on fast feet headed around the side of the house toward the surf line, churning up the soft sand.
He didn’t stop when he reached the hard-packed stuff. Nor when the first wave washed over the toes of his running shoes. Ignoring the icy wetness, he kept wading forward, drenching his calves, his knees, his thighs.
“Are you crazy?” a voice yelled from the beach.
He ignored Layla, going deep enough to baptize his private parts. His feet were steady on the bottom of the ocean, tonight’s surf rolling in without any real force.
“I said, are you crazy?”
She sounded closer now, and he glanced back. The moonlight revealed the woman. Her sandals were discarded on the sand and she was up to her ankles in the water. A striped beach towel lay over one arm. “C’mon out. You’re going to freeze.”
It’s what he wanted. To put his feelings on ice. To numb every emotion the day had wrought, from lust to hurt. “Leave me alone.”
“As soon as you get into the house.”
Didn’t she understand? Inside those walls, he’d be dangerous to her. Addy had said she’d be out for the night, which left just him and Layla. Alone. Alone with his temper that was as reckless as he’d once been and poised to find a convenient outlet.
“Vance.”
He gritted his teeth, fighting the need to turn to her. To take her in his arms and use her to forget the events of the day. The feelings had to go somewhere, and it was either freeze them into submission out here in the ocean, or drag her back to a bed and bury them—and himself—inside Layla.
Fingers touched the small of his back. He whirled, shocked to find she’d waded this far, too. Ocean water swirled around her midriff, and the skirt of her dress rose up, floating around her. “Let’s go inside,” she said, her teeth already chattering. “Please, Vance.”
And it was as if his brain thought she was pleading for something else. Because suddenly he moved in on her, his uncasted arm at her waist, bringing her close. His fingers tangled in her hair and he yanked back her head. Took the kiss he’d been wanting all night.
All day.
Every day since meeting her.
It wasn’t gentle or seductive or kind. He thrust his tongue deep, tasting Layla, that trademark sugary tartness of her, as if she’d just sucked a fingerful of lemon icing. She pressed herself against him, not fighting for her freedom, only fighting to get closer to him, he realized. One of her legs wrapped around the back of his.
Then another wave slapped at them, this one stronger than the others. He stumbled a little. She lost her footing and slipped lower into the water, only saving herself from total immersion by latching both legs around his waist and hanging on.
Neither of them broke the kiss.
But instinct had him moving toward the beach, even as he feasted on her. She was wide-open for him, her own tongue stroking inside his mouth, and he no longer felt the cold. When he reached the shoreline, the wet sand sucked at his shoes, but he didn’t let it slow him. Finally on firm ground, he lengthened his stride, making for the deck steps.
He halted, though, outside the sliding glass door. They’d neglected to leave any lights on, but even in the darkness he knew salt water was streaming from them. Breaking their kiss, he looked down into her dazed eyes. “I’m wet,” he said. “You’re wet.”
“God, yes,” she said, her voice fervent.
Wait. Did she mean...? Then she pulled on the back of his neck and brought his mouth to hers for another deep, hungry kiss. Her urgency was contagious. This was just what he’d been waiting for, what he needed, and his pulse started double-timing as he took in harsh breaths through his nose. Yes, yes, yes. Sex would be the vehicle in which he drove away all that troubled him.
Layla’s fingers were at the hem of his sodden T-shirt. He let her draw it up and off, even as he toed out of his shoes. She muttered as she worked at his wet jeans. Finally, he had to push her hands away because her touch was only causing them to fit that much tighter. Between the damn cast and drenched denim it was awkward to get them off, but he managed, and even purloined the beach towel that she’d brought and wrapped it around his naked waist.
Now he turned his attention to the beautiful woman