“Charlie. He’s in school at the Citadel in Charleston.”
“Following in your footsteps?”
“I’m afraid so.”
There wasn’t much of a breeze and the heat index was climbing. “You swam pretty far,” she said. “Want to paddle back with me?” she invited. When he didn’t immediately answer, she suggested, “Climb up.”
“Will it hold two?”
“Of course.”
He eased over to the side of the board, and Soleil scooted forward a bit, keeping it balanced as he got on behind her like a pro. “You’ve done this before,” she said.
“I’ve done just about everything you can do in the water.”
Soleil glanced over her shoulder at him. “Really?” she said playfully.
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
Encouraged by the hint of flirtation in his voice, she said, “Tell me more.”
“Surfing, skiing, parasailing, diving, snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding.”
Dang. She should have known he wouldn’t go there. “You should have been a SEAL.”
Jake’s chuckle was warm and something vibrated deep in her core. Something that hadn’t been rattled in quite some time.
“Never compare Army Special Forces to a frog. We’re so much better than they are. I trained to move through all types of terrain, including water, in all climates,” he said.
That explained his perfectly-honed body. He was obviously focused and disciplined, which she already knew because she’d been around her share of military personnel on assignments. But she couldn’t help imagining other types of activities where he applied that same focus and discipline . . .
“How was your night in the camper, really?” she asked
“Cramped. Hot.”
The board wobbled with a swell, so she repositioned herself, looking for the center of balance on the board with both of them on it. “You didn’t have to stay with me.”
“Of course I did.”
She shot him a look. “I can take care of myself, you know.”
He brushed a drop of sweat off her cheek. The gesture felt intimate. “I know,” he admitted. “But you don’t have to while I’m here.”
He slowly lowered his head to hers, giving her time to move away, which she had absolutely no intention of doing. His lips brushed her cheek, and then he retreated.
When she’d peeled her tongue off the roof of her mouth, she held up the paddle and said, “You drive. I’m exhausted.”
Jake stood easily, took the paddle, and got them moving. Soleil stretched out her legs, working hard to pull herself together. Gripping the edge of the board, she tipped her head up to the sky but saw Jake instead. And holy hotness, the view was amazing.
“Give our discussion last night any more thought?” he asked.
She’d thought of little else. “I enjoyed kissing you last night,” she said because apparently, she had no filter now.
He didn’t comment. Just kept paddling in an efficient manner, quickly moving them toward his property. She put her hand on his foot, then his ankle. He hesitated, and the board wobbled when he stopped paddling.
“I thought about it,” she said. “About what it would be like.”
He knelt, gripping the paddle in one hand. “Me, too,” he admitted.
Jake straddled the board, and she turned around to face him, legs crossed. He rested the paddle across the board between them.
“How do you want to handle this?” she asked.
He put his hand on her face and traced her lower lip with his thumb. “Say the word.”
Her breath caught and hung in her chest. “You know, technically, we did spend the night together,” she pointed out, “and I was naked,” she added, hoping to sway him over to the dark side where her fantasies frolicked.
Oh my God. Lick . . .
She had to bite her lip against the fantasy that word brought to life.
His grin was lopsided. “Want to share?”
“Huh?”
“Tell me what you’re thinking right now.”
She scooted closer until their knees touched. “Are you sure? I haven’t agreed to your terms, yet.”
“I haven’t agreed to yours, either,” he countered.
Maybe he needed some incentive. She leaned in, and his gaze dropped to her breasts. “What I was thinking had something to do with you licking me,” she said.
He swallowed hard. “Licking?”
She nodded, and repeated, “Me.”
He took a deep breath, which emphasized his wide shoulders and great pecs. Speaking of licking . . .
“Your turn,” she said. “What were you thinking?”
“Umm . . .” he stalled.
“Fair’s fair.” She put her hands on his knees, so he put his hands on hers. Nothing more, just stationary hands on knees, but intense sensations moved from where his hands rested to points north like heat-seeking missiles.
“I can’t,” he finally said, shaking his head.
“If you want me to agree to your terms, you have to show me you’re willing to do the same,” she said.
“Okay.” He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he said, “I was thinking about untying your top.”
She grinned. “You were?”
He nodded.
That was not gentlemanly or noble. Now they were getting somewhere.
This was fun.
“My turn. I was also thinking I’d like to touch your chest,” she said.
He picked up her hand and pressed it over his heart so she could feel the pounding under her palm, telling her how she affected him without words. She wasn’t ashamed to admit she melted a little. Knowing she had this kind of power over a man like Jake was heady stuff. The short, salt and pepper hair beneath her palm tickled and sparkled in the sunlight. She moved her hand to the left, then traced the well-defined edge of his pec from the center of his chest, lower until she’d reached his side.
“My turn,” he pointed out. “Do I get to untie your top?” he said, his voice low, intense.
She tried to respond, but her words were gone.
Yesterday, she would have said, “Hell, yeah,” but today she wanted the slower exploration he’d promised. She took his hand and pressed it over her heart, like he had hers, but his hands were much bigger and covered a lot more area. Her heart was pounding, too, and she knew he felt it. He flipped his hand over and trailed his fingers along the upper curve of her breast, between them, across the string connecting the bikini top, and lower to her stomach.
“What are we doing, Jake?” she managed.
His hand detoured to her thigh, then back to her knee. That grin that made her stomach do flip-flops reappeared.
“Considering the possibility of letting go with you.”
“Which way are you leaning?” Now that she’d spent more time with him, she couldn’t deny she was a little shaken. Jake Stanton was a lethal amount of man to handle.
“If that’s not obvious,” he said. “I must be doing something wrong.”
All her girl parts stood up and started to strip. “I suppose I’m used to a less subtle approach,” she said, letting her hand go on a trip of its own on his leg. She massaged the top of his thigh, so close to his cock, which she noted, was happy to see her.
He pushed the tip into his swim shorts. “Sorry,” he said.
“I was kind of enjoying the show,” she said. She moved her hand over his hip to his waist, then traced the waistband toward his belly button.
“Will I need a safe word?”
She put her other hand behind his neck and pulled him in. “Maybe,” she said against his lips. She brushed her mouth back and forth across his. He put up with that for about two seconds—maybe three—before he took control. If there was a masterclass in kissing, Jake Stanton would be qualified to develop the curriculum and teach it. She got up on her knees to get closer to him. The board rocked, and he clamped his hands on her hips to keep her still. The angle was perfect,
with her just a little above him. As short as she was, it was rare that she got to be on top kissing a guy, and she liked it. She liked it a lot. From the sounds Jake was making, he liked it, too. And that made her bolder.
She worked her way slowly forward until her knees were in the V his legs made draped over the board. His mouth left hers to move to her neck while his hands massaged the backs of her thighs. Soleil tipped her chin up to give him better access, not that he needed it because he was doing just fine on his own. His mouth was open and wet and so hot and moving south, but she was more interested in getting his hands closer to where she needed them. The pressure between her legs was almost painful. That’s when she noticed her knee was in just the right spot to press her thigh to his cock. His length went halfway up her leg.
“Soleil . . .”
She wiggled her hips against him, wanting more.
The board wobbled with her movements, then tipped hard right, and upended, tossing them into the water.
4
Jake held Soleil tight against his chest as they both went under, then kicked to get their heads out of the water. Soleil gasped. “Are you okay,” he asked, one arm around her waist, the other treading water.
She laughed and put both arms around his neck while her legs went around his waist. Because she was so small, keeping them afloat was no problem.
When she got control of herself, she said, “Note to self: getting sexy on a paddleboard doesn’t really work.” She wiped the water out of her eyes. “And I have impeccable balance.”
Jake laughed, too. “Mine’s not so bad either.”
“My point exactly.” She looked over her shoulder and said, “We should get the board.”
“The tide will take it in.” At the moment, he was enjoying her body wrapped around his.
“Okay, but how long can you tread water with me weighing you down?”
“You’d be amazed. I’m trained to jump into the sea from a helicopter with a hundred pounds of equipment and swim to shore five miles away, undetected. Treading water with you is a walk in the park.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? That sounds awful.”
“It’s kind of fun,” he admitted.
“Well,” she moved her fingers along his beard. “Since the board is good, and you’re good, where were we?”
“Not in the right position to do what you had in mind,” he said. But then she surprised him by loosening her hold on his neck and sliding down his body.
“How am I doing now?” she asked innocently.
Her core was so close to his cock, but another inch and her nose would be under water. He could turn over with her on his chest, but that was a harder position to maintain. Better to keep it playful while they were still considering what they both wanted.
“You are surprisingly resourceful,” he said. “And incredibly easy on the eyes.”
He got a kiss for that compliment. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re not so hard to look at either.”
Jake leaned in and kissed her. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said and kissed him, too.
He gauged the distance. They were about a quarter mile from shore. “Think you can swim back?”
Soleil didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, I can’t swim.”
He automatically gripped her tighter. “Wait, what?”
“I’m kidding. Of course I can swim back, but I’m enjoying this too much right now.”
She nuzzled his neck and Jake had to admit, holding her felt right. Getting close to Soleil would be really easy, but just when they got comfortable and maybe started to get their emotions involved, she’d be gone, on to her next job. He’d done short-term relationships. Hell, that was the only kind that worked for someone who’d done the kind of shit he had. Now that he was home, he wanted more. The bad boy inside him chose that moment to scream, “Can’t we have just one more hot fling before you settle down and get boring?”
He turned, putting her on top, floating and taking lazy strokes that would take them to shore . . . eventually.
“Or this works,” she said. She put her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his heart and, unexpectedly, something inside him shifted. The trust she gave him was humbling because he got the impression she didn’t trust easily. He got that. He’d been trained to trust no one but his team, so that ability didn’t come easily for him either.
When he felt the sandy bottom near the shore, he sat and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms still around him.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said and kissed him.
The moment seemed so natural, so right. “You’re welcome.”
He kissed her this time, easy kisses that explored more than aroused.
“I think we lost the paddle,” she said.
“It was worth it.” He kissed her again. “I’ll get you another one.”
“Good,” she said. A mischievous light filled her eyes. “I think we need more practice balancing together.”
“Is that right?”
She nodded. “I could come up with a few ways on land to work on it.”
“Sounds intriguing.” He tugged on her braid, wanting to pull the band off and watch her hair fall around her shoulders. It looked like wheat in the sun.
“You know what?” she said, tracing the line of his collarbone from one side to the other.
“What?” he asked, one hand in the water and one on her thigh.
“You’re not running from me.”
“I know,” he said. “And I feel like I should apologize for that.”
“Why should you apologize? We’ve not done anything more than kissing.”
“True,” he conceded. “But you’re sitting on another part of me that’s really hard and needy,” he pointed out.
“That’s okay,” she said, “because I’m drenching the front of your shorts.” She kissed him again. “Good thing we’re in the water,” she said softly.
“Meanwhile,” he said casually, “my ass has sunk. I’ve got so much sand in my trunks, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stand up.”
Her easy laughter made him smile. “Well, we can’t have that.”
She stood and offered him a hand. Jake stared at it. “There’s no way I can get up without embarrassing myself.”
“Should I look away then?” she asked, still laughing.
He grabbed his trunks and stood. The feel of wet sand sliding down his legs went a long way toward cooling his desire. That and the fact that Soleil was doubled over laughing. He did the only thing he could: threw her over his shoulder, holding her in place with an arm around her knees.
She squealed her surprise. He would have slapped her ass, but if he did, he’d lose his trunks. He waded out a little deeper to try and wash some of the sand off.
“Oooh, nice view,” she said because the waistband of his trunks was below his ass.
When he got in deep enough, she said, “Let me help,” and rubbed her hands over his cheeks, not helping at all, but clearly enjoying herself nonetheless.
He reached around and grabbed the back of his shorts, shaking the sand out and then pulled them up—with her hands still inside. He looked to the side. Her ass was at eye-level which worked for him. He bit her hip, then licked the spot and kissed it.
“Oh! Mmm . . .” she said, her hands massaging his ass now.
“Oh, yourself,” he mumbled, then turned and ran out of the water. Ignoring the paddleboard that had washed ashore a little way up the beach, he continued until they were across the road and in his driveway with Soleil laughing the whole way and grabbing his ass. When he reached the house, without putting her down, he turned on the outdoor shower.
The spray felt warm even though the water wasn’t heated. During the summer in Florida, the water never really got cold. He eased her off, making sure she slid over his body with maximum friction. When her feet touched the ground, her nose came to about mid-chest. He reached behind and did what he’d wanted to a second ago and tugged the band
off her braid. Carefully, he worked his fingers into her dreads, separating them until her hair streamed across her shoulders and back.
She washed the saltwater out of her hair, and all Jake could do was stare. That’s when he knew—he was all in.
Her nose ring twinkled in the sunlight, and he noticed she had a sparking gemstone in her belly button, too.
He traced the shape of a red hibiscus on her arm. “Where did you get this one?”
“Here in Florida. My mother loved hibiscus. We had all colors, but the red were my favorites.”
He nodded. “This one?” he traced another red flower with long, thin petals that rounded at the top.
“Blood lily, Saudi Arabia.”
“And this?”
She glanced over. “Red acacia. Australia.”
“The deep purple one?”
“Mexican morning glory. They’re stunning.”
“They’re stunning on you.” He kissed the flower on her arm. “This one? It’s odd looking.”
“Passion flower.” She dipped found his mouth. Her kiss was hot and needy. “Peru,” she added. She turned while still kissing him, each kiss deepening and ratcheting up his need to be deep inside her.
When his back was to the shower, she brushed the sand off him. When she reached his swim shorts, she held the waistband out and smiled. “Should you take these off? Just so we’re sure to get all the sand off,” she added.
“Not yet,” he said. “I need to say something.”
“Okay.” She ran her hands along his thighs, brushing the remaining sand away.
“About last night, I’m willing to relax the rules and . . . what was the other thing?” His cock pressed against her stomach, distracting him.
“Your need to control.”
“That. Yes,” he said. “I’m in.”
“Are you certain?”
Soleil opened her mouth on his chest, scraped his nipple with her teeth, and licked it the way he’d done her hip, then moved across to repeat the process on the other side. When she looked up at him, he had his hand in her hair. Her eyes had darkened to the color of a cloudless summer sky.
“All in,” he growled, imagining being all in another way. “What about you?”
“I’m not sure how much more of this I can take,” she said.
Brotherhood Protectors: Exposed (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Scandalous Moves Book 4) Page 4
