I arch and fling my hair back over my shoulders, recovering my groove. “I decided I was going to stay, and I thought I’d try and convince you why it was a good idea.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him and hope he’s not noticing my bullet wound, and staring at my sexiness instead.
He adjusts himself and nudges both the blond guy and the new guy. “Quit fucking staring at my girl.”
“You’re nailing that?” the new guy says. “Damn.”
I tilt my head at Rafe. “He can if he wants to.” I pat the bed, ignoring the fact that I’ve probably strewn rose petals everywhere. “Wanna come and talk about it?”
“Rafe, my man, those are handcuffs on the bed,” one of them whispers. “If you pass this up, you’re a goddamn idiot.”
“You guys get the fuck out of here already,” Rafe growls. He moves forward and tugs the sheets over my breasts. “Quit goddamn staring.”
The blond grins. “We just came to get the new Madden game.” He moves to the wall and plucks a few of the games off the shelf. “Though we’ll stick around if—”
“Go,” Rafe snarls.
They laugh, elbow each other like a pair of frat boys, and exit the room. Rafe shuts the door behind them quickly and then locks it.
He turns to me. “Ava.”
“Rafe,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and standing upright. I’m at my full height now, and he can see my bra, my garters, my lack of panties, and my freshly bare everything. I strut across the room in my red heels toward him. “You and I need to talk.”
“That’s what this is about?” he asks. “Talking?”
“Nope,” I say, and grab him by the front of his shirt. I tug him toward the bed and he follows willingly. “This is about me saying that I missed you.” I direct him to the edge of the bed and he sits down with a thump. I unbutton his shirt, revealing a wifebeater undershirt and lots and lots of hard, brown muscle. I sigh with pleasure at the sight. Man, I’ve missed looking at him. He’s gorgeous. I even dig the scars. I strip off his shirt, and his gaze flicks down to my bare *, inches away from his mouth. His hands move to my ass, to cup me and drag me forward, but I shake my head. “Lie back.”
He does, and I crawl over his body to retrieve the handcuffs, then take one wrist and cuff it to a bedpost. This causes my wound to twinge with pain, but I’m more interested in seduction than a few aches and pains. Besides, Rafe’s not putting up a lick of protest as I crawl all over him, which excites me. Instead, he’s gazing up at me. “What’s all this for, Ava?”
“Persuasion,” I tell him. Then I move down his chest and start kissing skin. “I need to convince you of all the reasons why I need to stay here on the island.”
He groans. “Baby. I failed you.”
I sit up straight, just before I’m about to lick his belly button. Is that what all this is about? “How did you fail me?”
His gaze is hungry as it feasts on my body. He looks me up and down, as if he doesn’t know where to rest his gaze. It’s probably a sensory overload for him, which makes me proud. He’s not talking, so I straddle him and rub my * on his bare stomach. I’m wet already, because seducing him turns me on.
“Talk and I’ll let you touch me,” I say, reaching between my legs and beginning to play with my clit as I sit on top of him. He reaches for me with his free hand and I slap it away. “Nope. You haven’t earned that yet. Talk to me. Tell me why you keep trying to send me away.”
“Rose,” he says gruffly. “I know you were with me because you wanted to save her. And I failed you.”
I sigh and shake my head at him. “Rose got herself into trouble, and I’m the one that failed her. And if you think I slept with you because of bribery, you’re an asshole.” I lean forward and jab a finger into his chest. “I slept with you because I thought you were sexy and I wanted to. Because I’m crazy about you. Still am.”
“And Rose?” he asks.
Boy, he’s so sure that he’s impossible to love, isn’t he? My jabbing finger trails down his chest, and my other hand is sliding up and down against my clit. “I’m still processing her death, you know? It doesn’t feel real to me. Like I might turn the corner and there’s Rose, flirting with some old businessman.” My breath catches and I have to stop for a moment. Crying over my best friend while I’m sexily straddling my guy is not the look I’m trying to achieve. “I just . . . I’m torn between being devastated that I lost my best friend and furious that she was such an idiot. And I do feel a bit lost without her, and it doesn’t help that you keep pushing me away when I need you the most.”