Riptide (Limitless Book 1) (2 page)

“You know something I don’t?” Hunter looked up and Slade jerked his head to the right. Hunter turned to see what his friend was staring at and saw Phoenix talking with a cameraman down on the beach. She turned, and as she walked away, she noticed them on the beach, waved, and headed their way.

“Hey, guys. You already ride your heat?”

“Just finished. Romeo here is next, though.” Slade elbowed Hunter in the side.

“Swells are nice. Hope you have a great set.” She studied them for a moment. “Stay away from the South bank, it’s killer. I’ll catch you later.”

He watched as she headed off down the beach, unable to take his eyes off her. From the trident tattoo above her left shoulder blade, to the way her hips flared out just enough to give her a soft hourglass figure, every inch of her body held him captive. The ties from her string bikini top swayed back and forth, tempting him to give them a little tug just to see what happened from there.

“Earth to Hunter. Are you seriously just going to let her walk away? Go ask her to the bonfire tonight.” Slade snorted. “Of course, if you’re stupid enough to let her slip through your fingers again, I just may go after her. Screw the guy code.”

“Some friend you are.” Hunter pushed himself up off the sand.

“I’m the best kind to have, otherwise you’d let her walk right out of your life.” Slade smiled as he slapped him on the back. “If you don’t hurry, though, you’ll miss line up, so I suggest you run.”

P
resent Day...

Hunter juggled his luggage and the bouquet of flowers as he slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open. The kitchen light cast a glow out into the foyer. He dropped his bag quietly on the floor just inside the door by the small table in the entryway where he set the key. He shut the door behind him and flipped the lock back into place. Everything looked just as he remembered it. The large bunches of fake tropical flowers stood tall in copper floor vases in varying sizes, the light colored stone tile offset the walls that were rich with shades of teal, and bamboo covered the lower half of the walls.

He toed off his canvas tennis shoes and left them by hers near the front door. Sand was gritty under his feet and he smiled as he made his way into the kitchen to his left. A spear gun sat on the table, the wicked looking spears sitting on the counter, tips sticking out of a towel. Seeing them made his chest swell with a toxic mix of pride and panic. She loved the ocean, only took what she ate, and never killed simply for sport. But the fact that she would go spearfishing alone...struck a nerve.

The windows were open, letting in the sounds and smells of the ocean that lay waiting outside. Once upon a time, the sound of the surf crashing against the beach in a rhythmic pattern would’ve brought him a sense of peace. Now it served as both temptation and torture all in one. A towel hung over the back of the bar stool. It didn’t take much to imagine her out there waiting on her board, studying the roll of the water, watching the waves as they began to build, patiently waiting to see what kind of set the ocean would gift her with. Oh how he wished he’d made the earlier flight from Australia. Just to catch a glimpse of her from the patio as she cut through the waves. That would’ve been a piece of Heaven on Earth.

He stepped over to the sink, pulled out a vase from the overhead cabinet, and filled it with water. After dropping the roses into the see-through glass vessel, he pulled out a solitary stem and headed back toward the bedroom. The rest of the house was bathed in various shades of darkness, but it didn’t matter. He would’ve found his way to her in the middle of a monsoon.

Moonlight cascaded into her room from the open patio door. The scent of the salty ocean carried in on the evening breeze. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light and he could make out her form on the bed. With the single flower in his hand, he neared the mattress, and sucked in a deep breath. He raked his eyes slowly over the woman whose image had permanently etched itself on his brain. Every little detail of ink, scar marking her sun-kissed flesh, and outline of muscle on her lithe frame, he’d memorized over the past two years. Still, his memories didn’t elicit the same rock-him-to-his-core reaction. Only seeing her in person could do that.

“Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he whispered into the stillness of the room. Who knew that a late night on the beach and the need to find a bit of peace one August evening would give him a woman who wanted nothing more from him than an occasional night of mind blowing sex? Would’ve been the perfect arrangement for a guy like him if she wasn’t his agent’s daughter. That one little piece of information threatened to destroy everything.

He’d tried to stay away. Knew deep down it would be in both of their best interests, but he’d been unable to fight the pull to her. Now he walked a tightrope between a life he fought tooth and nail for, and the one woman who captured his heart. His life currently remained in a constant state of flux, but during those moments when he was around her, everything calmed. She was the only constant in his chaotic life. Dangerous feelings and realizations. What the hell—he learned a long time ago that one couldn’t surf when the ocean was smooth as glass. Why should he expect life to be any different?

Phoenix stirred a little but didn’t wake. Hunter stood and just savored the moment. Who knew how long it would be before he got to see her again. He had to fly out in the morning for a photo shoot and he was not looking forward to posing in front of a camera. Maybe he could persuade her to go with him. He shook his head and sighed. This was not what he wanted. His own inner demons had plagued him for three months and he couldn’t allow them to interfere with the time he had with her.

He took the rose, and ran it lightly from the tip of her toes, over her long, lean legs, following along the tight mound of her ass, past the thin scrap of black lace and matching camisole, up her back and over her left shoulder where the trident marked her flesh. Careful not to jostle the bed too much, he leaned down and gently kissed the inked flesh. She moaned and he sank down onto the bed beside her.

With mussed hair the color of wheat with natural pale reddish-blonde highlights drawn out by all the time she’d spent in the sun, Phoenix turned toward him. Even in the darkness, he could imagine her gray eyes heavy with sleep as she tried to focus on him. He didn’t want to give her a chance to send him away like she threatened to do each time he came back. Could he blame her? Two years and he still gave her so little of himself.

“Hunter?”

“Yes, angelfish.” Even half asleep, he loved the way she said his name. It sounded different. There were no expectations. Just a chance to be something more together than they were apart. Here with her, he could let the demands and demons plaguing him slip away. He could forget the dangers their love presented and live in the moment. With her, he could be himself, be the man he wanted to be. Have a piece of something pure and good. The man who, at that very moment, wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her.

With a need to taste her, he pressed his mouth to hers. He lightly ran his tongue over her lips, praying that she would accept him. They played this game each time he came home. He knew the risks and accepted that one day it would all come to an end. But it didn’t stop him from returning to her or from holding out hope that this time he wouldn’t be left on the doorstep of a vacant house searching for a key that was no longer there.

She ran her hand down his side and slid it under the hem of his shirt and he stilled. There were a few new scars from his encounter with the treacherous reefs at Maverick’s. He shuddered at the memories as they came crashing to the surface. The riptide he’d been caught in was strong, and even worse, it had cost him his best friend. He hadn’t been able to come back right away. Not until he knew he couldn’t be without her one more night. Staying away wasn’t an option. Feeling her body beside his, made him forget for just a moment, though. It had been too long since he’d seen her because each time he did, it was harder to leave.

“This is a good dream,” she mumbled.

“Yes, it is.” Hunter smiled at the revelation that she hadn’t fully woken. When she was over tired, she talked in her sleep. It was too damn easy to sway her and he took advantage of it time and time again. The woman pushed herself too hard. Wanted to save the world. If he were smart, he’d let her sleep. Just curl up beside her and enjoy the warmth of her body as they slept. It would be too normal. Too much like being committed. An admission that he was in over his head. He followed the waves and chased his dream, which left little time for anything beyond his own selfish need to feel something real. That need eventually took over as it always did.

From the moment he’d seen her on the beach, she’d been the only one he turned to. And this time when he’d finally allowed common sense to take a backseat to his heart, he’d practically run from the airport straight to her house, even amidst protests from his brother. Even turned off his phone to keep from being tracked down. Hunter didn’t want anything interfering with this moment.

“I’m feeling a little out of shape. Just can’t stick the waves like I use to.” Her eyes slid closed and she rolled onto her back, her voice softening to a whisper as she began to drift back into a deep sleep. “Could use a good workout...”

She pulled the pillow closer, and mumbled, “You have too many clothes on.”

“You read my mind.” In more ways than one. He slipped off the bed and quickly undressed. With a gentleness he only ever felt when in her presence, he returned to the bed and placed himself over the top of her, bracing himself on his forearms, to keep the full weight of his body off of her. “Angel?”

“Yes?” The single word breathless and barely audible.

He would seduce her into waking. Placing a soft kiss on her mouth, then her neck, he moved his lips over her body until he reached her center. Slowly, he pulled back the fabric and placed his mouth on her. She moaned and he couldn’t help but smile. One deep pass of his tongue over her flesh—that was all it took.

“Oh God,” Phoenix called out. “You’re not a dream.”

“I can be if you want.” Hunter grabbed her hips and lifted her slightly, so he could access every glorious inch of her.

“I prefer the real thing.”

“Me, too.” The sweet smell of her coconut body wash made him feel at home.

“You were gone a long time.”

“I know.” Wanting to avoid talking about why he’d been missing in action for more than five months this last time, he dipped his tongue between her folds and indulged in the taste of her. Then he did it again. She squirmed. He loved the way her body reacted to the things he did.  Each time he was with her, it felt like the first. He worked her. Made her moan for him. Her body arched and her muscles tightened. She grabbed the pillow and pulled it over her face and he stopped. “Don’t do that. I want to hear you scream.”

“Hunter, keep going. Please?”

He growled in frustration. All he wanted was to hear his name on her lips while he brought her pleasure. To enjoy knowing that he made her body sing. “Don’t hide your face.”

“Hunter...” she pleaded with him.

He slowly bent his head closer to her center but stopped. She tossed the pillow at him and he ducked his head, chuckling as he returned his attention to her body. With her hands fisted through his hair, she writhed against him. He moved his mouth a little faster. Sucking a little harder as she neared her climax.

“Oh—God—Hunter!”

The moment she let go, he felt it. Reveled in the sensation of her body writhing against his. This was what he wanted. Her giving herself over to him. Letting him be the one in control. He slid down her body, taking the scrap of lace underwear with him as he went.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” She watched him as he retrieved a condom from his wallet and tore open the package.

“I hope not.” Because he didn’t know what would become of him if he could no longer have moments like this with her. “I hope you outlive me.”

She crawled toward him, then rose up on her knees, taking the condom from him and rolling it down over his length. “Don’t count on it.”

In the blink of an eye, she removed her camisole, leaving her naked as she knelt on the bed. All his. In that moment, she belonged only to him. Not to the clients at her father’s company or the greedy investors who wanted her undivided attention as they tried to claim a piece of the Nash family enterprise. Just his.

“Lie back, angel.”

“Demanding tonight, aren’t you?” Concern creased her brow, but she did as he asked, allowing him what he wanted.

The bed dipped as he settled himself between her legs. He slid his hands up her thighs and along her sides, and braced himself on his elbows, allowing just the tip of him to touch her.

“And a tease.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Into torture this evening, Mr. Sullivan?”

“No. Just afraid I won’t be gentle once I start.” And it was the truth. Right now, he needed to be reminded that while everything else in his life spun out of control, at least this—what they shared—was real.

She studied him for a moment, her grayish blue eyes seeing right through him. “Then don’t be.”

Her willingness to give him what he needed made him hesitate. He stared down at her in wonder. How had he gotten so lucky to find her? The one person he shouldn’t be with was the only one he wanted. He wished he had the balls to tell his agent to go to hell and tell Phoenix how his world wasn’t right when she wasn’t a part of it. He pushed himself inside her, trying to go slow, allowing himself to withdraw a little, before pushing farther in. He repeated the act until he was fully sheathed inside her. “You okay?”

“Hunter, just fuck me. Hard and fast.”

“What?” The shock of her statement registered in his voice. In all the times he’d crawled into her bed, she’d never said those words to him.

“You obviously need it to be more about you in this moment, so take what you want from me.”

Knowing that she could read him so well broke him a little, and made him reign in the side of him that wanted to be rough. He moved out slowly, then pushed back in. She wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles behind his hips and keeping him in place with a strength that always caught him off guard.