Josh gave a shaky laugh. “Okay, it’s just…I don’t want to come off like Dickhead Junior trying to cop a feel. I’ve been saying some pretty suggestive things lately and I just…I mean, it’s not like me.”
Phil felt herself melting inside. “Of course it’s not, Josh. That’s one reason I…I care about you so much. One reason I love being around you. Because you always go out of your way to make me feel comfortable. And you don’t have to worry—I don’t feel offended or harassed when you tell me what you think. In fact I feel kind of…flattered.” She felt her cheeks burning but she didn’t look away from him.
“Well…if you’re sure.” Josh was still looking at her uncertainly.
“Of course I’m sure.” Impulsively, she reached up and gave him a hug. Josh reacted at once, putting his arms around her and pulling her close until her breasts were pressed against the broad planes of his bare chest. Phil stiffened at first, then relaxed and let herself melt against him. It felt so good, so right to be in his arms and the little peach bikini she had on almost made her feel like she was hugging him nude. It was a delicious, naughty feeling that made her heart race even faster.
“God, you feel good in my arms,” Josh murmured, stroking her nearly bare back with his big, warm hands. “And your skin feels so soft and smooth.” His breath was hot against the side of her neck and suddenly Phil felt his mouth, warm and wet against the tender skin of her throat. Josh was planting gentle, open-mouthed kisses along her sensitive flesh, sending a shiver of desire straight to her throbbing sex.
“Josh, I…” She pushed back from him, almost frightened by how hot his kisses were making her. I can’t…I shouldn’t…she thought wildly. Her breath was coming short and it was hard to remember why she shouldn’t keep going. But if she did this, she would be slamming the door on Christian—she couldn’t cheat on him and pretend it didn’t happen, and she knew he would never forgive her. Was she ready to move on? Was she ready to let go of the picture she’d had of her life for so long—the man she was sure she’d grow old with? That brought things back in focus. She pushed on Josh’s chest again.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.” He let her go and took a step backwards, raking his hand through his hair. “You’re just so gorgeous, Phil and I wanted to feel you pressed against me in that hot little suit. God, the feel of your soft, ripe breasts and your nipples rubbing against my chest is so…” He scowled, the muscle in his jaw jumping. “Damn, this thinking out loud thing is really inconvenient.”
Phil laughed shakily. “Tell me about it. Look I’m just going to…I’ll try on one more suit, okay?”
“Uh-huh. But take your hair down too. I love to see it loose around your shoulders and…” Josh clamped his mouth shut, putting his hand over his eyes.
“Okay.” Phil slipped back into the dressing stall once more and tried to control her breathing. The barriers were coming down faster than she could build them up again. And Josh looked so damn good in those black swim trunks. This is Josh, she reminded herself. Not some stud muffin male stripper. But that only made her wonder what he would look like without the trunks. She couldn’t take her mind off the way the big muscles in his abdomen and chest bunched under his tan skin when he moved, the way his biceps flexed, the way his arms felt like warm, flexible steel when he wrapped them around her. It seemed like all she could smell was his spicy, masculine scent, all she could see was the look of need in his dark eyes, all she could feel were his big, knowing hands all over her body…
Have to stop thinking like this! She had to take control of the situation now. And yet…and yet…it felt so nice, so wonderful to be admired and told she was beautiful.
Phil closed her eyes and let herself remember the last time she’d tried to get Christian interested in more than just a quickie, which was all she’d been after the night before her birthday after she drank too much champagne. That was because she knew it was useless to try for anything more. It wasn’t that she and her fiancé didn’t have a good sex life—well, they used to have a good sex life, anyway. But since he’d started his new job, it had fallen off considerably. Phil had decided to try and revive it by seducing him.
She’d bought herself a little white lace negligee from Frederick’s of Hollywood and draped herself over the couch so that she would be the first thing he saw when he came home. She’d waited for over an hour, jumping every time she heard something outside the door, her heart pounding. It was by far the most daring thing she’d ever done and she was sure it would rekindle the spark that had been missing from their relationship lately.
But after all that anticipation, the reality had been a big disappointment. Christian had come in the door with an armful of paperwork and hadn’t even glanced in her direction until Phil called his name. And then he’d given her a tired smile and said, “Not tonight, huh, babe? I mean, I’d love to but I have a big case to prepare for and not enough time to get ready. You understand, don’t you?”
Yes, Phil had understood. She had understood that for whatever reason, her fiancé had lost interest in their love life. She hadn’t had that warm, tingly feeling of knowing that a man found her attractive in months—or was it longer? So was it really so surprising that having Josh look at her and tell her he liked what he saw excited her? Phil thought not. In fact, she wanted more. Craved it.
You shouldn’t be doing this, Phil! She pushed the disapproving little voice out of her head and instead of grabbing one of the more modest swim suits, she took a deep breath and reached for the tiny, mesh, fire engine red bikini and put it on, trying not to think about what she was doing. She was only trying on a bikini, so what was the big deal—right?
When the suit was tied in place, she stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, biting her lower lip and trying to get the nerve to walk out of the stall. The mesh was an open weave design which clearly showed her nipples and the slit of her sex. She felt like a sex kitten in this outfit—only one thing was missing.
Phil reached up and unclipped the tight bun of hair at the back of her neck, letting the long mass fall down around her shoulders. It shimmered even in the dim light of the dressing room and when she looked in the mirror again, she saw an entirely different woman. A curvy woman with sky blue eyes and lustrous silky hair like pale gold stared back at her. The woman had a naughty little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and she was wearing a see-through barely there bikini that showed off all her assets. God—could she really go out dressed like this? What if someone else happened to come in the dressing room?
“Phil? You okay in there?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” Still biting her lip, Phil opened the door and looked out. “I, uh, put on the ultimate double-dog-dare suit but I don’t want to come out of the stall in it. You come in and tell me what you think—okay?”
“Sure.” Josh crowded into the dressing stall with her, even though it was barely large enough for two people, especially if one of them was as large as him. When they were both inside with the door closed, he seemed to fill the tiny space.
“Well?” Phil held her breath while he looked at her, his eyes widening. She could feel her nipples getting hard from being so exposed in the open-weave mesh and she wondered if Josh noticed. “What do you think?” she asked at last.
“I think…I think…” He frowned.
“It’s okay, Josh.” She touched him lightly on the shoulder and was surprised to feel how tense his body was. “You can say it, I won’t be offended.”
“God.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I think I want to pull off that skimpy little top and suck your sweet pink nipples until you scream.”
“Oh!” Phil bit her bottom lip again, feeling a warm, sexual flush rising from between her breasts to heat her throat and cheeks. “I…do you really? What else do you want to do?” They weren’t doing anything, she told herself. Just like the other day when she was telling him her X-rated dream, they were only talking. Surely there was no harm in that. She hadn’t passed th
e point of no return.
Josh gave her a level stare, his brown eyes burning with need. “Do you really want to know? Do you want to know what I’d like to do to you if I could, Phil?” he growled. She understood what he was really saying—that she shouldn’t push him or the invisible boundaries they had put between them might crumble. But Phil wanted to push. Wanted to hear what he had to say—to feel his hungry gaze devour her like a flame.
She nodded greedily, her mouth too dry to speak. Here was a side of Josh she had never seen before their lunch together in the car. He was always so sweet and funny that she sometimes forgot he was a guy. Now he seemed so big, so male looming over her in the tiny dressing cubicle.
“Phil,” he murmured in a low, intense voice. “I want to push you up against the wall and pull down those tiny little bikini bottoms and touch your hot, wet pussy, just like I did in your dream. Ever since you told me about that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.” The muscle in his jaw jumped under the dark stubble on his cheeks as he leaned closer, blocking her in.
“Oh, I…” Phil felt like she was drowning. “What…what else?”
Josh took a deep breath, his muscular chest expanding, and she knew he was no longer even trying to fight the urge to speak his mind. “I want to get on my knees in front of you and spread open your thighs and go down on you, Phil. I want to taste your sweet juices and put my tongue inside you. I want to lick your clit until you come all over my face. Just like in your dream.”
“It…it was only a dream,” she almost whispered, hearing her heart thud in her ears.
“I know.” Josh stepped closer to her and reached out to brush his fingers over her hot cheek. “But I want to make it a reality.”
“We…we shouldn’t,” Phil whispered, but she didn’t know when she’d been so hot. She could feel the slippery wetness between her thighs and her nipples felt hard enough to cut glass.
“I know,” Josh murmured. “I know we can’t, but I want to. I want you.”
“I…I want you, too.” Phil couldn’t believe she was saying it, couldn’t believe she was finally admitting it. But once the words were out, she found she had no desire to call them back.
“You’re driving me crazy.” Josh’s deep voice was ragged.
“Show me,” Phil whispered, daring to reach up and touch his bristly cheek with her palm. “Show me what you mean—how you want to touch me.”
“I’ll show you.” Josh pulled her around so that they were facing the mirror and he was standing behind her. For a moment, Phil admired the picture they made, the wide-eyed blond woman and the tall man with dark piercing eyes looming over her possessively. With a start, she realized that his shoulders were almost twice as broad as hers. How had she managed to be around him for so many years without letting herself notice how attractive he was? How had she maintained the barriers between them for so long?
Then Josh drove every other thought out of her head by reaching around to cup her breasts in his large hands.
“Like this,” he murmured in her ear as Phil gasped at the contact. She could feel the sensitive tips of her nipples rubbing against the palms of his hands through the open weave of her top and she knew Josh could too. She was still watching in the mirror as the large man with intense brown eyes started untying the tiny red mesh bikini strings from around her neck.
Phil bit back a moan as he pulled it down, baring her breasts completely as they both watched in the mirror. Never had she dreamed of doing anything like this in a public place, and never had she dreamed of doing it with Josh. And yet, the wet heat between her thighs attested to the fact that it was the single most erotic experience of her life. And she was having it right here and now in the dressing room of RipTide with her best friend.
“More?” Josh growled in her ear as he rolled her tight nipples between his finger tips. “Do you want me to show you how I want to suck them, Phil?”
Breathlessly she nodded and he moved back at once, sitting on the triangular bench in the corner of the dressing cubicle and pulling her with him. Phil gasped as his hands encircled her waist and positioned her between his spread thighs. He held her eyes for a long intense moment before dipping his head to take her right nipple into his mouth, sucking hard at first, then lapping at the sensitive bud until she thought she might scream.
I shouldn’t be doing this! Phil moaned inside her head, and yet she couldn’t make herself stop. Josh was working on her other nipple now, nipping gently with his teeth and sending showers of sparks from her sensitive tips to the hot, swollen flesh of her sex. Phil couldn’t believe she was standing in a dressing room letting her best friend suck her nipples but she couldn’t ever remember feeling so incredibly aroused—so ready for more.
At last Josh looked up, his brown eyes dilated with need. “Your skin tastes exactly like I’d always imagined it would,” he told her in a hoarse voice. “Salty and a little sweet and completely delicious. God, Phil, I want to touch you so badly I can’t stand it.”
Phil closed her eyes. This was pretty intense but it wasn’t something they couldn’t come back from. But if she gave Josh permission to touch her, to taste her…she didn’t know if she would ever be able to look him in the eye again. And yet she wanted what she’d had in her dream, the dream that Josh was making a reality.
“I…I want you to show me more,” she said softly. “I…I don’t want to stop.”
“I don’t either.” He stood again and pulled her back into their former position with him behind her and both of them facing the mirror. “You want me to show you?” His deep voice was a rumble she could feel through her entire body as his chest pressed against her back.
Phil looked at the topless girl in the mirror, the girl whose nipples were red and hard from being sucked and licked. She nodded.
“I’ll show you, then.” Josh murmured in her ear, his breath hot against her neck.
Phil expected him to pull down the bottom of her suit and bare her completely. But instead, he reached around her with his left hand, his fingers splayed possessively over the curve of her hip and cupped her breasts with his right.
“Watch while I touch you, Phil,” he breathed in her ear. “I want you to watch while I spread you open and stroke your hot little pussy.”
Phil moaned out loud as she watched his large hand slip down into the tiny red bikini panties to cup her slippery mound. She had never dreamed that funny, sweet Josh could be so kinky! Making her watch while he touched her was turning her on like nothing ever had before.
“Is this all right? Do you like this?” Josh murmured in her ear. His hand felt warm and gentle as he cupped her and she knew that he didn’t want to scare her.
“You know I like it,” she whispered, laying her head back against his shoulder. “I…I can’t help but like it. It feels so good.”
“It’s about to feel even better.” He gave her a hot, gentle kiss on the side of her neck and pulled her closer. “I want you to untie the bikini strings and spread your legs for me, Phil. Then I want you to watch while I touch you, while I put my fingers inside you. Deep inside you.”
Phil felt her breath catch in her throat but she felt helpless to disobey his orders. With trembling fingers, she reached down and untied the tiny red strings, letting the red mesh bikini bottoms fall to the floor of the dressing cubicle.
“That’s good,” Josh encouraged her softly. “Now spread your legs for me so you can watch me touch you. Open yourself up and don’t be afraid.”
“I…all right.” Phil parted her legs, mesmerized by the sight of the naked girl in the mirror doing the same thing. Josh’s big hand still cupped her but as she watched, he spread his fingers, opening her so that the slippery pink center of her sex was exposed.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, stroking one long finger slowly up and down the tight bundle of nerves at her center. Phil bit her lip at the intensely pleasurable sensation the gentle motion caused.
“I…I am?” she managed to gas
p, her eyes still riveted to the performance going on in the mirror.
“You’re perfect,” Josh assured her. “I’ve always thought so. Look at how hot you are, Phil, with your soft little pussy all spread open and your sweet little clit so sensitive and swollen.” He brushed his fingertips lightly along the tiny pink bud making her moan and press back against him. “You have no idea how often I’ve thought about doing this,” he whispered. “How often I wanted to take you in my arms and touch you everywhere. To pleasure you, make love to you, make you mine. I’ve wanted you for years, Phil.”
“I…” Phil gasped again as his fingers slipped over her swollen folds. “I think I always knew that. But I just…couldn’t let myself see it.”
“Well you can see it now because I’m showing you—telling you.” Josh kissed the side of her neck again. “God, you feel good in my arms. I want to touch you everywhere.” His deep voice dropped to a lower octave and he murmured in her ear, “Are you ready to feel my fingers inside you? Ready to spread yourself open and let me press deep inside your hot little pussy?”
Phil nodded, almost panting with need. She was so used to being with a man who couldn’t find her clitoris with a flashlight and a map that it was amazing to see that her best friend was apparently an expert in female anatomy. To be honest, she was pretty sure Christian had stopped trying long ago. But now Josh was stroking her in just the right way, building the pleasure between her legs until she felt like she was going to explode.
“Please,” she whispered, spreading her legs even farther. “Please, I need…”
“I know what you need. Relax, Phil, and I’ll give it to you.” He kissed the side of her neck again, nipping and sucking and licking possessively, sending helpless shivers of need down her spine. “I want to make you feel good,” he whispered, just as he had in her dream.