Soaked (The Water's Edge #2) (25 page)

“Sadie.” His voice was harsh, demanding, at odds with the vulnerability I saw lurking in his eyes. “Take a walk with me?” His grip tightened fractionally, as if he was scared I’d refuse him.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Took you long enough to ask.” Honestly, at this point I didn’t care. He’d blown me off again all evening, and I didn’t really want to have another conversation about Aubrey. But I made no move to escape from his arms as he maneuvered us to the far corner of the dance floor, where the twinkling lights dripping from the live oaks along with the Spanish moss didn’t penetrate. “Will Aubrey be following us? She seems rather attached to your hip.” I spoke flatly, wanting to sound uninterested in his answer but knowing I failed.

He dipped his head, murmuring against my ear. “My hips are only interested in one girl here tonight, if you hadn’t noticed.” He ground against me, the hard length of him evident through his tailored pants. His mouth stole a taste from the tender flesh of my neck, dissolving any remaining arguments on my tongue.

With a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, he nudged me into the shadows beyond the party boundaries.

I wasn’t sure what I felt. Arousal, yes. Frustration, definitely. But did I want to tell him with words—or with my body? We edged around the pool, his grip on my hand firm and steady, as if making sure I wouldn’t try to slip away.

When we got to the pool house, he pulled me inside, then pushed me back against the door and covered my body with his larger one. His heat warmed me right through my dress, awakening my nipples, which promptly beaded a hard hello as he rubbed against me.

“You’ve been trying to make me jealous tonight, haven’t you?” He pinned my wrists above my head with one hand.

The lights were off, the only illumination coming from the very last of the sun’s deep orange rays peeking through the windows. His free hand cupped my cheek, tilting me up to face him, his thumb tracing my lower lip. “First, you were with that guy, the one you let bring you a drink.”

“Nick.”

He gripped me tighter. “You know him then.”

I nodded best I could. “We met in Grand Cayman. He was the other photographer for the campaign.”

West turned my head, and pressed open-mouthed kisses along my jawline, his thumb still teasing my lip. I couldn’t resist licking the rough pad, pulling it into my mouth and biting down. He groaned, then dragged his hand down, pushing the edge of my dress aside until his wet thumb softly rubbed my pebbled nipple, just enough to tease, but not enough to ease the ache. I arched my back, silently asking for more.

“And you spent so much time together that he knows what you drink?” He spoke against my throat.

I tipped my head to give him more access. “He—” I gasped when he nipped the tender skin where my neck met my shoulder. “He mentored me.”

West reared back with eyes so dark they looked feral. “Did he now? And were you a good student?”

I was glad the light was all but gone, twilight bathing us in a purple glow. He couldn’t see the way my cheeks burned, both from embarrassment and anger. “I might know a few new tricks.” If he was going to believe the worst about me, I’d fucking let him.

He cursed, and his grip around my tender nipple bordered on cruel. “You’re mine.” He gritted out the words from behind clenched teeth, the muscle in his jaw pulsing.

“Then act like it.” My words had the effect of a slap. He dropped his hands and stepped back until a few inches separated us, his face slack with disbelief.

“Grady was the one who introduced me to everyone tonight, not you,” I pointed out. I bit my lip, hating how catty my next words would sound. “And she’s been the one by your side all night, not me.” I didn’t have to use her name for us to know who I was referring to.

He shoved a hand through his hair impatiently and stepped forward again, crowding me so I had no choice but to look at him. “Tonight was an opportunity. One I’ve worked all summer on. I needed to network with those men out there, the ones who could help expand my business to the next level, but instead I’m in here with you, arguing.” He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “What did you want me to do when she walked up? Pout like a little kid? Walk away like she had cooties? This was business. My business. She wasn’t my concern, those men were.”

His hands bit into my hips, as if he was trying to keep himself from shaking me. “Do you still not get it? Why I want to succeed so damn bad? Why I’ve been busting my ass?”

I frowned at him, not sure where this conversation was going now. “Why?”

“I want to take care of you, damn it! I want to make enough money to spoil you and pamper you and give you everything I know you deserve.” He leaned his forehead against mine and squeezed his eyes shut. My heart pounded inside my chest at the intensity of his words. “I want to be worthy of being yours.”

I quit breathing.

“Actions, right?” His fingers twined with my damp ones, and he pulled them against his chest. “Tonight was about securing
our
future. Her walking up on a conversation was not important enough to deter me from my goal.” Pulling back, he narrowed his eyes at me. “However, you continuing to taunt me by dancing with other men? Men who weren’t me?” He looped my arms behind his neck, and my fingers tangled in his thick hair. “I found that very, very distracting.”

He nudged my legs apart with one of his, forcing his thigh between mine, then palmed my ass and pulled me close. He kneaded the flesh that filled his hands, and I wondered if he could tell I wore nothing beneath my dress. The filmy fabric of the skirt bunched between us as he tugged it up, until his hand cupped me, one finger sliding easily between my slick folds.

“Is this for me, Sadie?” His thumb circled my clit, and I sagged against him, his other arm slipping behind me to hold me up, my head pressed into his shoulder. “Or is this for your mentor? Or Grady?”

He stilled, waiting for my answer, his fingers touching me but not giving me what I so desperately wanted. I twisted my hips, seeking friction, and his arm tightened, not allowing the movement.

“You, West.” I met his eyes with my own, knowing he could see the tears pooling. “I’m yours. But you don’t feel like mine.”

PAIN, SHARP AND DEEP,
slashed across his face and he withdrew his hand from my aching core, righting my dress until it once again swirled at my ankles. I swayed from the sudden loss of his touch, and he steadied me, but didn’t pull me close.

Taking a jagged breath, he pulled my arms from around his neck, breaking our connection.

“Fuck!” He turned from me, pacing the length of the small pool house. He passed the bathroom doorway, where we’d had our first kiss. It was hard to believe that only a season had passed since then. That four short months ago, he’d just been a surfer I’d thought was drowning, and now I was the one in over my head, hoping to be rescued. Knowing that without him, I might never recover.

On his third pass, he stopped in front of me, one hand clenching and unclenching, the only outward sign of his agitation. His face was carefully blank. “How can you say that to me? How can you look me in the eyes, and say that to me?” His voice was tight, controlled. “I begged you to stay, sent you paper planes, dropped a client last minute to rush to Tennessee on the off chance you might need me, painted the fucking bathroom myself after hours, bared my soul to you, then gave you the space you said you needed. I loved you every way I knew how.”

He lifted his hand as if to stroke my cheek, but then let if fall to his side limply, defeat slumping his posture. “What more do you want from me?” His eyes were glossy, voice raw.

I bit my lip, because all those things were true, and yet . . .”I don’t like feeling that
she
can replace me every time I’m not there. That she
does
replace me. And that you’re okay with that.” Despite my best intentions, my voice cracked as I finished, and a few traitorous tears slipped down my cheeks.

“Aubrey?!” Incredulity made his voice higher than normal. “She’s an annoyance I tolerate for the sake of my grandparents. And she could never, ever come close to your level, Sadie. I thought you understood that when we talked in Tennessee.” His thumbs wiped the wetness from my face and tipped my chin up, refusing to let me hide.

Leaning in, his lips brushed mine, the barest imitation of a kiss. “You’re the sun, and she’s a firefly, flitting around trying to get everyone’s attention with her shiny ass while you paint the sky yellow and pink and dazzle everyone with your light. Sadie, there’s no comparison.”

“So you notice her ass?” The words came out wobbly, insecurity bleeding through, even as a small smile cracked my lips.

He shook his head, nipping my lower lip hard enough to sting. “Sadie, you’re not listening to me. You’ve blinded me to everyone else. I’m yours. Only yours. For as long as you’ll have me.” His hand cupped my neck, thumb settling over my pulse running wild at the base. “I love you.”

I licked the spot he’d bit, and his eyes darkened. Swallowing hard, I looked into his eyes, knowing this was the pivotal moment. That whatever I said next would determine where we went from here. Closing my eyes, I took a shaky breath, taking a moment to just feel. To quiet my brain and listen to the whisper of my heart, where his name echoed with every beat. When I opened them again, he hadn’t budged, but his muscles were flexed, braced for my decision.

His eyes traced over my features like he was memorizing them. As if he worried this might be the last time he might ever get the privilege. I put my hand on his chest; his heartbeat unsteady against my palm. He covered it with one of his own, holding my fingers to him, pressing me close.

“I love you too.” It wasn’t so much an admission as a truth I could no longer deny. A truth he deserved.

He closed his eyes and took such a deep breath, his chest brushed mine, our hands still caught between us. When they opened, his lips twisted into a wry smile. “So are we basically fighting over the same thing here? That we belong together?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then stopped and frowned. “Yeah. Yeah, I think we are.”

Swooping me into his arms and spinning me around, he crushed his lips to mine, stealing my breath and my heart and my tomorrows in one smooth motion. When he finally pulled back, he framed my face in his hands, scattering kisses over my cheeks, my nose, and my forehead. “Do you trust me? God, Sadie, I need you to trust me. Deep down, you have to realize I’d never jeopardize what we have for someone like her.”

“I do. I trust you, West,” I whispered, the conviction in my words even surprising me.

I let go of the last of my lingering misgivings. Let go of the past and wrapped my arms around him and embraced the future. He nuzzled close, whispering all the dirty things he wanted to do to me later, all the things he’d been dreaming of doing to me for weeks. And my heart was so full it threatened to burst, happiness and heat seeping through my veins and settling low in my stomach as I listened to his voice describe all the ways he’d touch me, pleasure me, fill me.

The sharp knocking on the door caught me off guard.

Wary, I clung to West, looking at him as if he knew who dared to disrupt our reunion. The one I kind of hoped to consummate on the couch I’d spied against the wall.

With one arm tucking me close to his side, he pulled open the door a few inches.

“There you are!” The unmistakable and unwelcome sound of Aubrey’s voice spilled into the room, and I couldn’t keep the snarl from forming on my lips.

“Did you need something?” West was brusque, bordering on rudeness.

She tried to push the door open farther, but his foot blocked it.

“Just you,” she purred.

“Enough!” West snapped. He didn’t yell. He didn’t need to. The innate authority in his tone silenced any retort she might have had. “This fucking charade has gone on long enough. Whatever pity I once felt for you, whatever façade I tried to keep up for the sake of family harmony—it’s over. I’m not yours. I was never yours. I’m Sadie’s.”

“She’s in there with you, isn’t she?”

I tried to push my way into view, but his arm was like a steel band, keeping me from launching myself at her.

“Yes, and you’re interrupting.” He sounded impatient and started to inch the door closed again.

“I can’t believe you’d choose her over me. Have you seen us together? We’re the perfect all-American couple. And our families would be thrilled. And—”

“Not happening. Ever,” West injected. “Accept it and move on.”

She shrieked. “Did that skank say she’s pregnant? Is she trying to trap you so you can’t leave after she embarrassed you with that vid—”

“Here’s how this is gonna work,” he cut her off before she could spew more venom. Pushing his way fully into the doorway, he faced her head on, but blocked the opening with his shoulders, hiding her from my view. “You will never mention Sadie again. To anyone. You aren’t fit to speak her name. And if I hear
any
whisper of anything I
think
might have started from you, those naughty little pictures you so kindly stuffed in my nightstand will find their way to your daddy. I’m guessing it was his money that paid for them? We’ll see what he thinks of his perfect little princess then.”