by Marie Carnay
He let her go and she leaned against the rocks. Her lip quivered and Blake dove in, kissing the tremor away before she could tell him to stop. To slow down. Anything.
If she couldn’t admit what they had—a connection that ran as deep as the current off the shore and as high as the waves on the best surf morning—then he’d drag it out of her. One orgasm at a time.
* * *
SUMMER
His hands tore up her sides and Summer gasped into his lips. Oh my God. It’d been one thing when they’d all gotten carried away and ended up in bed.
But here? Out on the sand with the bright midday sun? The waves crashed a few steps away. The sand buried her feet in hot grit. Midnight Cove wrapped around them like a rocky cocoon.
Blake pressed her into the rock, chest against hers, lips insistent. Needy. He swiped his tongue across her lips, forcing them open. Diving inside, he swirled his tongue, flicking against her own, commanding her to surrender. To open.
With a dangerous grin, Blake ran his hands up Summer’s dress, slinking the soft cotton up her sides until it pooled around her waist. He grabbed her naked thighs—rough and tight—plumping her flesh as he ground his erection against her mound. Damn.
He’d never been so raw—so intense and primal and overpowering. Summer’s lips fell open and she let out a gasp as Blake’s hard shaft parted her folds with every rub.
Up and down he rocked against her and her muscles clenched with need. Pinning her to the rock in the Cove might be reckless—terrible, even—but in the best way. Screw the danger. Summer wasn’t stopping.
Every buck of his hips and her panties grew wetter. Her need edged higher. Her discretion crumbled. A moan tore up her throat, she tossed her head back and forth, and it took all her control not to cry out.
“Blake, please.” The words came out in a hiss through her teeth. “You’re driving me crazy.”
He kissed her ear and ground against her. “Good.” With a fast jerk, he grabbed the straps of her dress and her bra and slid them down her arms. His lips followed, snaking down her cheek and neck, nudging aside the cotton fabric to kiss the tops of her breasts.
“God damn, you’re so beautiful. Sexy.” He groaned and yanked harder. Her breasts bounced free of her bra and her nipples pebbled in the ocean air.
“Your tits are perfect.” He dove in, licking and sucking as much of her breast into his mouth as he could, covering her areola with his lips and flicking his tongue back and forth. Pinching her other nipple, he teased and twisted, ratcheting up the lust and desire deep in Summer’s core. Damn.
Summer tore at his jeans, trying to yank the buttons free, but Blake grabbed her hand and held her still. “No. Not yet.”
He slipped down her body, hands and lips leaving a trail of heat until he reached her mound. “Hold up your dress.”
Grabbing the fabric and yanking it high, Summer obeyed, watching with wide eyes as Blake kneeled in the sand. He shoved her panties aside and—Oh my God.
He licked her in a slow trail, lapping in broad strokes across her swollen lips. She bucked into him, uncontrollable urges driving her forward. Blake groaned and pushed her legs apart, parting her folds and exposing everything.
Blake ran his tongue up her soaked slit, grazing her clit and shooting stars behind her eyes. He was right. No one but Devin and Blake made her feel like this. Made her reckless and desperate. Wild and uncontrolled. Only them.
She moaned and rolled her hips against his face. “Don’t stop.”
He answered with a flick of her clit, rolling it around his tongue, nudging it back and forth inside its little hood. Ecstasy built inside Summer—stronger and more intense with every lap of his tongue. She’d never been so high. So plump and juicy and ready to overflow.
Without warning, he sank two fingers inside her heat and she exploded, crying out in a gush of release. Her orgasm rocked her, sending a cascading wave of trembles through her body as Blake lapped at her clit and pushed her into momentary oblivion.
Waves of greens and blues and purples flooded her vision—a world of paint and wonder behind her eyelids. A completed canvas. Right there. Summer gasped and Blake relinquished his hold.
She sunk to her knees in relief, unable to stand or bear her own weight. Resting her head on his thigh, she took heady gulps of air as the tremors subsided. Holy shit.
Summer reached up, fingers sliding over his jeans to stroke his cock. It strained against his jeans—rock hard and ready.
Blake hissed and grabbed her wrist. “You can’t—I can’t—”
“What?”
“Summer, please.” The words came out through Blake’s clenched jaw and Summer glanced up with a smile.
“Please, what?” She eased up onto her knees and reached for his button. “You can’t think I’d leave you like that. Not after—”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
She stood up on shaky legs. “It’s not about payback.” She grabbed his face and dragged him forward for an open-mouthed kiss. His lips still tasted like her own arousal and Summer groaned. More. She wanted more.
Letting his face go, she reached between them. She yanked open his jeans, pulled the zipper down, and his cock sprang free. Yes. Hot and velvet soft, she stroked his shaft until he groaned against her lips.
Blake broke their kiss. “I don’t have anything.”
Summer raised an eyebrow. “I’m on the pill.”
“What are you saying?”
She stroked him harder. “I want you to fuck me.”
His nostrils flared and his chest swelled. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Turn around.”
She let him go and spun in the sand until her breasts pressed against the stone. As Summer turned her head, Blake surged forward, his dick sliding into the crease of her ass. Yes. Please.
His hand palmed the rock beside her face and Summer was trapped. Dress pooled around her waist. Panties shoved to the side. Boobs smashed against rock. Her heart beat a mile a minute and she opened her mouth to pant.
Just do it. Fuck me. With his free hand, Blake traced circles up her inner thigh until he found her slick channel. Slipping two fingers inside, he pumped until she shoved her ass back against him. I need you.
He crushed against her, lips hot and wet on her bare shoulder as he pulled out and smeared her entrance in her own juices.
On a grunt, he slammed into her, filling her in a single thrust. The grooves of the rock rubbed against her nipples and she cried out as he pumped, slamming her into the stone. She moaned out a command. “Harder.”
With a groan, he obliged, pistoning his hips so fast her thighs shook. Another orgasm built from the remains of the last, deeper and more intense than before. Mmm. Yes. She moaned again as the sound of laughter and car doors filtered into her ears. Blake went still, his cock still inside her as the noises grew louder.
“You got everything?”
“Yeah. Hurry up. The surf looks great.” Coolers hit the pavement and rolled along as Blake held a finger to his lips.
Another car door opened and shut and Blake pulled back until only his head remained inside. With soft, short bursts, he toyed with her entrance, delaying her gratification. Driving her crazy.
As laughter echoed off the rocks, he thrust himself home. Oh! A moan slipped from her lips and before she could react, Blake wrapped his hand around her mouth.
With his fingers held firmly against her cheek, he thrust again, a slow in and out of her swollen core. Oh my God. Summer’s eyes rolled back and as Blake thrust again, she gave in. To the danger and risk—the forbidden act of sex in the open. People steps away.
“Hey! Let’s head down there—the surf’s higher toward the lighthouse.”
She could hear them so near—beachgoers unpacking and tramping down the steps, dragging surfboards and coolers through the sand and splashing into the water. All while Blake fucked her in slow, measured paces with his hand covering her mouth.
At last the noises faded and Blake picked up the pace, thrusting harder and resting his head on her shoulder. She moaned into his hand, tiny little mewls of desire she couldn’t hold back. Oh, how she wanted to come! In answer to her wish, his other hand snaked down in front of her, shoving past her panties to stroke her clit.
Over and over he worked her little nub as he fucked her from behind and she came again, biting her own cheek to keep from screaming. Her muscles clenched around Blake’s cock and he came, spurting his hot seed deep inside her.
They collapsed against the rock, sucking in silent breaths until at last Blake slipped out. He cleaned himself off before turning to Summer. His hands slipped up her thighs, straightening her panties. He tugged her bra and dress back into place and spun her around.
“You’re incredible.”
Summer grinned. “I’m inspired. Take me shopping. I need supplies.”
CHAPTER NINE
SUMMER
PAINT SPLATTERED ACROSS the canvas in a wild arc. Red mixing with blue. Green swooping up from down below. White thrown in for good measure.
Summer wiped a glob of ochre off her cheek and grabbed another palate. God, to be in the zone. Alive and vibrant and humming. Ten feet tall with magic in her fingers and an endless sea churning in her head.
It wasn’t just the oh hell, yes sex. On the beach? Against the rocks? With surfers ten feet away? Summer’d come so hard she’d almost cried.
Instead of tears, all the pent up emotions—everything she’d buried and covered in a million layers of primer and acrylic—exploded inside her mind.
She had to paint. To get it all out and onto the canvas before she suffocated. Before it all faded and she’d be right back in New York. Barren and empty with nothing to paint but the gray walls of her apartment and the dirty streets below.
Blake! He’d turned everything upside down and inside out. It didn’t matter that they’d barely talked. That look in his eyes—the feral I-could-eat-you claim—it turned her to jelly. Summer dipped her brush in the water and swished it around.
Green. It needs more green.
She blotted the bristles on a paper towel and dipped the brush in a well of dark hunter green. Perfect.
She dotted the lower right edge of the painting—trees and bushes and hunger. All right there pouring from her hands into art. God, she hadn’t done this in years. Not since—
“What the hell?”
The paint brush slipped out of Summer’s hand and clattered on the floor. “Shit. Devin, you scared me.”
Summer bent to pick it up and grabbed the roll of paper towels. She blotted up the paint as he walked up.
“What are you doing in here?”
Summer stood up. “Hello to you, too. Blake said I could use the space.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
Summer frowned. “Is there some problem?”
Devin looked around at the drop cloths and paint brushes and canvases set up against the wall. “Have you seen Ivy? The inspector? Brad was supposed to be up here, checking the place out.”
Summer stiffened. “What for?”
“The bar permit. It was supposed to be approved already.”
“Ivy said it was put on hold.”
Devin’s eyes shot up. “When’d you talk to Ivy?”
“This morning. At the spa. She was coming in when I was leaving.”
“What else did she say?”
Summer snorted. The last thing she wanted was to rehash that conversation. Not now when she was in the groove. So close to finishing a painting. The fastest she’d worked since she’d been in college. “It doesn’t matter.”
Devin stalked forward. “It does matter.”
Summer stepped back. “Not right now. Just call her. Figure out what’s going on. I’ve got to get back to this—”
Devin grabbed her wrist. “You don’t have to get back to anything. This is my bar, my house, and I need to know what’s going on.”
“Let go of me! Blake said I could be here!”
Devin’s eyes flashed. “What’s going on between you and Blake?”
“What do you mean?” She tugged on her wrist, but Devin held it fast.
He inched forward and she could see the flecks of green in his brown eyes. “Have you two been seeing each other? Behind my back?”
Color rose up Summer’s cheeks and she broke their stare. “I can be with Blake whenever I want to. I don’t need your permission.”
Devin dropped her arm. “Damn it, Summer.”
He turned away from her and tramped over the drop cloth to her painting. His head swiveled as he took it all in. The shores of Midnight Cove. The ocean in the middle of a storm. The tiny boat tossed back and forth.
His breath came out in a loud rush. “You painted all this today?”
“In the last couple of hours, yeah.”
“Wow…Summer…It’s breathtaking.”
She bit her lip. “Thanks.”
“Sorry I snapped at you.”
“It’s okay. Sorry I’m painting in your bar.”
He nodded and ran his hand through his hair. The dark strands stuck up in all directions and he turned back to her.
“It’s okay. It’s more than okay. It’s great. I haven’t seen you paint in years.” He glanced at the floor and nudged the drop cloth with his foot. “I forgot what a mess you made.”
Summer winced. “Sorry?” The last thing she wanted was to hurt Devin’s chances with the place. The space was spectacular. Bright and airy with tons of natural light. A kitchenette tucked into one corner. Plenty of wall space. “So you’re going to rip everything out? Build a bar?”
“Yeah. We’ve got to do something with it.”
“And you’re working with Ivy?”
Devin nodded.
Summer exhaled. Now or never. “She said you two used to date. What happened?”
Devin’s jaw tensed. “She told you that?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“What else did she say?”
“Not a whole lot. Just that I should stop sticking my nose in. Messing everything up.”
Devin let out a curse and shook his head. “She’s wrong.”
“Is she? You seemed awfully mad just now.”
Instead of answering, Devin turned back to the painting. Silent. Brooding. He crossed his arms and his t-shirt stretched over his back. His foot tapped up and down on the drop cloth and every few seconds his jaw would tick.
Shit. If she’d known he’d freak out, she’d never have set up in the space. Blake had convinced her it was fine, but…Devin didn’t think so. One look at him and it was obvious. He held back a whole mountain of anger.
“It’s okay, Dev. I can pack up.” Summer crouched and grabbed an open tube of paint. “I’ll just lean the canvas on the wall to dry. Everything else I can take back to my room at the Inn. I’ll just—”
“Stop.”
She paused, cap halfway on the tube. “What?”
“I said, stop.” He turned to her and before she could ask again, he was hauling her up by the arms and digging his fingers into her bare skin.
“I don’t—”
“Neither do I.” His lips slammed into hers and his hands tugged her close. Oh. Ohhh. Her breasts mashed into his chest and as he let her arms go, he wrapped himself around her. She was stuck in his grip. Powerless to do anything but tremble.
First Blake, now Devin. Summer’s heart had whiplash. She didn’t know whether to push Devin away or relax into his arms. Would Blake be mad? Did he want her all to himself?
She didn’t know what Blake wanted. What she wanted. Or Devin. Was she just a trip down memory lane for him? A weekend fling?
She pushed against his chest until he loosened his grip. “Why’d you break up with Ivy?”
He released her. “What does that matter?”
“I want to know.”
Devin stepped back and pinched the back of his neck. His arm bulged and flexed as he kneaded his muscles. “We didn’t wo
rk out. That’s all.”
“Why not?”
Devin huffed in irritation. “This is ridiculous. I’m not talking about Ivy.”
“Please, Devin.” Summer stepped toward him. She knew every question pushed him out of his comfort zone. Talk about feelings? Devin Rogers? No way. But she needed to know.
He glanced up. “Tell me why it’s so important.”
Summer frowned. “It just is.”
“That’s a bullshit answer.”
“Better than no answer at all.”
He crossed his arms and locked his knees. The Devin cold shoulder.
After a minute of stony indifference, Summer caved. It came out in a rush. “Because she’s everything I’m not. She’s blonde and gorgeous with legs for days and a bikini-ready body. And she’s here. If she’s not enough, what hope do I have?” All the insecurities and doubt tumbled out of her mouth and Summer turned around before Devin could catch the quiver in her lip. No way was Ivy McClellan making her cry.
As she sucked in a breath, Devin’s sturdy hands wrapped around her arms. “Summer, you can’t mean all that.”
She sniffed. “You wanted to know.”
“Babe, she’s nothing compared to you.” Summer glanced at the floor, but Devin tugged her around until she looked up into his eyes. “You’re so much more than Ivy.”
“Am not.”
“Are too. You’re a million times sexier. Funny. Kind.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “Ivy—She’s shallow. Immature. I’m not sure there’s even a real person under all that makeup.”
Summer tried to laugh. “Really?”
“I can’t believe you’d compare yourself to her and think you weren’t enough. You’re so much more.”
Summer bit her lip. She wanted to believe him.
“Don’t you see? I’m willing to share you. That’s how much I want you. If I can’t have you all to myself, then I’ll take whatever I can get.”
She blinked. “You mean you’d rather Blake wasn’t in the picture?”
