“It breaks my heart when she cries.”
She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, “Your tenderness with Julie is what I like most about you.”
“Hmm,” he said and shrugged. “I thought it was the tight leather pants.”
Amanda chuckled and slid a hand down his back, gripping his ass beneath the surface of the water. “Maybe I should reevaluate my priorities,” she murmured near his ear.
“Three minutes!” Julie announced. She was watching the countdown on her timer as though she was about to celebrate the arrival of a new millennium, which gave him the opportunity to reciprocate Amanda’s exploration. Only he slipped his fingers beneath the seat of her bikini. His hand gripped the curve of her ass and then shifted until his fingertip breached her tight back entrance.
Amanda’s mouth dropped open and she pulled away. “Naughty,” she hissed at him.
“Are you going to put me in time out?” he asked quietly, not even trying to conceal his ornery smirk.
“Your punishment shall be slow and torturous,” she promised. Her hand slid into the front of his trunks, but stopped short of touching him where he most wanted her slow, torturous touch. “But it will have to wait until after lunch.”
She didn’t need to say why. That was Julie’s naptime. And Jacob planned to exhaust the poor child with swimming and then fill her up with plenty of food so she’d sleep soundly.
“Two minutes,” Julie said, still staring down at the timer, but getting a bit squirmy in her seat.
“For as much as she protests, she doesn’t seem too upset to be in time out,” Jacob said, not feeling quite so bad about making her sit there.
“It’s the timer,” Amanda says. “If she has something to focus on, she doesn’t scream bloody murder the entire time and she knows exactly how much time she has left.”
By the time the gadget beeped, Julie had stopped sniffling and fidgeting. “Can I come swimming now?” she called from her chair.
“You’d better,” Jacob said. “Your Aunt Mander is pretty boring. All she does is float on her back.” And he was doing a piss poor job of not ogling the shiny wet globes of her cleavage peeking above the surface of the water. Her orange swimsuit could not be ignored.
Amanda sent a half-assed spray of water in his direction for his insult. “I’m relaxing,” she said.
“Watch me jump, Daddy!”
He turned just in time to catch the splash from Julie’s rather impressive cannonball directly in his face.
Amanda laughed as he wiped the water from his eyes, and then he held out his arm for Julie to hold onto as she surfaced and treaded water.
“You got him, Julie Bean!”
“That was a huge splash,” he said to Julie’s smiling face. “My turn.”
Julie swam over to Amanda as Jacob climbed out of the pool. Julie was still mostly doggie paddling, but she added a few breaststrokes to expedite her journey through the water. She took to water the same way Jacob had as a child and somehow that little connection between them made him proud.
“Are you ready for a tidal wave?” he asked as he climbed the diving board’s ladder at the deep end of the pool.
“Can I do the diving board, Daddy?” Julie asked.
“When you’re older,” he promised. He’d love to teach her to dive, but not until he got past the fear of her getting hurt. Which would likely be never.
When he was sure his two guests were out of harm’s way at the far end of the pool, he took a brisk step toward the end of the board, feeling it dip beneath his weight. At just the right instant, he used the momentum of the upward swing of the spring board to push himself into the air. He did a front summersault in midair—yeah, he was totally showing off for the ladies—and extended his body to enter the water with a quiet slosh. He surfaced to cheers and a vigorous round of applause.
“That was an awesome flip,” Julie said. “But you only made a tiny splash.”
“Guess I need more practice,” he said with a soft chuckle. He showed Julie how to dive from the side of the pool. She dove in head first, climbed the ladder, hurried around to the edge of the pool and dove again. He couldn’t believe how quickly she caught on or that she wasn’t exhausted yet.
“Maybe I should get her a diving coach,” Jacob said to Amanda.
“I think you’ve got yourself a little Olympian there,” Amanda said, still floating lazily on her back. He mostly used the pool for exercise, but was starting to think Amanda had the right idea. “Wish I had half her energy.”
“Can I do a flip this time?” Julie asked, jumping up and down in the puddle she’d made on the decking.
“You need the diving board to do that.”
She eyed the diving board without a shred of fear in her gaze.
“And if you try to climb that thing and jump off without permission, you’ll be in time out for four years,” he threatened.
“I wish I was big,” she said glumly.
And he wished she would stay this size forever.
To divert her attention from the diving board, Jacob collected pool toys from the deck box. Amanda joined their games, though she really sucked at diving for batons. She kept grabbing Julie’s ankle instead. Julie giggled every time. They had sword fights with pool noodles and contests to see who could hold their breath underwater the longest. By the time Julie said, “I’m hungry,” a couple of hours later, Jacob was running low on fuel and energy. Who would have thought a tiny little girl could completely wear out two adults?
“I’ll start the grill,” he said and pulled himself out of the pool with shaky arms.
While he got lunch cooking, Amanda started a rousing new game of Who Can Float on Her Back the Longest without Sinking. He supposed it was her version of the Quiet Game. Julie didn’t have flotation devices built into her chest yet—and thank God for that—so the game was a real challenge for her and kept her well occupied.
“Do you want a hamburger?” Jacob called from behind the grill. “Or I can cook some brats?”
“I’m not a brat,” Julie assured him. “Don’t cook me.”
Jacob grinned and shook his head. “I’m talking about a bratwurst.”
“What’s worse than a brat?” Julie looked to Amanda for direction, but Amanda was caught in a fit of giggles.
“This,” Jacob said, holding up a bratwurst for Julie to see.
“Oh, a fat hotdog,” she said and crinkled up her nose. “I don’t like those kind.”
“One hamburger for Julie,” he said. He flopped a raw patty onto the grill. It hissed satisfyingly. “Amanda?”
“Would you think I’m a pig if I asked for one of each?”
“You’ll get fat, Aunt Mander.”
“There are worse things,” Amanda said, and Jacob flopped a couple more burgers and several brats onto the grill. With all the physical activity they’d been getting, he doubted a few extra calories would hurt either of them.
“Mommy says princesses can’t be fat, so I can’t eat junk food if I want to be a princess when I grow up.”
Jacob supposed such a claim would be a good deterrent from unhealthy eating. Of course, it might instead lead to a lifelong harmful relationship with food.
“Are you sure you want to be a princess?” Amanda asked. “Sounds like a lot of rules to me.”
“I’m not sure she’s being exposed to the right kind of role models,” Jacob commented as he closed the grill lid. “Why are all the female characters in Disney movies princesses? Gives a girl a skewed perception of romance and the real world, doesn’t it?”
Jacob started when a wet hand touched the small of his back. Lost in his musings, he hadn’t heard Amanda get out of the pool. “Gives a girl something to dream about.”
“Is that what you dreamed about?” he asked. “Having some girly prince rescue you?”
“And live out my life in a castle, wearing beautiful gowns, and attending balls every night?”
“And singing!” Julie said. “All princess
es sing.”
Jacob turned to look at her. “Is that why you want to be a princess? So you can sing?”
She smiled, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “I love singing.” She stopped beside him to stare up at him worshipfully, her pruned fingers supporting her chin.
Another way she was just like him. Well, except for the wanting to be a princess thing. He cupped the back of her head and hugged her against his hip. “I think you need to be exposed to other ways girls can be singers.”
“Daddy, your singing place is too loud.” She titled her head back and cringed, as if she’d insulted him.
“My singing place is loud,” he said agreeably and glanced at Amanda for help.
“There’s opera,” Amanda said.
Jacob produced a breathless laugh. “Loudest singers on the planet. They don’t even use sound equipment.”
“What’s opera?” Julie asked.
“Singing in Italian.”
“I don’t know Italian,” Julie assured him. “Is there singing in Spanish? I like learning Spanish on Dora.”
“There’s singing in every language, baby.” He stroked her hair, trying to think up ways to expose Julie to more than singing princesses. He wished he had more time to spend with her than every other weekend.
“We could take her to the theater,” Amanda suggested. “A musical.”
The thing he liked most about that suggestion was the “we” part.
“Is there a thing with singing and swimming and hugging animals and wearing crowns?” Julie asked, touching her hair where she’d wear a gilded crown. Her imagination was obviously running wild.
Jacob tapped her nose. “Not that I know of, but you can do anything you set your mind to.”
“Tina will never forgive you if she joins a circus,” Amanda said with a laugh.
“The Little Mermaid,” Julie said, jumping up and down when the answer came to her. Yet her face fell almost right away. “But Ariel hugs fish. I don’t think I’d like to hug fish. They’re smelly.”
And they were back to Disney princesses. “This kid needs to get out,” he said to Amanda, who smiled in agreement.
Lunch started with the excited chatter of Julie’s ideas for her swimming and singing animal show—a crown would be involved, of course—but as her belly filled, her enthusiasm began to wane and soon she was nodding off in her plate. Within a few minutes, she slumped back in her chair midchew.
“Julie,” Jacob said quietly, “finish what’s in your mouth.” He didn’t want her to choke while she slept.
Eyes shooting open, she jerked upright in the chair, chewing vigorously. An instant later she was asleep again—her tiny elbow on the table supporting her tiny chin on her tiny hand. Jacob stood and scooped her into his arms. She lazily opened her eyes.
“Are you finished eating?” he asked.
She swallowed the bite in her mouth and nodded. He snuggled her against his chest, and she pressed her face into his shoulder. Her swimsuit had dried while they ate, so he didn’t bother changing her out of it. He entered the house and tucked her into her bed for a much deserved nap.
He returned to the outdoor dining table to find Amanda had deserted her lunch. He located her in the pool.
She was floating on her back in the water again, but this time she was topless.
Chapter Twelve
Amanda hid a self-satisfied grin when Jacob entered the pool with a loud splash. She figured removing her top would instantly put him in the mood, and for that, she was thankful. Watching that man wander around in nothing but swim trunks all morning had been hell on her self-control.
When he surfaced between her legs and latched on to her mound right through her bikini bottoms, Amanda’s head went under and she sucked in a mouthful of water. She flapped her arms to push her head above the surface and forced the water out of her mouth before she took a deep breath.
“You’re going to drown me,” she said, reaching out until she touched the top of his head with one hand.
“I’d rather make you come,” he said. He started towing her through the water toward the edge of the pool.
She’d rather he did that as well. Hard cement dug into her shoulders when she leaned back against the pool edge and Jacob grabbed her ass to lift her pussy to his mouth. She watched him with wide eyes as he blew hot breaths through her wet suit bottoms and then sucked water up through her seam before forcing it back down in a warm gush over her clit. She shuddered, surprised by how good a little water could make her feel.
Jacob’s tongue pressed fabric into her aching center, driving her mad with need. She wanted his tongue inside her, licking her in deep, wide arcs. She reached for him, but felt herself slipping into the water, and had to cling to the pool edge instead, giving the man free rein over everything between her legs. His fingers slid beneath her suit, touching bare skin. He stroked her sensitive lips while drawing water through her bikini bottoms and into his mouth.
She gasped when the tip of his finger slipped inside her. “Take them off,” she pleaded. “I want your tongue inside me.”
He bit into the fabric and tugged. The action did little to relieve her of her bikini bottoms, but the excitement of it had her core clenching with need.
His lips and tongue and teeth worked against her swollen flesh through the thick fabric, and the sensation drove her insane. She grabbed the strings tied into neat bows at both hips and tugged them loose. This time when he grabbed the bikini bottoms with his teeth and yanked, the fabric tore free. The small scrap of orange material floated along the surface of the water beside her.
“In a hurry?” he asked with a soft chuckle.
He had no idea. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off the wall and sank to her knees before him, her head disappearing under the water. Chlorine stung her eyes as she searched for the object she was after. She’d never been good at collecting items from the bottom of the pool, but she had a sturdy guidepost to help her find her way this time. She tugged at the bright red trunks Jacob wore until they slipped down his slim hips. His cock sprang free, rigid and proud, but she’d already run out of air, so she had to surface.
Water sprayed from her lips as she took greedy gulps of air.
“Find what you were looking for?” he asked.
She smiled her naughtiest smile and nodded before taking another deep breath and going down for a second look. Afraid she’d accidentally draw water into her lungs if she tried to suck him off, she settled for stroking his length between both hands and licking the swollen tip. When she surfaced the second time, his eyes were glazed with passion.
“I’d try to suck—”
Her words ended in a gasp of surprise when without warning he spun her around, grabbed her by the hips, and lowered her onto his cock. She reached between her legs to help him find her opening, then gasped as he struggled to enter her. The water kept washing away her natural lubrication, so he could only claim her an inch at a time. She grabbed the edge of the pool and straightened her arms to give him an anchor to push against. When he was finally buried inside her, he moved his hands from her hips to her breasts and pressed his face into the center of her back.
“I love you,” he whispered. “Amanda.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She loved him too. She knew she did. But instead of saying the words, she rocked her hips impatiently, working his cock in and out of her body as best she could.
“You’re still not going to say it?” he asked, kissing her bare shoulder. “What are you afraid of?”
“Julie waking up from her nap and catching us like this.”
“We’ll just tell her you have something in your eye.” He chuckled.
“And you’re assisting me by standing behind me and grabbing my tits?”
“I’m talented that way,” he said.
Her attempt to distract him worked. His hips began to pump, driving his cock deep inside her before withdrawing. She bent her knees, hooked her feet together behind him, and let him carry the rhy
thm. His gentle kisses along her spine intensified her pleasure, and the rhythmic squeezing of her nipples made her pussy tighten around his driving cock. She soon forgot where they were entirely. Only the building excitement of being joined with him—two bodies as one—mattered. Within moments she was spiraling out of control, her hand diving beneath the water to grab her pussy and squeeze her mound as the intensity of the waves of pleasure ripping through her demanded to be contained.
“As much as I want to come inside you . . .” Jacob murmured against her shoulder before he pulled out. She felt the warm bursts of his cum against her ass as he groaned into her hair.
Amanda’s post-orgasm daze lifted quickly when she realized what had happened. “Shit, Jacob! You weren’t wearing a condom?”
“You had to know that,” he said. “You’re the one who forced me inside you that way.”
It wasn’t a lie. She had jerked his trunks down, taken his bare cock in her hand, and pressed it inside her. She obviously hadn’t been thinking clearly.
“I pulled out in time,” he said, rubbing his still hard cock against her ass. “And being inside you felt amazing. Don’t make me regret it.”
“You’ll regret it if I get pregnant,” she said.
“I won’t,” he whispered, pressing tender kisses along her shoulder. He brushed her hair aside and continued up her throat, his mouth igniting a trail of pleasure toward her ear. “I’d be the happiest man on earth.”
What? Her brain struggled mightily with his claim. First he said he loved her and now he was thinking that making babies with her was a good idea? Was he out of his fucking mind?
“Daddy!” Julie called from inside the house. “Where are you? I had an accident in my bed.”
“I’ll be right there, princess,” he said. He adjusted his trunks to leave the pool. “Accidents happen.”
Amanda turned and slumped against the pool wall, her bare breasts concealed beneath the sparkling blue water and watched him—dripping wet and more gorgeous with every breath—enter the house. When he loved someone, this man was all in. No reservations. No fear. But was Amanda ready to plan a future with Jacob when she couldn’t imagine telling her sister that she even talked to him?
Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret #8) Page 15
