by Shannyn Leah
She needed a change of topic before she straddled him on the chair and ran her fingers across his oiled skin in front of her entire family.
“It’s strange watching Mom and Uncle Carl together,” Anya said, turning her attention to the water where Eliza and Carl splashed around the water with Sophia, Parker, Rosemary and Kate.
The waves were mild today, but it didn’t keep her mother from shouting out the water rules and supervising the kids like a strict life guard. Even though they’d been raised like little fish around the pool room. Carl was more relaxed, playing and throwing the kids into the water.
Sitting with her siblings, Anya pushed on. “Dating. Boyfriend and girlfriend.” Anya almost laughed at how silly the titles sounded for adults, reminding her of the conversation with Quinn the night before.
“We better lather you up again, so you don’t get burnt.” Quinn’s husky whisper warmed her ear and sent her insides barbarically wild for him. Just when she’d thought she was gaining composure.
He lowered his voice even more so her family couldn’t overhear. “I have plans for this tonight...” His hand traced her spine from the back of her neck all the way down just above her rear. She quivered at his touch. “...and I don’t want a sunburn keeping me from lavishing this body.” He kissed her ear.
Anya had a hard time concentrating on Emma agreeing with the strangeness of their mother and uncle as a couple.
Her sister sat in the middle of their Caliendo convoy along the beach. Anya and Quinn on one side of her and Marc, Violet and Izzy on the other.
A row of stretched out, perfectly tanned legs surrounded Anya’s ghost white complexion. She needed the sun. Anya used to be a sun girl and now she had the optimism that one day she might be again.
“It was a bit awkward at first for us too,” Emma was saying.
Concentrate on Emma’s words.
It was difficult with the cold liquid meeting her skin, followed by Quinn’s warm fingers, sending mystical sensations through her body.
“I think they were destined to be together. If you think back to our childhood and all through our adulthood, they have always been close. I didn’t realize how close...”
A round of chuckles came from her siblings, giving Anya the sense that they found the relationship amusing and not as angering as she thought they might. As much of a jerk as their dad had been, their mother had still cheated on him.
“Now, they’re super sweet together and Uncle Carl treats Mom like an angel.” Emma glanced at Anya. “Better than Dad ever did.”
“Dad would have known about their affair,” Anya said. “I mean Mom cheated on Dad.”
“Not our dad,” Izzy called from the far end of the brightly colored fold-up sand chairs. “Technically me and Marc are only your half siblings,” she continued, as if they weren’t already aware of that biological fact.
Marc grunted, but didn’t move from his somewhat relaxed looking position...as calm as her preppy brother ever could be that is. Marc managed his professional self-confident-wearing pin-stripe shorts and rectangular sunglasses to match even to a casual outing at the back.
“Don’t act like you’re thrilled Carl is our dad. You give him less attention now than before we told you,” Marc said.
Anya glanced over as Izzy shot straight up into a sitting position, her over-sized white-framed glasses slipping down her nose.
Unlike Anya’s “modest” pin-up style two-piece swimsuit, Izzy sported hardly anything in her white string bikini.
“Like you’re so much better?” Izzy shot at Marc, “You find out Carl’s your dad and suddenly you act like you’re better than the rest of your family because you don’t have Robert’s blood running through your veins.”
Anya didn’t say a word, simply observed the different emotions her mother’s affair had planted between her siblings.
“Izzy, watch yourself,” Violet warned.
“Hate to burst your bubble...” Izzy continued looking outraged at being called out. “...but Mom’s affair was with Robert’s brother, so you still have Caliendo blood running through your snobby-ass veins.”
Ouch.
Izzy didn’t wait for a reply from anyone. She’d always been a spout of the mouth. She stood up, whipped her sunglasses into the sand and stormed off in the opposite direction of the water.
Violet was shaking her head.
“That girl needs to pull whatever anger is wedged up her derriere out before she explodes,” Emma said.
Marc turned to his sisters. “I don’t consider myself better than any of you,” he clarified.
Emma laughed then and threw one of Parker’s water sponge balls at him. “We know.”
Violet turned to Anya. “Izzy’s been sensitive ever since it was exposed. Apparently Izzy knew that Uncle Carl was her father for quite a few years.”
“What? How?”
“It was Dad’s demented way of punishing her for choosing to attend public school. He barked off the truth during a fight with her,” Emma answered.
Anya gasped. “No.”
“I will bet if Dad lost it enough to tell her that, then, there is more to the story than she is letting on,” Violet said. “Which is why we try not to push her.” Violet glared at Marc. “Some of us have a little more of a difficult time keeping comments to ourselves.”
Marc wasn’t fazed by Violet’s accusations. “Some of you should push her harder. She’s spoiled and lazy.”
Anya laughed and heard Quinn chuckle behind her. Surprisingly she’d forgotten for a brief moment, when his hands had stopped rubbing her shoulders, that he was there.
Anya turned in his direction and lightly slapped his arm. “Stop it,” she said.
He tried to dodge her and his chuckle turned into a laugh. It was nice to laugh together again.
She shoved him off her lounger and he pouted back to his own. Moving away from any serious conversation, Anya enjoyed soaking up the sun, the sounds and the wonderful feeling being with her family.
That was until Izzy returned.
“So what’s up between you two?” Izzy’s storm like attitude was back as well. “You shacking up? Been shacking up across the country not telling us anything?”
Violet sat up and scolded Izzy while the youngest flopped onto her chair with a magazine.
“What? You all thought it. I just had the nerve to say it.”
“That line is getting old,” Marc grumbled.
“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Izzy grumbled back, kicking her foot at his leg.
Marc shifted away and turned his attention to Anya and Quinn obviously waiting for a reply.
“When you called Quinn to come and check on why I was sneaking around the resort, we sort of reconnected.”
Red shaded a color of guilt up Marc’s throat and to his face.
Violet sent her a knowing look.
Emma looked sad and curious and Izzy didn’t really seem to care even if it had been her question.
“We haven’t seen each other in two years, since I left.” Anya said. “But we will be seeing a lot of each other now that I am back.”
“You’re back?” Emma asked. “Like back for good?”
“Yes.” Anya looked at Quinn and smiled. “I think I am.”
He smiled back and nodded his support.
“You better be getting a job,” Marc grumbled. “We don’t need another Izzy roaming the halls.”
“So you are rocking his hot ass body then.” Izzy pushed her sunglasses, which she’d retrieved from the sand, into her hair to wink at Anya.
Everyone groaned.
Izzy laughed.
Quinn chuckled and Anya glared at him. Although Izzy wasn’t that far off. Anya planned on rocking this man hard tonight.
Marc sighed. “I only see one way to solve this continuous dip into inappropriate bedroom discussions that keep rearing their unwanted heads in Caliendo conversations.”
He stood up quickly and lifted Izzy from her seat, slinging he
r over his shoulders.
“Water time!” he hollered.
Izzy’s objections overrode their laughter all the way to the edge of the water. Taking large steps Marc, didn’t stop trudging through the water until he was waist deep, deep enough to throw Izzy in. The water swallowed her screams.
She deserved it.
Anya fell back in her seat in a fit of laughter.
“Do you think that’s funny?” Quinn asked.
Anya could barely get out an answer through her laughter.
“Really?” he asked.
Anya heard a challenge in Quinn’s tone that made her glance in his direction. There was no confusing the smirk on his face or what he was thinking.
“Quinn, no,” she said, already rising from her seat and backing away.
He removed his sunglasses and the sun reflected mischief in his dark eyes.
Quinn didn’t respond as he stood slowly. His thick muscles distracted Anya as his body moved gracefully toward her. She took a few seconds to notice exactly what Izzy had been referring to...that he was bloody gorgeous...and it gave Quinn a head start on catching her.
“Quinn, no!” she screamed, running around the sand chairs and listening to Emma cheer him on as Anya took off down the beach.
Quinn’s loud laughter chased her as they darted families and couples sprinkled along the beach. The closer to the boardwalk she ran, the fewer people sat and she ran right underneath the boardwalk.
Hitting the darkness so quickly forced her to blink the remaining sunlight from her eyes.
Without breaking her run, Anya slowed and turned to see how far she’d gotten away from Quinn.
He was right behind her. He scooped her into his arms and threw her over his shoulder, just like Marc had with Izzy.
“Quinn!” she laughed, slapping his back. “Let me down. I don’t want to go in the water.”
Anya could feel the heat from his arms securing the area behind her knees. She heard his feet splash into the water before she watched the waves crash behind his feet.
“That’s what makes it fun. If you wanted to go in the water this would be pointless.”
“I have a supper to cook.”
“Not for hours.”
“My hair−”
He cut her off. “Needs a wet down. It’s like frizz central lately.”
Anya gasped, insulted, but it turned into a laugh. He wasn’t wrong.
“You jerk!” she said anyway and hit his bare back. He only laughed harder, the vibration rumbling through her body and instantly turning this water splashing session into something more sensual.
Ankle deep. Knee deep. Waist deep.
“Quinn I am begging...”
“And I like it.”
Oh my gosh! His bedroom voice was irresistible.
Quinn lifted Anya and, without letting her beg anymore, threw her into the water.
It was refreshing.
After basking in the hot sun, her body felt invigorated as the water surrounded and cooled her down.
More like cooled her down from the intense thoughts she’d been having about Quinn all morning.
Anya broke thought the water’s surface to find Quinn gone.
The shoreline was empty except for the couple of teens hanging about on their summer vacation.
Young summer love and flings. Broken teenage hearts.
One of the girls yelled at Anya, “He swam that way!” and pointed behind her.
Anya turned and could see Quinn’s arms slicing deeper into the water.
Anya smiled.
So he’s a swimmer.
Anya dove into the water and swam until she caught up to him.
Quinn was treading in the water, grinning, when she surfaced. She dunked her head backwards and wiped the water from her face.
“You’re a good swimmer,” she observed.
He shrugged.
“What is that?” she asked glancing at the side of his head.
He turned his head as if he thought he could look. It was so cute, Anya almost caved and told him she was lying.
“What is what?”
“Right there.” She pointed at the side of his head where her eyes had just left.
He touched his head. “Where? I can’t see.”
“Do you want me to get it? It looks like a little...” She swam closer. “I don’t know...” She floated inches from his body and touched his chest with her hand. It was electrifying and she had to concentrate on her game rather than the way he felt under her touch. Leaning around to look at the side of his head, where she’d seen absolutely nothing, she flicked a piece of his hair. “I can’t really get it...”
“What is it?”
Anya laughed. “Nothing you jerk!” At the same time as she spoke her words, she punched his shoulder as payback for throwing her in the water and kicked her feet off his abdomen to push away.
He caught her ankle and laughed. “Sneaky.”
Her scream was cut short as her head dunked under the water. As good a swimmer as she was, being unprepared sent the water tearing a burning sensation up her nostrils.
Anya gasped and choked when she surfaced.
“Anya?” Quinn pulled her against him. “Are you okay?”
She choked out an, “I’m fine,” and coughed.
He was inspecting her. “Are you sure?”
It stung.
Anya wrapped her arms around his neck using his treading to keep her up.
“It burns, it burns,” she repeated quickly cringing and waiting for it to pass.
“What burns?”
“I got water up my nose.”
Quinn was silent. Then he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
Anya glared at him. “It’s not funny.”
He laughed. “All this over water up the nose?”
“First you choked me,” she objected.
“I choked you?”
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
The pain was starting to pass.
“Do you need a little cheese with that whine?”
“Oh shut up.” She hit his chest.
“No one says that anymore, dork.
“I might be the dork, but don’t have snot running down my face.”
Anya’s hands touched underneath her nose. “I do not.”
“Let me see.”
Quinn’s hand touched her chin while his other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter against him.
“No.” She yanked away. “You’re just going to do something as payback for hitting you.”
“Twice.”
“Who’s counting?”
“I think payback was you sinking yourself. Just...” He reached for her chin again. “Stop...” He directed her face back to look at him. “moving...”
His thumb trailed across her bottom lip, slowly opening her mouth.
Anya’s eyes watched him and the sounds around them disappeared. The waves crashing against the docks posts lightened and the people thudding and echoing above them were only a distant background noise.
Anya watched his amused smile drop into a serious thin line before his lips partially parted. His long eyelashes swept across his skin and she couldn’t see his eyes as he concentrated on her lip.
As his thumb moved up her face, his eye landed on hers.
“Just droplets of water.” His husky voice ignited the parts of her that wanted him.
“You’re going to kiss me,” she said...she hoped.
His thumb was back at her lip. “You want me to kiss you?” he asked.
Every day for the rest of their lives.
Anya swallowed hard and received a tiny smirk from Quinn.
Before she could say anything, Quinn dipped down his face to hers. Like never ever before, Quinn’s lips grazed Anya’s lips ever so gently. Their water glazed lips made the touch smooth. He pressed harder, but still tender, and covered her entire mouth with his.
She’d never experienced such a heated kiss, leaving her with more lu
st and desire for him than ever before. Each stroke of his tongue and attentive movement of his lips drew her body closer against his. Each tiny tease and gentle nibble tightened her grip around his neck.
Soon the kiss was hot and passionate. Quinn and Anya knew hot and passionate, but this was a whole new game they’d never played before.
His hands didn’t attempt to rip away the bottom of her bikini or slip his hands under her top. It was all about the kiss. A kiss. A kiss heightened by her heart and future with Quinn, not only about sex.
When they parted, breathing heavy, Anya couldn’t ever recall a kiss that amazing.
She licked her lips and the delicious flavor that lingered.
Quinn smirked and kissed her forehead, then the side of her face. He trailed kisses across her chin and she laughed.
He looked at her. “I missed that laugh.” He kissed her lips. “I missed these lips.” He kissed her throat. “And...”
Anya laughed. “I missed you too.”
Quinn stopped and looked at her. “Whose idea was it to come swimming with your family this afternoon? We could have stayed in bed all day. Now we are here and my growing desire for you is leaving me unable to walk around the beach without it showing.”
Anya slid her hand down his middle and under the water, past the waistline of his shorts. “Maybe we will have to fix that.”
He moaned. “Public place. Illegal. There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea.”
Anya nibbled his ear. “Like you haven’t broken the law before,” she whispered.
“I’m working on my path to redemption.”
She giggled, stroking him harder. “Well, I can leave you here alone until you get yourself settled back down or...” She glanced around. There wasn’t anyone swimming under the dock and distant figures were no more than bobbing dots. “...I can help you out with your dilemma.”
“I don’t have the restraint to say no to you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
BY THE TIME Quinn and Anya climbed into his truck, Quinn was ready to call it a day. He was exhausted, whether from spending the day outside under the blistering sun or struggling to keep his hands to himself.
Quinn drove past the road to Carlex Grocers and Anya said, “We need food.” She sat up straighter in her seat, but she looked as exhausted as he felt. He’d been waiting all day to get her alone, and now the two of them alone on her bed, simply sleeping, sounded good.