Page 19 of Protecting Kelli
“That’a girl,” Flash said quietly. Then he shocked the shit out of Kelli by leaning forward and kissing her forehead, before letting go and turning to the tube he’d hauled out of the water.
As he leaned over, Kelli couldn’t stop herself from staring at his ass. It was almost as nice as his abs. Almost.
Turning, Flash caught her looking at his butt, but he simply smiled and turned back to what he was doing.
Kelli thought she should be embarrassed, but she wasn’t. Fuck it. This situation had gotten completely out of control. She had no doubt she’d look ridiculous sitting on top of Flash as they floated down the river. Charlotte would make fun of her when they were alone for sure.
But whatever. Being made fun of wasn’t anything newfor Kelli, and she’d much rather deal with Charlotte’s snide comments for the rest of her life than allow Flash to get hurt or get some tropical disease from being in the water for too long. It didn’t matter if the possibility of that actually happening was extremely low, she wasn’t going to chance it. Especially since he now had open wounds.
Mentally shrugging, Kelli followed Flash into the water.
CHAPTER FIVE
Flash was in hell.
A hell of his own making, but hell all the same.
And the kicker was, he was enjoying every second of it.
It was a little difficult to get settled when he and Kelli first got into the tube, but now that they were floating down the river once more, and she’d relaxed against him, he’d never felt anything better than this woman in his arms.
She might think she was too heavy, but to Flash, she was absolutely perfect. The sight of her in that black one-piece would be forever etched on his brain. It was a hundred times sexier than the tiny bikinis the other women were wearing.
The high-cut sides empathized her soft thighs, making him think about what they’d feel like wrapped around his hips. The back was nearly nonexistent, and it was all he could do not to put his hand on the small of her back and slip it under the material, down to her ass.
And her tits. Lord. They were a man’s wet dream…which was crude as hell, but Flash was almost beyond being a gentleman at this point. Her nipples were hard from the cold, and every time she moved, the globes shifted. He wanted to pull the material down and suck on her nipples until she writhed in his lap.
Forcing himself to think about something else, Flash looked around as they floated, but it was no use. The woman sitting across his lap held all his attention. Every molecule of his body was tuned in to her. Every flex of her muscles, every breath, every time she licked her lips. He noticed.
She was sitting on his lap sideways, so they made kind of a cross in the tube. His legs out in front, hers to the side. She had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, and her other hand sat on his leg just above his knee. He thought they fit perfectly in the tube this way and wished he could’ve had her this close for the entire trip.
That rock in the river had surprised him, and he hadn’t been able to steer himself away from it. Before he’d known what was happening, it had pierced the tube and he’d gone under. He hadn’t panicked, even when he’d hit a few rocks under the water pretty hard. He’d simply gotten himself turned around so his feet were facing forward and rode the current until he could get himself to the bank.
He hadn’t meant to scare Kelli, nor had he meant to swallow so much river water. He’d almost missed grabbing her as she floated by. Thank goodness he hadn’t.
The world was silent around them as they rode the now quiet current toward their pull-out point. He couldn’t hear anyone from their group ahead of them and realized he and Kelli had probably been standing on the riverbank for longer than he’d thought.
“Are you sure I’m not squishing you?” Kelli asked nervously for what was probably the tenth time.
“I’m sure. Are you uncomfortable?”
“No. You’re surprisingly comfy,” she said with a shy smile.
Flash’s dick twitched under her ass at her words. “Ignore that,” he told her.
“Kind of hard to,” she said.
“It’s hard, all right,” Flash murmured.
Kelli giggled, and he felt the movement throughout his body.
Yup. This was hell.
Staring at the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about last night, having her laid out in front of him as if she were a buffet and he hadn’t eaten in months…Utter torture. But he was obviously a glutton for punishment. Flash hadn’t felt this alive in years.
He’d gotten into a rut and hadn’t even realized it. He did his job, came home, then went into work the next day. Over and over. It was like the movieGroundhog Day. He hadn’t wanted to come on this trip, but he was so damn grateful he did. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have met Kelli. Wouldn’t be floating down the White River with a gorgeous woman on his lap. Wouldn’t be feeling her fingers dig into his leg every time the tube bounced in the water.
Flash had been using both hands to steer the tube, but he couldn’tnottouch her right now if his life depended on it. He put one of his hands on her thigh, and she jerked at the feel of his fingers, cold from being emersed in the water.
