Page 20 of Reluctant Chemistry

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Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs precariously close to his growing erection, Luka carried CeCe from the water and across the grass to the Kombi. He set her on her feet, untied the knot of his T-shirt, and lifted it over her head.

CeCe crossed her arms over her chest but let them fall as he wrapped her in a towel. Shivering but seemingly unperturbed by his naked and dripping body as he stood shielded by the open passenger door, she watched him dry off.

With his towel secured low on his hips, Luka pulled her closer and buffed her skin with the velvet cotton of her beach towel. They kissed, long strokes of his tongue against hers, their surroundings forgotten as they reconnected.

He guided her to sit inside the van, the willow above embracing them in its light green lace. “You still okay with this?”

She nodded. “This is our moment.”

They lay back, side by side. She nipped in her lower lip, but when Luka opened the towel and kissed her from neck to navel, CeCe reached for him without restraint, her fingers feather-like on his skin until she closed around him. He pumped into her fist, his heart beating faster with every stroke.

Cool to the touch and scattered with goose bumps, her skin glowed in the sunlight streaming through the van’s back window. Luka cupped her breast and lightly pinched the tight bud, perfect in color and size, the swell of her under his hands feeling like heaven. He longed to smother her nipples in caramel and lick the rich sweetness off her skin until she came, then do it all over again.

He felt suddenly nervous and unprepared. Because, despite wanting to have sex with her every time they met, he hadn’t expected it to happen today. Not really. And first times could be nerve-racking, especially when the seduction had played out over several days.

CeCe cupped his face, her expression soft. “I’m a little nervous,” she murmured.

Yeah, me too.“Don’t be. We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

She nodded. “I’m comfortable.”

Luka reached for his jeans and the condoms he’d slipped into the front pocket. He sat back and watched as she gave consent through each touch and breath and those intriguing hazel eyes. And when he ripped open the packet with his teeth and rolled it on, she studied his every move, her eyes wide.

Snuggling in beside her, one hand cupping a breast again, he felt the beat of her heart beneath his palm. His lips found the curve of her neck, and as he caressed her skin, nuzzling and sucking gently so as not to leave his mark, she let out a low moan, her breath heavy in the air.

Along the roadway, a throaty car changed from third, to fourth, to fifth—drowning out the ripple of water over rocks. Luka looked up. Sex in a public place had never been his thing, but as the daylight flattened, the willow’s green canopy was all he could see through the van’s back window. He closed his eyes in a moment of hesitation, half expecting her to hesitate too, but instead, she traced her thumb around the outline of his lips.

“Hey, it’s okay.” She pulled him closer. “No one will find us.”

He chuckled. “Somehow, I don’t think you’d be too concerned if they did.”

Luka shifted his weight until he lay half on top of her. He’d planned to take things slow, to enter her with care and savor the moment, but as she raked her nails down his back, he throbbed harder, the innocence he’d imagined no longer a reality.

“I would so,” CeCe whispered, her legs opening to him, “but I want you to see me. And I want to see you. Your body is all kinds of beautiful, and I can’t tell you how much that turns me on.”

Shadows of willow leaflets danced across her skin, forming intricate patterns of lace. No woman had ever told him he was beautiful before, not in such a way, and Luka recalled the times he’d watched her, thinking the exact same thing. Her body was all kinds of beautiful as, he suspected, were her heart and soul.

With one hand behind her head and the other on her breast, he kissed her long and deep, and she groaned again. And as they joined, CeCe holding his expression in the depths of her hazel eyes, he struggled to maintain control.

Sweat soaked their skin, and when he let her go with reluctance, CeCe shivered with the chill of the darkened sky. He reached for the quilt they’d tossed aside and covered them both. She stayed on her back, her hand to her chest as if to calm her beating heart. Next time, they’d spice it up with different positions, but as he’d moved into her rhythm, she’d told him she liked missionary. Liked the weight of him…the size of him…how he kissed.

She turned to meet his gaze, her smile lightening the mood. “Thank you. That was amazing.”

“I thought so too.”

CeCe played with the edge of the quilt. “How long does it take before you’re…?”

“What?” Luka chuckled. “Ready to go again?”

“Yeah.”

“Depends. Come home with me, and we’ll find out.”

9

Naked Surfing

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