Kiss the Tiger (6 page)

I peered deep into his eyes and
saw nothing but sincerity and apprehension. He was actually asking me out.
Joshua Jackson was asking me out! “Erm, okay.”

He eased off the bed and walked
to the door. “Pick you up outside, at ten,” he said, closing the door on my
open mouth.

Chapter Ten

At ten minutes to ten, I grabbed
my bag from the floor and slung it over my shoulder. I had no idea where Josh
was taking me, so I’d had to guess what to pack. Nessie was lying on her bed,
reading a magazine, waiting for me to get ready. I’d spent twenty minutes
de-fuzzing, and rejected four outfits before deciding upon an orange sundress
over a matching bikini, adding only a touch of mascara and a smear of lip balm.
I wanted to look sexy, but not in a
please fuck me now
way, and besides,
if I made too much effort, Nessie would know something was up. I’d gone over in
my head so many times, wondering whether to confess all to her, but the right
words never arrived. Lying was easier.

“Going for a walk,” I said
quickly, hoping to escape without any hassle.

The magazine slammed onto the
bed, as I clicked open the door. “I thought we were trying out the spa today,”
Nessie said.

I turned and smiled. “We will.
When I get back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” At least that
wasn’t a lie.

“Well how long will you be?”

“I don’t know that either.”

Her legs swung over the mattress,
and she shuffled her bum to the edge. “Wait up. I’ll come with you.”

“No.” The word shot out.

“Huh? Why not?”

“I-I fancy being on my own for a
while.”

“You’re not the solitary type, Ames.
What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I promise. Look, start
without me. Go get a facial. Take Diane. I’m sure she’d love to smooth out a
few wrinkles for her latest boyfriend of the week. I’ll meet you for a massage later.”

I entered the corridor and
hurried to the lift before she could argue, arriving at the hotel entrance at
the very moment that a blue scooter pulled up. Josh nudged down the kickstand and
swung his leg over the back.

“You came.” He beamed.

It was the first time I’d seen
this boyish smile. Sure, there’d been the odd time in college when it had almost
surfaced—usually when he was joking about with his mates—but somehow it always
stopped short of full beam, leaving it guarded and fake. This smile was natural
and genuine, and it melted my insides.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You might have just agreed so
you could get rid of me.”

My eyes drifted over the scooter;
it could almost have been the one I saw that first morning on the balcony, but
up close, the blue was peppered with brown. “Are
you
trying to get rid
of
me
?”

“What?”

“Do you honestly expect me to get
on that?”

He laughed. “It’s perfectly
safe.”

“Looks a bit rusty. Are you sure
it won’t collapse under the weight of two people?”

“You’re not exactly huge, and
she’s quite used to extra passengers.”

Used to extra passengers, huh?
It certainly looked like the same scooter, but then it wasn’t as if there was
much variety on the island. Perhaps it hadn’t been him with the take-home
booty, but I needed to know. The thought of him spending the night with another
girl crushed my heart like a vice.

“Do you use it a lot?”

“All the time. Honestly, you’ve
nothing to worry about.”

“Who are your other passengers?”

“What is this, an interrogation?”
He held out his palms. “I earn my keep by taking the girls home after their
shifts.”

“Girls?”

“Barmaids.”

“Do they work all night?”

He picked up a helmet and held it
out. “Sometimes. There’s a lot of cleaning up to do after a long night. Are you
getting on, or are we gonna stand here talking all morning?”

So it could have been him, but it
was work. “Okay, but take it slowly.”

“I thought I’d already agreed to
that.” This time his smile was lazy and sexy as his gaze dropped down my body
and back up again. “By the way, you look gorgeous and…sunny.”

“Thanks,” I said, awkwardly
throwing my leg over the seat and shimmying into place. “I can’t be away long.
I told Ness I was going for a walk, so I’ve maybe two hours tops. I’m sure she
suspects.”

He looked around, as I wondered
how the hell I was going to hang on without touching him. “You haven’t told her
about us?”

“There is no
us
,” I
answered, settling for gripping the sides of the seat.

He flipped up the kickstand and
grinned. “Yet.”

***

The wind whistled in my ears as we
rode out of town and along a quiet coastal road. I was thankful I’d decided to
tie my hair into a ponytail. Small strands had already worked loose and were
whipping against my reddened cheeks. I wanted to ask where we were going but it
was impossible to talk over the noise of the engine or hear anything through
the straps of my helmet, so I settled for savouring the unbelievable fact that
I was finally on a date with my dream man.

Josh’s head turned and he mouthed
something, whilst pointing to a rocky cliff. I smiled in response. Then a few
minutes later, we stopped at the end of a sandy track and he turned off the
engine.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“Some old ruins.”

“I meant is it somewhere famous?”

“Did you see me rooting out my
wallet to pay us in? I told you I was taking you somewhere off the map.”

“I was simply wondering if there
was a story attached.”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I just
like to come here sometimes.”

“With girls?”

“That sounds a lot like jealousy.”

I stared out to sea. However red
my cheeks were before, I was sure I’d added fifty shades of crimson.

“Don’t worry. You’re the only
girl I’ve brought here.” A cheeky glint shone in his eyes. “All the others said
no.”

I tapped his arm playfully.
“That’s not funny.”

“Yeah, it is.” He took hold of my
hand and pulled me forward. “This way. There’s a great view back to town, over
here.”

We clambered up the jagged
ground, over crumbled walls and fallen columns, until we reached the highest
point of the cliff. Across the bay, the town almost grew out of the surrounding
hills and hugged a perfect horseshoe of sand.

“It’s beautiful.”

Josh wasn’t taking in the view;
he was surveying me. “So are you.”

My tummy fluttered, but I ignored
the pull of his gaze, choosing instead to continue my observation. “The air
smells different here. It’s so peaceful and unspoilt. I love it. So many people
don’t appear to have much and yet don’t seem to want for anything either.
Everyone is really laid-back and always smiling. It’s perfect.”

“And you know what? It looks even
better upside down.”

Huh?

He climbed up to the top of a
large stone and sat on the top with his back to me. I hoped he wasn’t expecting
me to climb up there too. It had never occurred to me to pack crampons.

I shielded my eyes from the sun
and gazed up at him. “I am not getting up there.”

“Spoilsport. Where’s your sense
of adventure?”

Shifting position slightly, he
leaned back, with his whole torso dangling from the top, and I feared he would
fall. His head dropped level with mine.

I giggled. “What are you, about
twelve?” It was weird looking at him from this angle. My first thought was of
those YouTube videos where people painted faces on their chins and said stupid
stuff, but then my mind quickly flicked to Spiderman, and I had an overwhelming
need to find out if an upside down kiss really was as erotic as it appeared in
the movie. “You’ve ruined your Mr Cool card.”

Sitting back up, he chuckled. “I
didn’t know I had one.”

“Are you kidding me?”

His trainers stirred up a dust
cloud at my feet as he jumped down.

“I remember you in college: the
motorbike, the leather jacket. And as for this,” my finger reached towards the
tiger, stopping short of actual contact and pulling back sharply, “need I say
more?”

“You like the tattoo, eh?”

I loved the tattoo, but I wasn’t
going to give him the satisfaction of gushing. “It’s all right.”

“I wish I’d known you were
checking me out.”

“I wasn’t checking you out.”

One corner of his mouth curled
sceptically. “No?”

“No.” I hoped I sounded
convincing.

To avoid any further questioning,
I turned, walked to the edge of the cliff, and listened to the waves crashing
against the rocks below. The ocean was stunning. Small specks of white dotted
the great expanse of turquoise and mingled with more colourful flecks closer to
the opposing shore.

Lost in the beauty, I took
another step forward. Earth crumbled under my sandals and scattered down to the
sea.

Chapter Eleven

Josh’s arms encircled my waist and
he tugged me back sharply. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” I swivelled in his hold,
and unwittingly, my hands slid up the back of his T-shirt. He reached behind
and pulled them back down. “Uh-uh. No touching.” My eyes dropped, guiltily. “If
I’m not allowed to touch you, you’re not allowed to touch me. It’s only fair. And
besides, if you start touching some parts of me, others are going to want the
same attention.”

I looked up and bit my lip,
imagining myself doing just that. “Sorry.”

For one brief moment, our eyes
locked, before he cleared his throat and released my hands. “Unless you want to
end up as smashed as the rest of this building, I suggest we move away from the
edge. Let’s sit down over there.”

Slightly shaken, I let him lead
me to a flat stretch of sandy ground shadowed by a broken column. He slipped my
bag from my shoulder and took out the rolled up towel I’d stuffed into the top.

“You came prepared,” he said, as
he laid it on the ground.

“I’m a good girl scout.”

He sat down. “I don’t suppose
you’ve got a drink in there too? I’m parched and I forgot to bring one.”

I nodded, pulling out a bottle of
water and passing it over. He took three long slugs and passed it back.
“Thanks.”

I stared at the rim of the bottle
that had just been in Josh’s mouth, and envied it. I needed to know if he
tasted as good as he looked, so I wrapped my lips around the traces of his
saliva.

Out of the corner of my eye, I
saw him watching as I drank him in. When I licked the thread clean and replaced
the cap, he was still staring. Hadn’t he seen anyone have a drink before?
“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just wishing that
bottle was me,” he said with a seductive smile.

“Well don’t look at me like
that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want me.”

“I do.”

Did he really just say that? “Why?
Why do you want me now, when you didn’t even notice me at college?”

“I noticed you. I told you. I was
gonna ask you out.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I was going to.”

“But you didn’t,” I stressed.

“No.”

“Are you going to tell me why?”

He shifted uncomfortably on the
towel. “Do you remember Aaron…and Lenny?”

I did. Lenny had come on to me,
one juiced up night in a bar. His pick-up line was that I looked like Madonna,
and if he hired a pointed bra from the costume shop, could I sing
Like a
Virgin
while he screwed me? I’d told him I was tone deaf, and walked away.
Aaron was equally as crude. One Saturday, in the bowling alley, I was trying to
fit my fingers into the bowling ball, without breaking the fingernails I’d
taken the last three months to grow. He was in the next lane, finding my
struggle highly amusing. He shouted out that I should be used to sticking my
fingers in holes, and perhaps I’d like him to give me a few pointers, back at
his place. Needless to say, I declined his offer.

“Vaguely,” I said.

“You turned them both down, flat.
I know. They told me.”

“And you never thought that maybe
they weren’t
my
type?”
I only wanted you.

“They were top guys; the chicks
loved them.”

“Not this one. Anyway, why would
you care?”

“I don’t like rejection.” He
wiped the sweat from his palms on the legs of his shorts, as I tried to imagine
any girl rejecting him. Somehow, I couldn’t see it. “But then you got under my
skin. Everywhere I went, you were there.”

Whoops
. I clearly needed
to brush up on my stalking skills.

“Finally, I decided, fuck it.
Give it a shot. She can only blow you off too. Plan was to corner you on New
Year’s Eve and kiss you until you said yes.”

“Great plan.”

“I thought so.”

“Plan went wrong.”

“Yep.”

“You found me with someone else.”

“Exactly.”

“And then you hated me.”

“No I didn’t. Is that what you
think? I’ve never hated you. I hated my brother for what he did. It changed
everything.”

“But the way you looked at me…so repulsed.”

“With my brother, not you. I know
what he’s like, and when I saw him with you, I snapped. What he did was wrong,
and I thought every time you looked at me you’d see him. I wanted to kill him.
I had to leave, to get my head straight. My head told me to beat the shit out
of him instead.”

“He said.”

Josh paused, as if remembering, before
sighing and pulling at the front of his damp T-shirt, pumping the material.
“It’s getting a little toasty.”

“Take it off if you’re hot,” I
said.
Please
.

One eyebrow cocked. “Fixing to
get me naked already?”

Fuck, yeah
. “Or don’t.
Your choice.”

There was that curling lip again.
He wasn’t buying my indifference. His hands reached around to the nape of his
shirt and tugged it up over his head.

I gaped at him, shamelessly, drinking
in each newly exposed inch of perfectly toned, caramel coloured flesh.
Close
your mouth, Amy
.

“You got any lotion in your bag
of tricks?” he asked.

“I-I think so, somewhere.” Composing
myself, I drew my bag closer and rooted in its depths until my hands found the
smooth plastic. “Yes. Here.” I held out the bottle, but he made no move to take
it.

“Lube me up?” He turned his back
to me and motioned with his hand. “Please. I’m not a contortionist.”

“I thought you said no touching?”

“Changed my mind.” He glanced
over his shoulder. “I’m waiting.”

I moved further onto the towel,
flipped the lid, and squirted out a splodge. After taking a deep, courageous breath,
my hands smoothed over his skin, stretched tight over rippling muscles, pliable
and hard at the same time. He felt so good that I had to resist the urge to
follow the movements with my lips.

“Don’t forget the bottom,” he
said.

My fingers worked into every
crevice, kneading my way down to where soft, downy hair covered the base of his
spine and continuing to caress him long after the cream had sunk in. Was he
going to offer to do me next? Should I let him? I’d be in trouble if I did. How
in hell was I supposed to keep up my Miss Goody Two Shoes image when every inch
of my body cried out to get down and dirty?

“You have good hands.” He turned
slowly.

I sat back against the column and
closed my eyes, willing my horny side back into its box. “I’ve had a lot of
practice. Nessie burns easily.”

Josh leaned back beside me, then
just as I was gathering my nerves together, his hand fell on mine, and our
fingers locked. It was a moment that didn’t need words, and for the next few
minutes, all I heard was his staggered breathing and the sound of the sea.

I felt him twist at my side, and
when I opened my eyes his face was inches from my own. “I have to know. Would
my kissing plan have worked?”

I stuttered out the word, “Maybe.”

His eyes flicked to my lips and
he licked his own. “I’m going to try it on you now. Is that okay?”

I nodded, suddenly lost for
breath, and waited. Even though I swore I wouldn’t let him, the moment was
perfect, and right now, he could do anything he liked, even if it meant
breaking my own rules.

He leaned over me and trailed the
middle finger of his free hand from my elbow to my wrist, then encircled it,
holding my hand captive on the sand. “Don’t move,” he said. “At all.”

I froze on command, with my heart
beating wildly, trying to think of a reason why I shouldn’t be doing what I was
about to do, but couldn’t come up with an answer.

His head angled and moved forward
just enough for the faintest of skin contact. The wait was unbearable. Then
with our lips barely touching, he moved slowly, his breath warm and soft on my mouth.
I lifted my chin closer to him, but he pulled back and continued to lightly
trace the outline of my cupid’s bow, causing it to become hypersensitive and
tingly. The static charge it created made me light-headed, and I couldn’t stop
the escape of a small gasp. He was winding me up like a slinky he was about to
release down the stairway. And I was ready to tumble.

When I thought I could stand it
no more, he released my hands. Both of his raised to cup my face, and his lips
pressed against mine. He teased my mouth open with his tongue, trailing it along
the inside of my bottom lip before delving deeper.

I reached up to lace my fingers
through his hair holding him to me. My other hand pressed into the small of his
back.

No one had kissed me like this
before. A guy didn’t get this good without a serious amount of practice. Was he
this good at everything? I tried not to think of the many girls he must have
been with, and just enjoy the moment.

He explored every inch of my
mouth, and when the tip of his tongue ran over the back of my top gum, I
shivered despite the heat. He groaned, lifting his leg to place it between
mine, bending his knee up to rest at the very top of my thighs. I was already
wet, and if he moved any higher, he was going to feel just how much. My brain
told me to stop, to continue the plan to play it cool, but my body wasn’t
listening. I was ready to give myself to him. I unravelled my fingers from his
hair and threw my arms back against the stone column. His hands dropped to my
shoulders and I willed them to go even lower, as his lips left mine and
travelled down my neck. My head lolled and I arched my back, lifting my chest
expectantly. One hand obliged, smoothing down to rest on the swell of my
breast. His other crept around my waist, greedily pulling my body under him. My
bum pressed hard into the ground under his weight. A thumb slipped under the
strap of my dress, hooking it off my shoulder, as his kisses stopped in the dip
of my collar bone, and he licked a trail along it and down my cleavage. His
hips rocked against my leg, and I felt him hard against my thigh.
Holy shit
,
he was big.

Without warning, he pulled back
and looked deep into my eyes. Why was he stopping? His expression changed.
Could he read my mind? Did he know what I was thinking?

He rolled off me, scooched back
into a sitting position against the column, and placed his hands in his lap in
an attempt to conceal his obvious erection.

“Worked then,” he said.

“You’re a decent enough kisser,”
I answered, looking up at him.

“Don’t go overboard with the
compliments, will you?” I watched him flick his hair from his eyes, and wipe
the sweat from his forehead.

“Wouldn’t want you to get a big
head.”

“Haven’t had any complaints
before.”

I closed the gap between us and
kissed his arm, as my fingers played with the hem of his shorts and slid
underneath. “I wasn’t complaining.”

He pulled my hand down brusquely.
“Sweet Jesus, Amy. Are you trying to get me to break my promise?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean. I
got carried away. I’m sorry. But I stopped. I told you I’m not like Jacko.”

A low rumble of voices grew
louder and an old couple appeared over a nearby mound.

Josh looked at his watch. “Time
to go.”