Vivian chuckled softly but didn’t say anything back. Her tongue was making its way up and up toward Sienna’s clit. There was no time for chitchat.
And there was absolutely nothing like that first lick. Vivian reached Sienna’s center, stuck out her tongue, and flattened it ceremoniously against Sienna’s folds.
Sienna moaned. Vivian could never have predicted just how loudly she would moan. She was loud enough that Vivian actually had to wait a second before continuing. She had no idea how far away the next villa was, but suddenly it felt awfully close.
At least Sienna had the common sense to smack her hand across her mouth. Vivian hoped she’d keep it there. If anyone heard them, if they heard Sienna inhervilla, they’d be completely fucked. And not just a little oops-we-broke-a-rule fucked. But the kind that came with an HR meeting. Vivian tried not to think about that. This wasn’t the moment for it. Not when she closed her mouth around Sienna’s clit and tasted her completely, and most certainly not when Sienna pulled gingerly at Vivian’s short hair, awakening all those nerve endings.
Luckily for Vivian, every thought she’d ever had about stopping this seemed to evaporate like water on a sunbaked stone. All Vivian could focus on was the way Sienna’s hips bucked into her face as she licked and sucked and grazed Sienna’s clit with her teeth.
Soon Sienna’s body was on the verge of collapse.
For a second, Vivian thought Sienna was going to roll onto her side and go to sleep. But then Sienna was pulling her onto the bed. And they were kissing again. Hard and fast and soft and slow. Time passed. Vivian had no idea how long, but then Sienna’s hand reached for Vivian’s center, and before she knew it, she was sliding three fingers into her so easily Vivian nearly came right then. But she didn’t. Thankfully. That would be embarrassing. Or maybe not, considering how long she’d already pushed off that hum between her legs.
They moved together. Vivian rolled her hips. Sienna slipped her fingers in and out. It wasn’t long. Maybe a minute.Maybe less when that electrifying feeling crested and Vivian’s body came apart in one long, relentless shudder that seemed to last forever.
Eventually, it stopped.
And when it did, when her breathing steadied and her heart stopped racing, something else crept in. It was a dark cloud rolling in on what should’ve been the bluest sky she’d ever seen.
Without waiting even a beat, Vivian slid over to the edge of the bed and glanced back at Sienna, all naked and glorious and dreamy-eyed as she lay on her side. “You know this doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “It’s a one-time thing, and I know that most people say that, and they end up repeating it over and over again until it gets messy.” She exhaled hard. “But we’re not going to be those people.”
“So, you think this was a mistake?” Sienna asked, frowning slightly.
“Yes,” Vivian said when she really wanted to say no. “This was great. But that’s all it was. There are no feelings involved. At least not from my side.”
Of course, it wasn’t true. She could imagine a life with Sienna. But in that life, Vivian’s career would be over. Her reputation and everything she worked for would be gone. That revelation had hit her hard, fast, and all at once… right after she’d climaxed. Vivian loved her job. She liked Sienna. Only one of those was clearly meant to be.
“You came here to meet someone,” Vivian said when Sienna’s face flooded with disappointment. “You came here to fall in love. There are nine women out there waiting forjustthat. I need you to give them a chance.”
“But I don’t want them. I want you,” Sienna said, sitting up. “I thought we were on the same page. I thought that’s what this was all about.” She gestured to the bed, but Vivian didn’twant to look at it, because looking at it might just force her to get back into it. Instead, she snapped her head toward the door. “You need to go.”
“But I don’t want to. I want y—”
“No,” Vivian said, not sure if what she was about to say next was even true or just an excuse. “You want the idea of me. But I’m not here for the same reasons they are.”
Sienna shook her head slowly, as if she were in a state of deep shock. “So that’s it? This is it? We sleep together and you decide it doesn’t work for you?”
“Yes,” Vivian said matter-of-factly, even though it wasn’t that simple. None of this was simple. “Now please leave before anyone sees you.”
Chapter Sixteen
The rose ceremonies, in Sienna’s opinion, were becoming unbearable. And yes, she knew this was only the second one, but still. The thought of standing beside that carved elephant statue with a thornless rose in her hand, glancing about the semicircle of hopeful faces all desperate for that rose, made her feel a little sick.
It wasn’t just the polite claps, the strained eye contact, the cameras creeping in the background; it was also the secret she carried. She had slept with Vivian. She had liked it more than anything else. And, she wanted to do it again and again until her muscles ached and her lungs gave out. Except she couldn’t. Vivian had made that painfully clear. According to her, last night was a mistake. It sure as hell hadn’t felt like a mistake when Vivian’s mouth had swallowed her nipple whole.
Which honestly didn’t make much sense to Sienna. She wasn’t blind. Clearly she hadn’t made up the chemistry that existed between them. She wasn’t a fricken scientist. She was tired, confused, and deeply hurt.
Frankly, if it were up to Sienna, she would just walk away from this entire thing. Quit this show and say goodbye.Totsiens, as they say in Afrikaans.Sale Kahle,as they say in Tsonga. But she wasn’t a quitter. It just wasn’t in her nature. Which was why she forced a smile, tugged at the zipper of her dress and let it settle against her skin. The burn on her back was only slightly tender, but tonight she didn’t bother with a dress that covered the plaster. Instead, she’d chosen a deep green satin gown with a low back and thin straps. A dress that saidfuck you, Vivian.
“Sienna,” Vivian said, stepping toward her. She’d appeared so suddenly Sienna hadn’t had time to brace herself.If she had, she would’ve been better prepared to ignore her, to turn around and face the bushveld and act as if she hadn’t heard her name being called. But then Vivian would know Sienna was upset, and Sienna preferred to wallow in self-pity without an audience. Especially since Vivian was the reason Sienna was so deeply upset.
“What is it?” she snapped, a little too harshly.
If Vivian was taken aback, she didn’t show it. Her face was as impassive as the Venus de Milo. “I will be making an announcement before the rose ceremony starts,” she said calmly and professionally. “But I wanted you to hear about it before everyone else does.”
Sienna frowned. “What kind of announcement?”
Vivian didn’t answer at first. She bit at her bottom lip, a lip Sienna imagined taking between her teeth and tugging at gently… or maybe not so gently. But then she realized what she was doing and shoved that thought promptly out of her head.
