He gathered up the items he needed for their afternoon in the sun, rolling them into a beach towel before exiting the truck. Stopping at the end of a short wooden dock, he surveyed the placid water for any sign of Jacey.
The pond was spring fed, deep and crystal clear in the centremost part. About a quarter of an acre in size, it trickled off into the woods to eventually feed into the river a few miles away, so it wasn’t a true pond by definition, more like a fountainhead. Jacey treasured it like it spewed forth pure gold from its depths, and she treated it as just as sacred as you would holy water. Very few people even knew of its existence. Nick was grateful to be included amongst the meagre number who did, mostly because it meant he’d be spending the time with her alone.
About 75 yards away from shore sat a floating platform. A ten-by-ten square made out of cedar and floats, with cinder blocks attached to ropes as anchors to keep it stationary. It had a rolled steel ladder with curving handles mounted on one corner of it so you could easily climb from the water. A yellow beach towel was spread out on its top, a small Styrofoam cooler nearby, but no Jacey.
Then he spotted her silently watching him from the opposite side of the floating dock, just the top part of her face peeking over the edge. The water had turned her hair to the colour of ink and it was slicked back from her pretty face. Jacey rarely wore makeup, or even jewellery for that matter. She didn’t do flashy or expensive. But then why mess with perfection?
Sweat had started to bead on his skin, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the sun beating down on him or the heat of her stare. She finally moved to the ladder and climbed out of the water. His breath stalled in his chest, a familiar reaction at seeing her bare body. The black string bikini she wore left very little to the imagination, not that he needed to use his. He had vivid memories he could recall any time he wanted.
She stood in the middle of the platform, all tan sleekness and sexy wet curves, and propped her hands on her hips. “You comin’ over or are you gonna stand there and sweat all day?”
“I’m working up my nerve.” The water pumping out of the spring was around 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, and while that was far from freezing, it was still a shock to your system when the air temperature was pushing the mercury toward the top of the thermometer.
“Chicken,” she taunted from her floating perch. “And I have everything you need over here already. Beer, sunscreen, and an extra towel.”
Nick glanced down at the bundle in his hand and grinned slyly, shaking his head. “I don’t think you do.”
“Then use the boogie board to float it over.” She pointed toward his feet. A beat-up purple board was wedged in the grass beside the dock. He scooped it up, sat his stuff on top of it, and placed it in the water, giving it a little shove to send it on its way. Then he stripped his T-shirt over his head and kicked off his flip-flops, leaving them where he stood.
Bracing himself for the icy shock, Nick dove in, surfacing about halfway between the floating platform and land. He caught the boogie board with his things before it drifted off with the current. Jacey grabbed it when it got close and he quickly hoisted himself up without the aid of the ladder before she could start snooping through what he’d brought over with him. She’d find out soon enough. He took it from her hands and set it down beside the cooler.
She smiled up at him and he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her against him for a long, thorough kiss. Already the sun was warming his chilled skin again, but nothing could heat him up faster than Jacey’s kisses. Her nearness. She held nothing back, even when she’d tried in the past to put some distance between them emotionally, physically she melted for him like ice on a summer pavement. He took his time, exploring the curve of her bottom lip with his tongue, the sensitive roof of her mouth. Their breaths mingled, soft moans merged, until Nick lifted his head to stare down into her face.
Her pale green eyes were already languid with desire and they’d barely even touched each other. He supposed he daydreamed about those eyes about a hundred times a day. That mouth - red bee-stung lips, damp from his kisses. The way she tasted and sounded. He couldn’t get enough, probably never would, so it was time for some decisions to be made. Well, he’d made his, but their future together hinged on hers.
“Want to swim some more before the sun dips behind the treetops?” she asked him, but her hands were moving over his shoulders like she’d rather they stayed right where they were. He concurred.
Nick caught the string at the back of her neck and pulled then did the same to the bow in the middle of her back. She made no attempt to catch the bikini top when it slackened and slipped from her body. He gave her a little nudge backwards and she dropped down onto the big yellow beach towel.
She reclined back on her hands while Nick regarded her from above. Jacey’s breasts were the perfect size; just full enough to fill the cup of his hands, with small, pale pink nipples that tipped upwards as sweet, delicate offerings. Her smooth skin bore no tan lines, a testament to just how comfortable she was sunbathing in the buff. Strong, slim legs went on for miles.
“You’re staring again,” she said, drawing him out of his lazy appraisal of her body. When he met her eyes, she quirked an eyebrow. “What’s going on inside that handsome head of yours?”
He crouched down at her feet, catching her ankles in his hands. “It would probably scare you to know.” Sometimes it scared even him, the possessiveness she brought out in him. The craving to have her when she wasn’t around, and when she was. He’d become addicted to Jacey Marlow, and there would be no rehab.
“It might scare me, but I won’t run from it.”
“You sure about that?” He watched her face closely for any sign of wariness or hesitation, but saw none. Her breathing was calm, her gaze steady. She was telling the truth. The knowledge made his heart race inside his chest and his throat tighten.
“Yes.”
He nodded. “Lie back and close your eyes.” She readily complied, resting her arms above her head. “Keep your hands right where they are.”
Nick ran his hands up her legs then followed them with his mouth, taking his time to tease the sensitive skin at the bend of her knees. He massaged her calves until she let go a little happy sigh. Using the stubble on his jaw, he tortured the flesh on the inside of her thighs, turning it pink behind his rough ministrations. When her legs fell open in silent encouragement for him to move higher, he chastised her with a sharp nip on the tendon at her groin. She squeaked and opened one eye.
“Open your eyes again before I say you can and I’ll stop, Jacey.”
She grinned and squeezed her eyes closed.
Nick continued up her body, skipping over her pussy. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, not with the way she tasted and how she came apart under his mouth when he fucked her with his tongue and fingers. He placed kisses along her ribcage before nibbling at the tender skin on the underside of her left breast. Above her head, her hands were balled into fists. She was getting there, worked up and slightly agitated by his order. Almost where he wanted her.
When he captured a puckered nipple between his teeth she arched her back off the towel, asking for more. This time he gave, sucking the morsel between his lips, laving her with his tongue in long, slow, wet swirls. Meanwhile his fingers caressed and kneaded and plucked. Her flavour, the soft needy sounds coming from her throat, made his cock grow harder behind the cold dampness of his board shorts. He switched to her other nipple, giving it equal amounts of attention.
He glanced up at her face. Her beautiful features had slackened under the pleasure his mouth wrought. She’d bitten her bottom lip until it was plump and dark red, almost bruised. The sight was too much of a temptation to ignore. Kissing her also allowed him to put the next part of his plan into motion.
Distracting her with a deep, unhurried kiss, Nick worked his hand inside the bundle he’d brought over with him, extracting what he needed. Her arms were already stretched above her head and close to the metal railing
of the ladder. In a swift, sure motion born of several years’ worth of necessary application, he secured Jacey in place with something he was certain would grab her attention - handcuffs.
Panic rose inside of Jacey, quick as a lightning strike. She tugged and twisted on the restraints to the point of pain while swallowing back a scream of frustration. Then the anger followed, hot and brutal.
Jacey had done many, many things with Nick in the bedroom, or wherever the mood and opportunity had struck. She had very few hard limits. But the one area of kink that frightened her was bondage. It seemed ridiculous, considering the fact that she’d let Nick into every nook and cranny of her body, inside and out. And now he was exploiting that single fear, a fear she couldn’t explain to herself, much less him. All she did know was that she had nightmares about being locked inside boxes and chained to objects, unable to escape.
Nick stood up and removed the rest of his clothing while he calmly watched her struggle to free herself. Even the sight of his perfect naked body, with all of its amazing planes and ridges and breath-stealing hardness, didn’t temper the maelstrom inside of her. She glared up at him.
“Un-cuff me, Nick,” she said, her voice shaking.
He straddled her hips, effectively stopping her squirming, resting most of his weight on his heels instead of her. And oh that gorgeous cock of his jutted out from his body arrogantly, the tip smooth and ruddy, the shaft thick and veiny. Despite her anger, her mouth still watered with the desire to suck him, feel him pulse against her tongue and spill down her throat.
“Not until we’ve talked.”
“Please!”
“No.”
She looked pointedly at his cock, which was quite literally staring her in the face, and took a different approach. “You intend to waste such an impressive hard-on with conversation?”
“Sugar, seeing you in my handcuffs is enough to keep me hard for months.”
“Yeah? Well, my libido just took a nose dive.”
“Is that so?” He scooted back on her thighs and pulled the strings at her hips. Jacey groaned in frustration, knowing where he was headed and what he would find when he arrived there. Her bikini bottoms were tossed aside and then his finger was moving past the lips of her pussy, gliding smoothly through the slickness that proved her a liar.
He teased her clit in glancing strokes until desire poured through her core like warm honey, sticky and sweet. Until she writhed and clenched her teeth to trap pleading words that threatened to escape and further belie her annoyance. Until telltale warmth spread between her hipbones, a warning of a delicious orgasm about to break and sweep her away for a few blessed minutes.
Nick made it very hard to remain upset with him.
“Hmm, your mouth says one thing, but your body says another,” he said with a grin of pure devilment.
“It’s a traitor to its owner.”
He slid a long finger inside of her then a second, the next best thing to his cock. His thumb strummed her clit, robbing her of the ability to argue. All she could do was feel and succumb to the rolling wave of ecstasy that pulled her under. Her soft cries were carried away by the warm evening breeze. Nick withdrew his hand and waited while she slowly came back to herself.
“Why don’t you trust me, Jacey?” The sudden sombreness in his tone got her attention; made her chest ache and the last blissful remnants of her orgasm disappear.
“After everything we’ve done together, you think I don’t?”
“Despite the current circumstances, this isn’t about sex.”
Jacey sighed and stared up at the sky, a vibrant, shifting watercolour painting of blues and pinks and oranges as the sun began its slow slide behind the trees.
“You said that you wouldn’t run, even if I scared you. I’m pretty damn sure I’m about to scare you, thus the reason for the handcuffs. So you can’t run or hide from me. I won’t let you, not this time.” Jacey’s breathing picked up behind his tender threat, but she remained silent. Nick’s eyes softened and he leaned over her body, bracing himself on his forearms so only a few inches separated their faces, “I love you, Jacey.”
Her eyelids began to sting. She blinked to try and ward off the tears, but she was too late and they trickled from the corners of her eyes. Nick gently brushed them away with his thumbs, his gaze locked with hers.
“But you have a decision to make,” he continued. “And I think you know what it is.”
She swallowed. “Tyson.”
“To be clear, I’m not giving you an ultimatum. I’m not saying you have to pick between the two of us or completely disown him. He’s your brother and I know how much you love him. But he takes that love and loyalty for granted. You know that too, right?”
Jacey nodded.
“I can’t keep protecting you from bad choices where he’s concerned. I won’t, no matter how crazy I am about you.”
Nick shifted his hips between her thighs, nudging her pussy with the tip of his cock - a reminder of what they had together, how strong and special that connection was. Desire reawakened inside of her.
He’d said this wasn’t about sex, and that was true. But still, it played a key role in how they’d gotten to this point. Their coupling had become a bridge to better things, hopes and possibilities. It was about that person who fit you, who understood your weaknesses and didn’t try to hurt you because of them. Instead, they made you want to be a better person. They made you want to love and be loved in return, to trust and be trusted right back.
Tyson was blood, but Nick was her soul.
“I want this, Nick. Us, together, all the time. I don’t want to be someone you feel you need to hide.”
He cupped her jaw in his palm and kissed her. “It won’t be that way anymore, I promise.”
“I have something to tell you.” He drew back, watching her intently. “Today, after you let me go, I didn’t make the drop. I drove back to Tyson’s and handed him his keys. I told him I was going to be the one Marlow who broke the mould and became a law-abiding citizen of Rydelle County.”
Nick smiled so wide it creased the corners of his eyes. “That’s my girl.” He pressed up onto his hands then grabbed his board shorts, withdrawing a tiny key from a hidden pocket inside the waistband. When he unlocked the handcuffs, Jacey reached for him, dragging him back down on top of her.
In a single breathtaking thrust, he was inside of her.
Jacey wrapped her legs around his hips as Nick pushed deep, setting off little explosions of pleasure as he moved. She opened her eyes and watched shadows dance across his skin, the air still tepid and the light gilded. Beneath them, the platform drifted a bit with their motions. She could have stayed right there all night, wrapped up in Nick, the night sounds a beautiful lullaby.
She came quickly, though she shouldn’t have been surprised by it. Nick was between her thighs, in her arms, in her heart. She loved him and she told him so, whispering it into his ear as he shuddered in completion.
Finally, he was hers.
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