I sputtered a laugh. “Well, I’m going to try. At least, I was until the…”
I’d meant to say accident, but that wasn’t the right word. He sprang to his feet, his face set into a hard line, the gray of his irises turning cold, his jaw moving as if he were grinding his molars. He took a long drag of fresh, summer air then let it out in a big harumph.
“Are you ready to get in the water?” Jere inquired, offering me his hand.
I glanced at Ronnie who was dozing behind sunglasses. I wanted to hide under the umbrella with her, but I’d come too far to do that. I took his hand, and he lifted me to my feet with little effort, his strength sexy as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I knew the gesture was an attempt to help me walk, but the gentle swipe of his thumb across the skin where my spine plugged into my tailbone was to let me know he wanted to touch me.
“I won’t let you fall or get knocked over by the water,” he said, pulling me close to him, his palm sliding to my hip. “Promise.”
I stared into his eyes that were deeper than the nadir of lake Michigan, the icy hardness gone and replaced with heat. “I know.”
The sand became less lumpy and easier to tread the closer we got to the water line where it was smooth and supportive. And when the cool water hit my feet, I gasped from the shock. I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, savoring the sensation of the sun on my face and the water lapping at my toes and the soft cushion of the sand. When I was ready, I took my first step into the lake.
Jere let go of my waist and entwined his fingers with mine. The currents were moderate, and I only lost my balance twice as a wave pushed me. But he caught me and kept me from falling.
“I’m good,” I said with a smile.
“Do you want to go deeper?” he asked.
I couldn’t help it, but a naughty image popped into my mind. He didn’t give me a chance to respond and pulled me into the lake. The water pushed and slapped around by thighs and when it splashed at my balls, I yelped at the sudden chill. The further out we went, the less force that pushed me off balance, the water around my body acting as a kind of support system.
He took me further until I had to stand on my tiptoes to keep my head above the surface. We’d gone so far, the water sloshed around my neck and if I reached out, I could probably touch the lifeguards floating in their little boats.
He wrapped his arms around me to cradle my back. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I managed. “But I can barely touch the bottom anymore.”
“I’m taller, so my feet are still on the bottom.” He slid his palm down around the rise of my butt and to the back of my thigh, lower, all the way to the crook of my knee where he pulled my leg around his hip. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you flounder.”
I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his hips to keep my head above the water. Cocking a brow at him, I asked, “Is that a joke?”
“Did it land?”
“Yeah, actually, it was pretty good,” I said and bracketed his head with my arms. “Wait a second… water and land. I get it.”
He smiled, sliding a palm down my back, and over my ass where he cupped my cheek with a rough hand. The sun caught his face, highlighting every fine detail, the curve of his lips, and the little cleft in his chin. He stared at me as if I was the most interesting thing, as if there was nothing else that existed in the world.
I narrowed my eyes on him and said accusatorily, “You had ulterior motives bringing me out here.”
“Maybe.”
Then he kissed me in a closed-mouth smooch that made me shiver and sweat all at the same time. My first instinct was to see if anyone had noticed, but I realized I didn’t care. I wanted to kiss my boyfriend like I’d seen so many other couples do this far in the water, making out unabashedly.
I opened for him, and he took my offering, his tongue darting into my mouth. I pushed my fingers into his hair and fisted my hand, never wanting to let him go. And when he pushed his hand under the back of my shorts, and slid his fingers into my bare ass crack, I moaned into his mouth. Heat rushed up my neck and I buried my face between his throat and my shoulder.
“Do you want me to stop?” he rasped, his fingers poised over my hole.
I glanced behind him, to the lifeguard floating nearby, his head craning around and watching for thatone personwho thought they were a better swimmer than they actually were. Jere and I were largely underwater, so unless someone were snorkeling nearby, they were unlikely to see anything. Taking a quick survey, there were only a handful of people in the water this early. I’d never thought I could be so turned on by getting freaky in public, not that I hadn’t thought about it.
“Don’t stop,” I managed to ground out.
Jere smiled like a wolf and pushed the pad of his finger against my hole, curling around the rim in slow, agonizing drags of rough skin. It got hard to breathe quickly, and I tipped my head back, the light reaching through my lids and painting a picture against the back as Jere’s mouth came against my throat. We lost uncountable minutes as he played with my ass and explored my throat with his lips, flicking his tongue over my Adam's apple, the line of my jaw, all the way down to where his tongue dipped into the recess of my collar bone.
I’d never had anyone take such great interest in otherwise normal parts of my body before, and certainly not as thorough and for such an expanse of time, all the while, more and more people ventured into the water. I pushed my fingers into his hair at the nape of his neck and pulled, stealing his attention from my throat, his fingers freezing against my needy hole.
We locked our eyes and giggled like teenagers, our thoughts communicating silently.Message received, however, and the final searing kiss with full tongue he gave me threatened to destroy everything I was and rebuild me anew.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
