Page 6 of Etched In Stone (The Stone Saga #3.5)

Chapter Six

Alexander

Krystina reached the water’s edge just ahead of me, the waves lapping at her ankles as she turned to gauge my progress. Her laughter rang out across the empty beach, pure and joyous, and I felt my heart clench with love so intense it was almost painful.

As we plunged into the water, droplets splashed around us, catching the sunlight and transforming into a dazzling array of miniature rainbows. Krystina laughed again, playfully splashing water in my direction.

“Oh, you’re asking for it now,” I growled, lunging toward her.

She darted away, her lithe form cutting through the water with grace. “Catch me if you can!”

I chuckled, the sound rumbling from my chest as I chased her.

The cool water caressed my skin, a refreshing relief from the tropical heat.

As I closed the distance between us, I couldn’t help but marvel once again at Krystina’s beauty.

Her brown curls, now slick with water, framed her face perfectly, and her eyes sparkled with humor.

When I reached her, I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her back to my chest.

“Gotcha,” I murmured, my lips brushing her ear.

“Mmm, so you have,” she purred, turning in my arms to face me. “What are you going to do with me now?”

The playfulness in her tone reignited the fire within me.

“Oh, I have a few ideas,” I replied, my voice husky with desire.

We lingered in the water, bodies entwined, exploring and teasing. I pressed my hand between her legs, taking full advantage of the water’s privacy as I sought her hard bundle of nerves beneath the protection of her bikini.

Her breath caught, and she angled her pelvis up to meet the pressure of my fingers.

I buried my face into her neck and breathed in deeply.

Peppering kisses along her hairline, I moved over to her ear and bit her lobe.

She threw back her head, welcoming me to take more as my lips traveled down her neck.

I was suddenly desperate, feeling as if it had been way too long since I’d had her.

She reached around, slipping a hand inside my shorts, and gripped my cock. When she began to stroke from base to tip, I groaned.

“Alex,” she breathed. “I want you inside me.”

If her words weren’t enough to unravel me, her magical hands were.

I shifted positions, sliding a hand over her smooth belly and under the waistband of her bikini until I reached her wet slit. My forefinger circled her nub furiously, needing to get her off so that I could take her back to the villa and fuck her properly in a bed.

She continued stroking me, her grasp tightening around my cock as I plunged two fingers inside to stroke her walls.

The sound of distant laughter had me looking up. Far down the beach, but close enough to be heard, a couple with a small child entered the water.

Fuck.

Krystina and I were both panting and breathless, needing release. Reluctantly, I pulled away.

“There are people down the shore,” I pointed out. “Let’s go dry off. We can finish what we started here back at the villa.”

Krystina removed her hand from my shorts and followed my gaze.

“Damn,” she quietly hissed, that single word expressing a need that matched my own. Then suddenly, her expression shifted to something mischievous, and she grinned. “Race you back.”

“You’re on,” I replied, not needing an excuse to hurry back to the villa.

We both struck out with strong, steady strokes.

She was a better swimmer than I’d realized, her form efficient and graceful as she cut through the water.

I could have easily outpaced her, but I found myself holding back, content to swim alongside her and watch the concentration on her face as she pushed herself to keep up.

When we reached shore, we took off running back to the secluded area where we’d left our towels and chair.

I let her win.

Both breathing hard but exhilarated, Krystina turned to me with triumph shining in her eyes. “I think I won.”

“I suppose you did. What’s my penalty for losing?”

“Hmm,” she said, placing a finger on her chin contemplatively. “You have to tell me one thing about yourself that I don’t know. Something real.”

The request caught me off guard. I was a private person by nature, someone who revealed information strategically and sparingly.

“There’s unfinished business to attend to back at the villa. I’m pretty sure your wet pussy would agree. Can this wait until after?”

“Nope,” she stated, planting her feet firmly in the sand.

Something about the way she looked at me, hopeful and open and completely without guile, made me want to give her what she asked for. It was either that or I was just desperate for the release I’d been denied just moments before.

“When I was eight,” I heard myself saying, “I wanted to run away and join a sailing crew.”

“Like a pirate,” she teased.

“Yeah, a lot like a pirate. I’d read about these expeditions that went around the world, and I was convinced that was the life for me—away from the hell I was living in. I even packed a bag and made it to the marina before my grandfather found me.”

Krystina’s eyes widened with surprise. “And then what happened?”

“He didn’t lecture me or punish me,” I continued, surprised by how vivid the memory still was.

I’d forgotten about it up until that moment.

“He just sat down on the dock next to me and asked what I was running from. And when I told him I just wanted to get away from everything, he said he understood. But then he reminded me that I wouldn’t be able to look out for Justine if I did that.

His reminder about my sister was all I needed to go back.

He told me that someday, when I was older, we’d take a boat trip together.

Just the two of us. But then he died before that happened and… ”

The memory brought with it a familiar ache of loss and a promise of another thing that was robbed from my childhood.

“That’s why you bought The Lucy ,” Krystina said softly, understanding flickering in her eyes.

“Perhaps,” I admitted. “I never really thought of it like that, but maybe it had been a subconscious decision.”

She moved closer to me, close enough that I could see tiny flecks of deep gold in her brown eyes. “Thank you for telling me that. Now, I want you to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that no matter how crazy things get when we go back to New York, you’ll remember that you’re not just Alexander Stone, CEO. You’re also my husband, the man who chased me into the ocean and told me stories about running away to be a pirate.”

“I promise,” I said, and meant it with every fiber of my being. “Come on, angel. Let’s get back to the villa.”

As we crossed the sand, Krystina walked slightly ahead of me. Still wet from our dip in the ocean, I enjoyed watching the water cascade down her curves—and so did the male jogger headed our way. My eyes narrowed at how he looked at her—my wife.

My gaze shifted back to Krystina. Her bikini clung to her body, leaving little to the imagination, and I felt a primal surge of possessiveness. Jealousy crashed over me, and an overwhelming need to protect my wife.

Jogging to catch up with her, I quickly draped a towel around her shoulders, annoyed at myself for being so irrational. I knew the jogger was harmless.

“I can’t wait until we get someplace more private,” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, obviously picking up on my surly tone.

“I just don’t like it when other men gawk at you. It makes me crazy.”

Confusion came over her face until she looked over my shoulder and spotted the runner just down the beach.

Smiling, she stopped and turned toward me, pressing a finger to my chest. “Jealous?”

“Don’t push me, angel. When I bought that bikini for you, I’d intended it for the next stop on our honeymoon.”

Krystina looked up at me through her thick lashes, a coy smile on her lips. “Are you going to tell me where we are going finally?”

I leaned in, my voice dropping to a low rumble. “A private island. We’ll be the only two souls present, and I’ll be able to enjoy my view of you from wherever I want without worrying about bystanders.”

Krystina’s eyes softened, and she leaned in, her lips brushing mine in a tender kiss.

“I love you, Alexander Stone,” she whispered. “Even when you’re acting like a possessive neanderthal.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet. I’ve been looking at you mostly naked for the better part of the day, and the need to explore every inch of your body is starting to take over. You’ll be screaming my name within the hour,” I promised, my words dripping with intent.

“Alex…” My name was a breath on her lips, and I couldn’t help but imagine all the ways to pleasure her later.

I offered her my hand. “Let’s go. I want you begging and trembling beneath me.”

When we reached the villa, the air between us crackled with unspoken desire. I guided Krystina to the door, my hand on her lower back. My fingertips grazed the soft skin just above her bikini bottoms. She shivered at my touch, and I felt a primal surge of satisfaction.

“After you, angel,” I murmured once the door swung open.

Krystina stepped inside, and I followed, closing the door behind us. The soft click of the latch felt like a starting gun, signaling the beginning of the marathon I had planned for tonight.

The low sun bathed the villa’s interior in a golden glow, giving everything a dreamlike quality. My eyes were drawn to Krystina, her sun-kissed skin radiant in this light. When she turned to face me, I captured her lips, pouring all my pent-up desire into the kiss.

“God, I want you,” I hummed against her, my hands roaming her curves greedily.

She responded eagerly, her fingers threading through my hair and pressing herself closer. The taste of her, mixed with the lingering salt from the ocean, was intoxicating. When she pulled away, we were both panting.

“Can you give me a few minutes? I just want to shower quickly to get the oil and sand off me.”

“I’ll join you,” I murmured.

“Mmm… as enticing as that sounds, I must do girly things, too. I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

I smirked but didn’t comment about whatever girly things she needed to do. I could allow her a bit of privacy if that’s what she required.

“Go ahead. I’ll shower in the guest bath. Take all the time you need, angel—but don’t be too long.”

She stepped back slightly, her brown eyes dancing with mischief. “I won’t be. I wouldn’t dare keep the controlling Mr. Stone waiting.”

The use of my formal name ignited something primal within me. I gripped her hips firmly, backing her up against the nearest wall.

“Is that what you want?” I asked, my voice low and commanding. “For me to take control?”

I pressed my hard cock against her. Krystina’s breath hitched, her pupils dilating with arousal.

“Yes,” she whispered. “It’s what I always want. I want all of you—every dominant, possessive inch. I’m yours. Completely.”

The promise in her words, the trust she consistently placed in me, was overwhelming. I captured her lips again, this kiss deeper, more consuming. My hands slid down to her thighs, and in one smooth motion, I lifted her, pinning her between my body and the wall.

Krystina wrapped her legs around my waist, looping her arms around my neck. I trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, reveling in every soft sigh and moan she made.

“I need to touch you. Everywhere.”

“Let me shower first, I’m?—”

Covering her mouth with mine, I didn’t allow her to say anything else.

With one arm banded around her waist, I used my free hand to greedily push aside the tiny triangles of her bikini top, allowing her breasts to spill free.

Lowering my head, I captured a nipple between my teeth.

She gripped my shoulders with both hands and arched, encouraging me to take my fill.

When I began to circle my tongue over her supple areola, she moaned, and I nearly came on the spot.

There was no doubt that Krystina and I would be explosive once we finally made it to a bed.

“Say my name. I want to hear my name on your lips,” I told her, speaking the words into her cleavage as I moved my mouth between each tit, refusing to let one get more attention than the other.

“Alex.”

“Your body is mine.”

“Yes!” She gasped out the word, her desperation evident. “My body is yours.”

Her hands snaked around the base of my neck as she arched her back, searching for more, and I was determined to give her exactly that.

Sliding my hand from her breast, I pulled the tied strings at her hips, allowing her bikini bottom to fall free.

When my fingers connected with her wet slit, we both gasped.

“God, you’re so fucking wet,” I murmured.

I circled her hard clit for a moment, then drove a finger inside her heated well.

Her breath hitched, and her hips pushed upward, taking what I offered with fevered urgency.

I increased my tempo, building momentum until she was whimpering with need. She was driving me fucking wild.

“Come for me, angel. I want you to come on my hand.”

She kissed me frantically, and my fingers thrust deeper to massage and stroke her walls, only pulling out to trace wet circles around her throbbing nub. I felt her body tense, and her shallow breathing began to come faster.

She was close.

I quickened the pace, flexing my fingers with more urgency until I could feel the slight tremors of her building orgasm. I wanted to give her this—to make her think about my touch while she was in the shower. To make her desperate to feel my cock buried inside her.

When I knew she was almost there, I tore my mouth from hers to see her face.

I wanted to watch her as she fell apart.

Her eyes grew wide, then snapped closed, and I was rewarded with her cry of pleasure as she shattered against my palm.

Her ecstasy faded to enfolding aftershocks, and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

Once her breathing began to regulate, she clasped my face between her hands and pulled my head down to hers for a low, languid kiss. When she pulled away, there was no mistaking the glowing embers in her gaze.

“That was just a taste, angel. Before the night is over, you’ll be begging for me to stop.”