Page 49 of West End Earl
“So it’s unentailed and entirely yours. From everything you’ve said about your childhood, I can see why you wouldn’t want those memories here.”
Cal glanced toward the trees and the house well beyond them. “This place doesn’t have those ghosts. It’s peaceful.” He gestured toward an inlet partially hidden behind a willow at the water’s edge. “Want to swim? I’ll race you.”
The strokes came as second nature, and soon he whipped through the water with ease, Phee keeping pace beside him. Putting on a burst of speed, she shot forward, showing that same competitive spirit she brought to their fencing matches.
Soon she pulled ahead. An arm’s length. A torso ahead now. She was quick, cutting through the water with those long limbs.
The edge of the lake drew closer with each breath, each stroke. Out of the corner of his eye, the willow tree appeared, trailing its branches over the water. He reached out a hand and caught her calf and yanked.
Phee surfaced, sputtering and swearing. “Damned dirty cheat!”
His laugh echoed off the lake until her hands slapped his chest, then rested against him. “Cheat? Never. We’re behind the willow. You won.”
Wicking water drops from her eyes, Phee looked back. The line of her neck enchanted him as thoroughly as the feel of her waist under his hand. Wet, naked skin pressed against him, and he didn’t care one whit who’d won the race.
“You admit defeat?”
“I do. You swim like a fish.” He panted, slightly out of breath. A pleasant burning in his lungs let him know the exercise had been welcome. Like a congratulatory handshake to his muscles for a job well done.
“Are you actually a selkie?” He skimmed his fingers along her spine. The soft lake bottom touched his feet as she bobbed off to find her footing, taking her heat with her. A protest died on his tongue when she backed toward shore, baring more of her body as she moved. With every step, the water level slid lower along her skin.
The tops of her breasts shone wet under the moon. Then nipples. Then her ribs. Then an adorable dip of a belly button. She stared at him, then at his waist, and raised a brow in challenge. The minx knew exactly what she did to him. Cal watched her with a predatory focus as goose bumps raised along her skin.
“Don’t selkies lure men to their deaths?”
He grinned, and she responded by flashing her own white teeth in the moonlight. “That might be a siren you’re thinking of. Either way, the thought applies. Wet and naked is an excellent look for you, Miss Hardwick.”
Phee flicked drops of water from her eyes. Short curls stuck up from her head like twisted hedgehog quills, and he wanted to sink his fingers into them while he devoured every inch of her.
“Either you’re deluded, or you’re trying to seduce me.” She threw a flirtatious look over her shoulder as she inched closer to shore. The waves lapped under the curve of her bottom now. With deliberate casualness, she stretched her arms overhead, and he couldn’t wait anymore.
Water splashed around his legs as he joined her in the shallows. When the heat of her finally pressed against his front, a sigh escaped them both, and she pulled his lips to her neck.
They were of one mind then, because his entire focus had narrowed to tasting her, burying himself in her until neither remembered how it felt to exist alone.
Her small breasts made him ache. They fit perfectly in his palms as he tugged her nipples between his fingers. She was warm against his lips. The fresh bite of lake water and the earthy tang of sandalwood teased his nose. “I’m a bit obsessed with your nipples.”
“They’re nipples. Literally every person on the planet has a pair.”
“Yes, but yours are perfect.” He rolled the tips between his fingers as if to punctuate the statement, and her breath shuddered. “They’re darker, like your lips. Incredibly responsive.” With only a fingertip, he traced a circle around each areola, and the skin puckered even more. “And when they’re tight like this, they look like they’re begging for attention. Begging for my hands. For my mouth.” Grazing the slope of her shoulder with his lips, he slid one hand along the front of her belly toward the nest of russet curls.
Water licked along her slit in a wet little flick against his finger when he found her clitoris. She quivered, pressing tighter against the hardness of him. A low, rumbling moan worked up his throat when she pushed against his fingers, showing him with her hips exactly where she wanted his touch. Good. The best lovemaking required both people to give and take. He wanted her to show him what she needed.
“God, Phee, I’ve missed you.” The confession tore from him, welling from deep inside, where he hadn’t intended to let her go. But she’d burrowed in nonetheless, and now he didn’t want her to leave. He explored her puffy, slick folds, then slid a finger into her. She whimpered and he groaned at the tight heat.
There were few things he could offer that he hadn’t already shared with someone else. Except tonight. He could give her this, now, and know it would be theirs alone. “How do you feel about sex outdoors?”
She tilted her head as if thinking it over, though he suspected it was to give him better access to nibble and suck along her shoulder. Every time he did, more goose bumps rippled over her skin and he smiled. Damn, her body responded so beautifully. Inside her hot quim, he hooked his finger, pressing against the spongy area he knew would feel good. Her knees buckled, but he caught her against him.
“I can see the appeal. It’s quiet.” She panted between the words, then let loose a breathy moan when he added another finger to her tight passage. “Secluded. No servants about.”
“I’ve never made love outdoors. I want to give you as many of my firsts as I can.” Her hips moved in time with his fingers.
The other hand plucked her nipple, then he brushed his palm over the tender flesh, tracing his fingers over the taut skin of the prettiest breast he’d ever seen. She shivered, then groaned his name like a prayer.
Phee reached between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around him. “Now. Please, Cal. I need you.”
“Thank God.” He turned her around and cupped her bottom when she hopped and brought her legs around his waist. The hard line of his erection met the warm slit of her body, and he nearly spent right then. If he had to recite limericks or the lineage he’d been forced to memorize fromDebrett’s Peerage, he would—anything to make sure this wouldn’t be over before it had truly begun.
