Stranded Temptation: A Flaming Romance Read online

  Getting back on their feet, Kara and Max continued running over the dune and onto the beach. The only light was the red glare from the burning forest. Kara stumbled to her knees and remained seated. Her legs had no remaining strength to carry her.

  “Should we be worried about the drug men coming for us?” she asked.

  “If there are any survivors, I doubt they have any interest in being connected to a secret drug operation.”

  “Good,” she fell backward onto the warm sand. She wanted a hot soaking tub and food. Cheeseburger, vanilla milkshake, and cherry cheesecake.

  “Shit,” Max said.

  Kara looked around, adrenaline streaming through her veins, expecting an army of men with guns and grenades. “What?”

  “I see a light heading this way and we don’t have a way to signal them,” he said, staring into the sky.

  Excited, she peered up. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “I think so.” He grabbed her hand.

  “What do you mean no signal? We have the fire of hell burning in front of us.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “They are never going to see us here on the beach with all that going on.”

  Shit was right. “We need our own fire.” She hopped to her feet and ran to the forest’s edge. Searching for two limbs the size of her arm, she hollered over her shoulder. “I need your pocketknife.”

  With both limbs in hand, she sliced the top of each down the middle several inches, then handed back the knife. “Can you make a fire like the last one you did?” Ironic, she thought. A blazing inferno raged in front of them, yet they had to make their own little fire. The heat rolled over her, causing her to break out in a sweat. She had no desire to get closer.

  Max went in search of kindling while she stripped bark from the closest birch trees. After slipping several pieces down the slit, she hunted for big leaves and grass to stuff in with the bark.

  Overhead, she heard the thump, thump, thump of rotors as the chopper came in to check out the inferno.

  “I have a flame,” Max hollered.

  Kara carried both packed sticks to Max and handed him one. Like roasting marshmallows, they bathed the end of the limbs in the small bonfire. With a toasting branch in hand, they ran back to the sand. Waving and jumping, Kara screamed as loud as she could.

  The helicopter banked away. “Nooo!” she yelled. “Come back! Come back!” The pilot had different ideas and continued south. The excitement and joy consuming her from the hope of being rescued drained away. She wouldn’t, but she felt like crying. Disappointment flowed through her.

  After everything that had happened these past days, the rollercoaster ride had her exhausted.

  On the ground in front of them, a circle of light jerked erratically on the beach. Sand began to whip into the air, making Kara shield her eyes. Dropping her torch, she turned to a loud noise behind them to see a large rescue copter floating down.

  Max pulled her to him and buried her face against his chest. The pelting sand stung, but it was worth it. One of the guys from the helo rushed toward them. He hollered over the rotor noise in a language she didn’t understand. When Max replied, she figured they spoke Spanish. They must’ve been closer to South or Central American than she thought.

  After being strapped inside the craft, they lifted and backtracked a short distance to the location of their downed plane. Max and one of the men jumped out onto the beach and returned quickly with their bags and toiletries.

  When she fixed the headset over her ears, she heard the pilot welcome them to Panama.

  20

  Kara was in heaven. She had her glass of wine sitting beside the jet tub filled with hot water and bubbles and a gorgeous man washing her back. The hotel staff had even found two tealight candles in cups to add to the mood.

  The heat felt great on her sore muscles. Her thighs and bottom had small round bruises from the rocks she hit on the slide down the side of the hill into the flooded stream. Temporary reminders of the day from hell.

  With a full stomach, she sat back against Max’s chest as he was nestled in the tub behind her. She lifted her wine glass for a sip, bubbles sticking to her arm and hand.

  “This is more like it,” she said. “No more sharks, no more trip wires, no more men with guns.”

  “Yes, back to the civilized world,” Max added. “I just can’t believe we were so far off the scheduled route.”

  “How far off were we?” she asked.

  “We were aiming for the Venezuela side of South America. Instead we landed on the Colombian side.”

  Kara rolled her eyes. “Let’s pretend I don’t have the South American continent and country locations memorized. How many miles are we talking?

  Max sighed. “Over a thousand.”

  She darted forward, making the water spill over the side, then turned to him in the tub. “What? How can that be? If we were that far off, how did they find us?”

  “From what the pilot said, they had no idea we were even missing. The news was supposedly too far from that part of Central America for it to be of interest to the media.”

  “Then how did the find us?” She was so confused.

  “They saw the fire mushroom rising in the air and came to investigate. Part of their military was doing training exercises several miles away. They were on their way back to base.” Max chuckled. “The pilot said they thought someone had dropped a nuke on the island.”

  “It was pretty big,” she replied. “Then they saw us waving the torches on the beach?”

  “That’s the end of the story,” Max answered.

  “So they didn’t say anything about the drug operation on the island?” she asked.

  “I don’t think they knew about it. If they did, they played it off well,” Max said. “I didn’t say anything about it and neither did they.”

  “We are telling the police about it in the morning, right?” she replied. When Max didn’t answer, she looked over her shoulder. “We have to tell them. Why wouldn’t we? It’s illegal what they are doing. Not to mention the fact that cocaine is being brought in to sell to kids.”

  “It’s not that, love,” he said. “I’m not sure where the local government stands concerning that kind of activity.”

  “You’re saying the police may be under a cartel’s thumb?” she clarified.

  “Or someone who doesn’t want anyone to know what was happening on the island. That was a perfect setup,” he commented. “Ships from anywhere come through the canal headed to the United States. Then with a slight delay around the island, goods are transferred to land for stuffing, then returned in a matter of hours. Nobody even suspects the ship slowed.”

  “But wouldn’t that involve a lot of people to pull off? It’d have to start with manufactures, their employees, the shipping vessel captain, crew onboard and who knows how many more. Someone is bound to talk.”

  “Well, actually,” Max said, thinking, “Only the ship’s captain has to know. Maybe his men on the ship, but they are easily paid to keep quiet. Cargo can be taken off without anyone, including the owner of the merch, knowing. The drugs can be added to anything suitable. In this case, it was toy dolls.”

  “That’s so horrible,” Kara said. “Using such an innocent thing as a means for such a horrid act. It disgusts me.”

  “Now sit back, sweetheart, and relax. Don’t get your knickers all in a twist,” Max said, pulling her back against his chest and running his hands down her arms. “Don’t worry about it right now. Concentrate on my talented fingers.”

  His palms slid below the bubbles and into the water, trailing down her stomach to her mound. One naughty finger continued farther and slipped inside her, quickly followed by another.

  Max pumped in and out, with his other hand pinching and squeezing her clit. Her head fell back against his shoulder and knees raised. “God, that feels fabulous,” she moaned.

  “You’re so damn hot, baby,” he added. When he withdrew his fingers from her, a small whine escape
d her. She wasn’t done yet with his talent.

  His hands smoothed down her outer thighs and lifted her legs over the sides of the tub, spreading her farther. Almost too far. Her short legs didn’t stretch as far as his. Then his palms glided up her thighs to her pussy where they belonged.

  Two fingers entered her, picking up where they left off. “Fuck, you’re so damn hot inside.” He cupped her breast with his other hand, pinching and twisting the hard nubbin. Little zaps of pain shot straight to her pussy, heightening the sensation. A groan escaped her.

  Her heart raced, breaths became shallower and quicker. Her back began to arch trying to get more, to get closer, to come.

  “That’s it, baby. Come for me.” Fingers brushed across her clit before pressing down and rubbing side to side. No more. She couldn’t take anymore.

  The tightness inside her exploded, making her muscles clamp down on his intrusion and a cry escape her lips. She rolled her head so her mouth was against his neck, stifling most of the sound. They didn’t want anyone to think they needed rescuing again.

  After a few more pumps, Max waggled his fingertips over her G-spot for good measure then pulled out. She slumped against him.

  “God, I needed that,” she said, letting everything from the past twelve hours fade into the background.

  “Not done yet, sweetheart. My tongue is even more talented than my fingers.” He kissed her shoulder, swirling his well-trained, hot muscle over her flesh. Her hand slid down his stomach, grabbing onto a very hard cock. She wanted this, too.

  Max blew out the candles and flipped open the drain with his toe. He got out, taking his time in getting a towel so she could see every juicy detail of him. Maybe she could talk him into running the track naked. She’d be there each morning cheering him on. Hell, maybe then she’d start jogging, too, just to get close-up and personal.

  Towel around his waist, he opened another and held it up to wrap around her. After assisting her out of the water, he pulled a third towel to rub down her legs and arms, placing kisses here and there. Then he leaned her against the counter and lifted her leg over his shoulder, peeling back the towel’s opening at the bottom.

  “That’s what I want,” he said, licking her like an ice cream cone. Her arms dropped back, supporting her on the cabinet top. The sparkle in his eyes as he stared into hers, tongue flicking her clit, turned up the intensity a notch.

  Then his mouth suctioned over her pussy, sucking and teasing mercilessly. Her fingers twined into his hair, holding him in place, grinding against his marvelous face.

  Sneaky fingers found her entrance once again, two sliding in, one continuing its journey up her crack to her ass. Sensations jolted through her as he breached her second hole. Add to that her nipple being tweaked and she couldn’t take any more. Her orgasm washed over her, shaking her body, making her knees weak. Max had to hold her thighs to keep her upright.

  Wiping his face on the towel, he stood and scooped her into his arms. “Hope you’re ready for number three.” He carried her to the bed and knelt on the mattress, laying her in the middle, then spreading her legs and opening the towel across her chest. He pushed the head of his cock into her slick channel with a single-minded thrust and didn’t stop until he was balls deep inside her, until she was choking for a breath.

  “Fuck, baby. I’ll never get tired of how perfect you feel.” He pulled his hips back and pressed forward with determined drives.

  She clawed at his shoulders. He fucked her the way she loved. Hard. Fast. Deep. So deep. Until they were pelvis to pelvis with no space between them.

  “Yes...” she moaned.

  Tension mounted inside her, curling at the pit of her belly into a ball, ready to unfurl at any second.

  He sucked on the corner of her mouth, biting his way down to her neck. “Your pussy’s so tight. So wet. I love how it hugs my dick like it doesn’t want me to leave.” He drew circles over her skin with his tongue. “Fuck, I can’t wait to come in your pussy. In your mouth. Taking you every way possible. You’d let me. You’d want me to fuck you hard and rough until your legs were useless.” He drove deeper and deeper. “You want me to. You’ll always want me to.”

  She moaned, her lungs burning from the lack of air. She visualized him doing even more to her. “Yes. I do.”

  “I know,” he groaned, his words coming out choppy and strained. “You like when I tell you how fucking wet and hot you are. How slick and tight. But know what you want? I’ll tell you. I know. You want to feel my cock in your pussy. Feel me come hard and deep in you. Don’t you?”

  She did. Dammit all to hell she did! “I—”

  “Don’t deny it now, love,” he rumbled. “I’ve licked and fucked you in every way possible. I’ve loved watching you play with yourself when you sucked my dick. Fuck! That was so sexy.” He thrust harder, his moves almost losing their precision.

  “I’m so...”

  “I got you, love.” His pelvis rubbed on her clit, adding just the right amount of friction to push her over the edge and send her soaring.

  She screamed, clutching at his arms and taking a pounding from his cock at the same time her pussy contracted around him with her orgasm. Then he stiffened, groaning and pumping with a speed she knew meant he was closing in on his own release. Once. Twice. He stopped, bit harder on her nipple and groaned. His cock pulsed in her pussy, filling her with his seed.

  21

  After bringing Kara to her third climax, fuck, he loved watching her come, and filling her with his cum, Max lay beside her, both panting. The hotel bed’s comforter was soft and fluffy, inviting him to snuggle in and stay a while. But the bedside phone clanged loud enough to wake the fucking dead.

  Just to stop the damn sound from ringing again, he jumped up and answered it. “Hello,” he said, heart racing from sudden exertion.

  “Is this Max Richards?” a deep voice asked.

  “Yes,” Max replied. “How can I help you?”

  “I am Norman Lynam with the American consulate here in Panama.” Max’s thumping heart stopped for a beat.

  “Yes,” Max chocked out. He took a breath and relaxed. He didn’t need to worry about the Americans. The local police were the problem. He’d heard horror stories of people locked up in foreign countries and never heard from again. And if you messed with the drug cartels you were royally fucked.

  “Mr. Richards, in ten minutes, there will be a car outside your hotel. You and Ms. Masters please come down immediately with all your belongings. I will meet you soon.”

  As Max formed his first question, the man hung up. Well, okay then.

  Kara rolled over and asked, “Who was it?”

  “The American embassy here.”

  “What?” Kara sat bolt upright on the bed. “What did they want?”

  “They are sending a car to pick us up in ten minutes,” he replied.

  Kara threw off the covers. “Shit. Ten minutes? It’s after eleven o’clock. Can’t this wait till morning?”

  “Apparently not.” He pulled his travel bag from the closet and tossed in the few things he’d taken out.

  “At least I get to put clean clothes on,” Kara said.

  “Yeah, let’s make this sorta fast,” he said. “The guy on the phone sounded concerned.”

  Kara glanced at him, worry on her face. “Is something wrong?”

  “Nah,” he replied, “I’m sure everything is fine.”

  He double-checked the bathroom, the closet, and under the bed to make sure nothing was left behind. Grabbing his and her bags, he headed for the door while she put her hair into a ponytail. Even with no makeup and hair up, she looked gorgeous. She’d look even more radiant with his child in her womb. All he did was throw on a baseball cap and he was ready to go.

  Whoa. He’d never had that thought before. Did that mean he wanted to keep Kara? Wake up in the morning with her and go to bed at night with her? The same woman 24/7? His heart said yes while his brain said hold on a second.

  “You rea
dy?” he asked her.

  “The best I can do in ten minutes,” she replied. “Do you mind if we go down a couple floors to the vending machine? I can’t believe they don’t have one on every floor.”

  “This isn’t the States, sweetheart,” he replied.

  “Yeah, tell me about it. In the US, they don’t call you at eleven in the freaking night.”

  He put an arm over her shoulder and guided them down the hall to the stairs. “We’ll be home in no time and you can sleep all you want.”

  Kara slumped under him. “That sounds so good.”

  As the door to the stairs closed, the ding of the elevator reached his ears. That damn thing was so slow, he was growing a beard by the time it reached the bottom floor their first time going up to their floor. It would figure that the one time they take the stairs the elevator was right there.

  A couple floors down, they nearly unpacked everything looking for a crisp dollar bill they could insert. Seeing that the hotel was part of an American chain, the machine accepted US money.

  Still over ten stories up, Max walked Kara to the elevator. Hopefully, it was still close by. He pushed the call button and the ding almost came immediately. He let a sigh of relief.

  “That was quick,” Kara said. “The last time we had to wait forever.”

  The doors reeled back to reveal two men in black suits. One wore sunglasses. Max gave them a nod. The one with the glasses acknowledged him. The other man narrowed his eyes, staring at him. They rolled their bags behind them and stepped in.

  The two men talked in Spanish and he translated in his head. “What are we telling the boss?”

  “The truth, idiot. The two were not in their room and their luggage was gone, but the bed was messed up.”

  “Yes, okay,” the other said. “Should we worry about these two hearing us?”

  “They’re Americans. They don’t have a clue how to speak our language even in our own country. It’s below them.”