks as she stood. “Sean, I know you. Tonight is fantasy number three.” As she opened the door, she pressed a kiss against his cheek and whispered, “I know I’ll get much more back than I gave.”

  Then she padded up the stairs onto the deck with only one, hot backwards glance in his direction.

  Chapter Nine

  Leah adjusted her sarong and took one last glance in the mirror before she headed out to the mezzanine level pool. It was empty, but she wasn’t surprised. Sean had already proven he was willing to sacrifice a little of his other guests’ comfort in trade for stolen moments with her.

  Like on the boat that afternoon.

  She blushed when she flashed back to Sean’s tense face as she pleasured him. Her smile grew broader. Sean had changed over the years. The man she’d been engaged to so long ago would have been so focused on his clients, on moving up in the world, that he never would have let her do what she’d done. But now, after all this time apart, he’d not only let her, but lost himself in the powerful act.

  And she’d enjoyed every moment of it. The power, the surge of energy when she broke Sean’s control and forced a groan from his lips.
And the knowledge that she’d given him ultimate pleasure.

  “There you are.”

  Sean stepped from one of the private cabanas on the pool’s edge. He was dressed like her, casual in the same swim trunks he’d had on earlier, his dark hair tousled and tangled around his forehead in little curls. He held two champagne glasses in his hand.

  Leah nearly stumbled on the smooth tile. It didn’t matter whether Sean was dressed to the nines in a suit or stripped down to the bone, he took her breath away every time. Without even trying, he filled her with longing and other, more powerful emotions she couldn’t push away no matter how hard she tried.

  “Is this my fantasy?” she asked. “Are you seducing me with an empty pool where I can swim laps to my heart’s content?”

  He grinned. “Still a swimmer, eh?”

  She nodded. “Every morning, like clockwork.”

  “You’re welcome to an empty pool any time you’d like. Like I’ve told you time and time again, our special guests are always given their heart’s desire. But no. An empty pool isn’t your fantasy. Not tonight, at least.” He motioned to the cabana behind him. “Come on.”

  Wrinkling her brow, Leah did as he’d asked and climbed up the short set of stairs to the empty room. She gazed around her with a gasp. He had transformed the tiny space into an intimate love nest with at least a hundred sparkling candles, as well as a low mattress, pillows and a soft blanket.

  “Sean,” she breathed, and was startled with how her voice echoed in the room. “This is beautiful.”

  He smiled as he pulled the door shut and slid the lock into place. “But?”

  “But?” she repeated, feigning innocence even as she was surprised at how quickly he read her mind. It was a talent he hadn’t lost over the years.

  “I see that look on your face.” He laughed. “There’s a but.”

  She gave him a sheepish smile. “Okay, I admit it. I wonder why you did this here in a cabana on an empty pool deck. Why not in one of our rooms or the beach or any other place?”