by Jess Dee
Relentless in his intent, he climbed on the lounger, a leg on either side of her, and tickled. She instinctively rolled into a ball, but the strategic maneuver caused problems of its own. In this position, she rubbed against wet, rock-hard legs, sending shock waves reeling through her. She didn’t know which torture was worse—his tickling or his touch.
A plan of attack was necessary, but what could she do? Thump him? Jump him? “Please…” she begged instead. “I can’t take it anymore.”
“Are you admitting defeat?”
“Never.” I’d consider it if you’d kiss me.
Drops of water splashed down onto her bikini top as he bent over her. His chest was so near. “Defeat?” His breath was warm on her face.
All she needed to do was arch her back and her breasts would press against him. “Uh-uh.” Oh, how her nipples ached for contact.
He tickled her again, his arm brushing against the side of her breast.
A flame ignited inside her. “Okay, okay,” she relented. “I admit defeat.” Now kiss me.
“Good. Let that be a lesson to you.” He stared down at her, exultant in his conquest, his mouth an inch from hers.
“Bully.” Her voice lacked conviction, the word coming out as a soft sigh.
He held her gaze for a second too long. Blood roared in her ears. Kiss me. Now. Nervously, she flicked her tongue out and ran it along her lower lip.
A knowing smile touched the corner of his mouth, an arrogant, sexy smile. It caught Amy in her belly and sent shivers of awareness coursing through her. Her swim had done nothing to dampen her arousal. In fact, it had the opposite effect. She was so aware of Daniel, his body, his closeness, she debated the wisdom of wrapping her legs around his waist, arching her hips and pressing herself against his cock.
He didn’t give her a chance. One last wicked smile and he pushed off the lounger and stood up.
Disappointment and frustration coursed through her. Despite the heated air, she was cold. Her smile felt empty and lifeless. Shit. What was the point of all this fooling around? Was he just teasing her? Or was he sticking to his word and keeping their relationship platonic?
Fuck that.
She didn’t want platonic. Not from him. Not anymore. The only thing she wanted was for him to get back on the lounger, lean over her again and fuck her. Hard, deep and slow. For a very long time.
Obviously he wasn’t going to do that. She took a deep, steadying breath and got up. Much to her annoyance, her hands shook.
“Now who’s the sore loser?” He stood behind her and whispered in her ear. His breath tickled her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.
Bastard. He was toying with her.
Fine. Two could play the same game. At her feet was the towel she dropped earlier. She leaned over to pick it up, deliberately keeping her legs straight, pushing her ass back in the process and pressing it into his groin.
Her mood perked up. A smirk curving her lips, she straightened and then handed him her towel. “I think you need this more than I do. Remember, there were children running around here. We have to keep things decent.”
“Decent?” His smile was gone and the gleam in his eyes bordered on dangerous. Her heart began to pound. “Is that really what you want? To keep things decent?”
Hunger swept through her. Did she want to keep things decent? Good God, no. Kissing him was no longer enough. She wanted to lie down and do downright indecent things with him. Now.
It was obvious he wanted the same thing. His cock wasn’t just hard, it had felt like a baseball bat nestling into her buttocks.
Her heart hammered and her breathing became labored. The time for games was over. Their relationship had reached a changing point and there was no going back. Only forward. But until she had some answers, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Daniel…?” Amy grabbed his arms, feeling tiny jolts of electricity pulsing from his skin. “That day at Tamarama, you said you’d discovered something about yourself, something you weren’t ready to talk about. What was it?”
“You know what it was.” His mouth was so close his breath fanned her face. “I can see it in your eyes.”
She shook her head. “Spell it out for me.”
“There’s no need.” His eyes were dark, his look heated. “You’ve worked it out.”
“I have?”
“You have.”
Her blood smoldered. The look on his face was the same glazed expression he had that day at the beach. Initially she thought he’d been worried about his situation. Now she knew better. The look on his face was desire, plain and simple. Naked desire. And it was aimed at her.
Daniel was right. She had worked it out. Finally, his secret dawned upon her. He wanted her—and had for a long time. He repeatedly told her for weeks but she refused to listen. Well, she listened now. Every cell in her body listened.
However, he couldn’t have told a ten-year-old that he wanted to fuck his best friend. There had to be more to it than just desire.
“Stop screwing around, Tanner.” She shook his arms as she whispered fiercely. “I think I’ve worked it out, but I’m not entirely sure. Clarify it for me—just so there are no misunderstandings. What exactly did you tell Vicky?”
He stared at her for the longest time, his eyes now a stormy gray. Emotion played across his face but she couldn’t read it, couldn’t work it out. “Daniel, please.”
After a while he nodded. “I told her I don’t treat you the way I should, that I take advantage of you. Of our friendship.”
“And…?”
“She said I should change my behavior, my attitude. She said life’s too short to mess around with the people you…care about. She told me to do whatever it took to show you how much you mean to me.”
“I, uh…” Amy swallowed. Breathing became difficult. “You’re my best friend. I know how much I mean to you, Dan.”
“Morgan…” His whisper was seductive. “You don’t have a clue.”
Her heart lurched. “Then tell me.” She gave his arms a weak shake. “Please, tell me.”
“How specific do you want me to be?” It looked and sounded like he had difficulty breathing. His chest was so close the fine hairs sprinkled on it scraped her nipples every time he inhaled.
“Very specific.” Her breasts ached from the contact.
“Then listen close, Morgan, because I’ll only say it once.”
When he leaned in and kissed her, she heard what he had to say. For the first time she ignored her body’s response to his touch and listened to his.
He wanted her. His mouth told her as it worked hungrily on hers, teasing, licking, sucking and tasting. His arms told her as they trembled beneath her grasp. His physical reaction told her—his nipples hardened against her own tender breasts, his hips ground into hers, pressing his erection firmly into her stomach.
Most of all, the low, throaty groan that emanated from deep inside him as he kissed her told her he wanted her. She wanted him too.
Not ready to break the kiss but knowing it was necessary, she pulled her mouth from his. “Now I know.”
His eyes closed, he shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it.” His voice was tormented.
“Then show me.” She twirled out of his arms. “Come back to your apartment and show me everything.”
Without waiting for an answer, Amy wheeled around and walked off. She reached his door and opened it without a backward glance, heading straight for the kitchen. The bottle of water she pulled out of the fridge was icy cold, unlike her. She was burning hot, engulfed by need. A fire raged inside her that even the long, cooling drink from the bottle couldn’t dampen. She burned for Daniel. Wanted him with a desperation that shook her to her core. The desire to make love to him, hold him, lose herself in his kisses and make him a part of her, raged inside her like a towering inferno. She wanted to undress him and have wild, wicked sex with him.
Her breath came in short gasps and her heart slammed against her ribs. Thou
ghts of him, of their last hour together, echoed through her belly, reverberating in a warm heat between her legs.
The front door closed. He was there, in the apartment. Should she go to him? Should she wrap herself around his beautiful body and run her hands over his flat stomach? Relish the strength below the devastating contours of his chest? God help her, she wanted to. Wanted to strip his shorts off and render him bare and hard. In front of her, on top of her, inside her.
“Oh!” Images like that stoked the fire burning inside her. Lord, she wanted him so bad she could taste it. Taste his hot, salty skin as she kissed her way along his square jaw, taste his come as he squirted it in her mouth.
The phone rang. And rang and rang. She heard Daniel’s familiar message as the machine picked up and then a blurred voice. Daniel swore before answering with a throaty hello. Must be important. She listened to him speak, to the low, rumbling of his voice. Images of that voice rasping in her ear, telling her of his need for her, what he wanted to do to her, flashed across her mind.
Blindly she made her way out of the kitchen, clutching the cold water bottle like a lifeline. Wanton fantasies that had nothing on the real life man roared through her head.
Daniel’s attention was focused on his conversation. He didn’t see her hunger as she studied him. Muscles bunched in his arm as he jotted something down, carelessly shaking his wet hair as he ran his other hand through the short curls.
Amy sagged against the wall, imagining that hand running through her hair, over her back, around her waist, up to her breasts and down to her wet, pulsating core.
“How about next Tuesday?” she heard him ask.
He put the pen down, and his fingers drummed against the pad of paper, restless, disinterested. He made an impatient gesture with his hand.
Condensation beaded on the icy bottle of water she held against her chest. She rolled it from side to side, trying to cool down. The cold was a stark contrast to her feverish skin and she gasped.
He looked up—and froze.
Seconds ticked by.
“I’ll call you later,” he said into the phone and hung up without waiting for a reply.
Awareness hummed across the room. Daniel’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His jaw clenched as he stared at Amy in silence. The bottle dropped from her slackened hand and rolled unnoticed across the carpet.
Their eyes locked and she lifted her shaky arms behind her back and undid the straps to her top. The silence in the room was punctuated by sounds of the damp spandex dropping to the floor and then Daniel’s sharp intake of breath. He did not move. Except his eyes, which had turned a familiar smoky gray. They took in every inch of her. Scorched her already burning body.
At an impossibly slow pace she nudged at her bikini bottom, inching it down her legs and kicking it aside, her gaze still locked onto his. Finally she stood before him, naked and proud.
Raw desire flashed in his eyes.
Fortune favored the bold, or so she heard, and if she wanted to get what she desired, she needed to be bold. She walked forward, her eyes never leaving his, until she stood mere inches in front of him. Trapped by his smoky gaze, she watched him touch his palm to her aroused nipple, his caress feather-light. Her breath left her throat in a hiss.
He flicked his tongue over the puckered bud of her nipple, sending sparks of excitement tingling down her spine and making her whimper.
His treatment was excruciating, his breath hot against her skin, and she shivered, almost delirious with need. She tangled her fingers in his sleek, wet curls and held his head firm, pushing her breast against his silvery-hot tongue. When it rasped over her nipple, her knees buckled.
His arms shot around her waist, catching her, supporting her. He groaned aloud and clamped his mouth over her breast, suckling her tight, tender bud, nipping, licking, teasing. Amy almost wept with longing. Moist heat pooled between her legs and oozed down her inner thighs.
She tugged his arms, urging him out of his chair, and he sensually slid his body up against hers, making every inch of her ache. He held her close, his solid chest warm against her aroused breasts.
The floor dipped away and fire shot through Amy’s veins as he caught her lower lip between his teeth and nibbled gently. Heated desire took control over logic. His damp swimsuit did little to cool her feverish skin. Nor could it conceal the length of his erection pressing against her belly, driving her to the edge of sanity.
She slipped her hands under the elasticized waist and shoved the unwanted clothing down his legs. Without breaking the kiss, Daniel stepped out of his shorts. His cock, rock hard and free, poked proudly against her stomach, turning her insides to liquid.
She ran her hands around his side until they rested on his very firm, very tempting butt, then she raked her nails over the soft skin. He growled against her mouth, jerking into her.
His reaction empowered her, validated her femininity, and she ran her fingers along the hard lines of his pelvis until she brushed the satin steel of his erection. When she wrapped her hand around him, Daniel swept her up in his arms with a guttural moan and carried her to his room.
Amy’s heart stuttered. As much time as she spent in his apartment, she always gave his bedroom a wide berth. There was something too intimate about that room—the place where he slept, made love to women—for her to feel comfortable there. It was a part of his world she never wanted to intrude. It was his private place.
For the first time ever, she found herself desperate to be in forbidden territory with Daniel.
He laid her down on his bed and stood before her in all his naked glory. Her mouth went dry. He was beautiful—hard, lean, hot, the epitome of masculinity and very, very aroused. The subtle scent of his spicy aftershave clung to his sheets, surrounding her. She inhaled deeply as she stared at him and her mouth began to water.
She watched him watching her, met his smoky gaze as he knelt over her. His devilish, sexy mouth parted, preparing to kiss her. Smooth, hot lips touched hers and she forgot to breathe. His tongue tortured her mouth with deep, silky strokes, stirring in her an unimaginable lust.
He braced himself on his forearms, lying above her, not quite touching yet driving her mad. Her body screamed for his embrace. She felt empty, neglected. Desperate for contact of the most intimate kind, she shoved her hips up and cried out in frustration.
He deepened his kiss in response and gradually lowered his body until finally—finally—it covered hers, enveloping her in its heat.
Greedy for more contact, her hands were everywhere, running down his sinewy back and over his firm butt. Squeezing his muscular arms, digging into his damp curls, relishing his solidity, loving his feel. Loving his response. She was so ready. The need to have all of him overwhelmed her. She bucked against him.
He dipped his hand down and groaned when he found her moist center. “Amy. Sweet, beautiful Amy. Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
Coherent speech was impossible so she settled for a long, “Oh…” as his finger found her clit and began to massage it. Pleasure rolled through her.
“Christ, babe. You’re so wet.” He slipped his finger in and she bore down on it.
“Please, Danny, oh…” He was doing mad things to her and although it felt good, so good, it wasn’t enough.
She reached for his cock and sheathed it with her hand. “Danny?”
“Amy?”
“Make love to me.”
A primal growl echoed through the room as Daniel stilled. His eyes closed, but not before she saw triumph and steely determination in them.
“You sure about this, babe?” he whispered.
She ground her pelvis against his hand. How much more sure could she be? “I need to feel you inside, Danny. Please, make love to me.”
She adjusted her grasp as his cock grew in her palm.
When she looked up his eyes were still closed, so she bit his neck. Hard. The time for niceties was over.
His eyes flew open and locked with hers
. Flames of desire burned in them.
“Now, Danny.” Once again she bucked against him.
He moved his arms to either side of her face. “Say it again. Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to make love to me.” She twisted her waist.
“Morgan, wait!” His jaw clenched.
She stared at him uncomprehendingly. She wouldn’t wait any more. Couldn’t.
“I…I need a condom.”
There was no way she was having anything between them. She wanted just the two of them. “I’m on the pill.”
He nodded slowly. “Then we’re okay.” Because it was Daniel, she knew they were.
She drew her legs wider apart and gasped when the tip of his penis plunged into her. With a throaty growl and an expert thrust, he filled her.
Amy moaned in pure satisfaction. It was perfect. He was perfect. They fit together perfectly. In awe, she opened her eyes to stare directly into Daniel’s. This, them, together. It was the ultimate connection. She had never felt as close to Daniel as she did at this moment.
“Amy. Oh…Christ, Morgan…” Daniel shook his head and shuddered.
The movement reverberated through him and through his cock. Her muscles tightened convulsively around him, setting off a fresh wave of longing. She wound her legs around his waist and arched her back, frantic to get closer, take him deeper. Her hips moved, rotated in circles and then pumped up and down. Anything to get nearer to him, to get him deeper inside.
“Easy.” He stilled her frenzied efforts, holding her tight, his voice agonized. Perspiration beaded on his forehead and his shoulders bunched under her touch.
When he began to move, skilled hands urged her to move with him as he rocked back and forth in an intimate and erotic rhythm. Slow at first, but gradually picking up speed. Thrust for thrust she met him, the electricity inside building each time he plunged into her.
“Amy…” His husky voice drove her wild.
The tension mounted. Vaguely she registered the soft mewling noises coming from her throat.
“Oh God, Amy.” He caught her mouth with his and kissed her hard, his tongue mimicking the movement of his lower body.