“Linc,” she breathed. Her eyes were seductively lowered, the lush warmth of her mouth spilling over mine and her fingers moving restlessly on the front of my shirt as if she didn’t know what to do with all of the need coursing through her.
I knew she wasn’t experienced. All the signs were there but that wasn’t a turn off. The opposite. It meant no man had ever tempted her to cross the line. It meant she was all mine. And that was good because from this moment on I was all hers, too.
“Put your hands on my skin. Under my shirt, babe.” I adjusted my stance to more fully align the part of me that pulsed for her with the part of her that melted for me.
She complied immediately and I hissed in a breath as her fingers touched me. A bolt of desire rocked me and I didn’t hold back anymore. I crushed my mouth to hers. Her fingers glided from my abdomen to my back and she kneaded the muscles there as if encouraging me to deepen the kiss. So I did. My firm demanding lips overs her soft ones that gave me entry. I slanted my head and tunneled my fingers into her silky hair to cradle the base of her skull in my hands. Tongue thrusting inside I drank deeply from her sugary nectar, feasting on her sweet taste while my hips mimicked my mouth’s movements.
Low needful sounds bubbled up from the back of her throat and exploded like champagne bubbles on my tongue. I groaned as she rolled her core over me. I swore I could feel her damp beckoning heat even through her dress and my boxers and jeans. I nearly threw her to the sand and took her in the shallow surf like some scene from an old movie.
But I couldn’t.
Not her.
I reined in my desire like a blow tail in reverse, ripped my lips from hers, untangled my fingers from her hair and took a big step back nearly stumbling because my feet had sunk into the wet sand.
Moonbeams glowing in her hair, she opened her eyes and swayed unsteadily. Her expression grew confused as her passion cooled. “What’s wrong?” She touched her kiss swollen lips with fingers that trembled. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, Mona.” My voice was low, the strain within it evident as I wrestled against this insane desire for her. “I’ve never had a kiss more perfect or a woman in my arms who felt more right than you.”
Chapter Twenty
* * *
Simone
“Are you only taking prerequisite classes for your business major?” Karen asked.
“No.” I shook my head.
“Good. I hope you’re taking advantage of some of the arts offerings. I still remember all the plays you did in high school. I’ll never forget the last one where you were the prostitute and sang that song before you died.”
“’Someone Like You’ from Jekyll and Hyde.”
“You gave me goosebumps.” She nodded reflectively. “I’ve always hoped you’d go on to do something with that, fly, like the girl dreams about in the song.” She tipped her shaded eyes my way. “Have you tried out for anything at SDSU?”
The sound of the surf was punctuated intermittently by the laughter of children building a sandcastle on the beach next to us. I tipped my face up into the warm sun and considered my next answer carefully. “Yes I have,” I said vaguely. “But enough about me, what do you want to do once college is over?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even want to go to Yale in the first place. It’s a whole other world. I like it better here. If it were up to me, I’d come back to OB. Open up a surf shop. Hang at the beach as much as I could. Do my own thing, have a family of my own someday.” She sighed wistfully turning her head to watch the kids.
This was nice. I had missed talking to her. Maybe we hadn’t grown so far apart. Maybe the distance just made it feel that way. I liked that we were sharing again.
“That sounds like a really good plan.” I brushed sand off my beach towel and peeked once more at the spot on the ocean where Lincoln was floating on his board alongside Ash, Ramon and Dominic.
I didn’t want to appear too eager or too into him. Even though we had shared a kiss that had rearranged my world. Even though he had walked me home after and given me another one that had rocked me every bit as much as the first. Even though he’d cleverly gotten around the fact that I didn’t have a cell and had passed me a note written on a Napoli’s coaster asking me to come to the beach to meet him.
Even with all of that proof that he was interested, in the back of my mind I worried that what was going on between us was just some kind of fluke. An experienced guy like him would quickly lose interest in a girl like me. Maybe that was why things hadn’t gone any further with him the night before.
“He’s staring over here at you,” Karen huffed from her blanket beside me. “Again.”
My heart sped up and my lips curled into a pleased smile. “Could you get my back for me?” I passed the bottle of Coppertone to her. “It feels hot. I’m afraid I might have missed a spot.”
“Alright.” She frowned as she popped it open and poured some of the coconut scented lotion into her palm. “But don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Simone.” She gestured for me to turn around. I moved my ponytail to the front as she started to spread the sun warmed liquid onto my heated skin. We had been on the beach in our bikinis for a while. “You’ve deflected every single question I’ve asked you about him.” She pouted her lips. “It’s not fair. Everyone’s talking about you and him being at the Deck Bar together and you haven’t told me a thing. You always would tell me when you liked a guy.”
She tapped my shoulder to let me know she was through and handed me the bottle. When I turned back around, she was leaning forward arms over her knees staring out at the ocean. “I’m sorry. Things are different now. My dad is even less tolerant than he was before.” I sighed. “I can’t afford to do anything that would upset him.”
She shifted to look at me. I could see the narrowing of her eyes behind her opaque tinted shades. “Why does he hate surfers so much anyway?”
That I couldn’t answer, though I knew. I just shrugged.
“Oh, oh, oh!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Linc’s coming out of the water.” She squeezed my knee. “They all are and they’re heading this way.”
“How do I look?” My heart fluttered around inside my chest.
“Hours in the sun,” she mused, lifting her glasses onto her braided hair and tucking a few loose tendrils of mine behind my ears. “Barely mussed. You look beautiful. I hate you.”
“Give me a break, beauty queen.” I rolled my eyes as she returned her shades to their original position. “It’s not me who wore a homecoming and a prom queen crown.”
“Mona.” His shadow fell over me and his deep voice gave me a shiver. But the sun was so bright even with the shades I had to cover my eyes to look up at him.
“Linc.” I smiled giddily my stomach flip-flopping when he smiled back, his dimple winking at me within his tanned gorgeous face.
“And who’s this?” Ramon asked while cocking his hip forward and rolling his gaze slowly over my stunning friend to check her out.
“I’m Karen.” She smiled confidently. “Who are you Mr. McCool? You look familiar.”
“Ramon,” he replied like his name should mean something to her.
She slapped her thigh. “Ramon Martinez?”
He nodded, his mane of thick black curls sliding forward across his forehead.
“Gonzalo’s little brother?” she queried.
He stilled. “Nothing little about me, chica,” he rallied.
She snorted. “You graduated a year after Simone and I did.”
He nodded. “So did Ash and Dominic.” He hooked a thumb at the two surfers who flanked him.
“You look hot.” Ramon wiggled his dark brows. “Why don’t we go for a swim so you can get cooled off?”
“Sure thing, Romeo,” she teased. “But only if Simone comes, too.”
I nodded my agreement. I was ready to cool off. I peered over at Linc to see what he thought of the idea. He was unzipping and removing his wet suit. He apparently approved. My
mouth went dry as he tossed it aside.
Sure I’d seen Linc in only his board shorts before but it was from a distance and that had been before I’d had my hands on him and all those lean contoured muscles currently on dazzlingly display.
He offered me his hand and I took it readily but suddenly felt shy and kept my lashes lowered. “Simone and I are heading to the pier,” he informed everyone while draping his arm over my shoulder. “That work for you, Mona?”
I nodded, my heart doing summersaults within my chest as Linc began tracing random soft circles on my skin just above the slope of my right breast. I could feel my muscles tightening in response to what he was doing and where he was doing it.
“I don’t want you around Ramon in a bikini,” Linc said low as he steered us along the water’s edge. He sounded kind of angry. I didn’t get it but I was grateful he wasn’t looking at me. I skimmed my toes through the water embarrassed by my body’s obvious reaction to his touch. If he noticed that my nipples were peaked and jutting against my top, I hoped he’d attribute it to the coolness of the ocean instead of his touch and my desire for him to widen those circles and…
“He’s a friend.” Linc stopped and gently turned me to face him, his long capable fingers curling around my shoulders. “But I don’t trust him around you with you looking like this.” His gaze dipped and fingers tightened. “Damn, Simone,” he growled his voice even deeper than before as he rested his forehead against mine. “All I can think about is pulling those strings so I can get you naked. I want to see, touch, and taste every single incredible inch of your body.”
Chapter Twenty-One
* * *
Linc
The awkward first date feeling was nothing compared to the maelstrom of my emotions now. After having held her in my arms, after having sampled her lips, after having those types of dreams starring her, I had scarcely been able to form a coherent sentence. Let alone do anything but go all caveman when first seeing her in that barely there bikini.
Hello Sport’s Illustrated, my vote for your next swimsuit edition is right in front of me here in Ocean Beach.
I had alternated between wanting to cover her with her beach towel and throwing her over my shoulder to find someplace private where I could remove the tiny scraps of material and have my way with her.
“Linc, are you sure about this?” I blinked rapidly several times totally having lost track for a moment of where we were and what we were doing. Straddling my board while I walked her out into deeper water Simone looked uncertain. If her fingers hadn’t been curled around the rails of my board she probably would’ve been twirling that long ponytail of caramel.
“About what?” I asked gliding the pads of my fingers across the smooth golden skin of her thigh under the pretense of guiding her on my board further into the surf.
She swallowed before answering and I wondered if maybe the puckered nipples I hadn’t failed to notice were caused by me instead of the cooler temperature of the water. I hoped it was me. She was certainly driving me insane. My every fantasy brought to life. Breasts that would overflow my hands, curvy hips just right to sink my fingers into.
“About me riding on your board.” Her golden eyes reflected the ocean’s sparkle. “I thought a surfer’s board was sacrosanct.”
“It is, babe.” I was having difficulty keeping up with the conversation. I was still tripping on the image that came to mind when she mentioned riding. “To the surfer and his girl.”
As she slowly smiled her even beautiful white teeth left impressions on her ripe berry flavored lips. Apparently she liked the idea of being my girl as much as I did.
The water was to my waist now, finally deep enough for us to paddle out past the breakers. I drew myself onto the board and turned to look at her over my shoulder. “Tow is over. Get to work back there, Mona.” It was good that I was in front, seeing her bending over to paddle with those tits of hers spilling out of her top would make me entertain more thoughts of laying her out on my board and taking her on it. Here in the middle of the day knowing everyone could see us it wasn’t an option, but at night, if sharks weren’t a concern I would have given that particularly tempting fantasy some serious consideration.
I shifted to make room for my growing erection. My cock and I would’ve loved to fulfill a few different fantasies with her right then. Soon, had become my internal mantra.
I leaned forward and dug into the surf with hands cupped into paddles trying to get a grip, focusing on the fighter jet roaring overhead to distract myself from Simone.
Once we slipped into the gentle swells, I swiveled around to face her. “Come here. We’re far enough away from the shore to be safe from prying eyes and I want to kiss you.”
She shimmied forward, tits swaying and lips curled seductively like some kind of erotic water nymph from my dreams come to life.
Eyes focused on hers, I leaned forward the moment her knees touched mine placing my palms on her sexy thighs. Her hands wrapped around my forearms her fingers gripping so hard her nails nearly pierced my skin. I skimmed my hands an inch higher up her leg. She gasped and I took advantage pressing my lips to hers and dipping my tongue between the parted seam. Slow slick glides of my tongue to hers with languid swirls I deepened and deepened the kiss that I never wanted to end.
I felt the sun on my skin and the water lapping my lower legs but mostly what I felt was turned completely on and inside out by her. “Mona.” I lifted my mouth from her lips and skimmed them across her jaw. Her eyes remained closed. Her lashes formed dark fans on her cheeks as she arched forward seeming to lean into each stamp of my lips against her creamy soft skin. “Mona,” I tried again.
“Mmm.” She sighed, lids fluttering open, her eyes dark and unfocused.
“I gotta go in. I have to take a phone call from my sponsor, but I wanna see you again.” I needed to. I hated the thought of being even a single moment without her. I wasn’t just a caveman with her; I was a jealous and possessive one. “Patch is having a party at his house. Nothing special just some beers and burgers.” I suspected it was another excuse for them to get out their instruments and play in front of an audience. “I’d like you to go with me.”
“I can’t, Linc.” Her hands going back to the rails of my board, she frowned. “I want to, but I have to work.”
“It’s your parent’s place.” I tried to hide my disappointment. “Can’t you get someone to cover for you so you can take the night off?”
She shook her head.
“Is your dad always that unreasonable?” I had tried to convince myself that the way he treated her was mostly a work related thing.
She closed her eyes briefly. When she reopened them, she was still sitting in the same position but I could tell she had withdrawn from me disappearing behind that shield she always had up at the restaurant.
Frowning, too, I squeezed her knee. “He doesn’t…” I choked on the mere thought. My drunk old man and me was one thing. She was his daughter. I could barely speak the words. “He doesn’t hurt you does he?”
“No.” Her honeyed gaze flared with denial. “Of course not. It’s just that the business is important to him and it’s important to him that I’m there and do my part to make it successful.” Her brow creased and she started to mess with the end of her ponytail. “It’s all tangled up together. I’m sorry I can’t go. He pays for my school, Lincoln. I can’t afford to make him any angrier with me than he already is.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
* * *
Simone
I shuffled around the restaurant like a mindless zombie, the minutes magnified into hours and the hours into an eternity. I hadn’t realized how much faster time passed when Lincoln was around. Even though I wasn’t free to talk to him at work, his presence soothed me, almost as much as the ever present ocean always had.
He was quickly becoming the center of my existence. He was already the focus of my thoughts.
That probably wasn’t a good thing.
&nb
sp; I had my goals and whatever this was between us, we only had the summer to figure it out. He had his competitions to go to and I had my responsibilities at Napoli’s. If tonight was any indication I didn’t think compromise was going to be easy. He hadn’t been very happy about me turning him down.
Plus he was already popular here in OB and probably just as in demand at those qualifying events.
We had only shared a couple of kisses. Body melting, mind blowing, life changing ones. But we didn’t have anything exclusive. Though this felt very serious to me, could it possibly mean as much to him?
Or was he even now at the party with someone new?
“Simone!” I jumped at the sound of my father’s voice.
“Yes, Daddy.” I hurried over to the bar where he was rearranging the glassware. It had been an unexpectedly slow night.
“You’ve been out of it all night. Messed up six tickets already. Go on home. Get some rest so you can be better focused tomorrow. I can close by myself tonight.”
My slumbering heart stirred in my chest. “Alright.” I tried not to let my inner excitement bleed through into my tone. There was still time. I was going to go to Dominic’s party. My father hadn’t specifically forbidden me from going out when he’d taken my cell phone. Feeling my mood completely altering, I impulsively kissed his stubbly cheek. He looked at me funny but smiled.
I don’t think my feet touched the sidewalk all the way home. I flew up to my room and had six or seven rejected outfits on the bed when my mom knocked on my door and pushed it open, a full to the brim goblet of wine in her hand.
“Going out again?” She looked at the bed and then at me in my old robe, my hair in a clip high on my head. “Seems like tonight’s important to you, Simone, honey.” She only slightly slurred her words. It was still early enough in the evening for her to be coherent. It was sometimes nice to talk to her. I knew she loved me the best she could. But tonight I was in a rush.
(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5) Page 9