Whose Bride Is She Anyway (21 page)

“Nope, it was just me. I think I was more than enough. ”

“I can’t begin to imagine why you’d think that. You’re so
not
demanding. ” Tara mocked teasingly, lacing her tone with sarcasm.

Throwing his napkin on the table, he pushed his chair away and rose. “C’mere, wench. Let’s get more comfortable.”

“You mean naked comfortable, don’t you? ”

“Well, I don’t want to be
too
demanding…”

Unbuttoning her shirt, she gave him a sassy smile. “Is it time for you to have your wicked way with me?”

August slid out of his pants, revealing his boxer-briefs. They hugged his thighs and molded to his already thickening cock. Yum, he was delicious in every way, so she gave up trying to learn anything about him until they were done getting naked. Maybe he didn’t want to get to know her?

Well then fine. She’d never had a ride quite like this and she wasn’t ready to get off the train just yet. “Past time.”

Hiking up her skirt, she pushed it off. Standing in her panties and bra, she pushed at his now naked chest. “Lay down, big boy. ”

“I like those panties.”

“Do you? Want me to leave them on? ”

He stretched out on the bed, his eyes beginning to darken as he stretched out. “What do you think?”

Tara slipped out of them, tossing them at him. He caught them and threw them in a corner. Straddling him, she slithered up along his solid length and reached over him, digging for a condom on the nightstand. He took the opportunity to capture a nipple, already swollen,.

“Oh, August, that feels so good…” she sighed, inhaling at the tingle shivering up her spine. Having him beneath her afforded her the control she wanted tonight. She needed to slake this fevered desire quickly. No fuss, no muss. Pulling away, she sat up and tore open the condom wrapper, slipping it over his cock with fluid ease.

“Don’t move. Let me do the work.” Lifting her hips, she slid slowly onto his solid shaft, sinking on top of him, letting the thick invasion take over.

He muttered something incoherent when she settled on him. His fingers parted her slick flesh and found her clit. Rocking forward, she ground her ass into him, feeling the crisp pubic hair above his cock scrape her swollen nub.

Moving his fingers in a circular pattern, he fondled her, sending waves of electricity straight to her pussy. Tara braced herself with her hands on his belly, rock hard and rigid with muscle. She ran her fingernails lightly over him, burying them in the thatch of hair surrounding his cock.

He moved in her, slow and easy, precise thrusts of hard flesh, making her pussy clench him tightly, tightening and contracting with each jab.

Each hand covered a breast. Pulling them to his mouth, he suckled her nipples, then took long, hot swipes at them. Her hand found her clit of its own accord, fingering it to a frenzy of white-hot need.

She reared up, and let her head fall onto her shoulders, circling the heat of his cock with her pussy. He placed his hands at her waist and offered her full control, allowing her to set the pace.

This slow, gentle side to August tugged at her heart, she could ride his cock to madness given the opportunity. It was that good, that real, that rich in texture and clarity. Rolling her body into each thrust, her clit brushed his belly and her nipples tightened, sharply. A bolt of white heat licked at her, wending its way to her pussy, slicing through her and robbing her of anything but the feel of him inside her.

August tensed beneath her, she felt her own orgasm swell too, rising up and taking her breath away. She came on a sigh, with August sharply grinding out her name.

“Jesus, woman. You’re going to kill me.”

“Well, wasn’t it you who said you wanted to have your wicked way with me?”

“Looks more like you had yours with me.” He nipped at her shoulder.

Tara chuckled, leaned forward and kissing the firm line of his lips. “I did at that, Mr. Guthrie.”

Cupping the back of her neck, he looked at her solemnly. “You are amazing.”

“I guess I’m not so amazing at conversation, cuz look where that got us.”

“I think this conversation went very well, Ms. Douglas. Let’s do it again, real soon. ” Pulling her toward him for a kiss, he slipped his tongue between her lips.

Tara ran her hands over his shoulders, gripping the thick muscle and tight skin. “We can do it as often as you like, Mr. Guthrie, as long as you realize I’m not just some sex toy to be dabbled with. ” Tara said it lightly, but her heart wrenched at the thought. Men like August—geek back when or not—didn’t want women like her forever. They wanted them as long as they could have them and then they moved on to other women because once they were free from their geek limits they knew no bounds. Surely August knew he could have any woman at the drop of a hat?

He laughed at her, enveloping her in the warmth of his embrace. “Just because I don’t like to talk doesn’t mean I think you’re my sex toy. Though I won’t mind if you call me yours.”

The impulse to ask him what this all meant couldn’t be repressed. “Where are we going with this, August? I mean, there’s going to come a time when you’ll be pushed to make a choice. Leave or stay and quite possibly be chosen to marry Kelsey, if you’re not voted out. I can’t seem to convince anyone you’re not right for Kelsey. So then what?”

“Well, I’m
not
marrying Kelsey, but the longer I stay in the game, the longer I can be with you. I began to see your point … about staying. ”

“What about the money, who couldn’t use a million bucks?”

He pulled out of her and walked toward the bathroom. “I don’t need or want the money. I thought coming on this show would mean I might get to know Kelsey and we’d fall in love as a result, or something misguided like that. At the very least, I thought I’d like her, even a little, but I don’t. I’m not the kid I once was.”

Oh, that was like a shot through a familiar place in her heart. “And now?” Tara refused to sound anything other than matter of fact. If they were going nowhere with this, but simply getting this attraction out of the way, boinking it out of their systems, then she wasn’t asking to be hurt and she didn’t have to tell him anything. Not her motivation for being on the island and not what had happened between her and Kelsey. Okay, so that was a cop-out, but whatever.

August poked his head around the corner, “And
now,
that’s not the case. I thought I’d made myself clear about it.”

Her heart beat a bit faster, “What
is
the case?” she asked, sitting at the edge of the bed.

Strolling over, he plopped down beside her. “Well, now, I met this really hot chick and she’s making me crazy. Kelsey isn’t who I made up in my head and I’m stuck in the middle of a competition that I don’t want to be in, but I don’t want to leave because I’m hot for this chick. Plus I sorta came here on a bet.”

“A bet?”

August gave her a sheepish look. “Yeah … my best friend Greg, who never really left high school, bet me I wouldn’t come on the show. In fact, he triple dared me. He knew I was hot for Kelsey in high school and he knows I hate to be
triple
dared. It actually sounded like a good idea at the time. A way for me to show Kelsey what she missed. Sorta like a backsie. Now, I just feel like an ass.”

Tara began to laugh. “Forget Greg. This chick … tell me about her.”

He nudged her shoulder. “Well, she’s got this killer ass and she’s smart, she’s a chemist, you know? The only problem is, she’s quite a potty mouth and I can’t seem to keep her hands off me…”

Lying back on the bed, she pulled him on top of her, savoring the heavy bulk of him. If she didn’t keep this light she’d likely bawl. If August was just using her to get laid, he was good at lying about it and she didn’t want to acknowledge that possibility just yet. Her tendency to overanalyze everything could be damned for now. There just was no science when it came to the art of attraction.

“A potty mouth and a tramp, huh? Well, I think you should break up with her. I mean, if she’s a potty mouth you can’t bring her home to your mother. What would Gram say? ” Wrapping her legs around his waist, Tara thrust her hips at him.

August settled between them and thumbed her nipple. “But she’s really cute and her hands are okay, I guess.”

Tara slid one of those very hands between them and grabbed his cock again, hard. “So tell me, what are your plans for the very hand-happy, potty-mouthed, hot chick?”

“I was thinking maybe, if she’s trainable, I’d keep her around for a little while.”

Cupping his balls, Tara felt them tighten in her hand, and massaged them slowly. “Trainable?”

August ran his tongue along the length of her neck. She arched into the heat and groaned when he stopped at her nipple. He blew on it. “Well, yeah, I mean I can’t have her pawing me all the time and take the chance she might do that in public. Could be embarrassing. ”

Tara cupped her breast and offered it to his lips. Savoring the wet swirl of tongue, she bit the inside of her cheek. “What if you can train her, then what?”

He tugged sharply on the tight bud, then released it and continued to lick. “Then, when we get the hell off this stupid island, I’m going to take her back to my place and screw her brains out.”

Tunneling her hands in his hair, she rolled into his tongue. “Ohhh…” Heat, sharp and sweet pulsed in her pussy. “Does she get a meal before she goes back to your place? Like a real date?”

He slipped a finger in her, hooking it upward, and moved slowly within her. “I guess if I have to feed her … maybe we should just order a pizza in. That way I can make sure she doesn’t embarrass me by pawing me at a restaurant.”

Raising her arms above her head, she rode his finger. Her legs fell away from his waist and she lifted upward, pushing at him. “Will this sort of thing be included in the deal, be … because… Oh…” he slid down her body and tongued her clit, “because, I think it could work.”

He licked the nub again, “You mean that?”

Tara squirmed beneath his mouth. “Yesss … I mean
that
.”

“I think
that
can be arranged, depends on how cooperative she is.” Without further ado, he latched onto the swollen nub, nibbling, sucking, licking.

Tara came again, squirming against his mouth and pushing onto his finger. He rode her shudders, lapping slowly at her until she let her hips rest back on the bed.

He kissed his way back over her belly to her lips. “Hey, you’re pretty cooperative.”

Kissing him long and full, she felt that stupid tug on her heart again. He tasted of her, musky and seductive. “I aim to please.”

August wiggled his eyebrows. “And
I’m
pleased. Seriously, I want to get to know you. I know I didn’t let you talk tonight, but I really do want to see you when we leave this island. Yet, I don’t want to leave the island without you. We’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

She tugged his cock, “I’d agree about the hard place, and all of the getting-to-know-each-other we do is in the middle of sex. ”

Moaning against her lips, he said, “This thing between us is explosive. I’ve never experienced anything like it. So it seems right to get to know one another in the middle of it.”

Tara’s heart skipped another beat. Damn his logic. “Stuff like that fades, August, just the way your little fantasy for Kelsey faded.”

“This,” he thrust his cock into her hand, “is not fading.”

Sighing with exasperation, Tara pinched his ass with her other hand. “August! You know what I mean. ” She didn’t just want to be someone he’d slept with on an island because she was convenient. Now wasn’t that a kicker? It disturbed her that he might only want her because of how
she looked
. There’d been a time when Tara might have settled for that, even while hating Kelsey for having the same opportunity.

Sex was sex, but developing a relationship that had more than that involved something other than illicit nights spent making love. Jesus, she was a jumbled mess of mixed up …
everything
.

Kissing her forehead, August whispered, “Are you forgetting I was a geek too? I think I understand exactly what you’re feeling right now. You think I just want to sleep with you because you’re hot.”

Tara didn’t confirm or deny, but waited for him to answer his own question.

“Well, I won’t deny you’re hot, but that’s all just the outside stuff and I think we’ve both had our lesson in what that means from high school. I could be wrong, but I sense we both know what it’s like to be judged by how we look, back in high school and now. Kelsey Little didn’t think twice about me in high school and now all of a sudden she wants to kiss me? We relate to each other because of our pasts, Tara. I don’t think this is going to fade and I can only tell you that my fantasy about Kelsey didn’t mesh with the reality. You, on the other hand, are feeling pretty real to me right now. ”

Tara ignored the thump in her heart and the butterflies in her belly. She wasn’t ready to be serious with August before she thought this through. It’s what she always did. So she continued the light banter they’d established. “So are you saying I’m not much of a fantasy? ”

He groaned, “Woman, would you shut up? You’re every man’s fantasy and more and if this were my last act on earth, I’d die a happy man. ”

She squirmed out from beneath him, laughing. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for that. C’mon stud, let’s take a shower and you can see if I have any potential as ‘trainable’.”

Grabbing her hand, he trailed behind her, laughing. “Well, alrighty then, you’re already showing signs of trainability. Compliance is
always
a good sign. ”

Her giggles echoed throughout the bathroom.

Can we talk?

W
eek three was in full swing and August couldn’t get thrown off the island if he paid someone to do it. Five eliminations rounds later and he was still going strong. Though he lost a date or two by now, he couldn’t seem to get the jury to hate him, or even dislike him just a little bit. He was going to have to have to go through with it because of the contract. There was no two ways about it. August sure as hell wasn’t going marry Kelsey; he’d rather be tied buck naked to a tree and flogged within an inch of his life than marry her, but he was going to have to say no in front of a bunch of people.

Sorry, Kelsey. You just ain’t doin’ it for me. I thought you were a hottie, but you’re a low down, lying bitch. It’s been nice. See ya.

This was undoubtedly a dilemma of monumental proportions. If he ended up as one of the last guys and Kelsey picked him, she was in for a surprise.

But he didn’t wanna keep playing this stupid game either.

Don’t be such a girl.

It was only a week until the end of the competition.

But would he rather wait to see Tara or have to say no to marrying Kelsey in front of a live audience?

Oh, yuck. The answer was clear here. No way in hell would he marry Kelsey, but he sure as crap didn’t want to have to make a spectacle by saying no to her in front of a bunch of strangers.

“Auggie! You look intense, buddy, what’cha doin’?” Aaron asked as he sucked down a beer and smiled happily.

August cringed because he just wanted some quiet time. “Just thinking. It’s been a long three weeks, ya know?”

Aaron nodded. “Dude, tell me about it. I don’t want to disturb you. Just came to see if you want to get a game of volleyball going on the beach?”

“If you don’t mind I think I’ll skip today, bud. I gotta take a break.”

Aaron winked at him. “Gotcha. Check you later.” Aaron sauntered off in his relaxed, beach boy way. August watched him and found himself hoping Aaron would be picked for the final round.

August knew he was in deep, way deep, but he planned to get the fuck out of this ASAP.

Deep …
yeah, he was that too, with Tara. He smiled. This might be the real thing with her. Like the “L” word, followed shortly thereafter by the “M” word, then a house and a picket fence and babies and stuff.

August grinned to himself.

Well, wasn’t life grand? Mom was really going to do the happy dance over this.

But, you’ve only known her for less than a month. August could hear Gram’s words in his head before she spoke them. The words she would speak if she were alive.

So? He’d tell gram. Love was love no matter the length of time.

So that’s a short amount of time, Auggie boy, to make a life altering decision like this, she’d say. Not unlike the one he’d thought he would make on this stupid show.

He’d better slow the frig down. He wasn’t going to marry Tara tomorrow and he knew he wouldn’t marry Kelsey.

Though he probably would marry her tomorrow if he knew Tara would say yes. If things kept going the way they were going, he wanted Tara with him all the time. And not with anyone else. Period.

Hold on, Neanderthal man …
what if Tara didn’t feel the same way? What if he
was
just her boy-toy?

They’d spent almost every night together since they’d met. At this stage of his life, he hoped he’d sense something like that. Of course his experience with women was only short-term relationships and nothing as intense as it was with Tara. Most of their time here on the island had been spent in bed pawing each other like two teenagers.

August grinned again. His friend in his drawers agreed that was a cool perk. But that didn’t mean Tara wanted to take their relationship to another level—they did spend more time in bed than out of it.

How could she want to spend the rest of her life with someone who had his tongue down her throat, and was too busy enticing her into doing the horizontal mambo than learning about her?

Made for difficult conversation.

He couldn’t expect her to consider anything long-term with him if he never gave her a chance to have meaningful dialogue.

Tonight
he promised himself.

Tonight he’d sit down with Tara and they’d talk about life. He’d make a point of learning all about her, what kind of food she liked, the movies she wanted to go see, her family…

All the shit that was important to her.

All
the shit…

* * *

“Hey, beautiful.” August pecked Tara on the cheek and slid past her into the cool of her hut.

“What kind of hello was that?” she asked, hands on hips. Her long, dark hair hung just past her nipples, covering her naked breasts. She was naked, completely naked.

He gulped, then groaned, turning his head he pretended to look at the view from the slider. “What was wrong with that hello?”

Tara came up behind him, slid her hands around his waist and pressed her body against him. Her hand drifted to his cock, ready, willing and able, as it always was whenever she was around. She slid her hands slowly over the erection tenting his shorts. “Well, it certainly isn’t the greeting I’ve become accustomed to.”

Unbuckling his belt, she tugged on the button of his shorts and unzipped them partially. August jammed his hands in the pockets to keep from pulling her around his body and throwing her on the bed. No, they were going to
talk
.

Talk, talk, talk
. “I just thought you might want to hang out for a little while first.”

Kneeling, she slipped between his thighs to sit in front of him. Looking up, her eyes gleamed, wicked and glazed with mischief. “We can
hang
out, August,” she said as she freed his now burning hot cock. Pulling his shorts and underwear over his hips, she slid his sandals off and lifted his feet out of his shorts.

Yes, hang out. He was definitely doing that. He was hanging out a lot whenever he was with Tara. A sure sign he had to stop her now
. Remember the conversation thing?

Her hot breath grazed his cock as she circled it, letting her lips brush it lightly. A jab of electricity shot to his balls, making him rock back a little on his feet. Her hands slid upward over his abdomen as she hovered near his needy shaft. “What kind of hanging out would you like to do?”

Jesus, how was he supposed to stop her when she was at his feet looking like this? Her lush lips prepared to wrap around his cock, her tongue ready to lick him until he wanted to scream. The soft swell of her ass, round and full, was making him fucking nuts.

It was torture, it was … it was … stupid to turn her down, but he was going to anyway so he could prove to her that his intentions were for the long haul.

Gripping her upper arms lightly, he pulled her up to look at him. “The kind of hanging out where we
talk
,” he said as he smiled.

Tara rolled her eyes, probably in disbelief and said, “Oh, well, all right, let’s
talk
.” Pushing at his broad chest, she directed him to the edge of the bed. Sitting between his thighs, she tucked her hair up on the top of her head, tying it in a knot.

Shit, he loved when she did that. Draping her arms around his neck, she tilted her head and waited. August sat on his hands so he wouldn’t touch her nipples; they looked too downright lickable. Damn, his fingers twitched. “So…”

She kissed the side of his mouth, tracing his lower lip with her tongue, pressing her breasts to his still shirt-clad chest. Her hand found his cock, circling it she slid up and over it with ease. “So? Tell me what you want to talk about? I’m all ears.” Giggling, she kissed her way down his neck, nipping his earlobe.

His cock twitched against her hand. Closing his eyes he tried to focus, but his hips rose to meet the thrust of her hand, soft and supple. Christ! “Let’s talk about
you.
”

Good, that was good.
He gave himself a silent pat on the back. It showed intent.

She was kneeling between his thighs again, hovering by his shaft. “What about me?” Her tongue snaked out to swiftly lick him.

Holy Hell
… “I… tell me … tell me what kind of … of movies … damn, ” he gasped as she took him in her mouth, “you like…”

Sliding back up his shaft, she cupped his balls and answered him, “I like all kinds of movies, action/adventure, comedy, documentaries. Next question, ” she said as she lapped at the area just below the head of his cock.

His thighs tensed when she kneaded them and his cock throbbed painfully. He couldn’t keep his hands still. He gripped her head, directing her movement as she suckled with long slow passes. God, the silk of her tongue made him insane. “I like action/adven … tuuuure,” he fairly screamed, keeping his teeth clenched as he spoke.

Letting him go with a pop, she replied, “Good. Think we can rent a movie here on Gilligan’s Island when I’m done?”

Disappointment flashed through his cock when she released him. “I don’t know. Do you like to rent or see it at the movie theater?”

Resuming her position, she ran her tongue over his balls lightly. They tightened, pulling against his body. Spreading his thighs further apart, she ran her nails over his thatch of pubic hair. “I like to stay at home. The movies are so expensive. Besides, if I were in a movie theater, say right now, I couldn’t do this…” Falling on him with her mouth, she took his rock-hard cock all the way into the heated cavern, then slid back up with a rasp of tongue and lips.

Okay, he was really trying here and she just wasn’t playing fair. How was a guy supposed to learn stuff about a chick if she was doing this? How could he string coherent thoughts together when his balls were on fire and his cock could rival a two-by-four? Maybe he really was just a good lay… “I’m beginning to feel like this conversation is going nowhere,” he threw out as casually as he could without sounding like a girl.

Nipping him lightly, Tara looked up from his lap. “Really? Why is that? I thought we were doing just fine.” Rising, she straddled his lap, letting the heat of her pussy settle near his screaming cock. She arched her body backward, lifting her breasts to just below his lips.

Oh, she so did not play fair.

“We can’t talk when you’re doing
that
,” he complained as his cock slipped between the folds of her pussy, sliding along the wet flesh.

Up and down, up and down
.

“What am I doing? ” She cupped her breast and thumbed her nipple, offering it to his lips.

August didn’t know how to stop himself. He licked at the tight bud, savoring the rippled surface, letting it roll over his tongue.

Christ, he
was
just a boy-toy.

“I don’t know what
I’m
doing, but I like what you’re doing. Do some more…” she encouraged, holding his head close to her chest.

August slid his hand between them and found the swollen bud of her clit. He loved the slick feel of her on his fingers. “I feel so used, Tara…” he said around the sweet taste of nipple. He was shooting for nonchalant, teasing.

Gasping when he slid a finger into her wet warmth, she circled his hand. “Used, why? How could you even think such a thing? Do you think all I want to do is have my wicked way with you, then discard you, moving stealthily on to the next prey? ”

There’d better not be anymore prey
… He sighed, long and suffering for the effect he knew it would evoke. “I’m starting to wonder if it’s just my body you want and not my mind.”

Pressing his cock between the folds of her cunt, Tara held it there, moving against it as his finger impaled her. August refused to be deterred, no matter how much he wanted to ram his cock into her and fuck her silly.

Purring at him, she said. “Well, I do like your body … it’s very, ” he stroked her breast, “ahhh, ” she moaned, “it’s very nice.”

Nice? Nice?
“Nice, it’s just nice?” He kept sliding into her with more force in his thrusts.

“I said
very
nice, didn’t I? Now, can you shut up so we can fuck like rabid animals and talk later?”

He stopped moving in her. “No. I want to talk
now
,” he replied with as much petulance as he could muster.

Tara swung her legs off him and went to the table by the bed, taking the foil wrapped condom and ripping it open. She lay down and smiled, “So, talk to me.”

Well now, how was he supposed to do that, when she looked like this? August snatched the condom from her and slipped it over his cock. She was lying on the bed all sexy and wanton. Her breasts tipped upward enticingly, and the taper of her waist led to the soft swell of her hips. Hips he loved to clutch tightly when he came. Smoothly shaven, her pussy was sweet and wet, he loved to bury his face in her, make he r come with his lips and tongue. He loved hearing the gasp of breath she took just before she sighed his name.

Her eyebrows rose, as she trailed a finger over her nipple, wandering over her belly and pausing at the smooth mound of flesh between her legs. “So, talk to me August…”

She slipped her hand between her thighs, licking her lips, letting her eyes slide closed as she arched into her hand.

Oh man. August’s cock was shrieking as his eyes watched her pleasure herself. She let her legs fall apart as she fingered her clit and tugged at her nipples. Lifting her head, her eyes half-open she repeated, “Let’s
talk
…”

Talk, schmalk… August was between her legs with his tongue buried in her pussy as far as it would go in two seconds flat. Lapping at the wet, musky flesh, he listened for the gasp she would make when he made contact with her swollen clit.

“Ahhh, August…” Her hands clutched his head as she pressed his tongue flush to her clit. Bringing her to a swift orgasm, he suckled her hard, keeping her tight to his mouth, rolling his tongue over the now hard bud.

Bucking beneath him, she tore at his hair and jammed her heels into the bed. Her belly rose and fell rapidly beneath his head as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders.

Gripping his shoulders, she pulled him up on top of her. Her slender body pressed tightly to his as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She slipped her fingers between his lips and he nipped the tips of them.