Freefall

  My self-control had vanished the second I’d seen her face peering down at me from the dock. I’d pictured this moment a million times, and every time I was composed and deliberate as I made gentle love to her but that vision had been obliterated.

  I reached up under her dress and pushed down her panties. They dropped to her ankles. Her head dropped back so my kiss could deepen. I felt her fingers open the buttons on my shorts, and I knew there was no way I was going to slow down. I had to have her this second. As I lifted her up into my arms, her long legs went around my waist. My mouth devoured hers and her arms tightened around my neck as I pressed her up against the wall. The sound that made me even harder with need sprung from her lips against my mouth. And I slid into her.

  CHAPTER 22

  Scotlyn

  He was incredible to look at. I’d always known it, but I hadn’t really thought about it until now. I’d felt a connection with Nix instantly because he listened, or in my case read my words, so thoughtfully, but as I gazed at him across the little kitchen table, my heart pounded just looking at him.

  He picked up a chip. “Sorry, I don’t have anything better than potato chips and beer. Dray and I aren’t great cooks.”

  I picked up a chip and pushed it in my mouth. His long lashes dropped and he stared down at the beer can in his hand. “You know, I sort of imagined that to have gone a little differently, a little slower with a bit more thought put into it.”

  Nix had thoughtfully stuck a pad of paper and pen on the table along with the chips. I dragged the pad toward me. “Really? Because that just went exactly how I’d been imagining it.”

  He read the note and then smiled up at me. “You’re an animal.”

  I winked at him.

  “So you’ve been imagining it, huh?”

  My wicked pen traveled quickly over the paper. “The second you touched me at the shop, I started fantasizing about you fucking me on that damn table.”

  “Holy shit,” he said hoarsely. “You must have been reading my mind because that was exactly what I wanted to do . . . the second I touched you.” He looked down at his beer again. “Actually, that’s not true. I’ve been wanting you since I found that picture. It’s weird, but I think I kept it with me because I knew you were meant for me. It was like you were looking back at me from that picture, telling me to find you.”

  I reached over and brushed my fingers over the back of his hand. “Tell me about your bad day,” I wrote.

  His long legs touched mine as he slumped back against his chair. “Nana has a bad heart. That’s why she gets tired so easily.”

  My eyes watered. Nana was a person that anyone could instantly adore and I had.

  Nix stared at me. “There it is,” he said quietly. “That raw emotion in your face that has my heart twisted in a knot. As silent as you are, I know everything you’re thinking.” He finished his beer. “Not that I want to open a black hole by mentioning his name, but how did you get away from him tonight?”

  I picked up the pen. “Lincoln is acting really strange. All day he stuck next to me, wouldn’t let me out of his sight and then his partner called and off he went. Huge sigh of relief. And then all I could think about was you having a bad day and me not being with you.”

  “Funny, that’s all I could think about too.”

  I looked across the table at him and lifted my foot until my bare toes touched the skin on his calf. His brow lifted as I dragged that same toe up to the inside of his thigh. Then I scribbled a note. “Maybe we should try it the way you pictured it.”

  “Funny,” he repeated, “I was just thinking the same thing.” He stood from the table and lowered his hand for me to take. “Of course, I’m not making any promises. My self-control seems to have vanished since I met you.”

  Nix kicked several piles of clothes out of the way. “I don’t keep a tidy ship.” He turned around and faced me. We stood several feet apart in his tiny bedroom, the deck lifting and falling with the tide. Moonlight was replacing sunlight as it streamed through the porthole window. It made the gold in his eyes glow.

  I waved my hand at him to take off his shirt.

  He lifted it up and over his head and then dropped it to the floor. It was the first time I’d seen his bare chest, and it made heat swirl through me. I lifted up a thumb and he smiled.

  He moved to take a step toward me, but I held up my hand to stop him. I snapped my fingers loudly and pointed down to his shorts.

  “Demanding little thing, aren’t you?”

  I snapped my fingers again. He unbuttoned his shorts and dropped them to the floor. He held out his arms completely confident in his nudity, and with good reason. He was spectacular. I held up both thumbs.

  He nodded. “I always knew I was a two thumbs up kind of guy.”

  I needed to touch him but this time he put up his hand. “Uh, not so fast, lady. You’re next.”

  I was less confident about standing naked in front of him, but the way he looked at me coaxed me to slide off my dress.

  “I’ve nothing but praise for braless summer sundresses.” There was a hitch in voice as if his throat had tightened some. He looked pointedly down at my panties. “I’ve never been very good at snapping my fingers.”

  I pushed them off. The ocean breeze seemed to penetrate every corner of the cabin, and a tiny shiver raced through me but it had more to do with Nix’s hungry gaze than the cool air. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my breasts.

  He closed the space between us and heat radiated off of every inch of his bare skin. Gently, he took hold of my wrists and uncrossed my arms. His dark amber gaze warmed me as he stared down at me. “I still keep having the urge to pinch myself.” His voice was low and hoarse. Almost as if we were dancing, he lifted my hand and turned me to the side. “Hey, what have we here? You must have a really talented tattoo artist.” He leaned down and kissed the first flower on the tattoo and then continued on a long sensual trail down the length of it.

  My head felt heavy with the pleasure of his mouth on my naked skin. He reached the last flower near my hip and then straightened. He pressed his mouth against my ear. “I was so hard after you rolled your jeans down so I could draw that flower,” he whispered. “I’m going crazy with need right now.” He took hold of my hand and walked me to the bed. He sat down and took hold of my waist. I straddled his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. His mouth caressed and teased my breasts then he lifted his face. I kissed him as he slid into me. The sound he craved bubbled from my lips and against his mouth.

  “Scotlyn,” he whispered against my lips. “You don’t know how badly I want to hear you say my name.” He kissed me again.

  I reached back and took his hand from my waist. I lifted it and pressed his palm against my lips. “Nix,” I mouthed the words against his palm. There was no sound, but he closed his eyes against the feel of my lips and breath on his palm.

  I released his hand and his arm went around me. “Goddamn, I have to be fucking dreaming.”

  ***

  I rested against Nix’s chest and he pulled the blanket tighter around us. We’d emerged from the tiny, cozy cabin in nothing but the blanket from his bed. The deck creaked with the constant movement of water. Aside from several stray clouds, the star-littered sky was a ceiling of black and silver.

  “Are you warm enough?” he asked.

  I nodded and wiggled closer to him. He squeezed me tighter. “I always like to come out here at night and stargaze. It’s a whole different sky out here over the water. No big harsh lights to compete with the stars. And tonight the moon is only a sliver.”

  I rested my head back against his shoulder and looked up. We’d walked out without the pad of paper, so I couldn’t tell him how deliriously happy I was sitting tucked inside a blanket with him with only the soft fabric and the heat of his body to warm me. I couldn’t tell him how badly I wanted to stay with him and how much I dreaded returning to Lincoln. It was all there, the words were churning inside me like champagne bu
bbles waiting to be uncorked. So I kissed him. I had no words, but Nix knew everything I was thinking. He knew my feelings and there was no way he could not feel just how outrageously happy I was.

  Footsteps pounded on the dock, and they startled me at first. Nix looked back over his shoulder. His roommate, Dray, stepped onto the boat. His face had healed some revealing just how truly handsome he was.

  “Hey, Nix, didn’t see you guys sitting there. Let me just say that if hell is worse than LAX, then I am definitely going to have to rethink my lifestyle.”

  A breeze pushed the blanket off my shoulder exposing the bare skin to the night air and to Dray’s attention.

  “Oh shit, you guys are— oh, hey, I just remembered I need to go buy some— some beers again. Damn we drink those things fast.” He headed back to the steps.

  “Stop, Dray. You don’t have to buy beer. It’s fine.”

  “Great, cause I don’t have any money anyway,” Dray said. He wrapped his thick arms around himself and looked around as if it was the first time he’d stood on deck. “Nice night, eh?”

  “Dray,” Nix said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Go inside.”

  “Right.”

  My shoulders rocked with silent laughter as he went inside and closed the door behind him.

  I looked up at Nix, and he knew exactly what I was thinking. It was time for me to get back home. I needed to make sure to beat Lincoln home, and these days I had no idea how late he’d be or if he’d come home at all.

  “See, I purposely left the paper and pen inside so that you couldn’t tell me when you had to go, and yet you managed to say it anyhow.”

  I flashed him my most apologetic face.

  “All right, but I’m going to drive you home.”

  ***

  Traffic had already lessened and the trip home was shorter than I wanted it to be. Nix held my hand the entire way as if he had no real intention of letting it go once we reached the house.

  “Scotlyn, you have to leave him. I know you don’t want to be dependent on another man, but I’ll take care of you until you find a job.”

  I fingered the paper pad and then wrote. “He is not going to just let me leave.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” Nix said.

  I shook my head and wrote quickly. “I’ll do it and soon, but at the moment, he is tense about something. It’s not a good time. He thinks I’m going to marry him.”

  He glanced at the paper and then returned his attention to the road. “Sounds like the perfect time for you to leave him.”

  I rolled the pen between my fingers considering my next words carefully. They’d been swirling around my head for several days, and it was time to write them. “Nix, are you sure you won’t get tired of my silence?”

  He took no time to think about it. “What silence? I hear every word you write, every word you speak with your incredible face as if you’d spoken the words aloud. You were meant to be with me, Scotlyn. Not him.”

  It was one of those frustrating moments when my pen could not move fast enough to keep up with my mind. “For the last few hours I felt like I was in this unreal world where everything in my life was good. For those few hours there was no accident, there was no Lincoln, there was just you. I don’t want to lose that feeling yet.”

  He read it and his throat moved up and down as he swallowed. “I’m sorry, I won’t bring him up again tonight.”

  I reached over and took hold of his hand again.

  My heart raced as we turned the corner of the street. There was no Porsche in the driveway, and my shoulders relaxed. I pointed to the house, and Nix pulled up and looked at the house. “Nice place. Looks dark. I guess he’s still out.”

  I wiped two fingers across my forehead to show my relief. “Should I go to your grandmother’s house tomorrow?” I wrote.

  “Yeah, that would be great. Let me know when you’re there, and I’ll call to let her know. She’ll like that.”

  “Me too.” I wrote.

  Nix squinted up the lawn to the gate. “Is there a pool back there?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll bet it’s a pretty nice pool.”

  I pointed to him and then pointed to my temple.

  “What am I thinking?” He leaned over and kissed me. “I’m thinking I haven’t had enough of you naked and in my arms yet. Let’s go for a swim.”

  I smiled. Nix started his car and pulled up the block and parked beneath a tree that blotted out the streetlight above. We got out and ran, like two kids sneaking into a park pool, across the lawn and through the gate. The appliances inside were the only source of light. The rest of the house and yard was dark.

  Nix reached down and took hold of my dress. He lifted it over my head and dropped it to the cement. He dragged his calloused fingertips down my skin to the top of my panties and slid them off. His arms wrapped around me, and I was completely naked in his arms once again. And I could have stayed like that forever. Having Nix’s hands on my bare skin helped lessen all the pain inside.

  Nix kissed me and then yanked off his shirt and shorts. He grabbed my hand and we jumped into the water. We popped up and I’d barely caught my breath when he pulled me into his arms again.

  “I think I mentioned something about you naked and in my arms, right?”

  I placed my hand on his face and kissed him. The water still lapped against the tile as it subsided from our jump, and the only other sound aside from our breathing were the crickets in the surrounding bushes. I rested my head on his shoulder, and we floated around the warm water holding each other as if we’d been together forever. I had no paper for communicating, and Nix stayed silent as well. I was glad he did not bring up the subject of Lincoln again. Lincoln was my problem, and I had to find a way to break free of his bonds. If I didn’t make a clean break then I was certain Lincoln would make my life difficult, and he would make Nix’s difficult too. I didn’t want to drag Nix into any of this. I just needed to know that he’d be waiting for me on the other side once I’d gained my freedom.

  I released my hold on Nix and swam to the deep end. It felt good to swim naked in the clean, fresh water. Since Lincoln and his awful partners always seemed to be hanging out in the cabana during summer, I rarely went into the pool. I reached up and held on to the tile and let my legs drift back behind me, reveling in the weightless feeling of floating.

  I heard water move behind me and then Nix’s strong hands went around my waist. His naked chest pressed against my back, and one hand slid up to my breasts. His mouth nibbled my neck, and I felt the sensation of it everywhere. His touch was intoxicating and the stars above blurred into a silver streak as my head lulled back against him and my eyes drifted shut.

  His fingers were skilled and even in the cool water of the pool, heat radiated through my body. In the distance the rhythmic sound of crickets was interrupted by the staccato sound of a car motor. I’d become drunk with need again, and my mind pushed the sound away as Nix swirled me around in his arms. My legs went around his waist and his mouth came down hard over mine.

  A car door slammed. We looked at each other. Headlights lit up the interior of the house as another car pulled into the driveway. Loud voices sent us swimming to the shallow end.

  We pulled on our clothes as fast as possible with soaking wet skin. “Come back with me, Scotlyn.”

  I shook my head and shooed him toward the pool gate. He turned to leave but then shot back and grabbed me to for one last kiss. The lights came on in the house and my heart pounded, but I didn’t pull away from his grasp. The voices had traveled inside.

  Nix released me and left through the pool gate. Through the glass doors I could see Grady and the thuggish looking man who’d been with him a lot lately. There were two women dressed in sleek little dresses and high heels. One of them was holding a drink. I had no choice but to walk through the back door and into the house. There would be no explanation for me coming through the front.

  My dress clung to my wet ski
n and my long hair dripped down my shoulder. I picked up my sandals and walked to the glass door. I grabbed the spare key that Lincoln kept hidden in a planter and I walked inside. The talking and laughter stopped and every face turned to look at me.

  “Is that her?” one of the girls said quietly to the other.

  Lincoln walked out from behind his wet bar with his eyes narrowed and his mouth pulled in to a tight line. “Babe, what the hell are you doing?”

  I pointed to the pool area.

  Grady leaned his arm up over the couch and looked back at me. “Swimming with no suit? We should have gotten here sooner.”

  “Shut up, Grady,” Lincoln snapped. Grady’s shoulders tensed, and he scowled back at Lincoln.

  Lincoln came up to me. He stared down at my wet clothes. “You never swim, and tonight you decide to go out there alone and swim naked?”

  I shrugged and forced a weak smile.

  “She doesn’t talk,” one of the girls said, obviously assuming that I couldn’t hear her either.

  “I think you should pour her a drink,” Grady’s horrid friend said with a sneer. “We’re short on ladies anyhow.”

  Ignoring his guests, Lincoln stared at me now as if we were the only two people in the room. I could almost see a twinge of heartbreak in his face, and I felt sad for him. “Go upstairs and get dry before you catch cold,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Nix

  I blasted my radio on the way home to clear my head and reduce the rage I was feeling toward Hammond. I was crazed with the idea of him getting anywhere near Scotlyn. And then my thoughts would drift to Scotlyn and the hours we had just spent together, and all I could think was that I couldn’t wait to have her in my arms again. She was pure and raw and passionate, and I was definitely going to have a hard time sleeping with her fragrance still clinging to my sheets.