The Dare Collection: July 2018. Nicola Marsh

them, and the second her back hit the soft mattress, Roman began to move. He rolled his body like the waves they’d just been playing in. Smooth and steady and hitting all the right places. He ground his pelvic bone against her clit, the friction drawing a moan from her lips. His big body kept her pinned even as he wrapped himself around her. All she could feel was Roman. All she knew was Roman. The feel of his strong hands gripping her hips, the pounding of his cock between her thighs, the little curses he uttered with each exhale.

      Glorious. So incredibly glorious.

      “Yes. There. Don’t stop.”

      “Come for me, Aphrodite,” he growled against her neck. “Come for your man.”

      She was too lost to the pleasure of what he was doing to her to think too hard on his words. Or that was what she told herself as she buried her face in the curve of his neck and orgasmed hard enough to shake the earth on its axis. Roman pounded into her, wild with a need she felt to her very soul.

       This isn’t going away. I don’t know if it’s real or not...but I want it to be.

      Roman tucked her against him and held her tightly, as if he expected her to leap out of bed and flee into the night. Considering how hard her heart pounded in a way that had nothing to do with the outstanding sex, she wasn’t sure his fears were unfounded. “I don’t know how to do this.”

      “Do what?”

      She kept her face pressed against his chest. It was easier to be honest when she wasn’t looking directly into those hazel eyes. “This. You. Us.” Us. One little word, but it somehow changed everything. The realization that this wasn’t simple vacation sex had been growing inside her every time Roman touched her. Every time she came with his name on her lips.

      He smoothed a strand of her hair back from her face, tilting her head up so she could see him. “Why do you have to do anything at all?” There was something in his expression, something tight and guarded despite his warm smile.

      “What’s wrong?”

      He hesitated and sighed. “Look, Allie, I like you. A lot. But I can tell that this whole thing freaks you out, so I’m trying to not put any pressure on you while we’re here.”

       While we’re here.

      They wouldn’t be on West Island forever. Hell, they wouldn’t be here this time next week. This thing they had was temporary. She knew it and he knew it. Allie took a careful breath as the knowledge settled in her chest like a stone. They had an expiration date. There would be a time in the very near future when she’d no longer have the right to spend her nights tangled up with Roman.

       I have to shore up enough memories during these last few days to last me a lifetime.

      The thought made her want to cry, but she shoved the feeling down deep. There would be plenty of time for tears later. Right now, the only thing that mattered was gorging herself on everything Roman. On the little touches. On his kisses. On the feeling that rose inside her as she came apart around him.

      “Aphrodite?”

      She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him close for a desperate kiss. She put all her frustration and fear into the slide of her tongue against his. Three days. She had so much living to pack into three tiny twenty-four-hour periods.

      Roman pulled her closer yet, his big hands cupping her ass and grinding her against him. He broke the kiss to nip at her jaw. “This is what you need, isn’t it? Not to think anymore.”

      “Yes.” He always seemed to know what she needed, even when she couldn’t put it into words. “I just want to feel you. To be here and present and not worried about what happens when we get back to New York.”

      “Consider it done.” He captured one of her nipples in his mouth, sucking hard. “Trust me, Aphrodite. I’ll take care of you.”

      For the next three days, she finished silently, even as he rolled her onto her back and began kissing his way down her body. She couldn’t bear to think about what happened after.

      So she didn’t.

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      ROMAN SMOOTHED ALLIE’S hair back from her face. “You’ll have to get moving if you’re going to make your flight.”

      She swatted at his hand without opening her eyes. “Screw it. I’m not going back to New York. I’ll just stay here until they kick me out.”

      He felt the same way, though it wasn’t the island that had Roman wishing he could make this moment last forever. He wasn’t ready to let this thing with her go. It was a truth he’d been working toward for some time, but this morning, knowing that they were going to board their respective flights back to New York and go back to their normal lives... The stakes were suddenly sky-high. “Come out with me tonight.”

      “What?” She finally opened a single eye. “What are you talking about?”

      “Tonight. After we’re both settled. I want to take you on a date.” He didn’t exactly form it as a question, but Roman knew all too well how fragile the limb he stood on was. They’d spoken about changing the rules, but he’d just thrown every single one of them out. Roman stroked his hand down her arm and laced his fingers with hers. “I’m not ready for this to be over.”

      “Roman, we talked about this. Our lives don’t match up outside of this island. Our worlds are too different—our worldviews are too different. We wouldn’t last the week before something happened that ruined us for good.” She shifted to look down at their joined hands. “And that’s not even getting into the whole ‘your investor’s trying to buy my gym out from underneath me’ thing.”

      She was determined to see the worst in that situation, and he hadn’t had the chance to convince her otherwise because every time it came up, suddenly they were having sex. Roman knew damn well that Allie was trying to keep them both distracted, and he couldn’t exactly be pissed at the side effect, but he wanted to talk to the infuriating woman. “Have dinner with me. We’ll talk about all the shit we’ve been avoiding up until now. If at that point you’re sure you don’t want me to facilitate someone investing in the gym, then I won’t.”

      “Just like that?”

      “Just like that.” It wouldn’t be just like anything. His client was interested in the gym and she had a clear vision over what she wanted for its future—a vision Roman shared. It wouldn’t be easy to find a replacement, but he’d make it work. If Allie actually talked to him. “What do you say?”

      Still, she hesitated. He could practically see her weighing her desire not to go to that dinner against the chance to get him to back off once and for all. Finally, Allie nodded. “I can’t do tonight, but tomorrow I’m free.”

      “Tomorrow it is.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “As much as I want to seal this with a kiss, if I start kissing you, we won’t stop until lunch and you have a plane to catch.” He bit back the impulse to tell her to stay—that they really could just live on the island indefinitely and leave their lives behind. That peace wouldn’t last. No matter how effectively they’d checked out of reality for the week, given enough time, real life would come creeping into their time here. Hell, it already had. Allie had done her best to avoid it, but Roman was a realist—they needed to get their shit out in the open so they could deal with it.

      They had no chance of a future without that.

      Before he could reconsider kissing Allie, she was out of the bed and pulling her clothes on. “I’d better go. If left to her own devices, Becka will pack my stuff and her version of packing is to shove everything in and wrestle with the bags until the zipper is in danger of breaking. Better for both me and my luggage if I do it myself.”

      “Give me your