Lark shuddered.
"I love you," he whispered, tracing his lips over the skin just behind her ear. "I want you to be mine. But I also want you to be certain."
He wasn’t just talking about one night.
He wasn’t just making plans to seduce her.
I waited for you…. I wanted it to be you.
It gave her the confidence she needed to reach for him, her palm sliding slickly down his chest.
"I’m certain," she whispered.
The heat in his eyes flamed to life. "Good," he murmured, and picked her up. Setting her on the edge of the pool, he pressed her thighs wide, standing up and pushing between them. "Because not being able to touch you has been killing me."
All of that naked skin, slick with running water. It poured down his body, caressing every firm curve, every flat plane.
"I—"
He captured the words on her lips, his kiss scalding her. Hands sliding up her thighs, he nudged them wider, his thumbs rubbing small, ever-encroaching circles up the sensitive interior as he pressed himself against her.
Lark clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulders as those firm lips reminded her of all the reasons she was doing this. Sharp teeth nibbled on her lip, and then he was breaking free, kissing his way lower.
Over her chin, down her throat….
His thumbs edged under the hem of her chemise, moving insistently.
"You’re so fucking pretty," he whispered, the rasp of his stubble prickling the smooth slopes of her breasts. Hot breath burned cool on her wet skin. "God, you torture me. Every day. Every night. I’ve wanted to do this forever."
"So have I."
Her whisper held a secret confession, the long restrained depths of her heart. He had no idea how long she’d craved his touch.
Slipping the chemise out from under her bottom, he dragged it up her body. Lark sucked in a breath as it rasped over her nipples.
And then he was tugging it over her head and throwing it across the room as if it had personally offended him.
"Fuck," he breathed, his gaze skating down over her.
She wanted to cover her small breasts, but he captured her wrists as if he knew what she intended.
"Don’t you dare hide. Not from me." The flash of that roguish smile slayed her doubts. "And especially not these."
There was a reason most men had thought her a boy for years, but Charlie didn’t seem to care.
His hot mouth closed over her breast, his tongue stroking her nipple as he suckled it into his mouth.
The sensation pulled deep inside her, making her squirm.
"Charlie!"
Wrapping his arms around her, he dragged her against him until she could feel him in all her wet and secret places. The blunt press of his erection rubbed against her, a little insistently.
She knew how this went.
The idea made her a little nervous, and he must have felt the tension in her spine. "Relax. We’re just playing."
Laving attention on her other nipple, he wrought utter havoc upon her. The sensations were too much. Too intense.