“It was that heart necklace we used to wear.” I touch my throat as if I have it on. “You know, the one that’s broken in half? Mine said ‘Best’ and yours said ‘friends?’”
“Yeah, I know.” She gets up and starts walking past me. “Why don’t you put it on and hang yourself with it?” she bleats as she takes off down the hall.
Ace appears in her place and frowns over at her until we hear the slam of her door. He reverts his attention and rakes over me with those soulful eyes—just a hint of sorrow layered underneath.
“Holy shit,” he mumbles under his breath as he rides his gaze from my head to my feet. “You look hotter than a Texas sidewalk. Get over here, girl.” He gives an approving grin as he wraps his arms around me.
His dark hair is combed back. He’s fresh from the shower with his minty breath, his crisp white T-shirt. I press his rock hard body to mine and linger a moment before pulling away.
“Neva might see,” I whisper. I wouldn’t put it past her to use this to hurt both Ace and me.
He ticks his head back toward his bedroom and leads me over. Ace shuts us inside without bothering to turn on the lights. He leans in and lands a hot kiss on my cheek before hitting pay dirt right over my mouth. I moan into the artful, lingual exchange. Ace knows just how to move his tongue to make me want to linger in this very position all night long.
My insides detonate. I’ve wanted this for so damn long, and now I’m dying because it’s too much to handle.
He pulls back and tracks his hot kisses down the side of my neck.
“I thought we were going to the boathouse?” Not that I care. I can have an orgasm right here on the spot—hell, I’m halfway there already. Screw the fact that Neva is in the next room daydreaming about me swinging from a tree by way of our friendship necklace. I’ve wanted Ace for so long he’s all I see, hear, and breathe.
“We are.” Ace runs his hands wild over my curves a moment before flicking on the lights.
A single white daisy has materialized in his hand, and he wears a bashful smile.
“I wanted to give you this first.”
My mouth falls open at his thoughtfulness. It’s perfect. A gift from Ace means miles more than anything Warren could ever gift me, more than anything I’d ever want from him.
“I love it.” And, I want to add, I love you, too. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Picked it myself.” His cheeks darken a shade. “You deserve about a dozen more.” He adds that last part almost as an apology.
“I don’t need a dozen. You already gave me the most perfect one.” I hike up on the balls of my feet until our lips collide. I swipe my tongue over his, slow at first, then hard and anxious. We exchange explosive kisses until we’re both insanely ready for what comes next.
Ace speeds us over to the boathouse, and I laugh as a light rain pelts us on the way up the porch. He unlocks the door and scoops me up in his arms, carrying me over the threshold. Ace lands his lips over mine, and I giggle through a delirious sea of kisses. Here I am with Ace, of all people, the boy I ran field races with, the boy who pretended to eat my mud pies fresh from the yard. The boy I couldn’t take my eyes off the past five years alone. This is truly panning out to be the best summer of my life.
Ace lands me back on my feet and fiddles with something on the table. Before I know it, the soft glow of candlelight illuminates the darkness. It’s only then I notice the tiny touches that have taken place since last night. A vase full of wild flowers sits on the table, and my heart melts at the sight. Ace handpicked each one of those just for me. He didn’t have his father’s assistant arrange for them to be delivered to my home, nor did he bury a sterile I’m sorry note among the thorns that would eventually draw blood. I shake Warren and his roses out of my head and take in the rest of the tiny boathouse. An old blanket I recognize from the time I spent at Ace’s house as a child sits folded at the edge of the bed. I remember snuggling with it whenever I spent the night. His mother once told me she bought it at an outdoor market in Mexico way back when, but that was before she tore out his father’s beating heart in front of the family and took off. She tore out Neva’s heart, too, and I’m assuming Ace’s.
“This is amazing.” I brush my hand over his chest. “Candles? Flowers? And—a blanket?”
“I thought you might get cold.” He shrugs off his efforts like they were no big deal when we both know they were—candles, flowers, and bedding aren’t things a typical guy would remember to bring along on a date. Not that what we’re doing classifies as dating.
I run my fingers through his hair in one clean sweep and take in how stunningly gorgeous he is. His chiseled face, those high cut cheeks, the dimples that don’t know when to quit, and his demanding eyes that lay over me like hungry, blue flames.
“Why would I get cold, Ace?” I bat my lashes into him hoping he comes up with the right answer.
“Because”—his dimples go off like a warning—“tonight you’re going to take off all your clothes.”
A dry laugh rumbles quiet in my chest.
Right answer indeed.
Ace
“You ready for this?” I throw in a lopsided grin in the event this was a set up from the beginning. Not that me or my dick want it to be, but a part of me might find it more realistic.
“Ready and willing,” she whispers it so low, I hardly believe her.
“I’m not sure I’m ready.” There, I said it. I fessed up like a pussy, and she can make of it what she wants.
“What?” Her brows pitch as if they were ready to morph into birds and fly right off her forehead. “You can’t back out now.” She bites down on her lip like she might cry. “You’re my special someone, remember?”
“I’m not backing out.” I hook my arm around her waist until her body is pressed tight over mine. If I had it my way, this would be enough. No need for speed because we’d have an entire lifetime to explore one another. I’d trade in a quick and dirty summer for a lifetime of loving Reese every single time. Besides, Reese has been my special someone for as long as I can remember. “With all of my heart, body, and soul I’m on board,” I assure her. “But I’m not going to lie, I’m worried this is going to change things—that you’ll wake up in the morning and hunt me down with a baseball bat once you come to your senses.” I’m only half-kidding. Actually the fantasy involved a hunting knife, and we had mind-bending sex over a bed of pine needles before she hacked my limbs off, starting with the most productive member, the one between my legs.
“Not happening.” Reese doesn’t waver. Those pale eyes of hers spear from the shadows like flashlights. “There is nothing about this I’ll regret in the morning, unless, of course, you bail on me.” She cinches up my T-shirt as if she were about to teach me a lesson. And, God knows, I wouldn’t be opposed to getting knocked around by her—a wrestling match sounds right up my alley. “Besides, there’s no one I’d rather do these things with than you. I mean it. I want this.” Her voice quivers, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear she meant each word on a whole different level, the level I’m already on, the one I’ve been on for as long as I can remember.
“I want this, too.” My heart slams against my chest like it’s protesting the idea—protesting the fact we’re toying with it, not to mention what we’re about to do to her heart. I pray to God I don’t accidently break it. I’d die before I let that happen.
My fingers work their way down her thighs as I slowly lift the dress right off her body. She holds her hands in the air a moment longer than necessary and lets me inspect her like this, exposing herself to me like a prize.
God.
Reese Westfield has a body that spanks the shit out of any other female I’ve had the privilege to look at. She highlights the best attributes that the female anatomy has to offer and brings glory to her maker all at the same time.
“We’re really doing this?” I ask, giving her the last minute out if she wants it.
“Oh, it’s on.” She gives
a dark laugh. “Are you man enough to lead the expedition, or do I need to recruit someone else?” She presses her lips together, but her smile still rides up the sides. Reese never was one to hide the way she feels around me. She wants this, and, for whatever reason, she wants it with me.
“Take off you bra,” I try to say it soft, but it comes out a command. Reese plucks it off, and the girls spring out like a pair of happy melons. Oh fuck. “I’m going to bury my face in those in a few minutes.” I give a wry smile and watch as her mouth opens, and she chokes on her next breath. My gut starts to twist because I’m all through with giving her any more outs. I want this just as bad as she wants me to believe she does. “I think you like it when I talk dirty to you, Reese.” I skim her hip with my finger, and a gasp strangles out of her. That’s what she wants—a dirty, bad boy to ride out the summer with, and I just so happen to fit the bill. Hell, maybe the fact I don’t have two coins to rub together gets her going. But right about now, I’m not into analyzing how my lack of finances might factor into things. I’m simply in, sunk, ready and willing to be whatever the hell she wants me to be, so long as my tongue gets to go where its wanted to go all these years. I’m good with it.
Reese moans out a yes.
“I thought so.” I pump a dry smile. It takes all of my self-control not to move as quick as my body wants. I promised Reese a summer she’d never forget, and I plan on delivering in every fucking way. I’m pretty sure ravaging her on night one isn’t how to go about it. The strategy was to figure out what makes her want to detonate, and judging by the way she’s quivering for me, waiting for my next move, I think I just found the key. “Take off your panties, nice and slow.” I press out an easy grin before letting it dissipate. “I want to watch,” I whisper, twisting a lock of her hair between my fingers. I used to fantasize about touching her dark, smooth hair, pressing my face into it and getting lost, and now, here I am.
Reese tries to catch her breath as she hitches her thumbs into her waistband.
If barking out commands all night drives her wild, then that’s what I plan on doing. But when it comes right down to it, I want to fall on my knees and worship at her perfect feet, make love to her for seven days straight as a token of my undying affection. But that’s not what this summer is about. That’s not what it may ever be about.
When we were kids, Reese and I would play a game. She would ask me questions and each time I got the answer wrong she’d sock me in the arm. I knew every one of those damn answers and never gave the right one just so I could feel her tiny fist pummeling into me again and again. Sometimes you take the pain because that’s all you think some people will ever give you. Anything is a gift from Reese.
“I want you to watch.” Reese swivels her hips like a seasoned stripper while her black lace underwear melt in a puddle at her feet. She starts kicking off her heels, and I steady my hand over the back of her thigh.
“Why don’t you leave those on?”
She lets out a breath in lieu of an answer.
“Do you like this? Me telling you what to do?” I dig my fingers into the back of her hair, and she closes her eyes and moans like a dove.
“Maybe,” it barely crests her lips before she turns her head into my hand and buries a kiss in it. “A little—more than a little.”
“I think you’re just about ready.” I tilt her chin gently until she’s looking right at me again. “Lay down on the bed.” I walk her backward until her knees buckle, and she lies flat in the middle. I whip off my shirt. “Slide your legs back to your hips.” She lifts her knees, and I straddle myself just shy of her feet. “Open for me, Reese.” I don’t take my eyes off hers. It feels like a dare, and a part of me wonders if it is. Reese parts her knees just enough for me to glide my hand down if I wanted. “More, I want to see you.”
The back of her head digs into the pillow as she arches her body. Reese is already lost in the pleasure of it all, and I haven’t even touched her yet.
I smooth my hands over her thighs, carefully pushing her apart at the knees until I have a bird’s eye view, and my heart jackhammers into my throat.
Fuck.
“You’re perfect, Reese, you know that?” I touch my fingers lightly over that tender part of her, and she bucks forward, her eyes squeeze tight as if she were already there.
“Hold on.” I pull her legs down gently and glide over her smooth body until our lips are less than a breath away. I thought that might spring her in the right direction, but Reese is ready to shatter, and there’s so much more I want to do with her—share with her. I land my lips over hers with just a simple swipe, and Reese presses me in by the back of the neck, gliding her tongue over mine eager and greedy. My stomach cinches. My dick perks to life because, holy hell, Reese Westfield is gorging on me with her hungry kisses, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I float a kiss to her ear. “You’re going to come for me tonight.”
She gives a hard groan while raking her fingers through my hair.
“And, after that, I’m going to take you home.” I press a kiss into her ear, and she shudders beneath me.
“What if I don’t want to go home?” She grazes her teeth over my ear, and I pull her in tight and hold her like that. “What if I want to make you come?”
My chest rumbles with a dull laugh. There is nothing I’d like more. “Tonight is all about you. How about next time I show you how to get me there?”
She lets out a heated breath, and her chest quivers under mine.
“How does that sound?” I plant a kiss just shy of her ear without thinking twice. I don’t know how she expects me to mechanically love her as if this were some routine, some meaningless one-night stand. If she’s here, in bed with me, my natural inclination is to shower her with kisses, to love every inch of her with my mouth and hope she’ll return the favor.
She buries a nod into my neck.
“But right now I’m going to map out your body with my tongue.” I take a playful bite out of her earlobe, and she lets out a small cry that wrenches my gut. There’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to hold out tonight. I’ll deserve a trophy if I manage to walk her to the door, let alone drive her anywhere.
I lean up and take her in as the candlelight illuminates over her perfect features, her dark hair sprays out around her like a black wreath.
“God, you’re beautiful, Reese.” I steal a kiss off her lips and trail my mouth down her neck. “Open for me just like before.”
Reese glides her knees up and nestles them on my back.
“I’m going to kiss you in places you’ve probably dreamed about being kissed.” I sink a little lower and scoop her breast in one hand. “I’m going to put my lips over you right here.” I rub my thumb over her nipple and watch as she swallows hard in anticipation. My lips part as I land my mouth right where it’s wanted to be for so long. I let out a dull groan as I bury as much of her soft flesh in my mouth as I can handle.
“Ace.” She moves beneath me with a sigh, and my dick hardens to granite.
My tongue finds a home over her, and I roll her nipple around in my mouth for a good long while. This is heaven. Reese and me together at last, and, yet, in a way, we’re not together at all, not where it counts. I’m just someone filling in the blanks for her, showing her a good time for a few short weeks.
My lips glide down her velvet smooth body as I trail lower, past her hips, to the inside of her creamy thighs.
“Get on your elbows,” I whisper into her. “I’d hate for you to miss anything.” My lips twitch just this side of a smile as she props herself up.
Reese looks over at me with her lips parted, her breathing erratic.
“I’m going to touch you right there.” I graze over the soft curls at the base of her hips, and she flexes into me. “Then I’m going to kiss you—right there.” I sink my hand lower until my fingers lose themselves in her heated slick.
A hard groan comes from her, and I retract my touch as I sink even lower on the bed. I spe
nt the last part of the afternoon removing the footboard that I figured would stand in the way of our platonic efforts this evening. Personally, I think Reese Westfield gives new definition to the word platonic. But I’m not complaining.
I glide my hand to her thigh, before trailing kisses over her knee, across her smooth-as-silk shin and down to her slender foot. I pluck off her heels one by one and run my finger over the arch of her foot until she flinches. I catch her by the ankle and pull her back to me, kissing her foot with a smile.
“That tickles.” She thumps me on the back with her kneecap.
“Maybe I like to hear you laugh.” True story.
“Yeah?” She rasps it out sexy as hell, and I die a little looking up at her with her sleepy eyes, that look of lust ripe on her face. “I thought you might be a little more interested in hearing me scream.”
I rumble out a dull laugh. “Maybe I will.” Her toenails call to me, painted hot pink just like candy, so I plunge them into my mouth and suck down on each one as she lets out a gasp followed by a string of giggles. I trail my lips back up her thigh in a line of fire and lunge in for the gold, landing my lips over the most delicate part of her without warning, and she lurches up and digs her fingers into my hair.
Holy shit.
Reese Westfield tastes like sugar—like perfection, and, if hadn’t already lost my fucking mind tonight, I’ve officially jumped into the deep end. This is it. I love Reese, and, as much as she probably never wants to hear those words, I can’t go barking out orders like some drill sergeant anymore. I want to pour all of my affection into her, just hoping she’ll return the favor.
I ride my tongue over her in waves, pausing every now and again to genuinely make out with her pleasure points, rolling my tongue over her just like I did with her mouth a few minutes before. Her panting increases, she scratches at my shoulders, crying out for a release, and, selfishly, it’s the last thing I want to give her. I want this very act to go on for an eternity, but I know it can’t. Not one thing we do will exceed this bittersweet season, and in a few short weeks, she’ll be leaving for Yeats once again.