Hotel Secrets Miami – Book 2 by Jessie Berks

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About the author:

Jessie is in her late twenties and describes herself as a private person. She enjoys spending time with her friends and family but when she’s working on a new book, she prefers the solitude of her home on the river. She loves kids and plans to have a family one day but for now, she’s focused on her writing.

What inspired you to write your book?

Authors are often asked what inspires them to write their books and it’s not a question that has a simple answer. I love writing and telling stories and I also love to sit and watch people that I don’t even know. If I see a couple walking down the street, I can make up an exciting story about them without any detail about their actual lives. I just let my imagination run wild and the story takes on a life of its own. If I had to give a simple answer about what inspired me to write my book it would have to be the love of not just telling a story, but of creating it.

Here is a short sample from the book:

The beach was crowded. All of the guests at the resort had begun coming out to enjoy the sunny day. The mid-morning sun was burning my skin; I could feel it through my top. I knew that no amount of sunscreen was going to protect my fair skin. As I picked through the beachgoers lying on the beach, I did my best to ignore thoughts of Calvin. It was hard to stay focused when I was surrounded by chattering, music, and kids playing.
The water was relatively empty, as most people were just setting up. I noticed one spot that was fairly clear of other people. I decided to head into the water to cool off. I didn’t want to go back and face my roommates again, or risk running into Calvin. Carefully, I unbuttoned my blouse. I still felt very anxious about wearing such a small top but I knew the water would feel so delicious against my bare skin.
I left my blouse on the sand and began walking into the water. I could feel it encircle my ankles and instantly I felt cooler and a little more relaxed. As I waded further into the water, it lapped upward at my thighs and hips. I savored the sensation of being isolated from the rest of Miami, surrounded by water. As I waded further out still, I let the water come up to my shoulders. The ends of my curls were already soaked so I dove under the water to get all of my hair wet. When I surfaced again I felt much more relaxed.
It truly was amazing how healing the water was for me. I closed my eyes briefly and heard splashing not far off and I assumed that some of the beachgoers had begun entering the water. I drifted a little further away from the splashing and took a deep breath. I went under the water again, letting it drift across my entire body. When I broke the surface I opened my eyes a little too soon. They burned from the salt and I had to blink them a few times to ease the pain.
“You okay?” Calvin asked, and I felt my heart drop straight into my stomach. He wasn’t calling from the beach. He was standing right in front of me in the water.
“Calvin,” I gasped out and backed away from him slightly. I couldn’t go out into the water much further without its going over my head.
“I hate it when the salt hits my eyes,” he added as he moved a little closer to me. “Sometimes if you can get someone to blow just lightly on it,” he suggested and began to purse his lips as if he was prepared to do just that. I turned my head away from him before he could.
“I’m out for a swim alone,” I said quietly. “I really didn’t expect you to be following me.”
“I wasn’t,” he countered and tried to meet my eyes. I avoided looking directly at him. “It’s just I saw you out here and I thought maybe I could get a straight answer out of you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I reluctantly turned back to look at him. “What are you expecting from me?”
“A chance?” he suggested as his eyes narrowed, concentrating the sky blue shade of his eyes into something much darker. “Every time I try to say a word to you, you take off in the other direction.”
“Calvin, we both know that you’re not a one-woman kind of guy,” I argued, and I shook my head.
“What do you mean by that?” he demanded, and I felt his hand come to rest on my right hip underneath the water. The moment he touched me, half of his fingers on the bare skin of my back, the other half on the thin material of my bikini bottoms, sparks flew through my veins. I bit into my bottom lip to remind myself to keep control.
“I mean, you’ve been with every girl I’ve met since I’ve been here, and I’m sure more than that,” I pointed out in a cold tone. “Do you really expect me to believe that there is something special about me? That I’m going to be the one you commit to?”
“Is that what you want?” he asked, his grip tightening slightly on my hip as he drew me closer to him. I tried to resist but the sand gave way easily beneath my feet and the water made me glide weightlessly toward him. “You want me to stand on the top of a mountain and shout that I belong to you?” he asked, his voice growing heated with passion. “I’ll do it, Becca,” he breathed. A mild wave rose up and pushed me an inch or so closer to him, so that our thighs were touching and my breasts beneath the water were grazing against his solid chest. The inadvertent caress made me shiver.
“But will you mean it?” I asked, and felt heat rise in my cheeks as my voice trembled slightly. “I came here to make a better life for myself, Calvin, not to be distracted by -”
“You can’t deny me forever,” he growled, and the roughness of his voice sent a wave of desire through me that was enhanced by his lips grazing mine. My eyes fell shut as the tip of his tongue parted my slightly stiffened lips and eagerly tasted what he was seeking. His hand slid from my hip across my lower back so that my body was flattened against his. His other hand slid up along my right arm until it was curved comfortably at the back of my neck. The moist strokes of his fingertips along the slope of my neck inspired me to give in to the kiss. The powerful strokes of his tongue, the hungry pressure of his lips, and the pounding of his heartbeat against my chest made me certain that he was as lost in desire as I was.
He didn’t dare to let me break the kiss. When his lips left mine it was only for a split second, just long enough for his tongue to sweep against mine before he was kissing me again. I could feel every sinewy detail of his body shifting against mine. The sensation was made even more seductive by the lap and flow of the water around our nearly naked bodies.
His hand on my lower back began to roam lower and he massaged the curve of my bottom slowly, just enough to make my hips buck up against his. I could feel his steel rod twitching against me through the thin material of our swimsuits. He had complete power over me, not because he held me so close, but because the allure of his presence was enough to make me beg him for his attention.
His fingertip slid along the crotch of my bikini bottoms and evoked a startled gasp from me amidst his still-insistent kiss. He broke the kiss and looked directly into my eyes, as if he was daring me to stop him. At the same time, that fingertip was tracing sultry circles up and down along that thin strip of material. The desire that erupted through me was more intoxicating than any wine.
I closed my eyes as I was flooded with a deep need for him to touch me directly. My mind was filled with the memories of his tongue seeking to release pleasure from deep within me. With my eyes still closed I felt his lips return to mine, eagerly drawing me into a long, slow kiss. Just as our lips broke apart he slipped his finger beneath the material he had been massaging. I felt the warmth of his bare skin against my already throbbing nub and had to wrap my arms around his shoulders to keep from slipping under the water. He wrapped his arm around my back, cradling me as he continued to lightly caress.
“Calvin,” I groaned and forced my eyes to open. “Oh, that feels so good,” I whispered and pressed my lips against his water-speckled shoulder.
“Mmhm,” he exhaled beside my ear, his lips burrowing through my dampened hair to playfully tease at my earlobe. He suckled it between his lips and I felt a new level of pleasure achieved. As I trailed my tongue along the slope of his neck, he allowed his finger to glide inside me. I was surprised by the sudden pressure of it and then the burst of excitement that its presence released through me.
“We shouldn’t be doing this here,” I whispered against his skin, before kissing and suckling it heavily.
“No one can see,” he assured me and continued to gently slide his finger deeper inside me. His thumb strummed my already awakened button and my legs grew even weaker. I was hanging off his shoulders, my body tilted away from his. He must have noticed the exposure of my breasts because he began to kiss down along my bare chest. The mixture of the salt water and the strokes of his tongue were beyond enticing. I found myself tilting further, offering my barely covered breasts to him.
He suddenly withdrew his finger and grasped me firmly by my hips. He eased me higher in the water until he could drape my legs over his hips. I felt the pressure of remaining upright released in the same moment that I felt the length of him, still covered by his swim-shorts, gliding along my highly sensitive opening.
“Calvin, stop,” I gasped out as he pressed a little harder and seemed to be struggling to resist taking me right there in the water. He drew a deep shuddering breath and pressed his lips to mine once more. The kiss silenced any hesitation I had felt but my heart was racing not just with desire, but with fear of everything that the people on shore might be seeing or assuming. It was a little thrilling and a little mortifying.
“I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to,” he promised as he broke the kiss. Then, holding my eyes with his own heated gaze, he grasped the tangle of wet and drooping curls at the back of my head. He used them to very gently guide me into lying back further in the water. Once I was at the angle he desired, he began kissing down along the side of my neck. I could feel his solidness beneath his swim-shorts; his shaft was steadily pressing against me. With my legs spread over his hips I had no way to guard against him, not that I wanted to – the sensation of his subtle rubbing against me was at once relaxing and stimulating.
He let out a ragged moan as he felt my legs clench around him. I was already drinking down heavier breaths as the stroke of his finger returning inside me was launching me into a frenzy of pleasure. When I felt his lips graze my nipple over the cup of my bikini, I whimpered. He looked up into my eyes at the sound and the passion there made me want to invite him to continue.
“Come with me,” he whispered as he continued to hold my gaze. He was watching my eyes flicker and squint as he toyed with me beneath the water.
“Anywhere,” I breathed.
This was all he needed to hear before he swept me up in his arms. I laid my head against the crook of his shoulder and he carried me out of the water. I didn’t even notice the other people on the beach. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I also didn’t care. The aching inside of me was demanding release in a way that I knew only Calvin could offer it.
“No one will come in here,” he said as he reached a small shelter that was used to store the beach umbrellas and chairs in the evenings. It was shady, but still open to the salty warm air. He set me down in the sand and grabbed a few of the cushions that were left behind. He spread them out on the sand-covered wooden floor of the shelter. I stood awkwardly near the door, still wanting him, but beginning to question myself.
“Come here,” he requested and extended his hand to me. I looked at his beautiful hand, rough, but warm and silky in certain spots. I was sure that I wanted it touching me but I was hesitant to take it. I remembered what Amber had said about how I’d been acting since I arrived in Miami.
“Becca, come here,” he repeated, and continued to hold his hand out to me. “I want you to make the choice. I’m not going to throw you down and take you,” he growled out as his eyes held mine. “I’m not going to seduce you. You come to me, and you tell me that you want me, only me,” he added as if that was important to him.
My stomach knotted at his words. There was something so authoritative in his tone. I recalled him telling me that he wasn’t willing to share me. I knew that the moment I took his hand there would be no turning back. I would be drawing him into my life, into my heart, inviting him to break it if he so chose.
“Can’t you do that?” he asked in a whisper as he narrowed his eyes. “Can’t you choose me?”
His words hung in the air before me, and I drew a deep breath.
“Never mind,” he finally said and began to lower his hand. I reached out and grabbed it with both of mine. I drew his hand to my lips and kissed each fingertip before I looked up and into his eyes.
The same hand I had been kissing a moment before wrapped around the side of my neck and drew my lips to his for a slow sultry kiss. I laid my hands along his hips and felt the tension in the muscles there. He was still straining against the fabric of his swim-shorts. His free hand was wandering across the cups of my bikini top. He circled his palm against my already pert nipples and then gently squeezed each one. The sharp desire that flooded me made my fingertips slip beneath the hem of his swim-shorts. I didn’t even realize my intentions until I felt his naked rod against my palms. His kiss deepened and he groaned through it as I began slowly stroking him. His lips left mine and I gasped for a deep breath as my entire body was engaged in an urgent need for him. His teeth found the edge of one of the cups of my bikini and tore it away from the globe hidden beneath. I felt the heat of the air and then the heat of his mouth as he took my nipple into his mouth.
“Calvin, are you sure no one will hear?” I asked just before my voice disintegrated into a heavy moan in response to his suckling. He pulled the other cup of my bikini free and began circling and toying with that nipple as he continued to tease the other with his mouth.
All of the desire I felt was passed on to him with the attention of my stroking hands. I could feel him growing more solid with every touch. He reached down and started to tug at my bikini bottoms. They kept rolling and bunching in a way he didn’t seem to like.
“No one is going to hear,” he assured me when he finally drew away from my breast. He stared with hooded eyes at me and I knew that he wouldn’t care if the whole world heard. “Lay down,” he murmured as he gently guided my hands away from him. I wondered for a split second if I had done something wrong.
As I spread out across the cushions I could feel his eyes gazing hungrily at me. My bare breasts were pushed up slightly by the bikini top and my bikini bottoms were tangled around my hips. He knelt down between my legs and my heart skipped a beat. He kissed the top of my bent knee and then down along my thigh. I closed my eyes and felt his hand wandering across my breasts, kneading and softly stroking. Despite the urgency I knew he had to be feeling, because I felt it too, he was taking the time to be very gentle.
I was so distracted by the stimulating attention to my breasts that I was shocked when I felt his lips coast along the strip of my bikini bottoms.
“Calvin,” I breathed. “I don’t know if I can be quiet.”
“You better not be,” he murmured, before one of his fingers hooked the strip and pulled it aside. I suddenly felt his breath. I was already throbbing but when the tip of his tongue grazed my nub, I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. Still his hands played at my breasts, but I noticed he was beginning to lightly pinch and roll my nipples between his fingers. It made me groan with pleasure and my hips rose up to meet his mouth. As soon as he tasted me he began thrusting inside me with rigid sharp movements. I was surprised by the bolt of pleasure that each thrust provided.
“Calvin, please,” I exhaled and sunk my hands into his hair. My hips were beginning to buck rather wildly up into his mouth. It was a little mortifying but it felt so good to demand his attention, to guide it with the shift and request of my hips. “Oh, please don’t stop,” I heard myself beg as he stroked his tongue up from my opening to my nub and back down again before thrusting inside me once more.
The pleasure built in me so powerfully and suddenly that I spilled across his tongue without even trying to resist. I heard him moan as he was bathed in my juices. His hand closed around one of my breasts and rubbed sensually at my nipple, prolonging the pleasure I was experiencing as he continued to lap lightly at my opening.
“Becca,” he breathed as he gazed up at me, my hands still tangled in his hair. “I need you right now.”
I nodded quickly and he didn’t wait for another invitation; he slid his swim-shorts down along his thighs and in the next moment he was poised at my entrance. I could feel the pulsation of him as he lightly rocked there, teasing my opening as he looked into my eyes.
“I choose you, Becca, remember that. I would choose you a thousand times over,” he muttered as with one powerful stroke he entered me. I felt my hips rise instantly and my head tipped back as a deep cry of pleasure burst past my lips. It was followed by more as he continued with full, long strokes. His hands guided my hips for a moment but I didn’t need to be instructed; I was meeting his thrusts and asking him for more with the groans escaping me.
He leaned forward so he could catch my lips with his own and the sensation of him on top of me was lovely. I closed my eyes as he kissed me; I felt his body as it brushed against mine. I felt the ache forming deep within me. I stroked his chest, his lower back, even grasped the curve of his cheeks to drive him deeper within me which inspired a growl of approval between our kisses.
When I began to cry out more sharply he must have sensed that I was getting close because he quickened his pace and slid his hands beneath my hips. He lifted me slightly from the cushions as he rose up on his knees. I looked up at him and he met my eyes before he began thrusting swiftly and powerfully. He continued to gaze down at me, watching my expressions as I felt the beginnings of the pinnacle of my pleasure spreading through me.
“Oh, Becca, I’m there,” he gasped out and I knew from the shudder that tore through his body and the way he abruptly closed his eyes that he was lost in his own climax. Just the sight of this, hearing him speak my name, and the urgency of his final strokes sent me right over the edge and our cries of pleasure mingled together as our bodies released in the same moment. He collapsed on top of me and I cradled him close to me. I didn’t want to feel his skin leave mine, I didn’t want the subtle ache that was still inside me to ever end. His lips traveled across the bridge of my nose, down along my cheeks, and lightly offered kisses to my half-parted mouth.
“That was amazing,” I whispered as he sprawled out beside me and pulled me over to lay my head on his chest. I could hear how fast his heart was beating. Listening to the sound of it felt so intimate to me, as if I could know him just by its rhythm.
“I meant it, Becca,” he said quietly. “I want to be with only you. I don’t know what I have to do to prove that to you.”
I stole a glance up at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes, but it was still difficult for me to accept. Would I be just another girl he discarded?
“I want to be with you too, Calvin,” I admitted, though there was a touch of reluctance in my voice.
“But you still don’t trust me?” he questioned as he looked into my eyes and stroked his hand through my still-damp hair.
“It just seems so sudden,” I attempted to explain, though I knew my reasoning fell flat from the hurt that flickered across his features. “It’s wonderful,” I added swiftly. “But I just don’t want to make a mistake. It isn’t just me that I have to think about.”
“Right,” he nodded and clenched his jaw. “Until then you can just play with me when you please.”
“Wait a minute,” I said as I sat up. “You came after me!” I reminded him. Feeling abruptly self-conscious, I fixed my bikini while he was glaring at me.
“Because you aren’t willing to admit to what you really feel, Becca,” he said with exasperation. “Well, I am. I’m not going to let the best thing that’s ever happened to me just get away because you’re too afraid to look me in the eyes and tell me you feel the same way.”
“I’m not afraid,” I said boldly and looked him directly in the eyes.
“Then say it,” he requested as he reached out and curved his hand around the rise of my cheek. “Say it to me now. Because anything else you say will be a lie and we both know it. Any excuse you make up, any denial you can think of, it’s just a lie. I see it in your eyes; I hear it when you’re begging -”
“Calvin,” I said sharply and looked away from him. I was wild when I was with him. I wanted more of him, even as we were arguing. It was a little frightening how badly I wanted to be with him.
“So say it,” he invited again and met my gaze intently. “I want to be with only you, Becca,” he continued. “Now what do you have to say to me?’
“I have to go,” I said and stood up from the cushions. The anger that flashed through his eyes made me grimace as I felt as if I deserved it.
“I’m not going to wait forever,” he said as he stood up from the cushions as well. “You play these games, Becca, as if I don’t have a heart that can be broken too.”
He pulled on his swim-shorts and stalked out of the shelter, leaving behind a cloud of brooding. I fought the urge to chase after him. He was right, I was being cruel – but I needed to be, not just for my sake but for the sake of those who were depending on me.