Sex on the Beach (Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin)

by Delphine Dryden

  The words had barely flitted across her mind when Jeremy broke away and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I know.” The way he stroked her cheek, looked at her as if she was something astonishing and rare, broke her heart all over again. She wanted that to be what mattered. In an easier world, that look, the meaning behind it, would be enough. But it wasn’t, so this sex couldn’t be their reunion. Only a practical measure to allow them to approach the whole thing more sensibly. “We’ll talk later, okay? This is just to clear our heads so we can think.”

  “Right, right. Thinking. I get that.” He shifted his hands to her hips, pulling her closer. “Oh, God.”

  He was already diamond hard. “Can you walk like that? We should go to your room in case Julie comes back here.”

  “If you want I can fly.”

  “Don’t. No Princess Bride quotes, please.” She was a sucker for that, and he was not above exploiting her weaknesses for his own gain.

  “As you wi—”

  “Knock it off! I mean it!”

  Jeremy slapped his hand over his own mouth to keep the response in, and Amanda couldn’t help but laugh. At him, and at herself. She closed the door

  “Are we going to your place or not?”

  “Yep.” He grabbed her hand, tugging her along as he speed-walked the short distance to his own swanky cottage suite. It was in the next row, a literal stone’s throw away for someone with a decent arm. Not enough distance or time to reconsider, even if she’d been inclined to.

  Apparently, Jeremy was taking no chances. He had her in his cottage with the door closed behind them and the shades drawn in what seemed like the blink of an eye. She’d barely finished kicking her flip-flops off before he backed her to the wall, flattening himself against her as if the pressure might help. He bent down but stopped just shy of kissing her.

  “I have condoms. I brought them because I figured better safe than sorry. Tell me right now if that pisses you off too much to keep going. I didn’t come here planning to use sex as a bargaining tool or whatever. I was just horny and hopeful.”

  It should piss her off, his presumption. At the moment, though, such a thing was purely academic. Should hadn’t entered the room with them. “Right now my only problem is that you don’t have one of them on, and we’re both still wearing clothes.”

  A shiver ran through his body, and he flexed his hips as if he couldn’t stop himself from grinding. “Jesus. You’re gonna kill me.”

  Amanda shifted her weight, wrapping one leg around his and arching into his movement. He kissed her and her eyes drifted shut, her arms latching around his neck. He felt like a stranger with Jeremy’s lips, not just because of the hard planes his muscles now formed but because of his forcefulness. Born of desperation and deprivation, probably, but she liked it whatever the cause. He had no give under her touch now, and his fingers gripped a little tighter than she remembered, as if his confidence had developed an edge along with his need.

  He asserted himself all over her, stripping her clothes off with efficient, almost angry energy, picking her up to carry her to the bed, even as he kept kissing her just the way he always had. Perfect kisses. She’d thought the whole thing was perfect, before. She’d never felt anything was lacking between them physically. But this felt like something she’d longed for even more than she used to, something she’d been parched for and was now drenched in. Urgency. Need.

  She’d never thought of Jeremy as out of focus before, but now she felt like she was seeing the sharper version of him. More defined, more serious. The harder outside reflected a more important inward development. Had she made him that way? Was it an improvement? Did she like New Jeremy better, and if so wasn’t that disloyal to Old Jeremy?

  Amanda was caught between her memory and the reality currently nipping his way down her belly. “You still have your clothes on.”

  “I’ll get to it.” His voice was muffled against the swell of her tummy, his five-o’clock shadow bristling into her skin as he spoke. The rasp started a ripple effect of tingling anticipation. Jeremy knew her so well, too well. He knew exactly what it did to her when he skimmed his tongue across the peak of her hipbone, knew how wet it made her when he teased one hand so slowly up her inner thigh. By the time he was settled between her legs, Amanda was squirming with impatient desire.

  “This won’t take long,” she admitted.

  “Do you want it to? I could make that happen.” It was the voice of experience, not hubris. They both knew he could keep her hanging as long as he wanted to.

  “No, don’t—ahhh.”

  He slid a finger inside her and swirled his tongue over her clit simultaneously, robbing her of the ability to speak or think. Found the exact spot inside her that her own fingers were too short to reach, making her legs tremble against his shoulders. He demonstrated complete mastery of the task at hand. Amanda wasn’t sure whether she resented or celebrated his almost magical grasp of what she needed, when and how much. A pulse of pressure here, a few strokes of his tongue there, and she came apart at the seams, unraveling into infinite strands of bliss. He drank her in, groaning in approval at her complete undoing.

  He brought her back to life with a slightly briny kiss on the lips.

  “Hey. When did you get back up here?”

  “I think you were in a coma for a few seconds.”

  Trying and failing to think up a clever riposte, Amanda decided on action instead and reached down Jeremy’s sides to do what she’d been thinking about for hours. She smoothed her hands around the firm curves of his ass, squeezing tightly enough to make him wince.

  “You’re also naked now.” And he was ready to go, his erection nudging her thigh impatiently.

  “Coma.”

  “Right. Condom?”

  “On.”

  She blinked up at him, willing her head to clear so she could remember she was still pissed off at him. No good. He wore a post-orgasm halo now, and looked like a god up there. And she’d missed this so much, missed his weight and his attention. Tears pricked their way up and she closed her eyes quickly to prevent them escaping. This was supposed to be about rocks and getting them off, not people and missing them. “Then why aren’t you doing me?”

  “I was waiting for you to be conscious.”

  Even his smugness at the blackout orgasm didn’t render him unattractive. Especially not when he shifted his weight to one elbow, positioned himself and pushed half his length inside her on one stroke. Amanda’s turn to wince at the unexpected friction. Ready as she was, it had still been close to a year, and Jeremy was on the thick side.

  But good, even with the sting of pain. So good, the way they fit together, moved together. She gripped his butt and levered her hips up into his, trying to hasten the process because she didn’t want to make love, she wanted to bang.

  Jeremy grunted and sank deeper, thrusting hard once, twice, then the third time was the charm, hooking them up completely. He froze, buried to the hilt, and she willed herself not to open her eyes and check on his status. When she tried to thrust again, he hissed and dropped a bit more of his weight onto her, pinning her down.

  “Stop that. Unless you want this to be over in about one minute.”

  “As if.” He’d never taken less than five minutes, in her experience.

  “God, honey, you have no idea.”

  She did. If it hadn’t been for the unexpected twinge when he entered her, she’d be well on her way to a second orgasm just lying there with him inside her, making tiny encouraging movements and trying not to think too much. Even with the pain, she was getting there again. Getting wet again, just thinking about what they were doing. It seemed vaguely scandalous, for some reason, and the scandal added spice.

  “Move.”

  He moved. Amanda thought the earth might have, as well. From
a near standstill, everything changed in an instant, the floodgates of unrequited lust finally bursting open. They arched frantically into one another, fingers tangling in hair, tugging on skin, as if they could wrap themselves together into one being with one mind. Rolling over, nearly tumbling off the bed, a jumble of kisses and “Unf!” and madly pumping hips until Amanda came, and Jeremy came, and then Amanda sort of came again a little bit.

  When it was over, she lay on top of his chest, unable to do anything but hang on tight and gasp for air.

  It had been well over a minute, but nothing close to five.

  Chapter Five

  Jeremy fumbled for his phone when the alarm sounded, slapping the screen until the noise stopped then dropping his head back to the pillow. He was alert, relaxed, and blissfully aware that he’d had the first good night’s sleep since he could remember. The sun streamed through every tiny opening in the blinds, tiger-striping the room, and a chorus of birdsong lent a slightly over-the-top, Disneyesque charm to the early morning. The only part that wasn’t perfect was the temperature of the bed, which was slightly warmer than he was used to.

  And then he remembered, and flipped over to make sure she was still there. That he hadn’t dreamed her. That she hadn’t run away while he slept.

  A splash of sunlight brightened the pillow she’d pulled over her eyes. He was sorry not to see her face, but the rest of the view more than made up for it. Her neck and the curve of the arm thrust up toward the pillow. The slope of her sternum, delicate bone structure under ivory skin, leading into the ambrosial pink-tipped cream of her exquisite breasts. He’d always loved them, their soft geometry and the way the colors reminded him of frosting on petits fours. Ribs too visible below them, he noticed with a frown, because she’d lost weight. Her stomach, another sleek curved surface; she always complained it wasn’t flat enough, he always said she was crazy. Right now she was probably satisfied with it, but Jeremy wanted to feed her a sandwich.

  The crumpled white sheet lay over one hip, exposing the other. As usual, the covers were partially wrapped around one of Amanda’s absurdly tiny feet. She always kicked the sheets and blankets down as she slept. He decided that if he got the opportunity, he would never complain about it again.

  “Are you looking at me while I’m sleeping?”

  Oops.

  “Apparently not.”

  The pillow was still in place, but Amanda was already reaching for the sheet, pulling it up to cover herself as if there were any modesty left between them. Once she had it firmly tucked beneath her armpits, she pulled the pillow off her face and pitched it in Jeremy’s direction, forcing him to catch the thing to avoid taking it on the nose.

  She always looked cute-awful in the mornings, like a sleepy anime character. Fair hair in crazy spikes, puffy eyelids that she had a bad habit of rubbing with her fists like a little kid. The coffee usually had to kick in enough to make her hyper before her mood started to improve. Albino Sonic the Hedgehog the morning after a bender. Today was no different.

  “Did we miss the kayak thing?”

  He detected a note of hope in her voice but wasn’t willing to face the day without some sort of structure. Something that required they work together. “Nope. Why don’t you hop in the shower? I’ll order some breakfast, and by the time you get out there’ll be coffee.”

  “I should just go to my room. This was nuts. I shouldn’t have slept over, I didn’t mean to.”

  “I slept like a baby. I haven’t been sleeping very well since...well. I sleep better with you there.”

  “It’s probably just because of the whole northern latitude thing,” she dismissed him, tugging the sheet off the bed as she stood up. “Seattle has those long daylight hours. Screws with your diurnal rhythm or something.”

  “Babe, why the sheet? You’re just making more work for the housekeeping staff.” He plucked at the fabric, catching a fistful and hanging on as she shuffled around the bed.

  The resistance stopped her a few feet away. Sighing, she looked back over her shoulder at him. “Do you mind?”

  “What do you want for breakfast?”

  “Freedom.”

  “Is that like a Denver omelet, but with extra democracy?”

  “It comes with a side of universal suffrage.” She shrugged, let the sheet drop and strode to the bathroom as if she didn’t care who was watching.

  She hadn’t lost too much weight in her ass, Jeremy was pleased to see. A little too pleased. He had to take several calming breaths and compose himself before he felt able to call for room service. Once the water was safely running and he could hear Amanda splashing in the shower, he made another call—this one to the concierge, who was able to add two names to the kayak-tour list without any trouble at all.

  Breakfast was an exercise in surviving awkward silences. They’d both put clothes on, increasing the distance between them. Amanda seemed lost in broody contemplation, and Jeremy’s omelet sat uneasily on a stomach already suffering from stress. He ate up, though, wanting to be sufficiently fueled for a brisk morning of kayaking. Seriously, what had he been thinking with that? The bed was issuing a siren call, promising more amazing sleep if he could only lure Amanda back into it with him.

  “I guess I’ll go change and meet you in the lobby in about half an hour, then?”

  She startled him out of his bedcentric reveries, and he was astonished to see she’d cleaned her plate. Perhaps she wanted to fuel up, too.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Change clothes? Meet you in the lobby in thirty?” She started toward the door and he followed her.

  “Down on the beach, actually. Next to the kayak-rental hut.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.” Turning at the threshold, she glanced at a point just beyond his shoulder, avoiding his eyes. “All right. Um, thanks for breakfast and...stuff. Sex or whatever.”

  He wasn’t sure why being thanked for sex drained some of the fun away, but it did. “You’re welcome. By which I mean that you’re welcome anytime. For sex or whatever. I mean it’s vacation, I’m disease-free and you already know my kinks, so why not, right?”

  The ghost of a smile transformed her face, breathing hope into him along with it. “You don’t have any kinks.”

  “You’re my kink.”

  Her Cupid’s-bow lips pursed as she seemed to consider whether that was acceptable or not. “You might want to broaden your tastes. I mean, what will you do after vacation is over and your kink goes back home to a different state?”

  When in doubt, lie like a dog. “I’m not thinking past the vacation right now. I just wanted to spend time with you again. Reconnect. I’ve really missed you.” As if saying it multiple times would make it mean more. But he couldn’t stop saying that part, because it was true.

  “Reconnecting? Is that what we’re calling last night?”

  “I’m calling it awesome, personally. Your mileage may vary.”

  She attempted to hold back a chuckle, failed, and eyed him slantwise. “I can’t quite remember. I need a refresher. Could you just turn around a sec?”

  When he shot her a questioning look, she circled her finger around. Obediently, but not without some concern, Jeremy turned his back to her. Her slim hands stopped him when he tried to complete the circle.

  “No, just like that that.”

  Those hands slid from his shoulders down the long muscles of his spine, finally fanning out over his hips as they turned to cup his ass. A gentle touch, at first, then a firmer squeeze—though not quite as hard as the way she’d gripped him last night, almost hard enough to leave bruises.

  Finally she released him, with a parting slap to one cheek.

  “Yep, you’re right. It was awesome.”

  By the time he turned around, she was already off the patio and jogging down the path to her own cottage. But eve
n after she passed from sight through the shrubbery, her giggles carried back to him on the breeze.

  Chapter Six

  If she hadn’t known the matching clothes were accidental, Amanda would have wanted to crush Jeremy like a bug for it. As a random occurrence, though, she had to admit it was kind of funny. At least until the kayak tour guide hailed them with, “Hey there, looks like a new mister and missus joining the group!”

  When they explained they were not, in fact, on their honeymoon, he took a second guess: anniversary trip.

  She couldn’t blame him. Her own rash guard-and-swim-short combo, in turquoise with a print of white hibiscus flowers, was almost identical to Jeremy’s cobalt blue outfit with a print of white hibiscus flowers. The fact that half the clothes on the beach had the same motif didn’t seem to matter much when she and Jeremy were standing side by side looking like officially uniformed members of Team Matrimony.

  “It’s not that bad. He was just jumping to conclusions,” Julie reassured her. Then she had to elbow Alan, whose smirk had broken out into an active snicker.

  Jeremy squeezed her hand—he kept on holding it, and she kept forgetting to let go—and bumped her body gently with his. “You just have good taste in beach attire, is all.”

  “Thanks. So much.”

  The tour guide started assigning kayaks, and Amanda turned to partner up with Julie, only to see Alan tugging her along to a boat.

  “I would have made puppy-dog eyes until you agreed to go with me, anyway,” Jeremy said softly.

  She looked up at him. Despite the sunglasses, she could tell he was already making puppy-dog eyes. He was kind of the evil genius of puppy-dog eyes, actually.

  “You’re the one who invited me to go,” she said in what she hoped was a breezy manner. “Of course I’m going with you. Let’s get paddling.”