Page 144 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

Fifteen-year-old me would giggle at the implication behind that squirt, but grown-up me simply giggles on the inside, because I’m mature and not at all taking pleasure in his torment.

Straightening his spine and moving to his knees between our lounges, he leans into it and works his strong hands against tense muscles until I groan.

The cold liquid actually feels nice on my hot skin, so my groan isn’t faked, but it definitely comes with added bonuses; like the way he practically squirms beside me. Or the way his shorts move – it might be the soft breeze, or it might be something else.

His hands slide along my ribs until the tips of his fingers brush over the string holding my bikini up. “Are you enjoying your book?”

“Yeah. It’s really good. Have you read it?”

“No.”

“Did you read the blurb?”

“No, I just found it in the romance section, saw the name, saw the spine, and took a gamble. It’s good?”

“Yeah. Loren, the main character, is hiding away on her island because she’s scared.”

“Yeah?” His thumbs work magic against my tense muscles. This has turned from sunscreen to massage in the space of two heartbeats. “What’s she scared of?”

“Um… Back home, wherever she was from, she was taken from her family and hurt. She was raped and cut, and when he was going to kill her, she ran away.”

“Fuck, Laine.” My soothing massage turns to rough hands as he picks me up and half flips me. “Jesus, I didn’t know that. I didn’t mean to get a book about that. It was in the romance section, so I figured it’d just be a book about kissing and shit.”

I laugh and wiggle out of his grasp, not because I don’t want him to touch me, but because I want more of the massage touching. “It’s okay.” I reach back and pull the end of my bikini strap. “I don’t want tan lines. Keep going, and I’ll keep telling you about the book.” As soon as his hesitant hands come back to my skin, I let out a deep sigh and hide my smile. “So this book; she was hurt, so she ran away to a whole new town. An island, even. You can drive around on the island, but you need to ferry back and forth to get in and out.” I practically purr when he sits on the edge of my lounge and goes to work with his strong hands. “Essentially, she secluded herself and started training dogs. But then this guy, Adrian, comes along, and he–”

“Starts kissing?”

I relax beneath his skilled hands and replace my groan with a snicker. “Not right away. She’s scared. She’s fucking terrified, to be honest, because that bad guy is still on the loose, and she’s scared he might find her. But the new guy is kinda charming. He smiles a lot.”

I peek back and find his grin. “Yeah?”

“Mmm. His constant smiling puts her at ease, and he doesn’t actually know her past. To him, she’s just a chick he likes to smile at, and because he doesn’t know, he’s not super gentle with her. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying for her.”

“Do they…” His strong fingers move along my spine. “What do you mean not gentle?”

“Like, she tells him to get the fuck off her island, but instead of leaving, he backs her against a wall and demands she admit she’d prefer he touched her.”

“Isn’t she scared?” His hands shake. “A girl is hurt like that, isn’t she scared to be backed into corners like that?”

“Nah. Mostly, she’s just too proud to admit she likes him, too. So instead of admitting her feelings, she barks back, swears at him.”

“Whacks him with a skateboard?”

My body shakes with laughter. “She’s not a skater, but she does the equivalent; gets her giant ass Rottweiler to growl and snap.”

“That’s kinda worse than a skateboard.”

I groan when he digs his thumbs into my lower back. “It is. Giant dogs scare the shit out of me. But whatever, it’s the game they’re playing; flirting is just a game, no? Those early days are just a battle of the wits; it’s a challenge to see who can be funnier, smarter, sassier. But they’re both winners, so long as they’re both cool and not abusive sacks of shit.”

“Laine…”

I’m projecting. I need to stop.“He doesn’t scare her, Ang… not like how you mean. I’m about halfway, and I think they’re gonna give in soon.”

His husky voice right by my ear sends goosebumps down to my toes. “How can you tell? How do you know they’re close to giving in?”

“Um…” I swallow to lubricate my suddenly dry throat. “She called her dog back. Told him to stand down.”

“Her dog?”

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