Escape

By Denise

Several days had gone by and Ricardo would call me every day telling me that he was thinking about me and wanting an answer about going to St. Croix. I wanted to try to forget about him but he was constantly on my mind torturing me. My body ached for his touch and his kiss. I couldn't eat or sleep. What has he done to me? I couldn't deny myself any longer; I needed him to touch me. So after two weeks of this, I gave in and agreed to meet him for dinner.

"How are you doing?" He pulled out my chair as I sat down.

"Fine."

"Just fine?" He sat down in his chair.

"Yes." I wasn't sure what else to say. When I was his client I could talk about anything and everything, but for some reason tonight was different.

"Have you thought about my offer?"

The waiter came by with a bottle of wine that Ricardo had already ordered, before I arrived. I sat there thinking about my answer as the waiter filled my glass and then Ricardo's with wine.

"Yes, I would love to, but…"

"You don't want to go with me?"

"I guess." My heart was in agony, not knowing what I should do as I ran my finger around the rim of the glass, avoiding his eyes.

"Annalie, I won't force you to go with me. Why don't you invite your friend Michelle to go with you?"

I looked up at him. "But, I can't do that."

"Why not? This is my gift to you."

"Thank you." My mind drifted back to the night at his home. I wanted him to kiss me like that again. I closed my eyes for a moment trying to calm myself as I took another drink.

"Is there something wrong?"

I sat there struggling with my emotions that had aroused me. I had to get out of here. "No…I think I should go."

"We haven't ordered dinner yet."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll stop at Wendy's on the way home." I stood up from my chair. "I'll see you later."

"Wait, let me walk you out." He pulled out his wallet from his pocket and laid some money on the table for the wine and the service. He then escorted me to my car.

"I have something else I want to give you." His strong hand grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. He then pinned me up against my car as his hot lips possessively took mine, sending a wave of emotions through me. I was powerless to resist. My arms went around his neck, pulling him closer to me. He raised his mouth from mine and whispered, "Is this what you wanted?" He then nibbled on my earlobe and then down my neck, licking and sucking on my skin.

I felt like I was about to explode as I cried out, "Yes! Yes! Oh God…yes!" My body ached for another kiss as his lips recaptured mine. His arms around my waist and then moved around to my back. His hands moved down my back and under my dress. He then grabbed my ass, holding me tight against his hips. I broke the kiss when I could feel his arousal in his pants. "We can't do this here."

"Then come home with me. Annalie, I need you!"

I stared into his eyes the thought seemed to freeze in my brain. I wanted to say yes. Just a moment ago I would have done it here in the parking lot, but this was so intense and I was afraid of my feelings. "No. I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"Why the hell not?"

"Don't be angry with me."

Ricardo backed away from me. "I just want to know why one minute you act like you want me and the next you are pushing me away, huh?"

"Damn it! I have never felt these kinds of feelings before and it's scaring me." I opened my handbag franticly searching for my keys. My hands were shaking as I tried to put they key into the keyhole.

"Here let me do it." He grabbed the keys from my hand and turned the lock for me. Before he opened the car door he held me tight against him as his hand went up under my dress and inside my panties.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush." His fingers found my clitoris. His expert touch sent me to a higher level of ecstasy as my body shuddered. "You need to relax." He whispered as I gasped in agony, needing him now then ever before. He covered my mouth with his other hand as I let out a cry of pleasure. He removed his hand away and then opened the car door for me and then said, "Good night."

I turned around and just stared into his eyes. I was too filled with emotion to speak. I quickly got into the car and drove away.

***

The next day I called my friend Michelle and asked her if she would like to go to St. Croix with me. I needed to escape and get away from here and him. She said yes - how could she refuse 2 weeks in St. Croix? And so we were on our way. It took about 9 hours to get to St. Croix after stopping in Miami for a few hours. It was late in the evening when we arrived at the Cheney Bay Beach Resort. So, we checked in then had a quick dinner and then went to bed.

For the first few days of our vacation Michelle and I spent most of our time at the pool lying in the sun, reading books, ordering drinks from the bar and just being lazy. We met Marc and Scott, during that time, and they invited us to go have dinner and then dancing at Club 54 over in a town called Christiansted. Marc invited me to go to his cottage for the night, but I told him no that I wasn't interested in that kind of relationship with him. Michelle even turned Scott down and so they left us alone.

Michelle and I returned to the pool the next day. I had just got out of the pool when the waiter stopped by with drinks for us. He told us that these were from a secret admirer. I look around expecting to see Marc, Scott or any other guy who had stopped by to visit with us, but I did notice a man sitting across the patio wearing a blue green shirt with white shorts. He raised his glass to me.

I took a sharp breath. "Oh my…!"

"What's wrong?"

"See that guy over there."

"What guy?" She sat up.

"That one across the patio on the other side of the bar." I pointed in that direction and then realized he was gone. "He was there a minute ago."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know. I think he bought us these drinks."

***

That next morning I woke up in a cold sweat from a dream about Ricardo making love to me down on the beach. It was still early the sun had just risen above the horizon. I noticed Michelle out on the patio, just outside my bedroom. "Good morning." I stretched my arms over my head and then down to touch my toes.

"Good morning."

"What are you doing?" I noticed the binoculars in her hand.

"Watching men."

"Where? Give me those!" I held them to my eyes and adjusted the lenses. Then I saw two men jogging along the beach, wearing shorts and no shirt. Their bodies were a golden color, must spend a lot of time out in the sun. One of them was blond and the other had dark hair, they both looked my way and waved. "Oh my God!" My heart seemed to stop for a moment, as I slowly lowered the binoculars from my eyes. "Why is he doing this to me?"

"Who? What's wrong?"

I looked at Michelle. "You know that guy I was telling you about."

"Yes, Ricardo, he was your attorney."

"Well, I think he is here." I looked through the binoculars again; they were further down the beach.

"He followed you?"

"No, Ricardo made these reservations to stay here."

"You mean, you and he…"

"Yes."

"Why did you turn him down?"

"I don't know!" I groaned loudly. "I wasn't ready to get involved with him or anyone else."

"Do you think he's staying here?"

"He could be…I don't know. Let's go get some breakfast and then I want to go do some shopping, okay?"

"Sure. You know I love going shopping."

We walked down to the King Conch's Coconut Hut and had breakfast like we have done every morning. They had an American style buffet breakfast with eggs, bacon, fruits, muffins and lots of other delightful treats.

"Good morning ladies." I heard that deep beautiful accented voice behind me as I looked around and saw Ricardo with a friend standing behind me with their plates full of food. "Can we sit down?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm on vacation." Ricardo winked at me and smiled sending my pulse racing. "Hello Michelle, it's good to finally meet you."

"Yes, same here," she sighed with a big smile.

"Oh, this is David."

"Hello, David," I said as I noticed his blonde hair, blue eyes and beautiful tanned skin.

"Hello Annalie," David responded.

I looked at Ricardo as he began to eat. Our eyes met several times, making me feel uncomfortable. "Were you and David out jogging this morning?"

"Yes we were." His eyes sparkled with amusement. "I also bought you drinks at the pool yesterday."

"That was you?"

He reached out and touched my arm with his hand. "Yes."

I blushed as I looked at Michelle. "Michelle, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, if you are," She responded.

"So, what are you girls doing today?" Ricardo asked.

"I thought we would do some shopping."

"Well, have fun."

"We will." I smiled as we walked to the jeep which I rented. We drove to Christiansted and went shopping at a place called King's Alley. Later we went to Maragita's Cantina and ordered a daiquiri.

"He wants you," Michelle said.

"Who?" I took a drink of my frozen drink; it felt so good going down my throat. "Ricardo?"

"Yes, Anna, who else would I be talking about?" She took a drink. "I think you would be a fool not to go for it…he's gorgeous!"

"Oh…I will," I sighed as I took a sip of my drink. "He scares me. I have never felt like this before."

"Let me know when you want me to move out of the cottage."

"No, I couldn't do that too you."

"Ricardo can move in and I will move in with David."

"Do you like him? How do you know if he is available?"

"I don't know. He's cute, I love his blue eyes!"

"I have a feeling this will be a vacation we will never forget."

"I'll agree to that."

I picked up my glass. "Let's make a toast."

"That we both get laid?" She picked hers up.

"You could have had Scott."

"I know I really didn't like him that much."

"I wasn't interested in Marc either."

"Are you happy Ricardo is here?"

"Yes." I sighed with a big smile. "To us."

We both giggled as the 3 frozen daiquiris finally hit us. It was time to leave.

***

It was mid-afternoon, when we put on our bathing suits and went down to the pool. We got in and swam around for a while then got out and lay down on one of the lounge chairs that surrounded the pool as we did the past several days. The hot sun always felt wonderful on my skin. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep thinking about Ricardo. I woke to someone tickling my feet. I opened my eyes and found Ricardo standing over me as David smiled and he went over to Michelle.

"You better turn over so you won't burn," Ricardo suggested. "You should also wear a bikini, so you could be tanned all over."

"Yes and I could wear nothing at all."

"Yes…a…you could."

I smiled at him as I rolled over onto my stomach. I watched him take off his shirt. His powerful well-muscled body moved gracefully over to the pool. He got up onto the diving board making a single leap into the air and then dived into the pool. I turned over and sat up watching him as he swam several laps from one end of the pool to the other. I looked over at Michelle and David; they were already kissing. I guess she will get what she wants. I closed my eyes and felt a yearning deep inside of me as I looked towards the pool again. Ricardo got out of the pool and came back over to me.

"Looks like they are getting along well."

"Yes, I suppose they are," I laughed.

He picked up shirt and started to put it back on.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't put your shirt back on," I sighed as I looked over his beautiful tanned body with water dripping down his skin.

"Okay." He then reached for my hand. "Let's go for a walk."

"Are you staying here, at the resort?" I asked as we walked down to the beach.

"No, I'm further down the beach. I rented a villa for the month."

"So, you and David are sharing this place?" I was hoping he would tell me no.

"Yes, but he will move out when it is time."

"Time for what?"

"Time to make you mine."

"Oh!" I blushed at the thought. "Michelle told me that she would move out too."

We continued walking along the beach with the waves lapping at our feet. I noticed another island off the shore. "What is that island?"

"That is Buck Island, it's a great place to go snorkeling. I can see it from my bedroom."

"Oh."

"This way." He directed me to a place that was on top a small hill. We climbed two flights of stairs and came to his villa.

"Oh my…this is beautiful!" I came up the steps to a patio with a small swimming pool. The door to the cottage was open as I looked inside and found white futon furniture, with colorful cushions. I went into his bedroom that had a private deck with a hot tub.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it! Why did you bring me here?"

"What do you think?" He took me into his arms and held me tight. Oh how I loved the power of his arms around me. He then kissed my forehead and then down to my nose. His lips finally touched mine. I was being drawn into him with a series of slow deep kisses. The taste and the scent of him was like a drug, to my soul. He then drew back, "Do you want to go back?"

"No. I want to stay here…with you."

"Good, because I wasn't going to let you go this time." He softly kissed me again and then backed away from me. We went back into the living room as he went over to the small kitchen. I sat down on the sofa and waiting for his return. He appeared with a tray full of food and sat it down on the table in front of me. "I thought maybe you would be hungry, I know I am. I was planning on having dinner out, but we seemed to be underdressed for that."

"Oh, it's okay. I like it here." I picked up some crackers and took a bite out of one of them. "So, will David be back soon?"

"No." He picked up an orange and peeled it. I watched him as he licked the juice off his fingers after dividing it into sections. "He won't be coming here tonight or any other night."

"Why?" I picked up a banana. "I thought you were sharing this place?" I peeled it and took a bite of it.

"I lied to you."

"What? Why?"

"I wanted to be alone with you." He took a bit of his orange and glanced up at me.

I felt mixed feelings as I stared at him. "So, who is he?"

"He's a friend, but he lives down here. We met many years ago in collage and he owed me a favor." He then picked up some crackers and tossed one into his mouth.

"Did you hire him?" I then wondered if I really wanted to know the answer.

"No not really, like I said he owed me a favor." He opened a bottle of water.

"Damn you!" I stood up and moved to the chair on the opposite side of the table. "Michelle liked him and thought he was cute. What will she say if she finds out he was hired to entertain her?"

"Do you think she will care?"

"I don't know." I then reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of water. "We were here to have a good time and not worry about things."

"Isn't that what you are doing?"

I sat back in my chair. "Yes, I suppose." I nervously looked around the room.

"By the way, who was that guy you were with?"

I opened the bottle and took a drink. "Why? How long have you been here?"

"Most of the week and yes I have been watching you."

"Are you jealous?"

"No, I was just curious."

"Why didn't you tell me you were here, sooner?"

"I wanted to give you time to yourself."

"Well, his name was Marc and Michelle's friend was Scott. They left alone when we wouldn't give them what they wanted."

"That's good."

"Why because I didn't sleep with him?"

"No. I wouldn't tell you what to do."

"Well if you need to know…he didn't arouse me on like you do," I sighed as I got up from the chair and went over to the door. I leaned against the doorframe wondering why we were in here instead of out enjoying the sun. He came up behind me and wrapped his strong arms around me, kissing the back of my neck. I turned around and looked into his eyes. His nearness gave me comfort as I softly kissed his lips. I could feel my pulse in my throat as I made my request. "I want to make love to you!"

He swept me up into his arms. His lips claimed mine. His tongue sent a shiver of divine ecstasy through me. Ricardo stopped and asked, "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Damn you!" I moved away from him and out onto the patio. "Why can't I stay mad at you?"

"I don't know. Let's go down to the beach."