“You can say no,” he told me.
My next words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I don’t want to.”
His thumb stroked my cheek. His eyes softened again, and his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. Like a dog tracking a bone, I followed the motion. My heartbeat was thunder in my ears. I hadn’t taken a breath in forever. My lungs burned, aching for oxygen.
I fisted his T-shirt in my hands and hauled him down to me. Zach was quick to take over. His lips pressed against mine, arms enveloping me. My whimper that escaped the kiss was involuntary, but he eagerly swallowed the sound. My jaw dropped and our tongues met in a clash of lust, bursting through the kiss and zipping through my veins.
Zach gently pulled my hips to his, but it was enough to feel him harden against my thigh. I drew back with a gasp, panting for air. My cheeks were on fire. Sweat beaded across my hairline and threatened to drip down my forehead.
“I can walk away and cool off if you need me to,” Zach said, low enough that Sadie couldn’t hear. Not that she was paying much attention to what we were saying anyway. All she cared about was her viewfinder, and she darted around us, capturing this mind-blowing moment from every angle.
“No. I’m just, uh…” I fanned myself with the collar of my shirt. “I’m a bit warm.”
“I’m fine with you losing your shirts,” Sadie offered. “As long as your boy parts stay covered, you have full rein here.”
More heat rushed to my face.Boy parts? I hadn’t heard that since I was twelve.
“What do you say?” Zach asked, distracting me. He curled the hem of my Henley in his fist, lifting it to expose my stomach.
I took a moment to study the tattoos peeking under the collar of his shirt and crawling down his arms. When I met his eyes again, he arched a brow at me.
“I will if you do,” I said. “You’re looking a bit warm yourself.”
Zach and Sadie glanced at each other over my shoulder. Zach winked at her, then took the collar of his shirt in his hand and lifted it over his head, letting me admire the ink scrawling across his body. A tiger climbed his chest, deep, slashing claw marks creeping toward his neck. Cartoon characters danced up his right arm, and roses sprawled down the left. He reached over me and when his hand entered my field of vision again, he held his water bottle. I expected him to take a sip, but instead…
What the hell is he doing?
He uncapped the water and tipped it over his head, leaning back to wet his hair. I could only watch, slack-jawed, as water ran down his chest, the tiger tattoo shimmering wetly in the sunlight. Rivulets trailed over his soft stomach, absorbed by his jeans at his waistline.
“You okay Eli?” Sadie asked, though I could hear the amusement in her voice.
Another exchange over my shoulder, and Zach uncapped a second bottle, gesturing to me. “Lose the shirt.”
I’d never whipped a piece of fabric over my head so fast. I couldn’t even find it in me to be self-conscious, despite standing next tohim, big and tall enough to bend my scrawny ass in half.
If I was lucky.
Zach nudged me, forcing me to take a few steps backward until my back hit the trunk of a tree. He raised the bottle over my head. “Ready?” he asked.
Between the summer sun beating down on us and the man in front of me sending my body into overdrive, I was more than ready to cool down. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back. Cold water hit my hairline first. I gasped, only for Zach to lean in and whisper into my ear, “Breathe for me.”
His command nearly had the opposite effect, but I forced myself to take a deep breath. I swore he muttered a “good boy” right before tipping the bottle of water over my head.
“Oh, fuck,” I cursed, coughing to clear my airway as the cold seized my lungs.
Finally the water stopped, and Zach’s finger underneath my chin had my eyes fluttering open. I blinked water from my lashes and when he came into focus, I couldn’t help but smile.
“You okay?” he asked, blue eyes searching mine for any hesitation.
“I’m great,” I answered, and I truly was. I hooked my finger behind his belt buckle and tugged, bringing him flush against me. The camera shutters snapped around us.
“Would you two feel comfortable undoing your jeans?”
“You know I’ll try anything once,” Zach said, then turned his attention to me. “But I’m not the only one here.”
So much for cooling off…
“If I do it,” I asked Sadie, “can I kiss him again?”
