Gage, Ronna - Paradise Mine (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Paradise Mine

  Rae Anne Jamison and Landy Laurent have the kind of love most people envy--that is, except for Rae Anne's father, a high-powered political figure in Texas. But she and Landy ignore her father’s complaints and focus on their upcoming wedding, planning it for when Landy returns from the newly declared Operation Desert Shield.

  Lonely and depressed without him, Rae Anne clings to a preplanned vacation in tropical paradise with him in a year, but when she receives word that he is missing in action and presumed dead, all hope is shattered.

  After a few years, she gives up on finding an everlasting love and the life she had planned, and retreats to the open sea. On her sabbatical, she comes face to face with the love of her heart, who returns with less than a little happiness to see her. His eyes shine with anger, and the evidence of a festering wound he's desperately trying to hide is covered by the walls around his heart. If love endures all things, will time really heal all their wounds?

  Genre: Contemporary

  Length: 85,609 words

  PARADISE MINE

  Ronna Gage

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  PARADISE MINE

  Copyright © 2011 by Ronna Gage

  E-book ISBN: 1-61034-068-X

  First E-book Publication: January 2011

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter from Ronna Gage

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  Dear Readers,

  All the effort and time I gave to you, my fans, in the writing of this book was enjoyable. I ask only that you support me further by sharing this romance. If you received this book as a gift, share the joy and buy one for another person to enjoy. Pass it forward.

  With deep gratitude,

  Ronna Gage

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my brother, Tom. Life is an adventure; enjoy the ride, Marine.

  PARADISE MINE

  RONNA GAGE

  Copyright © 2011

  Chapter One

  Spring 1990

  Apprehensive beyond imagination, Rae Anne gazed into Landy’s dark brown eyes and shivered out of control with hopeful anticipation of the wonderful mystery of making love. Small tremors quaked throughout her being before he even laid a finger on her. What is he thinking? The background music playing at low volume added to the ambiance of the moment. His fingertips skimmed the first button of her blouse, and she jumped at the icy-cold sensation of his touch. She had anticipated something warm, a catalyst to ignite the flames of passion. Instead, she received an unexpected shock to the system. “Sorry.” She giggled to hide the suppressed embarrassment. “I’m so nervous.”

  Landy’s sweet, smiling face calmed her anxiety. “It’s all right, I understand. This is a big step for both of us.”

  She heaved forth a breath of relief. “It’s a monumental occasion, not one to be taken without careful thought and planning.”

  He took a half step back. “We can stop if you want to. There’s no rush.”

  Even with the brave front Landy had set in place, Rae Anne saw the flash of worry. Inward, down to the hidden swells of her heart, she smiled. He, too, wants our first time to be special. “No,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “I don’t want to stop.” She’d counted on this day to happen for so long, and now that it was here, she didn’t want to turn Landy off with silly schoolgirl antics. “I want to be beautiful for you, and now I’m afraid you find me to be an inept fool.”

  Landy gasped at her remark. “Rae Anne Jamison! How can you say that to me?” Loving hands roamed over her with light, assessing fingers. He inched forward. “I love you. I find you not only beautiful”—he kissed the outer rim of her ear and goose bumps broke out over her skin, spreading more intense shivers down her spine—“but crazy, sexy hot.” He explored the area between her neck and earlobes with his lips, and then moved down to her mouth. “And desirable…and if I don’t have you now”—he took a small step back, just out of her reach—“I can wait.”

  His demeanor was calmer than the turbulent emotions he failed to mask in his eyes. She stepped forward, closing the small distance between them, and lifted her hand to his face. Her index finger covered his mouth to end any further comments.

  “I love you, too. Always have, always will. I don’t want to wait anymore.” She rested her hands at his waist.

  He freed a pent-up breath, took her hands in his, and smiled at her. “Take a deep breath.”

  She did as he instructed, and the nerves in her stomach fluttered at a wild speed and her expectation that the upcoming event would change her life hit her full force to the fore front of her mind.

  “Now, relax.”

  Landy fingered the bared spot of skin just below her throat. The circular motion did strange things to her body. Goose bumps broke out over her skin, her insides turned to mush, and her forehead beaded with sweat.

  “I can see your eyes dilating.”

  Afraid of what he’d think, she closed them to hide her emotions.

  “No, don’t close them,” he almost begged.

  She popped them open and, avoiding his eyes for the time being, focused on a spot on his lips.

  His finger smoothed down to her cleavage and rested at the second button. “You know that I’m not going to hurt you, don’t you?” he whispered with softness in his voice so sweet that it made her want to cry.

  Don’t cry! Don’t cry! Don’t…Rae Anne couldn’t stop the tears from welling up, despite of her efforts. She bit her lip to calm their trembling. “I know you will never hurt me on purpose. I guess there is some amount of pain to making love.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  She nodded. “With all my heart.”

  “That is more than I imagined.”

  The statement touched her.


  Slowly, he played with the button until it came loose. She didn’t flinch, but dared a quick look into his eyes. His smiling gaze soothed her anxiety, and with desire-evoking ease, he taunted each button until it was released its buttonhole. He opened her blouse and then slipped it down her arms to rest at on the floor. Her lacy bra did little to cover her tingling breasts, but Landy’s appreciation for the flimsy material was reflected in the way his eyes took in her near nakedness.

  Rae Anne’s unrelenting stare on his face categorized the awe-inspiring emotions in his eyes. Joy, fear, happiness, desire, and at last love flashed and then went away, furthering her decision to go ahead with her plan to give herself to him. Never before had she seen so many feelings reflected in one person at one time. When his eyes met hers, they locked in a purposeful stare and her mind went blank. Unbeknownst of the action, she had reached up to touch his face. She brushed her thumb over his cheek. The tender placement of his flushed face in her palm sent a rush of affection throughout her.

  He closed his eyes, inhaled, and let it out slowly. The warmth of his breath kissed her cheek. Shaky fingers toyed with the front clasp of her bra. A small notch gave way and opened to leave her bared to his eager eyes.

  What if he doesn’t like what he sees? She wanted to look elsewhere. She shook with anticipation and dread.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.

  A weight lifted from her shoulders with his compliment. She reeled with the joy. “Really?” Her enthusiasm broke forth, making her eyes misty with more tears.

  He thumbed her breasts, and her nipples puckered under his scrutiny. “It’s amazing.”

  Goose bumps immediately coated her skin for a second time. She snuggled closer into his arms and absorbed his heat. Her apprehension grew, but she would deny neither of them for what waited on this night. She smoothed her hands over his shoulder and down to the bared skin of his strong back. His muscles jerked with the contact.

  Her smile was hidden from his view, and her exploration of his body filled her drive to take more. With her palms, she searched his soft skin to his narrow waist. His firm, rounded buttocks, still covered with denim, more than filled her hands. His strong thighs moved between her legs and up, and he applied an intimate amount of pressure on her pussy. If ever a strong aphrodisiac, the simple act of touching one’s body with love would take the top prize. The response he displayed to her caress gave her charge to seek the fuel for her energy. It helped take the edge off her jittery nerves vibrating under the edge of her skin.

  She caressed his torso, absorbing every detail from his waist to his eyes. Smooth light strokes skimmed over the curved, hairy planes of his chest. She glided her fingertips over a scar on his right pectoral muscle—a jagged mark left from his fall onto a hidden rock in the lake two years earlier. Next, her touch flickered over a thin, small line above his Adam’s apple—a nasty memento from his first shave with a new razor. The journey of her touch ended there, and her sense of vision took over. Landy’s dark brown eyes held a yearning she knew in her heart. She felt the shaking nerves in her stomach and became conscious of her shaking hands. Fisting them into tight balls, she hoped the action would steady the affliction of desire’s toll.

  Delicately, his lips grazed her cheek and then the outer lobe of her ear, which sent another cascade of chills to her toes.

  “Let’s go to the bed.”

  Landy’s suggestion, a little more than a whisper, didn’t register in her scattered mind right away, not until he started backing her in the direction of his bed. Grateful for his guidance, she didn’t fight him. If I tried to walk, I’d fall flat on my face. The backs of her knees bumped the malleable mattress. She pushed on his chest to stop his procession.

  He unfastened the button of her denim shorts, and her nervousness increased. His fingertips slipped in behind the waistband of her panties. Bone-melting need ran rampant throughout her. Don’t let him see you so uneasy. The cool air from the ceiling fan stung her heated flesh as the rough material of her shorts fell down her legs. In her black, sheer panties, she stood before him, and a strong bout of tingling nerves assailed her. She wrapped her arms around her body to gain some warmth.

  “Are you cold?” Landy asked between exploratory kisses on her neck and shoulders.

  Rae Anne shook, goose bumps on top of goose bumps broke out on her skin. “No!” Her lips trembled in spite of her answer.

  He smiled. “Liar!”

  She couldn’t describe where her shaking came from. Earlier, she had sweat in the heat of the day, and now, she shook with a coldness she’d felt in the winter and her lips trembled from the effect.

  I hope I’m not getting sick.

  “Oh, baby, come here.” Landy pulled her into his arms.

  Like a comfortable blanket of security, the massive, solid muscles wrapped around her and the soothing heat of his body generated the balm needed for her icy skin.

  “I can’t stop shaking,” she said under her breath. Rae Anne looked up into his eyes fearing what he thought of her now. “Nothing is going the way I planned it. I didn’t consider being cold. What’s wrong with me?” She choked back a sob.

  He shook his head. “Nothing. That’s what happens when you’re in love.” Landy’s avowal sounded like the most positive remark she’d ever heard spoken. His hand softly rubbed her back and created a heated bliss to her chilled bones. “I promise you won’t be cold for long. We’ll cause enough heat to keep us both warm.”

  “I hope so.” She shivered. “I wanted this to be a special day for you.”

  “It is special. And the rest will be as well, trust me.”

  Rae Anne didn’t question how Landy knew what to do. The wonderful sensation of him touching down her spine, to the supple flesh of his lips on her throat, and then the newfound, glorious, delight of his hand on the very core of her being took her innermost thoughts. His touch elevated her to a new level of ecstasy. He applied gentle pressure to her clit, and she bore down on his hand eager to satisfy that part of her begging for immediate attention. She whispered his name.

  He smiled. “Feel my touch?”

  She nodded, unable to speak.

  He toyed with the covered nub of her clit. She gasped and bucked against his hand.

  “You’re so hot. I can feel you through your panties.”

  “You have that effect on me.”

  He eased her hand down to the front of his jeans. The hard bulge between his legs shocked her in a pleasant way that she’d by no means knew before, and she sent a silent prayer to have it often.

  “You have this effect on me.”

  She looked down at his opened zipper. The head of his cock peeked out from the waistband of his white boxers. Rae Anne’s eyes widened with fascination to the size of his erection. It missed his belly button by mere inches. She smiled as she gazed upon it.

  “I hope that smile means you like what you see.”

  She giggled. The unintentional act took her by surprise, but the thought of him wearing the boxers the Marine Corps had issued him at boot camp got the better of her. She tried to concentrate on something else, only to have her gawking eyes fall on the waistband of his boxers.

  “What’s so funny?” Landy asked. “I…”

  She laughed harder. “Is that his name?”

  Landy’s forehead crinkled into a frown. “Name?”

  Rae Anne pointed at the waistband, Landy looked down, and right under his cock’s head read—L. Laurent 0637.

  His slight smile quickly broadened. “I like to call him Mini-Me.” He said pulling off his jeans.

  Rae Anne busted out in a fit of giggles before she controlled them. Calmed at last, sides hurting from the stress and laughter, she looked at him standing before her in his boxers. She slipped her hand inside. The velvet-soft skin dressing the steely rod of flesh in her hand fascinated her. During the hot nights of fondling one another, she’d felt him, usually through the rough material of his jeans, but no other words could
describe what it felt like now.

  “I think I’d like to meet him.”

  Landy smirked. “You’re in luck. He’s excited to meet you too.”

  Her eager hands stroked him. He sat on the bed beside her, but she hardly realized it until his large hands guided her to lay back.

  He smoothed his hand down her flat stomach and played with the delicate band of her panties, inching the material down her hips until the pubic hairs of her vagina became exposed. He pushed her panties past her feet. With ravenous eyes, he took in her entire person. “Think of it as your own private showing.”

  Landy eased himself off the bed and pulled off his boxers, exposing the long shaft of his dick for her. Rae Anne faced the moment with an open mind. Seeing Landy naked for the first time was an experience she planned to remember the rest of her life. She knew what to expect, had even anticipated a long shaft since the placement of the head peering out revealed as much, but in her own opinion, perfection added to the surprise.

  She pressed her lips to the skin just above his belly button. His rod twitched for attention. “Wait your turn,” she whispered to it. She crept her way little by little to its single opening. Her lips grazed the salty tip. She heard Landy moan. The sound fanned the flame a little hotter. With her tongue, she toyed with the underside at the juncture of the penis’s head and the shaft. She licked from the top to the bottom, and then back again. She didn’t dare suck on the bounding and twitching organ.

  Landy’s fingers tangled in her hair. She felt the soft mattress give under her back a mere five seconds later. When her mind stopped spinning from the sudden tumble, she realized that he was hovering over her on trembling arms, looking down at her in a primal stare of possession. Desire burned in his eyes.