AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They walked to the end of the sandbar hand in hand. As the water became too deep, they swam. At the boat, Payton lowered the small ladder at the back and climbed aboard. He took China’s hand and helped her to the deck. She started to pull her hand away but he held it fast. He took her into his arms and gave her a soft kiss that should leave her no doubt she was desired.
The subdued and no longer forthright China had him worried that she might be regretting what had happened in the water. He didn’t want that. Quite the contrary, he wanted her as hot and bothered as she’d been earlier.
Seconds later her arms came up to circle his neck. Her mouth opened and his tongue intertwined with hers. His manhood pulsated for release between them.
Payton pulled his mouth away. “Sweetheart, it has been a long time for me. I’m not going to last much longer. You deserve better, but could we go inside the cabin where I don’t have to worry about sharing you with the world?”
She raised her big doe-like eyes to meet his gaze and nodded slightly. Releasing her, he took her hand and led her into the cabin.
Slow down, man, or you’re going to scare her.
Taking a deep breath in the hope of calming his libido, he turned to face China. Her eyes were wide. They held a hint of anticipation mixed with uncertainty. That was one of the many aspects of her personality that he found appealing. She seemed to be confident and sure one minute, needy and naive the next.
Payton cupped her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”
Her gaze left his for a spot somewhere on the bunk.
“Look at me, China.” Her look met his again. He said softly, “I don’t lie.” She blinked as if in acceptance.
Payton ran the pad of his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips and she smiled. It was one of a woman who suddenly grasped her power.
China placed her hands on his chest. With exceedingly slow movements she trailed her fingers over his skin, touching and circling his nipple before moving on follow the ridge of his pectoral muscle. She skimmed her palm across his chest like a gentle wind, making his skin tingle in her wake. Stepping closer, she placed a kiss on his neck and nipped his skin before going up on her toes. She brushed her body against his already straining erection.
Could he take much more? Afraid to touch her for fear he’d push her against the bath door and take her without thought, he kept his hands tightly fisted at his sides, giving her time to feed her need.
As she kissed his jaw her hands traveled down over his ribs to his waist until they reached the top of his swim trunks. There she ran her fingers around the line of his waistband. At the back, China pushed a finger under the material but quickly pull it out again.
He groaned and moved a half a step closer. The woman would be the death of him.
“Not much fun to be teased, is it?” she murmured next to his mouth.
He wasn’t answering that question because if he did it wouldn’t be with words but actions.
She went flat-footed again and began to explore his chest with her tongue. One hand left his waist to brush against his manhood.
That did it. In one swift motion he sealed her mouth with his, tongue finding her warm sanctuary as he picked her up, turned around and fell to the bunk.
Payton rolled so that he didn’t crush her. China’s legs were entangled with his. He ran a hand up the expanse of the creamy silken skin of a thigh until he found the bottom of her bikini. Tugging, and with her help, he removed them. Just as quickly he had her top on the floor. Standing, he pushed his wet bathing suit down. He glanced at China. She’d rolled onto her side with an arm hiding her breasts from view as she unabashedly watched him.
“Like what you see?”
The corners of her lips rose. That small action was enough to make him feel ten feet tall. No longer feeling like a victim of cancer, he found his previous male swagger returning under her admiration.
If she wanted a show he’d give her one. Turning slowly, he presented her with his back as he dug into the backpack he kept hanging on a peg. With relief he found what he sought. Just before he turned around, the touch of a finger moving over one cheek of his backside had his blood heating to boiling.
“I’ve been wondering what that butt looked like without clothes covering it.”
His heart rate went into hyper mode. With a rumble deep in his throat he opened the package and prepared himself. Turning, he came down on her and at the same time pushed her back against the bunk. Nudging her legs apart, he looked at her. China reached for him, pulling him to her as he pushed forward and found her hot, waiting center. She lifted her hips in welcome.
China was so incredibility accepting and responsive to his every touch. He leaned down and kissed her, and to his great satisfaction she shuddered in his arms. He followed with his own release to collapse next to her, one leg resting possessively across one of hers.
While ill, he’d not felt like having sex. Being dumped hadn’t helped and he’d never been into mindless encounters. But never had he had such mind-blowing sex.
But that wasn’t accurate either. It was lovemaking when shared with China.
* * *
China looked at Payton lying beside her. Her head rested on his outstretched arm. She was snuggled close and one of his legs was entwined with hers. Moving would be impossible even if she wanted to, which she didn’t.
When she’d met Payton never in a million years would she have believed that she’d end up in his arms. A fleeting touch of lips along her ear said that he was waking. She turned her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled the warm, musky scent of him. No matter how long she lived she’d remember this.
China didn’t know if it had happened when she’d called him an idiot and he’d taken it so well, or had it been when they’d watched the storm roll in, but she had let this man charm her, and she liked it.
Payton’s hand brushed back her hair from her face. “You okay?”
“Ah-ha.”
“You might want to look at me so I know for sure.”
China raised her head and smiled. “I’m better than okay.”
“I’m sorry things were rushed. I’ll do better next time.”
More brazen than she’d ever been in her life, China shifted out of his hold and turned so her arms crossed and rested on his chest. “I’m not complaining. I thought you rather excelled at being rushed.”
His grin was slow and sexy. “Those kinds of compliments can get you almost anything.”
“How about something to eat? I’m starving.”
“That I can do.” Payton gave her a quick kiss before he stood. “I brought a picnic lunch. Nothing fancy.”
“I don’t need fancy. Just substantial.”
“Here.” He handled her a long thin piece of glossy floral fabric that had been hanging from a peg on the wall. “You can put this on while your bathing suit dries.”
“I’m not putting on some other woman’s sarong, am I?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” she shrieked, throwing her legs over the side of the bunk and grabbing the blanket to cover herself.
Payton grabbed her shoulders, stopping her. “I kind of like you jealous.” He placed a swift kiss on her lips. “It’s my sister’s. She left it here the last time she came sailing with me.”
China relaxed.
Payton opened a small cabinet above the bunk, giving China a full view of his physique. The urge to reach out and run her fingers over his tight abdominals had her hand trembling. He had gained some weight over the last few weeks. If she hadn’t known he’d been sick she would have never guessed.
He must have sensed she was admiring him. “If you don’t stop staring at me like that, you’re going to be really hungry by the time we get to food.”
China swallowed hard. W
as she brave enough to call his bluff? Maybe not a few weeks ago but now... She reached out and let her hand drift over his warm skin. It rippled beneath her touch. She watched in fascination as his manhood grew and stood proudly before her.
Payton growled, dropping the shorts he’d been holding to the floor. “Now you’ve done it. No food for you.”
China didn’t mind at all.
* * *
Payton laid out on the deck a sheet he’d retrieved from the drawer under the bunk. Of the few supplies he’d brought with him from the house, a tablecloth hadn’t been on the list. He set the sack he’d carried aboard in the center.
He’d left the cabin so China could dress and have a few moments to herself. He needed them, too. The afternoon had been intense, amazing and totally mind-blowing. China took so long to join him that he worried he might have to go in after her. Maybe giving her some space had been a bad idea. The one thing he didn’t want her to do was withdraw. He wasn’t ready to let go of what he’d experienced in her arms.
