“I know you don’t.” She gentled her tone. “I’m not implying that you do. Your photos are wonderful, and I think you should share them with the rest of the world. What’s the harm in letting me sell a few in my shop? I like to promote local art.”
“I don’t know.” He went back to taking pictures.
“Well, if you don’t want me to sell them, would you at least consider letting me have some to decorate with?”
He took a moment before giving a slow nod. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I’m asking, sweet cheeks.” She gave his butt a nice squeeze in retaliation for earlier. “Are we going to keep walking, or should I make myself comfortable for a while?”
“Damn, you’re impatient,” he muttered, although he still smiled.
She bit her bottom lip and nodded, a smile lingering on her face. “For more than you know.”
He returned his camera to his backpack and took a step toward her. “The longer we wait, the better it’ll be. I promise.”
“I know.” Her lower lip jutted out. “I’m just not a patient person when it comes to having you inside me.”
…
Maddie’s words had an immediate effect on him, and Gabe felt himself stir inside his jeans. She was flirting, making it no secret she wanted him, but still he stuck to his guns in telling her to hold off. He told it to himself as much as her.
She was casually dressed, sweaty from the first part of their hike, and he’d never found her sexier. Maybe it was the two braids she’d done her hair in. It brought up all kinds of kinky thoughts.
He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip that pouted in such an enticing way.
“Trust me, I’ll make it good.”
“Mmm, I bet you will.” Her tongue reached out to draw his thumb inside her mouth. “Are you ready?”
“Ready?” All thoughts scattered from his head, and his entire focus turned to her mouth moving over his thumb.
She released his thumb and drew back. “To hike down the beach?”
“Right. The hike.” He nodded like an idiot. God, it was amazing how quickly he could lose control of the situation. “Let’s head on out.”
She winked at him as he turned and once again led the way.
Chapter Twelve
They walked about a mile before he steered them off the beach and onto a barely noticeable trail in the forest.
“What’s back here?” Madison asked, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She was hot and sticky and hoped that Gabe had told her to wear her swimsuit under her clothes for a reason.
“About fifteen minutes into the forest, there’s a great lake to go swimming in.” He glanced back at her. “If you don’t want to swim, we can just do the picnic lunch.”
“Oh, I’m swimming.” She grinned. “I think I’m wearing half the sand from the beach.”
They kept walking, and soon she spotted the shimmer of a greenish-blue lake. She gave a yelp of excitement and pushed past him to run ahead.
When she reached the opening of the trees, she looked over at the picnic area. It must be a place people came to, because there were picnic tables and fire pits around.
“I love it. Is this only accessible by hiking in?”
“No,” he admitted, coming to stand beside her. “There’s a back road most people don’t know about. But the hike makes it that much better.”
“No kidding.” Madison walked to the picnic table and sat, sighing as her feet started to tingle. “That was a great hike, but my feet are about ready to fall off.”
“And just think.” Gabe set the backpack on the table. “We get to do it again on the way back.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I can handle it. But I plan on staying here for at least an hour, with or without you.”
“With me. This is my time to play, too.” He pulled off his T-shirt, exposing his hard chest.
Madison had to lift her gaze from the taut muscles there, to his shoulder and the jagged red line on it. Her insides twisted as she remembered how he’d acquired it.
“How’s the bullet woun—graze?”
“It’s fine. Forgot I even had it,” he assured her and unzipped his pants.
She laughed. “Whoa there, boy. Give a girl a chance to catch her breath.”
“Catch your breath, mi vida.” He jerked the jeans off his legs and stood in front of her in his boxers. “I’m going swimming. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“No, I do. Actually, nothing sounds better than cooling off right now. I’m sweating like a pig.” She grinned and unzipped her sweater.
“Good choice.” Gabe walked over to his backpack and pulled something black and shiny out of it.
“What’s that?” Madison asked as she shrugged out of her shirt and jeans.
“Plastic inner tube.”
She watched as he went to work blowing it up. Although he seemed focused on getting it inflated, his gaze followed her while she undressed. His eyes darkened when she had finished and stood before him in her bikini.
Madison held back her smile. Hmm, so he liked the red string bikini, did he? Good thing she’d thought to pack it on the trip to Whidbey.
But what was the inner tube for? “I’m a pretty good swimmer. I don’t think I’ll need that.”
He raised an eyebrow and kept blowing. When the tube was fully inflated, he plugged up the air hole.
“You might find yourself surprised. All right, let’s go.”
He grabbed her hand, and she giggled, running after him as they made for the water. Gabe tossed the tube out a few feet and dived right in.
He emerged a few feet out, gasping as drops of water dripped from his face and hair.
Hmm, it looked a little cold.
“Are you coming or what?” he called out, treading water.
“I’m coming.” Madison didn’t hurry but toed her way in and winced at the coldness of the lake. They had to be nuts to be going swimming. It was only May and barely seventy degrees outside.
Gabe swam back to the shore and stood, wading toward the lake’s edge.
“It’s colder than I thought.” She hesitated. “Maybe I’ll just wade.”
“What?” Before she could reconsider, Gabe grabbed her around the waist, carried her a few feet out and tossed her under.
She came up sputtering, goose bumps covering her skin and her teeth chattering.
“Maybe I’ll just wade,” he mimicked. “Come on, Maddie. You’re not getting off that easy.”
Madison swept her palm across the water and doused him with a spray of water.
“That was so not nice. It’s freezing in here.” she grumbled, but ruined her mock anger with a laugh.
“Ah, you want me to be nice?” He took a step toward her.
She shrieked and dove under the water, emerging a few feet out before swimming farther away.
He laughed and swam after her.
The water temperature didn’t seem as bad after a while. Either that, or she’d gone numb.
Madison reached the inner tube and clung to the edge. She’d gone out at least twenty feet or so from where she could touch the bottom of the lake.
A hand wrapped around her ankle, and she screamed as she was dragged backward and underwater.
When she came up for air, Gabe had taken her place.
“You said you didn’t need it.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “But if you’re nice, I may share.”
“I can be nice,” she murmured and sighed as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.
“Can you?” He lifted the tube over their heads and dropped it back down so that they were in the hole in the center.
Madison spread her arms out on either side of the tube, holding herself up as she tread water. Gabe tossed one casual arm around the float and gave her a slow smile. They were so close together that her legs would scissor in-between his every few moments.
“I have this fantasy,” he began, and toyed with the string on her bikini top. “That I read
in a book. It involved water, a man and a woman, and a flotation device.”
“Sounds interesting.” Her gaze skimmed to the beach to confirm they were alone. “Wanna tell me about?”
“I’d rather show you.” Gabe’s nimble fingers untied the knot behind her neck, and the strings fell down onto the fabric that still covered her chest. “Damn, that’s what I love about your breasts. You don’t even need the top to hold them up.”
Madison laughed even as heat spread through her body. “I think it’s only fair that I remind you we’re in water. The buoyancy factor helps.”
“They’re great on land, too.” He pulled the red top down off her breasts but didn’t remove it all the way.
She caught her breath when he used the palm of his free hand to rub over the sensitive tip of her breast.
“Is this a popular lake?” she asked, more than ready to go at it, but also worried about the chance of being discovered.
“Very popular.”
He let go of the tube, and his body sank in the water a bit, bringing his mouth level to her nipple. When his teeth closed over it, her eyes shut and she groaned. Sparks of pleasure made their way from her breast to the sensitive spot between her thighs.
Madison moved her legs faster in the water, as if the movement could release the throbbing of her sex.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never had sex in a public place before?” He drew her nipple deep into his mouth and started sucking.
“Ah.” It was starting to be hard to stay afloat. “Does masturbation count?”
His mouth stopped moving, and he looked up at her with a startled glance.
“Never mind.” She groaned and pushed his head back to her breast. “Please, don’t stop.”
“Right.” He swept his tongue against the peak of her breast and drew it between his teeth.
“Gabe.” Her nails dug into the rubber of the tube, and her eyes started to lose focus. Just as fast, they regained focus on a car that bounced through the forest toward the lake. “Gabe! Stop, oh my God, there’s someone coming.”
Gabe lifted his head and looked toward the shore. He pulled her bikini top back into place and tied it around her neck.
“Should we go back?” Madison asked. Frustration and disappointment clawed at her belly. Damn, it just figured they’d get interrupted.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Gabe gave a casual wave to the couple who had just climbed out of the car and were looking out at them.
“Do you know them?”
“No.” He shrugged. The couple waved back and then began setting up a blanket under the trees. “But they look pretty cool.”
“What do you mean? You’re not going to ask them to join us or anything?” Madison raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out his line of reasoning.
“Of course not.” Gabe reached down and grabbed her legs, wrapping them around his waist. “They can’t see much. Just from the shoulders up.”
He held onto the float with one hand and kept treading to keep them both just above the water.
“They don’t care about us anyway, trust me.” He lowered his head and closed his mouth over hers.
Stop this. Madison knew she needed to, her conservative upbringing told her to. But the fingers Gabe slipped into her bikini bottoms encouraged her otherwise.
“Gabe,” she breathed against his mouth, her thighs clenching around his waist.
“Yes, mi vida.” He cupped her sex, giving it a light squeeze as he smoothed a finger back and forth over her exposed folds.
“This is crazy. I’m so turned on right now.”
“Even though we’re in water, I can tell.” He pushed the finger deep inside her and moved it in a slow circle. “Because your wetness is different than the lake. It’s hot, silky, and smooth.”
She lost the ability to respond as he pinched her clitoris and began stroking it. Her head started to roll back onto the float, but she caught herself just in time. Try to appear normal in case the couple on the beach is watching.
The last thought made another pang of arousal shoot between her legs. Her heart pounded faster. She liked it. The thought of being watched.
She lowered one of her hands under the water and delved into Gabe’s boxers to find his erection.
“You’re so hard.” She encircled his width with her hand and moved her palm up and down the length of him.
“I don’t need a reminder, mi vida.” He groaned and removed his hand from her bikini to push his boxers down to his knees. “I can’t wait anymore.”
“I’m not asking you to.” She clenched her inner muscles around the fingers that were working inside her.
He reached down and untied one side of her bikini bottoms, pushing it aside and opening the cleft that he sought. Slowly, with her legs still wrapped around him, he pushed into her.
Madison inhaled sharply at the increasing pressure. This time, her head did fall back, and she didn’t give a damn.
Gabe moved slow and deliberately, seeming careful not to disturb the water around them too much. When he had embedded himself to the hilt, he began to withdraw and press right back in.
“You’re amazing.” She lifted her head and met his steady gaze.
“So are you, mi vida. Not to mention you’re my fantasy come to life.” He rocked his hips just a bit, causing him to wedge near her cervix. Madison clenched her muscles around him and his breath hissed out.
“Keep doing that, and I’m not going to last much longer.”
She squeezed again, pleased at the power she had over him right now. “That’s all right. You’ll just have to go another round tonight then.”
He withdrew again, moving his hips in a way that he hit a spot in her, making her buck on him.
“Good spot?” He grinned.
“Is that what the G stands for?” She gasped, and he rewarded her again by stroking that sensitive area. This time, her body clenched on its own accord and the orgasm that ripped through her body took her by surprise. Pleasure spiraled through her, lights flashed behind her closed eyes.
“I guess so,” he answered and increased the pace of his steady thrusting. She still lay weak when he came a moment later.
Her gaze drifted to the beach with mild guilt. Relief took its place when she saw the couple deep in conversation with each other, oblivious to what was going on. Well, she hoped they were oblivious.
She unwrapped her legs from Gabe’s waist and fumbled to tie her bikini back in place.
“Here, let me.” He disappeared under the water, and a moment later, he lightly bit her inner thigh.
Before she could even acknowledge it, he stopped and turned all business, tying her back into place. He emerged a second later.
“Want me to help you with yours?” she offered with a grin, but he stopped her before she could submerge beneath the water.
“I already took care of it.”
His tone had cooled considerably, and Madison gave him a closer look. He wouldn’t even meet her gaze.
“We should get out and head back.” He ducked out from the center of the tube. “We have a long hike ahead of us.”
Madison struggled with the feeling of abandonment as she tread water alone in the center of the tube. “I thought we were going to have a picnic.”
“Right.” He glanced toward the shore. “We can if you want. I just have some things—”
“No, never mind.” She abandoned the tube and swam toward the shore, eager now to get away from him and whatever had soured his mood.
She reached the shore just a few seconds before he did. But soon he’d passed her in his haste to get dressed and pack things up to get ready to go. The other couple waved good-bye as Gabe and Madison headed back onto the trail.
They made the hike back down the beach in silence. Madison made sure to stay at least a couple of feet behind him. She wanted to be as far away from his short fuse as possible.
What had happened? She kicked loose rocks into the Sound every now and then as she analyzed the
time from arriving at the lake until the point they left. She came up with nothing.
When they reached the bottom of the cliff, they needed to climb to get back to the cabin, and she couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s your problem, Gabe?” she blurted. “What the hell happened? Was it something I did?”
He didn’t answer, just began making his way up the rocky incline.
“You don’t think I deserve an answer?” she shouted, hurrying to catch up to him so he couldn’t ignore her. “You’re being a freaking—shit!”
She lost her footing and fell, sliding back down the few feet she’d just climbed. She reached out to halt the unwanted descent and managed to stop herself. Not without the price of tiny rocks cutting into her palm, though.
Tears filled her eyes, more so from the frustration with Gabe than the pain. She made no move to get up, but he was already backtracking to get to her.
“Damn.” He reached down to help her up. “Are you okay?”
“What, like you care all of a sudden?” she snapped, willing the tears in her eyes to go away.
He took her wrists in a gentle grip and turned them over so he could examine her palms.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s just a scratch.” She tried to pull her hands back, but he held fast.
“Here, let me rinse the dirt off.” He pulled off his backpack and took a bottle of water out of the side compartment. After unscrewing the cap he doused her minor wounds with the water. “I’m sorry.”
Relief that he had apologized made the tension leave her shoulders, and she just nodded instead of answering. She watched the dirt rinse away from her hands, leaving only the tiny red cuts.
Gabe screwed the cap back onto the bottle and sat beside her. For a moment, neither of them said anything. He turned to look at her and picked up one of her hands.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked softly. “Why you shut down on me?”
Gabe hesitated and then sighed. “We got a little carried away back at the lake. We weren’t thinking.” When she gave no sign of understanding, he spelled it out for her. “We didn’t use protection, Maddie. I realized it when I pulled my boxers back up in the water.”
His words finally registered, and panic surged through her. She always used protection during sex, knew the risks involved. No wonder he’d closed her off. Gabe had probably been in panic mode, too. How could they have been so stupid?
Grounds for Seduction (Seattle Steam) Page 11