Four of Hearts (22 page)

Watching her now, his heart swelled until he thought it might burst. She was magnificent in her passion. Her body glowed with it. A light sheen coated her skin as she pushed herself closer to the edge. Richard sat like a coiled snake, every muscle on alert to strike when the time was right.

He knew before she did that she’d reached the point of no return. He edged forward, ready to catch her the second she let go. Fallon sucked in a sharp breath. Her head fell back, her mouth open in surrender. Her body jerked with the force of her release, then she slumped forward. Richard caught her in his arms, lifted her effortlessly to his lap. He guided her to his throbbing shaft. He slid home in one smooth stroke.

Fallon wrapped her arms around his neck and dropped her head to his shoulder, letting Richard control their joining. With his hands on her hips, he lifted her; let her slide back down his length in slow, sensual strokes. She felt so damned good. He’d never get enough of her. She nibbled at the pulse in his neck, and he almost came right then. He needed to slow things down.

Richard held her still with one hand, and with the other, traced lacy patterns over her arched back and across her buttocks. She shivered at his touch, and he smiled to himself. If he couldn’t ever come again for the rest of his life, he’d be content just to sit this way with her, joined as intimately as two people could get. He turned his face. Her hair tickled his nose. He inhaled her fresh scent and his cock surged inside her. Damn. There wasn’t anything about her that didn’t send him into the stratosphere.

Fallon raised her face to his. Her smile went straight to his heart. “Witch,” he whispered against her lips.

“You love me though.” She threw his earlier words back at him.

“Yes. I love you.”

Fallon fused her lips to his. He stroked his hand along her spine, delved into the crease at the base of her spine, and found her tight little secret hole. Her kiss grew bolder, and he toyed with the rosebud, pressing his finger against it, but not breaching. Fallon flexed her hips. Richard ground his cock in as deep as it could go, and at the same time, one long finger broke through the snug ring of muscles behind.

Fallon straightened, bracing her hands on Richard’s shoulders as another orgasm trembled through her. Richard held out as long as he could, but the sweet feel of her inner muscles clenching around his cock and his finger was more than he could take. With one last powerful thrust, he erupted inside her.

Ryan glanced up from the documents in his hand as the door to his suite opened. “It’s about time,” he muttered.

Candace gave him a long-suffering look across the breakfast table. “Not everyone gets up at the crack of dawn,” she scolded.

Fallon bent and placed a light kiss on Candace’s lips, and another on Ryan’s. Richard slapped Ryan on the back and gave Candace a glancing good morning kiss. “Good morning to you too,” Fallon said. They took the other two seats at the table and helped themselves to breakfast from the platters of food.

“Serves you right if the food is cold,” Ryan said.

“Who pissed in your cereal this morning?” Richard asked.

Ryan tossed the sheaf of papers on the corner of the table and refilled his coffee cup. “No one. I’m just anxious to get off the ship for a while.”

“He’s feeling trapped,” Candace explained. “Some time in Miami will do him good.”

“Me too,” Fallon said. “Not that I’m feeling trapped, but I’m looking forward to a whole week together. I’m getting tired of living separate lives. At least we’ll all be in the same suite at the hotel.” They’d developed a routine over the last few weeks, spending their time together in one bed or the other, then going their separate ways to actually sleep before sharing breakfast together the next morning.

Candace sat straighter. “You know, you have a point. Life would be a lot easier if we didn’t have to go our separate ways every evening.” She looked at Ryan. “What if we converted our two suites here into one big one? Could it be done?”

Ryan studied the common wall between his and Richard’s suite. “Maybe. What do you think, Richard? Could we knock that wall out and join the suites?”

“I don’t see why not. It would take some work, but it could be done. What are we talking about here?”

“I’d like a bedroom big enough for all four of us,” Fallon said.

“Me too,” Candace agreed. “That way, no one would have to go home. We’d all be home. I hate it when we’re all together, then one couple has to leave. It would be so much nicer if we could all just live together.”

“But we’d have two kitchens, two living areas.” Ryan said.

“How about this?” Fallon said. “If we combined the two master bedrooms into one large one, we could convert our suite into offices. Richard already made our guest bedroom into an office. Why couldn’t we move Ryan’s over there too?”

Quiet descended on the room as they contemplated Fallon’s suggestion. Finally, Richard spoke, “I’m okay with that. Ryan?”

“It could work. Are we sure we want to live together?” Ryan asked.

Candace and Fallon nodded their heads. Richard shrugged. “Hey, I lived in a ten by twelve foot room with you for four years. I think I can manage it again, especially if I have these two women between us every night.”

“I can’t believe I’m even considering this,” Ryan said. “You all know this is crazy, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” Fallon said. “But it’s nobody’s business but ours.”

“What about when we aren’t on the
Lothario
? I have no intention of living on this ship full time,” Ryan said.

“It wouldn’t take much to convert the plans for our cabanas at the new resort,” Richard said. “They haven’t started construction on them yet.” He glanced at Fallon. “As for our house on the island, I’m okay with enlarging the master bedroom.”

Fallon nodded her agreement.

“We could enlarge our master, couldn’t we?” Candace asked Ryan.

“You’re all serious about this?” A chorus of yeses went around the table. “Okay, I’m in. I’ll talk to our architect about the modifications on all four places. We may have to shift around some while the work is being done, but we can manage.”

“Good,” Richard said. “Let’s finish breakfast and get off this tub. Drew is probably wondering if we changed our minds.”

“I think it will do him good to get away from Bree for a while,” Richard said. “If I’m not mistaken, she’s moved into his cabin.”

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall in that cabin,” Fallon remarked.

“Don’t even think it,” Ryan said. “We don’t use the in-room security cameras for that sort of thing.”

“That’s too bad,” Candace quipped. “Those two are like nitroglycerin in a paint shaker. Watching the explosion would be fun.”

* * * * *

“Here’s our ride,” Ryan said. A black limo pulled to the curb in front of them. The driver stepped out, but remained standing in the open door. Enrico Sanchez had been their driver many times before when they docked in Miami. He owned his own small limo company, and could be counted on for his service and discretion. Nevertheless, Drew had done a complete check on Enrico and all his employees.

“Hi, Enrico. Thanks for picking us up,” Richard said. The trunk popped open and they all walked around to the back of the car to drop their overnight cases in. Drew stood by, his eyes scanning the area for the slightest hint of trouble.

“I brought you a surprise,” Enrico said.

“You know we don’t like surprises,” Fallon said.

As Candace stowed her bag in the trunk, Enrico muttered something that sounded like, “You aren’t going to like this one either.” Then he ducked back into the driver’s seat. Ryan slammed the trunk and Richard opened the rear passenger door for Fallon. Candace slid in beside her, followed by Ryan, then Richard. Drew slid in last, pulling the door closed behind him.

“Gabe. Hey, nice to see you,” Ryan greeted the man seated in the rear facing seat. “Our meeting isn’t until tomorrow, is it?”

Candace had met Gabe Sanders a few times. His law firm handled most of Ryan and Richard’s private affairs. Ryan described him as a cross between a lawyer, an agent, and a publicist. In short, he was a ‘go to’ guy for celebrities. From the look on his face, this wasn’t a social call. Candace got a sick feeling in her stomach. Whatever it was, she was certain she wasn’t going to like it.

“I figured you’d call Enrique to pick you up, so I asked him to give me a ride. Who’s this?” He nodded in Drew’s direction.

“He’s our security expert, Drew Whitcomb. You can trust him,” Ryan said.

Gabe and Drew eyed each other for a moment, then shook hands. Gabe opened the briefcase on the seat beside him and pulled out a stack of tabloid news rags. Candace relaxed a little. It had taken a while, but she’d finally gotten used to the bizarre stories with no basis in fact. What was one more? Gabe handed one to Ryan, and one to Richard. Candace looked over Ryan’s shoulder at the lurid headline. Her stomach rolled.

“Is any of that true?” Gabe asked.

“What if it is?” Ryan asked.

“Then we have a public relations nightmare.”

“Shit,” Richard said.

“Let me see.” Fallon, sitting on the far end, leaned forward and grabbed for Ryan’s copy.

“Who?” Ryan asked as he relinquished the paper to Fallon.

“One of the kidnappers. He claims the four of you practically had an orgy on the beach, right in front of him.”

Candace buried her face in her hands. “Oh God.” Ryan dropped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close.

“It wasn’t an orgy. It was a kiss. We were so damned happy to see Candace and Fallon alive, we didn’t even think about who saw us.”

“Should have killed them all when we had the chance,” Richard said.

Drew grunted something that sounded like
I told you so
.

“Well, that may be true, but they’re very much alive, and they’re talking,” Gabe said to Richard. “So, you aren’t denying this?”

“No. At least not to you, but I won’t have our wives talked about this way,” Ryan said. “Do what you have to do to end this.”

“What, exactly do you want me to do? I can deny it all you want, but I take it there are others who can verify your relationship.”

“I don’t care what they say,” Fallon said. “We haven’t done anything wrong. They make it sound like we screw each other in public or something. It’s not like that,” she insisted. The pain in Fallon’s voice brought tears to Candace’s eyes. She took Fallon’s hand in hers and squeezed. Leave it to Fallon to try to make the world understand.

“It doesn’t matter whether you do or not,” Gabe said. He rubbed a hand over his face, then looked them all over with an assessing gaze. “What matters now is how we handle this. I can put out all the press releases in the world stating this guy is nuts, that he’s seeking vindication, but if the four of you so much as go shopping together, the rumors will only get worse. By the way, I’ve booked you at two different hotels. The paparazzi have your usual one staked out. I’m surprised they weren’t on the dock waiting for you to leave the
Lothario
.”

“I’ll have to make some phone calls. Give me the information,” Drew said. Gabe handed over the printed reservations and Drew pulled out his cell phone.

Richard waited until Drew nodded his okay with the new hotel arrangements. “Okay then,” Richard agreed. “I’m with Ryan on this. Do what you have to do to put an end to this. We’ll do our part. I won’t have my wife, or Candace, talked about like they’re tramps.” He tossed the tabloid back at Gabe. “Put an end to it. As of right now, it’s over.”

“Agreed. We were just fine before. We’ll be fine again.” Ryan tightened his hold on Candace as if holding her tighter would make his words any less painful.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Gabe said. The glass partition between the driver and passenger compartments slid down. Gabe said over his shoulder, “Enrico, take me home, then you can drop my clients off at their hotels.” The partition slid back into place. “Whatever you do, I don’t want to see the four of you together again, ever. Is that clear?”

“This is bullshit,” Fallon said.

“The four of you have pushed the envelope for years now, but I’m afraid flaunting your four-some in the face of society has gone too far. Personally, I don’t give a shit what you do. I like you, all of you. Your personal life is your own business.”

Richard responded. “We appreciate that, Gabe. We really do. None of us expected our new relationship to hit the tabloids like this. It makes us look like a bunch of perverts. I’m okay with the world thinking I’m one, and I don’t think Ryan cares if they think he’s one, but our wives. . . that’s different.”