Page 18 of Beach Reads
If the greedy way she’s tearing at my shirt is anything to go by, thenyes,she does. I lift my arms in a daze, letting Darla strip off my white shirt, before my brain finally catches up and I spin us around with a growl.
“This is my cheat night.” I lick a stripe up her neck, crowding closer against her when she shivers. “Most nights all I’m allowed is chicken breast and steamed veggies, but you make me want things I shouldn’t have, Darla. Delicious things.”
Her fingernails score burning lines down my back, and her breath is warm on my ear. “You should have them, Hendry. Nobody needs this many muscles.”
Ha. I guess I hadn’t even registered that particular fear before—the idea that she might not want me if I get out of shape. If I age, you know, like a human being. But Darla’s dismissed it before it even had a chance to fester, and now I’m pressing so hard against her, I might squash her flat.
I can’t help it. I want to seal our bodies together so tightly we never come apart. The refrigerator rocks against the wall.
“Oh!” Darla nearly topples forward when I drop to my knees, her hands grabbing my shoulders for balance, and just her touch on my bare skin is enough to make my temples throb.
I sling one of her legs over my shoulder, grinning at her yelp, then grip the other thigh with both hands. “Can I?”
Darla stares down at me like I’m an alien. Her fingers are digging into my shoulder muscles. “Are you kidding me right now?Yes.”
Yeah, I don’t care if it makes me lame, I’m gonna be checking in a lot. Making sure she wants every single thing I’m doing to her. She’d better get used to it, because even with that meeting with the big director looming, this still feels like the most important audition of my life, and I willnotscrew it up.
“You ever done this before, baby?” My hands are sliding under her dress. Pushing the fabric out of the way; letting it bunch up on my tanned, corded forearms.
Darla narrows her eyes down at me. Grits out her answer: “No.”
“Not any of it?”
“No.”
She says it like a challenge: like she’s daring me to hold it against her. And god, I kind of like that she thinks I’m noble enough to stop after hearing that, but the shameful truth is I’m down here now, and my mouth is watering.
Only a command from Darla would stop me at this point. Otherwise I’m getting at that pussy, everything else be damned. A meteor could strike, and my final act would be diving under this dress for a taste.
“If you don’t like it, tell me and I’ll bring you off another way. One way or another, Darla, you’re coming for me tonight.”
She splutters, but the sound cuts off when I slide a hand up her inner thigh, over the soft, dimpled flesh of her leg.
I’d be the most oblivious idiot in the world to miss the way her eyes tighten. To not sense her vulnerability. I lean forward and press a kiss to her bared thigh, then nip gently and make her gasp.
“You’re perfect.” My words are muffled against her skin, but I know she hears them. I hope shefeelsthem. “A goddess. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” My fingers trail higher as I bare it all for her: as I let her read the truth in my eyes. And when I graze the damp lace of her panties, we suck in matching breaths. “Darla,” I sigh, so fucking pleased with myself, and hook her panties to the side.
She’s so wet. Soaked and slippery, already swollen with want. My fingers glide between her folds like figure skaters.
Above me, Darla whimpers. Her cheeks are bright red.
Fuck, I love her.
With one hand squeezing the thigh draped over my shoulder, holding her there to help her balance, I push her dress higher with the other and lean forward.
My knees grind into the kitchen tiles. There’s a crick in my neck, but I don’t care.
I take one slow, long lick.
Salt.Darla tastes like the ocean I dive in nearly every day, except sweeter too, with a hint of tartness. And she’s so bold and vibrant, coming alive under my tongue, rocking her hips and rubbing herself against my face. Taking what she needs.
Yes.
This is it. This is how I want to go.
“Fuck,” I rumble against her slick pussy. The breathy noises she makes when I suckle on her clit—I want them etched on my brain forever.
I lap at her. Suck. Nibble.
