Page 42 of Taking the Heat

I gave him a quick hug. ‘Of course!’

Behind me, Babette moved in for the kill. ‘Bojour, Chris. I ‘ope this challenge will bring us closer, no?’

She trailed her fingers along his arm. Without thinking, I slapped her hand.

‘Ow! What was that for?’

‘Mosquito,’ I told her.

Chris laughed. ‘You gotta watch out for those little suckers.’ He drew me tight for a cuddle. ‘They bite.’ He nipped me on the neck and my knees buckled, the feel of his teeth on my skin a delicious blend of pleasure and pain.

Miles boomed from the far end of the poolside. ‘Teams! We’ll begin in five minutes. The order will be drawn randomly, but the later your team plays, the more chances you’ll have to observe how others fare.’

With his arm still tight around my shoulders, Chris began to talk strategy. Lars, with his engineering background, had some great ideas too. Babette just giggled and made eyes at Chris, while I restrained myself from yanking her ponytail.

‘Okay, so Babette, you take Tara on your shoulders, if you’re sure you can lift her?’

She pouted at Chris and said, ‘You’d be surprised how much I can support,mon ami.’

‘Great. Lars and I will lift you, and that should give Tara enough height to grab four keys easily.’

I spoke up. ‘I’ll do my best.’

A runner informed us that we were the third group up, which was pretty good, and we turned to the pool to watch the first team step in the water.

It was Henry, Pauline, Chase and Rafaela, the Brazilian girl. Their tactic was slightly more haphazard than ours. Henry and Chase made a brace with their hands, and one at a time, the girls stepped on and the guys catapulted them into the air. They didn’t even come close to the keys, so after several minutes of flying and splashing, they tried making a human pyramid. Soaking wet, their bodies slid hopelessly around, and they were barely able to form a piggyback before the gong sounded.

As team two dove in, I realised I didn’t need to watch them. What I needed was Chris.

Pulling him backwards by the hand, I led him behind the stripy towel hut. Ignoring the inevitable camera crew that followed us, I pushed Chris against the wall of the hut. ‘Touch laws are lifted—touch me,’ I invited, reaching for his head and pulling his lips down to mine.

He didn’t argue. His mouth eagerly devoured mine, his tongue pushing gently against my lips. I parted and let him slip inside, moving my own tongue to greet him. I moaned, Chris’ breath like a fire inside me.

His hands slid over the flat plane of my tummy, drawing circles on my skin. His fingers worked their way up until they reached the elastic of my hot pink bikini top. Delicately, he rubbed his thumbs along the underside of my breasts. It was such a strange, new place to be touched and my body responded, helpless under his fingers.

My hands roamed everywhere as fast as I could move them, cataloguing the lines of Chris’ shoulders, his abs, his taut backside. I threaded my fingers down the trail of dark hair from his belly button, delighting in the way he moaned.

My skin was like a canvas dotted with hotspots, while my core ached, pulsing with need. I pressed my entire body to Chris, feeling his hard length pushing back. Beyond all reason, beyond anything, I wanted him, wanted to feel him move inside me, wanted to fall apart screaming in his arms. Looking into his dark eyes, I knew he felt it too.

In what is beginning to feel like a pattern, the gong clanged and we heard Miles shout, ‘Team three! Take your places!’

‘Don’t get wet,’ Chris murmured in my ear, kissing it softly.

‘Too late,’ I moaned.

He laughed, and pulled me back around towards the poolside. ‘I meant in the pool. We need to keep you girls dry as long as we can so you’re easier to lift.’

‘How can you even think at a time like this?’ My body was a mess of sensation, my nipples so hard they were almost painful.

‘Because, babe, I need a key and you need a name. Babette, don’t get in yet!’

About to jump in, she gave Chris a quizzical look.

‘Get Tara on your back first; we’ll lift you from the side. Lars! Let’s go!’

The boys jumped into the waist-deep water and I climbed up onto Babette’s back. True to her word, she was stronger than she looked, bearing my weight easily.

‘Okay, Babette! Turn around and sit down a bit. We’ll grab you.’

---