Authors: Nauti,wild (Riding The Edge)
And dammit, she couldn’t stop thinking about Rick.
After her massage, she went to search for Lacey, who’d
gotten a massage at the same time. They were going to meet
up for a late lunch afterward. But she was nowhere to be
found. The woman working the front desk at the spa said
Lacey had left a message saying she was going up to her
room to take a nap.
Figured. Lacey was always either talking Ava’s ear off or
sound asleep.
She decided to go take a shower, wash the oil off from the
massage, and maybe relax and read.
She grabbed a sandwich on her way up to her room, and
after her shower, grabbed it and took a spot out on the
balcony. Such an amazing panorama of the town, and off to
the right she caught a peek of the ocean and white sand.
While she ate, she enjoyed the warm air and beautiful view
of the waving trees and the colorful town below. Such a mix of
colors, and Ava had always enjoyed people watching. She
always wondered what people were doing, where they were
going.
Maybe because watching other people go about their lives
was so much more interesting than her own. Because here
she was, sitting up in her room when she could either be out
shopping or at the beach on this beautiful day.
Hadn’t she learned anything? They had one more day here
and she was sitting on a hotel balcony when a once-in-a-
lifetime experience was just a short walk away.
So what was it going to be? Shopping or some time on the
beach?
She and Lacey had shopped yesterday. She’d even
haggled with a few of the merchants—it was expected, as
Lacey explained.
She should check out the beach.
It was time to dig her toes in the sand and live a little. She
didn’t need Lacey to hold her hand—or Rick. She could do it
by herself.
She threw on her swimsuit and cover-up, slipped into her
sandals, and made her way down the slope toward the water.
Dusky-colored rock wal s rose up on either side of her. There
was no concrete path, just sand, worn from the people who’d
come before her. She made her way through the maze of
rocks until she found the clearing.
Breathtaking. Clear blue water, mountains on the other side,
and no one was around. She stood and listened to the
crashing sound of the waves, watched them ride their way to
shore. She kicked off her sandals and moved in a few feet so
the water trickled over her toes.
It was warm, inviting. She dropped to the sand and
straightened her legs, clearing her mind.
This was so much better than sitting in her room.
She dragged the beach towel out of her bag, pul ed off her
cover-up, and lay down.
As soon as she closed her eyes, Rick’s face swam before
her. She sighed, giving up the thought of forgetting about him.
She wished he were here with her, lying on the beach with
her, folding her into his arms and kissing her. She missed
talking to him, hearing the sound of his voice, his laughter. He
seemed to understand her in ways no other man ever had.
What man had ever even bothered to listen to her before? And
he didn’t agree with everything she said just to get her in bed.
He helped her reason things out about Lacey.
But it went beyond just talking. She missed making love to
him, the way he’d awakened her body. Her senses throbbed
every time she thought about his kisses, his touch, the way
she felt when he was inside her.
How could a man affect her so deeply after only a few short
days? What was so special about him that was different than
any other guy she’d known?
He had seemed so perfect for her. They had seemed to fit
so wel together. How could she have been so wrong about
him? What he’d said to Bo just didn’t fit what she knew about
him. Was she that bad a judge of character that she hadn’t
been able to see who he real y was? Had he played her that
wel ? She was a reasonably intel igent woman who knew how
to spot a player. Or at least she thought she was.
Too much thinking. Thinking that was getting her nowhere.
She and Rick were over. Why couldn’t she just let it go?
“You could tempt a man to sin looking like that.”
Ava shot up and grabbed her cover-up, shielding her face
from the sun. A silhouette stood in the bright sunlight, a dark
shadow she couldn’t make out. She grabbed her bag, then
scrambled to her feet, hoping to hel someone else was on
this stretch of beach besides her and some stranger. What the
hel was she thinking coming out here alone?
“Ava.”
Her whole body went rigid. “Rick?” She fished into her bag
for her sunglasses, slid them on. He stood there, barefoot in
jeans and a sleeveless muscle shirt, holding his boots in his
hand. His dark sunglasses made him look reckless, sexy, like
the bad boy she figured him to be. Her legs went weak. “What
are you doing here?”
“I came here to find you, to talk to you.” He pushed his
sunglasses up on his head.
She should be angry with him—furious, in fact—not fal ing to
his feet in a gush of female libido. “Why?”
“Because what I said back in Vegas . . . I didn’t want you to
hear that.”
Her anger rushed to the surface. She preferred that to being
so damn glad to see him. “Obviously.”
“No, you don’t understand.” He grabbed her hands and
pul ed her down to sit in the sand with him. “It wasn’t what I
meant, what I felt.”
“Why did you say it?”
“Because that’s what I wanted Bo to think.”
She cocked her head to the side. “I don’t understand.”
“In order to get back into the Hel raisers I have to prove my
worthiness.”
“And treating a woman like shit is the way to do it?”
He rubbed a spot above his brow with his fingertip. “No, but
tel ing him that I cared about you puts me in a bad position.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. Was he saying he
cared about her? “Why?”
“I’m not sure I can explain this wel .”
“Try.”
“I’ve been gone for ten years. I just came back. They want
me to be free to work for them, to ride with them. You’re not
one of the Hel raisers.”
“Oh. So if you hooked up with me, I’d be a hindrance to you
doing that.”
He nodded. “It’s a shitty excuse, I know. I didn’t expect him
to ask me about you. So I shot off that you meant nothing to
me, that you were just a fuck. They were just words said to
placate him. I didn’t expect you to be there to hear them.”
“You didn’t mean them.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“But you stil said them.”
“Yes.”
“They hurt me.”
He looked down at the sand, then swept his gaze back to
her. “I know. And I’m sorry. It was thoughtless. I was an
asshole.”
If she were smart, she wouldn’t believe him. She’d tel him
to turn around and head back to Las Vegas. That she wasn’t
interested in his explanations or excuses. That they were over.
That they never had anything to start with.
But she did believe him. He’d come al the way to Mexico to
explain to her, to apologize. What kind of man did that?
“If it would make you feel better you could throw sand at me.
”
She laughed. Damn him. “I can’t believe you’re here. You
came al the way here just to see me? You could have cal ed
me.”
“I could have. But this kind of needed to be handled face-to-
face.”
“You could have waited until I got back.”
He shifted, rubbed his hands together to wipe the sand off.
“I didn’t want to wait. Besides, I missed you.”
She looked away, stared out at the water. “Don’t say that.”
He tipped her chin, forced her gaze back to his. “Why not?”
Her eyes fil ed with tears and she hated herself—and him
—because of it. She pul ed her sunglasses off and looked at
him. “I don’t want to care about you, Rick.”
He paused, then lifted a strand of her hair and sifted it
through his fingers. “But you do.”
She wouldn’t admit it—refused to give him more
ammunition to hurt her. Until he leaned in, and before she
could object, fit his mouth over hers. The kiss was slow and
easy—he wasn’t demanding, it was more like he was testing
the waters.
God, she’d missed his mouth on hers. She sighed and
pressed into him, felt weak and ridiculous for giving in so
easily. She should have walked away. This man was trouble,
was only going to hurt her.
But he’d come al the way to Mexico to apologize. What
man did that?
Rick.
So as his lips brushed over hers, seeking, searching, al her
resolve melted and she kissed him back, her answer—a
resounding
yes
—to everything.
She was so easy. She was going to hate herself later for
this. But right now he was pul ing her onto his lap, onto his
strong thighs, and wrapping his arms around her, deepening
the kiss until she was heated al over. And it felt so good—so
right. She couldn’t muster up any reasonable objections to
why she shouldn’t be with him.
As long as she guarded her heart.
He dragged his lips across her chin, spreading hot kisses
along her throat. She felt the mad beat of her pulse against his
lips and tilted her head back, not caring that they were on the
beach where anyone could see them. No one knew her here
—she was a stranger. Even if someone did see them, it
wasn’t like she was ever coming back to this place again. And
she didn’t want this moment to end.
She shifted, rocked against him, riding his cock through the
denim of his jeans.
Rick grinned. “Out here?”
“Yes.”
“I have a better idea.”
He put his hands under her buttocks and stood, carrying her
over to a secluded cove where the water met the rocks.
“Your jeans are getting wet,” she said as he rested her back
against the cool rock and set her on her feet.
“I don’t care.” He planted his lips on hers and she soon
forgot al about his jeans, or anything else. Al she knew was
his hard cock against her sex, splintering her with pleasure
that rocked her senses.
She wanted more of it. She wanted him inside her. Now.
“Rick, please.”
He leaned back, his gaze questioning. “You want to do this
upstairs in your room?”
She shook her head. “No. Here. Now.”
His face was as fil ed with the dark, ravenous need that she
felt inside as he dug a condom out of his pocket, then took a
quick glance around, making sure they were alone.
He unzipped his pants and pul ed out his cock, and she
couldn’t resist wrapping her fingers around it. So hot, thick,
pulsing with life.
“Christ, Ava. You’re going to make me explode.”
She liked knowing she had that effect on him. She stroked
him while he tore open the condom package. He brushed her
hand away, then reached between them to pul the fabric of
her bikini aside.
The first touch of his hand against her bare flesh made her
gasp, lift up on her toes to drive against his palm. He rubbed
her sex, used her own moisture to lubricate her clit.
She’d done nothing but think about him, think about how
good the sex had been between them. That in itself had been
foreplay. And out here in the heat, with the waves crashing
against them, she was already so close to orgasm it was
embarrassing.
Rick leaned into her, his gaze hard and direct as he
watched her.
“Come on,” he said, driving his palm against her clit as his
finger slipped inside her pussy. “Let me feel you come, Ava.”
The touch of his hand against her, the way he looked at her,
coupled with their forbidden location, was al too much,
ratcheting up her excitement to a frenzied level. She gripped
his wrist, held him right where she needed. She moved
against him and her climax rushed at her like an overpowering
wave. She kept her focus on Rick, letting him see what his
touch had done to her.
His smile was devastating, the darkness in his eyes making
her throb inside.
He jerked her bikini bottom down and placed it on the rock
ledge above her head, then lifted her legs, wrapping them
around him. Ava held onto his shoulders while he guided her
onto his cock.
Sweet heaven. She pulsed around him, gripped him in a
tight vise that overwhelmed her senses. He rocked against
her, thrusting slow and easy at first, then harder, dragging his
cock over her sensitive tissues until al she could do was
squeak out breathless pants.
But no words were necessary because they spoke to each