Chapter 214

She met him touch for touch. Her tongue rubbing against his even as her hands clutched at his clothes. She pulled his shirt free from his pants just as he slid a hand under the hem of her tank top. The heat of her skin under his palm was in sharp contrast to the breeze. Her own hands were cool but greedy as they brushed his nipples, stroked his shoulders, clung to his arms.

Her touch—her neediness—stirred his hunger like nothing else ever had. Desire was hot in his veins, pressing hard against the last of his restraint. Still he tried to pull back from her, to tug her toward the house. Because they were outside, for Christ’s sake. She deserved better than this. Deserved more than fast sex on the beach. More than the uncertainty of coupling their bodies when so much still stood between them. Unresolved. Unspoken.

But when he tried to pull away from her, she held tight to his arms. “No,” she said.

No gentle pleading for her—it was more of an order. A demand.

“C