ten
A wave of icy cold water connected dead center with his right eye, and Moose squeezed his eyes shut while scrubbing the butt of his palm over it to get rid of the uncomfortable, shrinking, burning sensation.
“Damnit, woman,” he growled, “you’re gonna pay for that.”
“Oooh I’m so scared,” Angel taunted, throwing another load of water at him.
When he’d woken up this morning with a woody the size of Nebraska, he’d had nothing more on his mind than getting over to her place and getting inside her, but the ride over had been so nice, he couldn’t stand the idea of being cooped up indoors another minute. So when he’d arrived on her doorstep early and unexpected, finding Mouse still in her Hello Kitty pjs and her hair a mess, he’d told her to get her bikini and a towel and meet him outside.
She hadn’t been too happy being woken up nor him throwing his weight around, but she was getting used to it. Shooting him the stink eye, she’d left the door hanging open as she turned and disappeared back into the apartment.
Ten minutes later, she was on the back of his bike in a pair of tiny jean shorts and a white tank top with the florescent pink and yellow bikini top strings peeking out the top with her sexy legs on the outside of his where he could reach down and touch them anytime he wanted, and her hot body fit snug up against his back. Every bump on the long stretch of highway heading to the beach bounced his favorite parts of hers, increasing his need for her more and more by the mile.
But as much as he wanted her, Moose wanted to test the theory that they might have more between them than just sex.
As much as he enjoyed it and wanted it every second of the day, the idea of giving her his patch was a serious one, and he needed to make sure that there was some substance to their relationship before he made such a huge commitment.
If he did. He was bouncing back and forth with that decision more than a kid on a pogo stick.
The problem was, even if Moose hadn’t been entertaining the idea of making things between them more permanent, Angel was pretty fucking awesome. He couldn’t be around her without smiling, and they were always laughing about something. And when they weren’t laughing, they were having amazing, world-shaking sex. Plus, she was hot as hell and just as smart.
What wasn’t there to like?
Clearing his eyes, Moose dug his toes into the mud and trudged through the water, his intense focus right on her. Angel wasn’t getting away, and he knew just how he was going to make her pay.
“Whoa now, big man,” she said, palms held out in front of her as she tried to bounce backward away from him, each bob revealing her water-slicked breasts and pointed nipples that made his dick harder than the wall of rock that hid them from prying eyes in three directions.
“You play with fire, Mouse, and now you’re about to get burned.” When she was within arm’s reach, he lunged, and she screamed.
Falling back into the water in her haste to get away from him, she went under before reappearing a second later, her feet slipping out from under her and giving him a leg up.
Moose was on her fine ass before she could get any traction. Banding an arm around her narrow waist, he fisted her wet hair and held her head tight, immobile. Those wild, green eyes stared up at him, daring him to keep going.
God, he loved when she looked at him like that. It’s how he knew for certain she was with him every step of the way, felt the same burning desire for him that he felt for her tearing him up inside.
“I want you, Kade,” she confessed, her voice breathy.
A smile grew on his face, and Kade flexed his hips, letting her feel the raging erection between them that demanded attention. “Ditto, Mouse. Now give me those lips.”
He didn’t wait for permission before diving in and claiming them. Moose wasn’t gentle or loving. Every touch, every lick was hard and bruising, leaving his mark. Angel wasn’t any less gentle. She met his force with equal ferocity, and he knew he would leave there with marks too.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Moose liked seeing evidence of where she’d been on his body. He liked the scratches and the bruises from her nails and teeth. Lesser men would want to tame her, and there was a time he would have said he’d prefer a sweet, docile little thing too. He’d thought he’d found just that when he’d met Angel, but she’d shocked the shit out of him when she turned out to be the complete opposite.
His mouse was a true lady in the streets and freak in the bed.
Best of both worlds, if you asked him.
As they nipped and grabbed at each other, Moose worked his way toward land, fighting the current, until the gravity pulled at his legs as the buoyancy of the water left them, and he dropped to his knees on the shoreline and laid Angel on her back beneath him.
Water lapped around their heated bodies, gentle and cool, as the sun above offered its warmth from above. Moose didn’t bother with getting naked. Not in a public place where someone might venture along and see something that would send him flying right off the cliff’s edge of sanity.
He was an asshole, yes, but the last thing he would do is compromise his lady.
His own ass was a different story.
Tugging his sopping-wet swim trunks down, he let his bare, white ass work on catching up on its tan. Working his hand between them, he hooked a finger in the crotch of her suit bottoms and pulled them aside to make room for him.
His cock jutted forward, finding her slick center without any guidance, and he pushed it into her wet heat without preamble.
“Oh, God,” Angel moaned, breaking their kiss and arching back, her face tilted skyward as he plunged in deep. “That feels so good.”
“Good isn’t what I’m going for,” Moose informed her. Guiding one of her legs up closer to her chest, he fit his arm behind her knee, giving him the perfect angle…and then he didn’t hold back.
“Oh! God!” she shouted this time as he bottomed out and started pounding away. Her nails bit into his shoulders, the leg she had around his thigh turning into a vice as her whole body clenched down hard around him, desperate to hold on.
“You like that, baby?” he grunted, already beginning to feel his balls tighten. “You like how I fuck you?”
“Yes! Yes! Harder. Fuck me harder,” she begged, and he did.
Her pussy flooded his shaft with wetness, easing the path, but it wasn’t enough. The closer he got to coming, the more his dick swelled, creating friction that was too damn good. She felt like a fist, gripping him tighter and tighter. But that wasn’t enough for him. He knew just how good she felt when she came around him, and Moose wasn’t spilling a drop until she did it.
“Come for me, Mouse. I want to feel that pussy squeezing me.”
She panted and screwed her eyes shut, her moans growing louder and longer and he pushed her closer to the edge.
“I’m going to come,” he warned her.
“Yes,” she hissed, sounding almost desperate. “Do it. Come in me.”
Fuck, he loved coming inside of her. She got even wilder when he did as if the idea of him filling her with his seed turned her on more than she already was.
“No, baby. You don’t get a drop from me unless you take it.” Rearing up, he grabbed both of her thighs and dragged her ass up to meet his still-thrusting hips. She looked up at him, eyes glistening in the summer sun, hands grasping for purchase in the sand. “Are you going to take it?” he asked.
She bit her bottom lip, nodding as she averted her eyes to where they were joined. He followed her gaze, and seeing himself get sucked up by her greedy pussy undid him.
“Fuck,” he snarled as his balls drew up tight and his cock pulsed. The feeling was compounded when he felt her walls clamp down around him, flexing and releasing, milking him, demanding everything he had to give.
When he was drained dry, Moose eased her legs down and sagged back on his heels, his head reclining on his shoulders while he fought to catch his breath. Reluctantly, his cock withdrew from Angel’s body and with barely enough energy left to move his arms, Moose tucked himself back into his shorts and crawled up beside her and collapsed into the warm, soft sand.
“You almost made a liar out of me,” he accused.
Her half-snort, half-laugh met his ears and brought out his own smile. “Next time,” she swore as she rolled onto her side and into his waiting arms.
Curling up against him, her hand on his chest and her legs entwined with his, Moose thought, yeah, they were a pretty damn good fit, weren’t they. He could see more days ahead like this. He wouldn’t have any problem with that at all.
“I want you to wear my patch.”
The words were past his lips before Moose could think better of it. Both of them stiffened as if waiting for a bomb to go off.
“You uh…want me to…?”
Moose hated the hesitation and doubt in Angel’s voice. He was unable to open his eyes due to the sun blasting him with its blinding rays, but he could feel her head tilt back and felt her questioning eyes on him. Well, shit.
“Be my old lady, Mouse,” he said, aware of the—somewhat—demanding tone of his voice. “I need a good woman to stand behind me, and I’m thinkin’ that’s you.”
Despite the ninety degree weather and the eighty-percent humidity, Moose felt the heat of her anger hit him with the force of a tsunami.
Using his bare chest as leverage, Angel crushed his left lung as she pushed herself up. Moose held up an arm to shield his eyes from the sunlight, and what he saw in her face wasn’t encouraging.
“Kade, I appreciate the offer, and while I really like you and I love spending time with you, the last thing I’d ever do is make myself someone else’s property. No offense,” she apologized, her nose scrunching up.
Kade hadn’t expected her to say no. Hearing it come from her lips, he had to admit, that shit hurt. A lot. More than it should. Like lifting too heavy at the gym and tearing a muscle. He sat up, fighting back a grimace, and avoiding her gaze.
He couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
Clearing his throat, he found it odd that his voice felt tied up in his throat, too. In fact, the whole moment felt shockingly oppressive, and all he wanted to do was get the hell out of there. But they’d rode in together, and he couldn’t just drive off and leave her behind.
“No offense taken,” he said, somehow finding a steady voice. “I was just throwing it out there. Seeing what you’d say.” He rose to stand. “We should head back.”
The sun was starting to set. They were miles away from home. He didn’t like driving in the dark. Blah, blah, blah. All lies, he knew, but he needed some distance from her. The sooner, the better.
Angel’s eyes stayed on him, filled with concern, as she got to her feet. “Are you upset?”
“Why would I be?” he grunted as he started walking. The trail was short, thank God. It would only take a couple minutes to reach his bike. The ride back, with her pressed intimately against him, though, was going to be murder.
“You seem upset,” she observed as she followed behind him, hurrying to keep up with his longer strides.
“Nope.” That didn’t even sound convincing to his own ears.
He felt her fingers on his wrist as they reached the small clearing where he’d parked. Stopping, he reluctantly turned to face her. Flicking her one glance, he decided he still couldn’t look at her and cast his gaze out among the trees.
“I’m sorry,” Angel said softly, stepping into him and sliding her hands around his waist. “Sometimes, I’m too blunt. It’s just that…” She huffed. “I just don’t know how to hold anything back with you, and you’re…well you, and I just feel like, if we defined things, it would get serious, and I can’t risk losing my identity to a relationship. That’s not how I want to live.”
Moose’s gaze jerked down to hers, and he searched her eyes. “Why would you think that?”
She shrugged and looked down at her feet, covered in dirt and sand and a few pine needles. “Things I’ve heard and seen. And you’re so dominant. And I’m not the kind of woman who takes orders well. And I’m not a homemaker either. I don’t even know if I want kids. And when I get married, it’s going to be once and forever—”
“Whoa, wait. Slow down,” Moose said, shaking his head. “Who said anything about kids and marriage and all that?”
Her wide, green eyes found his again. “Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”
Realization washed over him and Moose chuckled. “Honey, a patch isn’t a marriage proposal or a life sentence. It’s a promise. Simple as that. Can it lead to those things? Sure. Many have. But it doesn’t have to.”
Her brows pulled together as she absorbed this information. “So…it’s like…giving me your letterman jacket?”
“Uh…sure. Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
Her expression brightened. “So you’re saying you want to go steady?”
Moose grinned. “In a not-so-nineteen-fifties way, yeah, basically.”
Her smile was wide and her eyes shined. “In that case…yes. I’ll wear your patch, Kade Hunter.” Happy again, Moose leaned in to kiss her, but her hand pressed against his chest stopped him. Very seriously she amended, “On a trial basis, though. I need to make sure my prince doesn’t turn into a toad after midnight.”
“Sure, Mouse,” he agreed, amusement coloring his tone. Another trial. He’d gotten past the first one. If he had to, he’d get past this one too. Then Moose lifted her off her feet and pushed her back against the nearest tree and showed her how happy she made him—twice.