Page 57 of Hello Tease

I took her in, making sure she saw me looking at her, not shying away. Not for a second.

Then I reached for her cotton shorts, hooking my thumbs through the waistband and tugging them down over her full hips. The dimples and spider veins on her legs caught the shadow and light, contrasting her pale skin.

Her breath faltered as the fabric reached the ground, and she stepped out, leaving her clothes in a pile. I stood facing her, and she tried to wrap her arms around herself again, but this time I took her hands in mine.

I held them both in one hand and cupped the side of her face with the other, angling her chin so she was looking in my eyes, seeing me with each word I spoke.

“Larkin.” My voice was clear, firm. “Can I tell you what I see when I look at you?”

Her eyes were glassy with unshed emotion as she nodded.

I bit my lip and nodded in return, then moved my lips to her forehead, kissing her softly. “I see a smart woman who knows what needs to be done and acts on that knowing.”

I moved my lips to hers, kissing her just because I wanted to.

Then I lowered my mouth to her shoulder, bare skin heating under my mouth. “I see shoulders that carry more than they should ever have to.” I moved my lips to her chest, the spot right over her heart. “I see so much more love than I knew a person could hold.”

Her hand caressed the back of my head.

My lips traveled to her breast, and I teased her hard nipple into my mouth. A soft gasp escaped her lips.

Then I moved to her stomach, kissing the lines I could tell she worried so much about. “I see proof that you brought two of my favorite people into the world.”

I heard her breath shudder, and when I looked up to her, the emotion spilled from her eyes. I rose to wipe her tears, not wanting her to cry. “Larkin, I—”

She covered my mouth with her hand. “Thank you. For letting me see myself through your eyes.” She removed her hands and pressed to her tiptoes, kissing me.

But this time, there wasn’t a jumbo screen with thousands of people watching. There wasn’t a fresh fight with her ex looming over our heads. No children nearby to make me hold back. Hardly any clothes separating the softness of her skin from the heat of mine.

I tilted my head, deepening this kiss, and swept my arms around her to pull her even closer. She whimpered against my mouth, sending a bolt of heat straight to my cock. I wanted her, all of her.

I broke my lips apart from hers to kiss her jaw, to scrape my teeth across her neck.

“Knox,” she gasped.

Fuck me. I wanted to hear her say my name like that until she was breathless and begging. My cock was hard, pressing into her side with all the desperation I felt coursing through me.

“What if someone comes outside?” she asked, tangling her fingers through my hair like even she didn’t want to hear her question.

The odds were slim, I knew, but I didn’t want her worried for our first time. I scooped her in my arms, relishing the way my muscles worked against her full figure.

“Knox!” she yelped.

“I’ve got you,” I said to her, making the shock turn to heat in her eyes. Forget working out for defined abs or to be prepared for duty—it felt like I’d been training every day of my life for this moment. To make her feel weightless, safe in my arms.

She held on to my neck as I took her to the pool steps and carried her into the heated water, where she became truly weightless in my embrace. The water and lights swirled around us, casting shadows on the natural stone pool floor rough underfoot. The smell of salt water and Larkin’s perfume hit my senses, and I thought I’d never smelled anything better. Anything hotter.

She swam out from my arms and dipped her head under the surface. As she came up, water spilled over her features, down to her bare chest, her nipples just cresting the surface. Fuck, I wanted to taste the salt water on every inch of her.

She blinked her beautiful eyes open, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

She was letting go. My girl was letting go. For me.

I guided her to the wall of the pool, the edge reaching her shoulders. “Enough privacy?” I asked her salaciously.

She nodded, biting her bottom lip.

I dipped my head to her breast, sucking one nipple while teasing the other between my thumb and finger. She moaned softly, nails dragging across my wet shoulders in a way that only made me want to please her more.

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