He blinked, his eyes unfocused and dazed, as he tried to understand her. “Yeah?” he asked, just as quietly, like if either was too loud, they’d break whatever spell had finally gotten them here.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that night in Australia. Ineverstopped wanting you, and you were right the other night. I am scared, I’m petrified that if I give in to this, I’ll lose myself in it, in you, but…” She trailed off as his hand reached up to brush a lock of her hair away from her face.
“But…” he asked.
“But I don’t let fear stop me from going after the things I want,” she let out in one long breath before meeting his eyes and holding his gaze. “And I want you.”
“Holy shit,” he cursed, but her words were enough to break the hold he had on himself.
His mouth on hers, hot and open and all-consuming, her entire weight taken in his arms, a hand around her thigh, the other across her hips as she wound her arms around his neck, his shoulders broad and strong as he carried her to the back of the court, pressing her into the fence and then letting out a sound of protest when it proved to be too unstable for his intended purpose.
Penny laughed, sliding out of his grasp, and when her feet touched the ground, she grinned up at him, eyes wild. “Race you.”
Then, slipping out from under his arms, she took off at full speed across the court, through the gate, and straight for the stairs down to the beach, his pounding footsteps echoing behind her.
The wind whipped against her face as she ran, and she knew he could catch her easily if he chose. Instead, he was a step or two in her wake and followed her up the long, sandy path to his house; lights illuminated their way every few feet until the path led up to a back porch overlooking the water. When she reached the back door, she stopped and whirled around as he took one final stride and stood in front of her, his breath as ragged and uneven as hers.
“I…” he started, staring down at her in wonder. “I… are you sure?” he finally managed to ask, the open vulnerability clearly uncomfortable for him. “I don’t think… I don’t think I could take it if I woke up tomorrow and you were gone, so if you…”
Penny shook her head, her heart clenching at the thoughtof hurting him again, knowing he didn’t show this side of himself to just anyone. She wasn’t the only one who was scared, and that made everything so much easier, knowing they were in this thing together.
She stepped closer, reaching for him, taking his hand in hers and lifting it to her lips, pressing a kiss to his palm. “I’m not going anywhere,” she promised, bringing their joined hands to her cheek and leaning into his touch as his fingers slipped into her hair, cradling the back of her head.
The insecurity was gone from his gaze and replaced by that fire she’d come to know so well, and she reveled in it. She’d always marveled at his talent, but his ability to lift her into his arms while sucking a bruising kiss into the sensitive skin just beneath her earandget the door behind them open—and then closed again—as he carried her inside was beyond impressive.
Her sneakers fell to the floor and her socks, too, and she felt the shift of his weight as he toed his own shoes off—she’d compliment him on his multitasking the next day.
She wrapped her legs around his hips and let out a shuddering gasp when his hands palmed her ass, grinding her into him, pulling matching gasps from him as he stumbled the last few feet into his bedroom, an uneven “Fuck me” breathed against her skin when she nipped at the sharp edge of the jawline that had tempted her for weeks.
“Yes, please,” she answered, giggling at the sardonic grin he shot her before he dropped her down to the bed.
He lifted a brow at her and her laughter died as he pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it away, exposing his long, lean frame, the sharp cut of muscles in his chest, andhis stomach lightly lined with hair, shorts slung low at his hips. Her breath caught in her throat. He was gorgeous in the golden light that poured in from the wall of windows that framed the ocean in the distance.
Never one to back down, she crawled toward the edge of the bed, rising to her knees when she was close enough to feel the warmth of his body radiating onto her skin. She lifted her shirt up, his hands joining hers, and then her grasp falling away as he finished the job. He gazed down at her as he let the shirt fall to the floor.
“Still the most incredible-looking thing I’ve ever seen. Fuck, Penny, do you know what you do to me?”
Running her hands over the plains of his chest, grinning at the light hiss he expelled when her blunt nails scraped against his skin, she said, “Why don’t you show me?”
Challenge lit in his eyes as he pressed forward, his mouth capturing hers, trapping her hands between them as his body lined up with hers. He bumped her backward toward the mattress and lowered her to the sheets as his hands and mouth danced over her skin, trails of open-mouthed kisses at the lace edges of her bra. Goose bumps rose along the path of calloused fingertips at the waistband of her shorts, then under the elastic and around to the rise of her ass. As he lifted her up and into him, the overwhelming sensations prevented her from doing anything other than writhe into the contact, nails digging little half-moons into his shoulders.
“Alex,” she managed as his tongue traced the contour of her abdomen toward her belly button, and he stopped to look up at her, chin resting on the rise of her hip, a clear question written across his face.
He hooked a finger into her shorts, and the small secret smile she sent his way was all the permission he needed. The scrape of that stubble against the inside of her thighs was almost enough to do the job, but his clever mouth was just as adept at driving her wild.
When she finally came back to herself, his head was pillowed on her thigh, lips gleaming and swollen, hair a wreck from what her hands had done to it. He looked as smugly satisfied with himself as she had to admit he deserved.
He was truly the most ridiculously gorgeous man she’d ever seen.
He brought himself back up her body and pressed a kiss to her lips. Before he could pull away, she deepened it, wrapping her arms fully around him, and then hooked her leg around his hip and rolled them over. He stared up at her, his hands falling to her hips when she reached back to unfasten her bra. She let it fall between them before tossing it away and settling against him fully.
“Like this?” she asked as he reached one hand up to cup her breast, the rough pad of his thumb sending shock waves over her skin.
“However you want me, Pen,” he said as she slid down his powerful thighs, pulling his shorts with her, and then allowing herself a little giggle at the socks still on his feet. She rid him of those as well and waited as he rolled to his side to dig through the drawer of his nightstand for a condom.
She took it from him and then let him watch, eyes heavy-lidded with passion, as she deftly had it on him in seconds. He settled back against the pillows and reached for her hand, twining their fingers together as she straddled himagain, taking him in, slowly letting the stretch wash over her, familiar and foreign at the same time.
A roll of her hips at the perfect angle sent a swell of heat through her and pulled a soft “Yes” from her throat.
