Loch (The Powers That Be Book 3)

by Harper Bentley

  Suddenly his eyes got intense on mine and he looked a bit like Ryker for a second which was kind of scary. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him through the crowd and out toward the field.

  When we got there, I saw that there weren’t just swimming pools set up everywhere but there was a giant plastic tarp put down and it was being used as a mammoth Slip and Slide. I watched as a group of clearly drunk guys, maybe seven of them, did a countdown then they all ran up to the thing and flinging themselves down on it, slid nearly thirty yards before either coming to a gradual stop or careening off the side into the grass for a nice turf burn. Good grief.

  And we were headed that way. Oh, heck no.

  “Uh, we’re not doing that, are we?” I squeaked out.

  Loch’s hand gripped mine harder when I tried pulling mine from his but when we passed right by the tarp of torture and kept going I can’t even explain the relief I felt. As we rounded what looked like some kind of fieldhouse, I wondered what we were doing until he pressed me against the wall with his body flush against mine then our lips collided when he bent to give me a bruising kiss.

  Oh my word.

  As the kiss grew hotter, Loch got really aggressive then, sticking his knee between my legs to where his thigh rubbed against my center, or maybe I was the one doing the rubbing, who knew at this point, then his hand slid down and under my cover-up where he clutched my bottom jerking me closer to him. And, Jesus Christ on ice, I knew I should’ve called it off but then amazingly, the kiss got even deeper. Frick! But damn it, I was all in, totally understanding his urgency right then because we definitely had crazy chemistry going on between us, which I’d already unabashedly exhibited on my porch earlier.

  When one of his hands moved to my breast cupping it, his thumb gliding over my straining nipple, I moaned right into his mouth, loud and needy and all I want you and I don’t care if you stomped all over my heart before and even if you’re still a jerk, just do me, do me now! Then things got even wilder, if you can believe it, which was when he grabbed my leg, hitching it over his hip and began grinding against me.

  And God help me but I wanted him. Wanted him right there! When my hands went to the front of his board shorts searching for a way to get them off, that’s when I finally got it together.

  Tearing my mouth from his and pushing him back, I stood looking up at him as my breaths came fast. He was breathing just as heavily and his dark eyes on mine told me he wanted me just as badly as I did him but this was crazy and had to stop! We didn’t even know each other! I mean, I knew who he was, knew he was probably still a jerk, but this was going way too fast (not to mention the fact that I’d almost pantsed him in public).

  “Loch,” I whispered.

  “Celeste,” he whispered back and at that moment, I really hated that Triple C was going on because I’d really have loved to hear him say my first name in that raspy voice of his right then.

  But good gosh! I had to be careful here because if I wasn’t, I’d end up sleeping with him tonight and what a mess that would be. Then I wanted to smack myself because I actually started considering it, sleeping with him, trying to convince myself that would be a heck of a way to really get back at him. Like, maybe teasing him with some serious foreplay back at my place then asking him to leave. Or going so far as giving him an amazing blow job and pulling away when he got close and making him beg me to finish him before I kicked him out. Or, what the hell, how about just screwing his brains out until we were both exhausted, having had the best sex of our lives, before I owned up to everything and he stormed out because I was a big fat liar.

  Yeah, all those scenarios were just fantastic with me playing the part of a deceitful, evil skank. And it’d be especially fantastic when he told people afterward that I was a deceitful, evil skank. And it’d be even worse when he himself believed I was those things.

  Ugh.

  This had to end. Even if he was still a jerk, there obviously was something between us that neither of us could deny and I needed to confess to my wicked scheme right now before things went too far.

  So taking a deep breath then letting it out, I bit my lips for a moment before deciding to be a grown up and tell him. “Loch?”

  “Right here, babe,” he answered, the gold flecks in his eyes seeming to radiate warmly as he looked down at me.

  God.

  “I need to te—”

  “Powers! What’s up, bro?” a guy called from behind us.

  I turned to see there were actually two guys and two girls behind us.

  “What’s up, Olly?” Loch said and he and the two dudes did that handshake shoulder bump things that guys did.

  “Heading to my folks place where there’s a real pool. You should come,” the Olly guy declared, looking at me letting me know I was invited too.

  Loch put his arm around my shoulders then tilting his head to the side toward me said to his friends, “This is Celeste. Celeste, this is Neal Oliver and his girlfriend Regan Reed.” Neal or Olly, gave me a chin lift and Reagan smiled and said hi. “And this is Ky Fisher and his girlfriend Julie Owens.” The second couple greeted me the same and I returned the greeting.

  “Whaddya say? You coming?” Olly asked.

  Loch looked down at me, eyebrows up. “Yeah?”

  “Uh, sure. If you want,” I replied, gazing up at him with a small smile and his arm around my shoulders squeezed me in affirmation. Then he leaned down to brush his lips to mine before we followed the other two couples off the football field and we went to his truck.

  ~*~*~*~

  “You went to Cal?” Julie asked from where she sat across from me in the hot tub. All three of us girls sat in the Jacuzzi while the guys goofed around in the pool playing a game of HORSE with a floating basketball goal and ball.

  “Yeah, for two years,” I responded then took a drink from my beer bottle.

  “That’s awesome!” she responded. “I have a friend who went there this year.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yep. He’s crazy. Said he wants to be the next ‘Naked Guy’ walking around campus, and knowing him, well, I’ll probably be seeing him on CNN soon.” She snorted.

  I laughed. “He’ll fit right in. Some of the people there are pretty radical. Within my first hour of being on campus freshman year I’d been offered pot, asked to hug a tree and then a guy begged me to sign a petition to save the penis snake, which I thought he was being creepy but it’s actually a real snake.”

  Julie and Regan laughed with me. I really liked them. They were both friendly and funny and I was glad to meet new people even though once they found out what I was doing to Loch they’d probably hate me.

  “So how’d you meet Loch?” Regan asked. “I think he’s just the sweetest thing ever, always so nice to everyone,” she said in her southern accent. I’d found out that she was from Georgia and had come to Hallervan on a volleyball scholarship.

  She thought he was the sweetest thing ever? And nice to everyone? I mean, I’d gotten a glimpse of that but it still didn’t erase all he’d done when he was younger, did it?

  “I, uh, met him in class Wednesday,” I explained.

  “He is very nice,” Julie chimed in. “My friend Madi is really self-conscious about her weight and decided to take a weight lifting class last year. She said Loch was one of the student aides and was so sweet to her, helping her find a routine that worked for her. She lost thirty pounds because of him!”

  I looked over at Loch who, beer in one hand and the basketball in the other, stood about six feet from the side of the pool. He took off running toward the water and jumped in the air, spinning around and throwing the ball over his head at the basket before he made a huge splash. When he came up out of the water, the two other guys were throwing a fit because he’d made the shot then they were all laughing and shouting at each other in disbelief and I had to chuckle.

  And now I
was more than confused. Was he a nice guy? Was he an ass? I couldn’t decide anymore. But what I did decide was I had to end whatever it was we had between us, no matter how attracted we were to each other or how much I found I liked him. It just wasn’t fair to him since I’d gone into this planning on hurting him.

  And the brilliant part of it? I wouldn’t even have to tell him who I really was. I’d just make a clean break of it and move on.

  So yep. That’s what I’d do. End it. No matter how chickenshit my plan was.

  As I was mulling this over with a huge frown on my face there was a splash in the hot tub as the guys all jumped in then Loch was there beside me.

  “Hey, baby,” he said, leaning in a touching his lips to mine.

  “Hey,” I answered softly as he sat then pulled me to sit sideways in his lap.

  Yessiree. I was going to end it. At the end of the night, what we had would be over. Definitely.

  But let me just say right now, Loch Powers with his shirt off was a motherfrickin’ sight to behold. Sweet Mary, his was definitely a body to cuss about. The man had abs for days and pecs and biceps and lord have mercy, tattoos. When we’d gotten to Neal’s (or Olly’s) parents’ house and come out back to get in the pool and Loch had taken off his t-shirt, well, I think my chin hit my chest since my mouth was hanging open so big. And now I was on his lap and everything was on full display for my viewing pleasure and, boy, did I view.

  “Having fun?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I like your friends,” I whispered back and saw him smile before he pressed his lips to mine for a sweet kiss. When he pulled back, I looked down at his chest examining his tattoos. Pointing at a smallish four-leaf clover just below his clavicle on his right side I inquired, “Any significance for this one other than luck?”

  He tucked his chin to look where I was pointing. “I got it because I am a lucky sonuvabitch,” he returned with a grin, squeezing my right butt cheek where his hand was resting. I jumped a bit which made him laugh. “Oh, and I’m Irish.” He winked at me.

  I smiled. “This one?” I touched my finger to his right pec that was covered with a clock that was breaking apart.

  He shrugged. “It means a couple things. To remind me that life is short and to live every second of it. Also that time heals all wounds.”

  I moved my hand down to his side where what looked like a Spanish phrase was tattooed. My eyes came to his and I raised my eyebrows.

  “Movie line.”

  “From Road House?” I asked, eyebrows still raised.

  He threw his head back and laughed and I felt my chest squeeze because it was possibly the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.

  Crap.

  I was getting in way too deep with him but I didn’t know how to stop it. He just kept drawing me in and I just kept not resisting. Damn it!

  When his head came back, his eyes twinkled as they lit on mine. “No, baby. It’s from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” When my eyebrows still remained up, he shook his head. “You haven’t seen it either?” At my head shake, he sighed. “Gonna have to have Movie Night with you soon.” The thrill that went through me upon hearing that should’ve had me getting off his lap and asking him to take me home. But nope. Stupid me couldn’t resist hearing what he had to say, thus digging myself a deeper hole with him which of course only made me like him more. “Okay. Last scene when they’re holed up and surrounded by, like, the entire fuckin’ Bolivian army. Right before they go out Butch asks Sundance if he saw this lawman named Lefors, who’s been chasing them forever, out there.” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear then went on. “Sundance looks worried but tells Butch no, he hasn’t seen Lefors. They don’t realize how many armed men are waiting to shoot them, so it’s kinda funny, ironic, that he asks if this lone man is waiting to get them. Anyway, my tattoo is Butch’s last line, ‘Oh good. For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble.’”

  Hm. That was a bit odd. “Why Spanish?” I queried.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Why not? They’re in Bolivia.” Then he grinned.

  I just stared at him. Then I blinked trying to process why he’d want this on his body.

  “Reminds me to be aware, babe. Stay on my toes and not get fuckin’ duped, you know?”

  Shit.

  Shit shit shit.

  I was such a slimy, duping bitch for the plan I’d made tonight and it made me feel horrible.

  But I nodded anyway, ever the con artist, ducking my head in shame but when I did this, I saw the tattoo over his heart.

  “The Little Prince,” I mumbled, running my finger over the words that were branded there. “’I was too young to know how to love her,’” I read then looked at him in question and saw his face flush in embarrassment. What in the world? “What’s this one?”

  “Tell you later,” he said quietly, running his nose along my jaw then back toward my neck where he nuzzled into me making me shiver.

  “Okay,” I whispered, my mouth at his ear which offered a sudden temptation, so blaming the four beers I’d had since getting there (and my supreme stupidity), I took his earlobe lightly between my teeth and tugged a little which got me a horse bite from him on my neck making me tuck my neck to my shoulder with a giggle and pull away.

  And sweet Jesus, the look on his face. Good Christ, the man could seduce me with that alone, a half smirk tipping one side of his mouth up and his eyes piercing mine with a promise of many good things to come and I felt my stomach dip in a really, really good way.

  Oh my.

  “You ready to go?” he said softly and I nodded. He lifted me off his lap then we stood and got out of the hot tub and dried off. Before we left, I exchanged phone numbers with Julie and Regan knowing we’d probably never be friends, then Loch took my hand and led me out.

  In the truck on the way back, he still held my hand, resting the back of his on the console as he stroked his thumb against the back of mine. We didn’t talk the whole way and I swear there was so much sexual tension in his truck cab that it was almost hard to breathe. When we pulled up to my house, I saw there were no lights on and assumed Marcy had stayed with Adam and I wondered if I should invite Loch in knowing it’d only lead to trouble but wanting to all the same. Then I remembered I had to tell him we were through.

  We sat there for several moments, me biting my lip as I stared out the windshield wondering why I’d agreed to go through with Triple C in the first place and knowing when Loch found out who I was, he’d hate me. I was having an entire conversation in my head about it all, going back and forth getting my goodbye speech ready when I felt a tug on my hand.

  “What’s going on in that pretty head?” Loch queried when I looked over at him.

  God. So handsome. So freaking hot.

  As I took a deep breath I was glad I’d had a few beers to relax me because I’m sure I would’ve been flipping out right about then if not. So after taking another breath and blowing it out, I decided to spill. “I need to tell you something.” I glanced over at him about to bite through my lip I was so nervous.

  “You can tell me whatever you want, babe.” He reached his hand out and cupped my chin then ran his thumb over my bottom lip gently pulling it out from my teeth then his hand slid to the back of my neck and he pulled me in for a kiss.

  And it wasn’t just any kiss. It was one of the hottest kisses I’d ever had. It started out soft, our tongues almost lazily twisting together. But then Loch ramped it up, his hand getting tighter at the back of my head, his fingers clenching in my hair, the movement of our tongues getting wilder, desperate even, and just through that kiss alone I knew exactly what he wanted from me which wasn’t far off from what I knew I shouldn’t want from him.

  When he pulled back, he looked me right in the eyes and stated, “Wanna do things to you I probably shouldn’t be wanting to do right now, babe.” And all the wind was practically knocked out of me. Holy crap. Then he continued. �
��But seeing as this is our first date and you’re probably worried I’d think you were easy or something,” he grinned at me now which made me want to kiss him more, “I’ll leave it at this.” He leaned in and took my mouth with his again and frack me if it wasn’t hotter than the previous kiss.

  When he pulled away, all I could do was sit there, my brain scrambled and I was breathing so heavily I knew I was fogging up his windows. He winked at me then got out of the truck and came around to help me out. When we got to the front door, he reached into the pocket of my cover-up for my keys and somehow guessing correctly, put the correct key in the door and unlocked it.

  We stood there for a second before I came out of my daze. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I had a great time tonight.”

  He smiled down at me. “I did too. What’re you doing tomorrow night?”

  “I don’t think—” I began but he cut me off.

  He put his forehead against mine. “I wanna see you again.”

  Still, I tried to stay my ground. “Loch, it’s probably not—”

  His lips covered mine as he mumbled against them, “Wanna see you, Celeste.”

  “I, uh, I have to work. But I get off at nine,” I pulled away and blurted.

  This got me a grin then we were kissing again, hard and deep and wet and hot and when he moved away my head was spinning.

  “I’ll call you,” he said quietly and bent to brush his lips against mine one last time which ended too abruptly and I hated that because I think I could’ve stayed lip-locked to him all night long. He smirked at me then opened the door and handed me the keys. “Goodnight, Celeste.”

  I stared up at him, wondering how the heck he’d manipulated me so easily into going out with him again. I also knew there was something I was supposed to do but I couldn’t wrap my brain around anything but wanting to kiss him again, so I tiptoed up and touched his mouth with my lips. “Thank you.”