by Cate Ashwood
It had been years since I’d gone after a guy I wanted with complete disregard for anything else. Most of the time, dates were arranged, or at least approved, by my manager. He insisted that if I were to become romantically involved with someone, that they “fit with my brand” as Alvin had put it.
Brody didn’t fit any of the typical boxes, but god, I wanted him.
“You surf, Brody?”
His eyes flicked between me and the waterline. “Uh, no.”
I grinned, already imagining the possibilities. “You want a lesson?”
I could read the hesitation on his face and saw the moment it transformed from uncertainty to interest. “Sure, why not?”
He tossed his towel back onto the sand, and I felt the excitement light in my belly. I couldn’t be completely, 100 percent certain Brody was gay, but I’d be willing to bet my Maserati on it. The spark of attraction between us felt a little too real to be something I’d imagined.
So even though it was the last thing I should be doing, I grabbed my board and led him over to the water’s edge.
“You ever been on a surfboard?”
“This is the first time I’ve set foot in ocean water warmer than thirty-two degrees,” he said, laughing.
“Not from California, then?”
He shook his head. “Alaska.”
The image of him trekking through the woods in the wilds of Alaska, like some sort of twink lumberjack, flooded my head. “Long way from home.”
He shrugged. “I’m visiting family in the area. My mom gave me plane tickets for my birthday.”
I cocked one eyebrow. “Birthday, huh? You legal now?”
Brody blushed, and I resisted running my thumbs over the pink-stained apples of his cheeks. “I’ve been legal for a while. Now I’m legal to drink, too.”
So, I’d been pretty close with my estimate of his age after all. “I hope your friends showed you a good time.”
“They did. I’ve been going to the pub with them for a few years now—most of ’em are older than me by a good bit, but with one pub in town and cops who changed my diapers, it’s never been an issue to have a beer with the guys after work.”
I wanted to ask him what he did for a living, but I knew he’d turn the question around on me, and if there was a chance I could remain anonymous for a little while, I was going to take it. It was a refreshing change not to have to be Beckett Alexander, movie star, and just be me for an afternoon.
“I waxed the board already this morning, so first thing you’re gonna need to learn is how to paddle. It sounds like common sense, but a lot of beginners do it wrong, and you’re not gonna have a good time if you’re battling with your board the whole day.”
Brody nodded, his eyes trained on me as I dropped to my knees in front of him. I saw the slow swallow, the way his eyes widened as I leaned forward and the sound of his exhale as I took the leg rope from behind him, fastening it firmly around his ankle.
I let my fingers linger there for a second, the warmth of his skin seeping into my palms for a moment before I pushed back onto my haunches, then stood.
“All right, you’re ready to go.”
He nodded, the movement a little delayed, like it had taken him a second to connect his brain with his head. I bit back a laugh.
We waded out and I pushed the board behind Brody until we got about waist height, and then we stopped.
“Ready?” I stepped closer and slid my hands along his sides. His skin was so warm compared to the brisk coolness of the Pacific. “Hop on and straddle it, your chest against the deck.”
He awkwardly climbed on, the board pitching to the side until I grabbed it to steady it.
“That’s it,” I told him, “Line your body up with this part here.” I pointed to the center of the deck, and Brody shifted, trying to maneuver himself to the proper spot on the board.
My voice came out lower than I’d expected, my blood rushing quicker through my veins as I watched Brody’s muscles bunch and flex as he moved.
He was beautiful, droplets of water collecting in the shallow divots above the waist of his bathing suit. It was slung low enough that if I looked hard enough I could see the shadow at the base of his spine where the cleft of his ass began. I couldn’t look away. It was as though my vision was locked on him, and it took everything in me not to touch him there.
“Beck?”
I realized I’d been staring for far too long. Awkwardly long.
I was flustered and I couldn’t figure out why. I’d never been this instantly attracted to someone before. When I’d walked up to him on the beach, I’d realized right away how gorgeous he was, but now, being this close to him, it was doing things to my body I didn’t know were even possible.
“Beck?” he repeated, turning his head to look back at me. As he did, the board tilted sideways, tossing him into the water. His limbs flailed in every direction as he tried to right himself in the chest-deep water.
When he didn’t immediately surface, I reached for him, grabbing one of his arms, and as I did, his other came up, his bent elbow connecting with a crack against my cheekbone.
Pain surged through.
“Shit,” Brody gasped as he managed to right himself. “Shit, I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s okay—”
“That rope got tangled around my legs and I couldn’t… shit.” He moved closer, the water rushing around me as he closed the distance between us, leaning forward and peering at the spot where he’d struck me. “Shit,” he repeated, under his breath this time. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”
When he reached up to smooth his thumb gently over the spot, my own hand came up automatically and I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. My initial reaction had been to pull his hand away, but the featherlight brush of the pads of his fingers sent shock waves through me.
I held him in place and watched as his pupils dilated and his breathing sped.
He was just as affected as I was.
The second that knowledge had sunk into my brain, I closed the last of the space between us and slanted my mouth over his. I kissed him deeply, just the way I’d wanted to from the first moment I’d seen him.
His mouth tasted like the salt from the ocean, but there was another flavor behind it, something so dangerously addictive that with this one kiss, I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to stop.
His other hand was at my back, his fingertips digging into my skin, and I could taste how much he wanted me. Spearing my fingers into his hair, I pulled him harder against me and angled his head, giving me better access. My tongue stroked against his, our teeth clacking together every so often, both of us so lost in the feeling of it to care much for finesse.
The hard ridge of his erection pressed against my thigh. His hips rocked with mine, the water around us making everything move in slow motion. It was maddeningly good, and so not enough. I dropped one hand, slipping my fingers beneath the waistband at the back of his shorts.
Brody rocked harder against me, the low rumble of his groan cut by the sound of kids laughing behind us. It was enough to pierce through the fog of lust saturating every cell in my body.
“We should take this inside,” I growled, the sight of his kiss-swollen lips tempting enough that I was almost willing to risk an indecency charge.
He’d be worth it.
Chapter Three
Brody
It took me more than a few seconds to fight my brain cells back into commission.
“Inside?” I said, sounding like a fucking idiot, but it took every scrap of willpower I owned not to grab Beck and haul him back into a kiss. I couldn’t pinpoint a time in my life when I’d ever been as turned on as I was in that moment. The things Beck did to me, fully clothed, should have been illegal.
Then again, considering we were technically in full view of whoever wanted to look, it probably would have been illegal if we’d taken it any further.
“Inside,” Beck repeated, grabbing the surfboard and pu
shing me forward ahead of him.
I forced my feet to move, to take one step and then another, despite the lack of blood flow to everywhere except my dick.
It felt like it took me a year to get from the water onto the beach, but as I got to the dry sand, I reached down, hopping on one foot as I tore open the Velcro band around my ankle. It fell away and Beck’s hands were on me, pulling me upright against his chest. His thumb scraped over my nipple as his mouth sucked at the side of my neck.
Shivers ran through me, little vibrations of anticipation and need all wrapped up in one. We were out of the line of sight of the public beach now, and I leaned into him, my back arching to grind my ass against his erection.
I could have dropped my shorts right there and begged him to take me. I wanted to. I was so gone with lust that getting Beck inside me was all I could think about. I reached behind me, grabbing his ass and pulling him tighter against my back as I rocked against him.
“Gotta get inside,” he growled. His hands were still moving, still clutching at my skin, and I was quickly losing the will to go fucking anywhere.
“Shit,” I hissed as his hand gripped my cock through the wet fabric of my shorts.
I held my breath, waiting for him to jack me, but he urged me forward, his hand still on my dick. “Too much sand. Inside.” He panted for what could have been the thousandth time. “Now.”
Somehow we managed to make it up the long staircase that connected the beach to the house perched on the hill. The yard sprawled in front of us, perfectly landscaped with a giant infinity pool that took up half the space, the other half a brick patio with a large structure on the other side made up of oversized beams. It was like something right out of one of those architectural magazines I’d seen at the airport.
I’d been so preoccupied gawking at the pool, I hadn’t noticed the outdoor shower tucked in below the set of stairs that descended from the upper balcony.
“This way,” he said, leading me into the private alcove and turning on the water.
It was cool enough to be refreshing, but not so cold that it did anything to quell the wave of heat that surged through me at the sensation of Beck stepping in behind me. He crowded me, turning me and pressing me against the wall, the smooth tile slick at my back.
Water cascaded over us, and Beck went to work, his hands moving roughly across my skin, mapping my body with a frantic intensity as the shower washed away the grit of the beach. Beck pushed my shorts down. They fell to my feet with a wet splattering noise, and I kicked them off to the side. His came next and within seconds I could feel his entire body, skin to naked skin, pressed against mine.
Every drop of blood in my body was rushing through my veins at a fevered pace. It thrummed through me, making my skin hum with impatience. He kissed me harder, making me moan, the sound somehow amplified by the crowded space. He groaned in reply, his hips thrusting against mine.
I could have come just like that—the wet friction of my cock against his stomach, the hard length of his erection, the bruising pressure of his mouth on mine all taking me close enough to the edge that any little thing could have sent me right over.
His skin was hotter than the California sun. I was burning up with how much I wanted him, how good it felt to have him touch me. Lust raged through me like wildfire, licking at every nerve.
I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
In fact, there was a small part of me that thought this might all be some fucked-up joke, like there were hidden cameras stashed somewhere and a middle-aged man with a microphone was going to pop out at any second and tell me I was the victim of a really messed-up reality show.
Beck was the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on.
Hands down.
There wasn’t a single inch of him that wasn’t perfectly defined, photoshopped-in-real-life perfect. Even his voice was deep and smooth—it caressed my skin every time he spoke, sending goddamn shivers through me.
And he wanted to fuck me?
When I’d gotten on that plane, I hadn’t realized the trip to California wasn’t going to be the greatest gift ever… It turned out that sex with Beck was going to be the best present I’d ever gotten.
Happy fucking birthday to me.
We’d barely made it two steps through Beck’s bedroom door before he grabbed me, pushing me up against the wall. I wrapped my arms around his biceps, flipping him around so his back was pressed against the plaster, but as I began to drop to my knees, he caught me, pulling me against him, then dropping his hands to my ass. With one swift movement, he lifted me, wrapping my legs around his waist and walking me backward.
He tossed me back on the bed so hard I bounced, and then he was on me. He held me down, his hands rough against my body as he leaned over me, taking my cock into the back of his throat in one smooth motion.
My hips bucked off the bed, and I might have shouted, but I was too overwhelmed by sensation to make much sense of anything other than the feeling of his mouth on my cock. He alternated between teasing and giving me exactly what I wanted. I arched into him as he increased the suction, his hand stroking with the perfect pressure at the tender flesh behind my balls.
Beck dragged sounds from me I’d never made before, but I couldn’t have stopped them if I’d wanted to. I was so fucking gone, riding the pleasure he was pulling from my body. It was all-consuming, and as he pushed a finger inside me I gasped, my back bowing, trying to get closer, to get him deeper.
Every synapse was overwhelmed with sensation, and yet it wasn’t enough. Not fucking close.
I was teetering on the edge, every atom of my body primed and alert. I was going to come… all I needed was a little—
And then he pulled off me, and I wanted to scream as my wet cock slapped against my stomach. Cool air rushed in and I shivered, then gasped again as he speared another finger in. He worked them in and out of me in a maddening rhythm, stroking against that spot inside that made electricity shoot through me.
I was mumbling incoherently now, gibberish pouring from my mouth, punctuated by a loud, panting whimper as he pulled his fingers from my ass and flipped me over. My face pressed against the mattress and I could barely breathe, but I couldn’t summon the energy to do anything but let Beck mold my body to exactly where he wanted me.
I was laid out and exposed, the position Beck had me in more vulnerable than I was used to.
In fact, I wasn’t much used to this at all anymore at all. Brandon hadn’t ever made me feel like this, trembling with desperation to be touched, and it had been months since we’d last seen each other.
The only hands I was used to anymore were my own.
But Beck’s were turning me to putty as he fluttered his fingertips over my ribs, his hands sliding down my sides, soothing and massaging as he moved. I was a fucking mass of nerves and need, but I was too strung out to articulate what I wanted.
The rasp of Beck’s breathing behind me became tactile as he leaned forward, and I felt the rush of air over the back of my thighs moments before I felt him licking a long stripe along the most sensitive part of me.
I heard a whimper and knew it was mine. I’d never had anyone do this to me before, and suddenly I realized how much I’d been missing. I leaned back into him, increasing the pressure, and he hummed a satisfied sound, working me open, his tongue circling, driving me insane with each second that passed. I was a puddle of sensation, completely out of control as he held me in place with a steady grip.
I was seconds away from coming, Beck’s tight grip at the base of my cock the only thing keeping me from blowing all over the sheets.
And then he was gone. All at once, he’d stopped and I was frozen in place, my hands fisted in the sheets, waiting in the middle of a fucked-out oblivion for whatever was going to happen next. I heard the crinkle of a wrapper and then my name, low and rough, from behind me, but I couldn’t force myself to move.
“You gotta tell me if you don’t want this,” Beck said.
&n
bsp; He sounded as gone as I was, and I felt the blunt head of his cock positioned at my entrance. I’d never wanted anything more in my entire life, but I couldn’t speak. So I summoned every ounce of energy left in my body, and in one quick motion, I pushed back, sliding him all the way inside.
Chapter Four
Beck
“Oh, fuck.”
My vision went dull around the edges, because holy shit, Brody was tight.
He gasped, though from pain or pleasure, I couldn’t be sure. Usually, I liked to take my time, work my cock in slowly. But there was nothing usual about Brody or the way he made me feel. I was buried deep in his willing body, and the house could have been on fire and I wouldn’t have stopped.
I pulled out and thrust forward again, hard enough to push Brody up the mattress by a few inches. Over and over I repeated the motion, pounding into him with an urgency that made me rough, careless.
This wasn’t me, but I couldn’t get enough of him. I felt completely uninhibited, like he could take whatever I needed to give him. The sounds he was making traveled straight to my cock, and far too soon I could feel my orgasm building, the heat of pleasure licking at my balls as I thrust into him.
I could already feel the need to come tugging at me, but it was too soon. I wanted to draw this out. I didn’t know how long we’d have, or if this was the one and only time I’d be able to have him like this, and so I pulled out and grabbed his arm, flipping him onto his back.
With my hands planted behind his knees, I pushed them up, opening him to me before I sank back into him.
Being face-to-face with him like this only intensified the way I felt. I could see the desperation on his face, the need to come etched into every line of his features. He was close. I could tell by the way his breathing had become ragged, like he was straining for breath almost as hard as he was straining toward orgasm. His body was pliant, his skin soaked with sweat.
