“It’s late,” I replied.
“Just for a few minutes. Please?”
Giving in, I placed my hand in his and let him help me out of the Jeep.
I left my sandaled heels on the floor and got out barefoot. Preston closed the door to the Jeep, then stared at it before looking at me. The heavy, hooded expression in his eyes told me what he was thinking. Knowing it was turning him on only made my pulse rate pick up. I couldn’t help the fact that I wanted Preston to want me. To at least be attracted to me.
“Come on,” he said, reaching for my hand and threading his fingers through mine. We walked out to the sandy shore until Preston found a spot close enough for us to see the waves clearly but far enough back that we wouldn’t get wet.
He tugged me down with him until we were both sitting.
“Why are we here, Preston?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I wanted to come out here to think. It’s where I think best. And I wanted you to be with me.”
My traitorous heart skipped a beat. He could say the sweetest things. I just needed to remember he could also say some of the meanest things. His mouth was dangerous. In many, many ways.
“Why me?”
He turned his head to the side and grinned over at me. “You don’t want the answer to that question.”
Yes, I did. I wanted it very much. “Let me be the judge of that.”
Preston’s grin turned into a sexy smirk, and he slid his hand across the sand until it was resting on my bare knee. “Because I can’t get you out of my head. Normally, after I’m with a girl, I move on. I’m done. But you . . .” He paused and glanced back at the water, breaking eye contact with me. “You’re different. I still want you. I think about you all the time.”
Uh-oh. I was a goner. Those kinds of things coming from a player like Preston Drake would make any female melt. He wasn’t playing fair. “It’s just because you were drunk and don’t remember it.” I was reminding myself as much as I was him.
“No, Manda. The more I remember, the more I want you.”
His hand slid up my thigh as he slowly slid it between my legs. I should be pushing him away. I couldn’t bring myself to, though.
“Every night, Manda. Every damn night I dream about you. About how sweet you tasted. How incredible you felt. It’s driving me crazy.”
I stopped breathing as his hand slid further up my inner thigh. I was beyond the ability to form words. The last time, Preston hadn’t said sweet, romantic things to me. He’d just sent me outside and we’d gone at it. This time he was pulling out all the stops, and I wasn’t going to be able to ignore this.
“Where all did I taste you, Manda?”
Oh, no. I wasn’t answering that question. I couldn’t go there. Not with his hand almost at the edge of my shorts.
“If it was anything like my dreams, it was f**king unbelievable. I’ve been trying real hard to stay away. Marcus would never be okay with this. And if you knew me—the real me—you’d run. I’m not what you think. I’m so much worse.”
That, I couldn’t take. Hearing him degrading himself like that. So he slept around. A lot of guys did. He was sowing his wild oats. It was okay to do that. Most girls knew what they were up against with him.
“Stop it. I do know you. I’ve been watching you for years. You’re no worse than Cage, and look at him. He has Eva. She’s madly in love with him, and she knows all about his playboy days.”
Preston eased his fingers up the inside the leg of my shorts. “Stop me, Manda,” he whispered.
Stop him? How was I gonna do that? He had me panting with anticipation. How could I stop him?
I dropped my gaze to watch his hand disappear up my shorts just as the tips of his fingers grazed the silk of my panties. It had been awhile, so the immediate reaction of closing my eyes and letting out a moan from the pleasure was to be expected.
Preston was on top of me with both my hands pressed back above my head with one of his hands while the other one continued to tease me relentlessly.
“I’m gonna kiss you this time, sweetheart. I can’t help it,” he whispered as his mouth lowered and covered mine.
From the look on his face, I expected his kiss to be demanding. Instead, his soft lips were gentle. Almost like he was savoring me. His tongue slipped into my mouth and tangled with mine. Each caress had me bucking my body to get closer to him. I couldn’t touch him. He had my hands still pinned back with one of his. So I kissed him back as wildly and freely as I could. Everything I felt for him came pouring out of me. The groan that vibrated his chest as he eased one finger inside the edge of my panties made my body tremble. I’d only ever done things like this with Preston. I’d only imagined him when I’d fantasized about doing these things. It was always his face I saw.
“Manda, please, baby, tell me to stop,” he begged in a deep, husky voice while he trailed kisses from my mouth to my neck, where he began licking and nipping the tender skin.