Page 26 of Slapshot Summer
“I’ve been wanting to see you in that bathing suit all morning.”One side of his mouth curled up.If hehadbeen a predator, a wild beast, his fangs would be dripping right now.And God, she loved how that made her feel!
“Y-you have?”Butterflies and moths and every sort of winged insect beat a tattoo inside her stomach.
“Oh yeah,” he growled.He took her mouth again and walked them backward into the bedroom, where light poured through the windows.
He lifted the hem of her cover-up.“May I?”
Her eyes zipped around the bright room.The glaring light would reveal her bumps and bulges, her every flaw.Too many.
“I-I don’t know your full name,” she stammered.Her nerves had her tongue twisting on itself, and she cringed inside.She sounded like an inexperienced ingénue, which, minus the ingénue bit, she was.
Keeping the fabric bunched in his hands, he retracted his invisible claws and smiled at her with a tenderness that warmed her to her toes.“Joshua Michael Wylder.What’syourfull name?”
“Alexis Grace Campbell.”
“That’s a beautiful name,” he rumbled, his timbre reverberating in her core.
He dropped the hem of her garment, and his lips descended on hers again with a possessiveness so powerful the breath whooshed from her lungs.The kiss was fierce and demanding, and it lit up parts of her she didn’t know she had.She ate it up.His tongue swept into her mouth, exploring every corner, while his hands skimmed over her back, down to the hem of her cover-up.In turn, she glided her hands over the soft fabric of his T-shirt, reveling in the feel of his chiseled chest before she slid them up to his neck and tunneled her fingers through his thick, silky hair.He worked up the hem and cupped her ass through her bottoms with his big warm hands.God, that felt good!Then the tips of his fingers dipped just beneath her waistband, teasing the skin there but going no farther.She deepened the kiss, silently urging him to go much, much farther.
He yanked her against his steely ridge as if he wanted her to feel every inch of what he was packing inside his board shorts.Shehad done that to him.Power surged inside her, rising up from her core, and she rocked against him.
Then his mouth was moving over her throat, up to her ear.“Alexis,” he whispered, and she froze.He snapped back, alarm etched in his handsome features.His hold loosened.“Did I say something wrong?”
“I-I … My ex used to call me that.”Frustrated tears built behind her eyes.Why was she letting Conrad ruin this moment?
Josh’s brows rode up his forehead.“I love the name, but I won’t use it if it brings up bad memories.”He moved his hands to her waist, and she missed his intimate touch on her chilly skin.“Do you want me to stop?”
The threatening tears receded, and she shook her head.
Concern filled his gray orbs.“Are you sure?We can stop this right now.”His hand held her upper back while the other covered her stomach.A strange gesture, but the sensation made her feel protected.Cherished.
“I’m sure.”
Concern dissolved, and fever took over his gaze as he locked on to hers.“I’m dying to see you.Can I do that?”
“I-it’s light in here and …” Oh God, she wanted to take the words back as soon as they stumbled from her mouth!
One corner of his mouth twitched.“I’ll close the curtains if you’re uncomfortable.Or tell me not to look, and I won’t.”
She swallowed.“Maybe if we start with the cover-up?”Exactly where he’d first suggested, dummy!
When she looked down, she was stunned by the tent pole in his shorts.Long and thick, even through the fabric, it called to her, sparking a primal reaction deep inside her.Wanton Woman began pounding her chest.
“We need to start with this.”He pulled the scrunchie from the top of her head, sifting her strands through his fingers as he fanned them across her shoulders.With languid movements, he worked the cover-up over her head and let it drop to her feet.His eyes lowered to her chest, went round, and lifted back up again.“Jesus!”
The reverence in his tone emboldened her.“Is this what you’ve been dying to see?”She tugged on the tie at her nape.
He covered her hand, stopping her.“No, wait.”Holding her gaze captive, he traced a fingertip under her chin, down her throat, over her breastbone, between the scraps of fabric covering her breasts, and down her stomach until it reached the waistband of her bottoms.
She lowered her hand and held her breath, anticipating his finger dipping below, where she was dripping wet.Her entire bodyachedfor his touch.If she widened her stance, invited him in … But he reversed course and slowly dragged his finger back up.He paused when he reached the valley between her breasts.
His gaze lowered.His finger feathered over that line where skin and bikini top met, as if learning her curves.His touch was wonderful; it was maddening.She wanted more.
Her nipples puckered, pushing against the fabric, and when he cupped her breasts in both hands and ran his thumbs over them, she nearly came undone.
“I want my mouth on these,” he hissed.
Reaching behind her head again, she went for the tie, and he didn’t stop her this time.Instead, he watched her every move with fascinated focus.Somehow she’d forgotten—or didn’t care—that sunlight lit every corner of the room.Lither.Her mind had traveled to a far more carnal place.
