And Able

by Lucy Monroe

  His legs kept straying to her side of the table, too. He would apologize, but then moved them with a subtle caress that left her breathing erratic and her heart rate elevated. As if it wasn’t elevated enough just by his presence.

  They were eating their main course when she gave up and just sat back to watch him. She might not have a lifetime with him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the here and now.

  “What?” he asked, all innocence, one blond brow raised in inquiry.

  “You’re really good at the seduction thing.”

  “Seduction thing? I’m merely enjoying my dinner, darlin’.” He smiled and her toes curled in her sandals. “The seducing comes later.”

  She shook her head, not buying it for a minute. “You are so trying to prove that I cannot resist you.”

  Both brows went up at that. “Can you?”

  “Probably not, but I don’t think you are being fair.”

  “What’s not fair about eating dinner?”

  “It’s the way you eat.”

  His leg slid along her naked calf. “You think?”

  She stifled a gasp and tucked her legs under her chair. “That smug attitude is going to get you into trouble.”

  “In what way?”

  “It would serve you right if I insisted on sleeping alone tonight.”

  “Are you going to?”

  That had been her plan. Things had gotten out of control, and she didn’t see rampant sex helping get them back to manageable levels. However, she wasn’t sure it would hurt, either. Nothing, not even rigid celibacy, was going to undo the fact that they had made love without protection the first time.

  She took a deliberate sip of water and then carefully put her glass down. “The jury is still out on that one.”

  “Is there anything I can do to sway the vote?”

  “Don’t pretend you aren’t already doing it.”

  “But I can turn it up a notch, if you think it’ll make a difference.”

  The fiend.

  “Do that, and I’ll need an asbestos suit to keep sitting here.” She was already hot enough to melt metal. “I’d rather you cooled off.”

  “We can go for a swim after dinner. That ought to cool both of us off.”

  “In the ocean?” She shuddered. Even in the height of summer, the water was cold enough to numb a person’s extremities.

  “In the hotel pool. It’s outdoor and it’s heated. It overlooks the ocean, but there’s a glass wind barrier.”

  “Wow.” It sounded really neat. And swimming in a public pool had to be safer than eating an intimate dinner for two with a man who could seduce a woman with the way he buttered rolls. “I wish we could.”

  “Why can’t we?”

  “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

  “Sure you do.”

  She groaned. “You bought me one of those, too?” There went her nest egg to tide her over while she looked for a job. “But we never said anything about going swimming.”

  “A man can hope.”

  “I suppose it’s a bikini.”

  “There’s another kind of swimsuit?”

  “Yes,” she said in exasperation. “The modest one-piece or tankini…the kind I usually wear, not that I go swimming all that often.”

  Which had to have been glaringly apparent when she gingerly climbed into the shallow end of the pool while he dove in at the deep end and swam the length with sure strokes.

  She wasn’t even very good at dog paddling, so she played in the shallow water while he swam several laps without stopping. Some teenagers were playing a dunking game, and yet, Brett never bumped into any of them.

  The kids climbed out and headed for the hot tub just as he went under water about halfway down the pool. In the gathering darkness, she couldn’t see where he was.

  Suddenly, he erupted out of the water in front of her, spraying her with cool droplets. “Why don’t you swim with me?”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “But you said you wanted to come swimming.”

  She smiled. “Not everyone swims in a swimming pool. I like playing in the water.”

  The second she said it, she knew it was the wrong thing to utter.

  His expression took on predatory intent. “Do you, now? What a coincidence—so do I.”

  “I don’t think we’re talking about the same kind of playing.” And it certainly wasn’t the kind that would cool her off.

  He crowded her up against the pool wall, his big body blocking out her awareness of anyone and anything else. Even the cool water around her only registered on a periphery level.

  His hands cupped her face. “Do you want me to teach you how to swim, or would you rather play?”

  Oh, man. He really was lethal. “What sort of play did you have in mind?” she asked in a husky voice she barely recognized.

  His hand slid down her back and cupped her bottom through the bikini pants. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

  “In a public swimming pool?”

  “We could always go back to the room.”

  It was tempting. Incredibly so. She wanted to just melt against him, but the lure of learning how to swim shimmered in her mind. It was something she had always wanted to do, but had never gotten the chance.

  She put her hands against his wet chest, the warmth there making her fingertips tingle. “Would you really teach me to swim?”

  His expression took on that same cast it had when he helped her study. “Sure. How come you never learned?”

  “No opportunity.”

  “It’s about time you did, then.”

  She licked her lips. “Yes.”

  He swung her up against his chest and she gasped in shock. “Brett! What are you doing?”

  But it was obvious what he was doing. He was carrying her to the deep end. Right in the middle.

  “This might be a good time to tell you that the sink-or-swim approach to anything, including swimming, itself has never appealed to me.”

  He smiled down at her and shook his head. “Don’t you trust me, darlin’?”

  “When you talk in that honeyed drawl, I’d trust you to do anything.” No doubt to her detriment.

  “Is that right?”

  She sighed and rested her head against his wet chest. “Yes.”

  “Hold your breath, Claire.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it.”

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath and held it.

  He let go.

  She dropped in the water and expelled her breath in shock. She started sinking before she could even yelp.

  Strong hands immediately pulled her to the surface. “The first thing to remember when you’re learning to swim is that oxygen is buoyant…”

  An amazing hour followed during which he rarely took advantage of the scanty nature of her swimsuit and made a genuine effort to teach her to swim. By the time they called a halt, she was executing a rudimentary forward stroke and could float on her back very nicely.

  She held onto the edge of the pool and grinned at him. “That was great! Thank you.”

  “Thank you, sugar. Watching your body move in that scandalous bikini was better than a wet dream.”

  “I can’t believe you said that.” She sent a wave of water cascading over him with the sweep of her hand.

  He didn’t so much as grunt, but moved in with the silent speed of a shark. He landed hard against her and she lost her hold on the side of the pool. She grabbed on to his shoulders so she wouldn’t sink, the scandalous bikini and his swim trunks no real barrier between them.

  He took hold of the pool edge on either side of her. “You’re going to pay for that, sugar.”

  “I am?” Acting on instinct, she brought her legs up and locked her ankles behind his back. The apex of her thighs settled just above the waistband to his shorts. His muscles there immediately clenched and he made a sound that was part growl, part moan.

  She smiled. “And just how are you going to m
ake me pay?”

  His head lowered until his lips were a breath from hers. “I’ll think of something.”

  “I’m sure you will,” she said softly with as much seductive promise as she could conjure in her voice.

  Then quickly, using her hold on his torso to leverage herself above him, she shoved down on his shoulders, leap-frogging over his body to land in the water behind him.

  She popped to the surface just like he’d so recently taught her and burst out laughing at the sight of him doing the same thing. Her dunking maneuver had been a complete success. The look in his eyes promised retribution, and she turned to make a mad scramble for the stairs at the shallow end.

  She didn’t make it.

  Strong arms lifted her from the water. “That was sneaky, Claire.”

  She was too busy laughing and gasping for air to answer.

  He flipped her until she landed cradled against him, her arms and legs locked firmly against his strength. His triumphant smile sucked more air out of her than the swimming had.

  “You’re gorgeous,” she sighed, not having meant to say any such thing.

  “Compliments are not going to win you mercy,” he informed her, but the warmth in his blue gaze said otherwise.

  She was completely helpless in his arms, and yet she wasn’t worried at all. “Maybe I don’t want mercy.”

  “I’m not falling for that ploy again.”

  She batted her eyelashes in a way she’d never done before. “What ploy would that be?”

  He lifted her and leaned down so once again their faces were so close she could feel his breath. “The wouldn’t you rather kiss me than dunk me gambit.”

  “Wouldn’t you?” she asked, her voice husky with genuine desire.

  “Any sane male of the species would, but a man can’t have his woman thinking she can get around him so easily. It’s bad for his self-image.”

  “Like that would ever be a problem with you,” she scoffed. “What if I told you that nothing you could do would tarnish your image as a bad-ass former mercenary tough enough to get the job done, no matter what it is?”

  He took a deep breath as if inhaling the fragrance of her skin, not chlorine fumes from the pool. “Then I might have to kiss you anyway.”

  “Consider yourself told.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth when his lips slanted over hers with enough heat to make the moisture on her skin turn to steam. He was so darn good at this stuff. He devoured her mouth until she was moaning against his lips and trying to free her arms so she could touch him.

  She heard a wolf whistle and his hold on her loosened. Relief that her arms would be free surged through her. Only, instead of getting a chance to touch the muscular body so temptingly close, she found herself tossed in the air and landing with a splash in the pool.

  She came up spluttering and laughing, her feet easily touching bottom. She heard more laughter and saw that the teens had exited the hot tub and were whistling, laughing, and calling out encouragement to her or Brett, depending on if they were girls or boys.

  She looked from them over to Brett.

  He looked ready for a frontal attack, but she was too smart to go for a payback gambit she was sure to lose. She had something far more effective in mind.

  She waved at the teens and smiled sweetly at Brett.

  His eyes narrowed in instant alertness.

  His toss had left her closer to the steps, and she started backing toward them now. “Amazing how effective a dunking can be to cool a person’s urges. I’m so chilled, in fact, that I think I’ll go warm up in the hot tub now that it’s empty.”

  Brett moved toward her, his expression revealing that he’d latched on to her weapon of choice immediately.

  “I’d be happy to warm you up.”

  “Oh, that won’t be necessary. Why waste a perfectly good hot tub moment for something else?”

  The teenagers were laughing as they spilled into the rec room off the pool area. A couple of the boys called advice to Brett over their shoulders while the girls called, “You go, girl,” to Claire.

  She climbed out of the pool, adjusting her swimsuit with downright provocation before tripping over to the room with the still-bubbling whirlpool.

  Brett came in just as she was lowering herself into the steaming water.

  Their skirmish momentarily forgotten, she moaned in pure bliss at the feel of it surging around her. “This feels so good.”

  “I know something that feels better.”

  She had to stifle a smug smile. “Do you? I can’t imagine what.”

  “You’re not one of the seniors you take care of at Belmont Manor, sugar. I don’t buy that you’ve forgotten this afternoon so quickly.”

  “Oh, that.” She waved her hand airily. “This is much less exhausting.”

  “You sure about that?”

  She wasn’t, but that didn’t stop her from nodding. The hot water felt like it could drain every last bit of energy from her.

  He grabbed the handrail and moved onto the top step. “Maybe I’ll have to prove you wrong.”

  “Excuse me, but the pool area will be closing in ten minutes.”

  Brett stopped and turned to face the maintenance man who had spoken from the doorway.

  “You mean we have to leave?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Claire couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Oh.”

  The hot tub felt so good after the exertion of her swim lesson that she hated being told she’d have to climb out again in only a few minutes.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” the maintenance man said before turning to go.

  Brett followed him out to the pool area, and when he came back a few minutes later, he looked very pleased with himself.

  “I guess I have to get out now,” she said reluctantly.

  The lights around the pool went out and all but some floor lighting around the hot tub went out as well.

  “I suppose that’s a hint.” She stood up to go.

  Brett’s smile shone in the darkness. “Relax. I worked something out with the maintenance guy. We can stay as late as we want as long as we don’t go out to the pool area where the security cameras are.”

  She didn’t ask how he’d arranged that and didn’t really care. As long as she got to soak in this blessed heat longer than ten measly minutes, she was happy. “Great.”

  Brett climbed into the hot tub and headed straight for her. He lowered himself next to her and right into her personal space. “Now, what was it you said about hot tubs not being as tiring as bedrooms?”

  She leaned back against the wall with nowhere to go. “Um…I believe I was discussing what we were doing in the bedroom.”

  His arms came around her, one hand at her neck and the other on her back. “So am I, sugar. So am I.”

  She swallowed nervously. “We can’t do that here.”

  “Are you sure about that?” he asked again, and suddenly her top was loose and the bubbles in the water jetted it away from her body.

  She screeched and tried to lunge for it, but he was in the way. “Brett…my top.”

  He kissed her, stifling her complaints. He tasted so good and knew exactly what to do with those lips that she let her top float away while her hands were busy exploring the hard contours of his chest.

  But when his hand began to caress her now naked flesh, she gasped and wrenched her head away from his. “Brett! We can’t…not here.”

  “Sure we can.”

  “But the teenagers.”

  “Are now in the game room, which has been locked off from the pool area. In fact, no other guests can come in through the other entrance, either. Ernie locked them.”

  “Ernie?”

  “The maintenance guy.”

  “But how are we going to get out?”

  “The doors lock from the other side. We can leave, but we can’t get back in.”

  “Oh.”

  He kissed the corner of her mouth. “Yes, oh…” />
  The warm bubbles were caressing her breasts as effectively as Brett’s hands, and Claire’s arguments were fading in the face of a renewed desire that swamped her senses. “You’re sure no one can come in?”

  “Positive.”

  “What about Ernie?”

  “No chance.”

  “Oh…” the word morphed into a moan as both of his hands cupped her slippery, wet curves bobbing in the water.

  “You’re so perfect, Claire.”

  She shook her head, but she reveled in the knowledge that he enjoyed her body as much as he did. Brett’s appreciation for her body was open and honest. It was also enhanced by genuine affection and a desire to give as much or more than he received. It was amazing.

  Her eyes, which had closed in pleasure, opened to watch him. His expression was one of devastating desire. And the sight of her naked breasts in his hands was so beguiling she felt a gush of wet warmth between her legs that had nothing to do with the water bubbling around them.

  “Oh, Brett.”

  He smiled, his satisfaction at her response gleaming in his eyes. “Feel good, sugar?”

  “Better than good.”

  “Put your head back and concentrate on nothing but my touch and the caress of the water against your skin.”

  “But I want to touch you, too.”

  “Not this time, sugar.”

  She would have argued, but what he wanted her to do was too tantalizing. So, she put her head back on the concrete.

  “Hold on a second.” He shifted and leaned over her. “Lift your head.”

  She did and he slid something under it. She realized it was a folded towel and it felt ten times better than the hard concrete.

  “Better?”

  “Much.”

  “Good. Now, I want you to relax. No matter how good it feels, keep your muscles from tensing up. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?”

  “I can try,” she said in a passion-drugged voice she barely recognized as her own.

  He went back to touching her and he didn’t only concentrate on her boobs. He touched her everywhere, his fingers sliding against her wet skin with devastating effect. He found the erogenous zones he’d explored that first night in the hotel with his massage and then some. She did her best not to tense up and whenever she did, he would change his caresses to a kneading massage until she relaxed again.