Laurel bent into the space that separated their mouths and placed her lips against his. She bussed him once. Twice. And then she lingered, her damp mouth moving over his. The edge of her tongue brushed his upper lip. His mouth parted. Hers did the same. His lips were cool from the water but his mouth was warm. She liked the taste of him, the slightly rough pad of his tongue as it circled hers. He pulled her closer. She felt his erection stirring between her thighs. Was she beyond redemption that she wished they had both been skinny-dipping?
Laurel threaded her fingers in his damp hair. At the nape of his neck she twisted it into little curls and then tugged and straightened it. All the while, she kept her mouth on his except for when she had to come up for air. Kissing him was like being underwater. Pressure built inside her, and the urge was there to come to the surface, but she ignored it because there was so much about him that she wanted to explore.
His lips were firm and pliable by turns. Sometimes the slant of his mouth was one way, sometimes the other.Her tongue darted, licked his lips. She ran it along the ridge of his teeth. He bit down gently and she felt a surge of heat between her legs that rippled all the way to her fingers and toes.
She wanted this. Lord help her, she wanted this.
Laurel cupped his face as she lifted her mouth from his. She rested her forehead against his, catching her breath and calming her racing heart. Laughter bubbled on her lips, but it was an uneasy sort of humor that prompted it.
“Laurel?” His voice was soft, husky. His fingers pressed against her bottom as he lifted her and adjusted his hold. Her thighs tightened against his hips. She wasn’t going anywhere, which was good, because it certainly wasn’t his intention to let her go. The back of his head was against the rocky side of the pool so he couldn’t pull away to search her face. He had to wait for her to lift her forehead. He leaned into her, giving her a gentle nudge.
Laurel raised her head. Her eyes met his searching ones. “I’m all right,” she whispered. She could barely hear her voice for the rush of water from the falls, but he must have understood because he nodded. When he looked at her the way he was doing now, it was like bathing in a moonbeam. She barely noticed that the sun was just past its zenith or the heat that was beating down on her shoulders. It might have been translucent silver-blue moonlight on her face.
Call saw that her slim smile was steadier than it had been before, and he observed her eyes darkening as her lips parted. Her hands fell from his face to his shoulders. She kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw. Her teeth tugged his earlobe and then her mouth moved along his neck.
He returned her attention in equal measure. His mouth hovered above the curve of her shoulder and then sipped her skin along the sensitive cord of her neck. She turned her head to allow him more of the same, and when he obliged her, her hips lifted and slowly rolled against his groin. He doubted that she was mindful of it, butneither did it startle her. What she did came as naturally as drawing a breath, and that was how it should be.
Aware that Laurel had attached herself to him like a burr, Call was able to remove his hands from her bottom. He slid one hand up her back and the other along her thigh. He found the tail of her braid, wrapped it in his fist, and tugged until she lifted her head. He kissed the underside of her jaw and the hollow of her throat. She whimpered and he felt the vibration of it against his lips.
Laurel surprised him then by removing one of her hands from his shoulders and running it along his arm until she came to his hand on her thigh. He offered no resistance as she lifted it, dragged it along her hip to her waist, and then brought it to her breast. She held it there.
“It’s all right,” he told her. “I’ve got it.”
Laurel was too deep into the sensation of his warm hand cupping her breast to appreciate she was being teased. “You’re certain?” she asked.
Call tamped down the urge he had to smile and answered as seriously as she had posed the question. “I’m certain.”
Nodding, every one of her features stamped with concentration, she removed her hand from his and let it drift away. Her fingers curled into a fist when Call’s thumb passed across her aureole, and the fist tightened when he flicked her nipple on the second pass. He teased the bud. Her wet camisole added an element of delicate abrasiveness that was at once tender and tormenting.
“Hold on,” he said.
As soon as Laurel gripped Call’s upper arms, he slid the hand that had been moving up and down her spine to her other breast and gave it the same attention as he had the first. He felt her fingers dig into his arms. Her lips parted but he heard nothing. It was as if her breath were lodged in her throat. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and felt her pulse thrum against his lips.
“You’re going to have to help,” he said in her ear.
“Yes. Whatever you need.”
“Put your hands on my shoulders. Lift.”
Not knowing what she could expect, she still did as he wanted. Her reward was the hot suck of his mouth on her breast. Laurel gasped as a shudder of pleasure so sharp it was almost painful swept through her. Every part of her tingled with sparks that ignited up and down her skin.
Call slipped a hand between their bodies and fumbled with the opening to his drawers. He felt her give a little start when he released his cock but she didn’t try to pull away. He tugged at her knickers, lowering them over her hips before he slid his hand between her open thighs and palmed her mons. Now she did jerk hard, but it was in a way that brought her closer. He slipped one finger inside her and then a second. She came down slowly on his hand as his mouth released her breast.
She met his eyes and said the first thing that came to her mind. “I thought it would be bigger.”
Call nearly lost his footing and unseated her for the shout of laughter she provoked. Removing his hand from between her thighs, he took one of hers by the wrist and drew it under the water to his erection. “Go on,” he said, folding her fingers around it.
Her eyes widened fractionally.
“Uh-huh.” Call couldn’t help that he was stupidly satisfied by her reaction. “Slow now.” He lifted her hips, tilted them, and urged her to take him in. He found his own way after that, careful as she bit her lower lip and made to accommodate his entry. He wasn’t surprised that she was tight, only that she closed like a fist around him when he began to withdraw. The contraction made his blood run hotter. He seemed to swell inside her. The pleasure was intense and he closed his eyes.
Laurel rocked her hips, rising and falling at his direction. The press of his fingers guided her movements. She was in the saddle but he was in control. The initial discomfort was not unexpected and it faded quickly, replacedby a pleasing sense of fullness that was both alien and welcome.
She found his mouth, kissed him deeply, slowly, matching the lazy rhythm of their coupling. When she broke the kiss, she saw he was watching her again. The black center of his eyes was wider but there was no loss of focus. The planes of his face seemed sharper somehow and she wondered if it was the same for her. It felt right, what they were doing. The pleasure felt right. She had wondered if she would feel shame, but she didn’t, not even a scintilla of it. The freedom from it made her want to laugh and she thought she might do that later, but just now...
Quite without knowing how it happened, the movement of her hips quickened. She felt herself straining, searching. When his hand slipped between their bodies a second time, and he stroked the sensitive and slippery nub of flesh nesting in her nether lips, Laurel understood what it was she had been seeking. A shiver of pleasure made her contract all around him, everywhere. She felt as if she were drowning in it, and she might have if not for Call’s steadying presence.
Laurel held on as he continued to move. His features were tight with denial and need, and then he surprised her by lifting her abruptly and holding her away from him. His body jerked; he squeezed his eyes shut. Laurel touched his shoulder as though to offer comfort and he shrugged her off. His breathing was ragged at first, but it slowed and he opened his eyes. He released her altogether and slipped under the water.
