Page 33 of Settling the Score (The Karma Club #4)

‘Yeah, okay,’ she said, forcing a bright smile, glad that the threatened tears hadn’t eventuated. ‘Secret sex,’ she added. ‘It’s going to be way easier – and more fun – if we keep this between us.’

‘Is that your way of saying you’re not done with me yet, Mastrangelo?’

She glanced across at him. Crap. She’d totally been taking it for granted that they’d keep doing this for as long as they were on the island.

‘I mean’ – she infused humour into her tone – ‘if you’re busy, I can always see if Chuck’s available…’

His eyes flashed to hers and for a second, she saw it.

The intensity he was afraid of. Jealousy.

Fierce, unmistakable. And she got it. She didn’t for one second think he would ever, ever hurt her.

He just wasn’t wired that way. But she understood why he’d spent his adult life running from even being in that position.

And suddenly, his string of girlfriends made sense.

Those short-term relationships, never serious, never long.

Sienna had thought it was because he was a playboy, but she realised now he’d been running over baking-hot sand his whole life, doing everything he could to avoid putting down roots and getting close to another person.

She would have groaned, except Aiden was moving quickly, bringing his body over hers, kissing her until she was panting with need, and completely ready to surrender to him all over again.

It might have been ‘just sex’, but she fully intended to make the most of having it – and him – on tap while they were on the island.

* * *

‘Sienna?’ She hardly heard the voice at first. Her whole body, her whole being, was in a whirling current of desire and satiation, courtesy of Aiden. Her cells seemed to be catching fire, one by one. ‘Can I borrow your straightener? Mine just died.’

‘Sienna.’ It was Aiden, pushing up onto his elbows to stare down at her, his cock buried deep inside of her, his butt-naked body on top of her. ‘Someone’s at the door.’

‘What?’ she whispered, looking around and catching sight of them in the reflection of the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and their arrangement was most definitely NSFW.

‘Your friend.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Which friend? What?’

‘Sounds like the blonde.’

‘Bella,’ she hissed.

‘It’s okay if you’re busy.’ Bella’s voice warbled a little at the end, and Sienna guessed she was suppressing a laugh.

‘I’m—’

Aiden moved then, and she had to bite down on her lip to stop from moaning.

Another thrust, and she felt her grip slipping. Her body was tingling all over, the beginning of her orgasm fast and intense.

‘Oh my God,’ she whispered.

‘I’ll come back,’ Bella called, scuttling footsteps following her rushed escape.

‘Oh my God,’ Sienna groaned for a different reason now, arching her back and driving her hands through her hair, desperate to hold onto sanity and reality, even as she was falling apart, delightfully, deliriously, at the seams…

* * *

‘Well, well,’ Bella cooed, an hour and another orgasm later, by the coffee station. ‘Don’t you look like the cat that got the cream?’

Sienna felt heat flood her cheeks. ‘Listen, Bella, about upstairs…’

‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I borrowed a straightener from Cynthia – she’s a peach.’ Bella handed the coffee she’d evidently ordered for herself to Sienna. ‘You look like you need it more.’ She turned to the barista and placed another order. Sienna took a mighty grateful sip of the hot drink.

‘I love you,’ she said, closing her eyes as the caffeine infiltrated her body, bit by bit, reviving her from both sexual satiation and shock.

‘I know you do.’

‘But seriously, about this morning…’

‘It’s none of my business,’ Bella promised. But her face clouded over a little with solicitousness. ‘Just promise me you’re being careful.’

‘We are. I’m not going to risk anything happening, I promise.’

‘I don’t mean that.’ Bella waved a slim hand through the air. ‘This was meant to be a bit of fun. Flirty, casual. Easy. To teach him a lesson. But neither of you was meant to get seriously hurt in the process. That’s still the plan, right?’

Sienna shook her head a little. ‘I mean, I think any semblance of a plan whooshed right out the window within about twenty-four hours of getting to the island, don’t you?’

‘And why is that?’ she pushed.

The barista handed over another coffee and they made their way through the crowd – which had really started to fill out, with the wedding now just one day away – towards the terrace.

The air out here was warm and sweet, filled with the heavy aromas of citrus and lavender. They moved to an unoccupied table.

‘I mean, the plan was pretty simple,’ Bella continued. ‘Unless you found it harder than you’d realised, to flirt with Aiden?’

‘I think we’ve established flirting with him wasn’t a problem.’

‘But you were meant to flirt and walk away,’ Bella reminded her. ‘To teach him a lesson?’

‘I know.’ Sienna’s glance dropped to her coffee.

‘That’s still what I’m intending to do.’ She thought back to the way he’d insisted on that.

Just sex. Neither of them had said ‘meaningless’, because it wasn’t that, either.

How could two people who’d shared so much ever have meaningless sex, anyway?

‘I’m not going to get my revenge,’ she said, lips pulling sideways.

‘But the thing is, I’m not really sure he deserves it, anyway. ’

Bella’s perfect eyebrows pushed towards her hairline. ‘What? Is this not the man we’ve spent almost a year wanting to burn in effigy?’

Sienna rolled her eyes. ‘Not quite.’

‘Okay.’ Bella leaned forward, putting her hand on Sienna’s wrist. ‘But what happened? You thought he was the devil incarnate a week ago.’

She took another sip of coffee. ‘I know. I’ve spent more than ten years thinking that. But maybe, I mean, what if I was wrong?’

Bella’s expression was sceptical. ‘Were you?’

‘I think he had some pretty good reasons for wanting to get out of town,’ she admitted.

‘But to cut you out of his life so completely…’

‘Yeah, I know. I guess… I guess I kind of understand even that, now.’

Bella let out a low whistle. ‘Either this guy’s got some magic excuse, or he’s got a magic… something else entirely.’

Sienna’s cheeks flushed but she grinned. ‘Maybe both.’

‘I see,’ Bella said, sagely, after several beats. But Bella being Bella, that wasn’t the end of it. ‘So, what’s the new plan?’

‘There is no plan.’

‘You’re having sex with the guy who broke your heart and you’ve hated ever since, and you don’t have a plan for how to not get hurt again?

’ Bella was whispering, but there was a screechy tone to her voice that made Sienna look around jumpily.

Blake and Cynthia were out on the terrace, but far enough away, and deep in conversation, so she was pretty confident they hadn’t heard.

‘I’m not the same girl I was then. He won’t hurt me.’

Bella looked far from convinced.

‘We’ve talked about it,’ Sienna promised. ‘We’ve both agreed what we’re doing, and when it will end. No hard feelings.’

Bella’s expression didn’t change.

‘Back then, I thought we were in love, and going to, you know, grow up and get married. I thought he was my happily ever after. My knight in shining armour. Back then, he hurt me because I gave him enough of myself to make that possible. I will never make that mistake again, and nor would he. We know what we’re doing, Bells. You can relax. I promise.’

‘Okaaay,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Because I really would hate to have to kill Astrid’s new brother-in-law,’ she said with a joking grimace. ‘But I’d do it, for you.’

Sienna grinned. ‘Don’t worry; it won’t come to that. I know what I’m doing.’

‘And that is?’

Sienna thought for a moment. ‘You know, I think I’m actually having fun.’

Bella smiled, her eyes knowing. ‘You deserve that.’

‘Thanks. Now, I’ve got something else I want to run past you.’ She glanced around, making sure they were still out of earshot. ‘I was going to wait until after the wedding but… I’m too excited.’ She sucked in a deep breath. ‘I think I might have found a way to get to Horrible Harvey.’

Bella’s brows shot upwards. ‘You’re kidding?’

She shook her head.

‘Shall I get Olly?’

‘Oh, God, yes. I can’t think of anyone besides us who’ll be more excited by the idea of finally getting that bastard back.’

When Bella, Olly and Chase joined her a short while later – Olly and Chase were seemingly inseparable – Sienna leaned forward, barely able to keep the excitement from her voice. ‘Okay, so, here’s what I’m thinking…’