by Anna Katmore
Wow. I’ve been waiting for this news for so long, now it’s almost a shock to hear it. “You mean you actually found some nice things to say about me?” I joke.
He cracks a smile. “Yeah, one or two.” When he comes closer, he strokes the back of my hand with one finger. “Or perhaps enough to fill two pages.”
At his soft caress, a rush of repressed memories swamps me. A prickling sensation travels up my arm and makes the small hair at the back of my neck stand on end. London, London, London, I chant inwardly to remind myself why I have to withstand the temptation. Then I clear my throat with a small cough. “And nothing I do from here on out can change the outcome?”
He skims his fingers up my arm. “No.”
There it is again. His touch. It’s driving me crazy. But I warned him not to touch me, and he should have listened. Maybe it’s time to make good on my promise and stop this tempting game he’s playing. I place my palm over his heart, lifting my gaze to his, and whisper, “Nothing…at all?”
Justin stares at me in wonder. It only takes a fraction of a second, though, for him to grasp what’s coming next.
In protest, he opens his mouth, his eyes shocked, but I don’t give him a chance to say something. Instead, I crack the tiniest smirk and push at his chest with all my strength. He stumbles backward, his next step missing the edge of the dock by inches. And he falls.
Only, I didn’t reckon on his fast reflexes. Before I can pull my hand away, he grabs my wrist and sweeps me off the dock along with him. Shit!
In the blink of an eye, I’m dragged against his chest, caught in an iron cage. As we crash into the lake together, water floods my mouth, my nose, and my ears. Even with my eyes wide open, I’m losing orientation fast. But the lake isn’t very deep this close to the shore. A gentle tremor travels through Justin’s body when he touches the ground, and he brings us to the surface again. My hands on his shoulders, I sputter, curse, and laugh, all while gasping for air.
He runs a hand through his seeping hair to brush it out of his face. “You okay, tiger?”
I nod, finally able to breathe again.
Keeping me in a one-armed embrace, he pushes with the other hand and swims us to the part of the lake where he can stand again, head and shoulders out of the water. There he puts me on my feet, but he doesn’t yet release me. His hand on my back, I wonder when it found its way underneath my top.
The water is unexpectedly warm tonight, heated by the high temperatures of the day. It’s not at all uncomfortable to be in here. Nor is it uncomfortable to stand flush against Justin, his face so close that I can discern the tiny drops of water hanging from his lashes and sparkling in the moonlight. He’s never looked more gorgeous. And I realize I’ve lost my inner battle.
“You know what I think?” he says then, so softly that it’s in harmony with the gently lapping water around us. His abs twitch against my stomach. There’s no way for me to escape.
My throat feels raspy all of a sudden. “That you should’ve stayed at the bonfire with the kids?”
“No.” He starts to stroke my skin. Just small circles.
I draw in a breath that’s a mix of shock and pleasure, lowering my gaze for a short moment. When I look up, I find him still studying my face. “Then what?” I whisper.
The sound of stirred water envelopes us as his hands lift out of the lake and shape to my cheeks, his fingers sliding into my wet hair. With his thumbs, he brushes a few drops away from underneath my eyes. “That it was a shitty first kiss.” His gaze focuses on my mouth, his voice lowering another notch. “I think we can do better.” And then he leans in to prove it.
As if of their own accord, my eyes flutter shut. An instant later, his lips press, feathery soft, to mine. For the length of a breath, they linger there, almost motionless. Then they start moving, and I move mine.
The first touch of the tips of our tongues makes me shiver in the water. Justin tastes just as good as in my memory, and then some. My body is on high alert, every part of me aware of him. How long have I been waiting for this? Days… Or was it years?
Time no longer has any meaning. My palms wander up his chest and around his neck, where my fingers dig into his soaked shirt. His muscles are hard underneath, twitching when he moves his arms down and around me. The boy I once knew has grown into a man, and he strives to establish it with each sensual stroke of his tongue against mine.
Thrills of pleasure wash through me when he sucks the drops of water off my bottom lip. I tilt my head back a little, surrendering all of me to him. Sliding the tip of his tongue across my lip once more, he then kisses a trail down my chin, my jaw, and my neck. As his tongue swirls in hypnotizing circles on my skin, I feel like I’m drowning. But he doesn’t let go of me, keeping me safe in his arms.
Nuzzling the spot behind my ear, he bites my earlobe. A breath whizzes through my teeth. My nails claw harder into the back of his neck. “Just for the summer,” he murmurs. A drop of water escapes from one of his wet strands and rolls down his brow, followed by another. “Give us this time at camp, and let’s see where it takes us.”
A painful sting constricts my chest. With all my heart, I wish I could give in, but it’s impossible. I don’t have a whole summer left. “What we’re doing now is already making it more difficult, Justin.” Squeezing my eyes tighter than before, I lean my cheek against his, feeling the gentle rub of his stubble. “A relationship, or even just a summer fling, doesn’t fit into my plans.”
“They usually don’t. But there’s an easy solution.” His lips brushing across my cheekbone, he captures my bottom lip between his teeth and gives it a tender nibble. “Make a new plan.”
I press my lips together in a soulful smile. It sounds so easy when he says it. But I’m not the right girl for a long-distance relationship. So unless he decides to do a semester abroad in England, I don’t see how it would ever work. And he’s just not the kind of guy you find packing and enrolling in a British university at the last minute. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
“It’s never too late.” He leans his forehead against mine, gazing into my eyes. “It took four years to get you back into my arms. Who would’ve thought that?”
Not me. I bite my lip, offering him a small, teasing smile. “Do you ever actually give up?”
“No.” Mischief flits across his gaze. “Do you?”
Never. The only problem is that my year abroad ranks at the top of the list of things that I want. Even if Justin has unexpectedly become an item on that same list, I can’t let him get between Guildhall and me. Also Lesley, Kirstin, and I have planned an epic second half of summer in England. We’ve been looking forward to it for so long. Heck, we’re going to have the best time of our lives starting next week!
But then Justin tilts his head and kisses me again, deep and with swirling passion. And my willpower starts to collapse…
Moments later, a noise from the shore causes us to snap apart.
“What was that?” I whisper.
“I don’t know.”
Staring at the dark line of bushes, we strain to make out anyone there, but the sound must have come from farther away. The next instant, we hear the voices of some kids, and they’re coming closer fast.
Damn. I really don’t want anyone to find Justin and me going for a romantic dip in the moonlight. Nervously, I turn back to him. It’s too late to get out of the lake unnoticed.
Obviously, it takes more than a couple of kids walking in on us to throw him off balance. His gaze cool, he presses a finger to his lips. Then he nods toward the dock and points at the water with his index finger.
“Dive under?” I mouth, narrowing my eyes at him.
He nods again and carefully pulls me downward. After taking a deep breath, I dive with him. It’s only a few feet straight ahead. Easy enough to find, even in the dark lake. When light turns to shadow, I know we’ve reached the shelter of the dock and gently break through the surface. Justin comes up right beside me.
; Over our heads, the wooden boards already vibrate with footsteps. They stop right above us, and the voices of three boys drift down. One of them I recognize as Brian—aka Romeo. The others are unfamiliar to me.
This part of the lake is much shallower than where we were standing before; the water here only reaches my belly button. Soaked to the bone, I’m starting to get cold. “What are we going to do now?” I hiss.
Justin scans around us. Hopefully he comes up with a plan to get us out of the water fast. Two seconds later, he leans in close, pressing me against one of the four poles that hold the platform. “Don’t make a sound,” he whispers then plants a quick, hard kiss on my mouth. Next, he sinks underwater again, but only for a few moments. At his return, two heavy stones are in his hands.
“Shh,” he warns me again. Then he wades through the water toward the edge of our dock shelter. Carefully lifting his right arm, he throws the first stone at the shore, hitting a tall tree right in the trunk. The clack instantly cuts into the conversation of the boys above.
One of them whispers, “Did you hear that?”
“It came from the trees,” Brian replies.
“Probably just a bird,” the third one suggests.
That’s when Justin throws the second stone, and the first boy argues with a worried voice, “Or maybe it’s Andrews coming to look for us. He said we shouldn’t leave the party tonight.”
“Yeah. Let’s go back before he finds us,” Romeo whispers, and all three hurtle back toward the shore, causing the dock to rumble under their feet. We give them two minutes before we finally wade out of the water.
“Impressive,” I say while I wring out my skirt. “They submit to you in fear.”
“The line between fear and respect is quite thin.” He pulls his drenched polo shirt over his head and squeezes the water out of it, too. His pecs and biceps jump at the effort.
Holy cow! An astounding urge to cop a feel overcomes me, and I swallow. Forcing myself to turn away, I start off around the lake. “But obviously you walk that line with great success. You’ll make a great teacher one day.”
“I hope so.” With a proud smile, he catches up with me, his polo stuffed halfway into the back pocket of his water-laden shorts, which leave a wet trail as we walk. At the parting of the path toward the two different campsites, I steer toward the boys’ place while he goes to turn left. Of course, a true gentleman would walk me home.
“Where are you going?” he demands, taking the time to take off his soaked shoes and socks, probably because they’ve made this funny squeaking sound the whole way.
“Going to get my sandals. They’re still under that table.” Or so I hope. Since my urgent departure has been delayed for another day, there’s no chance I’m going to leave them behind.
His black Adidas hooked on two fingers, Justin follows me barefoot. Now I’m the only one producing squelching sounds with my ballerina flats. It’s getting quite annoying after a few minutes, so I take them off as well.
“Again, no nail polish?” he asks with some wonder, staring at my naked toes far longer than he should.
“I thought you liked that?” I tease.
When his gaze lifts, there’s a tiny smirk on his lips. “I do.”
As we reach the campsite, the party still going, he steers me toward his and Greyson’s cabin, which blocks the orange light of the bonfire. “Let me just grab a dry shirt, then we can get your shoes, and I’ll walk you back. Or we can stay at the bonfire for a while longer, if you want.”
It can’t be much later than eleven, and spending a few more hours with Justin actually sounds nice, so I accompany him to his cabin. However, when I walk across the porch and open the door, I notice he didn’t come up with me. As I turn around, I find him still at the bottom of the stairs. “What’s wrong?”
He answers with a counter question and narrowed eyes. “What are you doing?”
I shake my head, confused. “You said you wanted to change.”
His eyes gleam in the light of the fire that finds his face through the gaps between the cabins. “Just to be clear,” he drawls, spreading his arms to place each hand on the railing on either side of the stairs. “I don’t give a fuck about how it will complicate your situation”—planting one foot on the bottom stair, he fixes me with a lustful glare—“but I swear, if you cross that threshold now, I’m going to have you.” Deliberately slowly, he starts to climb one step after another, sliding his hands along the rails, as if the choice he just gave me was only words, and there’s no way he would let me leave. “Every. Way. I want.”
His dangerous promise makes tingling shivers race down my skin. My shoes slip from my fingers, landing with a low thud on the floor. As Justin prowls ever closer, a tiny smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. Maybe I don’t want to get away after all.
Sucking my lip between my teeth, I take a tentative step backward, into his room.
Chapter 19
Justin
The door closes with a quiet click behind me. Reaching out, I turn the key. Chloe stands in the middle of the cabin, her big, doe-like eyes set on me with a hungry innocence that only this girl can pull off. It’s almost ironic that she’s the one looking so shy now.
Tugging my shirt out of my pocket, I toss it aside, not caring where it lands, then slowly walk forward, never breaking eye contact with her. There’s no way I’m going to ask her again if she really wants this. She made the decision the moment she crossed the threshold. And now she’s mine, if only for tonight.
With guarded anticipation, Chloe swallows and bats her long lashes a couple of times, but she doesn’t back away from me. Stopping in front of her with only inches between us, I look at her face for the length of a breath. When she licks her bottom lip, I reach up and run my thumb across it, following the wet trail. Then I lean in and suck on that lip that has been driving me insane for so many days now.
Her hands lift to my stomach, her fingernails gracing my skin in a soft caress on their upward exploration. It tickles, and my muscles twitch in response. I’ve been hard since I walked through that door, but with her curious hands on me now, she’s completely undoing me. My soaked pants, which usually hang low on my hips, start to feel uncomfortably tight. But before I can discard them, I’ve got a girl to undress. And I’ll do it with great pleasure.
Our tongues tenderly stroke each other. Eyes shut and kissing her deeper, I slide my hands down her back until I reach the waistband of her skirt. There’s a tiny zipper in the center. Unhurriedly pulling it down with two fingers, I run my hand over her butt cheek, shaping my palm to the perfect mound. Seconds later, the damp fabric falls and lands on the floor in a puddle around her feet.
I slide a glance down her body. Chloe in nothing but this tight, stomach-baring top and underwear is one hell of a view. But what’s hidden beneath it is certainly even more of a feast for the eyes. The top has to go, so I grab the hem of it. In one lithe movement, it comes off over her head then drops to the floor behind her and is forgotten an instant later.
Dammit, but I was right. Dark gray satin and black lace covers her essential bits—I knew the girl had style. The lush curves of her breasts pushing out of her bra tempt me sorely to lean down and cover them with licks and kisses. They weren’t so ample last time I touched them—but she’d been a girl then. Resisting the urge to go too fast and ruin this magical moment, I slide one strap off her shoulder and breathe a kiss to the bend of her neck. Then I skim my thumb over her left breast, feeling her nipple tighten under the fabric.
Those big, dark eyes fixed on me, Chloe parts her lips for a tiny inhale of pleasure. I capture her mouth once more. As we fervently kiss, her delicate fingers start to work on my belt. Even though I can hardly keep a grip on my appetite for this woman, I stop her, taking her hands in mine. “No,” I whisper as I look her sternly in the eye. “I told you I’m going to have you my way.”
Surprise and also some nervous excitement flash in her eyes, but she nods and quietly obeys my order.
Keeping her wrists in a firm hold and steadily sinking to my knees, I trail a path of feather-light kisses down her throat, over her cleavage, between the valley of her breasts, and lower, to her belly button. Oh, I love swirling my tongue inside it, her abs quivering from the sensation.
The moment I let go of her hands, she places them on my shoulders. Her nails dig mercilessly into the flesh at the back of my neck. The gentle pain is a real turn-on. Hooking my fingers into the sides of her panties, I pull them down with wicked leisure.
My mouth waters for a taste of her, but I bite my tongue instead. Anticipation is a killer. And it seems to be torturing Chloe just as much, because the heady scent of her arousal already envelopes me.
I help her step out of her underwear and pocket it as I rise again. Then I sweep her up off her feet. With a little shocked gasp, she throws her arms around my neck and smiles when I touch my brow to hers. I carry her over to the wall with the window, where I kick the chair out of the way. It tips over to the floorboards with a loud thud. Chloe winces in my embrace. I put her down on the desk, then knock her knees apart with my thigh, and stand between her legs.
“Is this part of your way?” she asks with a teasing yet shy gleam in her eyes as she leans slightly backward, propping herself up with her hands.
“You bet.” Keeping my gaze firmly locked with hers, I reach down to slide my hand between her thighs. Chloe sucks in a quick breath when my finger easily dips into her sleek folds. I lean down to her ear. Nibbling the lobe, I whisper, “And it doesn’t feel like you have any objections.”
She lowers her chin, catching her lip between her teeth, and a portion of her silky hair sways forward over her shoulder. The rosy flush on her cheeks drives me nearly insane with craving. Or maybe it’s the way her muscles squeeze around my finger when I start moving it in and out.
Lowering to my knees and settling on my haunches, I bring my mouth to the core of her thighs and start kissing it like I had her lips before.