Heat_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Read online

  Different entirely, aside from what I want our relationship to be.

  It means something.

  It feels like love, is what I think as I lose myself in Evan Stone.

  It takes a while, but I fish through my suitcase for my tiniest, strappiest black bikini, that will set off my tan and every curve of my body.

  The black shorts I pull on almost show my ass, so I go with a loose light blue tank top to balance out the outfit.

  I knew I wasn’t going to England.

  I met Evan at the airport with the intent of telling him, no, but my bags were packed for Hawaii anyway.

  I never needed Tinsley’s little push.

  Our plan is to zip-line on a private tour, then lay by the pool in a day-bed Evan has rented for the both of us.

  I want his eyes on me the entire time.

  It’s clear, however, that he is paying little or no attention to other women at the resort.

  I see Henri, our waiter from the other evening, and he waves at me and smiles.

  When he sees Evan, Henri stares at us for just a moment, then shakes his head.

  He runs his hand through his hair, and puts one hand in the pocket of his work pants.

  Then, he wanders off.

  What the hell was that about?

  As we get into the private transfer to West Maui, I notice various women, attached and unattached, outright ogling Evan, who is undoubtedly something to look at.

  He’s very much my ideal man.

  Broad shoulders and a buff, hard body that’s apparent even though his t-shirt, which is just tight enough to show off his muscles, but loose enough to label him as straight.

  His military training has honed him into a lean, mean fighting machine, all right.

  Staring at the others, I plant a kiss on his neck to mark my territory.

  Sorry, ladies, I think.

  This man is not available.

  He’s mine.

  I suddenly realize what I am doing.

  Trying to distract myself from looking to closely at my feelings, I squeeze his hand.

  “Do you really not notice the way women look at you?” I quip.

  “Well yes, I do, but my eyes are usually on you,” Evan’s casual replies soothes me.

  He plants a simple kiss on my cheek.

  The heat rises to my face, and I pull my sunglasses on.

  My loins tingle.

  He does that to me a lot.

  “I’m sorry if I was trying to push too hard the other night,” he whispers.

  Evan looks out into the distance, as if thinking about something.

  He wraps an arm around me and pulls me close so that I can’t avoid that gaze of steel.

  “I just need you to understand how I feel, and that this is real to me, even if it’s not to you. I won’t give up on you. Okay?” he says.

  His words take my surprise.

  “Okay,” I reply.

  It’s all I can manage.

  I want to make him promise not to give up on me.

  But I know eventually, he will give up.

  All my previous dominants have.

  Evan has no reason to be different.

  I let him kiss me anyway and we make-out in the backseat like teenagers until the car comes to a stop.

  The zip-line people lead us to a platform.

  There’s a small explanation session before we begin.

  Then we mount our platforms, where the zip-lines start.

  “Have you ever been zip-lining before?” the instructor asks.

  “No,” I say nervously.

  “I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” I say.

  I glance at Evan on a platform a few feet away.

  “Of course, you are, Victoire, whenever you’re ready, just jump,” the instructor says.

  I look over at Evan nervously who’s got the widest smile on his face, he’s more than ready.

  I can see him counting in his head.

  We’re supposed to this together, but now I have a better idea.

  “Thanks for the head start, Stone!” I call Evan.

  Then I jump, and suddenly I’m flying through the air.

  All I can hear is the sound the zip-line makes as I soar through the trees, over a pineapple field with the lush jungle around me.

  It’s the purest kind of nature.

  Untouched, perfect, and serene, I glide along, feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

  I brace myself for the impact of the next platform and manage to land on the wooden planks gracefully.

  When I look over my shoulder, Evan is seconds behind me.

  “I won!” I shout to him.

  “Cheater!” Evan bounces back.

  But, he’s smiling!

  We take the next zip line at the same time.

  As we sail through the jungle, past a gorgeous and lush waterfall, I catch a glimpse of Evan.

  His gaze is on me, and I blow him a kiss.

  The next time I land on the platform it’s easier.

  I suddenly feel the need to be beside Evan, to have his arms around me.

  The rest of the afternoon is a blur of beautiful jungle scenery, and the release of all the tension I’ve been feeling.

  “I want to do that again!” I cry with happiness after we are finished.

  “That was amazing!” Evan concludes.

  “It was like I was free!” I tell him, then extend my arms.

  “You make a lovely bird, Vic! A Vicky bird!” he chuckles.

  I stick a tongue out at him, and Evan just laughs and wraps an arm around me.

  He covers my tongue with his mouth, and we kiss, ravishing each other.

  The limo driver ignores us.

  By the time we reach the hotel I am famished and tired.

  It’s easy to drop down on the day-bed, close my eyes, and relax.

  A weight has been lifted from my shoulders, somehow.

  Evan orders lunch to be brought to us with drinks, and I sip a mojito while he watches me intently.

  “What?” I ask in a sultry voice.

  “You look more relaxed than I’ve ever seen you,” Evan tells me with a smirk.

  “You and that smirk,” I tease him.

  “Hey, the smirk is what got you into bed with me in the first place,” he quips back.

  “No, your dick is what got me into bed in the first place,” I tease him back.

  “Oh, so you just had an intuition that I could please you in ways other men could never?” Evan jokes.

  I feign indifference for a moment until Evan tickles my neck with kisses and bites to reduce me to laughter.

  Under the sun, with the warm breeze of the ocean, and lush tropical plants all around us, I somehow find a moment of peace.

  Evan is a man I didn’t consider could bring something out of me that I’d lost a long time ago.

  The side of me that has hope for the future.

  9

  Evan

  December 26, 2017

  There’s a difference in Victoire that anyone else wouldn’t notice, but I do.

  I’m not sure what exactly has flipped a switch inside her, but those little things that would typically set her off, just don’t.

  I continue to kiss her neck and make every man within sight of her envious.

  She’s mine.

  The evidence is there that the only man she wants is me.

  We laze around the lush pool, drop into the water occasionally, where the pool cascades down three levels, close to the ocean.

  All day we drink, munch and laze around until just before sunset.

  Vic is swimming in the pool, and I decide it’s getting close to time.

  That’s when I check my phone and look up to see a blonde woman, hand-in-hand with a tall man, motion to Victoire.

  She peers around the pool deck, and then sees her target in the water.

  “Grace!” Vic screams.

  Vic’s head whirls around, and astonishment races across he
r face.

  “Evan, did you do this?” Vic asks.

  I shrug.

  Her blue eyes are wild with excitement, and I know this was an excellent idea.

  “Gracie!” Vic screams before she jumps out of the pool and tackles her sister.

  “God, Vicky, you’re all wet!” Grace exclaims.

  “Shut-up! What are you doing here?” Vic asks.

  She hugs Gracie tight.

  Vic knows that this resort is too expensive for her sister, normally.

  “Evan told us to come, Isaac and I,” Grace explains.

  “Did they get your bags to the room okay?” I ask Grace.

  “Yes, and it’s gorgeous! I can’t believe how awesome this resort is!” Grace exclaims.

  “Good,” I smile.

  We take a private golf cart back to the room, to give Grace and Isaac a chance to change.

  I’m gauging when the sun is about to set when Vic wraps her arms around me with a smile.

  “You did this for me,” she states.

  “I want you to trust me,” I tell her honestly.

  “Whether or not it worked, the smile on your face when you sister appeared, that was worth it,” I say.

  I try to convey to her what that smile did to me.

  I fail miserably because all Victoire does is smile at me and kiss me.

  “I do trust you,” she whispers.

  “I’m sorry you thought I didn’t,” she apologizes further.

  “It takes time, maybe?” I suggest.

  Then again, the endless, unprotected sex shows that she clearly trusts me enough to engage with me all the time, with wild abandon.

  Vic and I used condoms at first, but when it was clear, we weren’t going to have sex with anyone else we made an agreement.

  If Vic was on the pill, I could use her however I wanted, and she was always willing to bend to my will.

  “I knew you trusted me, I just wanted to prove it to you,” I laugh.

  “Oh, you did, did you?” Vic’s voice is low as she wraps her arms around my neck.

  We slow dance around the room even though there is no music.

  “I’ve got another surprise,” I tell her.

  “Oh?” Vic gasps.

  “Just wait,” I smirk.

  “We’ve got to get going now,” I tell her.

  “A helicopter?” Grace is confused.

  “Are we doing some sort of helicopter tour?” Isaac asks.

  “Sort of,” Vic explains before I can answer.

  “Evan has his commercial helicopter license, and he used to fly for the military,” Victoire explains.

  “Thank you for your service, Evan,” Isaac says automatically, extending a hand.

  “Thanks,” I shake his hand.

  I look him over a bit.

  He seems like an okay kind of guy, but my inner alarm goes off just a tad.

  It’s weird but having been in combat makes you suspicious of everyone, until you get to know them.

  It’s a curse, but it saved my ass in Afghanistan.

  Everyone always got the idea I didn’t like my time with the military.

  I loved it.

  I want to go back.

  I’ve always wanted to go back, but it seems impossible now that I’ve got a real position with dad’s company.

  And then there’s Vic…

  I have some serious doubts about her reaction to me doing another tour.

  “Well, I’ve never seen that happen to you before,” Vic tells me in a low voice.

  “I don’t mention it a lot, but when I do, it happens,” I explain.

  “Why don’t you?” Vic asks.

  “I don’t like the attention, I always felt like I should’ve done another tour, and I wanted to,” I admit.

  “But, I wanted to be home for my dad too, so, there was that,” I admit.

  I’m as honest as I can be.

  “You should do another tour,” Vic tells me.

  I don’t answer as to why I haven’t.

  At the heliport, I fill out the final forms, and show my pilot’s license.

  The agent walks us out to an Eurocopter EC130.

  It’s a neat aircraft, painted blue and white.

  It has a fenestron instead of a tail rotor, which makes navigating down low a lot less stressful.

  We load up, and I go through the preflight with the rental agent.

  “You certainly know your way around this chopper, son,” he says.

  I laugh.

  “I was kind of hoping for a Sea King,” I joke with him.

  “Navy pilot? You sound British, though,” he adds, puzzled.

  “RAF, but we used to fly exercises with the Royal Navy,” I say.

  “You’re a combat pilot, though. I can tell,” he replies.

  I hesitate to go there, but, when he raises his eyebrows at me when I run through the startup procedure, and get to the motor start, I pause.

  “You’ll need to clear the rotors before I engage, sir!” I say.

  “When we were in Pakistan, I saw a man lose his head over something pretty stupid. I’d rather it not happens to you. And, seeing that once was enough for my lifetime,” I say.

  He grunts, and nods.

  As he’s backing away, I shout.

  “Three tours, in case you wondered,” I tell him.

  He raises an arm to wave, and I see the tattoo on his bicep.

  “Death from Above” – the motto of the 82nd Airborne.

  “Safe flight, Leftenant,” he says, saluting me.

  I return his salute.

  I shout “Engage!”

  I flip the motor, and the blade starts slowly spinning.

  Vic and her sister are looking at me.

  “What?” I say.

  Then, I focus on the task of getting this chopper moving.

  I get the bird up in the air with ease after we’re cleared for take-off.

  I’m barely impressed by a sunset helicopter ride, I’ve done it before, a thousand times it feels like.

  Suddenly, I get a flashback to my last ride for the military, the desert all around us, the sun just about to set, and the melancholy I felt.

  I never wanted to leave it all behind, but I got the sense my dad needed me.

  I had to return home, it was my duty to my family.

  Victoire’s sister and Isaac are thoroughly engrossed in the whole scene.

  It really is a picture-perfect sunset.

  The orange, yellows, and pinks blend together so seamlessly.

  I fly around for a while, and then find a perfect spot to set down and take a short breather.

  The chopper hovers, and then gently drops onto the waving grass, atop the cliff.

  The rotor winds down, and I do a quick but thorough post-flight check.

  I make sure battery power is nominal, and the fuel lines are clear.

  Then, satisfied it won’t take off without me, I motion to the others to leave the cabin.

  I set my headset on the seat and step out onto a gorgeous plateau.

  The sea is below us, and we can see whales out in the ocean.

  It’s the view of a lifetime.

  I walk over to where Vic and the others are standing, mesmerized by the scenery.

  I tap her ass, and she whirls around.

  “You really are one great pilot!” she exclaims.

  Vic drapes an arm around my shoulders and leans in to kiss me on the cheek.

  “Thank you for doing this,” she whispers.

  “You don’t have to thank me,” I tell her.

  “No, I do, because you’ve done nothing but try to impress me, and I was never going to give,” Vic’s voice is soft as she whispers in my ear.

  “So, we were thinking,” Grace interjects our private moment, “That Isaac and I, we may as well just get married here,” Grace announces.

  “What?” Vic asks, stunned.

  “Yeah, we’re ready,” Isaac states seriously

  His intense gaze at Grace
makes me wonder if I’ll ever be ready to jump in head first like that.

  “Are you serious?” Vic continues.

  “Yeah,” Grace says.

  “With dad in rehab, it makes perfect sense,” Grace says.

  Vic’s face suddenly goes white.

  She didn’t tell me her father was in jail.

  Or did she?

  I have a vague memory of this, but I’m sure I’d remember if she had.

  I want to ask all sorts of questions.

  “Well, then it makes perfect sense,” I say smoothly.

  “There’s a little spot that would be ideal, we should see if they can set something up for us,” I tell Victoire.

  “Yeah,” Vic recovers quickly.

  “There’s the Cliff House. It has beautiful views of the ocean and sunset, I’m told. We haven’t had a chance to go there. Do you have a white dress?” she asks.

  “No, is there something I can borrow?” Grace asks.

  “I’m sure there’s something,” Vic declares.

  Suddenly, she’s gone into plan mode like she always does when faced with an uncomfortable social situation.

  “I’ll go speak with the concierge and set something up,” she announces and whips out her phone, suddenly leaving us.

  Grace, Isaac, and I are left alone, and I wonder what the hell just happened.

  “She didn’t tell you about daddy, did she?” Grace asks.

  “No,” I admit.

  “And I’m not sure I want to hear it from anyone but her,” I add.

  “Well, it’s not really a big deal. I don’t know why she hides it. He’s got a gambling problem, and alcoholism to boot. Vic’s been fighting to help him every step of the way, I’m just done,” Grace says, deciding to tell me the story anyway.

  “Vicky took it harder than I did,” Grace admits.

  “Though I never really understood why,” she adds.

  Suddenly, I know why Vic worked for Isa.

  Her father.

  I fly us back to the mainland, and there’s no real drama.

  The chopper handles like a dream, and I find myself missing the rugged terrain in Iraq.

  I’d never thought I would think such a crazy thought.

  That time of my life was very stressful and trying.

  I lost many friends.