Blooming in the Wild Page 0,40

quietly left the trail, following the faint sign that someone else had passed this way.

Peering through the foliage of a large tree, he saw the second, smaller grotto, with its pool and narrow waterfall. And standing before it, her sleek head tipped back, her lovely golden skin bared to the sun, was Bella.

His heart froze and then thumped, hard, as every cell in his body leapt to urgent, lustful attention.

Standing before the little waterfall, her eyes closed, one hand trailing in the hip-deep water and the other still cupped between her thighs, flowers dangling around her as if they vied to ornament her nude beauty, she was sensuality incarnate. Beyond a Hawaiian beauty contestant, now she looked like a photo from a men’s magazine. Her little breasts were as lovely as he’d suspected, round and plump, with small nipples like beige berries that made his hands twitch, his mouth water.

Joel stared, riveted as she sank bonelessly into the water and then swam toward the bank, her dark eyes sleepy and soft. For one halcyon moment, in which his cock tried its best to leap out of his jock strap, he thought she was swimming to him, but then realized her destination was the small red pack sitting on the bank beside a pile of clothing.

Two things happened. She rose from the shallow water, rivulets streaming down over her sleek curves, and just as he was about to get a world-class view of the sweet secrets that had been hidden in her hand, the branches in front of him suddenly sank down with a quiet swish.

They’d been hung up somehow; otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen her. Joel had shaken his head, bemused and horny as hell. God above, she was the hottest wahine he’d ever seen in these islands. It was all he could do to keep his feet planted where they were and not moving forward to do what his cock demanded—claim her.

He’d groaned silently, palming his erection through his shorts. Was he going completely crazy, or was something a little freaky going on? First the coconuts, then the vine that had practically waved at him, making him look up and spot her standing on that rock like a diminutive Hawaiian warrior maiden, and finally this—tree branches stopping him on the trail and giving him a peep of her, but no more.

Well, nature might have conspired to point his way to her, but she sure as hell wouldn’t see the humor in that, and she wouldn’t thank him for spying on her either.

He’d forced his feet into motion again, turning back to the trail. He’d been so aroused that the short walk to the lower pool was torture. In fact, when he’d slid into the pool, his cock jerked as if it were in the grasp of a lover’s hand. He’d looked down at himself ruefully, at his cock straining up, his balls drawn up tight, ready to give her everything he had. He sure as hell couldn’t go back to camp this way.

Lying back in the water, letting it support him, Joel closed his hand around his cock, handling himself with long, firm strokes. His orgasm rocketed up out of his toes, and as he climaxed, clenching his jaw to hold back his hoarse shout of completion, her face was before him.

He’d had her in his arms this morning, and she’d kissed him. He wanted more. He’d have her, if it meant spending the rest of this trip convincing her he was not just a cardboard cutout of a celebrity. Even if it meant staying on the island as long as she was here. Hell, he’d even fly back to Maui.

It was at this point he’d shaken his head, spraying water around him like a dog. He tipped back his head and took a deep breath of the hot, still air. Down, boy. He was thinking crazy. No woman was worth chasing like that. He didn’t even really know her. They hadn’t had a real conversation, just sniping back and forth.

He’d had a few crushes in his time, even thought himself in love once with a girl in college. They’d done all kinds of outdoor activities together—rockclimbing, white-water rafting, skiing in the winter. They’d had sex in some pretty crazy places, like the back of her Volkswagen van in a ski resort parking lot, and a hot springs right off a highway in North Idaho. But she’d gone off to graduate school, and he’d headed for California to work