Page 22 of Taking Denver

Sebastian set up an umbrella for her the moment we’d arrived after she’d claimed her skin would reflect the sun. She’d still rubbed a generous amount of cream on, even in the shade, and I hadn’t watched.

Okay, I watched a little.

Sebastian looks hopefully at me, but I shake my head. I want to have at least a few minutes alone with Denver.

“I like him,” Denver says after Sebastian leaves. “His ex-wife is an idiot.”

I watch my friend run into the sea like a puppy off its leash. Several women stop to watch the blond with washboard abs and a quick smile whip by them, but Sebastian doesn’t even notice.

“I think it was more mutual than he’s willing to admit,” I say, and Denver turns her attention to me. “He told me that everyone has a fire, and theirs just… went out.”

Denver doesn’t respond at first, dropping her attention to the small space of sand between us. “What about you? Where’s your fire?”

“Work. You?”

Denver sighs contentedly. “Right now? Tall vets.”

I laugh, and she grins mischievously.

All I’ve done since she arrived this morning is watch her, and right now is no different. The way her red braid hangs over her shoulder, almost touching the sand, how dark her eyes are in the shade of the umbrella, the subtle makeup hiding her black eye. She’s in a simple black bikini and denim shorts but may as well be naked for all it’s doing to my body. I feel like I’m the focus of her attention, which could be equally special and dangerous.

“Is that so?” I ask quietly.

“Yep. I’m just thinking it could be fun to… have fun. Vacation fun.”

“You mean have sex.”

“Weirdly, I don’t.” She blinks as if the admission surprises her. She swallows hard, and I watch the dip of her delicate throat and want to run my tongue across it and then carry her back to the hotel. “It wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing if we did, though. I mean… look at all this you have going on.” She gestures at my body.

I close my eyes, and if I were a cat, I’d be purring. “You always make jokes when things get too serious.”

“Then knock knock, Ethan.”

“Who’s there?”

“A redhead who wants to ride you.”

I hiss through my teeth, blood rushing to a place it shouldn’t when I’m on a public beach. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll call your bluff and fuck you right here.”

She’s quiet, and I keep my eyes closed—until she straddles me. My eyes snap open, and Denver grins, subtly grinding on my cock.

“Denver—”

She leans over me. “I thought you were calling my bluff, Big Dick.”

Fuck it. I pull her against me, and she gasps quietly as I grind against the intense heat coming through her shorts. She flattens her hands against my chest, likely feeling the throb of my heart against her palm. She drags her bottom lip between her teeth as I yank her chest to meet mine, and her pupils are blown wide. I slide my palm up her back, grasping the strings of her bikini top, and eye her in silent challenge.

“Go ahead, I have great tits,” she says, kissing my jaw and somehow getting the upper hand, the fucking temptress. “If you’re good, you might see them one day.” The words zip straight to my dick.

“I hate you,” I mumble.

She laughs, her breath warm on my neck as her lips move lower. “The feeling is mutual.”

She rolls her hips again, the pressure making my cock ache, and god, I hope no one is watching. I don’t want to get arrested for dry humping on the fucking beach.

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