That was his cue.
He dove off the edge of the dock, disappearing beneath the dark water and popping up next to her as she was pushing her hair off her face. Her mascara was smudged under her formerly heat-filled eyes that now brimmed with anger.
Arm around her waist, he towed her in, getting a face full of water and some in his nose, when she drew back a hand and splashed him.
“I can’t believe you did that!”
“Sarge.” His tone said what he didn’t. She should absolutely be able to believe that he did that. He swiped the water from his eyes. “Swim in.” He tipped his chin toward the beach and let her go. In a few strokes, his feet hit ground and he lashed an arm around her again. “That’s far enough.”
She pushed at him but it was no use. He wrapped his hands around her ass and held on tight. “Not letting you go, so you may as well stop fighting me.”
She paused and he paused and for a moment there was a flicker of awareness as his words hung in the air between them. She was wondering if he meant more than just here and now in this lake. And she wasn’t wrong. He meant that in every way.
He knew it as soon as he’d seen her tonight. He’d been playing around with the lyrics for her song. The song he’d started hearing the melody to when he and Gloria were in bed last Christmas. Pieces of the song had hit him like a freight train—relentless and without warning. The same way seeing Gloria for the first time had hit him. Some instinctual part of him knew it was destined. Knew they were destined.
Sure, he’d tried to deny it. Tried to treat her the way he would any other woman. In theory, he should have been able to spend time with her, then move on. That’s the way he’d been with girls since he was a teen. They traded their minutes for his minutes and then they let him go. Sex was a pastime he enjoyed. Drinking. Cards. Shooting the shit with his buddies. And sex. Sometimes the sex was on par with other hobbies, and sometimes it was better. And with Sarge? Fantastically better.
Sex was never as good as when he was with Gloria Shields. It was like she’d unlocked a part of him he never showed anyone. And when he saw who he could be with her, he was amazed. Had to squint because the potential of what lay beneath was too fucking bright for him to keep his eyes open.
Like now.
In the moonlight, Gloria, with her black hair, black lashes, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes, was so bright she was practically blinding. He towed her in, water sluicing between their bodies.
She wasn’t alone when she freaked out the last time they were together. It was scary to see your future reflected in someone else’s eyes. But she’d majorly chickened out at the very moment he became incurably intrigued.
He anchored his feet to the bottom of the shallow part of the lake. He knew where to dive, where to wade, and where to put his feet if he wanted to stand. He knew because he’d swam as often as possible since he’d been here. He’d always been a fish, but the way Gloria clung to him suggested she wasn’t as comfortable in the black water.
“What’s wrong, city girl?”
“You swear there aren’t any eels?” Her eyes were wide as she scanned the surface of the water.
He bumped his budding erection against her leg. “Just one.”
She gave him a bland look and he only smiled.
“Kiss me, Sarge. I need it.”
She loosened her stranglehold around his neck, draping her arms at his shoulders instead. She watched him. He watched her back, admiring the elegant slope of her neck and all that black, wet hair sticking to her shoulders. Her cleavage and large breasts were decked out in a bra he could now see through. God bless the moonlight.
When his eyes returned to hers, blue gone navy, he kept them there, even though he was tempted to follow the drop of water rolling from her cheek to her lips.
Then she kissed him like he asked. No warning, no preamble, just laid her mouth on his and tightened her hold on his neck. He moved one hand to her back, flicking the clasp on her bra and releasing it on the first try.
She pulled a breath in through her nose but didn’t stop kissing him or open her eyes. Long, ink-colored lashes lay on her cheeks. He knew because he’d been unable to take his damn eyes off her. He didn’t want to miss a thing. As he moved the bra straps from her shoulders, she took her arms, one by one, from his neck. Bra off, he tossed the lacy garment onto the edge of the dock, and when he looked back, those gorgeous breasts, wet and beaded with water, were bobbing on the surface.
“I missed those, too,” he said.
Gloria snorted. “You’ve had access to breasts I’m sure.”
“Not yours.” He cupped one and thumbed her nipple, taking her lips with his and wiping that smart-ass smirk off her face. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and she opened for him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he pinched and pulled at her nipple, his tongue dancing with hers.