grateful for the change of subject.
The sound of voices and the hum of a boat engine trails over the water, pulling my attention to the left. Up ahead, a couple of bodies in a small boat glide across the water, headed our way. This inlet is pretty private, secluded from other houses, but it’s still a public body of water, and we get the occasional angler and boaters.
“Shit,” I say as I recognize the DNR logo on the side of the boat. Those men are more than likely Harold and Eddie. I’ve known them for years, as long as I’ve owned this place, and I’m not about to give them a free show. I’d still like to be able to look them in the eyes.
“What?” Aidy asks before following my gaze.
“Go, go, go.” I swim toward the dock, and she follows. “I know them. Let’s get out of here.”
We reach the small ladder at the edge of the pier, and I climb up first, reaching for her hand as she follows. Gathering our clothes in our arms, we sprint toward the house, nearly slipping as we cross the rocks. The grass beneath our feet feels like heaven as the back door nears.
The second we pass through, we collapse against the wall, naked and wet, smelling like dirt and grass and lake.
We laugh, something I haven’t done in a long time, and when I feel the swell of her breasts and the hardness of her nipples pressed against my chest, I find myself unable to breathe.
Our bodies are touching now, and her back is to the wall.
I’m not sure how this happened. Maybe it was always meant to happen. Maybe it was inevitable. But neither one of us moves, our breaths suspended, and just as quickly as they happened, our expressions fade, replaced with something else entirely.
Her fingertips trail down my arms, tracing the veins that run down the center of my biceps. Her gaze falls to my chest, then lifts.
Aidy’s tongue grazes across her bottom lip, a silent invitation, and I breathe in her earthy scent.
“God, you’re beautiful.” My words are breathless. My heart is hammering. And my self-control? Non-existent. Cupping her face in my hand, I press my mouth against hers.
21
Aidy
I’m shivering, but my body’s on fire.
The warmth of Ace’s body pressed against mine does nothing to quell the tremors making their way through my body the second he kisses me. I’m pressed against a wall next to the back door, his hand on my face while his other rests on the small of my back. My fingertips trace the pulsing veins running down his chiseled arms, and the heat of his full mouth on mine weakens my legs.
My lips part, accepting his tongue. His beard is rough against my skin, but I’m too focused on everything else going on to think much about it. He pulls his mouth from mine, traveling down the curve of my neck. A million tiny tickles send my nerves into overdrive, and I feel a smile spreading across my face.
His hands travel down my body, to the front of my hips, and he separates my stance as he travels south.
Exhaling, I reach down, running my hands through his wet, lake-scented hair.
This wasn’t planned.
None of it was.
The skinny dipping was a spur of the moment idea, a way to get Ace to break out of his shell. He’s been such a gentleman today, that the last thing I expected was for anything remotely like this to take place.
I mean, he showed me to my guestroom earlier, which I fully took as code for: “We’re definitely not sleeping together this weekend.”
“Oh, god,” I say, body shuddering and shivering as the flick of his tongue between my seam brings me back to the present moment.
The sensation of his fingers slipping between my folds and pressing into me in gentle, rhythmic waves sends electric currents through my body.
Ace’s tongue swirls, and his fingers explore, and his beard scratches my sensitive inner thighs. There’s so much going on, I’m nearly cross-eyed and completely unable to form a coherent thought.
But I suppose moments like this aren’t meant for thinking.
They’re meant for doing.
Enjoying.
Experiencing.
My hands brace against the wall behind me, legs locked to keep my body from melting onto this Greek Adonis’ golden tongue.
“You’re shaking,” he says, coming up for air. He glances up at me, his blue-green eyes searching mine. Ace’s hands trail up the goose-bumped flesh of my belly. “Here.”
He rises, towering over me, and takes my hand,