SIX
Tennessee
Caroline’s peals of laughter are like music to my ears. She laughs like no one’s watching. Like full on “throw your head back, clutch your stomach, laugh till it hurts and you can’t breathe” laughter. It’s beautiful.
I could seriously sit here and watch her for the rest of time, and I’d never get bored. Not once.
Reaching up, she wipes at her eyes as her laughter fades. We’re closer now, her thigh touching mine as we sit and stare at each other, both of us grinning like a couple of fools.
“How drunk are you?”
She swallows, her eyes darting down to my mouth. “Drunk enough to know that I want to kiss you, but sober enough to know that I probably shouldn’t.”
“Let me get you another drink,” I say, pretending to climb out of the pool.
Caroline smacks my chest, rolling her eyes. “You’re incorrigible—”
Leaning forward, I cut her off with a kiss. I don’t know why, but every time she insults me, it’s like foreplay.
She’s surprised at first, her lips stiff and unyielding. Just when I think maybe I’ve made a mistake, she tilts her head and opens her mouth, gently flicking her tongue across my bottom lip in a teasing, playful sweep that would bring me to my knees if I wasn’t already seated.
Goddamn. Her mouth feels like a jolt of electricity, pricking my skin and making my cock shoot so hard, so fast that I’m dizzy from the sudden blood loss.
Groaning into her mouth I pull her closer, dragging her across my lap. She weighs nothing in the water, but she feels amazing.
All soft and supple.
My hands slide up the outside of her thighs, then curve around the mounds of her luscious ass, grinding her panty-clad pussy against my aching cock. Breaking away, Caroline gasps as I curse.
Kissing is something I’ve done a million times, but with Caroline it feels new. Exciting. It’s got my blood pumping in a way that’s never happened before, even when I was some horny teenager who hadn’t gotten his dick wet yet.
She touches her fingers to her lips, dazed. She must feel it too.
That buzz still lingering on her skin like an echo of our kiss.
I exhale a shaky breath. It takes everything in me not to start thrusting against the heat radiating from the apex of her spread thighs, nestled right over my throbbing cock. But if she wants to put the breaks on this, I’m not going to push her for more.
I kind of love how good this hurts. I love her self-control, which is not something I ever thought I’d say about a woman.
Her eyes are wide. A little wild, a little scared. “I’m not good at this,” she admits quietly.
Kissing down her jaw, I grip her generous ass in my hands. I fucking love how it spills out of my palms, like one cheek is more than I can handle. “You’re phenomenal at this.”
A low, throaty laugh tickles my ear. “I’m not talking about sex. Sex, I’m good at.”
I bet she is. I bet she’s a fucking wildcat in the sack.
Caroline threads her fingers in my hair, her nails subtly scratching my scalp. It makes this guttural sound slip from my throat as pre-cum leaks from my cockhead.
Jesus Christ, I’m not even inside her and I’m ready to shoot off like a goddamn bottle rocket. This chick must be some kind of sex wizard.
That’s a thing, right?
She grinds against me, undulating her hips in these soft, slow thrusts that kill—me—dead. “My last relationship was a total disaster,” she murmurs against my mouth, teasing me with soft kisses. “Not that I think we’re in a relationship or anything,” she adds quickly.
“If it was a disaster, that’s on him, not you.” I’m 100% sure of it and I don’t even know what happened.
A little crease forms between her brows as she pulls back. “How do you know?”
To me, the answer’s obvious. “You’re single, aren’t you? Any man worth his salt would’ve moved heaven and earth to keep you.”
The touched, appreciative look she gives me is powerful enough to make my heart skip a beat before she leans in and kisses me again. The erratic pounding in my chest echoes in my ears as she sucks my lower lip into her mouth, gently biting it.
She might as well have pressed the fast forward button, because pretty soon my hand is between us, stroking her pussy through the cotton gusset of her tiny boy shorts. Her breath is coming in short, shallow gasps and stops all together when I slip my fingers inside her panties.
“Oh, god,” she groans.
Caroline is fucking soaked, and it’s got nothing to do with the water.
I slide over her clit with ease, her silky soft wetness making my mouth water as I imagine tasting her, licking up her cunt and sucking her swollen clit into my mouth.
“This is crazy. I’m not—” She swallows, talking faster the more I tease her. “I’m not the kind of girl who does this. I know I was dressed a certain way when you met me tonight, but that was for work. I’m not the kind of girl who jumps into bed with someone she’s just met.”
No, she’s not. She’s special, and I should treat her as such. Trying to fuck her in this pool isn’t special.
Hundreds of girls have probably been fucked in this pool, I realize slowly.
My skin crawls as I sigh and pull out of her panties. “I do.”
Dazed, she blinks before confusion sets in. “What?”
“I do this kind of thing a lot,” I mumble.
Caroline’s face slowly falls. “Oh,” she says, climbing off me.
I might as well have sent her packing. There’s no way she’s going to want anything to do with me after this. “I’m not telling you this to scare you off, I’m just…trying to be honest with you,” I offer lamely.
I just met this chick, but this is the realest thing I’ve ever felt. Being less than completely honest with her feels…wrong. I know jack shit about relationships, but I know better than to start one on a lie.
She nods. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
God, why does that make me feel like such an asshole? She didn’t say it sarcastically. Her words weren’t laced with venom or disgust. But I feel like such a dick for disappointing her.
Scratching my jaw, I try and think of how to salvage this. “In the vein of being honest, this isn’t about sex for me. Not with you.”
She doesn’t look like she believes me, not in the slightest.
Tilting her chin up, I force her to meet my eyes. “I like you. More than I’ve ever liked anyone else. If you’re up for it, I want to see where this goes.”
Dropping her gaze, she mutters, “I’m pretty sure I know where it’s gonna go.”
My thumb strokes her cheek. “That’s up to you. If you want to fuck me tonight, then I will gladly take you up on that offer, sweet Caroline.” I smile when she looks back up at me, telling her, “I’ll make you come so many times you’ll lose count. And if you don’t want to fuck me tonight, then that’s fine too. I’ll still want to see you tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…”
She bites her lip, looking doubtful. “And then what? What happens when you go home? We try the long-distance thing? That rarely works, Ten.”
Oh, shit. Up until this very moment, it never occurred to me that I’d be leaving in a couple of days. It’s like my brain refused to think about being someplace she wasn’t.
Fuck.
My smile slowly dies. “No. It doesn’t.”
“Then what do we do?”
I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t want this night to end. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning and burst this little bubble with real life and all its complications.
I want to stay in this moment with her forever.
As soon as the thought enters my mind an idea occurs to me. It’s crazy, a little bit reckless, and I’m not even sure she’ll go for it, but I’m on board if she is. “What if we skip all that long-distance bullshit and go straight to the good stuff?”
She narrows her eyes, confused. “What’s the good stuff? Sex?”
Well, yes, but that’s not all I’m talking about.
Climbing out of the pool, I lean down and hold out my hand. “C’mon. We’ve got a date with Elvis.”