Page 22 of Reluctant Chemistry

They undressed side by side on the sand, and as he stepped back to study her, he smiled. “Have I ever told you how freakin’ beautiful you are?”

CeCe gazed up at him through her lashes. “Maybe once or twice last night.”

He opened his arms. “Come here.”

She remained in his embrace for a moment, his warm skin against hers comforting as always. She’d never had a boyfriend like Luka before; well, not that he was really her boyfriend. When Easter rolled around, he’d leave, and she didn’t know how this fling of theirs would fit into his plans. But Anna’s death had taught her to live in the now, and this was that now. This beach, these waves, this contentment.

She’d worry about ‘later’ when it turned up, uninvited.

Naked and free, they surfed and kissed and lazed on their boards, holding hands as they recited their favorite song lyrics to one another, CeCe almost falling off her board in fits of laughter when he sang her an Australian folk song about plum trees and gum trees.

They returned to the Kombi where they dined on a breakfast of apricots, granola, and yogurt, then lay in the back, a sprinkling of sand and salt on the cotton throw beneath them.

“That was awesome. I’ll want to go naked surfing all the time now.”

He raised a brow. “Not without me, you won’t. You need a watchdog when you’re surfing naked.”

She beckoned with her finger, a flirty smile on her lips. “Here, boy. Come here.”

Luka tackled her until they were both giggling. Nuzzling her neck, he growled softly, then pulled back and held her gaze.

They kissed; Luka tender in his approach as always—soft lips and considerate hands. But just as she went to reach for him, he stopped her. “No, you don’t. I need a shower first. Last time I suited up after a surf, my dick chafed like crazy.” He jumped into the driver’s seat, still wrapped in his towel. “And as there are no showers out here, you either point me in the direction of the nearest river, or we head home.”

“I vote for the river. There’s a turnoff a couple of miles up the road.” CeCe slipped her dress over her shoulders and followed him into the front seat. The want was building in her core, but a slight hesitation surfaced as she wondered who he’d previously slept with at the beach. However, she pushed that thought from her mind. Luka hadn’t been a virgin when they met, and neither had she, so there seemed little point in paying it any heed.

Luka started the engine and nudged the Kombi into gear. With his tanned skin, easy smile, and sun-kissed locks tousled by her fingers, he looked so handsome behind the wheel. When she leaned over to kiss him, he took her hand, and as they drove along the highway, she realized this was what she’d been waiting for to fulfill her New Year’s resolution.

A guy, the beach, and a perfect summer fling.

10

River Run

As the highway faded from sight in the rearview mirror, Luka parked beside a cabbage tree and cut the engine. Although the trip from the beach to this stretch of river had taken less than ten minutes, he’d been uncomfortably hard the whole way. He shifted in his seat, willing himself to establish some control.

As Luka walked along the riverbank, checking the water’s depth and testing the temperature with his foot, CeCe stripped the covers from the mattress in the back and fluttered them in the open air, sending sand cascading onto the grass in front of her.

“Is it cold?” she asked from above him, her hair wild with salt and wind.

“Not too bad.” He turned. “Anyway, cold water’s good for you. Coming in?”

“Yep. I’ll just get undressed.”

Naked, they slipped into the water and gravitated toward one another. CeCe’s breasts tightened, and she lay back, her hair now forming a sleek veil around her as she floated beside him.

He pulled her upright, her face flushed and covered in droplets dripping from her hair and lashes. They kissed, eager and urgent and ready for each other despite the lack of foreplay. When he pulled back, she lifted his hand and sucked his fingers into her mouth one by one as he watched her. And when she wrapped her legs around his waist, it took all his strength to slow things down. To wade with her to the bank and lay her on the rug beside the van.

Her towel lay draped across her navel, covering nothing it should as Luka rummaged through his jeans pocket, desperately searching for what he needed. She watched him, her eyelids heavy with desire and her hands to her breasts.

They’d kissed a lot in their short time together. He loved the tenderness of it, the taste of her intensifying arousal—her words of encouragement as he moved from her mouth to her neck and down to her navel.

As he caressed her thighs, she opened for him, the faint scent of river water rich in his nostrils and the sounds of the highway barely registering as the blood pumped faster through his veins.

CeCe’s hands went to his hair, fingers playing with the strands as he nuzzled into her. And as she arched off the rug, her grip tightened to a notch short of painful as she lost herself in the moment.

Seconds later, when she rolled over and offered herself to him, Luka’s desire robbed him of any remaining semblance of control. He took her with urgency until they both collapsed, their skin glazed with sweat.

“You’re an amazing lover,” CeCe murmured as they lay together, shielded by the Kombi on one side and the river on the other.

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