“Back at the house,” he murmured against her mouth. “Condoms are back at the house, damn it.”
“Then we need to get there. Come on…”
He brushed his bristly, unshaven face against her cheek, whispering in her ear, “Or, we can take our time here, carefully, safely, still very pleasurably.”
Possibilities swirled through her mind like the spiraling whirlpools rippling around the jutting rocks. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
He swiped his hand through the water, stirring the current between her legs until finally he cupped her. “I could touch you here.” He clasped her wrist. “And if you’re so inclined, you could—”
She palmed the length of his erection, stroking down, down, down and then up again, learning the thick, impressive length of him. “Is that what you mean?”
“Uh…” His head fell back and his throat moved with a slow gulp. “Yep, you’re right on target.”
With a deft hand, he untied the strings along her hips and the rest of her swimsuit floated away. She reached to grab it and he clasped her hand.
“I’ll get you another suit just like it if you want, but right now I have more ideas for us.”
His fingers slid between her legs, searching, teasing, finding the right places and pressure against the nub of nerves. Pleasure coiled tighter inside her, building. The buoyancy of the water held her up, and good thing it did, as her knees were quickly turning to jelly.
She tugged at the waistband of his trunks, her hands clumsier than she would have liked, but he was wreaking havoc with her equilibrium right now. He slid two fingers inside, crooking them just enough to send sparks exploding behind her eyelids….
To hell with taking off his shorts, she reached inside and found him, thick and long, all for her. She explored him with her hands, stroking his throbbing erection until he growled primitively in her ear. She gripped him a bit more firmly, the water slicking her hand as she worked him every bit as intensely as he tormented her. He took her to the edge, so close to fulfillment, then shifted his hands away deliberately, sipping along her neck, whispering against her skin how much he wanted her. How desperately he wanted to make her come apart, until she cried out and sank her teeth into his shoulder from the burning ache to finish.
He scooped an arm under her bottom and lifted her, walking with her toward the shore and she thought, yes, finally they would go inside and make love on his bed. Or the sofa.
Or hell, a sturdy table would suffice right now.
He kissed her, his tongue thrusting and sweeping until her eyes closed and she lost herself in the bliss of him. Step by step, he moved closer to the shoreline, until they were waist-deep in the water. His hands spanned her waist and he lifted her. She opened her eyes, disoriented, confused.
The water dripped from her skin as he set her on a moss-covered stone outcropping. He pressed her backward until she lay along the smooth, earthy rock with her legs draped over his shoulders while he still stood in the water. His intent became very clear a second before he closed his mouth over the core of her.
Her arms flung wide and dug into the mossy carpet. His tongue stroked and soothed, circling and pressing. His hands glided up her hips then over her br**sts, doubling the sensation as he toyed with her. Still, she squirmed to get closer, closer still as she burned for him to finish even as she wanted the liquid fire to continue forever. Each thrum of her heart accented the pulsing pleasure growing stronger and stronger until she couldn’t hold it back any longer.
She cried out her release, no holds barred. Their complete isolation gave her the freedom to ride the orgasm through each blissful aftershock. Her fingers scraped deeper into the moss, her back bowing upward as Troy laved every last sensation from her body until she collapsed, her bones all but melting into the stony outcropping.
A light breeze whispered over her bared flesh, bringing her back gust by gust. Troy lifted her off the rock and into the water again, body to body.
“Hmm…” She hummed her pleasure at this most perfect moment, but had to ask. “What about you?”
“We’ll get there.” Sliding an arm under her legs, he cradled her against his chest and started toward the shore. “I’m not worried.”
“Where are we going?” She leaned into him, resting in his arms. Her body was all but a muscleless mass after the explosive orgasm he’d just given her.
“Back to the house before you’re too sunburned to enjoy the rest of what I have planned for you.”
“Smart man.” She threaded her fingers through his hair, loving the length, enjoying everything about this unbelievably unique and special man.
Something insanely out of control was happening to her, and as much as she’d told herself she had crummy judgment in men, right now she felt like she’d merely been passing time until this man came into her life.
* * *
Troy carried Hillary up the winding stairs, back to the sprawling pool area. Every step he prayed for the self-control to wait until they made it back to the house. The press of her naked curves against him was damn near driving him insane with the urge to drop to the ground right here, right now and thrust inside her, out here in the open air, on the lush earth, with the scent of crushed foliage and flowers all around them.
Except he needed protection. He couldn’t forget about keeping her safe in all realms. He’d stocked condoms everywhere in the house and on the patio, but he hadn’t thought to pack them in their picnic lunch.
But honest to God, she’d caught him unaware down there. He’d planned to swim with her, wow her with his home. Except she’d been the one to wow him with how she’d melted over a lame story about his brother and puppies.
But then Hillary had been surprising him from the start. The only predictable thing about Hillary was her unpredictability, and for a smart guy used to figuring things out at least twenty-five steps ahead of the rest of the world, he was enjoying the hell out of the unending surprises she doled out.
And if she kept that up with her mouth on his chest, he was in danger of losing his footing, sending them both crashing down. If he rolled on the ground with her for even a second, he would lose control. Totally. Damned, though, if he could bring himself to tell her to stop what she was doing with her tongue.
Finally—thank heaven—he reached the pool area built into the balcony. He set Hillary down on a lounger, double-sized and covered by a gauzy cabana.
She reached up to cup his face. “Please say you have condoms here.”