Wet (Elemental 1) (13 page)

Blake’s lips twitched, and he stepped into her personal
space, clamping his hands on her hips and pulling her up against him. When
their lips were mere centimeters apart, he murmured, “Thank
you
for the company.”

An instant later, their lips were pressed together, parted
enough for their tongues to dance, and Brooke’s fingers were buried in his
hair. She felt like she’d been waiting for this kiss all day.

Blake’s arms wound fully around her waist, one of his hands
tangling in her long, loose hair, and one of Brooke’s hands slipped from his
hair to dip beneath his shirt collar. Her fingers brushed along his bare skin,
and Blake tightened his hold on her as he deepened the kiss. She arched into
him with a faint, muffled moan when his thumb trailed over her spine. It
certainly hadn’t taken him long to memorize that trick. His hand drifted a bit
lower, and then his fingers were teasing her skin, just above her jeans.

“Blake,” Brooke gasped when their lips parted a moment
later. Both of them dragged in deep breaths. Her eyes were still mostly closed,
but she blinked them open when his hold loosened and he leaned back. When her
gaze focused, she found herself staring into his deep, darkened blue eyes, and
she couldn’t help but smile at the desire she saw in them.

He untangled his hand from her hair and adjusted his grip
so that he could trail his thumb along her cheek gently, holding her gaze all
the while. Her own grip on his hair loosened, and her hand slid to his shoulder
without thought. He leaned in and pressed his lips over hers again. But this
kiss was tender, brief, and he pulled away almost too quickly.

Brooke was still attempting to find her voice, curious
about what else she’d seen in his eyes, when he took a single step back. She
was forced to loosen her hold, her hands sliding partially down his chest, and
he released her almost entirely as he reached up and pulled one of her hands
into his.

“About the movie…” Blake began, his voice low and heavy
with something that tingled up and down Brooke’s spine as it washed over her.
It took her a moment to remember they’d even intended to watch a movie that
night.

Even she could hear the desire sneaking into her own voice
when she replied, “What movie?”

Brooke’s body temperature skyrocketed as she allowed him to
lead her down the hall, further from the living room. It had only been a
handful of days since they’d first made love, it was true, but she was almost
more nervous now than she’d been the first time. The first time had been a
heat-of-the-moment thing—an
amazing
heat-of-the-moment thing—but this was different. This was deliberate. This
wasn’t just raging lust and early morning hormones. This was
desire
. The kind that had her silly
heart skipping beats in her chest and made her mouth run dry. Which was
probably ironic…

Blake’s bedroom was significantly larger than hers, of
course. Like the rest of his home. He led her several feet into the room before
turning suddenly and pulling her flush against him once more. Brooke met him
halfway this time, her hands resting on the smooth planes of his chest as their
lips met again in a hungry kiss. His hands rested on her hips, holding her
against him as she curled her fingers into his chest through the fabric of his
shirt.

Then his hands shifted, and he deliberately slipped his
fingers beneath the hem of her shirt, slowly massaging her smooth, warm skin.
She moaned against his lips at the contact and curled her tongue around his
before pulling back from the kiss. He met her eyes again, and she grinned
flirtatiously. Brooke pulled her hands from his chest and then grabbed fistfuls
of her own shirt. She tugged it easily over her head and let it drop behind
her.

Blake mimicked her, tossing his shirt somewhere to the
side, and as he did so he dropped her gaze, his eyes moving down and over her
torso as if he’d never seen—let alone kissed—it before. Her light-blue lacy bra
had been very specifically chosen for this date. What he’d yet to discover was
that she’d bought the bra as part of a set with matching panties.

“Do you like what you see?” Brooke teased, trailing her
fingers across his chest. She caught his gaze with another flirtatious grin as
she traced the contours of his muscles.

He matched her grin with one of his own and lifted one hand
to run his finger along the strap of her bra. “The color looks good on you.”

Brooke laughed softly. “I should hope so, water boy.” Was
it ridiculous that she’d purchased this set—as opposed to classic black—because
the color was symbolic of her boyfriend’s superpower?
Probably.

Blake let his hand trail down her back, over the now-bared
skin. Her laughter melted into a muted moan, and her hand stilled as her eyes
fluttered closed. God, she loved his touch.

Chapter Thirteen

His hands curved around her bare waist and her hand pressed
over his chest, above his heart, in a moment of lingering silence. Her head was
resting over his shoulder. His was tilted slightly into hers. A beat later,
they stepped apart, both quickly shedding their jeans, all the while keeping
their eyes locked on the other. And she caught the flicker of a grin when he
saw her panties.

Brooke couldn’t decide if she was disappointed that he
didn’t go commando or relieved to see that he didn’t wear briefs—an observation
she’d neglected to make the first time. Not that it mattered. And when he
stepped up to her again, she forgot the dilemma entirely. His hands lifted,
fingers trailing along her hip bones and over the thin, lacy sides of her
panties. Feeling his cool, smooth skin skimming along her own, Brooke pulled
her lip between her teeth and raised her hands to frame his face.

Their eyes met again and she smiled. He smiled back.

Their tongues were clashing again a moment later as he
lifted her from the floor and carried her the rest of the way to the bed. She
had wrapped her arms and legs around him when he’d picked her up, so they fell
together onto the large mattress, her head landing—barely—on a pillow. They
broke apart, and Blake bowed his head to begin trailing kisses down the side of
her neck.

She was too lost in sensation to note the irony of the
power he possessed and the heat that blazed through her with every pass of his
tongue along her throat, and she couldn’t help but moan faintly when he sucked
on the sensitive skin over her pulse point. His hands were moving along her
exposed skin deliberately, slowly massaging patterns into her stomach and over
her sides. Her own hands were wrapped around him, holding onto his shoulders,
keeping him as close as she could. He still wasn’t close enough.

His head lowered a bit more, and his tongue trailed across
her collar bone as he shifted in order to kiss his way back up the other side
of her throat. He earned several more muffled moans before she started to
squirm beneath him. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and he was close enough
for her to hear his heavy swallow.

When he finally allowed her to kiss him again, she
readjusted her hold in order to bury her fingers in his hair. She absolutely
loved his hair and the soft way it fell over her fingers. He rolled his hips
forward when she nibbled a little on his lower lip, and her body arched in
response. One of his hands settled again over her hip, and he used his other
arm to brace himself before he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. The
kiss broke as Brooke realized that she was straddling him now, his hands
curving around her back and sliding slowly up her spine. She found she liked
this power position.

He held her gaze as he released the clasp on her bra. She
smiled and sat up, still straddling him, in order to shrug easily out of the
lacy material and toss it aside. The desire in his eyes doubled as he took in
the sight of her, and his increased desire was more than enough to spike her
own. With a sultry smile, she leaned down and pressed her lips to the skin
beneath his jaw. She wanted to make the fun last this time.

His hands, which had been resting over her hips, slid down
to her thighs as his head fell back and she trailed her kisses down his neck.
She paused a minute to suckle the skin at the hollow of his throat, before
continuing down his chest. He moaned as she shimmied her way ever lower,
kissing and licking his cooler skin, until she reached his boxers. She stopped
then and lifted her gaze back to his. He was watching her, his expression
strained and hungry—yearning. Matching the heat in her own body.

Brooke sat up again, her lips curving into a smirk, and she
trailed her hands along his abs before sliding them to his sides and grasping
his final article of clothing. She didn’t even try to hold his gaze as she
hurriedly discarded both his boxers and her own panties. Then she reached out
again and, letting her eyes return to his, carefully trailed one finger along
the length of him. She was finally getting to touch him and was eager to see
his reaction.

Blake’s head fell back against the pillow. He groaned,
fisting the comforter beneath them at his sides. If she could garner that
reaction with just one little touch, she couldn’t wait to see what he’d do
next. She wrapped her whole hand around him, squeezing and pulling slowly. He
made a choked sound that was half groan, so she pumped again. Faster. His hips
were straining to arch up, but he was trying to resist. She didn’t want him to
resist, so she squeezed a little tighter and kicked up the tempo again. The
sound he made nearly tempted her to touch herself while she played with him.

It was a long few minutes before she released him, her own
desire nearly tripled at the sight of him naked and straining beneath her. It
was all she could do not to just impale herself on his rigid cock then and
there. But instead she crawled back up his body until she was leaning over him,
her lips barely an inch from his. He was watching her again, and she smiled
seductively, slipping her tongue out to lick her lips.

He reached up with one hand, framing her face and guiding
her lips to his for a passionate kiss. His tongue invaded her mouth and she
moaned for him, enjoying his responsive rumble beneath her. His other hand landed
on her hip, and she shifted herself around before finally sinking onto him. She
kept it slow—or as slow as she could manage—and broke the kiss in order to
watch his face as she took him inside her.

Blake’s hips rolled in to hers automatically, sheathing
himself entirely within her. Both of his hands skimmed along her sides, sending
little jolts of electric desire throughout her body. Then he found one of her
breasts with one hand and curved his other around her spine, tugging her
forward again as she began rocking against him. Their lips reconnected as his
hips arched up to meet hers, and they fell quickly into a hot, barely
controlled rhythm.

He continued to surge into her, matching her rhythm with
his own. She couldn’t describe the sensations she felt. It was like she was
melting into him. And then his hand left her breast, and before she knew it, he
had flipped them back over.

He continued to thrust into her even as he abandoned her
lips to trail hot, steamy kisses along the length of her throat. Brooke gasped
loudly, her arms curving around his torso and her nails digging into his skin.
They picked up the pace, and one of Brooke’s legs lifted, wrapping around his
hip in an effort to take him deeper.

Blake trailed his tongue back up the column of her throat
before reclaiming her lips in a hard kiss. He was braced above her now, one
forearm on the mattress beside her, and his other hand had wandered to her
breast. He molded the pliable flesh masterfully, and their lips parted again as
he finally collided with just the right spot. He sheathed himself once more
inside of her, and they both cried out.

It was a long moment before her leg slid back to the bed,
her arms loosening around him as she tried to regain her breathing.

Blake dragged in another breath and leaned down to press a
soft kiss to her cheek even as he eased himself out of her. He half-rolled,
half-collapsed beside her. Brooke wasted no time rolling into him.

After several minutes, with Brooke tucked beneath his arm,
Blake tiredly murmured, “So … ravioli for dinner tomorrow?”

****

Tuesday was Blake’s first shift at the beach.
Unsurprisingly, by the time he showed up, the shoreline was littered with
college students. He talked for a minute with Judd, the colleague he was
replacing, before reaching his station and wrapping his hand around the lower
rung of the ladder leading up to his tower. His feet hadn’t left the ground yet
when a familiar female voice called out to him.

“Blake!” It was Brooke.

Releasing the ladder, Blake turned to face her with a
smile. He allowed himself a lingering glance at what she was wearing—cut-off
jean shorts and a loose light-blue t-shirt with the straps of her swimsuit
exposed and tied around her neck—before he said, “Hey.”

Brooke came to a stop just inside his personal space and
returned his smile with a teasing grin. “You better not have been trying to run
away from me.”

Blake chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good,” Brooke said. “Did I catch you clocking in?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged and added, “It’s not a big deal. It’s
not like we’re not allowed to talk to people.”

“That’s a relief. I’d hate to get you in trouble. But the
better question is, what’s company policy on girlfriends?”

Blake responded by planting his hands on her hips and
stealing a lingering, playful kiss. “That answer your question?”

Brooke grinned and let her fingers trail along his arm.
“More or less.” She paused before letting her arm fall to her side and somberly
asking, “I don’t suppose you’ve made any headway on figuring things out with
that … other group?”

Grin vanishing, Blake’s eyes flicked toward the ocean. “No,
we haven’t. As far as I know, there haven’t been any incidents since yours.”

“That hardly seems fair,” Brooke grumbled, crossing her
arms over her chest. Neither spoke for a moment until she said, “Hey, I forgot
to ask before, did you ever hear how Angela’s conversation went?”

“It went pretty well from what I heard. She told him after
school last week, and they went to a movie Friday afternoon. Angie didn’t say
anything about him freaking out, or not returning her messages.”

“Well, it is sort of a surreal thing to try to wrap your
head around. Maybe he’s in denial?”

Blake shrugged. “That I don’t know.” He jerked his thumb
toward the water. “Are you going to swim while you’re out here?”

“I was thinking about it,” Brooke replied with a teasing
smile. She tilted her head up towards the clear sky. “I mean, how often does it
almost hit seventy in mid-March?”

Blake chuckled. “Not very often, that’s for sure.”

Returning her eyes to him and keeping her grin firmly in
place, Brooke asked, “Are you going to watch my back if I do?”

Lips curving upwards once more, Blake replied, “That is my
job, remember.”

Waving her hands in a shooing gesture, Brooke said, “Then
you should get back to it. I’m going to go get my feet wet.” She threw in a
wink for good measure and promptly turned toward the shore.

Blake watched her go for a moment, grin still plastered on
his face, before he shook his head and once again reached for the ladder. As he
scaled the distance to his designated seat, his mind replayed their
conversation. It may not have been her intention, but she’d raised a good
point. Despite the fact that his mother could only recall two instances of attacks
from her youth, Blake’s instincts screamed that they weren’t out of the woods
yet. They all needed to be on their toes.

****

Brooke did her best not to grin like an idiot as she moved
closer to the shoreline. Flirting with her sexy lifeguard boyfriend was fine
and all, but strutting around like a love-struck high school freshman was
ridiculous. Not that it was her fault. No, as a matter of fact, it was entirely
his fault she felt this way.

She’d been wrong when she’d assumed that he’d look out of
place in the requisite red trunks of a lifeguard. And while she still preferred
seeing him in shades of blue, the red worked just fine. Or perhaps she was just
too distracted by his toned chest to pay any real attention to the contrast
between his lighter skin tone and the trunks.

And that thought sent her mind straight to the gutter. It
wasn’t near the first time she’d seen him shirtless, but getting to see him
shirtless in
public
added a whole new
level of excitement. It was almost like sneaking something your parents said
you weren’t supposed to have right under their noses.

But this wasn’t the time to be daydreaming about that kind
of thing, and so Brooke did her best to shake her mind onto a new topic as her
toes met with cool sea water. The change in temperature around her feet was
distracting, and for a moment she was able to simply gaze out over the gently
rolling waves of the ocean and relax.

It was a nearly cloudless day, the morning fog long since
dissipated, and birds were fishing not too far out. She could even see the
outline of a vessel of some sort in the distance.

I wonder if Blake can
feel my toes wiggling…
Well, so much for the distraction. But it wasn’t
like she could turn around and ask, so she was just going to have to ignore the
curiosity until later.
Maybe later
tonight?

Heaving a sigh, Brooke took another step forward so that
the waves rolled up and over her ankles. She turned enough to watch the groups
of people scattered along the beach. There was an intense game of beach
volleyball going on to her right, about halfway between the waterline and the
parking lot. Numerous couples were scattered here and there, some sitting on
beach towels and many splashing around in the shallow water. One couple was
even strolling along the water’s edge, hand-in-hand. Several groups of three or
four were moving around, dancing in the water or walking along the sand. A few
yards away, a kid of maybe ten was building a truly impressive sand castle with
his father’s help.

But there was only one man who seemed to be there by
himself. Brooke frowned as she gazed at him, realizing that he was vaguely
familiar. He was standing just beyond the reach of the water, staring out
thoughtfully toward the horizon. He wore dark slacks, his feet covered by shiny
black shoes that did not belong on a beach, and his upper body was clad in a
simple light gray t-shirt. His hands were resting in his pockets, and the tips
of his brown hair were moving, just a little, with the breeze.