Half expecting him to ask her if she was sure, Maya plunged her tongue into his mouth, her hips moving eagerly against him. She felt his head slip along her opening, moving up and down, coating him in her wetness. Slowly, he moved into her, then pulled out. Her chest heaved at the sensation, but she wanted to feel more. Turning her head, she delved further into his mouth to indicate what she wanted. Apollo’s hips pressed against hers, pushing his head fully into her body. He pulled out a little, then thrust a little deeper. For a second, she felt a pinch, but he put his hand round to her lower back and stroked her so that she quickly forgot the pain. Once he was sure she was ready for more, Apollo gave a slight thrust, then pulled back a little to build the friction.
The feel of him moving further consumed her thoughts, and Maya let her head drop back, her mouth open as she moaned at the sensation. Kissing down her face, he placed hislips near her ear. “I love you, Maya. Heaven help you, but I love you.”
His words were accompanied with a thrust, not hard, but enough that she felt him filling her. Finally, he pulled out a little, then slid all the way inside of her. Maya let out a cry, her body tightening with a new sensation. Gripping him, she could feel him pulsing into her with small movements that heightened the sensation. As her body began to relax, Maya turned and started fervently kissing him.
“Don’t stop, Apollo. I want you every day, forever.” Her words inspired him to move a bit faster, then he adjusted her body a little, opening her legs and giving him better access to her core. As she felt the pressure building again, she cried out.
Starting to tire, she buried her face in his neck. “I tried to let you go, but I can’t. I love you, Apollo.”
As he gently pulsed inside her, Apollo moved his upper body away from her a little. One of his hands stroked her hair as he stared into her eyes. No words were needed as he continued to make love to her long after the sun went down.
Epilogue
A Lifetime with Her Valentine
Maya rolled over and wrapped an arm around Apollo as she buried her face into his chest. His hand moved up and down her back as he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
“I think we need to slip out and make sure we are where we should be when Cosmo and Naomi exit their rooms.”
A groan escaped Maya, and she pressed her face further into his chest. “Do we have to?”
His hand moved to her hip, gently stroking it and making her feel aroused. “If we want to avoid a time paradox, I think it’s necessary.”
Maya looked up at him. “Then why are you turning me on?”
“Because my memories of last night are so vivid, I am ready to relive them.” As if to prove his point, Apollo lifted one of her legs, setting it on his hip. His erection brushed against her lips, teasing her and making sleep all but impossible.
“You have a bit of a sadistic streak in you, Mr. Hart.”
He smiled at her. “I like to call it being effective. You were trying to go back to sleep. Now, you are ready to get moving.”
She reached down and stroked him, taking some satisfaction in the way his eyes closed and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “As long as we are both being tortured.”
“Your pain is mine.” Leaning forward, he kissed her lips, then in one motion, he rolled out of bed. He grabbed his pants and started pulling them on. “I suppose you’ll need to actually find some clothing for our return.”
“Now that you have me, I doubt that there will be a problem with my clothing staying in place.”
Apollo’s eyes took in her body. “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to risk anyone else seeing your perfect body again. As muchas I don’t want to be jealous, I know that seeing you naked will be hard for nearly anyone to resist.”
Maya’s eyebrows rose. She wanted to say that no one had ever acted on their desire toward her, at least not advances that she couldn’t easily shut down. However, she found Apollo’s desire to keep this part of her for just him to be appealing. Especially when she considered how she never wanted another woman to see him naked again. “Okay,” she said. When she moved to get out of bed, Maya found that her legs were a little sore. She looked up at Apollo. “Why do my legs hurt?”
He looked at her for a moment, then he sat on the bed next to her. “Because you haven’t used some of those muscles before. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone on for so long.”
“Don’t you dare,” Maya frowned. “If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I would have wanted to keep going. And I want to do it again. I just … will walking be difficult?”
“I’ll hold you.”
As he helped her stand, Apollo clearly had a difficult time focusing as he leaned over and sucked on her nipple as his hand stroked her inner thigh. Maya stopped him by whispering, “If we are going to get off this island, we need to go run into our friends. Then I am all yours when we get home.”
She felt him swallow as he nodded. Pulling away a little, he helped her over to the dresser. Unlike her drink, Maya had no trouble finding the clothing she wanted. It wasn’t long after she finished dressing that the couple arrived at the bed and breakfast. They opened the door, and standing on the other end of the hallway were Cosmo and Naomi. Between them were some people Maya didn’t know.
All too cheerfully, Cosmo let Maya and Apollo know what he had figured out about the couple and other meddlers. “Good morning, you two crazy love birds. Haven’t seen you since these old folks tried to force the wrong mate on me.”
The people realized what he meant, and they quickly scurried away, as if they feared what Maya and Apollo might do. Maya was ready to go after them, realizing that she and Cosmo had been pawns in an effort to get a footing in his kingdom. It was exactly the kind of thing that she had been actively avoiding for most of her life—everyone wanted to use her. Now they had used a place that brought the right people together to manipulate the situation.
Before she could do anything, though, Maya looked up at Cosmo and Naomi, and the anger seeped out of her. The happiness on their faces mirrored the way she felt as Apollo gently made circles with his thumb on her hip. Unlike the dread she had felt when she first learned of the scene, Maya knew that she and Apollo were not acting. And she couldn’t think of anyone better to share her happiness with than Naomi. “Good morning, Naomi. You look very well rested.”
Naomi smiled and looked up at Cosmo. “I haven’t slept that soundly in my life. But I dare say, you seem to have already gotten a bit of exercise this morning. You are positively glowing.”
