by Angela Evans
Bending down to one knee, he dragged the towel around her waist, and then down each leg. Lifting her foot, he dried each one separately and stood her back on her feet, her hand resting on his shoulder to help her keep her balance. From this position behind her he was eye level with the sweetest ass he’d ever seen and couldn’t resist the urge to kiss his way up the back of her thigh and take a nibble of the curve of one cheek earning a yelp from her.
“Did you just bite me?” she asked with laughter in her voice.
“Just getting started…I’m going to devour you soon,” he warned.
* * *
Amelia couldn’t suppress the thrill she felt at Dex’s words. Devour her? Had anyone ever wanted to devour her?
No, she thought, pressing aside the idea of anyone else. She was only thinking about Dex, about the here and now. No thoughts of the past, and definitely no thoughts of the future, would intrude to distract her from the amazing feelings coursing through her veins and over her flesh as Dex touched her.
She should feel a chill, she was soaking wet after all and standing in her air conditioned bungalow, but all she felt was heat. It pooled low in her belly, and lower; it coursed through her veins and she wondered if she was blushing or maybe she had gotten more sun than she thought? She was probably covered in freckles and a virginal blush that was anything but appealing.
“What are you thinking?” Dex was back in front of her now, his own hair still dripping wet, and droplets of water covering his amazing chest. He’d discarded his shirt, she realized, and forgot for a moment what he’d asked her. “Amelia?”
“I like the way you say my name.” She admitted.
He ran a fingertip over her collarbone and watched her for a reaction. “Amelia,” he said again and she felt it wash over her as much as she’d felt the surf earlier.
She reached for the towel and took her own turn drying his hair, and then finally touched the rippled muscles of his chest and abs, albeit through the thick layer of the spa quality towel. The weight of the water had pulled the waistband of his shorts lower, revealing the waistband of his underwear and the first sprinkles of hair below his belt. She tossed the towel aside and ran her fingertips along the same path the towel had just taken. Amazed at the solid muscles ripping beneath her fingertips, she offered her mouth and felt him smash his lips against hers with a groan. His hands came up and were tunneling through her wet hair as he backed her up against the bedroom wall, pressing his hips against hers so she could feel his erection straining against her lower stomach.
“I have a bed,” she pointed out.
“I know, but if I get you horizontal right now this is going to end a lot faster than I want it to,” he answered against her neck where he was nibbling his way along her sensitive skin there. He must have seen her look of skepticism because he went on to say, “You have got to know how hot you are?”
“Hot? I feel like I’m burning up right now, but I’m pretty sure that has more to do with you than it does with me.” She deliberately misunderstood what he meant.
He stepped back to look at her in surprise. “You’re not what you seem, are you, Amelia?” he asked as he tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to study her and figure her out.
“I’m exactly what I seem,” she bristled at the comment.
“Oh I know you’re who you are in most ways, but I assumed your directness came from confidence and experience…but I’m realizing it doesn’t, does it?”
“I know what I look like. I know I’m not a blonde cover model with a rack out to here.” She held her hands out in front of her chest.
“And experience?” he asked.
“I was engaged.” She dodged the question, not wanting to admit she was lacking in the experience department.
“And he was your first and only?” Dex guessed.
“No, I wasn’t a virgin when I got engaged…but I might as well have been,” she admitted in embarrassment, dropping her chin to her chest to avoid his gaze.
Dex lifted her face with a finger under her chin until she met his gaze. “And you think what? That I’m going to go running for the hills because you haven’t had a parade of men in your bed?” Rather than running, he pressed a teasing kiss to her open mouth. “Honey, I don’t know who filled your head with that kind of nonsense, but I’m not going anywhere.”
“I have six brothers,” she said by way of explanation.
“What guys say to other guys, and what guys really think is not the same thing at all, and they definitely don’t tell their sisters what they really think about sex.” That confused her so she decided to stop thinking about it and go back to feeling. Feeling Dex pressed up against her, feeling his mouth on her sensitive skin, and feeling the liquid heat pooling in her feminine places. Soon thinking at all became impossible as Dex cupped first one breast and then the other, settling his mouth over one taut nipple through her wet shirt.
Pressed back against the wall, she felt surrounded by Dex, his warmth, his scent, his touch, were all around her. Her hands were on his shoulders; she wasn’t sure if they were holding him in place, or holding herself up so she didn’t collapse in a puddle on the floor. Her flesh was chilled from the water, and his hands were warm. That contrast heightened her awareness of the contrast in their size and the texture of his skin on hers. Still wearing her wet clothes, she was denied the full experience of his warm body pressing against her, and she craved it like she craved her next breath.
She wanted to run her hands over inch of his delicious chest. In her mind she could picture his chiseled abs, and the light covering of hair that trailed down below the waist of his shorts. She loved the feel of his body beneath her hands as much as she loved the way his hands felt on her skin. With that in mind, she ran her hands down over his wide shoulders, caressed his arms and trailed her fingertips over his chest. Before she could fill her hands, Dex pushed her arms above her head and lifted her soaked shirt off, dropping it on top of his on the floor. Leaving her standing there, arms pinned above her head with one of his, wearing only her lace bra from the waist up, she felt his eyes on her as much as she’d felt his mouth on her earlier. Amelia felt like a slice of chocolate cake on a plate in front of a starving man. Dex wanted her; that alone was heady knowledge. She’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted Dex, and knowing he was as consumed by need as she was made her feel sexy and wanton.
“Let me touch you, too,” she whispered.
“Soon enough, soon enough.” Dex’s voice was rough, like he was forcing the words past a restriction in his throat. He pressed his face to her neck, kissing her sensitive skin and whispering soft sexy words in her ears. She was on fire, every place his lips touched burned with heat and yet she didn’t want him to stop. Just the opposite. She wanted more.
Her bra fell loose, and her breasts were suddenly free. She hadn’t even realized he was unfastening the scrap of lace and gasped in surprise, her gasp turning into a moan as he cupped her breast with one hand, his other hand still holding her wrists captive above her head. His lips tasted her mouth, teasing her with his tongue and driving her crazy with want.
“You are so perfect,” he murmured in what sounded like awe as he looked at her bare breasts, touching her face and pulling her in for another kiss. She had never felt perfect, she pictured herself in his eyes, seeing her freckles and her small breasts, her hair a mess from the water, and she had never felt more beautiful in her life.
“I’m not perfect,” she denied the compliment. “But I know it when I see it.” She ached with the need to touch him. She wanted to feel the texture of his skin, the coarseness of the hair, and the tension in his muscles.
Dex laughed a harsh sound forced between his lips. “Perfection is the last thing I am.” But it didn’t matter what he said, because he released her hands and she could finally touch him, and she set out to touch every inch of his delicious body. Shoulders first, tracing down over his biceps to his forearms before she lifted his hands to her mouth. Ki
ssing his knuckles, his fingertips, and finally the palm of his hands. She watched his face; she noticed how his eyes became hooded and his pupils dilated, but mostly she noticed he was breathing fast like he’d just swam for miles.
His hands came up under her hair, cupping the back of her head and pulling her in for a hungry kiss. Her hands finally got to feel the texture of the hair on his abdomen, the contrast of his smooth warm skin with the still slightly damp course texture of the hair that disappeared under his shorts. Frustrated with the barrier, she reached for the button on his waistband, but his hands quickly covered hers.
“We have time, go slow,” he told her.
“We’ll go slow next time,” she insisted.
A growl escaped Dex’s throat and in a blink she was naked and on the bed, he was standing at the edge of the bed looking down at her with those hungry eyes. Before he pushed his shorts off his hips, he took a wallet from his back pocket, carefully removed a single condom, and laid it on the table beside the bed. She watched in anticipation as he unbuttoned his wet shorts and pushed them off, kicking them across the room.
Seeing the length of him hard and pulsing for her had her sitting up reaching for him. Her hands cupping him and measuring the length of him had him leaning his head back letting out a deep groan. Her exploration was short-lived, because he quickly pushed her back onto the bed, pinning her to the mattress with the weight of his body. One hand on her breast, he seemed to know exactly how much pressure would give her the maximum pleasure. Her nipples were aching for his mouth, and he didn’t disappoint. Kissing, sucking, plucking at one and then the other.
The coil of tension in her stomach wound tighter and tighter, begging for him to set it free. His hands were big like the rest of him, big enough to nearly span her waist as he trailed one hand down her stomach, stopping to explore her belly button and sending shivers across her flesh. Still going lower, she felt the anticipation building. Opening her eyes, she found him watching her, waiting for her to open her eyes. Slowly, watching her reaction, he parted her legs and cupped her heat, his index finger brushing her sensitive flesh.
“Oh,” she gasped, letting her eyelids flutter closed.
“Open your eyes,” he ordered gruffly. “I want to watch you come.”
Heat crept up Amelia’s chest and burned in her face, but she couldn’t find it in her to refuse him. The fact she was going to come was not something she could doubt. Not typical for Amelia, who had always wondered what all the fuss was about when it came to sex. It wasn’t that she hadn’t enjoyed it; it was nice, but it just wasn’t something that had made her feel amazing. And never had there been anyone who she craved the way she craved Dex.
Keeping her eyes open, she watched as Dex crept down her body, pressing kisses to her stomach, her hip bones, her thighs, and then without hesitation to her sensitive flesh where no one had ever kissed her before. She sucked in her breath on a hiss, bowing her hips in pleasure.
“Dex!” she gasped his name.
“So sensitive, Amelia,” he murmured. His tongue lathed her, drawing her into the heat of his mouth and pulling the coil inside her even tighter until she thought she couldn’t stand it.
“Dex, Dex, Dex!” She couldn’t seem to stop calling his name, not sure herself if she was begging him to stop or begging for more. More is what she got as he gave her nowhere to hide, pulling her orgasm from her like a scream from a ragged throat.
Nothing with Dex was slow and easy, and Amelia realized sex was no different. The orgasm that slammed over her left her body wracked with spasms and gasping for breath, clutching at Dex’s shoulders to anchor herself she was powerless to do anything but savor the sensation and enjoy the ride.
When her body finally quieted, she realized her eyes had closed after all. Heavy eyelids were reluctant to open, but when she finally managed, she found Dex above her waiting.
“You closed your eyes,” he said.
“Sorry. I tried.” She lifted her arms and pulled him in for a kiss. “That was…” She struggled to find a word to explain how she felt.
“The beginning,” Dex supplied, as his hands started to rekindle the heat of her body, surprising her by how fast she responded to his touch yet again. She would have sworn she was beyond the ability to do anything but breathe and blink, but in mere minutes Dex had her begging for another release, which he happily supplied. This time a more gentle orgasm left her gasping for breath, and reaching for his pulsing erection. She was desperate now to feel him inside her and somehow she knew it was the only way to satisfy the need he had created.
Dex grabbed the condom and rolled it on in a smooth movement, and Amelia pulled him towards her, guiding him home. Dex held his weight above her on his arms, keeping perfectly still as she adjusted to the intrusion of his body inside hers. She felt tight and stretched, and Dex slipped one hand below her hip, shifting her body so he could slide even deeper. Amelia gave into the urge to wrap her legs around his waist. Oh so slowly he started to move and Amelia watched his face as he climbed towards his own climax, taking her with him this time.
Chapter Four
That was not supposed to happen, Dex thought as he fought to return his labored breathing to normal. He was not supposed to have amazing sex, the best sex he could remember, with Amelia. She was supposed to be a casual fling, a beach hook-up to take his mind off all the bullshit in his life right now. Except, that had not felt like a casual hook-up. That felt like life-altering, mind blowing, heart-gripping…no, not heart…mind-gripping sex. Mind-gripping was far less terrifying than heart-gripping, Dex decided. He’d rather face an armed drug dealer in a shadowy back alley than let Amelia anywhere near his heart.
Glancing to his left, he saw her lying still prone with her arms cast out in abandon and her eyes closed. Enjoying the rare opportunity to study her without her knowing, he indulged his eyes and immediately felt his body react even though it had only been minutes since he’d collapsed on her, exhausted and spent. Her mouth was almost too perfect; even now when it was slightly swollen from his kisses and the coarseness of his beard.
The sprinkle of freckles across her nose was more noticeable now; must be from all the sun earlier, he supposed. He’d heard her make comments about hating them, but they were so much a part of her he couldn’t help but find them attractive. Before he got caught leering at her, he decided he’d better make his way to the bathroom and discard the used condom. Plus, a little space between his body and hers was definitely not a bad idea at the moment.
As his weight left the mattress, Amelia stirred, opening her heavy eyelids to gaze at him. “Where are you going?” She asked, sounding half asleep.
“Bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He gave into the temptation and planted another kiss to her warm mouth. Walking away just to go to the bathroom was much more difficult than it should have been.
After taking care of business, Dex washed his face and hands before leaning on the vanity and staring at his own reflection in the mirror. It occurred to him he looked more relaxed than he had in a very long time, maybe more than he’d ever been. Was it the location? The woman? Spending time with his family again? As surprising as it was, he realized it was a combination of all of those things. He’d expected his time in Barefoot Bay to be stressful, annoying, and filled with nagging comments from his mother about settling down and having kids; instead he’d laughed with his sisters and enjoyed seeing his mother happy. That alone would have been worth any annoyances, but there hadn’t been anything to irritate him.
He thought about Amelia in the next room and part of him wanted to hurry back to the bed with her. Another part of him tried picturing her fitting into his life back in Texas. Living in his small apartment, waiting for weeks for him to come home, wondering if he would or if she’d get a knock on the door saying he was injured, missing, or dead. He’d seen far too many of his colleagues try to go down the serious relationship route and not one of them had made it work. The women always got tired of the lifestyle, w
ith good reason. There was not much in his life that would make a woman want to be a part of it.
In fact, most of the people he knew thought his cover story was real. They thought he really was the drug runner he pretended to be, when all he really wanted was to bring the real drug runners to justice.
A timid knock sounded at the bathroom door and Dex opened it to find Amelia standing there wearing a robe and holding his cell phone in her hand.
“Naomi brought your phone. She said it kept going off so she thought it might be something important.” She handed him the phone. “I answered the door in a robe and nothing else, so I hope you’re not shy about your sister knowing there’s something going on between us.” She actually blushed a little as she said it and he felt his heart skip a beat before he reminded himself this was just sex. Nothing involving his heart was happening here.
“I don’t care who knows what’s going on between us,” he said as he pulled her close. “Do you?”
“I don’t even know what’s going on between us. Do you?” She turned his question back on him and he realized his own mistake. He’d been flirting and keeping things casual and she was wondering what their future held. He knew the answer. They had no future. In a few days he’d head back to Texas and resume his life as a thug and low-life in the name of catching bad guys, and she’d go back to Alaska. He was not a part of her carefully planned life.
Buying himself a second to think of what to say he glanced at his phone with disinterest, until he saw the text messages waiting for him there.
* * *
“What the hell happened?” Dex practically barked into the phone.
“Cool your jets,” Captain Morrison warned him and then from the sounds of things covered the phone with his hand and talked to someone else in the room before returning to the phone call from Dex.
“My jets were pretty damn cool before I got your barrage of text messages. I thought my cover was airtight! How did they track me down all the way to Mimosa Key?” Dex stood on the deck surrounding his family’s bungalow and as much as he wanted to yell and scream at his boss, he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper so no one could overhear.
