Unforgettable Summer: Wild Crush, Book 1

by Sami Lee

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  She turned at the odd note in his voice. He was watching her closely, the shroud of falling twilight making it impossible to read his expression. Summer swallowed, her heart beating fast. “This place can’t be the cheapest available. Are you sure you want to spend this much?”

  “It’s underpriced and it’ll only increase in value. Besides, I’ve put a bit away over the years.”

  Summer had forgotten how much the prize money for winning a surf title could be. Ty had been surfing, and often winning, for a decade. Add the prize money to endorsements and there was a lot there for investments like this.

  Summer blinked, finding herself reassessing him suddenly. “It’s only now occurred to me you must be loaded.”

  He laughed. “Not enough for one of those monstrous places down on Endeavour Boulevard.” The street he mentioned was a block from the beach and lined with ultramodern minimansions which had, in Summer’s opinion, far too much plate glass to be charming. Ty nodded toward the house. “But this I can do.”

  Summer was still trying to get her head around the idea of Ty being a relatively wealthy man. He never acted like he was, driving a fairly average vehicle and walking around in boardies most of the time. He never behaved like he was too important to talk to the man in the street, many of who tended to bail him up and want to chat in detail about his surfing exploits.

  He’d seemed so far away all these years, like a movie star who’d ceased to be a real person in her mind. But this past week or two when he’d been back in Leyton’s Headland, he’d proven himself to be, at his core, the same easygoing, slightly devilish Ty she remembered. He was so centered, so sure of who he was. It was one of the things she loved most about him.

  Sucking in a breath as that word tumbled through her brain, Summer stepped up to the balcony railing and gripped it with both hands. She breathed in air scented with salt and hibiscus in an effort to restore her equilibrium. Before she could manage the task, Ty came up behind her, putting a hand on her waist and making her heart thump even harder.

  “Have I told you yet how hot you look in this dress?”

  His words were husky, sexy. All it took was that particular tone of voice and the brush of his fingers to add arousal to the turmoil churning inside her. “Only about three or four times.” Summer tried for a light tone but figured the catch in her throat rendered the attempt an epic fail.

  “Not enough then.” Ty’s hand trailed across her back, his fingers contacting skin exposed by the crossback design. “It looks new. Did you buy it special for me?”

  There was no use denying it. Summer had been eyeing the garment in the boutique a few shops down from her clinic for weeks, but had figured she wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it. Tonight’s dinner had been her excuse to finally try it on, and when it fit her like a glove, its shape emphasizing her petite frame and showing off just enough skin to entice, Summer had thought, Ty would love me in this.

  Mutely, she nodded her answer. She’d worn her hair up in an elegant twist, and when Ty let out a breath, it fanned across the back of her neck, sending ripples of sensation all the way down her spine. When he placed a kiss against the same skin his breath had teased to life, Summer’s knees buckled.

  He caught her up against him. His strong body was hot against her back, his arm secure around her waist. His hand rested mere inches beneath the curve of her breast, his fingers skimming the underside. Into her ear, he whispered, “I could fuck you like this. Right here, right now.”

  Summer gasped, shock and lust mingling in the sound. She gripped the balcony railing tighter as Ty pressed his crotch against her ass, proving that he was primed and ready to act on his words. Then he raised his hand a little higher, until his fingers brushed her nipple through her dress.

  “Ty.” She wasn’t sure if she was protesting or pleading. It was so easy for him to get her excited that it scared her. Yet after many long years of having only a passing interest in sex, her reawakened libido was like a new toy she couldn’t stop playing with. Part of her wanted him to do exactly as he’d said.

  Her eyes flung open. They were on the back deck of a house that belonged to neither of them. Approaching night turned the sky to shades of purple and gray, and the yard was rimmed by foliage, giving a sense of privacy. But there were other houses, the occasional window in her line of view. If she could see those windows, someone behind them might be able to see her.

  “It’s getting dark, no one can see,” he murmured, having apparently read her thoughts. He continued to draw lazy circles around her peaked flesh. “But you can pretend they can, if you want.”

  His words made her visualize it. Some faceless person behind a window, watching as Ty hiked up her dress and took her right there on the deck. Her pussy contracted in wicked response. But when Ty slipped a hand down and began gathering her skirt as though to raise it, Summer’s innate reserve came to the fore. “I can’t do it out here.”

  “Don’t worry, I left my wallet in the car.”

  His wallet where he kept at least one or two condoms whenever he went anywhere with her. Summer really should be carrying them in her handbag by now, given how often they’d ended up needing the protection this past week.

  But then, Ty would be gone soon, and she couldn’t imagine needing them for anyone else.

  Despite his statement, Ty kept drawing the skirt of her dress up and up in a sensual drag of fabric, until the cool evening air hit the bare skin above her thigh-high stockings. Ty paused to toy with the lacy tops. “These are nice. Do the panties match?”

  Summer nodded in answer even as Ty slipped his hand beneath her dress to find out for himself. He touched her ass and found it bare save for the smallest scrap of lacy fabric she’d ever worn. “A G-string. Jesus, you drive me crazy.”

  The feeling was definitely mutual. Summer knew she should stop him revealing so much of her flesh to the night air, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She wanted him more than she cared about being observed. So when he tapped his foot on each of her ankles, she took the hint and widened her stance.

  He drew the flimsy barrier of her panties aside and sank one finger sure and deep inside her. Summer let out a moan and pushed back into the incursion, wanting more than his finger there. She whimpered in disappointment when Ty said with a hint of cocky amusement, “I’m not going to fuck you, even though you’re clearly asking for it. But I am going to make you come, because I can’t get enough of hearing you moan.”

  She couldn’t get enough of him. His sure touch, his adventurous spirit. She couldn’t get enough of the way he made her feel, like a wild wanton instead of a sensible, ordinary woman. Summer looked up at the sky and saw the evening stars had grown brighter against their darkening background. Nobody would be able to tell what they were doing, but the funny thing was she didn’t even care anymore. All she cared about was experiencing the pleasure of Ty’s finger moving rhythmically in and out of her. All she wanted to do was go where he chose to take her.

  He pulled all the way out of her, making Summer utter a desperate little no. He chuckled, the mirth in the sound made sharp by his own arousal, which was telegraphed by the insistent bulge still pressing into her left butt cheek. He wormed back inside her slick channel, using two fingers this time and driving them hard into her in a swift shaft that made her gasp. “God, Ty.”

  “You like that?”

  He pulled his fingers out and rammed them home once again. Summer choked out her answer. “Yes.”

  “You like everything I do to you. When it comes to this, we’re in perfect sync.” Drawing his fingers out once more, Ty transferred some of the cream he’d gathered to her back entrance. The next time he plunged his fingers into her pussy, he pressed his thumb to the ring of muscle he’d lubricated, teasing the outer rim before pushing the shortest distance inside.

  “Oh, Ty.” Summer stilled, trying to catch her breath. “I’ve never let anyone…”

  “I know.”
He sounded more than a little pleased at her faltering admission. “But you’ll let me, because I’m the only man who’s ever made you feel this good.”

  It wasn’t a question. There was no uncertainty, only confidence as Ty used his thumb to breach the unused barrier of her ass. Summer felt the stretch, an uncomfortable sensation at first that soon turned to an enjoyable one as Ty continued to massage her breast through her dress. Summer arched her back, encouraging him. When he wiggled the two fingers buried deep in her cunt, the pleasure of it radiated outward, making the slight burn in her ass feel damn good, making her clit throb and demand attention.

  As though he knew—he always seemed to know—Ty snaked the hand that had been playing with her breast downward. The front of her underwear was wet with her arousal, making it easy for Ty to slide the material over her. Summer’s clit responded with a violent pulse. She rasped an eager yes, and Ty increased the pressure, rubbing at her through the thin lace and moving his other fingers in and out of her holes.

  This was what she wanted. To feel Ty’s brand in as many ways as possible. If she could have him in her mouth as well, she would. She yearned to feel all of him inside her, marking her forever. The thought made her body shoot toward release. She came with a primal moan. As she hit the zenith of it, Ty pushed his thumb all the way into her ass.

  The orgasm seemed to go on and on, rippling through all the places Ty possessed her. The intensity of it didn’t wane, but eventually her body spent itself, unable to handle any more pleasure. Ty slowly eased out of her, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his hands.

  Summer tried to let go of the balcony railing, but her knees trembled so badly she stumbled. Ty caught her up against him and held her close, rubbing circles over her back as the tremors subsided. Summer was reluctant to lift her face from the hollow of his throat, the little nook she’d come to think of as her spot.

  He’s not yours. The thought echoed through time, reminding Summer that Ty never had belonged to her and never would. The time she spent with him now was, as always, stolen. Eventually all thieves had to pay a price for their crimes.

  “I’m ready to go now,” Summer said, not feeling ready at all. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

  “I made you come so hard your legs turned to jelly.”

  Summer laughed at the smug response. “More fuel for that healthy ego of yours.”

  “It never goes astray.” He placed a kiss, achingly gentle, on her forehead. Then he suddenly bent down and hoisted her into his arms, bride-and-groom style. “Come on, over the threshold with you.”

  Summer squealed and laughed as he carried her inside, stumbling a little himself now that the place was completely dark. She laughed all the way to his car, where he lowered her into the passenger seat with a flourish. “You’re crazy.”

  “About you, yeah.” He kissed her soundly on the lips before closing the door and rounding the car to get in himself.

  He was crazy about her? Summer’s heart raced as he pulled out of the driveway and they began the journey to Byron Bay.

  Where she would officially “meet his parents”.

  Much too late, Summer realized her simple affair with Ty had gotten way out of control.

  Munroe’s was a restaurant and combined cocktail bar that overlooked Byron Bay’s main beach. The tasteless pink-and-blue decor it had once sported, a hangover from its life as a nightclub in the eighties and nineties, was gone, replaced now by sleek designs of black and orange that gave off a retro feel.

  Summer had been to Munroe’s only once, with a date who’d probably tried to impress her with the venue. Too bad he had been unimpressive in every other way. He had been rude to the waiter, had scowled at her for ordering an appetizer, then bored her with a running total of how much money he made. Summer had escaped the date by faking a headache and had gone home with a tub of choc chip ice cream and a DVD.

  Now, her hand in Ty’s as he led her to the banquet table that was already half-filled with guests, Summer knew she’d be anything but bored tonight. Scared out of her wits maybe. But bored, no. With Ty boredom wasn’t even on the menu.

  “Mum, Dad,” Ty said as his parents rose to greet him. After giving his mother a quick embrace, he stepped back to include Summer in the foursome. “You know Summer.”

  “Of course, Summer. How lovely of you to come.” Irene’s eyes flicked between Summer and Ty, her lips curving. “I had no idea you two were friends.”

  It was obvious Irene guessed they were much more than that, and was only being discreet by not pointing it out. Summer found herself blushing, which probably only confirmed Irene’s suspicions.

  “Hi, Summer, glad you could make it,” Ty’s father said. He tilted his head, whiskey-brown eyes the same color as Ty’s, assessing her thoughtfully. “Didn’t you once date Ty in high school?”

  Summer’s flush intensified. “Actually, that was my sister.”

  Irene elbowed her husband in the ribs. “Really, Dean.”

  “Sorry.” Dean Butler showed Summer an apologetic smile. “It was hard even back then to keep track of which girl was which.”

  “On that note, I think we’ll take our seats,” Ty drawled. Irene made a tsk tsk sound, to which her husband shrugged. Ty took Summer by the shoulders and steered her toward two of the four places left at the ten-seater table.

  “Sorry about that,” Ty said as they settled in. “They can get a bit overinvested in my life sometimes.”

  “It’s all right.” Summer knew all about parents sticking their noses too far into their kids’ affairs. Although when her father had done it, it had felt more like control than loving interest. “They love you and want you to be happy.”

  “I am.”

  Summer turned to face him, finding his gaze trained on her with laserlike precision.

  “I’m happy when I’m with you.”

  Summer’s heart skipped a beat. Make that several beats. She had to force herself to breathe as Ty continued to hold her gaze. The truth came out before she could stop it. “I’m happy when I’m with you too.”

  He smiled, a slow curve of his lips that Summer felt right down to her toes. God help me, I love him. It was going to rip her apart when he left, just as it had the first time she’d lost him. When she’d let her own guilt and her father’s intimidating disapproval scare her into letting him go, as though love like that was something she’d find again one day.

  But she hadn’t. Ty was irreplaceable. Regret that she was only now working that out lanced her.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Summer lied. Everything was wrong. She’d fallen in love with him all over again—or perhaps her feelings had simply been hibernating for the past decade, waiting to resurface. She was in love with someone she was bound to lose, and she didn’t know how she was going to handle the loss this time. Now that she knew she’d probably never feel this way about anyone else, the inevitable pain she’d experience when this affair ended loomed as a dark, empty misery that had no end.

  The sound of the couples around them, of the newest couple arriving, faded to the background as Summer’s pulse thundered impatiently in her ears. She didn’t have much time. Ty’s flight was early Sunday morning. That left only tonight and tomorrow before he’d disappear from her life.

  If this wasn’t a special occasion for his parents, Summer would have insisted they leave early. She wanted him to take her home and do filthy things to her in every conceivable position. She wanted to make the most of the time they had left, to make memories to hold on to when memories were all she had left. In lieu of immediate gratification, Summer put her hand on Ty’s leg beneath the table and lightly stroked. “I can’t wait to make it up to you for what you did earlier.”

  Comprehension and heat stirred in his eyes. “That’s not an offer I’m going to refuse.”

  Summer was about to murmur a flirtatious retort when they were interrupted by a familiar voice. “Summer. What are you doing
here?”

  Summer turned to stare into the surprised face of Dianne Watts-Campbell, her stepmother. “Dianne? What are you doing here?”

  “I met Irene through work a while ago and we’ve become friends. I was so glad she invited us tonight.”

  “Us?”

  But of course Summer knew who Dianne meant when she said “us”. Inexorably, her gaze traveled past Dianne to the man standing behind her, talking to one of the other couples at the table. As though he sensed her scrutiny, he turned and caught her watching.

  For the first time in months, Summer was staring into the face of Dr. Rex Campbell. Her father.

  Chapter Ten

  It would have been impossible to miss the way Summer snatched her hand off his leg when her father approached. She shifted in her chair, putting distance between them. Ty felt the loss of her body heat like someone had turned the air-conditioning temperature all the way to zero.

  Her reaction pissed Ty off. He pushed back his chair and stood as the formidable Dr. Rex Campbell sauntered over to the two of them. Surprise lifted the other man’s dark eyebrows as recognition hit. Keeping his own features neutral, Ty stuck out his hand. “Dr. Campbell.”

  The good doctor stared at Ty’s hand. For a moment Ty didn’t think the jerk was going to take it. But then Rex’s perpetually stern mouth lifted in a half smile, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. He put his hand in Ty’s and shook. “Well, if it isn’t Ty Butler. This is a surprise.”

  “For you and me both.” And obviously for Summer, who was still sitting in her chair as though her legs wouldn’t work. “I wouldn’t miss my parents’ thirtieth anniversary, though.”

  “Quite right.” Rex nodded. “Good of you to fit it into your busy schedule. You have a lot going on in your life. I suppose the whole beach-bum thing worked out better for you than expected.”

  Ty’s lip curled in what probably looked more like a sneer than a smile. “Not better than I expected.”

  At that Rex laughed. If there was anything a man of supreme ego respected in another man, it was a similar sense of self-belief. “You always were a cocky little bastard, Butler.”