Page 42 of Fish Out of Water

Jake wasn’t listening to Robbie anymore. He’d tuned out everything else around him, including Robbie’s useless words. All he had attention for was the physical being of the man who sat beside him, hair rippling gently in the breeze, striped shirtuntucked and waiting to be unbuttoned, beige trousers that showed little more than a hint of what he had to offer. He still wasn’t Jake’s type at all, but he was hot, and Jake was desperate. And he would be lying if he didn’t admit that he was curious to see more of what Robbie was hiding behind that snobbish veneer.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you in,” Jake murmured. “You’re a strange man, Robbie, you know that?”

“Yes, I do, thank you very much. Plenty of people before you have told me that.” Robbie swallowed.

Jake watched his throat. He wasn’t supposed to be attracted to Robbie this deeply. He wasn’t supposed to ignore Robbie’s grating personality and the family name that got in the way of everything.

He watched Robbie cock his head to the side, his lips ever so slightly parted. His chest rose and fell gently with each breath. If he was nervous now, it didn’t show at all.

Robbie was the one to surprise Jake again, with his tenacity and the sudden passion that seemed to overtake him. He pulled Jake into a kiss, straddling him in the sand, fingers tangling through his hair like his life depended on touching Jake.

It was like the night on the doorstep and the night in the alleyway combined. It was better, and more frantic, and more demanding. Jake needed Robbie more than he had ever needed another man in his life.

It’d been just over a month since he’d last had sex, and that last bastard was clingier than a burr stuck to his clothes. He never went longer than a week or two without some kind of action unless he was sick or unbelievably busy. That was why he needed Robbie now.

Robbie bucked his hips against Jake, pulling himself up so he was gazing down at him, hair falling over his eyes, lips rubywith the blood that had rushed to them. He fingered the buttons on Jake’s shirt, easing them apart with a deftness Jake had absolutely not been expecting.

“This is a terrible idea,” he breathed, “out here in the sand, in the middle of the beach. We’re fucking fools, I’m telling you.”

“Then we’ll go into the woods,” Jake hissed back. “Behind a tree.”

“Because that’s any better?” A hint of annoyance flashed in Robbie’s eyes, and Jake had to bite back a retort.

“What about your place, then? I promise I won’t make fun of it if you let me fuck you there.”

Robbie knelt back. “You’re not setting foot in my house. We’ll get a hotel or something. That’ll be better.” He made to get up, but Jake grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down.

The smallest of groans escaped Robbie’s lips, and then Jake had him locked in a kiss again. They weren’t leaving the beach. They were far past that decision being cemented.

Fingers fumbled with buttons, unbuckled belts, unzipped flies. Thready, needy breaths warmed the cold air, puffs of steam rising from their mouths whenever they weren’t pressed together. Hands groped at skin and fabric, squeezing, clawing, taking in whatever they could when there were still so many layers keeping them apart.

Then Robbie stopped, jerking his head up. A sheen of sweat glistened on the side of his forehead where it was illuminated by the moonlight. The same moonlight reflected across the water, calm and unbroken.

“What is it?” Jake whispered breathlessly, hardly daring to speak at all.

In response, Robbie held a finger to his lips. Suddenly still after a flurry of movement, the cold air nipped at Jake’s exposed skin. The sweat on his own forehead and chest cooled, elicitinga shiver from him. He had no idea how late it was, or how long they’d been on the beach, each fighting for the dominance both so desired.

He was just about to ask Robbie to settle back down so they could return to what wasreallyimportant when he heard it too: footsteps. Sandy, crunchy, very human footsteps accompanied by giggling were making their way ever closer to the shore.

Jake exchanged glances with Robbie, and then with renewed vigor, this time tinged with panic, they threw their clothes back on, buttoned up as best they could, and scurried out of there, not stopping until they reached the parking lot.

Jake bent over, hands on his hips, as he struggled to catch his breath. “What a fucking tease,” he panted.

“That’s why you don’t have sex on a public beach in a small town,” Robbie said. “I told you something like this would happen.”

“Yeah, well, why would I believe you? You worry enough to make any excuse sound valid.”

“Or maybe you don’t take things seriously enough.” Robbie brushed past Jake, who straightened up so he could follow him.

“Where are you going?” he called.

“Home.”

“What about?—”

“Forget it, Jake. The mood’s killed, and it was a bad idea anyway. Maybe it was a sign.”