Rules of Entanglement

Day 2: Monday


Vanessa sat on the couch, laptop on the coffee table, coffee on the end table. Almost noon and still no sign of Jackson. Which was fine with her. She’d never been more pissed off at a man in all her life. First, he screwed everything up with Robért, and then he had the nerve to not finish what he started.

Shit, what was she saying? She should be grateful he’d had the sense to stop. If she took all of her rules, broke them in a thousand pieces, and molded them into a man, she’d get Jackson. There was no way she was getting involved with him. Right? She nibbled on her lip. Maybe a list of pros and cons would— She shook her head to empty it of that idea. Squash!

After he’d gotten her all worked up the night before and then dumped her for what she hoped had been a shower so cold his balls got frostbite, she’d gone to dinner and then for a walk on the beach to clear her mind. By the time she returned, she felt more levelheaded about the situation. She was a professional and somehow she’d figure out how to get them out of the mess they were in. Until then, she’d play along so Lucie didn’t lose her dream wedding. She refused to fail her friend.

Vanessa had steeled herself and prepared for another confrontation as she’d walked into her bungalow, but a quick look around the room had shown it empty. It wasn’t until she checked the small private yard that she found Jackson, in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, sleeping in the hammock.

Relief and disappointment had washed over her, which then added confusion to the mix. Why would she be disappointed he was sleeping? It wasn’t like she’d looked forward to dealing with him after what happened. When she hadn’t been able to answer her own question, she took advantage of studying him for as long as she liked without social repercussions.

One arm was bent over his head and his other hand rested on his stomach. His face was turned to the side, giving her a beautiful view of his profile. Straight nose, high cheekbones, and a hard square jaw. She imagined a jaw like that could take more than its fair share of punches before affecting it much. His beard was noticeable now, having grown all day. The moonlight slid over his bare chest, tempting her to reach out and feel if it was as smooth as it looked.

Her gaze drifted lower. She tried using the Jedi mind trick to move his hand from his stomach, but it didn’t work. Shocker. With most of his washboard abs covered, she realized his hand was sexy in its own right. Strong with long fingers and sprinkled with a few white scars. Only hours earlier that hand had squeezed her breast and the mere memory of it had the butterflies kicking up dust in her belly.

A trail of dark hair beneath his belly button gained her attention. He didn’t seem to be an overly hairy man, but he still had a light path that led to the— Whoa. Her eyes settled on the maroon pair of underwear. Or rather, what was inside the underwear. She told herself to look away. This bordered on inappropriate and could arguably be violating the man on some subconscious level. And still she stared.

Lying in a hammock, sleeping as peacefully as could be, was a giant of a mostly naked man who was undeniably, and quite impressively…hard.

The tight material of his boxer briefs didn’t allow it the full northerly direction it wanted, but it didn’t let that hinder it. At some point her mouth gaped. She clamped it shut again with a snap of her teeth. Then she spun on her heel and raced to the bedroom.

She took a long shower and then hopped into bed, but every time she closed her eyes she saw Jackson’s hard-on on the inside of her lids. After an hour of lying there, she’d resorted to popping a Benadryl for a pleasant eight-hour coma. By the time she’d awakened, Jackson was gone so she met Robert to go over centerpieces and linens by herself.

Vanessa looked up from her laptop when she heard a key in the door. Jackson walked in with a brilliant smile, freshly shaven and showered, it seemed, in a yellow pair of board shorts—she wondered how many pairs of those he had—and a T-shirt that said, LET’S DO STUFF TONIGHT THAT MAKES TOMORROW AWKWARD.

“Good morning, beautiful. Sleep well?”

The cheerful attitude threw her for a loop, but only briefly. She offered a small smile in return—she wasn’t sure what his game was yet, but she’d be damned if she let him be the only “bigger person”—and said, “Yes, I did, thank you. Of course, I had the most comfortable bed in the world, whereas you slept all night in a hammock. How was that?”

He set the large duffel he’d brought in on the floor and sat beside her. “Are you kidding? Sleeping in a hammock that sways in the breeze underneath the stars? I loved it.”

She picked up her coffee mug and mumbled, “You clearly loved something.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing. So what time did you leave this morning? Where did you go?”

“Am I being examined on the stand, Counselor?”

“Just making conversation. Believe me, if I were examining you on the witness stand, you’d know it by the fear clawing your gut.”

“Only the guilty have claw marks in their guts. What makes you think I’d ever be guilty of something?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “You’re a man. That’s already a huge strike against you, since men find it almost impossible to behave like decent human beings for very long. Eventually you all screw up big.”

“Ouch. That’s a huge generalization, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do. Unfortunately, I haven’t been proven wrong yet.”

“So you’re telling me I’m guilty until proven innocent. Is that it?”

She stood from the couch and crossed to the small kitchen to refill her coffee. “Haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘Expect the worst and hope for the best’?”

“Yeah, but that’s for things like planning parties. You hope for great weather but still set up a tent in case it rains. It’s generally not used in relation to people. That’s downright cynical.”

“True. But the best prediction of the future is looking at the past.”

She hadn’t heard him cross the room, but suddenly he appeared at her side, standing so close his body heat penetrated her thin cami. When he spoke, his voice was soft, concerned. “How many men have hurt you, V?”

“Men I’ve had relationships with?” He inclined his head in the affirmative. Clutching her coffee mug in front of her like a shield of armor, she turned to him and told him the absolute truth. “None.”

…

Jackson watched Vanessa walk back to the couch and settle in with her laptop again. Something was off about her answer. She was so jaded when it came to men and relationships, and yet no one had hurt her in the past? It didn’t make any sense. She was a puzzle with missing pieces, and he wanted to find them.

“How long do you plan on working today?”

She looked up briefly, then continued jotting notes on a yellow legal pad on her knee. “I don’t know, probably for a while yet.”

“Have you been doing that all morning?”

“Yes, I have. What were you doing all morning?”

He smiled and leaned his hips back on the counter. “Afraid I’d run off with the maid, darling?”

She looked up, gave him an exaggerated smile, and batted her eyes innocently. “I’d hoped.”

He slapped a hand over his heart. “Wife, you wound me.”

“I’m not your wife yet, sugarbug, and once I can figure it out, I won’t be your fiancée for much longer, either.”

“Well,” he said, rubbing his hands together, “then I’d better make the best of it until then. You’ve got exactly a half hour left to toil on those boring-ass files before I whisk you away from here.”

“Since when did fiancé become interchangeable with master? I’m not going anywhere until I’m damn good and ready.”

He walked over, cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her firmly on the mouth. “Then get damn good and ready in exactly half an hour.” Then he left the bungalow and a stunned redhead behind.

It took him only about twenty minutes to get the things he needed for their afternoon. He’d hunted down Robért, who had only been too happy to help him put a picnic basket together with food from one of the restaurants and some bottles of water. Since he had a few extra minutes, he stopped at the beach bar and enjoyed the view of the crystal blue ocean and chatted with the bartender.

Thirty minutes past the time he’d left, he walked up the path to the bungalow with basket in hand, fully expecting to find Vanessa in the same spot he’d left her. But to his surprise she was sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs on the front lanai, arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

“You didn’t tell me how to prepare.”

“Uh…what?”

“I have no idea what we’re doing or where we’re going. How am I supposed to know what to wear or if I need to bring anything? If we’re going sightseeing then I’ll want to wear shorts and a cute top and comfortable shoes for extended walking. If we’re going swimming somewhere then I’ll want to wear a suit and flip-flops. If we’re going to lunch in one of the restaurants at the resort I have to dress up a little, which is neither of the outfits I mentioned previously. And that doesn’t even cover my makeup and hair.”

Jackson stood still, not wanting to make any sudden movements and scare the animal into an attack frenzy. “Holy shit, are all women like this? If you told me to be ready in a half hour I would’ve made sure I wasn’t indecently exposed, then pulled a sixer of beer out of the fridge for the trip.”

She threw her hands up and let them fall to slap her thighs in frustration. “Why am I not surprised?”

That’s when it hit him; this wasn’t anger. It was distress because she didn’t have control over the situation. She stopped working, so she obviously wanted to enjoy an afternoon out of the house, but given the circumstances, she didn’t know how.

Setting the basket on the steps, he walked over to her and brought her up by her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you needed more information. Next time I’ll make sure you at least have an idea of how to prepare for any surprises I make for you. Deal?”

“Next time?” Her face softened and the sparks quelled in her green eyes. “You plan on giving me more surprises?”

He hadn’t really thought about what he said, but now he took a few moments to evaluate it. “Yeah, I think I will. I don’t have anything in mind at the moment, but something tells me I’m going to like keeping you on your toes.”

She bit the corner of her lip and lowered her eyes. “Jackson, about last night…”

With a finger he lifted her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. “What about it?”

“I acted like you’d done something on purpose to make this week difficult for us, which is ridiculous. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

The idea wasn’t ridiculous at all. A pang of guilt struck him right in the chest, but though his head told him to tell her the truth right then and there, something else told him to hold onto this time with her just a little while longer.

He tried for an easy smile and said, “I didn’t exactly take the high road with the stunt I pulled to win your game. So we’ll call it even, okay?”

“True,” she said, returning his smile. “So, what am I wearing?”

“A thong and stilettos.”

Her jaw dropped.

“What?” he asked with a look of innocence. “You didn’t mean in my fantasies?”

She laughed and shoved him away.

“Beachwear,” he finally answered. “And you can put a suit on underneath in case you want to lay out or jump in the ocean. If you want to read or nap in the sun, then I’ll entertain myself with a little surfing. The goal is to relax and enjoy Mother Nature.”

“That sounds great. I’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”

Jackson retrieved the basket and waited while she changed. They drove to one of his favorite spots, a secluded beach only the locals knew about, so it wasn’t clogged with tourists. He parked his Jeep and took the picnic basket and other supplies to a nice spot next to a high cliff. He spread two blankets next to each other, one in the sun and one in the shade of the cliff, so she could get out of the sun if she needed to. With her fair complexion, he was afraid she’d get a tan like a lobster.

“Jax, this is…absolutely the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”

He liked the fact she used his nickname and hoped it meant she was starting to like him, if only a little. Standing behind her, he tentatively laid his hands on her hips, unsure of how she’d react. Just because he fought a hard-on every time she looked his way didn’t mean she wanted any affection from him. When she relaxed against his chest on a sigh, he felt a high rush through him like when he knew he’d won the first round of a match. Feeling bolder, he circled his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head as he tried to view the scape through her eyes.

Cotton-ball clouds lined a powder blue sky and met the royal blue ocean in a flawless horizon. As the eye traveled in toward the shore, royal turned to cerulean, which turned to aqua, and each with several shades in between until the clear water finally met the white beach. To the right, black cliffs covered in a myriad of foliage stretched up into the sky and out into the ocean, tying everything together in a magnificent package of paradise.

“Yeah. It’s in my top three favorite spots.”

“Will you show me the other two before I leave?”

The question took him by surprise. This was in second place. The third one wasn’t so much picturesque as it was his favorite hangout spot with friends, so he could for sure take her there.

But his absolute favorite spot was very private to him. Though he wasn’t the only one who knew about it, his “neighbors” rarely hiked that far up the mountain to enjoy it. He thought of it as his own slice of heaven, a place to think and reflect. A place he’d never shown anyone before.

He pictured taking Vanessa, seeing her there in his place, and surprisingly it didn’t bother him like he thought it would. In fact, now that the idea was in his head, he kind of wanted her there. Besides, soon she’d be gone, so it wasn’t like he had to worry about her randomly intruding on his privacy in the future.

Remembering he hadn’t yet answered her, he said, “Definitely.”

“Good,” she said, stepping away from him. “Now, what’s in the basket? Because I’m starved.”

…

They sat next to each other on the sun-drenched blanket. Vanessa licked the strawberry juice from her fingers and moaned in pure foodie bliss. Jackson had somehow wrangled one of the resort chefs into packing a veritable feast, and she’d eaten until she passed “stuffed” about three times over.

As he drank some water and watched shore birds play in the surf, she took the time to study his tattoo stretching across his shoulder and bicep. She’d never been one of those girls enamored with ink, but she found the images in Jackson’s rather beautiful in a masculine way.

Waves inside a black band wrapped around his bicep. From that, ocean waves arced up and over his shoulder with other more geometric-looking waves. Everything was in stark black with the exception of four cherry blossoms with red petals and yellow centers. Two of them were in the middle of the design and the other two were riding the crest of a giant swell.

“Does your tattoo have a meaning behind it?”

He looked at his arm, then up at her. “Sort of. I wanted something to represent the culture here and show my love for the ocean and how much it’s become a part of me since I moved to the island. Also, Maori tattoos are believed to have protective qualities, so putting the waves on me is supposed to keep me safe when I surf. But the flowers are really the only things that have any true symbolism.”

“Which is what?” Too pushy. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”

“It’s okay. Cherry blossoms were my mom’s favorite flower. The two inside the main part of the tattoo represent Lucie and me, still trying to make our way through life.” He lowered his head, clearly focusing on the two flowers riding the wave at the top of his shoulder. “These represent our parents…swept away from us by powerful things we couldn’t control.”

Vanessa’s heart broke. She couldn’t imagine losing parents who loved you. It must have been so hard for him and Lucie. Probably still was. “I’m sorry, Jackson. It’s a beautiful tattoo.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a warm smile. “Did you get enough to eat?”

“Oh my God, are you kidding? I feel like I could give birth to a Vegas buffet right now. That was so good. Did you have to charm the pants off a hostess to sneak all that out for you?”

Leaning back on one hand with his other arm propped on his bent leg, he raised his left eyebrow, the one with the sexy scar running through it.

“Is that what you think of me? That I’m just some playboy who gets what he wants by sleeping with women?”

“I don’t know. Are you?” Please say yes so I can hate you and be done with this insane attraction.

“I’m not sure,” he said with a teasing smirk. “I’ve forgotten all the other women since I’ve met you.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You’re so full of shit your eyes should be brown.”

“Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch.” The wide smile slowly faded. Topaz eyes enslaved her with a sudden seriousness she hadn’t expected, and her fading laughter died in her throat.

The intensity of his gaze, and what it meant, unnerved her. “What?”

The hand not supporting his weight lifted to the side of her face. He kept his touch so light she wondered how hands meant to destroy could be so incredibly gentle.

“There is something I haven’t been able to forget,” he said, his voice gruff.

Vanessa swallowed hard as his thumb caressed over her cheekbone, the rough pad causing tingles in its wake. “And what’s that?”

His eyes abandoned hers to settle on her mouth, and his thumb followed and traced the fullness of her lower lip. “The way you responded to my kisses last night. And how badly I want to kiss you again.”

He pulled lightly in the center until her mouth parted and ran his thumb along the edge of her bottom teeth. The tip of her tongue met the tip of his thumb as she licked, hesitantly at first, then more boldly. The hint of the sweet pineapple he’d eaten earlier made her mouth water and the simulated invasion made her sex ache.

Their bodies leaned toward each other of their own volition, and now they were halfway to an embrace. Even sitting, he towered over her. Not many men were much taller than her, but Jackson was large enough to make her feel almost dainty.

His breathing became ragged as he watched her tongue swirl around his thumb. Then she closed her lips and sucked. He groaned and a wash of heady power gave her the idea to get back at him for the stunt he pulled on her last night.

Her breasts felt heavy in the bikini she wore beneath her tank. She wondered if his body was just as affected but didn’t take her eyes from his face. Finally, to prove he didn’t completely run the show, she opened her mouth, tilted her head back to get the angle she needed, and bit the pad of his thumb. Hard.

She’d expected him to jerk his thumb away and curse. She’d planned on laughing at his shock and then exact her revenge by leaving him hungry for more. But she thought wrong. Instead of cursing, he growled in pleasure.

“If we weren’t on a public beach right now, I’d show you exactly how much that turned me on. For now you have a reprieve. Later…you won’t.”

“And if I don’t want you to show me anything?”

Leaning in the rest of the way, Jax sipped at her lips once, twice, three times, and then captured them in a slow and sensual kiss that made her feel cherished and wanted. When at last he pulled away, he grinned and said, “Then I’ll just have to change your mind.”

Ordering herself to pull it together, Vanessa hoped she didn’t appear as breathless as she felt. “You’re not off to a bad start.”

“Glad to hear it. Now I’m going to go surf off this raging hard-on while you relax.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Good luck with that.”

“I’ll need it. It’ll probably throw off my balance.” He winked. She rolled her eyes. “Be good while I’m away, bride-to-be.”

“We’re not at the resort, Jax.”

“I know,” he said with another wink before grabbing his board and running into the waves.

She watched as he lay on his board and paddled out to where the waves gathered their strength. She’d never thought much about surfing one way or the other, but when she saw Jackson dive under a smaller wave to get to the bigger one behind it, she found herself in complete awe.

The muscles in his back and shoulders bunched and moved with every rotation of his arms. Just as he reached the wave, he hopped onto the board as easily as if it were on stationary ground, not a rolling swell that changed shape as it flowed toward the shore. His feet seemed glued in place as he alternated between crouching and standing.

His board sliced through the wave, zigging and zagging as he pushed it in different directions. Then the wave curled over him and anxiety nearly choked her with worry…until she saw him through the watery window, strong and upright. The nose of his board edged out from behind the shimmering curtain, and then she could see him, water spraying in his face, his hand stretching out to trail his fingers through the side of the tunnel the wave had created. Finally the wave ebbed and Jackson dove off into the water.

Then he resurfaced and started the whole thing over again.

Surfing had officially become her favorite spectator sport.

Vanessa sighed. What was she going to do with him? He was the definition of dichotomy, that was for sure. For all intents and purposes, he seemed to be exactly as he appeared: a talented fighter with the carefree life of a surfer. But something didn’t add up. His actions didn’t reconcile with the responsible man she’d heard about all those years from Lucie. Was it a simple case of idolization on her friend’s part? Or was Jackson hiding the real him? And if so, why?

There were definitely some mysteries about the mega-hot MMA star Jackson Maris. The lawyer in her craved the truth. The woman in her wanted to know the man. Unfortunately, the woman in her wanted to know him a little too well.

She was by no means an inexperienced lover. Being comfortable in her sexuality had been one of the few bandwagons she rode on with the feminists. But it had been a looooooong time since she’d let herself have enough time for anything other than work. Besides that, her dating pool had dwindled down to more like a dating puddle, and even that was drying up. There just weren’t any guys she met that felt like they were worth the effort.

But Jackson… She had a feeling he would be worth the effort and then some. Vanessa chewed on her lip and moved ideas around in her head as she watched him conquer yet another wave.

The butterflies in her stomach began a slight fluttering of their wings.

A talk would need to happen prior to make sure they were on the same page with things. After that, there’d be nothing stopping her from getting horizontal Hawaiian-style with Jackson.

Now that she’d decided to give it the green light, the fluttering escalated to a frenzied flight. Anticipation of finally giving in to the desire she felt for Jackson spread through her, settling heavily in her core.

She took a deep breath of salty air and let it out with a smile. She already felt more relaxed. And even though she’d gotten a decent amount of sleep the night before thanks to her allergy pill solution, she still felt a little worn out. Maybe she’d take a power nap while he surfed. Stretching out on the shaded blanket, she yawned and closed her eyes.

She could still feel Jackson’s kiss on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.

…

The sun and late afternoon breeze had already dried Jackson’s body and suit as he lay on his side watching Vanessa nap. He’d come in from surfing about a half hour ago and hadn’t wanted to wake her. She looked so peaceful, so soft. She was a tough woman and always had a strength about her, like a wary alley cat, ready to fight anyone at a moment’s notice should she need to.

But when she slept, her features relaxed, her muscles sank into the sand beneath her, and wisps of curls danced around her face. Her auburn eyelashes, long and slightly curled, lay like fans above fine cheekbones, and her breaths came light and even through parted red lips.

The memory of her taste was its own aphrodisiac. One small sample and instead of quenching his thirst, it only served to addict him more.

As he lay there watching her, he wondered what she was like in her own element back home. He’d heard a couple of stories from college when they’d go out and Vanessa would convince his normally straitlaced sister to do something crazy, which didn’t quite match up with the woman he’d seen in the last thirty-six hours. He wondered if she’d calmed down after college or maybe was different because of the circumstances they were in.

As Lucie’s best friend, how much did she know about him? Did girls typically talk in depth about their families? He assumed they did. As far as he knew, girls talked nonstop about everything. But even still, Lucie would’ve only talked about the superficial stuff. Funny stories from their childhood, like when he and Reid ruined Lucie’s tea party when their G.I. Joes took her Barbies as POWs. (Hey, it wasn’t his fault. Snake Eyes was a highly trained government assassin who had reason to believe Ken was a secret agent working for the Russians.)

But all of that was just fluff. Lucie couldn’t tell Vanessa the most important thing about him, because even his baby sister didn’t know his secret. How could he tell her that their family—which they’d always thought was so perfect—wasn’t so perfect after all?

When his parents died in the car accident, Jackson’s life had been turned upside down. He’d just barely graduated high school and was set to go to Vegas with Reid so they could both pursue their careers in MMA. Instead, he found himself fighting to be the legal guardian of his thirteen-year-old sister. And soon after that, he found the paperwork tucked away in his parents’ lock box at the bank. Paperwork that shattered his reality.

After the initial shock wore off, Jackson had put it far back in his mind while he raised Lucie the best he could. Really, she’d made it pretty easy on him. She was a great kid, never got in any trouble, always got straight A’s, and didn’t date. But it still didn’t detract from the stress of being responsible for her during the most crucial years of her adolescence and having to learn real quick how to be an adult with a job and bills.

That’s why, when he got to Hawaii, he made the decision to live as simply as possible, only buying what he could purchase outright with cash and being responsible for no one but himself. And he’d been living quite happily that way ever since.

Vanessa stirred beside him, rubbing her nose with her fingers and twitching it like a bunny. He smiled and reached up to tuck the curl that had caused the tickle behind her ear. To his surprise, her face turned in to his touch, and she whispered his name. A feeling he couldn’t describe ran through him, knowing he was in her dreams. He didn’t have long to revel in the idea, however, because almost as soon as she said it, her eyes fluttered open.

“How long have I been out?”

“I’d say a couple of hours.”

She sat up like the blanket had scorched her. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I was out that long. I mean, I thought I’d take, like, a thirty-minute power nap or something.”

“What’s the big deal? So you took an afternoon nap on a beautiful beach. It’s certainly not a crime, V.”

“I realize that,” she snapped. “I’m just…not used to wasting so much of my day.”

“I’m gonna go ahead and state the obvious here. You’re a workaholic who doesn’t know how to unwind, even on vacation.”

“Technically, this isn’t supposed to be my vacation. I wasn’t supposed to be here until Friday, remember? Next week is my vacation. I still have work that needs to be done. I’m simply working remotely from a tropical island.”

“Yikes, that sounds like zero fun.”

She stood up and started putting her clothes on and gathering the picnic items. “Yes, well, not all of us can have jobs that allow us to be carefree surfers.”

He stood, too, and picked up his board. He didn’t think she’d be one of the people who made assumptions about a fighter’s life like it wasn’t a real job. “Just because I’m not in a training camp right now doesn’t mean that when it’s time for me to work I slack off and it’s all sunshine and roses.”

“Come on, Jackson. Your career consists of eating healthy and working out. Most people do that on top of everything else in their life.”

“Really. That’s all it is, huh?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure your workouts are tough; I’m just saying that for someone who’s as in shape and used to it as you are, you would have a fairly easy time doing it. It’d be like cross-examining a witness for me.”

“I’m flattered by your faith in my abilities, but it doesn’t matter how in shape I am or how many times I do a camp. Every workout feels just as hard as my first day training. They’re like that by design.”

The slight arch in her brow as she packed up their things was about as subtle as one of Lucie’s snorts. He felt like she’d just insulted his work ethic, which didn’t make any damn sense. Jackson was always the first person to joke about how easy and carefree his life was. If his life had shampoo-bottle instructions they’d be: fight, surf, relax, repeat. So why was it suddenly so important to him to prove to her that he wasn’t just some lazy half-asser going through the motions?

“Tell you what,” he said as they shook out the blankets and folded them, “I’m going into the gym tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come with and see for yourself? That way, Counselor, you can make your ruling once you have all the evidence.”

“Hmm,” she began, making a face like she was really mulling it over. “You make a good case, but I thought you weren’t doing a camp right now.”

“I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I never train.” When Vanessa bent down to grab the picnic basket and her purse, he added, “Gotta stay in shape for the ladies, you know.”

That had her head snapping up as she straightened, and a competitive spark lit her green eyes for a split second before she could douse it. Gesturing to his waist, she said, “You call those love handles staying in shape?”

“What?” Shit, he knew he’d had too many burgers this last week. Holding his arms out, Jax glared at his sides…and found nothing.

A peel of laughter came from a doubled-over Vanessa. “Oh my God, that was too easy! You’re worse than a girl!”

“A girl?” he said, raising his voice and enjoying the fake melodrama. She nodded emphatically with a hand muffling her giggles. “I’ll show you who’s the girl.”

As soon as he took a menacing step in her direction, she squealed his name in protest, dropped the folded blankets, and took off at a dead run over the white sand.

And he was more than happy to chase her.

“I want to propose something to you.”

Jackson looked up from where he was waxing his board by their private pool. As soon as they’d gotten back from the beach, they’d ordered in room service for dinner, and then she’d worked while he went for an evening run. Since she was still engrossed in her files after his shower, he settled himself by the pool and started waxing his board, listening to the waves hit the sand and the sounds of distant music and laughter coming from the beach bar on the other side of the resort.

“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the spot next to him. She was wearing a pair of cut-off sweatpants that barely covered her ass and a tank top. Proper island loungewear. Also proper make-his-cock-stand-up-and-say-aloha wear. Christ. Trying to take his mind off his dick, he refocused on his task at hand.

Once seated with the lower half of her legs dangling in the pool, she tucked her hands under her thighs and let out a deep breath.

“Hmm,” he mused with a small grin. “Sounds serious. I’m not as clear on the law as you, but can you divorce me before we’re even married?”

“I’ll get back to you on that,” she answered wryly. “Is that pineapple I smell?”

He held up the bar. “Sex wax. Not to be confused with wax you can actually use during sex.”

“Have you used wax during sex?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Are you asking if I’ve ever tried wax play?”

She hesitated…then nodded.

“Not yet.” Images of dripping wax on her creamy skin assaulted him. “But something tells me I wouldn’t mind experimenting with lots of new things with the right person.”

“Oh,” she said, her voice taking on a husky tone that warmed his balls. Subject change was in order if he didn’t want to maul her without provocation in the next thirty seconds. Which, sadly, was debatable.

“So are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” He glanced down at her breasts and saw her hardened nipples straining against her tank. No bra. F*ck! She was trying to kill him. “Or would you rather I guess?” he offered, his voice dropping in pitch as well.

“Uh, well,” she started before clearing her throat. “I came to Hawaii with the intention of letting loose, so to speak. You know, maybe finding a guy I could shake things up with. But, since you’ve put me in this crazy predicament where we’re pretending to be our engaged friends, I can’t very well go around flirting and carrying on with anyone I happen to meet.”

“Uh-huh.” He liked where this was going.

“So since I have no other choice, you understand, I propose you be the one I…let loose with,” she finished lamely.

“In plain English, V.”

“Oh, for shit’s sake, you know what I’m saying. I want a vacation fling.”

“Which means what exactly?” He understood her proposal, but he wanted to hear her say the words. He leaned in closer until their breath mingled. “Say it,” he ordered softly.

She took a deep breath and bravely looked him in the eyes. “I want to have sex with you.”

“There. Was that so hard?” He smiled. “Speaking of hard…” He grabbed her hand and showed her exactly what he thought of her proposal.

“Jesus,” she gasped.

Even with the material of his shorts as a buffer, the feel of her palm against his hardening cock sent shockwaves through his veins. “I accept your proposal.”

She yanked her hand back and scooted a few inches away from him as though she needed room to breathe. Exactly the opposite of what he expected her to do.

“We can’t start until tomorrow, though.”

And that was exactly the opposite of what he expected her to say.

“Come again?”

“Rule #5: Never let a fling last more than three days. Today is Monday. If we start tomorrow, that gives us through Thursday night, which is perfect because Lucie and Reid are due to arrive on Friday in time for the rehearsal dinner.”

Jackson couldn’t believe she was putting a time limit on a fling like it was a goddamned parking meter. “You can’t be serious. Do you do this with every guy?” Suddenly the idea of her having three-day flings with random men made him want to go several rounds with a punching bag. Or better yet, the random men.

“Well, I don’t discuss the rule with them. I just always end things before it gets more serious than that. But since we’re in the unique position we are, I feel I need to be upfront with you about my expectations.”

“So you’ve never had relationships or dated anyone longer than three days?”

“Of course I have, but we’re not talking relationships; we’re talking flings. The two are very different.”

He rubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw as he mulled things over. Vanessa MacGregor was a strange creature. He couldn’t figure out why she had so many crazy rules and felt she needed to follow them like her own personal bible. Personally, he thought her rules were absurd, but if he wanted to be with her—and he really, really did—he supposed there were worse things than following a few rules. Presuming none of them was off-the-wall crazy.

He narrowed his eyes a little and asked, “If I agree to this, what other rules are going to be involved? I don’t want something sprung on me somewhere in day two. You don’t have any rules that involve me dressing up in women’s clothing, do you?”

“Not even one of my thongs?”

His eyes widened until she cracked a smile. “Careful, princess. By my count, you’re already owed two punishments. You wouldn’t want to double that, now would you?”

Her face lost some of its amusement and flushed a little, making him wonder if it was from worry…or excitement.

Clearing her throat, she reached into her back pocket and unfolded a sheet of paper that looked a lot like— Holy shit. “Is that a contract?”

“Of course not! But I didn’t want to forget anything so I wrote down all the—”

“Rules?” he asked with a wry raise of an eyebrow.

She leveled him with a confident stare and her chin lifted a hint more. “Yes. Rules.”

He loved that she didn’t back down when he tested her resolve. Some women would have given up at the first sign he wasn’t thrilled. But not Vanessa. She was totally at peace with her crazy, and for some reason it turned his crank that much harder. Sounded like he’d be doing a lot of things to humor his eccentric pretend-bride-to-be.

Setting his board off to the side, he crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“The deal is that we enter into a sexual relationship for the period of three consecutive days starting Tuesday, which is tomorrow, and after that we’ll revert back to a platonic friendship. However, because we have mutual friends, it’s almost certain that we’ll see each other in the future. So we also have to agree not to revisit any part of our sexual relationship during those times.”

“So we can’t sleep together just for old times’ sake? Why the hell not?”

“Because three days is three days, Jackson. Anything more than that and we run the risk of developing feelings for each other, and that’s not what either of us wants.”

“Uh-huh. And why is that again?”

She looked away from him, finding a sudden interest in the way she dog-eared the corner of the paper. “You’re not right for me.”

Ouch. That stung more than he’d have thought. “Because of your rules?”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate. He made a decision then and there that his goal for the next few days would be to figure out that list of rules and make her break as many of them as possible. She was strung too damn tight, and he was taking it upon himself to chill her the f*ck out.

“What else did you write down?”

She shrugged one slim shoulder. “Just that during our fling neither of us messes around with anyone else, which is not only common courtesy but also to protect Reid’s and Lucie’s reputations.” Then she cut him a look from the corner of her eye. “That includes flirting, so you might want to steer clear of Jillian.”

Jackson worked to keep a straight face and bit back the laughter roiling in his chest. He didn’t doubt her main concern was for Lucie, but he’d bet his favorite board that hints of jealousy also fueled that last comment. V had nothing to fear from an old flame, but he didn’t see any reason to point it out. After all, it wasn’t like it mattered for a few days of mutual fun.

Stroking his jaw, he pretended to mull over her terms. He, of course, thought the strict time frame and ban on future dalliances were ridiculous, but he refused to believe those were firm rules. Even a Red Viper had the potential to be charmed.

“All right,” he said at last. “I agree to your terms for as long as you do, on one condition.”

“Which is what?”

“You give me control.”

She shook her head like he’d just told her to assassinate the president. “Rule #2.”

He checked the sigh of frustration before it escaped. Patience. “What is it?” She sucked the center of her lip between her teeth, and if she didn’t speak soon, she’d break the skin. “V, if we’re going to make this work, I need to know what I’m dealing with. What is it?”

“Never relinquish control.”

Boom. That rule alone explained a hell of a lot about why she had conniptions any time he tried holding the reins. He tried to imagine what had happened in her past that would make her so adamant about something like that. Nothing he came up with could be categorized as minor, and a fierce protectiveness welled up inside him. But he also wanted to help her let some of whatever was haunting her go, and the only way for her to do that would be to face her fear and give it to him.

“V,” he said gently, “I only want control in the bedroom, so to speak. Outside of that, you can boss me around all you want.”

“No.”

Gently. Firmly. “Yes.”

“I can’t,” she said weakly.

“You can. All I’m asking is you let me take the lead. I’ll never ask you to do anything you don’t want. The minute you tell me to stop, I stop. But I promise that whatever I do to you, the last thing you’ll want is for me to stop.” Jax leaned in, nuzzling the curve of her neck with his nose, letting his stubble gently abrade her skin as he lifted his face to whisper in her ear. “Give me control, V.”

She shuddered so hard he swore he felt it ripple through him as well. “I…” A shaky breath fanned over his cheek. “I promise I’ll try, okay? Deal?”

Jax felt like he’d just had his hand raised in a decision fight. He knew, for her, even conceding to try was a huge step. “Deal.” Sliding into the water, he placed himself between her legs with his hands on the concrete beside her hips, boxing her in.

“You agreed we wouldn’t start until tomorrow.”

He leaned in, his face next to hers, his mouth at her ear. “I have no intentions of touching you. But touching isn’t the only way to turn you on. For instance, you got me hard last night and all you did…,” he said, pulling back to meet her eyes meaningfully, “was stare at me.”

…

Vanessa inhaled sharply, and her back stiffened. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was. But then I felt those intense eyes burning into me. I felt branded everywhere they touched, and it made me so f*cking horny, it’s a miracle I didn’t jump out of that hammock and attack you.”

It took a lot to make her blush normally, but now she felt as though her cheeks matched her hair. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”

“How about I make up for it now by saying a whole lot of things?”

“Like what?” She swallowed thickly. His proximity was too close for comfort if she had any hope of sticking to her own damn rule.

“Like how I plan on attacking that sweet mouth of yours as soon as I’m allowed.” He moved until his lips lined up with hers, so close she swore she could feel them on hers, and yet there was still space between them. “And how my hands are itching to touch your smooth skin, knead your breasts, cup that sweet ass of yours as I haul you against me.”

Why were her breaths so damn loud? She sounded on the verge of having an asthma attack. And her heart pounded so hard she mistook it for the distant beat of the music. Her skin tingled with sensations in the areas as he mentioned them, like his words gave life to action. Before she realized what happened, she found herself leaning back on her hands as Jackson angled himself over her, still standing in the pool, still not touching her. But now his face hovered over her chest.

“I can’t wait to suck on these.” His hot breath seeped through the cotton weave of her top. She felt her nipples tighten, almost painfully, as they strained toward him, begging to be taken. “I’ve tried to imagine what your nipples look like. I bet with your fair skin they’re a pretty shade of light pink.”

The deep vibrations from his voice skimmed over her body. “And I bet they’ll turn cherry red after I suck them deep into my mouth and flick them with my tongue, maybe give them a nibble.”

From somewhere in the back of her throat, a moan escaped at the thought of his white teeth clamping on the hard nubs.

“Ah,” he said, looking up at her from chest level, “again I get a reaction with biting. I think you and I are going to be quite compatible in bed, baby.”

As he moved farther down her body, her eyes stayed riveted to his. A nuclear blast could go off next door and she wouldn’t even blink. Jackson stared at her thighs pointedly, then flicked his gaze back to her.

“Wider.”

“What?”

“Your legs. Wider.”

She hesitated, unsure if she could handle more of the same where he seemed intent to go. He held his ground, waiting her out. Almost as though he knew it was only a matter of time. Well, she could hold her own against a guy like him. She didn’t bend to anyone’s will just because he commanded her. She only agreed to give up control during their fling, and even then, only during sex.

His eyebrow raised, the scar slashing up at a sharper angle. “Afraid you’ll be tempted to break your own rules, MacGregor?”

Damn it. The man threw down challenges like there was no tomorrow. But that didn’t mean she had to keep rising to the bait…did it? She was about to answer herself with an emphatic “no” when a smirk crept over his face. There was no way she was letting him think he affected her as much as he did. Arching her own brow, she slowly pulled her legs apart as far as they’d go.

He didn’t even spare a second to gloat over what he surely considered a win. It was as if his cocky attitude had only been a facade needed to get what he wanted, and as soon as he had it, the mask slipped away to reveal the intense man underneath still intent on making her squirm with his verbal seduction.

Sinking into the water up to his shoulders, his face now loomed at ground level, squarely in front of her sex. She bit her lip and prayed he’d stop torturing her soon.

“Christ, Vanessa…” Her name sounded strangled, like his throat had gone tight. She watched his face for signs of his thoughts. His eyes focused on the apex of her thighs, his nostrils flared briefly, and the muscles in his jaw jumped every few seconds. He looked as if he was trying to maintain control. “You’re so wet it’s soaking through your shorts.”

“It’s been a long time for me.” Her voice sounded breathy and unstable. Almost unrecognizable from her usual tone of conviction. “A kangaroo could make me horny at this point. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Uh-huh,” he said sarcastically. He leaned in until the vibrations from his deep voice almost sent her over the edge. “Say the word, baby, and I’ll take care of that for you.”

“N-no.”

“Come on. It’s not breaking a rule, it’s just bending it a little.”

“It won’t kill us to show some restraint. We can handle this. We’re adults.” She sounded about as convinced of her words as she would claiming she believed in Santa Claus.

“Hell, yes, we’re adults. That’s my point,” he said sharply, standing up again. He cursed under his breath and slapped the pavement next to her, making her flinch. “We should be able to do what we want, when we want. We’re not kids with curfews and bedtimes.”

His clear disdain pulled her the rest of the way from her lust-induced stupor. She scooted back and pushed to her feet. “Look, whether you think this is stupid or not isn’t the point. The point is that it’s important to me. So if I come with too much baggage for you, that’s fine. I have no issues with making use of my vibrator. It satisfies my needs just fine.”

In one fluid motion, he used his hands on the side of the pool to launch himself out of the water. He towered over her, dripping water and oozing anger and sex. “The day a vibrator satisfies my lover more than me is the day I make myself a eunuch.”

He crossed to where his towel sat in a heap in one of the Adirondack chairs and ran it over his body in short, hurried strokes before pausing at the doors to the bedroom. “Enjoy your last few hours of being in control, V. Because after that…you’re mine.”

…

Jackson took the longest, coldest shower of his life and even jerked off under the icy water, and he was still hard just thinking of sinking into the woman who lay in that monster-sized bed all alone, mere feet from him. He was going insane with waiting. The fact she slept peacefully right now told him she expected things to start when they woke up.

She expected wrong.

Looking over at the clock on the wall, he smiled to himself. In five minutes it’d be midnight. Officially Tuesday, and he wasn’t about to waste any time before starting their three-day excursion into the wild and kinky.

As the minutes ticked down, he went over his plan in his mind, thought of what he wanted to do first, what he wanted to do after that. It was almost too hard to decide. He wanted to do everything with her all at once. The first time wasn’t going to be a lingering and slow experience. They were both too wound up for that.

He climbed onto the bed next to her. Only the sheet draped her body, since, even with the AC, it was still on the warm side of comfortable. Carefully, he pulled the sheet down her body until she was exposed to him.

He scooted behind her, gently adjusting her body to conform to his. She moved in her sleep, resting her head on the inside of his arm and tucking her back more firmly into his chest. His free hand swept up her bare thigh to the top of her hip. The cutoffs weren’t much of a barrier and they moved aside as he cupped a smooth, round cheek and gave it a light squeeze. She made a small sound and arched her lower back, pressing her ass against his cock that was trying desperately to bust through his boxer briefs.

Burying his nose into her neck, he inhaled her scent deeply into his lungs as he snaked his hand to the front of her body and up her tank top to find a ripe breast that fit perfectly in the cage of his fingers. She responded instantly, her shoulders pressing back as she tried to press into his touch.

“That’s it, baby,” he said as he rolled the hard nub between his thumb and forefinger. “Come alive for me. Let me make you feel good.”

Jackson couldn’t believe how much he wanted to sink himself between her thighs. He’d been horny thousands of times in his life, but that word seemed so lacking compared to how he felt around her. It was more like a deep, gnawing hunger he needed to feed. And according to her rules, the clock on the wall said it was dinnertime, so he’d be damned if he was waiting any longer.

Abandoning her breast, he tucked his fingers between her legs, staying over her shorts for now, and rubbed them back and forth a few times. She moaned and her hips began to rock with him, riding his fingers in small movements.

Suddenly she gasped and her body went rigid. He quickly banded his arm around her waist and held tight as he spoke softly next to her ear. “Shhhh, V, it’s okay. It’s just me.” He felt her relax once again, but she wasn’t yet back to her state of sexual abandon like when she’d been asleep.

“Do you always accost women in their sleep, Maris?”

He chuckled. Her question lacked the bite she was probably going for. Instead, it came out breathless and a little relieved.

“Only the ones who make me agree as to when and how long I get them for. It’s past midnight, which means it’s Tuesday. Which also means you’re mine for the next three days, and I intend to collect as much and as often as possible.”

“Yeah, well— Oh, God!”

Jackson hadn’t waited to hear her rebuttal. He’d moved his fingers back to where they’d been before she’d awakened. Slipping his fingers under her shorts, he continued rubbing her through the silk of her panties. “You’re wet already. Your body responds to me, V. It knows what it wants.”

She moaned and arched into his touch. “Feels like I can say the same to you. So stop teasing me and give us what we both want.”

Even half asleep, the woman couldn’t help giving orders. He was tempted to remind her of her promise but thought better of it. He didn’t want to argue about who promised what now. He’d do that later, after they got this first one out of the way. Or maybe the first few. The way he felt, he could spend himself over and over in her and still be ready for more.

Jax yanked her tank up and over her head, then grabbed her shorts and panties and tugged them down until they became lost in the sea of linens at their feet. Immediately following was his godforsaken underwear threatening to give him another circumcision if he didn’t get them off. Breathing a sigh of relief, he resumed his position at her back and nestled his erection in the soft groove of her ass.

The skin-to-skin contact he’d been anticipating for hours—hell, probably days—was almost enough to set him off right then and there. He held still, not trusting himself to move without losing what little control he had over his body. But then she rubbed herself against his cock, and he lost the thread.

Snatching one of the condoms he’d placed on the nightstand, he quickly sheathed himself so he wouldn’t forget later in the heat of the moment. Responsibility taken care of, Jax grabbed her and rolled partly on his back with her half draped on top of him. He reached down and pulled her leg over his, spreading her open. His arm underneath her wrapped around to play with a breast while his other hand returned to the sweet spot between her legs.

He growled his approval when he touched perfectly smooth skin. “I knew you’d be a Brazilian-style girl.” Turning his head an inch, he lightly bit the shell of her ear as his fingers stroked between her slick folds. “Goddamn, you’re so wet, baby.” Whenever he neared her opening, she lifted her hips, trying to force his entry, but he refused her that pleasure for the moment.

“Tomorrow, my lips, my tongue, and my teeth are going to spend an eternity worshipping this beautiful p-ssy. But tonight…” Jax finally eased a finger deep inside, then dragged it out slowly before repeating the process. Her cry of ecstasy reverberated in his ears like a starting bell, and he had to hold himself back from taking her too fast. “Tonight I’m going to give you what you need.” What we both need.

He added a second finger, slowly working her open enough to take him. The last thing he wanted was to cause her any sort of discomfort. All his blood may have drained from his brain to his dick, but he wasn’t so far gone that his main concern was his pleasure over hers. She felt so damn tight he wondered how he’d ever fit. But he would. He’d make sure of it. Because at this point, the idea of not burying himself in her was unthinkable.

“What is it I need?” Her breathy question belied the restraint she tried to exude.

“Sex,” he growled. He increased the pace and used the heel of his hand to put pressure on her *. “Rough, primal, f*ck-me-baby sex.”

“Yes! Oh, God, Jackson, I need that. Now, do it now.” The words tumbled from her lips, her dam of reserve well and truly broken by the force of his plain speech.

“Easy,” he whispered. “I have to make sure you’re ready for me. Then I promise, nothing will prevent me from burying my cock so deeply, you’ll feel me there for days.”

She begged with a whimper and a thrust of her hips. He answered, “Almost,” and inserted a third finger into her soaked p-ssy. A fine sheen of sweat coated their bodies, the damp curls framing her face plastered themselves to her cheeks and his. Everything in him screamed to take her, to mark her, to make her his. And he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Removing his fingers, Jax palmed the back of her knee and hoisted her farther up his body until the head of his cock slid into place.

Her hands braceleted his wrists, her nails digging into his skin as though bracing herself. “Now?” she asked.

“Now.”

In one smooth motion, he buried himself balls deep in her hot channel. When he hit the very back wall, a jolt of concentrated pleasure shot through his body unlike anything he’d ever felt. Vanessa cried out, her back bowing so hard only her shoulders and ass still rested on him. He bent his top leg to hold hers up and keep her open so he could use both arms to hold her, both hands to touch her.

Slowly he withdrew, her swollen sex trying to suck him back in. When less than an inch remained, he held her tightly and plunged back in, her name a beautiful prayer on his lips.

“Faster,” she bit out. “Jackson, go faster. You’re killing me.”

“Believe me, it’s killing me, too.”

She turned her head and fused her sugar lips to his. He bypassed the foreplay kisses and went straight to f*cking her mouth with his tongue as he continued the slow, controlled strokes with his hips.

Time stood still as he reveled in her taste, her smell, her absolute abandon. After what could have been hours later, rather than minutes, they broke apart to catch their breath. Again she told him to go faster, harder.

“Baby, I want you so badly,” he said as he fondled her heavy breasts, “I’m afraid if I go any faster I’ll blow like it’s my first time.”

“I’m so close I’ll probably go with you. Please, Jax!”

“Ah, f*ck. Hearing you beg is going to be damn addicting.” Banding his arms around her body, he said, “Hold on.” And with that he flipped the switch from slow-and-steady to fast-and-faster.

In and out, he pistoned his hips, filling her completely on every stroke. Sweat dripped from his brow over his temples. The slapping sounds of flesh against flesh filled the room. He could feel the juices from her p-ssy coating his balls as they drew up tighter to his body. White-hot heat pooled at the base of his spine, growing more and more with every passing second.

Vanessa wasn’t much of a talker during sex, but she made plenty of noise. A chorus of moans, heavy breathing, mewls, and whimpers became his new favorite playlist.

Taking things up a notch, Jax moved his hands. One captured a breast and tweaked the hard bud of her nipple, the other snaked down to run circles over her *. Now they raced headlong toward the finish line. Gritting his teeth until his jaw felt ready to snap, he made sure he didn’t cross it first.

“Omigod, yes,” she cried on a gasp. “I’m gonna come, Jax. So. Close!”

He loved that she used his name. That he knew she wasn’t imagining anyone else. “Do it, Vanessa. I’m right there with you.”

A strangled cry escaped her lips as her sex quivered and convulsed around his cock. And with a few more strokes, he tumbled after her, filling the condom as her body milked him dry.

He wasn’t sure how long they lay there in a sweaty heap, but eventually he maneuvered her to the side so he could go take care of cleanup in the bathroom. He returned to the bed with a warm washcloth to find Vanessa passed out cold and snoring softly. Jackson supposed that meant an all-night sex fest was out of the question.

Chuckling to himself, he cleaned her as carefully and quickly as possible. Then he chucked the rag back in the general direction of the bathroom and slid in behind her before lifting the covers over them. He kissed the back of her shoulder and tried to get some sleep himself.