He held back, waiting, seeming to give her that moment to decide what came next. Because he would always keep her safe. He always had, even if she’d completely changed everything between them.
Jules smiled with permission, and Rhys snaked an arm to her, bringing her close. That was all it took, like he could read her mind. Their mouths crashed together as her arms wrapped around his neck.
One of his arms held them against the corner. The other held her close. Her legs tangled with his. The hair on his legs rubbedover her smooth skin. She clung to his hard body, pressed to the dips and grooves of his muscles, which had been earned through power and effort, not sculpted in some fancy California gym.
Her lips parted. His tongue probed. His hand slid down her back and squeezed her butt until she gasped, moaning into his mouth. Jules couldn’t feel enough of him. She couldn’t be closer than her body needed.
His mouth skipped to her jaw then licked down her neck to her collarbone, and his hand ran up again and threaded into her hair, as he’d done in the bedroom. He tugged. Jules arched, giving him her neck, bowing into him, pressing for more friction from his tongue, his teeth, from the hard erection pressing against her in the water below.
Every time they kissed, it was better, her need hungrier, the craving for him more intense. He released her hair and skimmed his hand over the back of her bra, asking before undressing her, somehow turning it into a tease that had her squirming against him.
“Please.” Her thighs gripped his hips. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, basking in the warm sun-kissed air as his fingers unclasped her bra, baring her breasts as it sank to the bottom of the pool.
He hoisted her higher, lifting her out of the water, and dropped his mouth to her hard nipple. She moaned as he sucked hard, his tongue lapping over the tip, his teeth scraping just enough that her pussy quaked as sensation streaked through her like a rocket to her core.
Rhys kissed and licked her other breast. A groan of satisfaction shook through her as he wrapped his mouth around her nipple again.
Her fingers dug into his hair, tugging the strands as he sucked and licked and sucked again. “God, Rhys.” She struggled formore of him. “I’m done swimming.” She needed out of the pool and into bed. “I need…”
He let her slide down him, and her breasts dipped into the water. The cool sensation was a wild juxtaposition from his hot mouth. Her nipples scratched against his smattering of dark chest hair.
“What do you need?” he asked.
She didn’t have words.
Rhys pushed from the wall, capturing her against him, and swam toward the shallow water that lapped against the patio. “Don’t move.”
He left her sitting in only a few inches of water and walked to the side of the patio where inflated rafts and floating mats waited for use. He snagged one that looked like a thick yoga mat and tossed it onto the water by her side.
“I thought we were going inside,” she said.
“We will.” He nodded toward the mat. “Scoot your ass over.”
Her eyebrows arched, but she obeyed. Rhys covered her with his body, kissing her mouth as the mat cushioned her from the bottom of the pool. His tongue trailed down her jaw, then her neck. Her head tipped back as his mouth worked lower.
They were barely out of the water. It lapped at her sides, barely splashing over her stomach as he moved lower and lower, bypassing her breasts and lavishing kisses over her stomach, nipping and biting her until he reached her hip.
The sexiest man she’d ever laid hands on ran his tongue over her skin, watching her react to the way he touched her.
She nodded. “Please.”
He propped against her side. “Please what?”
“Rhys.”
He tugged his bottom lip into his mouth, a delicious, devilish grin toying with his smile, which could singe the fabric off her body.
“Touch me.”
Pulling one side of her underwear over her hip, he kissed, never moving his dark eyes from hers. His tongue slid toward her apex but drew short, and he worked his way back to her hip.
“Lift up,” he said.
Every part of her body sang. She raised her butt, and he snagged the wet fabric down her legs, down her ankles, and with a hitched smile, he tossed the panties over his shoulder.
Rhys crawled up her body again, spreading her legs wider as he kissed the inner thigh of one leg, then the other, alternating until he nuzzled so close to her sex she wanted to cry.
“Damn, Jules.” He lowered his mouth to her. The wet heat made her buck against him. His tongue swirled around her clit. Gold sparks of brilliant heat shimmered every time his tongue flicked.
