Diamonds in the Rough (Diamonds are Forever Trilogy 2)

I come with a cry and a shudder, every muscle locking in pleasure, but I take no joy from it. I keep still, letting him use me until he finds his release.

“Fuck. What you do to me…” he says, caressing my hip. “Goddamn, Zoe.”

Turning my face to the side, I rest my cheek on the metal and stare with non-seeing eyes at the dark ocean. Just like that, the rebellion is over. He squashed it even before it has started.

He wins. Again.

Chapter 17

One year later

Maxime

The wind rips through Zoe’s long hair when I steer the boat from the jetty of our family holiday home in Corsica. The place is isolated, a pretty piece of paradise. The stretch of beach is private, meaning I can fuck her wherever and whenever I like without worrying about spectators. This weekend is ours alone. No guards. No business.

She takes an elastic band from her wrist and binds the long tresses in a high ponytail. Then she shimmies out of her bikini bottoms and unties the top. The triangles fall away from her breasts. They jiggle when she climbs down the steps and stretches out on the front of the boat. I battle to tear my gaze from her naked body, only managing when I have to navigate through the dangerous rocks close to the cliffs.

I steer the boat to the small island not far off and anchor in the deeper water so we don’t get washed up with low tide. After yanking off my shirt, I adjust my hard-on and grab two glasses of champagne and a bowl of strawberries from the table under the awning. Armed with my weapons, I make my way over to where she’s tanning with her gorgeous breasts and pussy exposed to the sun.

She pushes up onto her arms when my shadow falls over her.

I hand her a glass. “Here you go, cherie.”

Squinting up at me, she smiles. Fuck. That smile. If my life should end now, I’ll die a happy man.

I stretch out on my side next to her, propping myself up on an elbow. “Congratulations, little flower.” I clink my glass to hers. “I’m proud of you.”

A shadow creeps over her smile. I know what’s going through her mind.

“You deserved to pass,” I say. “You did great.”

“Did I?”

Unable to resist, I brush my knuckles over a nipple. “You worked hard.”

“Hard work isn’t always enough.”

Taking a mouthful of champagne, I close my lips around the warm tip of her breast, bathing it in the fizzy liquid.

She gasps. “It’s cold.”

Letting the champagne dribble over her breast, I set the glass aside to test between her thighs. “Always wet for me.” Her reaction pleases me to no end.

“Maxime,” she chastises as I roll over her, making the champagne slosh over the rim of her glass onto her stomach.

I lap up the spillage. “Delicious.”

“You’re impossible,” she says with a laugh.

“Happy.” I mean it. I can’t think of a time I felt happier. I carefully push a finger into her tight heat. “Are you?”

“Yes,” she says on a sigh, throwing her head back.

“Show me.” I watch her greedily as I move my finger.

Her pupils dilate, and her blue eyes turn hazy. A soft moan falls from her lips. Leaving her glass on the side, she reaches for the elastic of my swimming trunks and pushes them over my hips. My cock jumps free, hard and aching. Always ready.

Freeing the finger I teased her with, I slide it past her lips. She curls her tongue around the tip, making my over-eager cock twitch. When I pull out, she bites down gently. My skin comes alive. Every cell in my body starts to hum. The scar tissue on my chest tingles. I catch her nape and bring her lips closer to mine as I drag a flattened palm down her belly to her sex. I claim her mouth as I rub my thumb over her clit. She goes soft in my hold, surrendering her control. I take it with the same abandonment that I took her life, tangling our tongues while I grab the root of my cock and rub the pre-cum over her clit.

“Maxime.”

The way she says my name makes me lose it. I was going to take it slow, but I slide all the way in until I hit a barrier and her back arches.

“Good?” I ask, breaking the kiss.

“Mm.”

“Show me.”

I fuck her in all earnest. Everything will never be enough. I can’t explain it. I can’t put a label on or words to it. I only know she makes me want more. She wraps her legs around my ass and slams back when I thrust. Our dance is well choreographed and perfectly timed. We’re breathing in tune. She never asked me to love her again, but the words hang in the air. It’s in the way she rolls her hips and pants as we pick up our pace. It’s in the way she holds my eyes and lets me see the desperate need burning out of control.