“I feel the same exact way about you.” I turn so I can really look at him, our thighs pressed together. He stretches an arm along the rock edge that surrounds the Jacuzzi, and I lean into him, my shoulder pressing gently against his chest. “This water is so hot.”
“Give it a few minutes. You’ll get used to it.” He squirms a little, making the water slosh around us. “I think it feels good.”
“Is it helping ease your pain?”
Smiling, he taps the tip of my nose with his finger. “You’re helping ease my pain, I know that.”
I lean my head back against his arm and stare up at the starry night sky. When I was younger and we lived near San Francisco, I don’t remember ever seeing the stars. The sky was obliterated by city lights.
But out here, in the middle of nowhere, the sky is a black velvet background studded by twinkling lights. The occasional plane. A racing satellite or two. Even with the shining moon, which typically drowns out the stars, I can still see them tonight.
“The sky is so beautiful,” I say on a sigh, letting the water keep me buoyant. My butt rises off the seat and I stretch my legs out in front of me, kicking my feet a little.
“You’re so beautiful,” Ash whispers close to my temple before he drops a kiss there. My heart squeezes at the sweet gesture. “And it’s like you’re trying to tease me right now.”
“I’m not trying to tease you.” I kick my feet again, harder this time, water splashing everywhere.
“With these you are.” He reaches around me to touch my chest, which is above the water. He lightly traces his index finger up the length of my cleavage, leaving me breathless.
“I didn’t mean to,” I say softly.
“Hmmmmmm.” He runs his finger back and forth, back and forth, drawing closer to the right edge of my bikini top. Just the tip of his finger slips beneath the damp fabric, and I bite back the moan that suddenly wants to escape.
No boy has ever made me moan before. Like, ever.
“Maybe you should take this off,” he whispers.
I use my weight to settle my butt back on the bench seat, my feet firmly planted on the bottom of the Jacuzzi. Turning, I face him once more. Our gazes meet, our mouths so close it would only take a fraction of an inch for us to make contact.
“You’re moving so fast,” I tell him, nerves eating at my insides.
He frowns. “Too fast?” He touches my cheek, shifting close to drop a kiss on my lips. “I’ll stop if you want me to.”
“I don’t want to stop. Just…” I smile and shake my head. “I’m being silly.”
“You’re never silly.” He kisses me again, though he doesn’t touch me with his hands, and something churns deep within me, making me want more.
He always makes me want more.
“Maybe I should take it off,” I say once he breaks away from my lips. “You don’t think my parents will catch us, do you?”
“Nah, didn’t you say they’re in bed by ten? It’s gotta be past eleven-thirty now,” Ash says reassuringly. “You sure you wanna take that off?”
Leave it to Ash to bring us back to the task at hand. “It’s only fair,” I say with a shrug.
“You’re right. I’m topless.” He waves at his bare chest and I stare at it, transfixed by the water bubbling against his skin. “You should be topless too.”
Swallowing hard, I reach behind my neck and undo the tie with a few gentle tugs, then remove my bikini top completely. His eyes never leave mine as I drop the top onto the hot tub’s edge, and then his hands are right there, cupping the sides of my breasts, his gaze sliding to my mouth.
“So beautiful,” he whispers just before his lips capture mine once more. I kiss him back eagerly, a hum sounding low in my throat when his hands start moving, caressing my skin, his thumbs drifting across my nipples. Our tongues meet and twist, and then I’m climbing on top of him like I always do, my knees resting on the bench seat on either side of his hips, my arms circled around his neck, my bare breasts flush against his chest. The skin-on-skin contact does something to me, and I rub against him without restraint, going on pure instinct.
“Fuck, I love it when you do that,” he mutters against my throat as he kisses me there. His hands are wandering, fingers gliding over my butt, slipping beneath my bikini bottoms. I can feel him between my legs—he’s so hard—and angle myself so I can hit that particular spot again and again.
“You feel so good,” I tell him just before he devours my mouth once more. Fleetingly I remember we were supposed to talk about Rylie. About us.
But I don’t want to talk. All I want to do is feel and give in to this madness that he creates every time I’m with him. I grind my pelvis against his, a whimper escaping me when I feel his erection twitch, and I reach for him, reach between us, my fingers circling around him.
“Ah Jesus, be careful,” he says on a gulp when I awkwardly stroke him.
“Am I hurting you?” I release my grasp on him.
He laughs, though it sounds pained. “Fuck no. I just—I might come too quick, you know?”
Oh. The power that surges through me at his words is a wondrous thing. I’m affecting him just as badly as he’s affecting me, and I love it.
“You said you were going to skinny dip,” I remind him, my voice teasing. “So what happened?”
“I can still make that happen.” His eagerness makes me laugh, and I shift away to watch as he takes off his swim trunks underneath the water and tosses them onto the edge next to my swim top. “Now it’s your turn.”
Slowly I reach beneath the water, Ash’s eyes never leaving me as I pull my bikini bottoms off. Over my hips, down my thighs, over my knees, until I’m stepping out of them and tossing them onto the ground behind me. I move even farther away from him, my breathing accelerated as I savor the sensation of the hot water swirling all around my naked skin. Ash still stares at me, his gaze heavy, his beautiful lips parted, and I rise a little, flashing him my chest, my hard nipples peeking through the bubbling water.
“You’re definitely a tease,” he says with a hungry smile.
“Do you like it?” I tilt my head to the side, wondering what in the world has come over me.
Feminine power, maybe? It’s a heady thing, knowing that Ash wants me. Wants my mouth and my body.
“I fucking love it,” he says without hesitation. He starts to drift closer and I move a little faster, darting out of his reach when he tries to grab me. “You want to play?”
Nodding, I sink my teeth into my lower lip, surprised by the laughter that’s rising in my chest.
“You’re gonna lose, Callahan,” he promises. “You know I’m fast.”
I do know he’s fast. Fast out on that football field. Fast with the words, with the lies, with the truth. Fast with the kisses and the touches and the promises. I put up a little fight, because I think that’s what he wants from me, and it’s fun to swim away from him, even though the hot tub isn’t very big.
He’s got me. He knows he does. He’s just teasing me too.
When he pulls me into his arms, I go willingly, our mouths connecting like the final pieces in a puzzle. We just fit. Our tongues circle and slide, our hands search and wander, and when he slips his fingers between my thighs to touch me where I want him so badly, I spread my legs wider, giving him better access.
“So wet,” he murmurs, and I laugh.
“Everything is wet in a hot tub,” I remind him, dropping a light kiss on the already fading bruise on his cheek. He strokes me gently, pressing an important spot that causes a jolt to run straight through me, and I swear my toes just curled. “Oh God.”
“Wet and slippery,” he says as he keeps touching me. “Different than the water. It’s all you.”
“Ash.” I close my eyes as he continues to stroke me, and then he ducks his head, his mouth on my nipple, tongue licking, lips sucking. The tug of his lips pulls on another part of me deep inside, and I curl my arms around his broad shoulders, clutching him tighter.