by Ann Jacobs
Overhead, a seagull squawked.
Craig cleared his throat. “If my brother hadn’t goofed and had to drop out of college when I was sixteen, I’d never have become a lawyer. More likely, I’d have ended up in prison myself.”
She smiled but offered no reply.
He talked about the wild kid he’d been and the brush with the law that had triggered his reform. When that didn’t trigger more than an exclamation of admiration that he’d come to his senses, he confessed how he’d needed to make up to his mom for Alan’s disappointing her.
“I started studying, and worked hard at sports, too, so I could get an athletic scholarship on the off chance that some college might let me in.”
“Where’d you go?” she asked.
“University of Florida law school. Southern Methodist for my undergraduate degree, on a swimming scholarship. I worked like a dog to get the grades I knew I’d have to have in order to get into a good law school.”
That apparently tweaked her interest. “I guessed you were a jock.”
“Yeah. Still am, after a fashion. I’m competing in the benefit games next weekend.”
“The cops versus lawyers thing? What events are you doing?”
“All of the swimming events. And the triathlon.”
For a few minutes, they chatted about sports and fitness. Craig still knew virtually nothing about what made Casey tick.
He’d have to treat her as a hostile witness. “Why were you a virgin?”
She tried to dodge the abrupt question, but he held her gaze. “Casey?”
She looked trapped. “Nobody volunteered to provide me with any experience.”
“I have a hard time believing that. Try again.”
“Really. It’s true.”
“Come on. You expect me to believe there’s a man alive who’d turn down the sort of invitations you gave me?”
Apparently she saw something that intrigued her at the edge of the watery horizon, because she kept staring out to sea.
“Well?”
“I— I never did anything like that before.”
Words tumbled from her lips. Her broken engagement, the decision to change her image, her move to Tampa, even how her roommate had advised her on becoming the bad girl she wanted to be painted a picture of a very different Casey than the woman Craig had thought he knew.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to fool you.” Tears pooled in her eyes when she finally met his gaze.
He wanted to hold her. More, he longed to drag her back inside and show her he wasn’t sorry at all. Sexy Casey Thompson turned on every wicked impulse that had ever crossed his mind. But Casey was also the sweet, innocent sort of woman he’d imagined one day becoming the mother of his kids.
Sugar and spice, rolled together into one dynamite package. He couldn’t ask for more. Except that for the moment he’d forego the sugar. He wanted a lot more of her spice.
Standing, he held out his hand. “Let’s go for a quick swim first.”
“First?”
“Yeah. Gotta stay in shape for the fun we’re gonna have later, right here in this room.”
Her smile brightened as she stood and took his hand. “I’ll race you.”
“You’ll be sorry. But you’re on.” With that, Craig took off for the surf.
* * * * *
Sand crunched between her toes. The surf swirled around her legs while the midday sun beat down from a cloudless sky. Every muscle in Casey’s body protested the beating she’d put it through during the long surf swim.
“Wanna make it two out of three?” Craig asked.
“Not on your life.” She took in a deep breath and prayed the burning in her lungs would go away.
Sensation sizzled through her brain, the heat of the day bringing sweat up on her brow. Mild heat, though, compared with the fires Craig kindled inside her. More than ever now, while mirrored goggles obscured his eyes, his not-quite-perfect smile captivated her. It reminded her of the wicked, wonderful things his mouth could do.
The bright light emphasized the beginnings of a dark shadow on his stubborn jaw. Droplets of water sparkled in the silky hair on his chest. His muscles rippled when he inhaled.
Damn it, he wasn’t even winded. Of course he’d gotten an extra five minutes’ rest while she slogged through the surf to finish the race she’d been so foolish as to suggest.
A wave broke across her legs, splashed soothing lukewarm sea water against the barely-there bottom of her new thong bikini.
If he wanted to take her now, all he’d have to do was peel down his suit and shove aside that teensy strip of material wedged between her cleanly waxed labia.
The beach was virtually deserted.
She toyed with the lace on his loose-fitting swim shorts, letting her fingers brush against his hardening cock. “Want to make love out here?” she asked.
“In front of God and everybody?” He sounded shocked.
“If we got down on our knees, no one could see much.”
He drew her into his arms, nudged her belly with his erection. “You’re an exhibitionist, aren’t you?”
“I take it you’re not?”
“I’m cautious. Occupational hazard. Don’t much like the thought of spending part of our weekend in a jail cell.”
“Chicken.” She came closer and rubbed up against him the way a friendly kitten might.
Water caught on a sudden wind gust swirled around them, obscuring their lower bodies from the view of anybody onshore. Boldly, Casey cupped his balls through the wet material of his shorts.
Craig groaned, but he held her hand where it was. “Okay, I’m game.”
Then he pulled her hand away. “Hold on a minute. I don’t have any condoms on me, and I’d bet money you’re not on the Pill.”
She suppressed a gulp. “You’d be right.”
“Wanna take a chance?” He slipped his hand between her legs, burrowed under the narrow thong, and tweaked her clit.
“N-no.”
He pulled back his hand and scooped her up in his arms. Then he broke into a grin.
“Come on, if you’re hot to get it on in the water, I’ve got an idea. How about trying out that big hot tub in our room?”
* * * * *
A few minutes ago he’d been willing to chance jail—not to mention a shotgun wedding. Craig adjusted the water temperature and watched warm water pour into the big tub. He heard Casey moving around in the bedroom.
When he shoved his swim shorts to the floor and kicked them aside, he realized he was as hard as he’d been when they played with fire out in the surf. Apparently his cock wasn’t giving up on getting satisfaction again—and soon.
Funny. The idea of making Casey pregnant hadn’t dimmed his desire. If anything, it had made him want her more. Obviously she hadn’t felt the same. She’d lost no time saying no when he asked if she was ready to take a chance.
Good thing one of them had sense. If and when he married, he wanted at least nine months to elapse between the wedding and the birth of his first child. Anything less would undermine the image of responsibility he wanted to convey and put the security he wanted for himself and his future family at risk.
“Craig?”
His cock twitched at the sound of Casey’s voice. “Yeah, baby?”
“Is the tub almost ready?”
It wasn’t, but he sure as hell was. “The water’s about halfway up. Grab a handful of condoms out of that compartment in the headboard and come on in. We’ll play around and see what comes up.”
“Wow. You believe in coming prepared, don’t you?” She sounded shocked.
Oh, God, he’d forgotten about the toys. Toys he’d decided not to experiment with, once he figured out how not savvy Casey was beneath that fuck-me veneer she always wore.
“I guess I do,” he said, trying hard to recall just which goodies he’d stuffed in with the condoms.
“Want me to bring the crop?”
Casey’s nervous giggle reinforce
d his image of her as a good girl. The kind he’d take home to Mom or introduce with pride to his colleagues.
The pump motor rumbled to life, and water burped through the jets. “Not unless you want to use it on me,” he yelled over the dull roar.
When she paused in the doorway, whip in hand, he tried to keep his tongue inside his mouth. She was the next best thing to naked. Better, maybe, because those tiny pieces of cloth she called a swim suit directed his attention toward the delicious body parts they covered well enough to keep Casey from getting herself arrested. Barely.
Not well enough to hamper his memory or his imagination. She had the black leather crop in her hand.
He wouldn’t mind making her his prisoner. Or becoming hers.
She wiggled the whip, setting its split-leather tails to dancing. “Lisa tried to talk me into buying one of these.” Her dark eyes sparkled, and a grin lit up her face.
Apparently the idea of using it intrigued her. “Why didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t imagine wanting to hurt you. Why did you buy this one?”
He recalled the burly guy in leather and chains, his hasty last-minute purchase, and his even hastier exit from Erotic Invitation. “Protection,” he said, not anxious to own up to the whole truth.
“From me?”
“No, baby. I can handle you. And I can’t wait much longer to do it. Come here and I’ll tell you about it.”
She stepped closer, dragged the tails down his body.
“Stop that. It tickles.” It also aroused the hell out of him. The supple leather swayed, made occasional feather-light contact with flesh that already was hard and aching.
She stopped and set the whip aside. “You like it, though. Admit it.”
“Okay. I like it.”
“Tell me now. Who’d you need protection from?” she asked. “If you won’t tell me I’ll have to assume you’re afraid of me.”
“A grungy guy dripping chains off his black leather vest and pants. From what he said, he apparently thought I’d like to join him for some S&M fun and games. I disagreed. Picking up the crop was a reflex action.”
“Where’d you run into this weirdo?”
Craig shrugged. “In that store across from the gym. Erotic Invitation.”
“Does that sort of stuff turn you on?”
“Porn? Not particularly. I went in there shopping for toys.” He traced a line down her body, following shadows cast by the waning sun. “I thought we might have fun with some of them.”
“Thought?”
“Yeah. Past tense. All I want to do with you is you.”
“You want this, don’t you?” She reached inside her cleavage and pulled out a foil-wrapped package.
“Uh-huh. Not quite yet, though. First I want to play.”
She licked at his lower lip. “Sounds like fun.”
“It will be.” More fun than he’d have imagined before last night. “The water’s ready, and one of us has on too many clothes.”
Craig took the condom from Casey’s hand and set it on the ledge beside the tub.
She stepped back and shot him a sexy smile. “Want to watch me strip?”
“Oh, yeah.” He could easily get used to that kind of an erotic invitation.
Her motions as she took off her clothes were slow, sensuous.
Languid. That was the word he’d use to describe the way she lifted her hair off her shoulders, smiled, reached behind her neck, and finally released the tie that held the tiny triangles of material over her boobs.
And downright sexy was how she looked a minute later when she bared those full, firm breasts tipped with deep pink nipples.
He wanted those hardened buds in his mouth. Between his fingertips. Brushing against his chest and driving him crazier than he was already. He wanted them now.
“You like this, don’t you?” Her voice poured over him like honey.
“Yeah, baby. I like it a lot. Don’t stop now.”
He watched her slide her hands down over satiny flesh he’d explored last night—her warm, wet pussy he itched now to trace again with his hands and lips.
She hooked her thumbs into the thong bottom, slid it past her firm, smooth thighs and sleekly muscled calves to puddle around her ankles. The motion was a slow, sensual dance to the rhythm of the whooshing jets. A dance that was driving his cock insane.
Steam filled the room, veiling her nakedness but not his imagination. His mouth watered. He wanted to rub his cheek against that crazy little heart-shaped patch of curls, bury his face in the velvety smoothness of her pussy. Desire sizzled through every cell in his body.
He might manage slow some day. But today was not the day. His fingers nearly met when he clasped both hands around her slender waist and brought her into the churning water. Her breasts bobbed on the foamy surface, beckoning him to join her on the narrow ledge as he climbed in behind her. He found her foot with his own and tickled her toes. The last thing on his mind was teasing, but he attempted a grin.
“Hey, you’re tickling me.” Casey retaliated by splashing bubbles in his face.
Craig shook his head as he spit water from his mouth. Then he grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. “Now you’ve asked for it,” he growled.
She let out a little squeal, but she also wiggled her bottom around until he felt her cunt poised, hot and wet, tantalizingly close to the aching tip of his cock.
“I did, didn’t I? From the feel of you, you’re ready to give it to me.” Burrowing her fingers through his chest hair, she found his nipples and rubbed playfully across the flat nubs. Hell, he’d never realized before how sensitive they were, or how sensation seemed to spread straight to his aching balls.
He fought for control when she grasped his cock in one hand, drawing him closer.
“Better grab that condom,” he croaked, almost beyond speech. “Now.”
“Impatient?”
“Damn it, Casey!”
He fumbled for the packet, cursed again. When he finally found it, he took it between his teeth and tore the foil away. Then he stood.
“Put it on me.”
So slowly he thought he’d die, she took the condom and sheathed him. By the time she finished, his balls were ready to explode.
Then she pulled him down on the ledge, rose on her knees, and lowered herself onto him. Inch by inch she took him into her body until his cock was part of her.
Hot water churned around them. Her sweet old-fashioned scent filled his nostrils. Her hair tasted of salt-spray and felt like spun silk. With gentle hands she stroked his chest, and even that simple contact threatened to shove him over the edge.
He gritted his teeth and endured her slow, rocking motions that had him fighting to make this last. Damn it, he’d hold out or die trying. Casey deserved to come first this time.
He bent his head, took one hardened nipple in his mouth and flailed it with his tongue. Cupping both her breasts in his hands, he pinched the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger and was rewarded with her breathy little moan.
She spread her legs wider, took his full length inside. Her inner muscles contracted, milked him. Desperate to hold off the inevitable, he willed himself to hold back, to let her take her pleasure first.
“Oh, God. You feel so… Yesss. Craig, don’t stop!”
His name came out of her throat over and over, between sexy little whimpers. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her cunt clamped down on his cock like a vise, and it was all he could do to maintain control. “Let it happen, baby,” he said between clenched lips as he twisted his hips, fucked her harder…deeper…
His balls rested in the slick, wet slit when he sank into her all the way. It felt so good, it hurt.
“Oh, yesss,” she murmured, writhing on his cock as though she wanted to swallow it. Her grip on his shoulders tightened painfully, but he barely noticed.
He arched his back, withdrew halfway, then drove back deep inside her. “Come on, baby. Come for me.”
Soon. Please le
t it be soon.
He’d die if he had to hold out much longer. Her thigh muscles quivered. She moaned, then screamed out his name. Her cunt clamped down on his cock.
He thrust once. Twice. One last time.
And then he let go, coming hard, spurting for what seemed like hours, even after her pussy had relaxed its hold on his spasming cock and she’d collapsed against him with a contented sigh.
Chapter Twelve
The sun lay low in the sky when Casey woke up the next morning in the big round bed, her face turned toward the open patio doors.
She vaguely recalled Craig lifting her from the hot tub, wrapping her in a towel, and carrying her in here—but the memory of them making love surrounded by the warm, swirling water would stay with her forever.
He’d made her implode. She’d actually seen stars. Now she knew why folks put such store in sex. In orgasms, anyhow.
She wanted to sample some more, but she didn’t see Craig.
When she stretched, her muscles hurt some—but it was a good kind of hurt. A reminder she had a lover at last. Luckily, he hadn’t seemed too upset when he realized she’d been a virgin.
That was good.
The fact that she was nine-tenths of the way in love with him was not so good.
Just because Buck had jumped every obstacle including their engagement to marry the first woman who’d tweaked his cock didn’t mean Casey should expect a proposal from Craig anytime soon.
Make that ever.
After all, he was no laid-back cowboy from Bone Gap, Texas. He’d lived in Dallas before coming to Florida and settling in Tampa, and he was well on the way toward becoming a big-time, big city lawyer.
Yeah, Craig was a far cry from Buck, to whom a night at a Lubbock honky tonk had probably been the major highlight of his life. In more ways than one.
Casey stretched again, smiled. When she closed her eyes she felt his presence. Her skin tingled as if his touch were imprinted on every cell. The air she breathed still held his scent, and the taste of him lingered on her tongue.
But he was nowhere in the room. Or the bathroom.