by Lily Harlem
Not as good a climax as yesterday. But I had to take what I could get, and what I had now was some wonderful wank fodder that would last me for months, or at least until I found another man. A suave, sophisticated guy whom Dad would approve of.
Because if Dad ever found out Dustin and I had gone for it on the bed outside the villa, and, oh my God, if he knew that afterward Dustin had licked me all over, then I would be disinherited. I was pretty damn sure my father had other hopes for my romantic future than a rough and gruff hockey player.
I jumped through my en-suite shower, washed my hair, and then pulled on a little red-and-white polka dot bikini. It had frills over the cups and around the waistband.
I had plans, spending the day sunning myself and reading through some of the reports I’d brought from the office. I figured if I had to do work, then what was better than breaking the back of it on the beach?
Wandering into the main living area, I glanced through the open doors, half expecting Dustin to be where I’d left him the night before, standing on the decking, staring out at sea.
He wasn’t, but a white Vipers t-shirt lay over the back of one of the chairs, so I figured he was up if he’d left clothes lying about.
I poured orange juice, grabbed a slice of melon from the fridge and wandered outside. The sun was scorching despite a glance at the clock telling me it wasn’t even ten o’clock.
The tide had come in high during the night and a slim line of debris, thin sticks and small pebbles, sat halfway between the villa and the shoreline. I set my drink on the table and nibbled the melon.
Splashing out at sea caught my attention. I peered closer.
Oh God, it was Dustin, it had to be. He was a distance away and swimming at quite a speed, parallel to the beach.
His head was turning, his face and then his dark hair, as his arms powered forward. A slight trail of disturbance, white froth, told me he was kicking furiously beneath the surface.
I finished my melon and dropped it onto the table. I was compelled to go down to the water’s edge, check for fins, or signs of something that would attack him.
The sand was warm so I walked quickly, hunting all the time for those lethal gray triangles that stuck out of the water. He was so far out, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Was he on some kind of suicide mission?
My stomach tensed for him. I wondered if I would bring up the melon. Why was he going farther away? Was he nuts?
I twisted my hands together, worried at my bottom lip.
He suddenly ducked beneath the water. The trail he was leaving behind just stopped.
“Shit!” I shouted, stepping into the first bit of the waves, where the salty foam bubbled around my toes.
He’d gone. That was it. Dragged under and never to be seen again. Some hideous creature had savaged him and was taking him to the dark depths to enjoy his thick muscles for its breakfast.
I could just imagine the headlines. Vipers’ Goaltender Eaten By Great White, No Remains Found. This was awful. What should I do?
The surface of the water broke about fifteen feet from where I’d last seen him. He was powering ahead, swimming fast.
He’d got away, thank goodness, from whatever was after him. Whatever had pulled him under.
He turned toward the shore.
I sent a quick prayer heavenward that he could outswim his attacker. Good job he was fit.
It seemed he could swim at great speed and, as I kept my attention peeled on the water behind him for signs of him being followed, he reached the waves breaking in front of me.
I paced left and right, hardly able to watch in case a last minute attack happened.
Finally he was in the shallows. I was relieved to see that he had on the dazzling green trunks he’d bought the day before.
“Are you all right?” I called.
“Yeah, you?”
“What was it? Did you see?”
“See what?”
“Whatever was chasing you?”
He looked confused. “There was nothing chasing me.”
“Out there.” I pointed. “You went under, came back up at one hell of a pace. Something must have scared you.”
“Nothing out there that’ll scare me, sweet cheeks.” He grinned and I knew I’d made a mistake. How stupid was I?
“I was just swimming,” he said. “No gym, no ice, I gotta do something to use up my energy.”
I was about to retort that he’d found a different way to expend his excess energy the day before, with me. But I kept my mouth shut. That was an incident never to be mentioned again.
“You really should try it,” he said. “It’s wonderful.”
“You have to be joking, it’s like death soup out there.”
He laughed. “You’re so dramatic.” He held out his hand. “Come here. Just to this bit.”
The water was around his waist when the swell of the tide ambled up his body. He was far too deep for my liking. “No way.”
“Yes way, come on. This is silly, this fear of yours.”
“Silly to you. Rational to me.”
“But there’s so much water here, why would anything be interested in a little thing like you?” He nodded at me and let his attention slip down my body. “Not like you’ve got much meat on your bones.”
I fiddled with the tassels on my bikini top and stepped back as a slightly bigger wave rushed forward. “I don’t suppose a great white really cares as long as it’s food.”
“A great white isn’t interested in you, and besides they spit people out, they think we taste like shit. They like seals for dinner, not humans.”
I frowned. I was sure that wasn’t right.
He stepped forward, lowering the water to mid-thigh. “Here then. This is really shallow.”
“But they can—”
“I know they can go in shallow water, but there aren’t any here. I would have seen them.”
“How?”
“Because I was looking, when I was out there.” He nodded behind himself. “There’s a few fish and a bit of seaweed, that’s it.” He smiled, a devil’s smile hidden in a sexy man’s face. “Come on, be brave. How do you expect to run a hockey team if you can’t step into the water a few feet?”
“I can.” I frowned.
“Come on then.”
“You’re too deep. Come shallower.”
“Ah, this is real shallow, just here.”
“But I’m shorter than you. It will be up to my waist.”
“I think you’re exaggerating, but okay.”
He took one step closer. It hardly made any difference. But even so I moved into the water until it was well over my ankles. I didn’t like to be told I couldn’t do something, especially by him.
“Keep going.” He put his hands on his hips. “So you’re right here, next to me.”
I gulped, glanced around and then moved four fast paces through the skittering waves. It was cold and little splashes bounced up as high as my thighs.
“Well done, keep going,” he said. “That’s nearly halfway.”
I held my breath, stepped deeper, blew the breath out. The sand was squidgy beneath my toes, seeping between them. I stared at the seabed, searching for predators that had sensed my arrival and couldn’t wait to get a taste of me.
There was nothing there, not even a stray bit of weed. It was just clear water.
“Don’t look down,” he said. “Look ahead, look at me.”
I did as he’d asked. Wondered what the hell I was doing facing my phobia so early in the damn morning. Where had the idea come from anyway?
The tide was over my knees now. It stung a little too, on my grazed one. When small waves headed toward the shore, the surface swelled up to my thighs.
“You’re doing so well, sweet cheeks. One more step and you’ll have done it.” He held out his hand.
My heart was racing as I took that final step, reached for his hand and found myself up to my waist in water.
It was the deepest I’d e
ver been.
“You did it.” He grinned down at me. His lashes were heavy with drops, his stubble even denser than the day before. Now it was almost as long as the hair on his head. “I’m impressed.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up from my chest. I might be in the sea, facing my phobia, but I was scared shitless. The cold was bad enough, seeping into my private places, but the thought of what was looking at me, eyeing me up as a target, was downright petrifying.
He squeezed both my hands in his and steadied me as a larger wave buffeted us.
“That will do, we should go now,” I said, glancing nervously around. Had the gush of water brought with it a sea monster?
“It’s fine. Stay for a minute.”
I gulped. I really didn’t want to.
Something hard touched my ankle, swept around it and then hit against my shin.
“Oh fuck,” I shouted. “There’s something there.” I hopped up and down.
Dustin glanced downward. “It’s probably just a small fish or something, or a bit of weed.”
“No, it’s big, and hard.” I stared at the water but I couldn’t see much, the bottom was hazy at this depth. “Fuck, there it is again.” A flash of silver and a nudge on my knee. “I think it’s got teeth.”
I leapt upward, out of the water, and climbed up Dustin’s body, clinging to his shoulders and wrapping my legs around his waist so that only my ass was touching the surface.
He laughed loudly and held me up, scooping his hand beneath my butt and his arm around my waist. “Jesus, it’s just a tiny fish. I can see it now.”
“I don’t like it. Get me out of here.” I whacked his wet shoulder. “This is your fault. You made me come into the sea.”
“And you were enjoying it until Nemo came along. Chill out. He won’t hurt you.”
“No, you chill out. Chill out and get me to shore.”
He didn’t move. “Say please.”
“What?”
“Get me to shore…please.”
I looked into his eyes, felt him brace as another wave tried to wash us away. “Please, please, take me to the shore, pretty please with sprinkles. I really, really don’t like being in the sea.”
“Well, because you were brave and did try, I’ll take you to safety like the good knight in shining armor I am.”
Chapter Eleven
Dustin pushed through the water as though it wasn’t there. I hung on to him limpet-style, and began to breathe again as the cold subsided from my ass and I saw the waves grow smaller.
But when we were out of the water completely, I became aware of how inappropriate it was that I was literally wrapped around his body and suctioned onto him worse than any octopus could.
He stopped with his hand still on my ass. “Is that better?”
“Yes, thanks.” I swallowed. Being pressed against him was not good for that once-only plan we had. His wet flesh was like rain-soaked concrete. His shoulders glistened, the seawater like morning dew. It didn’t help that I was only wearing a small bikini and that there was only the thinnest bit of fabric between my pussy and his stomach.
“You gonna let me go now?” he asked, one side of his mouth lifting in a smile. “Or are you planning on staying like this all day?”
“No, of course not.” I unhooked my ankles and slid down him.
But I didn’t step away or unlock my arms from around his neck. I couldn’t, he was holding me tight and up close against him.
His smile dropped. He shook his head a little. “I wouldn’t have let anything hurt you.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” He frowned.
“Yes, you chased down that mugger yesterday.”
He nodded. “I guess I did.” He slid his hands up my back, cupped my cheeks and threaded his fingers into the hair around my ears.
I stared at the scar on his lip. Wondered what he was going to do next. Wondered what I was going to do next. Neither of us could do what I wanted to happen. That was against our rules. We’d set them out clearly enough the evening before. We’d got each other out of our system. That box was ticked.
“I wish you’d told me,” he said with a frown.
“About what?”
“About the financial problems the Vipers have and that was my contract issue, not that you hated my guts.”
“I don’t hate your guts.” I paused. “But what would it have changed if you’d known about the team’s money, or lack of money?”
He swallowed, his nostrils flared and then he lowered his head. “In New York, outside your hotel room.” He licked his lips, breathed out. “I would have understood, and when I just couldn’t fucking stop myself from kissing you, it would have been like this.”
He closed his eyes and touched his mouth to mine, holding my head secure as he gently, slowly, eased the tip of his tongue between my lips, sought my tongue and set up a sultry dance.
I released his neck, curled my hands around his forearms and felt as if I was floating. The stroke of his tongue was dreamy, the movement of his mouth was making my knees weak. I would never have thought a guy built like an ogre could kiss with such tenderness, such delicate attention to every tiny whispering touch of his lips.
When he eventually pulled back, I gasped for breath. The same way I had when he’d ravaged me.
He was breathing a little fast too.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You can slap me now if you want.”
“I don’t want to slap you,” I managed. “And don’t apologize, just kiss me like that again.”
He smiled briefly and then did just that, capturing my lips in a kiss that was so much more than a meeting of mouths. It admitted that we couldn’t fight this desperate need for each other anymore. We’d surrendered to it. The white flag was waving even if just for the here-and-now on Honeysuckle Key. We had to be together, like two souls who’d been searching, two bodies, two halves. This was meant to be.
He spread the kiss from my mouth to my cheek, tipped my head and explored the patch of skin just below my right ear.
I shivered as desire wound through me. The way he held my face, as though he owned me, sent new darts of excitement whipping through my soul.
“I felt it the minute I saw you, sweet cheeks,” he murmured. “This attraction, this feeling of I-want-you, I-have-to-have-you, you-will-be-mine.”
“You weren’t even nice to me.” I slid my hands up his arms to his shoulders.
“Self-preservation. Who’s allowed to get the hots for their boss, huh? Who’s allowed to have visions of the woman who signs their paycheck naked, legs spread, pussy damp and breasts heaving?”
Oh God, is that what he’d been thinking in the locker room?
“It’s complicated,” I managed. “I’ll admit that.”
“Story of my life.” He extended my neck a little more and dropped honeyed kisses to my collarbone.
I ran my hand over his hair. It was sharp on the upstroke, smooth on the down.
“I joked around, teased you,” he said. “It’s worked in the past to get the girl, but not you, eh?” He untangled his fingers from my hair, stopped kissing me and traced the strap of my bikini top from where it rested on my shoulder down to the frill on the cup. “You’re a whole different kettle of fish.”
“Ick, don’t mention fish.”
He kind of smiled, but he seemed to be concentrating on the way the red dotty material covered my breasts rather than what I’d said. He dipped his finger beneath the cup and stroked my breast, not quite catching my nipple.
I inhaled deeply, wishing he’d touched me lower on my breast and caught that tight nub that was becoming greedy for attention.
“I want to adore you, all over. No rushing, just taking my time,” he said, his breath washing down on my chest. “Do all the things I’ve been thinking of doing and then some more I haven’t fantasized about yet, but know I will when we get started. I want to do it slow, so slow you’ll feel like time has stood still, and when I make you
come, it will go on and on and on, forever. It will be like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.”
Oh fuck. Had he been taking lessons from Henri? That was the kind of thing he used to say. Was it? No, this was much better, because Dustin was saying it in a way that made me feel as if I was the only woman he’d ever uttered those words to. He made me feel special, precious, as though he’d just been handed a ticket to Heaven and I was it.
“It’s breaking our rules,” I managed.
“Fuck rules. They were made to be broken.” He straightened to his full height and released me. A serious, I-mean-business expression etched over his face. “You going over my shoulder again, or are you walking?”
“Walking,” I said quickly, “I’ll walk.”
He took my hand and marched us in silence across the sand. I was wet between my legs, but I had no idea what was seawater and what was arousal.
He was going to make me come in a way that made it last forever? He’d been thinking of doing things to me. When had he thought about that? In between calling me sweet cheeks, saving me from muggers or swimming in the sea?
I didn’t care. I just wanted some of his promises and I had no doubts that he could deliver. His ego was big, but as I’d found out, that was well justified.
He stamped across the deck and stopped to rinse the sand from his feet. I followed, did the same, and quickly realized the deck bed was out for whatever he had planned. In fact, he paused to shut the patio doors and flick the lock before he tugged me into the bedroom he’d been using. I was at a near jog by that point and wondering at how he’d thought sanely enough to lock out the world.
“I thought you said slow?” I said.
“It will be, when you get on the bed.” He spun around and dragged me close. “Fucking hell, woman what have you done to me?”
“Nothing intentionally.” I rested my hands on his chest and was delighted when I felt his hard cock nudging my stomach, straining against those awful green trunks.
My bikini top slackened then slipped down. He’d unclipped it at my nape.
“I feel I missed out last time,” he said, cupping both of my breasts in his big hands. “I didn’t get properly acquainted with these puppies.”
“Puppies? I—”
