made, um, some things harder for me.”
I broke into a full-fledged grin and almost kissed him right then and there. He was utterly charming and funny, and I…I was in trouble. Peyton turned the promises I’d made to myself into guidelines with wiggle room, and if I was using his body to live out my fantasies, that wiggle room was more vast than the ocean. An adventure, that was what I was. I could keep giving him that for as long as he was with me. It should be enough.
Kissing him now would blur things further. I wanted to kiss him. It hadn’t been my intention to hold off more than…well, I’d been hoping he would come to me. I’d been planning—foolishly—that if I drove him to the brink of desperation, he’d throw himself at me.
Christ. Sandra used to call me a hopeless romantic, something I’d never hesitated to scoff at and refute.
In retrospect, maybe she’d been right.
While Peyton threw off his T-shirt and announced he was running into the water, I stayed back a minute to get my wits about me again. We were having an incredible time together; there was no reason that had to stop. Hopefully, we could enjoy this year to the fullest, with kisses—as soon as I’d screwed my head on right again. Wet, hungry, passionate kisses and countless nights of hard, sweaty fucking.
I blew out a breath, feeling a bit better.
Time to show that young man how one properly experienced a private beach.
After stripping off my clothes, I sprayed myself down with some sunscreen and then made my way to the water. The sun felt good on my body, and I rubbed the sunscreen droplets into my skin.
“You have no shame whatsoever, do you?” Peyton called from the water.
“Should I?” I asked.
He shook his head and watched me move toward him. “You’re probably the hottest man I’ve ever met, but I can’t function when you gotta be naked all the fucking time.”
Oh, that ego boost. I needed it badly.
When the water was deep enough, I dove under the surface and washed away the discomfort from earlier. The water wasn’t as salty in the lagoon, making it possible for me to open my eyes underwater and resurface right where Peyton stood in the perfectly white sand. Which reminded me, I’d brought snorkeling masks for later. The narrow reef along the western cliff was beautiful. There were plenty of colorful fish and the occasional starfish.
I pulled Peyton close to me and kissed his neck. “You make an old man feel young again.”
“Old,” he snorted.
I smirked. “Seasoned.”
I’d expected some humor in return. Instead, he circled me and roamed his hands over my back.
“Distinguished,” he murmured. “I love the silver right here.” He pecked my temple. “And your chest…” He slipped his hands to my front and brushed his fingers through my chest hair. “Don’t get me started on your thighs. Next to you, I feel like I have chicken legs.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I hauled him to my front again and wrapped his legs around my hips. “Actually—” I untangled us and tugged at his trunks. “It’s time to take these off, pet. You’ve denied me for too long.”
He widened his eyes. “I’ve denied you? You’ve acted like a fucking cocktease!”
“Easy.” I hitched a brow in warning.
He lowered his gaze and chewed on his bottom lip. Then he pushed down his trunks and handed them to me.
“Thank you.” I balled them up and threw them toward the beach. They didn’t make it the whole way, but it wasn’t like they could disappear. “There. Now you can play, and Daddy will have something nice to look at.”
He flushed and swam around me. “Maybe I’ll latch on to your back. Then you won’t see anything.”
I chuckled and sank lower in the water, welcoming his arms around my shoulders. “There’s plenty you can do back there too.”
“Like what?” he asked curiously. The innocence in his tone… He would never understand what it did to me.
“You can play with Daddy,” I suggested. “Explore him with your fingers.”
“Oh,” he breathed out. “Do you like that?”
“Mmm, very much.” I eased off the sandy bottom and swam with him on my back, and every now and then, I felt him bumping against me. “It would be a travesty to waste my body on only stereotypically dominant acts when I can finger myself to orgasm without even touching my cock.” I was blessed with a sensitive prostate, something I had discovered years before I learned that