Page 31 of While You're There
“Mhmm. I love you,” she murmured in reply, running her hands up his arms before circling them around his neck.
“Promise to show me just how much tonight? I need you, V.” His voice was husky now, his body and his mind equally excited for everything he had in mind.
“Ohh, I see how it is.I’msupposed to put on the show then?” She lifted her chin to brush her lips just an inch away from his.
“No, no, I’ll do the work. But it’s just you and me tonight. Phones stay in the house. No interruptions, okay?”
“It’s gonna rain,” she mused, keying up the tension between them as she withheld her kiss. He knew she was teasing him. Usually he loved the tension and relished the chase. But tonight, he needed to be in control. He needed to possess her in every way she’d allow.
“You don’t think I’ve already checked the radar? No storms in the forecast. Just showers tonight. Your ass will be in the pool within the hour,” he promised, finally letting his control snap as he pressed his lips into hers and slid both his hands into the back pockets of her jeans. She only let him kiss her for a few brief seconds before she pulled away. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
“Pool?” she questioned, cocking an eyebrow up at him.
“You heard me. We’re having fun tonight, beautiful. I want to play.”
“In that case...” She raised up on her toes to kiss him again, albeit briefly. “I’ll race you in.”
Tori took off toward the house before he even knew what was happening, laughing as she grinned back at him over her shoulder.
This girl.They needed this tonight, and they both knew it. They needed the lightness to counter all the hard and heavy that had been thrown their way over the past month. They needed the reminder of who they were together. Rhett was going to do everything in his power to give her all that and more tonight.
Chapter thirteen
Tori
“Areyouevergoingto come in here and join me?” she called across the pool as she languidly swam through the water. Rhett was perched on the end of the diving board, Gatorade bottle in hand. He didn’t answer her right away, instead lifting the green sports bottle filled with Jameson to his lips and taking another long swig. He winced slightly as he swallowed, his Adam’s apple commanding her attention in the process.
He had established a rhythm to their game: stare, swig, smirk, repeat. He was working her up, propelling toward the inevitable. She knew it was all for her. Every stare. Every smirk. He was provoking her in all the right ways.
His strong, defined legs swung idly over the edge as his feet stirred the water below. She watched in rapture as his forearms flexed when he gripped the sides of the diving board. They’d been playing at this for almost an hour: Tori swimming in the pool by herself, taunting him, tempting him to join her; Rhett maintaining his position out of the pool, watching her, resisting her, perched above her on his throne.
The energy rippling between them had nothing to do with the humidity in the air. She was dizzy with want, and she knew he was right there with her. It was only a matter of who would yield first.
“I told you I wanted a show tonight,” he countered. His sly smile was a tease and a promise and just—everything.
“A show, huh?” She peered over at him from the center of the pool where she floated. She didn’t miss the way he was working his lower lip between his teeth. She quickly averted her eyes, trying to ignore the magnetic energy threatening to erupt between them. She could practically feel her body floating in his direction on its own volition. He was gravity.Who was she to try to resist gravity?
Rather than return his gaze, she looked back up at the threatening sky. Rain clouds shadowed the golden hour of twilight, casting everything around them into a deep pink and purple haze.
“Yeah. A show. Think you can do that for me, beautiful?”
He wants to play.If he wanted a show, she’d give him a show.
Tori righted herself in the water, treading in the center of the pool as she reached behind her back and found the clasp of her bathing suit top. She turned her body away from the diving board. She smiled to herself as she deftly unhooked the fabric that rested at the middle of her back. She glanced over her shoulder and bit down on her lip. She knew without looking that she had his full attention.
The straps of her top floated on either side of her as her soaking wet hair tickled her bare skin. She turned around as slowly as possible when she saw the heat in Rhett’s gaze. If he wanted a show, she was going to give him a show. She could play this game, too.
She grasped the halter portion of her suit from around her neck and lifted, uncovering her upper body. She would have been fully exposed, if she wasn’t already in the deepest part of the pool. She gathered her wet hair and collected it over one shoulder.
Rhett cleared his throat and made a noise that sounded like a combination of a growl and a moan. She whipped her head around and gave him a cheeky smile.
“Bring that to me,” he ordered.
Her insides clenched at his command.
“But I’m not done. The show’s not over.”
“It better not be fucking over,” he responded, his voice a full octave deeper than normal. “But you’re not gonna need that again tonight. Bring it to me. Now.”
