by Melody Anne
She chuckled. “Maybe it was that, too,” she admitted.
“Then you must be punished.”
Before she realized what was happening, Nick had her pinned beneath him on the blanket. He straddled her waist and gripped her hands over her head. The box of chocolates tipped over, spilling out on the blanket. She gasped at the injustice of wasted candy.
“Stop it right now, Nick,” she said as she tried to break free.
“I don’t think so,” he said, a wicked smile lighting up his face. It took her breath away. Though he’d been talking about being young forever, the thoughts she was feeling with his warm body holding her down were anything but childish.
“I’m warning you that if you don’t let me go within the next few seconds, I’m going to have to hurt you,” she said, trying to sound stern.
With his free hand, he moved to her waist and she inhaled sharply. His touch against her skin was enough to drive her mad. She’d managed to keep her distance from him for the past couple weeks, but tonight she’d let down her guard. That hadn’t been smart. But for the life of her she couldn’t exactly figure out why that was.
Just when she thought he was about to caress her, his fingers dug into her side. Within seconds, squeals of laughter were escaping her throat as he tickled her.
“What are you doing?” she gasped in between squeals as she tried to buck him off her. Nick was stronger than he’d been when she’d first arrived. If he didn’t release her, there was no way she was going anywhere.
“I’m trying to help you find your inner child,” he told her.
He laughed with her as the torture continued, his fingers finding every sensitive place on her body. She squirmed beneath him, but he showed no mercy. Finally, when she couldn’t breathe anymore, he relented.
“Do you admit it’s more fun to never grow up?” he asked.
“No,” she said. He reached toward her again. “I mean, yes, yes,” she yelled.
He laughed and backed up, allowing her to scramble away from him. Chloe wouldn’t admit it to him, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed that hard. He might just have a point with what he’d been saying. Then again, it might also be that she’d consumed too much wine.
“We really should get back,” she told him. Though she hated to see the night end, it was late and they had a busy day of therapy starting in the morning.
“Want to have a sleepover?” he asked with a wink. She stood up quickly and smiled down at him.
“I don’t think so,” she said, but there wasn’t any bite to her words. “How deep is this water?” she asked as she looked out at the calm blackness.
“Deep enough for fishing and swimming,” he said. She could see he was struggling to get to his feet without showing her it caused him pain.
“I should test it out before I leave,” she said. She turned away to give him the privacy he deserved. He didn’t say anything as he stood, but she was sure he appreciated the gesture. He walked over and stood next to her at the edge of the dock.
“It’s cold, but refreshing,” he told her. He grabbed her arm and tipped her like he was going to push her in. She squealed and reacted fast, stepping back and shoving.
In horror, Chloe watched Nick lose his balance as he favored his injured knee. She was too slow when she reached for him, and almost in slow motion, he tumbled over the side of the dock, a loud splash telling her the moment he hit the water. She was too stunned to move as she watched him pop back up, his eyes wide, his teeth clenched. A shiver raced through him.
“Okay, it’s a bit more than cold,” he said, his teeth chattering.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, horrified by what she’d done. “Is your leg okay?” If she’d caused him further injury, she would never forgive herself.
“I can’t feel it so I’m assuming it’s fine,” he said as he came closer to the dock.
“You shouldn’t have pushed me. I just reacted,” she scolded him.
“Good to know.” He then grinned at her. “Want to join me? Now that I’m used to the water, a night swim seems like an excellent idea.
“Um, no way,” she said. “I was thinking about a swim in the middle of the day when it’s nice and hot out.”
He gave her a grin that she was beginning to realize meant trouble. She took a step back. Suddenly his face changed, and he looked injured and weak.
“I don’t think I can get out on my own,” he said, sounding forlorn.
“Oh, don’t be a baby. I see you get out of the pool all the time,” she said. He started to sink.
“Nick . . . Nick!” Screaming as his head went under, she dropped to her knees and reached out for him.
That was her first and last mistake. Like a shot, he jumped back up and grabbed her hand. It didn’t take much before he had her flying through the air, landing in the water right next to him.
Spluttering as she surfaced, Chloe was seriously worried her limbs might break off.
“This is freezing,” she said in a chatter, the words drawn out in her agony. “Not swimmable even when it’s hot out.”
Nick tugged her into his arms, and that’s when she realized the water only came up to their chests. He’d been faking it the whole time to get her to the edge of the dock so he could have his revenge. If she believed in payback, he’d be in serious trouble. But unlike him, she was an adult and didn’t stoop to such measures.
She tried to pull away, but he yanked her into his arms, wrapping himself around her tightly, pressing her body to his chest. Unbelievably, it was warm. Instead of trying to pull away, she pressed closer to him.
“Our date can’t end without a kiss,” he said. He didn’t give her time to think, simply bent his head and took her breath away.
The kiss was consuming as he traced her lips before pushing inside her mouth and taking possession of her. He reached down and clasped her butt, tugging her against his body. She was shocked when she felt his thickness pressing into her. With the temperature of the water, she wouldn’t have thought he’d be able to grow excited.
He devoured her mouth and she fell into him, forgetting all the reasons why they shouldn’t be kissing, touching, groping each other.
One hand gripped her hair, and he pulled her more tightly to him, taking possession of her mouth. She forgot about the cold water enveloping them, and simply allowed herself to get lost in his embrace. But when a shiver wracked her body, he pulled back, reluctance written all over his face.
“I picked the wrong time to start this,” he said, his fingers caressing her cheek. “As soon as we climb from this water, you’ll put your wall back up and run away.”
She wanted to lean forward, connect their lips again, and prove him wrong. But he was right. Tugging against his hold, she almost regretted it when he released her. No matter how much she might want to take his advice and be a kid, that wasn’t who she was.
The heat of his kiss stayed with her as she exited the water and stepped up on the dock. But the moment the wind touched her wet skin, she shivered uncontrollably. Nick quickly joined her and grabbed the blanket, draping it over her shoulders.
“You need this,” she said, but she couldn’t push it off her. He turned off the fire and lanterns and left the rest of their picnic for them to get another day.
“How about you share it with me, since you did push me in?” he suggested. He didn’t just make her do it, though. He was letting the choice be hers. She should just give the blanket to him, but she didn’t want to let it go.
Not looking him in the eyes, she opened one arm, and he climbed in beside her before slipping his arm around her back and tugging on his end of the blanket with his other hand. They walked slowly back to the house without saying another word.
When he stayed next to her while she moved to her bedroom door, she thought of a million things she wanted to say to him. Had he been drinking the night he’d flown her brother out into a storm? Did he feel regrets? Did he have so much money he thought he could d
o whatever he wanted? She wanted to ask him flat out if he’d killed her brother.
But she asked nothing. Instead, she dropped the blanket, turned the knob on her bedroom door, and slipped inside. She regretted her decision the rest of the night as she lay in bed alone and aching. She finally did drift off to sleep, but then her dreams were filled with Nick, and the two of them were certainly not acting like children.
When her phone rang first thing in the morning and she saw it was her father calling, she let it go to voice mail. Yes, she knew she would face his wrath for that sin against him, but she didn’t care. Her emotions were too unsettled, and she couldn’t try to figure them out enough to take a call from her father.
If Chloe didn’t pull herself together fast, it might just be her being the one locked up instead of Hunter. As it was, he had a good case against her professional ethics for what she planned on doing. He had a right to his privacy just as he had a right to fair medical treatment.
Chloe wanted to give up on all of this. But she couldn’t exactly do that. So instead, she buried the problems again―just as she’d been doing for the past couple weeks. Maybe someday it would all be buried so deep, there would be no chance of someone coming along and digging it back up.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Nick was absolutely positive that he was going to die. He was sure of it. Even in the ocean with no way of knowing whether he would be rescued he hadn’t feared death like he did at this particular moment. His life was flashing before his eyes, and he only hoped the suffering would stop and it would happen quickly.
Leaning his head against the wall of the shower, he turned the water to cold and began counting. He reached a hundred, then five hundred, then a thousand. His body was turning blue, and only then did the swelling in his aching shaft begin to go down.
He would love to be able to say that Chloe was a tease, but he knew that wasn’t the case. She had made it more than clear she didn’t want a relationship―and he supposed that meant sex was off the table. His body just wasn’t getting that particular message. He wished with all his might that she would change her mind, but the woman was sticking to her guns, and he was living in a constant state of arousal.
The other night he’d even tried to please himself. That hadn’t worked out too well for him. He wanted her hands and mouth on him. He wanted to be slipping deep within her folds. He wanted her wrapped around him. And it seemed nothing else was going to do but exactly that.
Until she decided to give in to the desire surrounding them both, his life was in danger. He wondered if he could explain that to her in a way she would sympathize with. He somehow doubted it, though it seemed perfectly reasonable to him.
Climbing from the shower, he toweled off, his hardness only partially deflated. Putting on a pair of underwear was painful, and the sweats that went on next felt way too constricting. But Nick had been in aroused states before. He would get through it―or maybe not, he thought with a grimace as he stepped into the kitchen and found Chloe with her back to him, her perfume lingering in the air.
Maybe her entire goal was to off him? That seemed to make a lot of sense actually. No normal woman would resist her desires so completely. He was sure of it. Just the sight and smell of her had his body pulsing painfully. He had visions of walking up behind her, ripping off her sexy scrubs, and thrusting deep inside her until she was screaming his name.
Those thoughts weren’t helping his current predicament in the least. He groaned low in his throat, and she must have heard the sound because she spun around and searched his face.
“How are you feeling this evening?” she asked as she sipped on a glass of milk. She had her evening ritual, he had his, but often they shared a drink before they each headed off to bed so it gave them an excuse to talk over the therapy they’d accomplished earlier.
He scowled at her, which she seemed offended by. “Like shit,” he said. He took the cup she held out to him with a bit more force than necessary, but he didn’t feel like apologizing. She sure wasn’t sympathetic to his plight.
“Is it your knee?”
“Think higher,” he snapped.
“Your ribs?” She truly did sound concerned. He should give her a break. He was in too bad a mood to do that.
“Lower,” he grumbled.
Her eyes searched over his body, which made him pulse even harder. He heard her gasp, and he nearly smiled. He was sure nothing was hidden from her view, as hard as he was. He leaned against the counter and sipped his juice and let her take in his condition.
“Oh, well, I . . . um . . .” She stopped trying to speak and turned away from him.
Nick’s mood improved, but barely.
“Is there a problem, doc?” he asked. If he was in pain, then she might as well know it was her inflicting it.
“No, not at all. We had a long day today, and tomorrow it will be even harder,” she said, her cheeks flushing at her choice of words, though she tried to pretend she hadn’t slipped. She tried adding an extra edge of sternness to her tone, but her voice was coming out too husky for her to manage it.
“I certainly have a problem that I’m pretty sure only you can fix,” he said.
She whipped around and glared at him. Her eyes remained on his face, no longer searching for injuries. He snickered before taking another sip of juice. Damn, he wanted her.
“It appears as if the current problem you’re having is no concern of mine,” she said tartly.
“Believe me, doc, my situation is all about you,” he said. Without even caring, he reached down and squeezed himself, trying to relieve some of the pressure. It didn’t help.
Her gaze snapped downward at his bold movement before going back to his face. The withering look she sent him should have melted him on the spot.
“You’re a pig,” she told him.
“I want you,” he replied.
“Well . . . find someone else.”
They glared at each other for several moments before he boxed her in against the counter. “Is that really what you want, doc? Do you want me to go find some other woman and kiss her like this?” he asked before leaning down and sucking on her neck. She gasped but didn’t push him away. “Or like this?” His teeth nipped her skin before his tongue came out and soothed the spot.
Next he pressed his body to hers, letting her feel his thickness pushing against her stomach. “Do you want me to slide inside another woman, make her scream my name over and over again?” he whispered in her ear before his tongue traced it. She shuddered in his arms.
“I don’t care,” she said in a little pant that betrayed her words.
“I think you’re lying. I think you want me to take you hard and fast, and then slow and long. I think you want to taste my lips while I’m thrusting inside your tight, wet body. I think you dream about me and wake up aching. I think you want this as badly as I do, but you’re too afraid to admit it,” he challenged her.
Leaning back, he looked into her smoky eyes before he groaned and leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. Reaching behind her, he squeezed her ass as he lifted her to her toes and pressed himself against her sweet center. He wanted their clothes gone, he wanted to do this right.
“Nick,” she sighed. He wasn’t sure if it was a protest or not, but unless she pushed him away, he wasn’t going anywhere.
With a low growl, he grabbed her hips and lifted her to the counter before slipping inside her open thighs. He tugged her forward and rubbed himself against her covered core. It was almost enough to make him explode in his pants.
Hell, that would give him enough relief to last at least a few hours. Might be worth it just to not have to feel the constant throbbing. One hand holding her against him, he buried the other in her hair, ripping out her rubber band and inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo as it drifted over him.
He nibbled on her bottom lip before deepening the kiss, before diving inside her mouth like he wanted to dive into her hot center. “Just say yes,” he practically begge
d. She whimpered in his arms as she pressed against him.
“Nick,” she said, his name coming out a moan.
“Let me love you,” he demanded before kissing her lips again. He took her hand from his hip and slowly slid it beneath the waistband of his sweats. Her fingers caressed his skin as he prodded her hand toward his thickness. He released his hold on her and nearly shouted with joy when she didn’t pull it from his pants.
He slipped his fingers inside her shirt and quickly unclasped her bra, his fingers tracing her hard nipples. She moaned against his lips, and he greedily drank the sound. She flexed her fingers around his girth, and he was a bit worried he’d never make it inside her. He might come in his pants he was so damn turned on. The slightest of touches from her had him falling over the edge, getting closer and closer to paradise.
“Nick . . .” This time the sound came out almost like a protest. No! They needed this, both of them needed this more than they needed oxygen. She had to admit that or he feared he truly would die.
“Just let me love you,” he pleaded. He pulled back to look into her eyes. “We both want it. There’s nothing wrong with taking what we need.”
She looked unsure so he kissed her again, a long, slow kiss. She squeezed his thickness and he dripped on her fingers. She ran her thumb over his head, and he wanted to tear open her scrubs.
“Please,” he begged. Never had Nick begged a woman, but he was more than willing to do so now. He would get down on his knees if she wanted him to. He needed to worship her body.
Her eyes glazed over as he waited for her answer. She pulled her fingers away and cupped his cheek. “We really shouldn’t,” she said, but to him it sounded like she was conceding.
“But we will,” he told her. He didn’t want to make it a question.
“Yes, Nick . . .” He felt utter joy at her words, and just as he was getting ready to respond . . . they were interrupted by the doorbell. Chloe’s eyes widened as her head whipped in the direction of the front door. She tried to break free of him.