“When I tease your nipple, you feel it here”—he pressed his fingers between her legs—“don’t you, baby?”
“Yes,” she said in a trembling whisper.
“Let’s see if I can make you come without entering your sweet body.”
A mewling sound escaped her, spurring him on.
She’d told him last night she wanted to be taken, and that played in his mind like a melody. He licked around her nipple, bringing it to a taut, needy peak, and pressed his thumb to the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs. She gripped his biceps, urging his hand lower, but he resisted dipping inside her.
“No, baby. Trust me. Let yourself go.”
Her head tipped back, breathing hard. He took her nipple between his fingers and squeezed. She went up on her toes, bringing his fingers lower, between her wet folds again. He stroked and rubbed and sucked and squeezed until she was a panting, wet, trembling bundle of nerves on the verge of climax. Her nails cut into the backs of his arms, and he claimed her in a punishingly intense kiss that spiraled through his very core. His desire built, pounding for release as she cried out his name. Her sex pulsed against his hand, begging for him to delve inside, but he continued his relentless pursuit of her pleasure.
“That’s it, baby.” He sank down to his knees, held her trembling hips against the wall, and brought his mouth to her quivering sex.
She fisted her hands in his hair, going up on her toes as she came again, hard and loud. As she came down from the crest, she panted out his name.
“Sam. I need you inside me,” she begged, trying to push his board shorts down with shaking hands.
He laced his fingers with hers, kissed her again, nearly coming at the thought of her tasting herself on his tongue, his lips, his breath. It took all his willpower not to bury himself deep inside her, but he wanted so much more with Faith. He wanted her to know that what he felt for her went so far beyond the physical she’d never question it again.
“We have a date.”
She kissed him again, then tore her mouth away. “Wait, what?”
The sound of her voice chipped away at his resolve. “Our date?”
Her eyes filled with determination. “You are not leaving me like this. Take me Sam. Now.”
The world spun away as he pulled a condom from his wallet, pushed down his shorts, and sheathed himself. In one hard thrust he was buried deep. They both stilled at the intensity of their joining. She felt so good, so tight, so eager. Passion raged through them with every thrust, every animalistic noise, as he pounded into her. They ate at each other’s mouths, shoulders, arms, chests, everywhere they could grasp. The sounds of their frantic lovemaking filled the small apartment. His thoughts fragmented until only one thought held firm. Faith. Faith. Faith. Heat pooled at the base of his spine as he neared release. He lifted her into his arms, taking her deeper.
Her head tipped back. “Oh God. I’m gonna come.”
He cupped the back of her head in a raw act of possession and brought her mouth back to his again, wanting to feel the surge of emotions as her climax hit. Her sex tightened around his cock, milking the come right out of him. Every hot jet took him higher, brought them closer together.
As they came down from their high, he was lost in her. Faith gazed into his eyes and ran her fingers along his cheek. “You’re everything I never thought you were.”
Still caught up in her and his all-consuming emotions, his answer took no thought. “You’re everything I always knew you were.”
**
AFTER WASHING UP, kissing and teasing as they dressed, and finally making it down to Sam’s truck, they were on their way to their clandestine destination. As they drove down tree-lined roads, with Faith tucked possessively against Sam’s side, his arm lazily draped over her shoulder, she felt more relaxed than she had in ages. Maybe sex should always come before a date. Maybe I should come before each date. She laughed softly at the thought.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking about things.”
He kissed her temple and his eyes went serious. “Things as in us?”
Did his mind ever relax? Would it ever? Or would he always want to be right there with her, emotionally and physically? That, she realized, was the most wonderful worry of all.
“Nosy tonight, aren’t you?” She couldn’t tell him what she was thinking about. It was bad enough that she’d demanded that he take her. She’d turned into a vamp. A vixen. A monogamous slut. She laughed again. Oh crap!
He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. “You’re having a party and I’m not invited?”
“Believe me, you don’t want to know what I was thinking.” She knew that was a fib. He would love knowing she was thinking about how much she loved what they’d done, but that would also lead to more playtime, and she was curious about the date he’d planned.
He turned onto a dirt road. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a romantic glow over the river. Sam parked between two tall trees and turned toward Faith. His eyes were so warm, so loving her thoughts stumbled. He brushed his thumb over her lips.
“You couldn’t be more wrong. When you smile, it makes my whole world brighter. I want to know what makes you laugh as much as I want to know what sparks that minx inside you.” He took her in a sensual kiss.
“How do you do this to me?” She trapped her lip between her teeth and immediately released it. Sheesh. He affected her so strongly, in the very best of ways.
“What’s that exactly?”
“Make me feel like I can tell you anything? Like I want to tell you everything?”
He held her gaze, the pull she’d come to expect between them stronger than ever.
“The same way you make me want to be a better man.”
“Sam.” She didn’t care how dreamy her voice sounded. She felt dreamy. He was dreamy. “Were you always this honest with other women? It’s disarming.”
“I told you my filter was set to honest. Come on.” He led her out of the truck and grabbed two inner tubes from the back.
How did I miss those? She knew the answer. She’d been captivated by a certain tall, dark, enticingly honest and hot man. He handed her a cooler, then tossed a blanket over his shoulder and carried two towels under his arm.
“We’re going tubing?” she asked with an excited smile. She hadn’t been tubing since she’d first moved to Peaceful Harbor.
“Is that okay?”
“More than okay. But where are we? I’ve never seen this part of the lake.”
“Because it’s on my private property.” He nodded across the water, where the tip of a roof was visible over the trees.
“You live here? On the water? I had no idea.” It made sense, with how much he loved his business. She could see him living out here in the woods with the lake at his back. It was a very Sam setting.
“I own a couple of acres. Nate and Jewel live around the bend, not far from my place. But you’re sworn to secrecy about Paradise Cove.” He led her through the trees toward the water’s edge.
She smiled at the name. “Paradise Cove?”
“Don’t poke fun. My cove, my name.”
Sam dropped the inner tubes by the edge of the water and spread the blanket out on the sandy shore. He set their things down, placed his hands on his hips, and raked his eyes down Faith’s body, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. “Time to strip.” He raised his brows in quick succession.
“You’re such a man.” She teasingly rolled her eyes. “We just did it back at my apartment.”
“I didn’t mean so we can fool around, but…” He took off his shirt and tossed it onto the blanket. “Baby, that was an appetizer. Quick and dirty.” His eyes turned sinful as he closed the gap between them and embraced her. “You haven’t been loved properly today, and we have years to make up for.” He kissed her neck, her ear, her cheeks, her nose.
She laughed at his playfulness. “Years, huh?”
“Ages,” he said, coming in for a full-on assault of her mouth.
Good Lord, he could kiss. His mouth was hypnotizing, hard and fast, then soft and sensual, without ever breaking their connection. And the way he held her, like he never wanted to let her go, made her insides tight and hot. She went up on her toes and realized she was practically humping him, gyrating her hips, clawing at his back. Holy moly, she was already damp again. He was, without a doubt, the very best kind of addiction, and she wanted no part of a twelve-step anti-Sam program.
She pushed away, smiling at their intense connection. “You’re turning me into a sex maniac.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting your man.” He reached for her again and sank his teeth into her neck.
“Ohmygod. Sam!” Laughing and panting, she wrenched free from his grip. “There is when every kiss makes me want to do dirty things no matter where we are.” She grabbed an inner tube and strutted off to the water.
Suddenly his arm swooped around her waist. She shrieked and kicked as he carried her into the water under one arm, his tube in the other.
“Sam!” She wrapped one arm around his neck and her legs around his waist, struggling to keep hold of her inner tube. “This was your plan, wasn’t it? To get me hot and bothered and then get me to cling to you like a monkey?”