I suck in a breath as the water laps against my cock and balls. Fuck me, it’s cold.
“Let’s see it then,” I tell her with a tilt of my chin. “Strip.”
She wrinkles her nose as if she’s weighing the pros and cons of swimming in a cold lake, and with a small shrug, she reaches for her jeans button.
“Nice tits, by the way,” I call out, and she blushes fiercely.
“You’ve already seen them, Kane.”
I flash her a dimpled grin. “I like them.”
The waist-deep water makes me suck in my gut. I submerge myself before popping back up, flicking my hair out of my eyes. “Come on, baby. Play with me.”
FIVE
JESSICA
“Come on, baby. Play with me,” he teases, that dangerous smile of his looking even more threatening now that he’s soaked, water droplets trailing down his chest.
This is a terrible idea. I sensed it the moment I agreed to spend the afternoon with him, and I still feel it now as I slip off my shoes and shimmy out of my jeans. After all, I promised my brother I wouldn’t see Kane again, yet here I am, peeling off my socks.
“You kill me,” Kane says when I stand before him in my sky-blue cotton panties, and I flush beneath his heated gaze. I have the urge to cross my arms over my breasts, but I like the way he looks at me, so I let him devour me with his hungry eyes.
Still, I’m slightly self-conscious about my underwear. They’re the cheap kind I grabbed from Target on a multibuy deal, not the luxurious lace I imagine women from the Heights wear.
Kane doesn’t seem to care.
“Take off your panties,” he says. “Let me see all of you.”
“You’ve already seen me naked.”
His lips curve as he runs a wet hand through his hair, pushing it back from his dark brows. He’s even more immersed now, the rippling water teasing his chin as he studies me like I’m all he sees in this beautiful clearing.
“And I want to see you now, too. You’re fucking beautiful.”
My heart pounds as I hook my thumbs into the fabric. Kane sinks lower in anticipation, his shaky exhale rippling the surface.
As my panties slip to my ankles, a twinge of guilt stirs in my stomach, gentle but persistent, like a whisper I try to ignore. What am I doing? My home life is falling apart, yet here I am... stripping naked for Kane Ravencourt. It’s as if my mind insists it’s wrong to feel anything but grief and sadness.
“Fuck… baby.” Kane’s heated, slightly choked whisper pulls me back to the moment. “You’re perfect.”
His words touch something in me I’m not ready to examine, something that makes my stomach flutter. I’m not overly confident in my body, but he makes me feel pretty and comfortable in my own skin.
That alone should be a major red flag.
I dip my toe in the water with a playful, teasing smile. “You call this cold?”
The best way to deal with these complicated emotions, the ones I’d rather shove under my bed than face, is good old sarcasm and snark.
Kane’s face breaks into an infectious smile that could brighten any room. “I dare you to join me without pulling a face.”
That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? I can do that.
“Stone face. Got it.”
He chuckles and quirks a finger at me. “Come join me, little thief.”
I step into the water and suppress a surprised gasp. It’s freezing.
