Chapter 9

Summer squirmed into Riley a little. All she wanted was her lust slaked. Her hunger sated. A production number of romance and seduction wasn’t necessary. There was no need to overthink it, either. Wasn’t that why they’d skipped right over talking it to death?

If he’d release her, let her turn around, she’d zip things right along. They both knew exactly what they wanted. Wham, bam, let’s not put off the orgasm, man. Summer knew how to leave her partner happy. Impossible not to have picked up a few tricks—and have honed what she thought of as her innate talent in that arena—when she happily jumped every man who looked hot, interesting, and had the potential for stamina.

Riley checked off every box. He also lived with Knox, the Capital Casanova. She’d seen the potpourri bowls full of condoms in the bathrooms at their rectory. He had to have moves. Heck, she already knew he had the goods just from their kisses.

Whap! A firm slap on her ass. The surprise jolted Summer as much as the actual pain. It stung more than hurt. Heat spread under his fingers. She never would’ve guessed that Riley had it in him to be dominant. Although it made sense. He was quietly in control almost all the time. And this night just got a whole lot more interesting.

Whap! “Don’t rush me,” he ordered.

Summer decided to push back a little, just to see what happened. “Who says you’re the one in control?”

“I do.” When he lifted his hand, the ocean breeze cooled her as Riley traced the lace edge of her thong up over her hip, then down to where the satin damply clung to her. He slid his finger along her cleft. Brought it back up to his mouth, sucked her taste off it, and smiled. “This sweetness proves that you do, too.”

Mouth suddenly as dry as the sand, Summer tried to swallow.

God, that was erotic.

“I know what I’m doing,” he whispered in her ear. Even the puffs of hot breath tickling the fine hairs along her lobe amped up her desire. “I promise you’ll thank me after.”

Riley Ness did not strike her as a man who ever broke a promise.

She desperately wanted to play along, to find out what happened next. But Summer also couldn’t just turn off who she was. So she sassed back. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

“The only thing you’ll be seeing—as your eyes roll back in your head and you scream my name—is stars.” Using just his teeth, Riley undid the knot at her neck that kept her halter up. It dropped forward. She was exposed only for a moment. Because both of his hands came up to cover her breasts, squeeze them the same way he’d done to her ass.

At the same time, Riley bit down on the side of her neck. In between the sharp edges of his teeth, his tongue rasped up every single nerve in every single skin cell. The contrast between the rough tickle of the tongue and the sting of the bite almost, almost, made her eyes roll. Not that she’d admit it so soon.

Besides, how could she even notice what was happening on her neck when those big, calloused hands were cupping her breasts as though they were the softest, most precious things he’d ever held? His thumbs gently brushing the sides in a sweep that cascaded pleasure down the rest of her body.

She and Riley were both swaying a little now. Slowly. In time to the waves cresting and breaking against the shore. That sound was a hundred times better than any random sex playlist a guy had dialed up as mood music. It was…magical. Unlike any other time, any other guy.

Just like every single thing she was learning about Riley, now that they were talking instead of tearing into each other. Never what she expected. Usually not what she planned on getting from him. Always memorable.

And then the thoughts stopped. Rushed away like the sand beneath the inexorable power of the tide. Because Riley dropped to the ground behind her. Broad shoulders pushed her legs farther apart. A sharp yank ripped the thong right off of her. He nipped at her bare ass. Bit and sucked and, from the feel of it, left a hickey.

Summer could hardly wait to rush to the mirror and look at it.

Then he spread her open with blunt-tipped fingers. Summer tightened in anticipation.

“Don’t,” he said sternly. “Don’t move. Hold on to the chair to keep yourself up.”

Her knuckles whitened along the frame of it, obeying in a rush. Ready. Not wanting to do anything to delay his next move another second. So ready that she didn’t bother to ask for him to hurry up this time. It wouldn’t do any good. She’d come on his terms, in his time.

It’d be worth the wait.

One long lick. Her head dropped forward.

Then Riley rolled his tongue and stabbed it into her, filling her with an in-out-in tease that had Summer biting her lip. From his position there was no way he could have seen or heard her motion. Still, he said, “Go ahead. Make all the noise you want.”

One more long, slow lick. Shuddering, locking her knees to stay upright, Summer moaned.

Riley turned, shifted. Now his back was against the chair. His tongue moved to the very top of her slit. It circled her clit three times. Then he flicked it, hard, as he drove two fingers up inside her channel.

Summer screamed as she broke apart. No warning. Just an implosion of heat and lust that showered over her like shooting stars across the night sky. And she kept her legs braced through all of it, just as he’d ordered.

“Now you’re ready for me.” Satisfaction coated his voice as thickly as hot fudge over ice cream.

“Ready? I can barely breathe.”

“Like I said—now you’re ready.” Riley scooted out from between her legs. Then the world tipped as he scooped her up into his arms. It made her feel like a Disney princess. Albeit a half-naked, thoroughly twisted version of one. Something Summer had never aspired to be, but completely enjoyed. It didn’t take long for them to go beyond the circle of light from the house and the candles. He stood her in the cool sand. It was deep enough to cover her feet, but dry.

Riley pulled the back of his shirt over his head. “Touch me.”

It was exactly what Summer had been dying to do. Having been forced to wait made the reward of finally feeling his skin beneath her hands so much better. She curved her palms over the muscled shoulders. Tried but gloriously failed to curve her hand around the width of his biceps. Nibbled her way across the light thatch of dark hair bisecting his chest. Reveled in the feel of oh-so-masculine hardness beneath the warm skin.

Doing exactly as he said was…different. A whole different approach to sex. It heightened her senses, made her notice every touch more. Because for once she wasn’t worrying about impressing the man on top of her, rushing him to climax. Summer could just let go and enjoy.

She spent all her time chasing life, in all its forms and varieties. Which, for the first time, Summer could admit got a little exhausting. Now? She simply let this life experience settle over her and fill her with pleasure. Riley’s taking control was a gift. One she didn’t know she wanted, but it turned out she needed.

Still very much in control, Riley unzipped his shorts and let them fall to the sand while she explored his magnificent pecs. Pulled her dress over her head as she sucked on his nipple.

A sharp, indrawn breath between his teeth proved that he wasn’t immune to her efforts. And Summer wasn’t above feeling smug about it. The man orgasmed her knees out from under her while still fully clothed. It mattered that he be just as affected by her as she was by him.

Riley captured her face between his hands. Pulled her up until he was looking right into her eyes. Yes, the beach was dark. No, the moon wasn’t particularly full. But the intensity with which his gaze bored into her was both visible and palpable. It gave her shivers, too.

“You’re beautiful, Summer. Inside and out. Thank you for playing along. All I want to do is make sure you feel good. Make sure we feel good together. Because every time I look at you, touch you, taste you, I feel fucking fantastic.”

“Really?” With other men she’d toss her head and say duh; Summer had more than her fair share of self-confidence. But Riley was hard to read. Even harder to interpret. A challenge. He’d spent so much time and energy first fighting with her, and then fighting against wanting her, that the reassurance of his desire was a relief.

“You’re like a drug. Addicting. Probably bad for me. Totally mind-blowing. Holding myself back from taking you has been almost impossible.”

His words touched her more than she’d have expected. Summer slid her hands down the trail of hair on his belly that should have disappeared beneath his boxer briefs. But…oh my. The man had gone commando. And here she thought he would’ve had a five-minute treatise on all the emergency room visits due to penis/zipper accidents.

Summer closed her hand around him. Was intensely gratified that the bulbous tip, already slick, surged out of her grasp. “Would I get spanked again if I pointed out that you don’t have to wait?”

“Would you like it?”

“Yes.”

“Noted. But it’ll have to wait until next time.”

“Next time? You haven’t even had a first time yet.”

With the agility of a magician, he lifted those nimble fingers to brandish three foil squares. “The night’s barely started.”

“I thought you always carried two condoms?”

“I did. I made a strategic decision to increase that number after our skinny-dip in the ocean. Three should at least be enough to get us indoors to the box in my nightstand.” Riley laid her dress down in the sand, as carefully as she handled couture samples. Then he put his shirt and shorts perpendicular, right about where she figured a pair of elbows might go. “I want you on your knees.”

His knees would take the brunt of kneeling in the sand. Summer had no argument. In fact, the idea of him covering her, possessing her in such a primal way, already had a moan building in her throat as she dropped to the ground.

“Do you know why I want you on your knees?”

“You want to watch the waves roll in? It is a pretty scenic spot.”

That did get her a smack. Then he lifted her ass even higher, arranging her to his satisfaction. In a voice raspy with raw need, he said, “This is why.” Riley wrapped her hair around his fist once, twice. “I’ve fantasized about doing this since the first time I saw you.”

“I thought you hated me from day one.”

“Still wanted you. Wanted this.” In a single, fast thrust, Riley pushed into her. Summer was still so wet from her previous orgasm that his entry was easy. Well, not precisely easy. Because the man packed some serious girth to go with all that length. But the way he stretched her only inflamed her already sensitive flesh in every good way.

Summer splayed out her hands, dug her fingers into the sand to keep her balance. “That’s…good,” she managed to get out on a gasp.

Another thrust. Then another. “The way you look. All this dark hair against your back.” Riley palmed her hip, pulling her closer. So close that his balls slapped against her with every stroke. “You’re everything. Everything I could ever want in a woman.”

Wow.

There was a tiny part of her brain that filed away his words to react to later. Because Summer was pretty sure that Riley didn’t know what he’d said. Or that something had come out in the heat of the moment that wasn’t supposed to have slipped. Those words were eye-opening and shocking from a man who swore she couldn’t be more wrong for him.

For now, though? She’d just enjoy it. Enjoy the compliment, the hoarse passion that thickened his voice. Summer arched her back. Wished she could do more than just move to meet him. “What do you want me to do?”

Faster and faster, he pistoned into her. Summer honestly had a hard time telling the in stroke from the out. There was simply Riley, filling her completely. Riley’s hardness in her, around her, on her. Riley’s heat scorching her.

“I only want you to do one thing for me.” One hand braced next to hers, Riley moved the other around, down her belly. With his thumb and index finger, he pinched her clit. “Come. Come now!”

The quakes of pleasure started as soon as he’d uttered the first word. Summer bucked, hard. As she clamped tight around him, Riley’s last word turned into a guttural moan that ripped through the quiet night. He jerked against her, fast, three times before a long, final groan.

Riley slid down to one elbow, off her back, then lay sideways. He rolled her to lie against him, but kept her on the protection of the dress. Because he was always careful and thinking ahead. Funny how the thing about him she used to hate and mock? At this moment she did not mind it a single, eentsy bit.

His big hand curved around the underside of her breast. Almost like he needed to hold her in place to keep from bolting. Sure, Summer currently held the land-speed record for grabbing her panties and getting the heck out the door before the guy got the condom off. But Riley didn’t know that.

The cold hard truth was that she didn’t have any inclination to zip away from him. This was, in fact, a moment Summer needed to imprint on her brain for all time. She had a feeling she’d want to revisit it. On cold days under a blizzard watch. In the middle of lonely nights. At age ninety to shock the pants off of her roommate in the nursing home.

His lips laved a line from her collarbone to her earlobe. “You didn’t scream my name,” Riley murmured.

“Well, like you said, the night’s barely started.”

“Is that a challenge?”

It was tempting to play with him, to tease him. Poke to see if there were any soft spots in his ego just to see what happened. But Summer believed in always being honest. Ruthlessly so, according to Chloe. It’d be wrong to downplay how spectacular the man had just made her feel. “I think you made me forget your name. I think I forgot my own name there for a few seconds. You wiped out my brain capacity entirely.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry.” Smugness rolled off him as thickly as fog rolled in predawn.

“I wouldn’t want you to be.”

“Thank you for taking a chance, for doing things my way.”

“My pleasure. Literally, as it turns out.”

“Mine, too. You were so responsive. So beautiful. So pliant and soft.”

“You’re making me sound like Gumby.”

Riley grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger to turn her head to meet his kiss. His kiss that stunned her with its tenderness. “This was…special. It wasn’t a hookup. You made it special. Being with you, with your zest for life and the joy that radiates off you brighter than the July sun at the equator. You were right, though. Talking about it is a bad idea.”

“Agreed.” Riley being so nice threw her for a loop. Made her question things. About him. About the way she’d treated him in the past. About how they were supposed to interact going forward. Especially since an actual relationship was out of the realm of possibility—while simultaneously some version of it had to happen, with Chloe and Griff sucking them into constant companionship. There had to be a million better things to do than talk. “What else have you got in your bag of tricks?”

“I can start a fire eight different ways without matches.”

“You’re joking.”

“I never joke about survival.”

“Will you show me? One of them, anyway? Right now?”

“Instead of more sex?”

“God, no. Now that I know how good you are at it, I’d be a fool to turn down seconds. Think of it as foreplay.”

Riley braced himself on an elbow to look down at her. “It is, sort of.” He rolled off the condom and tossed it into the sand. “I mean, it’s a thing I’ve done to impress women.”

“To lure them into bed?” she clarified, reading between the lines.

“Yes. You know I like to plan ahead. Come up with solutions for every possible scenario. It turns out that starting a matchless fire is a surefire way to get a woman to shuck her bra.”

His confession would’ve been skeezy in a bar. But timing really was everything. The warning that what she’d requested was one of his tried-and-true moves conversely earned Riley major points. After all, it’d been Summer’s idea, not his. “Show me,” she insisted. “Not to keep me naked. Just because I asked. Because I want to learn one of your nifty survival tricks.”

“All I need is some beach grass and your phone.”

“You’re going to start a fire with my phone? Will it work afterward?”

“Once you replace the battery, yeah. Knox keeps extras here, in case of hurricanes. You won’t have to be untethered from the Internet for more than five minutes.” He stood. Then he scooped her up into his arms again.”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting you off the beach. The machine that grooms the sand will be coming through here soon.”

“You could just ask me to walk back to the patio.”

“Nah. That’d be inefficient. Because I haven’t gotten nearly enough of touching you. I still need to explore you. Look at you. Feel every inch of you. And then go back and lick it all.”

How did he turn something as mundane as a to-do list into a sexy promise? “Forget the beach grass and phone. We’re going to zoom ahead to a ninth way to start a fire without matches,” Summer said. And then she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him.