by Alison Paige
“You expecting someone else?”
“You were sleeping.”
“’Til someone snooped around my window.”
Kate dropped her gaze to see he held her robe balled in his hands. “I’m going to need that.”
Joe looked at the robe and back to Kate. “I figured. You want company?”
“I’m naked.”
“I figured.”
A tremble of awareness rippled through her, warmed her sex. “We call this Bare Lake. And it’s got nothing to do with the animal. It’s a rule.”
“I figured.” He dropped her robe closer to the ladder on the right and toed off his sneakers.
Kate’s heart skipped, the pace quickening, her stomach pulling tight. Three days earlier the view would’ve been far less enjoyable. The moon tonight was two days ’til full. The sky was clear and sparkling with stars and Joe’s lean body was basked in silvery light.
He gathered the hem of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head stretching all the long muscles of his torso. He dropped the shirt without looking then worked his belt and jeans. The man was definitely in shape, but that body didn’t come from hours in a gym.
The planes of his frame were round and thick. His belly flat, with horizontal shadows defining his abs. He wasn’t cut or ripped, but he looked powerful, like a man who used his body the way it’d been designed to be used.
Joe’s thumbs hooked on the waistband of his jeans and shoved them down past the narrow angular slope of his hips. She couldn’t see the dark strip of curls she knew trailed from his navel to his cock, but the moment his sex was free, it sprang up, thick and ready.
Kate swallowed convulsively, her gaze drawn to the spot. Her sex muscles flexed with the memory of that plump velvet head pressing through the outer lips of her pussy, the fat shaft stretching her wide, filling her. When he turned to toss his jeans with his T-shirt, she could almost see the ropey veins that felt so wondrous inside her, his heavy sac nestled between his thighs.
“How deep?”
All the way. “Huh?”
“Can I dive?”
She nodded then realized he might not be able to see the gesture. “Yeah.”
He sprang off the end of the dock, piercing the water like a needle through silk. He came up several feet out and began swimming toward the far end of the lake. By the time Kate caught up to him, he stood waist deep along the incline to the shore, arms loose at his sides.
Kate put her feet down, squished her toes along the soft lake floor, knees bent, breasts concealed beneath the surface.
“Shy?” he asked with a raised brow.
She realized he was waiting for her to stand.
So she did. “Not in the least.”
His gaze dropped to her breasts. He stared at her, male appreciation showing in the easy expression of his face. The focused attention pulled her nipples tighter, making her acutely aware of their weight, of the cool air tickling over the sensitive flesh.
Her pussy flexed beneath the water, warming despite the chill of the lake. He raked his hair back from his face, black and sleek against his head, the water pulling the waves straight.
The head of his cock broke the surface in front him, his body clearly unaffected by the chill of the water. It was gone a moment later as he moved toward her, the water a few inches deeper where she stood. His hands went to her breasts, fingers tracing the bottom curve of each, feathering up to pinch her nipples.
“You’re sexy as hell, Kate. I can’t stop thinking about being inside you.” He fondled her as he spoke, opening his hands on her breasts so her erect pebbles pressed against his palms, then drawing back so his fingers traced along the sides and back up to pinch her nipples again.
She found herself arching into him each time. “I know what you mean.”
Heat flooded through her, arousal shaking her breath, humming along her skin. God, she wanted this. She wanted to feel his thick cock inside her again, stretching her pussy, filling her perfectly.
Yes, she wanted more. She wanted his heart and mind. But right now, with his hands touching the most sensitive parts of her body, his sweet scent misting the air, his body thick and hungry for hers, right now she wanted sex most of all.
He took her hips in his hands, pulled her to him so her breasts pressed against his chest, and his cock squeezed against her belly, warm and hard. She wiggled, enjoying the way his breath caught as his thick shaft rolled between their bodies.
He kissed her hard and fast, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, his lungs stealing her breath. Then he stopped. “You were wrong. I’m not a camper, I’m a fellow employee.” He kissed her again, his lips brushing hers when he spoke. “You got rules against employees fucking?”
Kate had to force her eyes open, her mind doped and sluggish on lust. “Uh, no. Not one.”
“Right.” His knees bent as he scooped her up, lifting her to his waist.
Kate wrapped her legs and arms around him, clinging as he carried her deeper, his cock brushing against her bottom. The moment the watered buoyed her weight he stopped and took her hips in his hands again.
“Can you feel my cock against you?”
Kate nodded. “Yes.”
He lifted her, shifting his hips, so the plump head pressed along the lips of her pussy. “I can feel your heat even through the water. I think you’re warming the lake.”
“That’s your doing.” She watched his smile stretch, so male, so sexy.
“Right.” His fingers gripped firmer and he moved her into perfect alignment. The soft head of his cock parted her lips, cool water lapped at her entrance before he filled her.
She wiggled, her muscles flexing, trying to draw him in, but Joe didn’t budge. Her body tightened, anticipation aching through her sex, clenching her chest. “Joe, I want you inside me. I want it now.”
“You sure?”
“Fuck, yes. Do it.”
Without another moment’s hesitation Joe pulled her body down his shaft, driving himself deep inside her. Kate gasped, white-hot pleasure exploding through her body. The water around their bodies warmed with their heat and Joe held her tight, impaled on his cock.
“I want to come inside you,” he said before she opened her eyes. “I’m clean. Are you on—”
“The pill? Yeah.”
His brow smoothed, not completely but enough that he looked more turned-on than pained. His fingers flexed on her waist, repositioning, and he slowly lifted her, sweet friction sliding her pussy up his shaft. Ropy veins on his cock rippled through the tight squeeze of her walls making her close her eyes, enjoying the draw.
The fat head reached her opening, stretching her more than the shaft. Her muscles pulsed and Joe closed his eyes, his mouth lax. Kate wiggled again and he opened his eyes, smiling wicked and sexy.
Kate readied herself for the ride. She held his arms, her hands small over the tight bulge of his biceps.
He started slow, drawing her body down his cock, rocking his hips in to meet her, then again and again. Each thrust came harder, faster. Within seconds the pace quickened. Kate’s nails bit into his skin, his cock filling her, stretching her, ramming so deep and full there wasn’t an inch of her sex left wanting.
Her flesh hummed with sensation, each thrust sending a jolt of tingling pleasure along her nerves, traveling to every corner of her being. Their bodies slid easily in and out of each other, the cool water making the passage maddeningly slick, the fat length of Joe’s cock more than enough to churn the delicious friction.
She leaned back, holding the backs of his arms, so he drove his cock almost straight into her. Pressure built inside her, each of his thrusts adding to the last, driving her closer, closer. She held her breath, staved off the tempting release, forcing the sweet anticipation to build and build. She was almost there, the force of her need squeezing in around her, tightening her lungs, curling her toes, pulling her belly. Then it broke free.
“Ohgod…” Liquid heat gushed through her body, rapid pulses shudd
ering through her pussy. The water went hot between them and Kate’s mind swam thoughtless in the exquisite satisfaction.
“Kate.” Joe’s pace didn’t falter, his hands driving her body up and down his cock, faster, faster. “God, what you do to me. I can’t… I’m, I’m gonna come.”
The jarring thrusts churned the water, splashing over her breasts, adding an intense contrast to the rolling waves of her orgasm. A new tightening squeezed through her sex, a fresh tingle that built to a quick roaring need, matching the frantic pace of his thrusts. Her body timed it perfectly, the explosion quaking through her at the very moment his restraint let go.
“Fuck, yes!” Joe’s voice echoed off the forest, his hips still pumping into her, milking every ounce of friction. He slowed, rocking to a gradual stop like the final swings of a pendulum.
They stilled and Kate allowed Joe to gather her to his chest, cradling her in his arms as his cock slipped from her sex. She nestled her head under his chin, his chest warm against her cheek, watching the ripple of waves from their actions lap the shore.
She could hear his heartbeat, listened as it found a normal rhythm. God, she could lose herself in the warmth and safety of his arms. The gentleness of his embrace, so tender it warmed her heart. She felt…special. If it could only last a little while longer.
“Kate.” His voice was soft, though it rumbled through his chest against her ear. His hand stroked the back of her head, the other snug around her back. “You okay?”
Okay? Okay with being a fuck buddy? Okay with never being the girl they take home to Mom? Okay with wanting more than a late-night booty-call and knowing as great as they are together he’ll never see her as anything else?
“I’m okay.” Kate let her legs slip down over his hips. Her feet squished into the lake floor and she stepped back. The water was suddenly icy cold. “Yeah. I’m great.”
Chapter Seven
“Where we going?”
Kate knew it was Joe on Sunshine trotting up behind her the moment she’d heard the hurried hoof steps.
The man was certainly dedicated to his job. From the second she found him leaning against the newel post at the bottom of her porch steps this morning, he hadn’t left her side. Casual and sexy in his sneakers and faded jeans, the waves of his shiny hair brushing the collar of a snug Meatloaf concert T-shirt, he’d been one step behind her all day.
If she didn’t know better she might mistake his focused attention for a deeper, more meaningful interest. She didn’t want to think about it. If she thought about it her silly fairytale hopes would get away from her.
Why’d he have to be so easy to talk to, so down to earth, so…perfect? She liked him more than she should already. Having him around felt nice, natural and way too easy to get used to. If he’d spent the night like he’d hinted he wanted to when they got back from the lake, she’d have been using words like “boyfriend” and “love” in no time.
“Going to check on a pregnant mare out in the south pasture.” Kate didn’t stop or even look back at him. “She’s at nine months. I like to keep tabs.”
“Mind if I tag along?” He slowed Sunshine when her nose was even with Kate’s horse, Wizard.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Only if your answer is yes.”
She threw him a sideways glance, her smile more heartfelt than she knew was good for her. “Guess it’s good I packed lunch for two.”
“Kate,” someone called from the stables. “Wait up, Kate.”
She looked over her shoulder.
Eddy reminded her of Jack in The Nightmare Before Christmas, spindly arms and legs, lean body, even more so the way he was flailing his boney arms to get her attention. His long stride shrank the distance between them in seconds.
“What’s up, Eddy?” She stopped Wizard and Joe turned Sunshine around, his dark eyes narrowing on the young man.
“You…you…” Eddy dropped his hands to his knees, panting. After a moment he stood, holding his side, grimacing. He swallowed. “You said we’d do the camper evaluations today.”
He jabbed at the bridge of his gold, wire-framed glasses, shoving them farther up his nose only to have them slip right back to where they’d been. His long bangs, the color of dirty mop water, clung to his eyelashes behind his lenses making him blink, though he did nothing to brush them from his eyes.
His pockmarked face was flush from his run, and his mouth gaped open trying to catch his breath. Saliva made his thin lips shiny.
“Can it wait one more day?” Kate asked. Eddy was one of the first campers to come through Hickory Hills City Camp years ago. And now that he’d gone on to college Kate made special exceptions for his needy nature.
“That’s what you said last time. I have to have this project for my psych class.” Eddy glanced at Joe. “Haven’t you spent enough time with him?”
“I’m going out to check on Foxy. Joe’s keeping me company.” She wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to explain to Eddy, but there was nothing to hide and it seemed to relax the tight line of his shoulders.
“Well, if I don’t get the evaluations done before the end of the week, it’ll screw up the whole project.”
“Maybe Clayton could—”
“No.” Eddy propped his hands on his narrow hips, his tone sharp. “Clayton doesn’t notice things the way you do. He’s not as…smart, or sensitive, or understanding. No. It has to be you. You helped me do the initial evaluations. You have to help me do the follow-up. Do you want me to fail?”
“Of course not. But I—”
“I’ll check on the horse,” Joe said. “Go help Whining Willy there. You can pay me back with dinner. Just the two of us.”
Kate turned to Joe. The thin scar over his lip was nearly invisible in his crooked smile, the look in his dark eyes, intimate. A warm tingle shimmied down her spine and pooled hot between her legs, making her panties suddenly moist.
Judging by that look the only thing Joe would want on their private dinner menu was her. Even better.
“Aw, geez-o-pete’s. Never mind,” Eddy said. “If it’s that big’a deal forget it. I don’t want you to owe him because of me. But we gotta do it soon or it’ll blow my whole project.”
“You sure?” Kate said.
Eddy nodded, his head low. He kicked the gravel as he turned and headed back to the stables.
“Thanks, Eddy,” she called after him. “You’re a sweetie.”
He gave a halfhearted wave but didn’t stop his dejected retreat.
She looked to Joe who was watching Eddy. “Guess I won’t owe you dinner after all.”
Those dark eyes swung to her and a fresh wash of heat flooded through her body.
He winked. “For now.”
The south pasture was a mile out and the herd of six took time to find. Foxy’s pregnancy seemed to be progressing normally. Kate and Joe checked a few breaks in the fence she’d sent workers out to fix recently and then finally stopped for lunch. The apple tree Kate chose next to the pasture fence was the same one she’d eaten lunch under with Clayton and his dad a hundred times before. But it had never seemed so isolated, so perfectly romantic.
She tied Wizard to the thick wood rail and Joe tied Sunshine beside her. The forty-foot span of leafy tree limbs threw plenty of shade for both man and beast. Kate’s belly somersaulted. This was the first they’d been totally alone since last night and the possibilities sent her nerves jittering. She had to think of something else. Anything else.
“Did you always want to be a cop?” She yanked the two paper-sack lunches and canteens of water from the saddlebag. She handed one of each to Joe and settled under the shady tree next to him.
“No. That was Riley’s doing.” Joe leaned back against the tree, his T-shirt molding to the solid muscles of his chest and stomach.
“Riley?”
“Yeah. The cop who busted me for jackin’ cars when I was a kid.”
Kate choked on her swig of water and wiped her mouth with the back of her han
d. “You were a car thief?”
He looked askance at her, his brow tight. “Yeah.”
Joe took a bite of his PB&J sandwich and then another. He bent his leg and draped his arm over his knee. Staring out over the open hills and valleys of the horse pasture, his expression darkened as though embarrassed by his checkered past.
“I got busted for shoplifting when I was fourteen,” Kate said. “Twice.”
Joe wasn’t the only one who danced on the wrong side of the law for a time. One brow high, he turned his chin toward her, a slanted smile slashing his lips. “For thrills or to get back at Daddy?”
This time it was Kate who glanced away, embarrassed. She shrugged. “Both, I guess. My dad bought me from my mother for the low, low price of ten thousand dollars and a ticket to American citizenship. I was never anything more than a possession to him. My father’s all about things he can buy. I could’ve had anything I wanted. The man’s loaded.”
“But you didn’t want anything money could buy.” Joe made it more a statement than a question.
The hairs at the nape of her neck bristled. She could feel him watching her, reading her. She wouldn’t look at him.
She gave a half-laugh, bitter, but she tried to sound unaffected. “I guess I was proving I didn’t need his money. The only times he really saw me were when he came down to the police station to bail me out. Sometimes I wonder if I got caught on purpose just so…”
She wouldn’t finish the thought. She knew the answer. Yes. She would’ve done anything to get her father’s attention. That was a long time ago.
Silence settled between them for several seconds, Kate nibbling on her sandwich, Joe inhaling his.
“He’s your biological father?” Joe asked.
“Yeah. My mom was one of his maids. I have family in Mexico. Somewhere.”
“That why you ran away? To hurt your dad?”
Kate shook her head, swallowing. “No. I don’t give a shit about him. I wanted to find my mom. I searched for three years. The Thorndikes helped. They found out my dad had been paying people to feed me false information. I don’t know why he didn’t want me to find her. But he made damn sure I couldn’t. I had to get away from him. So I did. Edward Mathers is out of my life.”