Riptide (Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances Book 2)

by Michelle Mankin

  “Ramon,” I praised as he entered me inch by delicious hot inch. “You feel so good.” He filled me completely. A perfect fit. Braced on his arms, his lips curving, his biceps flexing, he lowered his chest to mine and rolled his hips in wicked little circles that drove his cock deeper into me and made me mad with lust, especially when he began to whisper secrets to me in Spanish. I wrapped my legs around his ass and dug my heels into it, urging him to keep doing what he was doing and to do it harder and deeper.

  Heated need began to build with each deep, perfectly angled stroke. Every hot whisper stoked the flames higher and brought me closer to the release I sought. But it wasn’t enough. My skin was dotted with beads of perspiration, yet my climax flitted tantalizingly out of reach, though every part of my being strained for it. My desperate gaze met his. He seemed to know exactly what I needed. Curls falling into his dark eyes, he lowered his head, his mouth brushing across mine. His kiss was the stamp of approval I sought. Feathery soft at first it became harder, deeper and wetter making me all of those things too as his thrusts became stronger and wilder.

  “Ramon.” I tore my mouth from his starved for oxygen. “Oh, Ramon.” I moaned, chanting his name over and over again, shuddering as a violent climax ripped through me. He began to jackhammer his cock into me, his hips bucking unevenly, the hot jets of his release prolonging my ecstasy.

  “Mi cielo,” he groaned into my neck a moment afterward and collapsed his spent weight on top of me. His voice was the beacon I followed as I floated back to earth.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Ramon

  I didn’t sleep at all. I barely allowed her to, either. I took her again after tracing every warm soapy inch of her in the shower with my sudsy hands.

  This is not smart, Martinez, I told myself. Bringing her to your home, letting her sleep in your bed. I had never brought a chick into my house, though I’d had it for several years. My hookups were always elsewhere. I knew why. In the recesses of my fucked-up mind I had only thought one woman worthy to ever come here.

  Yet even as the dawn approached, I couldn’t summon the willpower to wake her and send her away. I stroked a hand over her hair, sifting my fingers through the silken layers.

  She sighed softly through the part in her lips, but slept on. She seemed so relaxed, her defenses down, the crease that so often appeared between her brows from the burdens she carried smoothed away. I stared at her greedily. A sharp emotion pierced my chest as I recalled how brave she had been to return to the pier last night and how loyal she was to do it for Simone, even though she knew what ghosts awaited her there.

  Was it only the baby she mourned?

  Would Patch’s specter always stand between us?

  Being with her was like nothing I had ever experienced. Every caress I planned for her enjoyment as well as my own. Every nuance of her responses was noted because I wanted most to please her. Her surrender, her pleasure, magnified my own.

  Not the detached baby making I knew she’d had in mind.

  Despite my intentions, my rules had done little to impede my growing dependence on Karen.

  But what to do about it?

  Should I end it now before I got more deeply entangled?

  Was that even a realistic possibility?

  * * *

  Karen

  I was dreaming. A decadent fantasy. My legs spread wide and draped over strong shoulders. Talented fingers stroking my pussy. Lips skimming my pulsing center.

  I popped my eyes open. I couldn’t have imagined that suction on…my…clit.

  A familiar head lifted from between my legs. Glossy curls tumbling into his dark eyes, his lips glistened from me, from his mouth being on me.

  “Ramon. What are you doing?

  He arched a brow. His sardonic lips curled. “Tasting you.”

  I shivered. His accent was thick. “But…I…this isn’t…it won’t…”

  “I know. But I want to.” He put his hand on the center of my chest between my breasts and pressed me backward. “And you’ll let me.”

  “Ok.” I cast my arms wide when he lowered his head again. I crushed the sheet between my fingers when I felt his probing tongue. I moaned when he kissed me. “Ramon that feels so…” I shuddered as he licked me, short light flicks, then longer deeper wetter strokes. My eyes rolled back in my head when he did the suction again. “I can’t stop…I’m gonna…”

  He groaned, and I felt the vibration deep inside of me. He did like doing this, and he was good at it. The best I’d ever had. I surrendered to him. Closing my eyes so I could savor each wet kiss, the gentle pulsating suction, the dangerous edge of his teeth, his deep growls, then the wild frenzy of his tongue as I started to come undone, my head thrashing back and forth on the pillow.

  * * *

  Sun streaming in the windows, the surface of the ocean glistening like fine crystal, I stared down at the man at my side. My eyes blurred on his form, almost too handsome to be real. Those dark curls, those sooty lashes on his cheeks, the shadow of stubble on his stubborn jaw, those chiseled muscles of deep bronze stark against the white sheets.

  He had given me so much pleasure.

  After years and years of deprivation.

  My body felt deliciously sore but hardly sated. But an emptiness gnawed in the pit of my stomach. It had grown as the sun rose, and the reality of my situation was exposed to the light of day.

  You are a fool, I told myself, even as I set the note beside him where he would find it when he awoke. You are going to get your heart smashed to smithereens, I thought as I tiptoed from the house with my shoes in my hand wearing my rumpled dress from the night before.

  But I had made my decision as I had watched him sleep. Maybe it seemed more possible because of the way he had given me pleasure without taking any of his own. Maybe when he had kissed me deeply afterward, and I had tasted the saltiness of my essence on his lips, I had seen in his eyes a sliver of something beautiful. I had begun to believe that maybe, just maybe in time, I could make him feel for me the way I felt about him. And if not, if not—then at least I would have the knowledge that I had tried.

  I had loved before and lost. After last night, I was not willing to let what I never expected to find again go without at least doing everything in my power to hold onto it.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Ramon

  Last night…last night was wonderful. You made me feel more alive, more beautiful, more real than I have ever felt before. I know it’s only pretend. I haven’t forgotten the rules. But I wanted you to know that you Ramon Martinez are a good man. You think the men in your family are destined to fail at relationships, but you’re wrong. There is a depth of kindness inside of you. I have experienced it too many times to count over the years we have been friends. Last night you gave me a glimpse of how it could be for you someday. Don’t give up on finding love. When you see your chance, take it.

  Your grateful friend,

  Karen

  * * *

  “New rule,” I told her, crossing my arms over my chest and stepping away from the secluded spot along the wall where I had been leaning and watching her while she surfed. “You don’t ever leave without saying goodbye.” I took her board. “And you need to tell me where you are going.”

  “Alright.” She smiled, even though I was doing my best impression of an authoritative ass. I considered whether she had a couple of screws loose in that sweet head of hers. The things she had written about me in her note certainly made me wonder.

  “I’m parked right next to the stairs.” She didn’t reply. I turned to look back at her. She was a few steps below me.

  “Huh?” Her gaze lifted, her eyes slightly unfocused. She’d been staring at my ass. I wondered if she was as turned on by my body as I was by hers. I didn’t think it was likely, but I hoped she had been recalling last night and planning for the next. I certainly was.

  I opened the tailgate of the Explorer and slid her board inside the trunk. She wiggled out of
her wet suit with a beach towel around her shoulders like a cape, emerging seconds later, as only a practiced surfer can do, wearing a pair of cutoffs and a tank over her bikini.

  “You really don’t have to drive me to work. It’s silly. I can walk. I’ve been doing it…”

  “I know, but I want to.” I leaned in. “And you’ll let me.”

  “Alright.” I watched a shiver roll through her that I knew had nothing to do with her wet hair and everything to do with remembering the way I had awoken her with my mouth on her and those exact words.

  She seemed a little unsteady as she climbed into the passenger side. I closed her door and felt a bit unfocused myself as I made plans for later.

  “Mind if I roll down the window?” she asked as I fired up the engine.

  “Go right ahead. Want me to turn off the air conditioning?”

  She nodded.

  “You cold?”

  “A little.”

  I reached into the backseat and passed her one of my shirts. She held it under her chin like a blanket as I drove. I caught her bringing it up to her face and inhaling deeply as I parked in front of the surf shop a couple of moments later.

  “Thanks for the lift.” She tried to pass the shirt back to me.

  “Keep it,” I told her my voice low. “In case you get cold again.”

  I came around and opened her door, leaning against the vehicle to watch her as she entered the building. By the time the door closed behind her, though it was crazy, I was already missing her. But I was smiling as I jogged to the driver’s side of the Explorer knowing that soon enough I’d have her in my arms again.

  * * *

  Karen

  “Do I need to ask who that shirt belongs to?”

  “It’s Ramon’s,” I replied a little dreamily, still floating on the afterglow of knowing that I got to see him again when I got off work and the fact that he obviously wanted to continue our agreement.

  “You spent the night with him?”

  Shit. I wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to know. I froze like a doe in a spotlight. Simone zeroed in on it.

  Her cell rang. “Hold that thought,” she told me sternly. “We’ll finish this conversation in a minute.” She swiped a finger across her cell. “Mona’s,” she answered. “Ash, hey.” A pause. “Yeah, she just came in.” Her eyes narrowed then widened. “We were just getting to that part.” Another pause. “Oh, he did, did he? That’s very interesting. Yes, I’m sure it’s not the first time. Vassel seems to like to stir things up. I know, I know, it’s a pissing contest thing. Yes, fine.” A short pause. “No, I’m not calling you back to tell you what she says. You are such a girl sometimes.” She clicked off her cell. “So…” Her brows rose to near her hair line. “Ramon told Ash you two are sleeping together. He laid Vassel out cold in the Deck Bar parking lot just now ‘cuz he says the guy was disrespecting you. Apparently, you have a bed partner and a defender.” She put her hands on her hips. “A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours, huh?”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Karen

  Simone flipped the shop sign to closed. “About damn time. This is an event worth celebrating. Let’s go get a drink. I’m buying and you’re telling me everything.” She stressed and drew out the first syllable of the word. Linking arms, we took the sidewalk toward the waterfront and turned right at the OB Hotel. While our flip flops snapped on the pavement, I tried to decide how much to revel to her. Should I pretend? Or should I tell her the truth the way I wanted to? I craved her counsel. I had that fluttery uncertain yet hopeful feeling like way back in high school when we would sit together in the cafeteria and try to figure out if a boy I liked felt the same about me. I had little recent basis of comparison. Dominic had been very straightforward and upfront about his interest in me from the beginning. With Ramon and our complicated arrangement, it was anything but certain how he truly felt about me. But if I told Simone the true nature of the relationship between us, could she keep my secret? I didn’t want just anyone to know what was going on. Besides, the thought of divulging those details seemed like a betrayal of Ramon’s trust somehow.

  “Hey, isn’t that our Lakers girl?” Simone queried, bumping me out of my thoughts.

  I turned my head in the direction my friend pointed. It was her for sure, sorting through the trash can in front of the Deck Bar. I took a couple of steps toward her. Everyone had told me what she had done. Who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t pushed me out of the way of that car? I had been wanting to thank her, but I hadn’t seen her since the accident.

  “Hey!” Ash yelled suddenly. Our Lakers girl’s head snapped up. As he jogged toward her, she dropped the aluminum cans she had fished out. They clattered as they hit the concrete. Picking up her long skirts, she took off in the opposite direction from him. I had to jump out of the way to keep from being plowed over as she ran past me. Having never been that close to her, I found it odd that though her face seemed to be covered in a thick layer of grime yet she didn’t smell bad. I even caught a whiff of a designer fragrance of some sort. My brow scrunched as I turned to watch her retreating form. She disappeared down a side street that led away from the waterfront, the Dirt Dogs’ drummer in hot pursuit.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Simone. “Why is Ash chasing her?”

  “Same reason you’ve been looking for her. To thank her. Ramon wants to give her a reward but she keeps running away like that whenever anybody gets near her.”

  “That’s weird. Does she think she did something wrong? That maybe we blame her?”

  “Who knows? We’d have to get closer than we’ve been able to get in order to find out. We’re all intrigued by her, but Ash is obsessed. The more she runs, the more determined he is to catch her. He doesn’t have it in him to back down from a challenge. Linc says he’s been going into the studio earlier and earlier each morning because that’s where she’s been spotted most often.”

  Puzzled by the mystery the Lakers girl represented, I moved my feet in sync with my friend as she steered me up the steps to the main level of the Deck Bar.

  We stopped side by side at the top of the stairs. The hostess on duty grumbled but grabbed some menus and took us to one of the pub high tops that looked like it had recently been cleaned. She took our orders, and I realized she had put us at the same table Ramon and I had sat at the night he caught me, but my thoughts didn’t have a chance to linger there as my blood turned ice cold. I was a fool. A gullible one. One who believed having sex with someone meant something. One who believed one night could change everything. I wanted to crawl under the table and hide. Ramon sat at the bar. He wasn’t alone. A smoking hot blonde leaned against the bar beside him. He had his hand beside her manicured one and from their body language it was obvious they weren’t strangers. My stomach churned. Simone hadn’t seen them yet. She was too focused on me.

  “So what happened?” Simone asked. “With Ramon last night?”

  I barely registered the question. I couldn’t help but stare at sexy Dirt Dogs’ guitarist. He leaned closer to the blonde, whispering something in her ear that seemed to amuse her.

  “We…I…” I fumbled for words to describe a night with Ramon that had no doubt meant so much more to me than it had to him. Staring down at my white knuckled grip on the table tight, I told her. “I slept with him. More than once.” I dropped my head onto my hands.

  “Well, he’s sexy as sin. You guys have a history and some serious chemistry.” She knocked on my head with her knuckles. “Why are you acting like this is a bad thing?”

  “Because,” I lifted my head and inclined it toward the bar. “I don’t know how to be just a hookup.” And because, I thought to myself. He means everything to me.

  “Son of a bitch,” she cursed, starting to rise from her chair.

  “Don’t.” I put my hand in her arm. “We have an understanding. We’re not exclusive. It’s ok.”

  “Your face doesn’t say ok to me, Karen.”

  “Tha
t’s my own fault, not his. He didn’t mislead me.” Seeing him with another woman only hours after I had left his bed had me reeling. The waitress arrived with our drinks. Simone peered thoughtfully at my club soda. I decided to redirect our conversation into another subject other than my pathetic obsession with Ramon. “I don’t drink anymore. It got to be a habit instead of a choice.”

  “Oh honey, why didn’t you tell me before now?”

  “I was ashamed.” A bright sheen glassed my eyes. My whole life was a wreck of my own making.

  “It’s no crime to fall down. We all do. I did, and you helped me get back up and on my feet again. Our struggles make us stronger. They teach us things we can pass on to encourage each other. Right?

  “Yeah.” I squeezed her fingers, avoiding looking at the bar again, though my heart felt like it was splitting down the middle. “So what happened with you and Linc after the party?”

  “Well, my man has skills.” She grinned. “It seems like he feels the need to make up for the years we lost one night at a time. Did I tell you about what he did with the leash on his board…”

  “Karen.” I looked up, a pathetic thrill shooting through me from his deep voice speaking my name like I was significant to him.

  “Ramon. Hey.” My reply sounded casual, but inside I was anything but as I lifted my gaze and drowned in his decadent one. I forced a smile.

  “Simone,” he acknowledged without even looking away from me. “What are you two doing here?”

  “Simone closed shop early. She wanted to talk.” I pretended that I hadn’t seen him chatting up his newest indulgence within hours of being intimate with me. “What’s up with you?”