Page 169 of Love, Rekindled

“You look like a fairy sea princess,” I tell her truthfully.

She blinks, waterdrops fall.

I can’t help it... I start laughing.

Immediately, I snap my mouth shut and bite down hard on my tongue. “I’m sorry.”

Calliope blinks again and then her lips part.

I snicker.

Then snort.

Her beautiful eyes narrow on me, and the next thing I know, she’s sending a wave of nasty pond water right at me. It catches me full in the face, hits the back of my throat, and I choke on it. I deserve it.

When I clear my eyes, Calliope is bent over, laughing hysterically, her shoulder dipping down into the water. The sound of her lilting voice is music to my ears, and I don’t want it to stop.

So what’s a guy to do?

I splash a wall of water back at her. She sputters and looks stunned for only a moment before her palms slap at the pond’s surface, and I’m caught full in the face again.

Then it’s on.

We both go at each other, laughing and splashing. Calliope comes up to her knees. She wobbles in the sucking mud but gets better leverage on me. I’m entirely doused by wave after wave. I hold up my arms, trying to protect myself, and suddenly realize I need to go more on the offensive.

I lurch up, lunge at her, and grab her wrists to stop the inundation. She’s laughing so hard she barely has any strength left to fight against me. Her face is flushed despite the chill, and I can’t fucking help myself.

I crash my mouth down on hers, feel her freeze in shock for a moment, and then gobble down the sultry groan that warbles out of her. It heats me to my bones, and then we’re clawing at each other.

Grabbing, fisting clothing, attacking each other with our mouths. My hands make their way back to her face, intent on holding her still so I can consume everything she has to offer.

The kiss is atomic, off-the-charts hot, and filled with so much emotion I don’t know whether she’s coming at me with hate or something else.

Doesn’t matter.

I’m not stopping.

Then something comes over me...a calm that feels like a steadying hand. I slow myself, make an exploring and leisurely swipe of my tongue against hers, and she melts into my body. An arm around her waist, I pull both of us to a standing position, the water lapping at my lower legs. I haul her into me and kiss her with all the regret I’ve been carrying around in my soul for years—a sincere apology.

Calliope wraps one leg around mine and puts her hands on my shoulders as if she’s trying to climb up my body. I help her along, putting my hands under her ass as I haul her up. Her legs wrap around my waist, and our mouths never break contact.

She shudders in my arms, over and over again, and it’s like a drug. Every part of her vibrates, even her lips against mine, and it’s intoxicating.

I jerk my head back and look at her with a question in my gaze. She stares back at me, eyes hot but teeth now chattering audibly.

“Fuck,” I mutter, turning to the bank of the pond. “You’re freezing.”

“J-j-j-u-s-t a little,” she stutters.

I walk two paces and lower her to the edge of the shore, where she gingerly finds purchase in the grass. She looks down at her feet. “M-m-m-y-y-y s-s-s-and-al.”

Huh?

I look down and note that one of her shoes is missing. I’m spurred into action, pointing at her tailgate. “Get out of those clothes so we can at least wring the water out. I’ll get your shoe.”

Calliope’s fingers start working at the buttons of her shirt, and for a moment, I’m lost. She’s not looking at me, but at the buttons she’s fumbling with, and I wait with my breath stuck in my lungs as the first two pop free.

Her head lifts, and she tilts it in question.

---