Page 39 of Castling the Rook (Checkmate 3)

“I’m gonna beat your ass, Andrea Conner. Fuck.” Diving in, the cold water hits me like a pane of glass. It steals the breath from my lungs and presses pin-prick aches into my every extremity. Of course she’s in this shit and not even shivering. I dive hard and move in her direction with all the strength I possess.

Fuck knows, maybe she stopped playing fifty-eight seconds ago and the cold has cramped her up beneath the surface. Maybe she meant to come back up within a second like the first time, but something went wrong, and I stood on the pier watching her drown like a fucking prick.

With no light but for the sliver of moonlight on the surface to guide my way, I swim in her direction and pray I find her in less than thirty seconds – because after that, I’ve gotta start saving her life.

My legs kick, and my hands slice through the water, but I lose my bearings and swim blind in the pitch black. Kicking upwards when my lungs ache, I break above the surface and drag in a full breath. I look to the left, the right, and shiver as the air above the water feels arctic. Reorienting myself, I dive again and stop with the angry curses and start with genuine worry for the woman that might legitimately be drowning.

Andi.I try to study the black lake and search for her creamy skin.Where are you, Andi?

How long has she been under now? How long have I been under?

I don’t go back to the surface, because she’s been under two minutes longer than I have and if she can take it, then so can I. I swim and accept the ache in my chest as penance when I can’t find her. My legs turn to cement blocks, and my heart slams against the inside of my chest. Fire burns in my empty lungs, and stars swim in front of my eyes, until, against my will, I’m forced back to the surface or die.

I should die.

I shouldn’t leave her.

My head breaks the surface and my body automatically draws oxygen into my starved lungs. Like breathing past razor blades, the black dots in my eyes dissipate as soon as oxygen refills my body. I drag in another breath and prepare to dive again, but before I go, her soft body monkey-climbs onto my back. “You made me worry,” she whispers into my ear. “You went under for ages, I worried I’d have to come find you.”

“Fuck!” I slam my hand against the surface and splash us both. Turning, I move her from my back to my front and fist the back of her hair. “I thought you fuckin’ drowned, Dee!” I slam my lips against hers. Anger, potent and furious fucking anger radiates from my mouth to hers. “I thought you were dying!”

“I was just playing.” She doesn’t complain about the way I fist her hair and pull her back. She doesn’t complain about the way I punishingly bite her lips, or my bruising hold on her hip. “I’m sorry. It was funny, until it wasn’t.”

“I swear to God, you’re gonna kill me one day, Dee. I’m not made for your kinda games. I can’t keep up.” And yet, our lips clash again. And again. And again. Her arms wrap around my neck, and when her breasts press against my chest, I remember she’s naked. From top to toe, she’s stark naked and vibrating with something I can relate to.

Still trying to catch my breath, but not giving myself time to breathe between kisses, I kick toward the pier and don’t let her go for a single second. I pull her hair harder than is fair, and crush my clothed dick against her core until she whimpers. Tossing her onto the wooden structure, I follow her up and cover her goosebumped body with mine to help her stay warm.

“Let me fuck you, Dee.” I dive in and lap at her neck. “I thought you were fuckin’ dying. Let me fuck you until I can breathe again.”

“Okay.” She arches her spine to stay close when I pull back.

Bringing a hand between us, I push my shorts down and free my cock. I have no condoms here, no protection but the pill she takes each morning, but I don’t particularly care. I slam inside her tight heat and swallow her cry when she takes me in one fast stroke.

For the first time in my life, I fuck a woman with no condom, and the difference is alarming.

So tight. So hot. She vibrates with need and fights my tongue with her own while I slam against her. Her legs wrap around my hips, her arms around my neck, so each time I pull away, she comes with me. Not a single sliver of light slides between our bodies, but she creates a vision as her wet hair sticks to the dock, and water puddles beneath her and turns the faded timber to a dark gray.

I bite her neck until I can almost taste blood, and I slam inside her until the tip of my dick touches her womb. I use her up in the most savage way, but she meets me stroke for stroke, she accepts her punishment for worrying me, and when she comes on a cry that echoes in the night and scares birds from trees, I hold myself back and let her take her pleasure.

My release begs to be let free. My balls cry to unclench and mark her from the inside out, but I don’t allow it. I don’t take my pleasure until she’s done and lies on the dock with a soft grin and limbs made of jello.

“You done?” I don’t stop sliding in and out, but I find myself with aching lungs all over again as I hold my breath. “Dee, you finished?”

Biting her bottom lip to contain a satisfied grin, she nods.

Finally.I pull out on a groan and fist my cock. One stroke, two, streams of hot come shoot across her belly until we both groan. My shoulder burns holding my weight up, but I can’t stop stroking my dick, I can’t stop coming on her skin.

Smiling with satisfaction, Andi slides her fingers through the mess on her flat belly and brings it to her lips. Light blue eyes sparkle with fun as she licks them clean, then she reaches up and pulls me down until our mouths clash and her tongue slides against mine. “I should pretend to die more often. This was fun.” Readjusting her legs to get a better grip around my hips, she pulls me down until our bellies touch and my come smooshes between us. “That was possibly the meanest fuck I’ve ever experienced.”

“Deedee…” I shake my head and catch a glimpse of my future. She’s fucking crazy, and if I continue to chase after her, my life will be full of this shit; searching black lakes at night, worrying if she’s okay, fucking in public, and breaking the very law I said I wouldn’t break when I arrived and refused to skinny dip with her. “You manipulated me to get naked.”

She lifts a dainty shoulder. “What can I say? You’re easy to manipulate.”

My eyes narrow. I hate her. “How’d you get behind me?”

She flashes a fun grin. “Did I ever tell you I was on the swim team in high school? As soon as I went under, I swam back to the pier and surfaced before you even dove in. Can’t say your worry didn’t warm my cold, hard heart, and your threat to beat my ass was a turn on.” She flashes a cheeky grin. “No one else in this world would dive in to get me.”

Shaking my head, I drop my forehead to her chest and close my eyes. She goes home in two days; do I let her go and thank my lucky stars that I survived? “I’m not cut out for your brand of crazy, Dee. My heart can’t take it.”

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