Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,128

the pier to the Ferris wheel with him and climbed over the railings that ran around behind it at the foot of the pier.

The tide was high and the water was deep beneath us. I'd done this a thousand times as a kid, so it shouldn't have been a big deal, and yet my heart began to gallop as I looked down at the drop below.

Chase snatched my hand into his and smirked at me, but there wasn't any kindness in it.

"On three?" he asked and I nodded. "One-" Chase jumped, dragging me with him as he kept hold of me and a scream tore from my lips as I fell towards the water and my heart leapt in panic.

We crashed into the waves and sank beneath them, a stream of bubbles escaping my lips as I descended and Chase released me.

I swam for the surface the moment my descent stopped, laughing as I breached the waves and catching Chase's eye for a moment as we exchanged the first real smiles we'd shared since I'd come back.

“I guess you’re not chicken shit after all then, little one,” he growled, his blue eyes seeming to brighten beside the water.

My gut tightened as he called me that, a piece of me I was longing to forget hurting over him and the boy he’d once been.

I turned away quickly and started swimming beneath the pier, keeping within its shadow as I headed back to shore with Chase beside me.

When the water got shallow enough for me to stand, I began wading up the sandy incline, spotting Mutt running back and forth and barking happily at the sight of me.

Just as we drew close to the beach, Chase caught me by my hips and shoved me back against one of the thick wooden beams which held the pier up, his eyes so dark down here in the shadows that they almost looked black.

"I've gotta take you back with me," he said roughly, holding me still with his muscular biceps flexing and water spilling down the golden skin of his chest.

"Because Fox said so and he's got you running around like his little bitch boy these days?" I taunted and Chase's grip on my waist tightened painfully as he pushed against me, his hard body pinning me in place as that hungry look in his eyes intensified.

"I think you're forgetting that you're talking to a Harlequin, babe," he said, his tone dangerously low. "I could drown you here and now and no one would even question me on it."

"Fox might have a thing or two to say about it."

"I'm not afraid of him." Chase stared me down for a long minute as our breaths came heavily between us and neither one of us backed down.

"What now then, big man?" I taunted as the waves crashed over our legs and Mutt barked furiously from his position on the beach. "You've got me at your mercy. So what are you going to do to me?"

"You should be thanking me," Chase said, licking the salt from his lips and drawing my attention to his mouth briefly before I looked away again just as fast. His jaw was lined with stubble this morning and the combination of that with the way his dark curls were slicked back by the water was attracting my gaze way too much. I shouldn't be looking at him like that. But there had been a point in my life when I'd fantasised about all of the Harlequin boys from time to time and what it might be like to kiss them, touch them... "Aren't you going to ask me what for?"

"I assumed you were just going to tell me anyway," I snarked back.

"Fine. I'll let Fox tell you. But when you're thinking about sucking his cock to thank him for his generosity, maybe you should suck mine instead because it was my idea."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I demanded, my gaze dropping to his waistband as his suggestion got my mind going down all kinds of cock infested paths.

Christ, I really needed to get laid. Maybe I'd convince Di and Lyla to come clubbing with me the next time I escaped and have some dirty alleyway fuck with a guy I didn't know to clear my brain of all this toxic curiosity. I looked back up at Chase, licking my lips before I could stop myself and his gaze heated too.

"For the record," he growled, his hand moving from my hip to