Private 02 - Private Paradise

wickedly, “you got me off enough times it didn't matter if you fucked me or not.”
    “ Yeah, you were pretty clear about how satisfied you were with that,” Carla said tightly, her whole body going cold at the memory of his cruel assessment. She wanted to kick herself for being so weak, for letting the memory cut so deep after so long.
    “ Carla.” His voice was tight and when she looked at his face she saw that it had gone pale. Almost as though his pain mirrored hers.
    No sympathy for the devil, she scolded herself and tried to jerk out of his hold but Sam was having none of it. He grabbed her shoulders and rolled her to her back, pinning her to the mattress as he settled his weight over her.
    A gust of wind shook the villa. Carla heard a shattering sound as tiles from the roof were ripped off and shattered on the ground. The lamp burning on the bedside flickered and went out as the storm took out the electricity.
    Sam continued like nothing had happened. “We need to get something straight,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “I said horrible things to you, hurt you in ways that I will regret for the rest of my life. I would never ask you to forgive me because I sure as hell don't deserve it, but you need to understand the truth. There was nothing―and I mean nothing―I didn't love about being with you.”

Chapter Eight

    Carla's breath caught at his words, the look on his face. Though the light was out, she could make out his face in the gray light leaking in through the shutters, his gaze steady, unwavering as though willing her to believe in him. Oh, God, it would be so easy to fall for him again, even knowing he didn't mean a word of it.
    “ It doesn't matter,” she whispered. “That was a long time ago and has nothing to do with what's happening now.”
    Sam settled his weight more firmly against her until his chest brushed hers and she could feel the heavy weight of his cock hardening against her inner thigh. “What is happening, exactly?”
    Carla was saved from having to answer when her stomach gave a rumble, startling a laugh out of them both at its sheer volume.
    “ Damn, woman, when's the last time you ate?”
    Carla played back last several hours and realized that she'd been so caught up in preparing for the storm and evacuating the guests that she hadn't had anything to eat today except for her preworkout coffee and some bottled water. “Dinner last night?”
    “ Let's get you fed.” Sam rolled off her and reached for his own robe and made a pit stop in the attached bathroom. Carla waited for him to come out and used the bathroom herself, pausing to grab a hurricane lamp and box of matches on the way.
    She gave herself a quick washing, wincing as the wet washcloth brushed against the tender folds of her sex. In the mirror, her candlelit face looked different. Softer. Younger. The hard edges buffed away by the sheer force of her orgasms.
    Almost like the naïve eighteen-year-old who had fallen for Sam's schtick the first time around, she thought. She clung to that thought and went to join Sam in the main room.
    He was standing next to the dining table beside the villa's kitchenette, the contents of two emergency kits neatly laid out before him. He'd lit several lamps as well, the golden light playing over the sculpted lines of his face, which she realized on closer inspection was pulled into an irritated frown.
    “ What's wrong?” she asked.
    “ You can't eat any of these,” he said, gesturing to the stack of energy bars. “They're all peanut butter flavored.”
    “ Crap,” Carla muttered as her stomach rumbled forlornly. “They must have mixed up the order. I specifically requested peanut free. She gave herself a mental kick in the ass for not double checking. Too late now.
    “ I don't suppose you have an epi-pen with you?” she joked. Unless she wanted her throat to close up and to die from anaphylactic shock, she wasn't eating any time soon.
    “ I'm sorry,” he said as he packed the bars away along with the first aid equipment they thankfully hadn't needed. “In the rush, I didn't think to check for any that had nut free emergency rations.”
    “ It's okay,” she said, telling herself it didn't mean anything that he remembered she had a potentially lethal peanut allergy. “Not like I can't stand to miss a few meals.”
    He cocked a dark eyebrow and reached for his shorts which were draped over the back of a chair. “You're perfect, and you need to eat,”