Page 33 of Captivating Nights

Chapter 23

CALISTA HAD WOKEN UP shortly after passing out. Xavier’s first thought was to take her again, but he knew they were almost back in Virgin Gorda. Showing an enormous amount of self-control, he and Zane had helped her get dress into something she’d packed, intending to remove every offending article of clothing from her as soon as they reached the resort.

The plane had landed, and in record time they were back in the villa. Holding true to their earlier promise on the plane, the men tied her up and took her again. This time, however, Xavier was able to feel her come around his cock as Zane fucked her ass. Afterward, the men allowed her to finally go back to sleep and now he was pacing across the room, glancing every now and again at her sleeping form.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t woken up in flames with the hole you’re boring straight through her, X,” Zane said from his spot across the room.

Xavier turned toward him and watched the man smirk knowingly at him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he responded.

That would be a lie because Xavier knew exactly why he wasn’t in the bed with Cali, tempting her to wake up for a third round. Somehow the female had gotten under his skin, and he couldn’t get her out from beneath it. He didn’t want or need any attachments at this point in his life. Or ever.

He heard Zane chuckle and he growled. “You’re reading more into this than you should.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. Now fucking drop it.” Xavier hated emotions of any kind, outside of the sexually pleasurable ones. Maybe he just needed a damn drink.

Walking over to the small mini bar, he grabbed two of the individualized bottles and twisted the caps off. He could sense his friend watching him, and most likely enjoying the fact that Cali was starting to slip between the cracks of his hardened heart.

“I never thought I’d see the day, Rivera,” Zane replied, and his amusement continued to piss Xavier off more.

“There’s nothing to see, man. At least not with me.” Xavier flipped him off and then looked between Zane and Cali. The man was steadily typing away on his laptop, and he wondered if he was the only one trying to distract himself from the current arrangement. Smirking when his friend glanced up, he added, “You’re doing a lot of work for someone who’s supposed to be on vacation.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Xavier just grinned and then tipped back the contents of the first bottle. The liquor did little in the way of providing a much-needed distraction for him. It also did nothing to erase his feelings for the woman lying in the bed just a few feet away from him.

Looking over at Calista, she appeared even more innocent when asleep. The need to climb into bed beside her, pulling the submissive into his arms and just lying there with her, was a hard temptation to resist. But it was a necessary one. He’d had no business ever seducing the woman to begin with, and had only done so because he knew his friend wanted to fuck her. Yeah, that was the only reason why.

Emptying the contents of the second bottle, he tossed the glass containers into a nearby garbage can and walked over to the desk where Zane was still working. “You’ve been working a hell of a lot the last few days. What’s up with that?”

It was nice to see him focused on his work, but at what cost? They planned to part ways with Calista once this second week ended and both headed back to Washington DC. Zane was acting like he had all the time in the world. Or maybe he’d grown tired of the little submissive. A growl rumbled through his chest at that thought. Xavier had come to realize something over the past few days, which was the fact that he could talk, chill or even hang out with Cali every day and never grow tired of her. It was the first time in his entire life that he’d ever felt that way about anyone, and to be honest, it was very unsettling to him.

The thought of committing to anyone was a bitter pill to swallow. He’d never become his father. Shaking those bad memories away, he looked at Zane, waiting for him to answer his earlier question.

“Groundbreaking is about to start at a building in the Theater District of Boston, where a nightclub is going to be opened. You remember Devin Sheffield, right?”

“Didn’t he belong to our club back home?” Xavier barely remembered the Dominant, but did recall tossing back a few shots with him once.

“Yeah,” Zane replied. “I started working on this job before you even convinced me to come up here for the holidays. Devin is very anxious to get ‘Pandora’s Box’ opened as soon as possible, so I’m trying to use whatever time I have to help him.”

Xavier remembered Zane talking about work, but figured it was merely an excuse to wade in his own self-inflicted misery. Despite the legitimacy of this assignment, he knew his friend had been going through a tough time, but a lot of that seemed to change when Calista entered the picture. Had she managed to crack the ice around his heart too?

Xavier scowled at the notion alone. Both he and Zane were very successful in their careers, ones fueled by ambition and greed. They’d been living as bachelors all their lives and had often joked they’d be this way forever. Despite that, he knew something was different about his friend. He no longer seemed as sullen as he had been when they first arrived here before Christmas. In fact, if anyone had changed for the worst, he knew it would be himself.

“I should probably go check things out at the resort,” Xavier finally said after shifting on his feet. He heard a soft murmur coming from the bed and tamped back another growl. He needed to get the hell out of this room and think about whether he could actually finish the arrangement they’d made with Calista. They’d offered to fulfill her every fantasy, all the while opening ones of his own that he had no intentions of entertaining. “I’ll be back later.”

Zane chuckled, and the sound grated on his nerves. “You can run all you want, Xavier, but you can’t avoid what’s right in front of your face.”

“Fuck off, Rhodes,” he said before turning on his heel. Storming out of the room, he would’ve slammed the door for emphasis, but resisted at the last minute only because Calista was still sleeping.

Xavier had no idea where he intended to go at five in the morning, but thankfully knew his way around the resort. The stone lined walkways were lit with muted lighting, which also helped guide him toward what would become his ultimate destination.

A few minutes later, he found himself on the sandy expanse of his private stretch of the beach. The waves of the ocean were very reminiscent of his thoughts, crashing violently against the shore. He closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of nature in all its beauty, and began remembering the fateful day when he’d come home early from school.

“Stop it, Juan. The boy is home,” his mother, Raquel, had whispered to his father. Xavier could still remember stopping, standing there in the middle of the hallway, listening to the sound of bone cracking. His first thought was that his father had somehow hurt his mother. Determined to defend her the best he could at seven years old, he walked even closer until he made out the sound of hushed voices combined with male groaning.

“Don’t even pretend like you give a fuck about Xavier,” his father had said. “If you had, you wouldn’t have been in our bed with him.”

Another loud groan came from the room directly after he heard his father strike whomever it was inside. His mother was in there with another man? He was still too young to truly understand what was happening. Wanting to make everything better, he opened the door, and the sight he witnessed was one he’d never forget for the rest of his life.

Xavier opened his eyes. There was no need to relive that scene or what had happened afterward. That was the night that Raquel Rivera turned her back on her husband and child, instead choosing to run off with their pool boy. The hired fucking help was more important to her, than he was. From that moment on, he swore he’d never allow himself to grow attached to a woman again. And he hadn’t…until now.

He raked his hands through his hair. In the entire twenty-five years that had passed since the day Raquel had walked out on him, he’d managed to keep everything as emotionless as possible. He’d been with dozens of women in his day and had never even once considered the possibility of changing his bachelor status. Xavier had never had the desire to, and for all he knew, the sudden change was most likely attributed to exhaustion.

He hadn’t gotten much rest this entire vacation, not that he’d ever complain about the reasons why. The day that Xavier Rivera ever regretted fucking a willing submissive would be a surefire sign that the world was coming to an end. Turning around, he started to head back to the villa. Zane had wanted to give her the full D/s experience that the characters in her many books had, and he wouldn’t let his friend down.

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