Wet (Elemental 1) (22 page)

The suit itself was royal blue, with little ivory
seashell-like clasps. The top tied around her back and behind her neck, and
slim, borderline inappropriately small triangles of fabric covered her breasts.
The triangles of fabric were connected in the front by the first of the two
seashell clasps. The bottom piece was just enough to cover her, though her hips
were only encircled by a single string of fabric, which tied over her left hip
by looping through the other clasp.

With a self-satisfied smile, Brooke stepped out of the
bathroom. She didn’t bother to grab a towel on her way to the hot tub; it was a
moot point, anyway.

She was unsurprised to see Blake already settled in the hot
tub, arms stretched out over the sides and head back, looking relaxed. Even if
she hadn’t known his secret, there could be no denying that he was truly
relaxed in the water.

“Got room for me?” she teased even as she stepped into the
perfectly heated water.

Blake lifted his head, offering her a private smile as he
said, “Always.” His eyes left hers in order to take in her appearance, and he
swallowed heavily.

“You like?” Brooke asked with a small laugh, stepping to
the floor of the hot tub and slowly twirling around. When she was facing him
again, he dragged his eyes back up to hers, and she recognized the desire
swirling around in the depths of his gaze.

“You could say that,” Blake replied, his voice low and
thick. He pulled one arm from the rim of the hot tub. “Come here.”

Even as his arm extended, reaching for her, Brooke felt the
swirl of water suddenly, gently, pushing at her legs. She allowed the water to
tumble her forward, into her boyfriend, and laughingly smacked at his shoulder.
“Cheater!”

Blake’s arms came around her, hauling her properly up to
him, and he grumbled, “I’m more about results, really.” He caught her ensuing
laughter in a hard kiss as his mouth slanted over hers.

Brooke moaned against his lips as he devoured her, and her
hands clenched over his shoulders, searching for purchase. One of his hands
slid up her back, over the ties of her swimsuit, until he had tangled it in her
hair. His other arm wound entirely around her waist, holding her tightly
against him as his tongue swept over hers.

He was holding her tightly, her breasts pushed up against
his chest and her nails digging into his shoulder, when she shifted against him
and tore a muffled groan from his throat. Her leg dragged across his lap, and
then she was straddling him. She allowed one of her hands to slide, nails still
scraping his skin, up and into his hair.

As Blake sucked her tongue into his mouth, he slid his hand
from the small of her back to her barely covered backside and squeezed
deliberately. The action, synchronized with his tongue moving against hers,
caused Brooke to roll her hips forward and into his straining arousal. They
both groaned at the contact, neither quite breaking from the kiss.

Brooke took a deep breath through her nose and pulled her
lips from his in order to trail hot kisses along his jaw. His hold on her
remained strong as she kissed and licked her to way to his ear slowly. She
angled her head to nibble on his earlobe. He groaned faintly, his own hips
lifting off the bench and rolling into hers.

“I have a confession,” Brooke murmured, her lips brushing
the shell of his ear. He hummed an inquiry without actually saying anything,
and she paused to let her tongue run along his ear. “I’ve always wanted to have
sex in a hot tub.”

Blake swallowed as her tongue resumed its torture on his
ear. “I think I can help you with that.”

“Yeah?” Brooke asked teasingly, her hot breath fanning over
his moistened ear and down his throat.

“Yeah,” Blake replied. He released her hair and trailed his
hand over her throat until he found the tie on her new swimsuit, and in one
swift tug, the tie came loose. Without skipping a beat, his hand trailed lower,
finding the second tie and pulling it free as well.

Brooke leaned back, removing her lips from the skin beneath
his ear, and used one hand to pull the bikini top off. She released it carelessly,
letting it float away on the water. She watched him, a seductive smile on her
face, as her hand returned to his shoulder and she lightly traced her nails
over his skin. Her hand went down, nails skimming his collar, until she was
able to trace her fingers over his nipple.

Blake sucked in a breath even as his own hand pulled around
her until he had cupped one of her breasts in his palm. Her hand stilled
immediately, and he squeezed gently, watching as her head fell back, eyes
closed, and she arched into his touch. Her hips rolled into his again as he
rubbed his thumb along her hardened nipple. She gasped his name, and he
repeated the motion, his other hand releasing her bottom in order to trail up
her side.

He paused, taking a minute to caress her other breast
simultaneously. His own groans tore from his throat as she continued to roll
her hips into his, both of her hands now clinging to his shoulders as she let
him pleasure her. He released her breasts then and slid his hands up to curve
over her shoulders and behind her throat, tugging her forward.

Their lips met again hungrily, and one of Blake’s hands
immediately slid back down, dipping again beneath the surface of the warm
water. In no time, he found the seashell clasp over her hip and tugged it free.
With her straddling his hips, it was no effort at all for him to tug the
material away from her body and release it to float alongside her top.

Her tongue plunged into his mouth as his fingers began
trailing along her upper thigh. His other hand slid down her spine a little,
holding her close, and they both groaned again when his wandering hand found
her center and he slipped a finger inside her. Her hands released his shoulders
in order to frame his face, and she dominated the kiss as he pumped his finger
in and out of her over and over again.

She pulled away a minute later, sucking in ragged breaths
and gasping his name as she continued to roll her hips forward. Her hands slid
back, tangling his hair.

****

Blake leaned forward and locked his lips over her throat,
sucking and licking the sensitive skin for a moment before he pulled his hand
away from her center entirely. He heard her groan with frustration at the lost
contact and smirked against her skin. His hands shifted, and his arms wrapped
around her before he lifted his own hips off the bench beneath him. The water
swirled at his mental command, acting as spare hands, and easily tugged his
trunks from his hips.

When he was free of the discarded fabric, he re-settled
against the bench and lifted his head enough to see her face.

Their eyes met. One of her hands disentangled itself from
his hair in order to frame his face as she breathlessly gasped, “Now would be
good.”

He grinned, whole-heartedly agreeing with her sentiment,
and huskily replied, “Your wish is my command.”

Their hips rolled together, and he was immediately sheathed
within her. Blake’s head fell back, and a groan tore from his throat as his
arms tightened around her. Brooke’s eyes fell shut, and her head collapsed
against his shoulder as he surged within her, a gasp escaping her lips.

After a moment, Blake’s arms loosened and his hand slid
down to her bare hips. His grip tightened again and his hips rose, his arousal
thrusting back into her. Brooke lifted her head from his shoulder and let her
nails drag down his chest as she rolled her hips against his at an almost
desperate pace.

Blake couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her nails scraped up
and down his chest, sides, and arms, and the faint stinging only heightened the
sensations coursing through him. The water was swirling and sloshing against
their bodies, lapping at the undersides of Brooke’s breasts teasingly, and
Blake allowed himself to expand his senses.

Suddenly, he could feel her everywhere, and he could feel
every curve of her body simultaneously as she moved against him. Like he was
caressing each smooth, delectable surface with his hands. The pleasure was
indescribable. All he wanted was to bury himself inside her and stay there.

Brooke gasped as Blake increased the pace, pulling her
flush against him again and crashing his lips to hers. She fell into the kiss
willingly, eagerly, clinging to him as she met his new rhythm thrust for
thrust.

Their tongues were still dancing together when Brooke’s
orgasm hit. Her inner walls tightened and squeezed around him just moments
before she tore her lips from his, choking on a gasp that sounded a lot like
his name. And her release was the final push he needed to find his own.

Neither moved for a long minute, their bodies still joined
and Brooke mostly collapsed against his chest and shoulder as they breathed.

Slowly, carefully, Blake eased out of her. The motion
pulled Brooke from her haze, and she shifted, half-climbing, half-sliding off
him until she was resting at his side.

Feeling ridiculously comfortable, Blake’s arm encircled her
loosely. He let his head fall back as he asked, “So, how was your fantasy?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brooke laughed, the sound soft and tired at first, but it
built into full, honest laughter. “Let’s just say we really need to do that
more often.”

Blake chuckled, his fingers absently skimming along her
smooth arm. “Definitely.”

Brooke took a deep breath, but it was another long,
comfortable minute before she said, “You know what, though? I’m starving, and
we haven’t had dinner.”

“That’s a good point.” Blake lifted his head from the rim
of the hot tub. “It would be bad to go to bed without having dinner, especially
when we both have class tomorrow.”

Cringing, Brooke reached up and put a hand to his chest,
halting his movement. “Let’s not talk about things like school and work
tonight, okay? I’m not feeling that responsible.”

Blake’s lips curved into an easy grin. “Whatever you say,
beautiful.” He shifted and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ve got a
couple boxed dishes that only take about twenty minutes in the oven.”

“That sounds perfect,” Brooke declared as she sat up
properly. She smiled at him before looking around for her discarded suit, which
had gathered along the opposite wall of the hot tub. Her bikini was tangled
with his trunks, trapped between the currents of two jets.

Blake followed her gaze and laughed faintly as the current
of the jets altered course until they were propelling the discarded fabric
forward. As he plucked his shorts from the pile, he said, “Special delivery.”

Brooke laughed and moved away from him in order to pull her
swimsuit back on.

“For the record,” Blake added, his trunks already in place
and one hand braced on the edge of the hot tub, “that swimsuit was a brilliant
purchase.”

As she tied the top around her neck, Brooke grinned and
said, “You have such a dirty mind.”

“Says the one who lured me to the hot tub specifically so
that she could fulfill her naughty fantasy.” As he spoke, he climbed from the
water, his body absorbing the moisture that clung to his skin as he pulled
away.

Brooke had finished tying her bikini into place by the time
he’d stepped out of the hot tub, and as she climbed out after him, she gave him
a teasing smirk. “You say that like you think that was my
only
fantasy.”

Blake stopped moving, finding himself watching her as she
passed him. He hadn’t actually given a thought as to how many inappropriate
fantasies she might have, but now he couldn’t help but wonder. And the thought
had him thinking they’d left the hot tub a little too soon.

Brooke paused, halfway through the sliding glass door, and
looked over at him. “Aren’t you coming?”

Releasing a breath, Blake smiled. “Of course.”
This woman might be the death of me,
he
decided as he followed her into the house, belatedly pulling the water off her
dripping body.
On the other hand, is
there a better way to go?
He shook his head, laughing silently at himself.

****

Brooke detoured into the bedroom—which she was now sharing
with Blake—and called, “I’ll be out in a minute. There’s no way I’m eating
dinner in a bikini.”

She didn’t comment on Blake’s resulting chuckle as she
moved to her new nightgown, which was draped over the foot of the bed. She
might not be willing to eat dinner in a swimsuit, but she had no qualms about
eating dinner in her pajamas. So she grabbed the nightgown, moved to grab a
pair of clean panties, and continued on to the bathroom.

The nightgown and panties were folded and waiting on the
side of the counter, and Brooke’s arms were up, reaching for the tie behind her
neck, when her eyes landed on a faint red spot on her skin. She paused,
realizing immediately what it was, and her hand lowered until her fingertips
were brushing the mark. It would undoubtedly be gone by the time she was warm
enough to take off her coat the following morning, but she still couldn’t stop
the grin.

He gave me a hickey.
She felt like a teenager for feeling even slightly excited about that fact, but
there was no denying she was. Until she convinced him to give her a ring, a
hickey was just about the most blatant advertisement of his possession that she
was going to get.

She paused again, her hand stilling over the red mark and
her eyes going wide.
Until he gives me a
ring,
she repeated slowly.
Oh God.
She swallowed heavily. Somehow, there was a big difference between knowing she
was in love with the man and knowing she wanted to marry him. But she did, she
realized. She wanted it more than she’d wanted just about anything, ever.

****

“I’ve made a decision,” Georgia declared the next night as
she met up with Brooke in the drink station.

Brooke, paying only the necessary amount of attention to
what she was doing, pulled her focus forward. “A decision about what?” The last
time Georgia had made such a declaration, she’d ended up dragging Brooke to a
bar and getting more than a little drunk. On the other hand, that was also the
night Georgia had met her current boyfriend.

Georgia stuck a glass filled with ice under the soda
machine. “We need to do something fun. Just us girls, you know? Get away for a
few hours, forget all our problems,
talk
about our
love lives, that sort of thing.”

“That sounds like a high school sleepover,” Brooke said as
she set one filled glass on her tray and then reached for the second.

“Ah, but it’ll be better,” Georgia insisted as she began
filling her own glass. “The next time we have the same day off I’ll rent us a
boat, and we’ll go floating off shore. I love just floating around.”

Curious, Brooke asked, “Why not skip the boat rental and
just use the main beach?”

Georgia clucked her tongue at Brooke, reaching for a new
glass as she said, “Because you can go farther out in a boat, of course!”

Of course,
Brooke
thought with a mental eye-roll as she secured her second glass on her tray and
stepped out of Georgia’s way. “I have Tuesday off,” she said.

Smiling, Georgia pulled her second glass from beneath the
stream. “Great! Then we’ll do it Tuesday! We’ll pack a lunch and meet in the
morning, and make a day of it! Back before the rental place closes, of course.”

“Who all are you inviting?” Brooke asked.

Georgia pursed her lips. “Well, I’ll probably invite Emma,
but I doubt anyone else would want to come anyway. And this is a strictly-girls
thing, so no boyfriends, got it?”

With a laugh, Brooke turned toward the dining area and
assured her friend, “Relax, he works Tuesday anyway.”

As Georgia turned to follow Brooke, she asked, “Will you
want me to pick you up? Or do you think you’ll have a car by then?”

Brooke swallowed a sigh of frustration. “I’ll meet you at
the beach. Blake and I are going to the dealership this weekend, but I doubt
I’ll be able to afford a new car just yet, so I’ll ride with him to the beach
on Tuesday.”

“That’ll work, too,” Georgia allowed. With barely a pause,
as the doors swung shut behind her, Georgia asked, “Hey, when’s the new girl
supposed to get here again, do you remember?”

Brooke paused for a beat as she tried to re-orient her
brain. “Uh, Monday, I think. Why?”

Georgia came up beside her so that she could whisper, “I
always get nervous with Earl in the kitchen. Anyway, talk later!” And then she
sashayed off to her patiently waiting table.

Brooke shook her head even as she turned toward her own
table. It was a sentiment she didn’t necessarily disagree with, though she
herself was usually more wary with Paula running the kitchen than Earl.
Either way, it’ll be nice to get a solid
routine going again
.

She was standing before her table, preparing to hand out
the drinks, when she finally registered the sudden pit in her stomach. It felt
as if someone were boring holes into her back, and she suddenly wanted to throw
up. Still, she fought to keep her smile in place as she set down the drinks and
pulled out her notepad to take their orders.

“Are you all right, Brooke?” Mrs.
Buchannon
asked after her order had been jotted down. She was sitting opposite her
younger daughter, and both women were looking up at Brooke with concerned
frowns.

“Yeah,” Clarabelle said, her voice quiet, “you look a
little pale.”

Brooke swallowed and attempted another smile as she tucked
away the notepad. “Oh, I’m fine.” She paused, suddenly remembering a
conversation she’d had with Clarabelle once before, and lowered her own voice
to ask, “Hey, Clare, have you learned anything more about … that guy?”

Clarabelle’s eyes lit up instantly with realization and she
slowly shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I’ve only seen him in passing twice
since you asked me, and no one I’ve talked to even knew who I was talking
about.”

Mrs.
Buchannon
was looking back
and forth between them, before finally settling her gaze on her daughter and
asking, “What are we talking about?”

Clarabelle leaned over the table so that she could
stage-whisper, “The guy in the expensive shirt that’s sitting in the booth
behind Brooke.”

“It’s nothing, really,” Brooke quickly insisted. “Just sort
of a, um, passing curiosity. Anyway, thanks, Clare. I’ll be back with your
salads soon.” She offered them one more slightly less strained smile and turned
to make her exit. But she couldn’t stop her eyes from flicking to the side, and
she immediately regretted it.

Mystery Man was staring at her blatantly, and for the beat
that their gazes met, his eyes narrowed and she could have sworn they sparked.

Best not to test that
theory,
she decided as she continued to the next table. She pulled her
attention forward and did her best to ignore him, eternally grateful that he
wasn’t sitting at one of her tables.

****

Blake was walking downtown when he saw him—the older man
that was somehow related to Brooke’s ‘Mystery Man’; the man they suspected was
responsible for Nate’s accident. He was exiting a shoe store less than a block
ahead of Blake, and turning in the opposite direction.

Despite having only seen the man once, briefly, Blake was
sure it was the same man, just as he’d been sure that the older man Logan had
seen was the man who’d glared at him back in February. And he knew he’d never
get a better chance to finally get a few answers. They were in the middle of
Main Street, and though it wasn’t particularly busy, there were plenty of
people around. Blake doubted the old man would try anything with so many
potential witnesses.

Decision made, he quickly increased his pace and began
jogging after the man. He didn’t care if a few people gave him odd looks for
running down the sidewalk. If he could get even two answers out of the man, it
would be worth it.

“Hey!” Blake called when he was close enough.

The man was taller up close than he’d remembered, though
not by much. He wore a lightweight jacket, black dress shoes, and overly ironed
black slacks. A single plastic bag hung from one hand, and his other hand was
tucked away in his pocket. Up close, and from this different angle, Blake could
see that the man still had traces of brown in his full head of gray hair.

The man in question stopped walking when Blake called out
to him, and after a deliberate pause, he turned in place. He said nothing as he
turned to face Blake, meeting Blake’s eyes fearlessly. Blake noted, now that he
was really looking, the man didn’t actually appear as old as he’d first
assumed. He bore notable lines across his face, proof of a hard life, but he
didn’t actually look much older than Blake’s own parents. His expression was
cold, detached, and his dark eyes betrayed nothing but hatred. His tone was
demeaning as he said, “Blake Hawke, I suppose?”

Blake’s eyes narrowed. He had honestly expected the man to
play dumb.
Good,
he thought.
I wasn’t in the mood for that game, anyway.
“And you would be?”

“Busy,” the man replied shortly. “You should enjoy your
final days, elemental.” With a final sneer, he turned to resume walking.

“You don’t really think I’m going to let you walk away
without answering me, do you?” Blake challenged, taking a small step forward.

The man paused again, now sideways to Blake, and turned his
head to glare at him once more. “Are you under the impression that because
we’re in
public
I’m not willing to
strike you down? You fool. My family’s entire purpose in life is to eradicate
your family from existence. These ignorant human witnesses mean nothing to me.”

Opting to ignore the man’s blatant superiority complex,
Blake said, “My family has done nothing to any of you. And if you really wanted
to ‘strike me down’, you’re missing a prime opportunity right now.”
Okay, so goading the lightning-throwing
enemy is probably stupid,
he reflected after the words had left his mouth.
Too late now. So let’s see what he does with
it.

His dark eyes narrowed even more, and his hand curled
around the handle of the plastic bag he still held. “I’m going to let you live
today,” he said in a tone that perfectly matched his expression. “Perhaps you
should use the time to educate yourself, you insolent fool.”

The man had already turned around, his back once more to
Blake, by the time Blake said, “Are you talking about that old feud? The one
that supposedly happened
centuries
ago? Because if you are, you need to realize that
my family
had nothing to do with that!”

The older man stopped walking once again, only a few feet
away, and almost immediately, Blake could feel the increase in electrical
energy swirling in the air around him. He had definitely ticked him off with
that one.

“You know nothing,” the man spat as he turned back around.
He did not step closer, but there was a definite spark in his eyes. “The fact
that my ancestors were nearly exterminated before my time does not mean you
should be forgiven. Justice will not be achieved while even one elemental
breathes!” He took a deep breath, and the crackle in the air receded slightly.
His cold, calm edge returned when he opened his eyes again. “Your time is
nearly up, Hawke.”