Page 43 of Bare
“Is your hair okay in the water?”
“What?” Her voice was dazed and languid.
“Your wig. Is it okay?”
“Ignore the wig and kiss me.”
That small intrusion of reality allowed sense to creep back in. They needed to talk. He shouldn’t let things go further between them until he’d told her the entire truth of who he was.
Teeth nipped at his jaw, then his earlobe, sending a rush of heat to his already raging cock. His body and mind were at war.
He spoke before his body could win. “I need you to know that I’m not ready for a relationship. I can’t lose someone again like I lost Phillipe. I have feelings for you, but before we do this, you need to know that I’m not ready to care deeply again. I’m not ready to take responsibility for someone else. I don’t know if I ever will be.”
Their bodies remained intertwined. Her strong legs wound tightly around him.
“I’m not asking for a commitment. I’m not asking you to be responsible for me. I had to rely on other people for too many years. I want to take care of myself now. I want to be responsible for myself. This is my time. My time to make up for every minute I lost being sick. My time to do what makes me happy. My time to live every moment like it might be my last. In this moment, I want you. Let’s enjoy the time we have now and worry about the rest later.”
“There are things we should talk about. Things you don’t know about me.”
The firm legs wrapped around him loosened, and her lush body slid against his, her tongue tracing down his neck to the center of his chest, where she pressed a kiss.
“I know who you are in here. That’s all that matters. There will be plenty of time to talk later. I promise. I’ve missed so much. You’ve lost so much. We both need this. We both deserve it. Just let us have it.”
She was right. He did need this. She was like the sand his dad packed between the stones of the patio every few years. She filled in the cracks, repairing the damage that, if left alone, would cause him to break and crumble. He didn’t know if he deserved this time with her, but he needed it. And he could see she needed it too. Her gaze held a bone-deep longing he couldn’t ignore. She wasn’t asking for a commitment. She was only asking for this moment. They were here for four more days. There’d be plenty of time to talk, to tell her the whole story.
Right now, they both needed the other to fill the holes in their hearts.
Even if it was just for this moment.
Chapter Fifteen
Aleksei pulled back, removing his hand from her neck. She loosened her legs. Icy water replaced the warmth of his skin. Lust shifted to disappointment. She knew that he wanted her. She had felt it in the hot, hard length pressed against her. This moment was perfect. She wanted to seize it here and now. Impromptu sex in the middle of the lake would be a perfect ending to their day.
“We can’t do this here,” he said. “It’s not safe.”
His voice was firm, but she saw his eyes flick to her breasts. He wasn’t as resolute as he was pretending to be. Maybe he thought she wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to manage intimacy in the lake. She let go of the rope with one hand and tugged the wet string of her bikini top. As soon as she pulled, the knot released, and the scant material fell away. The chilly water lapped at her nipples, sending flames racing through her. She reached for his hand, pulling it to her exposed breast.
As his rough palm skimmed the soft skin of her breast, a flash of heat coursed through her, and she arched toward him. “I won’t drown.”
“It’s not that.” His voice came out as a croak.
Hard muscles pressed against her legs as he reached behind her, bracing his free hand on the rope. The thumb of his other hand circled her nipple in teasing swirls, then he squeezed the pebbled bud, sending a bolt of heat to her core. Warm breath and sharp teeth grazed and nipped at her neck and earlobe, making her shiver.
Her hands found the lean muscles of his shoulders, chest, and stomach, exploring bare skin, coarse hair, and then bare skin again. His waistband was as cold as the water, but when she slipped her fingers inside, they grazed hot, rigid flesh.
He groaned, and his fingers tightened on her breast. She pulled one hand from his waist and slid a finger along the line where his leg met his body, her knuckles brushing against the tight skin of his balls. He bucked and gripped her flesh even harder.
She smiled. She liked that her roaming fingers made him jerk and moan. She liked that his hand was rough and firm, that he treated her like a healthy woman, not a porcelain statue that might break.
She shifted her hand higher. His swim trunks had no liner, so nothing stopped her fingers from finding his cock. Long, thick heat filled her palm as she grasped and squeezed, moving her hand in a slow stroking motion. She watched Aleksei’s hooded eyes, heard his heaving breaths, and listened to his deep groans of encouragement.
She wanted to make this pensive, careful man lose control. She wanted his emotions to flare in passion rather than grief and sorrow. She closed the few inches between them, sliding her tongue between his minty, firm lips. His cock twitched beneath her hand. Calloused fingers squeezed both of her breasts, and her thoughts scattered.
One part of her mind processed that he was no longer holding onto the rope, that his legs were moving, kicking,holding them afloat, but her attention was focused on the tongue exploring her mouth and his fingers that sent bolts of electricity straight to her core.
She pulled her mouth away from his. She needed to see the nipples that had become the center of her world. Her breasts were pulled taut, each nipple extended, pinched like a rosebud being plucked. Her core was hot as lava. Her clit tingled. He lowered his head, catching her gaze with a wicked glint in his eye. Holding the stare, he grazed his teeth along the tip of one nipple. The sensation was almost too much. He was balancing her expertly on a blade of pleasure and pain.
And it was fucking perfect.
