Saltwater Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (The Kisses Series Book 1) (27 page)

“I need you, Emma,” Jack whispered, his breath tickling the small hairs on her neck. She shivered and stepped back from him.

“I'm yours, Jack.” Her eyes were serious and dark. They were everything he wanted.

“Left pocket,” he said, answering her question from before. He wished he could have her without anything between them, but he couldn't do that to her. He cared for her too much to risk changing her plans. She wanted to be a veterinarian. He couldn't keep her from that because he wanted to touch her.

She kept her hands on him as she bent for his shorts. Her palms sent flares of lust scorching from his skin straight to his groin. He needed her more than he needed to breathe. If she didn't hurry, he was going to have to just pin her to the floor and have his way with her, condom or no condom.

Her hands trembled as she unrolled the rubber onto his thick girth. It wasn't from nerves, though. The heat in her eyes told him it was pure want that was making her shake. She straightened from her task and slid the drenched panties off her hips.

His pupils dilated, seeing her completely naked in front of him. Instinct took over and he rushed forward, pinning her to the bed. His cock found her entrance as she willingly spread her legs to take him.

Their eyes met, and he entered her for the first time as man and wife.

“So tight,” Jack gasped as her body clenched around him. She moaned, unable to find the words to describe the sensations rocking through her body.

“More...” she whispered. “I want more of you, Jack.”

He happily obliged, thrusting so deep he was sure he was pushing into the base of her womb. Her entire body trembled and she wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to draw him in even further. Slowly, so slowly he could barely tolerate it himself, he worked his way in and out, rocking his hips against hers.

Emma's back arched and she writhed. Jack dove deep, filling her up completely with himself until their hips merged as if one person. Her cries of pleasure urged him on, and he picked up the pace. Lust overtook his original intention to make this last as long as possible. He knew that with her, with this beautiful woman that he had just married, he couldn't say no. She gave him too much pleasure for him to be able to control himself with her.

He gripped her ass, pushing her further onto the bed before reaching up and pinning her arms above her head. Her hands meshed with his as he levered above her. His chest dripped sweat that mingled with her own, as he drove into her with such passion and power that the world was tearing apart at the seams.

“Jack,” she whimpered, looking up into his face. He looked down, into the most beautiful green eyes, eyes that reflected more than just lust. There was something else there that he craved more than release. She repeated his name, her pupils going wide right before she squeezed them shut and began to shudder.

Her orgasm was too much for him to take. He exploded, every muscle in his body tightening and releasing in an unending spiral that sent him to the stars. His world went white and the only sound he could hear was his own heart and the gasps of Emma beneath him.

Color returned first, the green of her eyes guiding him back into himself. Never had he experienced an orgasm as intense as this. He smiled, tracing the curve of her cheek with his hand. It was her. She was the one who caused him to feel so much more than just the physical side of their love-making.

He lowered his head to hers, kissing her open mouth. He reveled in her taste, taking his time to explore her mouth with his tongue. He didn't want to leave the warm embrace of her body. She wrapped her limbs around him, holding him in place as he kissed her.

Slowly, she released her grip on him as the kiss naturally ended. He had explored her mouth but knew the next time he went to kiss her, he would find it just as exhilarating. Deep down, he knew he would never grow tired of kissing her.

“I think I could get used to this whole being married thing,” she murmured as he slid to her side. He looked over at her profile as she smiled at the ceiling. She was so beautiful, but it wasn't just her body that drove him wild. It was her. She made his heart thump. She made him happy.

He kissed her temple, closing his eyes and savoring the moment. This was all pretend and he knew it. Soon, they would leave and go back to their standard positions in society. He wished that he didn't have to go through the next year without her, but it wouldn't be fair of him to force her into a marriage with his company.

This marriage on the beach wasn't real, but the job he had at his company was. DS Oil and Gas needed him more than Emma did. He couldn't ask her to play second fiddle to his job just because he had found her second. She deserved to be first in every part of his life, and as much as it killed him, he knew he couldn't give that to her.

She cuddled into the depression of his shoulder, snuggling into him as if he had been custom built for her and her alone. He wished he had the guts to tell her who he was, to tell her what he felt right now, but he couldn't. It would only hurt her.

And the only thing he truly couldn't do was hurt her.

“W
hen does your flight leave again?” Emma asked as she put the few things in her suitcase. She smiled, but her voice was bittersweet.

Jack sighed, shifting his weight on the bed. He didn't want to leave and every time he told her he wished he could move it back. For the millionth time, he wished he could just stay on the island drinking in Emma's saltwater kisses. “It technically leaves whenever I am ready, but, I have to be back in New York by the close of business, so I need to leave in about fifteen minutes.”

He was already packed and the jet fueled. All he had to do was say goodbye. And tell her who he really was.

“I wish you didn’t have to go until evening,” she said quietly, more to herself than to Jack.

“Me too, but planes can only fly so fast,” Jack answered. He shifted his weight again. He thought about leaving and not telling her who he was, but that would just be cruel. His face popped up on more magazines and tabloids than he really preferred and he didn't want her to find out that way.

But he still didn't want to tell her. He didn't want her to look at him the way everyone else did: like a meal ticket or their own personal ATM. He had been dreading this moment for days now. It was the one blight on an otherwise perfect vacation with her.

“Anxious to be off?” she asked, nodding at his tapping toes. He couldn’t seem to sit still. He looked down at his feet and saw his toes tapping against his sandals. He hadn't even realized he had been doing that.

“It’s a good thing I wear covered toe shoes at work,” he murmured glaring at the offending foot. The toes stopped tapping. “I need to tell you something.”

Emma played with the zipper on her suitcase, refusing to look at him. She chewed on her lip and the only thing he could think of doing was kissing her and possibly doing a little chewing of his own.

She looked up at him, straightening her spine and raising her chin. “The secretary you came with... she’s actually your wife, right?”

He laughed. “No, not by a long-shot.” His face darkened, and he stood up and took her hands in his. She had been watching him all morning, her green eyes taking in his every movement. She was able to read his emotions like a book, yet he knew this was going to be a surprise. “I haven’t been completely honest with you about what I do. I’m the new CEO of DS Oil and Gas.”

She snorted in disbelief. “I knew you had money, Jack, but a billionaire? Be serious.”

He held her in his eyes, wishing she could stay ignorant of his status forever. But he knew she couldn't. He had to do this. “I am serious. My father is the founder and owner of DS Oil and Gas. This is my last vacation before going back to take over the company. When my father steps down, I’ll be in charge of the company.”

She frowned, her brow going dark as she pulled her hands away from his. “DS Oil and Gas? What are you talking about Jack?”

He smiled sadly. “I love that you don’t know that. Here,” he said pulling out his phone and pulling up a video. He placed it in her hands and watched her face as it played.

It was one he had grown up with, played at every social function or company party he ever went to. He remembered smiling with his father for the end frame of the two of them by an oil well. It had been a good day, that day. His father had scheduled in the entire day for filming, but it ended up only taking about an hour. His father had declared it a day for the two of them. They had gone and sat in a local hamburger shop and talked for hours.

“The video is a little old, but it’s the one everyone knows. DS stands for Daniel Saunders, my father,” Jack said, taking the phone from her hands. Her mouth hung open in a pale face. Jack gently reached over and pushed her chin up. While she could read his thoughts like a book, she was a mystery to him. A delightful, heartwarming mystery.

“I don’t know what to say. I had no idea that was you.” She looked like she might be ill. Jack certainly felt like he might.

“I think that's why I like you so much. You never saw me as a meal ticket or anything other than another human being. You didn’t see a billionaire playboy, you saw a normal person.” His voice cracked slightly. He wanted to wrap her up in her arms and apologize, but he wasn't sure how she would take it. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

“That’s why you didn’t hesitate to buy this,” she reasoned, her hand going to the silver dolphin at her throat. “And why you didn’t want any pictures at the wedding. If you’re a billionaire, then you’re famous too, right?”

He nodded. His heart was in his toes. She was going to hate him for this forever. He had betrayed her trust. “I never meant to lie to you Emma. I loved the way you looked at me. I loved your honesty and how genuinely wonderful you were without knowing who I was. I’m surrounded by fake people who only want my money every moment of every day, but you, you were different. I wanted to tell you, but I was terrified you would look at me like they do.”

“So you’re a billionaire who spent his last vacation with a dirt-poor girl in a free hotel room,” she said slowly. Emma moved away from him and sat down on the foot of the bed.

“This was more than I could ever ask for,” he said quietly. Jack knelt before her on the floor, his hands resting on her knees. She didn't shy at his touch, which he took as a good sign. His dark eyebrows bunched together, his face full of worry and regret.

“So what happens now?” Emma looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“Nothing has changed. We both knew we were going to go our separate ways. We both said we would never tell anyone about this. It’s our secret, something that no one can ever take away from us. I didn’t want you to pick up a magazine and find out who I was that way.” He wanted to tell her that he would find her once his business was secure, but he didn't want her to wait for him. He couldn't guarantee when he would have time to be a proper boyfriend, let alone a husband, and he didn't want to promise something he couldn't deliver. Especially not to her.

She nodded, biting her lip. Then she looked up at him and said the words that broke his heart. “I still don’t want you to go, money or no money. I think I would have preferred the 'secretary is your wife' scenario. At least that way I would have known I could never have you again.”

He kissed her gently, wishing things could be that simple. He wanted to be a part of her world more than anything, but knew she deserved better than to be a part of his.

“I want to do something for you. If there is ever anything I can do for you, I want you to let me know. A new car perhaps?” He held a finger against her lips as she started to shake her head in protest. He loved that even now, knowing who he was, she still only wanted him and not his money. “It will cost me almost nothing, but it will help you enormously. I want to see you happy Emma, and if I can help, I want to.”

“I'll think about it,” she promised. He couldn't read her as well as she read him, but the lie was obvious and he loved her all the more for it.

“Please do. It would make me very happy to see you succeed,” Jack said softly. He placed a card in her hand with a number scrawled in black ink on the back. He had rewritten it twice, afraid the first one had been illegible. She stuffed it into her back pocket and sniffled.

A loud knock shook the door. That would be his driver. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something he could say to make her smile. The driver knocked again, insistent that Jack leave his paradise. He turned, knowing that there were tears running down her face because he put them there.

She took his hand before he reached the door, entwining her fingers with his. Jack opened the door and nodded to the man outside, needing just one more moment with Emma.

Her green eyes swam with tears and one trickled down her cheek as he memorized her face one last time. He smeared the tear from her cheek, wishing he could take her tears away entirely. His thumb traced the perfect swell of her lower lip, feeling it tremble against him. This was the lip that she bit when she was thinking, the one he was going to miss more than anything.

He tipped his head and brought his mouth to hers. She tasted salty, like the ocean. He lingered in her kiss, wanting to stay with her forever. It wasn't fair to her. He kept telling himself that this was for the best, that she deserved someone who wasn't going to sleep at the office every night. She deserved someone who could eat a meal with her without being interrupted by phone calls or secretaries. She deserved better than him.

“This was the best vacation I’ll ever have. Thank you Emma,” he said softly, his eyes full of a sadness he couldn't express but she seemed to recognize. He started to say something more, but stopped, swallowing his words. He wanted to tell her he loved her, that he wanted this week to be real and he never wanted to leave her side. But he couldn't. If he said the words mirrored in her eyes, the pain would overwhelm them both.

He touched her cheek one last time before drawing up to his full height. His back solidified and his face turned into a mask. This was the end. He stepped out into the sunshine, but didn't feel warm. His heart was standing behind him, tears running down her face. A tear traced down the hard planes of his own face, but he quickly wiped it away.