“Callum!” A distant male voice blurred insignificantly into the background.
Both Lucy and Cal were so engrossed with each other, with their long-held sensual gazes, their enthralling intimate touches, and their whispered sweet nothings, that neither one of them seemed to notice Paul calling out to them from behind the reception desk as they entered the building.
At Cal’s suggestion, they had spent the morning down on the beach. He’d arranged a special picnic for them, full of fresh fruit, croissants, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Between the time they’d spent eating and drinking, lounging, and snuggling on the wide tartan blanket, they’d also frolicked in the calm surf of the early morning and had attempted to create a sandcastle.
It had been magic, a mixture of breathtaking romance and a poignant recreation of childhood memories. Lucy was in love—in love with the Gold Coast, in love with the Calypso, in love with Cal. She was beginning to acknowledge her feelings for him more and more, and even though she was yet to say them out loud, she had come scarily close to letting those three important words leave her lips on a couple of occasions. Yet, she did love him, so deeply, so passionately, so eternally. Lucy was certain she’d always loved him, even when they were innocent children, even when he’d ripped her heart out when they were teenagers. It was as though they’d been made for each other, they always had been, and fighting it had gotten her nowhere, except straight back into his arms all over again.
“Cal!” The male voice grew louder, more familiar. “Lucy?”
Finally, the piercing noise seemed to register in Lucy’s ears. She paused just before they reached the elevator with Cal halting his stride next to her.
“Cal!” There were thumping footsteps now, hurrying toward them across the smooth polished floor of the hotel’s lobby.
As though suddenly hearing the voice himself, Cal’s loving expression hardened slightly as his eyebrows narrowed in curiosity. Together, he and Lucy looked back toward the entry.
Paul had almost reached them and began to slow his pace when he saw them glance back. “Didn’t you hear me?” He posed the question to Cal, but an enormous smile overrode the slight puzzlement in his tone.
Appearing a little embarrassed, Cal shook his head. “No. Sorry, Paul,” he said as he moved toward the older man, greeting him politely with a light touch to his shoulder. “I was distracted. Is everything okay?”
“Is everything okay?” Paul repeated, his eyes widened as though Cal’s question was absurd in some way. He clasped his hands together in a prayer-like position and then released them again. “More than okay, Callum. More than okay.”
Lucy frowned, glancing between them as she tried to figure out what had happened.
Cal’s smile never reached his eyes when he replied. “That’s good.” Then he paused as though waiting, hoping that Paul might offer a further explanation.
Paul laughed and threw his hands in the air, looking elated and exasperated at the same time. “Sorry, I just don’t know where to start,” he spat out between chuckles. “Cal,” Paul said as he took Cal’s hand in his. “Lucy.” He moved to grab her hand as well. “We’ve done it!” It was almost a yell. “We’ve gone above and beyond our expected profit. The Calypso is saved!”
Striding forward, he let go of their hands and wrapped his arms around them both, pulling them into an awkward joint embrace.
“Are you serious?” Lucy knew her tone sounded incredulous, but she really needed to hear it from him again.
Paul hugged them closer and then freed them. With a step back, he turned to look at her, his big, blue eyes glowing with excitement. “Yes, honey. I’ve just finished doing the calculations. This week alone, we’ve made almost twice the amount that Cal had hoped for. It’s all thanks to the renovations, the marketing, and the commission from the tour deals.”
His white grin was stretched wide across his face as he glanced away from her and back to Cal. “When you first told me what you wanted to achieve, I wasn’t sure it was possible. Yet, we did it! All your ideas, all your plans came together to give the Calypso a second lease on life. It just proves that the Calypso will always be a paradise for families.”
Cal’s attractive features were lit up with glee as he looked over at Lucy. “I’d thought…,” he began, before pausing as though thinking over his words. “I’d hoped that we’d reached our target, but still, I just can’t believe it.”
His expression softened with a look of relief and then he grabbed her in his arms, lifting her feet from the ground and then spinning her around. The happy sound that escaped his lips could have been called a squeal had it not still held a husky, masculine edge.
Lucy heard laughter erupt from Paul, who had backed away a few steps in order to let Cal enjoy the moment to the fullest, and found herself giggling uncontrollably.
They had actually done it! They’d saved the Calypso from sale!
She let out an excited yip and hugged Cal closer before burying her face against the warm, spicy flesh of his neck. He spun her around again, his strong hands dangerously close to the top of her turquoise bikini briefs beneath the white cotton of her long, loose shirt. The feeling of his fingers though the thin material, grasping onto such sensitive skin was enough to make her grateful that he was still dressed in his blue button-down shirt, long black and navy board-shorts, and beige loafers. Had he been shirtless as he had been earlier with her down on the golden sand of the beach, she may not have been able to control herself in public.
Gently, Cal lowered her sandal-covered feet to the floor and then cupped a hand over her cheek. His salty lips covered hers before she had a chance to think. The kiss was invigorating and loving and tasted of the surf and the sweetness of the honey that he’d had on his croissant. His velvet tongue probed into the depths of her mouth needing attention and acceptance, melting her insides, and boiling her blood. Her desperate need built until she’d nearly decided that the lobby, in front of Paul and all the incoming and outgoing guests, was as good a place as any to make love to Cal.
Then their kiss ended abruptly and Cal stepped away, but kept one hand still clasping hers. He grinned at Paul, whose expression had warmed with affection upon seeing their amorous display.
“I can’t wait to tell Jack,” Cal told him. “Do you have the information handy?”
Paul nodded and then hurried back to the reception desk.
Leading Lucy along with him, Cal followed close behind. Paul ducked around the counter, searching on the staff side of the desk before raising a handful of papers. With a look of triumph, he exited the space and handed the information to Cal.
“The sheets below contain all the bookings we’ve received since we’ve reopened, including those placed in anticipation of the re-opening. The piece of paper on top is the tallied income and net-profit for our first week of service with the values of all the current and future bookings totaled at the bottom.”
As Paul explained, Cal gazed at the data in front of him, shuffling through the pages, one by one, to better analyze what he was looking at.
“If you need anything further,” Paul continued, “There’s a few more statistics I haven’t yet printed out, graphs, etcetera, showing the growth in sales and the extrapolated income for the next six months.”
Cal nodded and gave the hotel manager an appreciative smile. “Thanks, Paul. This is fabulous.” Then he glanced down at Lucy. “Do you mind? I’ll just be a moment. I need to tell Jack the good news.”
Chuckling, Lucy grinned up at him. “Of course. Go ahead. I can meet you back down here in an hour.”
His excited expression in return reminded her of the kind-hearted little boy she used to know.
“Thank you,” he told her and then he showed her how grateful he was with a brief, soft kiss to her lips.
After sharing his beaming grin with Paul once more, Cal hastened to the privacy of the hotel’s back office, beyond the reception desk. When he’d disappeared, Lucy turned around and began to walk back to the internal elevators.
“And where are you off to?” Paul’s cheerful voice stopped her.
She spun around, opening her mouth to tell him that she, too, was about to phone everyone involved to tell them what had happened, when the sight of a bare wall stopped her.
Lucy had already noticed it a couple of times. It was the wall that greeted everyone at the end of the reception lobby as they entered the Calypso. At first, she’d thought it had needed an artwork of some sort, a painting maybe, something to draw the eye. Yet, in seeing it now, she knew exactly what would fit there—the perfect feature for that spot.
“Paul?”
Her sweet tone had suspicion contorting his features.
“Yes, Lucy?”
“I need your help with something.”
Paul frowned, glanced at the bare, white wall and then back to her. His head tilted, confusion furrowing his brows. “What did you have in mind?”
Lucy grinned. It was a brilliant idea, the perfect gift of congratulations for the man she loved, the perfect way to honor him, their Calypso and Cal’s wonderful father, Philip. All she had to do after securing Paul’s agreement was make a few calls—the first of all to Toby.
There were so many stars. Lucy didn’t think they would be able to see so many stars with all the lights of the hotel and the city of the Gold Coast around them. But there they were, glowing above her, twinkling down on the glistening, unsettled water of the swimming pool as she reclined in the large, plastic pool tire. Her head hung back loosely, staring up at the dark night sky as her arms and legs lay over the pink rim of the flotation device. Absent-mindedly, she traced circles in the cool liquid around her with her fingertips.
It was a little after nine, just under an hour before the Calypso’s pool closed for the day. It had been another long day, but a very successful one. After getting confirmation from Paul about her project, Lucy had called Toby and asked him to email her as soon as possible with an important item. Although it had been quite some time since they’d last talked, around five years or so, they’d quickly slipped back into the easy, casual rhythm of good friends.
All those years ago, Toby had hated keeping secrets from Cal, hated what had become of his cousin’s favorite friendship. For that reason, Lucy had done her best to distance herself from Toby as well, contacting him every now and then over the years, mainly via email or short text message, asking the usual—how he was doing and if he was well. She tried not to tell him too much, so that he didn’t feel obliged to keep things secret from Cal, and then half a decade ago, Lucy decided it was time to let him go. She missed him dearly, but knew that his friendship with Cal, the enduring love he had for his cousin, was more important and she didn’t want to do anything further to jeopardize it. However, this time, the secret she’d asked him to keep was one Toby had gladly agreed to. It had probably helped that all would be revealed in a matter of days and that the secret itself was one Cal was sure to adore, rather than something that might hurt him. Either way, she’d been appreciative of Toby’s help and his compliance. Lucy may not have been able to tell Cal that she loved him just yet, even though she knew the feeling inside her was true, but this at least, the perfect thing she had planned, would do all that and more.
Suddenly, a cold, wet nose nuzzled into her neck giving her goosebumps and making her giggle.
“What’s got you all deep in thought?” Cal spoke slowly, seductively making the words vibrate through her as his lips touched the skin of her throat.
Lucy giggled again and lifted her head, moving away from him. “Never you mind,” she told him playfully.
In a quick motion, Cal spun the pool tire, with her in it, around in the water to face him. He offered her a charming smirk before raking his gaze down to her lips, her throat, her breasts, full and barely covered in her turquoise bikini. The coolness of his rough palms covered the warmth of her dry knees and then those sexy blue-grey eyes met hers again.
“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” he purred as his fingers crept up her thighs. “I thought we were past keeping secrets.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she chuckled innocently.
Skeptically, Cal quirked an eyebrow and then moved closer to her, pressing his bare, wet chest against the pink plastic between her knees. Although at over six feet, he was taller than her in normal circumstances, in the water with her sitting in the tire, their eyes were almost level.
“If you don’t tell me soon, Miss Spencer,” he warned her softly. “I may have to interrogate you and, just so you know, you may not like my techniques.”
Lucy bit back a smile as a little thrill of excitement jump-started her heart. “Oh, I think I might.”
Cal’s smirk became mischievous and his hands slipped down into the water around the top of her thighs before clasping the supple flesh of her backside. A feminine gasp of surprise escaped her lips at the delectable sensation of his fingers gripping her. Lucy giggled again, partly from nerves and partly in anticipation. Then, Cal was lifting her, pulling her toward him. As her knees slipped around his waist, her hands gripping the firm muscles of his shoulders, Lucy felt the tire pop out from beneath her and skitter across the water behind her. She was flush against his hard body now with only the top of her torso above the chilly liquid surrounding them. Her nipples pricked to attention as the water tickled her sensitive skin and the feel of Cal between her thighs had her insides aching.
“Are you going to tell me now?” Cal asked her, whispering the question, so close their lips were almost touching.
Lucy shook her head slightly, hoping her wide-eyed expression still held some innocence and hadn’t been too clouded with desire. Wrapping her arms casually around Cal’s neck, she pressed the soft line of her body closer to his, enjoying the warmth of his skin and the coolness of the water curling over her. When her breasts melted against the solid muscle of his chest, electricity radiated from their peaks, tugging at her tender nipples, and throbbing deep within her sensual core.
His smoky-blue gaze darkened as he stared into her eyes and then his lips were on her, nibbling at her jaw line and across to her ear. Lucy sighed at the deliciousness of it and let her head fall to the side to give him better access. Cal nipped at her earlobe before sucking it into his mouth and sending goosebumps across her skin. His lips moved to her ear, his soft tongue darting out to lick around the delicate flesh. Lucy gasped and tightened her grip around his neck.
“How about now?” Cal laid a kiss on her ear and then moved back down to her throat.
“Huh?” Lucy’s eyes were closed as she relished the sensations vibrating through her, the tickles of electricity, the quivers of need, the ache of the hunger she had for him.
He chuckled, his mouth caressing her skin with the bounce of sound. “Distracted, are we? Come, come, Miss Spencer, we must stay on task.”
Lucy lifted her head, causing Cal to do the same. She stared into his beautiful eyes and licked her lips. “I thought I was.”
She didn’t give him time to think over her answer, didn’t give him time to think period. Lucy pressed her mouth to his and smothered him with the passion that was overwhelming her. She licked at his lips, his teeth and, when he opened to her, she let her tongue dance in the warm silk of his mouth.
Cal groaned against her, his grip on her derriere tightening before one hand snuck beneath the flimsy, wet material of her bikini briefs to caress bare flesh. Then he lowered her closer to the steel shaft of his erection and held her hard against him.
Lucy gasped into their kiss and then forced it to end. As she moved to lean away, Cal ducked forward, his mouth seeking hers again. She quickly eluded him and then touched her nose to his, caressed his cheek with hers, stroking her face lovingly against his just like an affectionate pet.
“We need to go upstairs,” she told him, her voice barely a whisper.
His lips were against her ear again, sending shivers of desire down her body. “What’s wrong with right here?”
For a second, she couldn’t think of anything. Why couldn’t they make love right here in the cool, wetness of the water? Then commonsense returned briefly.
“It’s a public pool,” she managed slowly.
Hearing her answer, Cal hesitated and Lucy thought—and hoped—he might be about to say that he just didn’t care.
Then he nodded slightly, his face rubbing gently against hers. “Upstairs.”
*
As soon as the door to his hotel room had closed, Cal had thrown their towels to the floor and started tugging at the end of Lucy’s bikini, desperate to relieve her of it.
He had barely been able to contain himself the entire ride up in the elevator and Lucy knew she hadn’t been much better. They hadn’t even wasted time drying themselves off once they were out of the pool. It was obvious that neither of them could think much further than their main goal, the thing they had both craved since the first time they’d seen each other after so many years. She’d been fantasizing about it ever since they were teenagers, and she was certain Cal had probably been the same.
Lucy was grateful they had waited so long after re-connecting, even if it had initially been a hostile reunion. She was finally ready to accept him, to let Cal in, to open all of herself up to him. For better or for worse, she trusted him with her body and her heart and felt certain in her gut, in the feminine instincts that helped to guide her, that he was different, more mature, and that he loved her. Lucy wanted him, all of him, in her life, merged with her soul forever, and she was sure he felt the same.
Cal’s coarse fingertips were kneading her naked breast, gently tweaking her sensitive nipple as he backed her farther into the room. She couldn’t see where they were going, didn’t care. His mouth was covering hers, consuming her. His kiss was passionate, overpowering, mind-blowing. Cal’s other hand was working at undoing the thin bow ties of material at her hips, while her hands sought to remove his board-shorts.
The back of her knees hit the softness of a mattress as the turquoise fabric of her bikini bottom fell to the floor. Lucy legs gave way, instinctively collapsing her backward onto the bed and she lost her grip on Cal. She giggled as she bounced lightly on the cushioned top, her bare breasts bouncing joyously with the movement. When she looked back up at Cal, she noticed that she’d succeeded in undoing the tie on his shorts and opening the Velcro, but still they held their position low on his hips.
That just won’t do, she thought to herself. She needed him naked and needed him naked—now.
With a smirk, Lucy propped herself on her elbows and gazed up at his face. Cal was staring down at her, his dark gaze raking over her body with such a carnal hunger that it forced a shot of adrenaline to race through her, pumping her heartbeat faster. She bit her lip and fought off the nervousness that tried to restrain her. Cal watched the movement intently, his gaze lingering on her mouth, before giving her a smug, catlike smile.
As if knowing he had her attention, Cal’s hands moved to his hips, and he began to slip the board-shorts downward. Without too much effort, the pants slid down his legs, revealing the bold, solid length of his erection. Lucy’s eyes widened, and she felt a pang of pleasure throb deep inside her, aching, anticipating him. It was enough to cause a warm, moistness to pool between her slender thighs.
Stepping free of the material, Cal bent his head toward her, placing a chaste kiss on her lips, then her jaw, and then her throat. As he moved to kneel before her, placing his warm hands on her thighs, Lucy felt herself groan in protest.
“I want you now,” she all but growled at him.
Cal glanced back up at her and shook his head. “I’ve waited a long time for this, Lucy, and I plan on taking”—he bent and laid a kiss on her right nipple—“my sweet”—he kissed her left—“time.”
As he bent lower, kissing a hot, wet line down her stomach, Lucy moaned and let her head fall back.
“Okay,” she breathed.
Cal’s jaw grazed her smooth thighs, the sandy five-o’clock shadow tickling her skin. Gently, he pushed her legs farther apart, revealing even more of the neatly trimmed little patch of dark hair that looked like an arrow head pointing the direction to her deepest pleasure.
With her eyes closed, Lucy held her breath, waiting, longing for that most intimate touch. And then Cal’s lips were there, kissing, nibbling the soft, sensitive mound before delving deeper. His tongue slipped out to lick long strokes through heated flesh and Lucy moaned low in her throat. The sensation was ecstasy, tickling, building, her body throbbing. Cal’s face dropped lower, farther between her thighs as the coarse stubble on his cheeks turned her smooth skin into shivering goosebumps.
Cal groaned hungrily as he tasted her, suckling her there, drawing a cry from her lips, before probing his tongue deeper, licking inside her, discovering all of her. The thrusts of his eager tongue moving rhythmically into her and out, mixed with the lazy kisses of his full lips on the silky skin outside was driving her crazy. Lucy couldn’t hold out much longer. She ached for him, her whole-body yearning for him to fill her, for that final release.
“I need you,” she whimpered. “Cal, I need you now.”
Lucy couldn’t move, she was lost to the passionate rhythm, to the deliciousness of his tongue searching inside her, melting her insides with each languid lick. She gasped and then the warmth of Cal between her legs disappeared. When she opened her eyes, he was above her. His lips returned to hers, tasting salty and sweet, like her, like him. Engrossed in the magnetism of their kiss, Lucy’s hands roamed over his muscular chest and the fine, blond hairs scattered there, before linking around his neck.
All of a sudden, Cal’s hands were around her backside and he was lifting her higher on the bed beneath him, continuing to kiss her as he did so. Once her head was resting on the cloud of fluffy white pillows at the headboard, Cal stopped and loomed above her. Reaching over to the nightstand, he opened the brown leather wallet laying there and retrieved a small foil packet. Ripping it open with his teeth, he freed the condom and threw the packet to the floor. After his hand had moved between them, slipping it over his thick, bulging arousal, Lucy pulled Cal’s face back down to hers. Eagerly, her mouth mauled his, her kiss-swollen lips keen to caress his for eternity.
Cal groaned again and lowered the firm line of his body against hers. The head of his erection pushed between her thighs, seeking entry. Instinctively, Lucy spread her legs wide and then propped her hips up to reach him. She felt him stroke her and then slide slowly deep inside her, through the moistness of her velvet flesh. As Cal inhaled harshly, Lucy cried out at the heavenly sensation, the fullness, the feeling of Cal at home inside her. After pushing in to the hilt, he began a rhythmic motion, thrusting gently at first as deep as he could possibly go and then increasing the speed as their need grew.
Lucy’s legs curled around him, pressing against his rump, pushing him in deeper with each pounding thrust. Her hips rocked, dancing with his, interlocked with feverish desire. Cal kissed her, possessing her as the intensity built. She gasped, feeling bursts of electricity tingle through her, the growing rapture of climax nearing. Cal kissed her neck, her throat and Lucy cried out again, her chest arching, pressing her breasts, her sensitive nipples against his skin.
“Cal,” she groaned, her breathing ragged.
His soft lips covered hers again, stealing her breath. She was suffocating, melting, losing control, becoming one with him. Her mind reeled, her body lost to the fiery heat, the wonder of their love-making. Her hands became claw-like, gripping the strong muscles of Cal’s back as she hung onto him, desperately clinging to him so that she didn’t float heavenward.
“Cal!” she cried out to him, as she felt herself slip, falling over the edge into the liquid warmth and the burning, blissful satisfaction of climax.
“I love you,” Cal breathed and then tensed, his lips hovering over hers as he came.