He dragged his hand across his mouth, scratched at the shadow already scuffing his jawline.
‘That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to keep us together.’
‘Drop it, Zach,’ she pleaded. ‘I don’t want to hear anything else about this now. I can’t hear it. I’m going to pretend the last few minutes didn’t happen.’
‘You wouldn’t be saying that if he’d asked.’
‘He has sense enough not to ask. But the answer would be the same. Tying that sort of knot would unbalance everything. It’d ruin everything.’
The sound of approaching laughter made them both turn to face the art gallery entrance. The last few stragglers were now emerging from the building.
Kara covered her mouth with her fingers to silence herself. This conversation was done with, over now. She didn’t even want Ric to know it had taken place. Ric led the parade of be-suited, cravat-wearing bohemians jogging down the steps. His long hair rested on his shoulders. His sleeves were rolled back to his elbows and the neck of his shirt was undone. Damn, he still had the power to steal her breath. Tears prickled in her eyes, but she blinked the sensation away.
Ric crossed the narrow road to reach her. Slid one arm around her back and drew her close. The scent of champagne lingered on his breath. ‘Ready to go?’
‘Sounds good to me.’
He made the couple of strides that separated her from Zach, tugging her along for the ride. ‘Zach, you’re coming too, right? Or did you book a room somewhere?’
Zach shook his head.
Shadows swam in his dark eyes, which Kara prayed Ric was too drunk to notice.
‘Thank fuck for that,’ Ric blurted. ‘I want you in bed next to me, not in some room halfway across town.’ He kissed his lover full on the lips. ‘Hmm, nice, somebody tastes of somebody else. Have you two being having fun without me?’
‘You seemed to be having fun without us.’ Kara nodded to the group he’d come out with, who were still chatting outside the curved, whitewashed walls of the gallery.
‘Good guys,’ Ric acknowledged, saluting the small congregation. ‘See you all around.’
They waved, then turned away and headed off in little groups.
Ric positioned himself between her and Zach. He hooked an arm around each of their waists and jogged them into motion. ‘Hotel? Or do you want to take in the Island view first?’
‘Hotel,’ they replied synchronously.
‘Too right,’ Ric agreed. ‘There’s no view on earth that can compete with the sight of you two naked.’ He slid his hands upwards to cup the back of their heads, urged them to turn inwards and attempted to engineer a three-way kiss. It didn’t work. All they did was bump noses and chins. ‘Good job fucking’s easier than kissing. I want to get inside you both.’
‘I don’t think you can do that simultaneously either,’ Kara whispered.
‘One after the other then,’ he replied, giving her a wink. ‘I think you know my stamina’s up to it.’
‘Your libido might be,’ Zach said, finding his voice again. His tone suggested he’d swallowed any awkwardness their recent conversation had caused, though there were still shadows lingering in his eyes. ‘But how much booze have you had?’
‘Less than the amount of spunk I intend to have as a chaser.’
Kara snorted.
Ric ran his tongue over his teeth, while a blush heated Zach’s pale cheeks.
‘The fact you even said that proves you’re wasted.’
‘I’m not wasted.’ Ric laughed. ‘Just a little merry.’ He squeezed Zach’s arse. ‘And I’ve missed you enough to want to suck you off.’ His expression sobered as he faced Zach square on. ‘I really fucking missed you, man. When are you coming home?’
‘As soon as you give me back my key.’ Zach kissed Ric hard upon the lips. ‘I’ve missed you too.’
Three weeks earlier
‘No, no…Don’t you dare!’ Kara screeched as Zach crashed into her, knocking her off balance. She landed with a splash amongst the surf, with pebbles digging into her bottom and salt water in her eyes. None of that seemed to matter a second later, when Zach’s mouth closed over hers and he proceeded to drown her with hungry kisses. Their hips aligned perfectly, and the hillock between them hinted at pleasures still to come. Eager for all of it, Kara stopped squirming and hooked her legs around his thighs.
‘Nice…Oh, yeah, very nice…’
Shut up, Ric, she mentally chastised. Using her actual verbal skills was out of the question given her tongue was sparring with Zach’s and there was no point in objecting to Ric photographing them. That was what he did – all the time. The camera was a natural extension of him. He always snapped first and waved the consent forms around afterwards. She’d signed so many of them now, he had to have a drawer full of them.
‘Wet T-shirt, love it. Just hook your thumb in the back of his shorts, Kara.’
Obviously hoping they could make out without a running commentary was too much to hope for.
Ric moved in close. As always when he was in the zone, his face was drawn into seriousness, lips sealed, blue-grey eyes gleaming.
‘Just roll with it,’ Zach whispered, having momentarily broken them apart in order to breathe. ‘You know he gets off on ordering us about.’
Yeah, and she got off on groping Zach’s arse, so she supposed there was nothing to get her knickers in a twist over. It would be different if Ric insisted she couldn’t touch, and that it had to be all smouldering looks, but the man had dirty engrained in his every cell. Actually, scratch that, he went beyond dirty, all the way to filthy and well on the way to whatever it was that came next. She’d yet to find a consensual sex act that Ric got squeamish over: toe sucking, if you insisted; bondage and discipline, he preferred to give but was up for taking too; gay sex; threesomes or moresomes; DP; nipple clamps, absolutely, bring it on. He’d never expressed an opinion on fisting, but hell, it wasn’t as if she wanted to go there. She’d bet he’d photograph it though. It was just what he did.
‘Now inch them down a bit. Come on. I want to see nails biting into his flesh, and sea spray clinging to his skin.’
‘I want to see you tied to that rock.’ There were even convenient metal rings attached to it. ‘Doesn’t mean either of us is going to get what we want.’
Ric cast a brief glance at the old iron bands bolted to the cliff face. ‘If anyone is getting tied up, it’ll be me doing the tying.’
He’d once suggested that he liked to shackle wayward tenants there in order to pay their tithes. It didn’t take any imagination to figure out what that might involve. Alaric ‘Ric’ Liddell was the most sexual being Kara had ever met and, as the owner of Liddell Island, he’d been born to the role of master. If she pushed him, he might well chain her up. That was if Zach didn’t volunteer in her place. Not because Zach especially liked being restrained. It was more that he enjoyed the energy that power differentials generated. Oh, and he definitely got off on the idea of her and Ric drinking down the visuals of him all hot and horny and unable to do anything about it.
Kara defied anyone to look at Zach and not get turned on, want to rough him up a little and then get down and dirty. There was a reason he was Ric’s muse. Zach wasn’t classically handsome, but his wing-like