Up In Flames by Lori Foster

“I’ll take it from there.”
    “No strawberries? No coconut?”
    As she spoke, she tried to inch away from the tree, preparing to run. Adam leapt out and caught her, hauling her close to his naked chest. With a startled squeal, she almost slipped away, then laughed hilariously when Adam hooked his leg behind hers and they both fell to the ground. Rain ran from his shoulders to her breasts. He stared hungrily at one stiff nipple. “I’m sick to death of fruit,” he muttered, then drew her deep into the heat of his mouth.
    Mel’s fingers gripped his head, and she tugged until he lifted it enough to look at her. “I thought... I thought maybe you were sick of me.”
    “No!” He could see the confusion in her eyes, the vulnerability. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. “I could never get my fill of you, Mel. I want you too much.” He touched her mouth with his fingertips, then gruffly admitted, “Sometimes, when things were rough, dreaming of you like this was the only thing that got me through.”
    Even in the pouring rain, he could see her eyes fill with tears. “You don’t want all of me.”
    They were both drenched, their skin slick. He moved silkily against her. “Yeah, I do. Every damn inch of you.”
    “No.” He started to pull back, but her fingers gripped his hair and held him close. She gave him a swift, hard kiss. “You want my body, Adam, but not me, not who I am.”
    “You’re not making any sense, Mel.” But he was afraid he understood completely.
    “You don’t want my money. No, just listen!” She wrapped her slender thighs around his waist, holding him securely. “You resent who and what I am. If I even mention my money, you clam up and refuse to share yourself.”
    “Because I don’t need your damn money!”
    “Why?” she asked quietly. “Because it’s mine? If I was a bank offering a low-interest loan, you wouldn’t hesitate, would you? But my money is somehow considered tainted.”
    “Damn it, Melanie...”
    “You’re hanging onto the differences in our backgrounds, even though we’ve both changed.”
    “Don’t you see, honey? Nothing’s changed, not really. If we hadn’t landed on this damn island, you’d never have given me the time of day.”
    “Adam.” She said his name like a chastisement. “I know your life wasn’t easy, but I didn’t make it hard. In many ways, mine was difficult, too.”
    “Because of me.”
    “It doesn’t matter now. If it wasn’t for you, I would have drowned. Even if I’d made it to shore on my own, which is doubtful, the thought of being here alone terrifies me. But you’ve made it seem like an adventure. That’s the way you are, Adam. You’ve been working all your life to save your mother and Kyle, and you did save me. You can deny it all you like, but you’re still a hero. My hero. You saved me, and I owe you.”
    He hardened his heart against the plea in her eyes. When they got off the island and she was once again surrounded by her family and elite friends, she’d come to her senses. More likely than not, she’d be embarrassed over their shared intimacy, over her lack of inhibition with him.
    Just thinking about it made his blood burn, and he stared at her. “All right, so I saved you. But you can forget the resort. I already consider myself fully and adequately paid.” To emphasize his meaning, he thrust himself against her—and watched her expression crumble.
    Adam rolled to his side, letting the rain lash his face and cool his shame while Melanie scrambled to her feet.
    He heard her panting breaths over the downpour, could feel her tension. Her words were choked with tears when she shouted, “You’re a mean, miserable bastard, Adam Stone!”
    Adam flinched, but otherwise didn’t move. What could he say? That she was right? There would be no explanations, no words to appease her. How could he explain what he didn’t understand himself? He only knew he couldn’t let himself get drawn in, because eventually, she’d