Page 28 of Defying Ella
His brow wrinkled at my words, completely missing the threat. His confusion didn’t last long. No, he smirked, his eyes devouring me all over again.
“You’ve had nearly all day to yourself. If I had thinner skin, I’d think you didn’t want our truce.” The combination of his grin and that knowing looking in his eyes set my teeth on edge.
He reached out, his movements sluggish beneath the water. His fingers latched onto my ankle, tugging me towards him.
“What are you doing?” I asked before the air exploded from my lungs at the first sweep of his fingers along the arch of my foot.
“You said you wanted to relax.” His focus never leaving me, he massaged my foot, his talented digits digging into the flesh. I bit my tongue on the moan dying to burst free. “I’m helping.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” I pulled at his grip, it only tightened further. “Jared, let me go.”
Of course, my traitorous body wanted him to do anythingbut that. My eyes fought to close, and liquid heat rushed through me with every stroke of his fingers.
“Did you know you get this red flush when you’re pissed at me?” His voice dropped, grating along nerve endings and inserting unwanted images of us writhing in bed into my head.
I gritted my teeth against the need he stroked to life and forced myself to focus on his unpredictable motives. Why was he in the tub with me? Our truce wasn’t about sex, yet he considered me with hooded eyes and that smirk that made me weak in the knees every damn time he directed it at me.
“Are you honestly flirting with me right now?” I stared at him, waiting, hoping for a denial. It didn’t come. I ripped my foot from his grasp, catching him by surprise no doubt. My feet hit the bottom of the tub and I struggled to stand. The cold air immediately pebbled my skin.
“What did I ever do to earn this level of bullshit from you?”
He caught my wrist as I reached for the ladder. I glanced at him, an angry retort on the tip of my tongue. It died at the desire in his eyes.
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, I found myself pressed against Jared. His arms wrapped around me, holding me to him while his mouth slammed down on mine.
My mind screamed at me to move, but yet again, my body won, locking me in place. Without much coaxing, I kissed him back. Kissed would be putting it kindly. We mauled each other, each of us fighting for control while trying to punish the other.
He sank into the tub, taking me with him. My legs automatically found a position on the bench, straddling him on the seat. Our bodies were pressed so close, I could feel the pulse of his erection against my centre, and my peaking nipples grazed against his chest.
With his hands dragging up and down my back, gripping the strings of my bikini top, logical thought fled.
My fingers gripped the back of his neck, and I tilted my head, forcing my tongue into his mouth, pressing harder against his body. I ground myself against him, one punishing sweep after another. His hands stilled on my back with a firm grip on the strings holding the scraps of fabric to my body. He bit my lip while he ripped at the flimsy ties.
As the material loosened, I broke our kiss. Each of us breathed hard, our chests working overtime to recoup all we’d lost while we stared at each other with a mix of challenge and hesitation.
We’d drawn a line between us. Did we cross it or back away to our respective corners and pretend this never happened?
“We shouldn’t,” I whispered, breathless.
“Stop lying to yourself.”
He snagged the edge of a bikini cup and tugged. The fabric sailed over my head, slapping against the deck.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Growling, I gripped his neck and slammed my mouth back down on his. Jared groaned against my lips while his fingers dug into my hips, urging me to grind myself faster against his hardness. I resisted him, keeping the pace slow and even, fully intending to torture him and leave him hot and bothered instead.
He broke our kiss to drag his lips along my jaw. They curled against my skin as he shifted on the bench.
Lightning shot through me, muddling my thoughts and robbing me of breath.
With very little effort, Jared stole back control. I tried to shift the pressure away from my clit, desperate to never give him even that tiny piece of me again. His grip tightened on my hips preventing my evasion.
He chuckled. “You’re not escaping me tonight, Els. I know your body better than anyone.”
To prove his point, he drew the skin that joined my neck and shoulder into his mouth, sucking hard. Another bolt of lightning lit up inside of me and an unintentional moan slipped from my lips.
“See?” He tugged hard against my hips, grinding us together to prove his point. “You can pretend to hate me all you want, but your body doesn’t lie.”
