Marcus pulled her soft, curvaceous body into his arms, gazing deeply into her eyes. They held emotions that he had been running away from the last two years. Emotions of love that could last a lifetime! They weren’t the same emotions he had seen in Cassie’s eyes when they were together. Cassie’s feelings felt superficial compared to Cara’s pure and ardent feelings for him.
“Why do you try when you can’t sleep without me, mia Cara?” He whispered, his mouth grazing her neck, trailing up to her ear.
“Why do you call me that?” she answered with a question of her own.
“Because you’re special.” Cara searched his eyes but didn’t find what she was seeking. There was only desire reflected in his dark stormy eyes.
“Do you say that to every one woman you meet?” she chuckled with disbelief. Marcus shook his head slowly and placed his hands on either side of her head, cupping her chin to gaze deeply into her eyes.
“No, only you.” He dipped his head and captured her lips in a gentle and lingering kiss. The kiss wasn’t hungry and wild like before, yet it was passionate enough to cause explosions to erupt in Cara’s brain as waves of heat started flowing between her legs. Marcus groaned with need when her fingers fisted his hair. He parted her lips expertly and plunged his tongue in while his hands roamed all over her body.
His answer had made her heart flutter with hope but now being in his arms made her realize that she couldn’t live without him although he didn’t love her..
“I want you, Marcus,” she breathed when he finally released her mouth.
“Not like this, Cara. I want to plan something special for you since you deserve it.” Cara smiled and released a staggering breath to calm herself. She clung to his body and lay down snuggled to his chest.
“I might as well go to sleep if you don’t want to have se* with me,” she said, snoring melodramatically making Marcus chuckle.
“It won’t be just se* with you. I want to make love to you, mia Cara?” he whispered, pulling her closer. Cara didn’t answer him but her mind went into overdrive wondering why he called it lovemaking when he didn’t even love her.
“It’s the same thing isn’t it?” she shrugged. Marcus caught her chin and forced her to look at him.
“No, it isn’t.” She waited for him to explain further but he didn’t.
“Maybe. Good night, Marcus.” She closed her eyes wondering what was the difference between the two. She might check it out on her mobile phone tomorrow.
Marcus was stunned at his own behavior tonight. Why and how did he manage to restrain himself from pumping into her was beyond his comprehension. It was strange and so unlike him that it left him deep in thought. Why did he want to make love to her? Why did he want their moments to be special? A million other questions disrupted his peace of mind. While she closed her eyes and slept on his arm, embedding her face into his neck, all Marcus could do was breathe her in. Lost in the feel of her wrapped around his body, he felt wanted, loved, and cared for. He never knew that cuddling could be so blissful and calming that it soothed him to sleep in no time.
The next day, they were busy since morning, with shopping, packing, loading and gearing up for their vacation. Although Cara didn’t accompany him on his shopping spree, she scolded him for splurging on ridiculously expensive clothes for her. Cara tried hard to find out more about their destination but it seemed as if he wasn’t interested to divulge the details. She called her family and informed them about the trip.
“Once the account is created, I’ll transfer the money, aunt Maggie.” She felt guilty that while she was enjoying herself, uncle Joe and aunt Maggie were struggling with her siblings.
“Don’t worry, dear. The money you sent through Mr. Duncan is enough to last us three months. Why did you spend so much on clothes, accessories, and food for us? You should learn to save,” scolded Aunt Maggie. Cara’s jaws dropped with surprise. She didn’t have any money to buy them stuff or send them through uncle Ben. What was going on?
“Yes, aunt Maggie. I’ll start saving from next month. So did you like everything?” she asked in an attempt to understand what exactly was sent to her family. The next few minutes, she spoke to her siblings who were extremely excited about their gifts. From their conversation, she realized that each of them received clothes and accessories. Even aunt Maggie promised to send a picture of herself and uncle Joe posing in new clothes. She knew instantly who sent gifts to her family since there was only one person who could splurge so much, Marcus!
“I love you, Cara. Thank you for everything. The dinner you ordered for us looks so yummy that Adam wants to have it now.” Cara’s eyes widened. If she corrected them then they would be suspicious that there was something going on between her and Marcus.
“Okay, enjoy yourselves. Take a picture of everything and send it to me. I’ll video call you in the evening.”
After disconnecting the call, she went in search of Marcus. She found him in his studio sending the last packed carton to his car. After his chauffeur, Bob Franklin left, she turned towards him.
“Thank you for sending so many gifts and dinner to my family, Marcus. I want you to deduct the money from my pay. Aunt Maggie mentioned that you send them money as well? How much did you send? Don’t transfer anything to my account till I’m able to pay that off. I also want you to deduct the price of the laptop and mobile,” she rambled on while Marcus stared at her impatiently.
“No, pay me in kind. I’ll do whatever I want to. I’m not listening to you.”
“But,” she started when he pulled her and kissed her mouth hard to stop her from rambling.
Finally, in the afternoon they locked the house and Ben Duncan drove them to Southampton heliport. Cara watched the sleek and luxurious chopper waiting for them. The pilot approached them and Marcus introduced Cara to him.
“Welcome aboard the Grand Conrad, Ms. Sullivan,” said the pilot. “Hope you like the experience,” said the pilot. Their luggage had already been loaded and Marcus helped her into the majestic aircraft. It was a totally new experience for her as she had never seen a helicopter from so near.
“This is an out-of-the-world feeling. Why did you have to spend so much? We could have taken the car,” she leaned in to whisper in his ear. Marcus laughed and shook his head at her ignorance. She had no idea how loaded he was, hadn’t she?
“This chopper belongs to us.” Cara gaped at him with wide eyes and she ran her hands over the smooth upholstery with disbelief.
“Oh, I thought you rented it for me!” she said, feeling foolish. “Do you give all your women a ride on Grand Conrad?”
“Never.” Cara’s impressionable heart did a somersault at his answer as he smiled knowingly.
“Why can’t I believe you?” she asked with a chuckle, making him roll his eyes at her.
“It’s the truth, baby.” Cara’s heart melted more at the endearment. The next few minutes, she watched the entire city skyline from the helicopter, the blue sparkling water below them and the ocean beyond. The chopper headed towards the shores of Connecticut and Cara wondered where they were off to. The sun was about to set, reflecting a romantic golden and red hue all around. It was nature at its best.
“We’ve reached.” Cara looked around to see where exactly they had reached. The helicopter was making its descent on a beautiful island off the shores of Connecticut. “Welcome to Davis Island, our home for a month.”
“We’ll stay here for a month? What about my college?” she gasped with surprise.
“The new session starts next month,” he informed her. From up above she could get a bird’s eye view of the entire island which wasn’t more than approximately 5 acres in size. A sprawling villa with a huge solar power system installed on its roof caught her attention. A pier and a beautifully streamlined white yacht made her gasp. Everything about the place was straight out of a movie. She wasn’t at all used to this opulence and wondered why Marcus had to spend so much money!
“The island is self-sustaining!” informed Marcus.
“Then it should be very expensive,” she whispered as the chopper finally touched down at the small helipad at the far end of the island.
“For me, it’s free. It belongs to my mentor, Hugh Salisbury,” he informed her. Cara’s eyes widened as she remembered Maria mentioning that even Preston Island belonged to his mentor.
“It seems he collects islands like we collect stamps.” Marcus laughed and shook his head.
“He has only three.” Cara gave him an incredulous look. Only three? Marcus helped her alight. The pilot helped them with their luggage and left.
“So, what do you have to say to this place? Do you like it?” he asked hopefully. Cara smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“I love it, Marcus but why did you have to make so much effort for me?” she asked, looking confused.
“I told you why. I wanted to take you out on a dream vacation with me.” He shrugged and started to carry their stuff towards the house. Cara followed him, still bubbling with curiosity.
“But why me?” she couldn’t help but ask him.