Page 18 of Dark Embers

“Thanks for the suggestion,” she said, sucking her thumb one final time—and fuck, if the sight didn’t make my cock throb! “Those were delicious.”

She took our empty trays to the garbage can nearby, and I was helpless not to stare at the sway of her perfect ass as she walked away. When she turned to come back, my gaze slid up her figure to her eyes, and the challenging way she met my stare told me she could sense the hunger in it. Her lips curled into a smirk, desire twinkling in her own eyes.

She put her hand on her hips when she stopped in front of me. “Ready to teach me how to play?”

My burning mouth went even more dry.I want to teach you so much more than that, little mermaid.

“Yep, let’s get our sticks and balls,” I said a little too loudly as I rose from the table, then headed to the clerk’s desk.

Arya closed in beside me as I waited for the clerk to gather our equipment, slipping her arm through mine to place her hand softly on my forearm. The warmth of her touch was so pleasant, sending shivers over my flesh. I didn’t usually react kindly to being touched uninvited, and though I told myself that I didn’t want her affection, I couldn’t bring myself to shrug her off.

I wanted her touch. Everywhere. Wanted her mouth. Also everywhere.

Why was I fighting those urges? This was a transaction, right? Purely physical. I could enjoy her body and any affection she wanted to give. Not doing so would only make the imprint pullme harder toward her. I just had to be mindful to keep my desire for her and my emotional feelings for her separate.

No emotions. I could do that.

The clerk handed over the clubs and balls, and I gave Arya hers, relishing in the gentle brush of her fingers on mine as we made the exchange now that I’d given myself permission to do so—and a whole lot more.

If she was going to play coy with me and be flirtatious, I was going to give it right back to her.

We strolled along the path to the first hole, which was a simple slope to the hole with no obstacles.

“So, how do we do this?” she asked. “Do I just put the ball anywhere?”

“Anywhere before the line marked in this grass,” I replied with a nod.

She knelt and placed her red golf ball in the general center of the gray line, then stood back up and gripped her putter, looking over her shoulder at me.

“Any special way I’m supposed to hold this thing?” There was that same dare in her eyes, a challenge for me to come closer.

I came up behind her, sliding my hands down her forearms to her hands. Her breath hitched, and I could feel her arousal through our bond, heightening my own. She let me rearrange her grip on the stick’s handle.

“Like this?” she asked, her voice heady and faint.

“Perfect,” I said in almost a whisper against her neck. “Now loosen your knees and bend slightly.”

She adjusted her stance, her buttocks nudging against the strain of my hard cock beneath my pants in the movement. But rather than pull away, she pressed further against me, making a low growl rumble up my throat despite my best efforts to stifle it.

“Is that okay?” she purred, a smile in her eyes as she looked sideways at me.

“You’re playing with fire,” I cautioned.

“Then play with me.”

Tightening my grip on her hands, I guided her, pulling the putter back a few inches and then whacking the ball straight down the path. All the while, our bodies stayed just as close, touching in all the right places.

We both watched as the ball skittered down the lawn and into the hole at the bottom, although I was pretty sure neither of us was paying it our full focus.

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” I teased against her ear before pulling myself away from her.

“Something was,” she said with a wink as she stepped aside for me, and I bit my lip on a smirk.

I set my ball and took my swing, hardly caring at this point if I made it in or not. I struck the ball a little too hard and it glided past the hole only to bounce off the border and fall into the hole anyway.

“Does that still count?” Arya asked.

“A hole in one is a hole in one,” I retorted. “But I’ll let you have that round.”

---