“You are enjoying this way too much,” Lauren grumbled, her tone annoyed, but it was softened by the amused smile that was starting to tug the corners of her lips.
“Maybe a little,” Grey admitted with a laugh. “So…cookies?”
Lauren threw her arms in the air in defeat and shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Let’s go make cookies.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LATER THAT NIGHT, after the dinner dishes had been cleared and the Muellers had all disappeared to their cabins to try and make up for the sleep they did not get the night before, Grey found Lauren lying on her back on the starboard trampoline at the front of the boat. Lauren’s hands were folded behind her head, her long legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankle, and her eyes were trained on the stars overhead. She looked relaxed and at ease with the world, like the breeze blowing out of the east that tickled her toes and snaked over her body did so at her behest.
“Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night, or are you going to come out here?” Lauren asked, her voice soft and amused as she finally turned her head enough to look at Grey.
Grey smiled and shrugged. “Both options have their merits.”
“Yeah, well,” Lauren drawled, looking back up at the sky, “just lemme know what you decide.”
There was an aloofness to Lauren’s tone that made Grey’s stomach drop, and she frowned as she stepped onto the trampoline. The fabric dipped slightly beneath her feet, each step rippling outward and making Lauren bounce with her progress. Despite this, Lauren gave no indication that she felt Grey’s approach, and Grey sighed as she lowered herself onto the mat beside her. “Are you mad about earlier?” she asked as she laydown beside Lauren, mirroring her posture as she folded her hands behind her head and looked up at the sky.
“No, I’m not mad.” Lauren offered her a small smile as she pulled her right hand out from beneath her head and slipped it into Grey’s left. Their fingers threaded together as if it were the most natural thing in the world and not the first time they had actually held hands, and Lauren’s smile softened as she gave Grey’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Really. I’m not mad. I was the one who said I wanted to kiss you in the first place. Just…you do realize that I was not actually challenging you to a duel to see who could tease the other into complete insanity first, right? It was just sass.”
“I like your sass,” Grey murmured. “And I know you weren’t throwing down a challenge this morning. I just…I meant what I said. If we were going to keep kissing like that, I would not have wanted to stop; and I don’t want to be worried about somebody walking in on us, or needing something from us, or whatever. But, at the same time—” she blew out a loud breath, “—I really just want to kiss you and touch you and…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged, letting the silence finish the thought for her.
“Me too.” Lauren looked down at their joined hands and slowly stroked her thumb over the side of Grey’s index finger.
“So, what do you want to do?” Grey asked as she watched Lauren study their hands. “Because, I gotta tell you, that feels really good.”
Lauren looked up at Grey, and her breath caught in her throat at the look of blatant desire that was staring back at her. Whatever it was between them, it was too strong for her to resist, and she wordlessly released Grey’s hand and rolled onto her side so that she was lying half on top of her. The thought of possibly being discovered fled her mind completely as she stared down atGrey, and she smiled as she dipped her head to capture her lips in a searing kiss. “I want to do this.”
“Me too,” Grey whispered, stroking her hands over Lauren’s back. She rolled her right leg out to the side as she drew Lauren down into her, and she sighed at the feeling of Lauren’s leg slipping between her own. “Kiss me.”
Lauren’s nipples hardened at the plea, and she groaned as she claimed Grey’s lips in a series of slow, deep, heavy kisses that stole the air from both of their lungs. “Goddamn,” Lauren whispered when she finally pulled back far enough to draw a proper breath.
“Tell me about it,” Grey muttered, smiling against Lauren’s lips.
“Maybe later.” Lauren relaxed and settled fully atop Grey, letting the brunette take her full weight. She smiled as she threaded her fingers through Grey’s hair, giving the short strands a gentle tug as she lowered her mouth to kiss her again.
The longer they kissed, the more their hands began to wander, fingertips digging lightly into heated flesh. Grey moaned softly at the first gentle thrust of Lauren’s hips against her, and wasted no time matching her rhythm. She dropped her left hand to Lauren’s ass, encouraging her to thrust harder, while she slid her right up over Lauren’s ribs to her breast. She gave her captured prize a gentle squeeze, and smiled at the way Lauren gasped softly in response.
Lauren shuddered at the feeling of Grey’s thumb stroking almost lazily back and forth across her nipple and swallowed thickly as she pulled back far enough to look into her eyes. She could feel the heat of Grey’s arousal against her leg, and she wanted to feel that warmth against her skin. Around her fingers. On her tongue. “Grey?”
“Hmm?” Grey smiled up at Lauren as she gave her nipple a quick tweak.
“Shit,” Lauren grunted, her hips bucking into Grey at the rougher touch. “Do you want to take this inside?”
“God yes,” Grey breathed, lifting her head to suck at the spot on Lauren’s neck that had driven her crazy that afternoon.
“Fuck,” Lauren hissed, biting her lip to try and muffle the sound as her head dropped to Grey’s shoulder. A none-too-gentle nip made her squirm, though whether it was to escape Grey’s mouth, she was not sure. “I’m not kidding, Grey,” she warned. “You keep doing that and we won’t make it inside.”
Grey chuckled. “If we were alone, I’d love nothing more than to have you right here. Your skin glowing in the moonlight, the breeze off the water tickling every beautiful inch of you as I made you come over and over and over again.”
Oh, yes please,Lauren thought, her hips jerking forward into Grey as a fresh wave of arousal crashed between her legs. “Grey…”
“Hmm?” Grey teased, flicking the tip of her tongue over the edge of Lauren’s jaw.
Lauren’s hips bucked again, and she groaned as she pushed herself up to her feet. Grey looked absolutely luscious laid out against the white trampoline, dark hair mussed from where her fingers had been twisted in it and her sun-bronzed skin standing in stark relief to the pale fabric. Yeah, when they were alone, they would definitely act out the little scenario Grey had just painted in her mind, but for now…“Bed.”
“Aye, aye,” Grey said, smiling as she took Lauren’s outstretched hand and pulled herself to her feet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
