That One Summer: A Collection of Steamy Contemporary Romance

Chapter 12

Caleb

We danced until afterten, and I wasn’t sure which was my favorite. Was it the fast rhythms with Aneka shimmying and tossing her head back with an abandon that reminded me of every moment I’d been with her since she straddled me on the dock? Or the slow grinds where her hips swayed in my palms as I held her?

I lost myself in collecting data on the pros and cons of each, but around ten, our energy for the noise and the crowd flagged.

“You want to get out—”

Aneka cut off my suggestion as soon as the band’s leader crooned the opening notes of the next song. She wrapped her arms around my waist, giddy and alluring.

“I loooove this song.”

It took a few seconds, but I listened and grinned. “U I” by Jodeci.

“This is first-class fu—”

“Boinking music,” she shouted above the din, both cutting me off and correcting my language.

“Boinking?”

“Humping? Nekkid ‘rassling?” she added with an exaggerated country accent. “I’m trying to keep it accurate, but clean. You can take the girl out of the pews...”

I cackled and bore my eyes into hers. Her hips were still in my hands as we swayed.

“You’ll always be the good girl, huh?” I asked.

“Always.” She stood on her tiptoes and spoke directly into my ear. “But not tonight.”

Her words through my body like an arrow as straight and hard as my cock.

“We should go.”

“After this song.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone holding their phone up in our direction. No doubt, the “news” would have even more stories and pictures tomorrow.

“Someone’s taking pictures,” I said.

She shrugged. “They’ve been doing it all night. I don’t care anymore.”

I searched her face for signs of drunken bravado that would lead to regrets tomorrow but didn’t find any.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said and pressed closer.

“Is that the champagne talking?”

“I stopped drinking over an hour ago.”

She hooked her arms around my waist, and the steamy song filled the room.

I’d never seen her so carefree, as if being here tonight unleashed something she’d been holding off for decades. Yes, some gave us odd looks, but most of the people who knew her seemed glad to have her back in town. A few made sly, pointed comments about her ex, which she dismissed gracefully, neither joining in on slamming the man nor defending him.

Then she went right back to dancing and joking with friends.

Aneka might still struggle with what our relationship hitting the news meant for her kids, but Elijah? She was done and so were my nagging doubts about her being on the rebound. Aneka wasn’t reactionary. She was steady, clear-minded, resilient, brave... My heart constricted in my chest as the song faded.

“Now we call it a night,” Aneka declared, her voice low and inviting.

In response, I took her head, and we headed for the door of the Fodder, waving at friends, but not stopping.

The night air was still a little stifling as we climbed into my truck. I started the engine, turned up the air, and pulled out of the spot. I headed toward the turnoff for Oak, but Aneka grabbed my elbow. I turned. The mischief in her eyes made me nervous.

“What?”

“Keep going straight.”

“To the lake? You want to go to my place?”

“Close to your place. Is the overlook still there?”

I smiled and shifted in my seat, trying not to press harder on the accelerator. “Yeah. It’s on the edge of my property.”

“You own the make out spot of all make out spots?”

“I do.”

Aneka chuckled and leaned back. “I never went up there. All I heard was stories.”

“Oh, you need more than stories.”

* * *

The anticipation betweenus put a quiver in my stomach as we climbed the narrow dirt road up a small hill to the clearing where I’d taken many a date in high school. I glanced over at Aneka, who’d cranked the radio and sang along to a catchy pop song, and the memories of those evenings faded with each turn until we reached the top.

This time, I wasn’t a nervous teenager with sweaty palms and jack rabbit energy. I circled the clearing and backed up a few yards from the overhang. It was only about a story and a half above the shoreline, so calling it a cliff would be an exaggeration.

“Why are you backing in?” Aneka asked.

“So we can sit in the flatbed. I’ve got a blanket in the back seat.”

“Saved for occasions like this one?”

“It’s been there since our picnic with Shakespeare in Kilgore,” I answered. “I don’t romance other girls anymore. Only you.”

“Such sweet talk. I almost believe you.” A shadow of emotion crossed her face, visible even in the low light.

“You should believe me. I’ll always tell you exactly what I think.”

“What about how you feel?”

Aneka leaned over the center console, so I mirrored her and lowered my voice.

“That too.”

I tipped her face up with a single finger under her chin and kissed her. The touch of her lips caught my body on fire. I held back and went slowly, answering her question with my kiss.

Aneka’s soft sigh hummed against my lips. Her palm cradled my cheek, warming my jaw and sending a coursing heat through my body. The kiss deepened, gaining intensity. She tasted like sweet tea on a hot summer day, refreshing and intoxicating all at once.

I shifted to pull her closer and banged my elbow into the gearshift. My wince turned to laughter.

“Guess it’s a little tight in here,” I murmured into her mouth.

“You said something about a blanket.”

We fumbled out of our seat belts and the car. I lowered the tailgate while Aneka pulled the king-sized quilt from the back seat and threw it over the side of the truck. She joined me at the back, and I hoisted her into the flatbed before climbing in after her.

She arranged the thick fabric into a nest and flopped to her side. I stripped off my shirt and slid beside her and drew her to me. Laughing and breathless, we tangled together and gazed up. Darkness wrapped the truck with a few points of light sprinkling the night sky.

She pressed her face into my neck, nipping her way back to my mouth.

“Kiss me.”

I did. Our fire roared to life again. We rolled over until I hovered above her, careful not to put all my weight down. Her warm breath fanned over my face while her soft hands clasped each side of my neck.

Tonight felt different. It wasn’t just Aneka’s dress slowly riding up her legs or the bold desire flashing in her eyes. It was an understanding. We both knew what we wanted. This was more than a lusty screw in a pickup, living out the old dreams we’d both had for a long time. This wasn’t about the past. It was about our future.

I would show her, but first, I wanted to say it. To be clear.

“I’ve thought about you every day since you came back.”

“Every day?” she asked.

“Every.” Kiss. “Day.” Kiss.

The plump feel of her lips on my tongue triggered a riot in my blood, flooding me with need.

“You want to know how I feel? I want to be with you every day. I don’t want to hide how I feel about you or pretend this is low key. I don’t feel low key,” I confessed.

“I don’t either. That’s why I wanted to go out tonight.”

“This is more complicated for you than for me.”

“No. It’s not. This,” she paused and put her hand on my bare chest, “is simple. Out there is complicated.”

She tossed her hand into the darkness.

“And I don’t care anymore.”

She shimmied her dress up and over her head, leaving her in nothing but her underwear, which followed her dress to a small pile next to us. The sight of her was stunning—soft brown skin under the moonlight, her dark hair coiling around her head like a halo.

Her dark gaze held mine as I worked the lace of her panties down her legs, taking them off. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I took in the sight of her, bare and unashamed under the starlight.

I kissed down her stomach to her center. The taste of her on my tongue sent a jolt of lust spiraling through me. Aneka whimpered my name like sweet music. She was divine.

She gripped my head tight as I brought her closer to that edge of oblivion. Her body was wet and warm and tasted like salvation. I slipped three fingers into her clenching pussy and let the sharpening of her moans guide me.

Her body trembled. Her grip on my hair tightened. The sound of my name turned from soft gasps to sharp cries. Her hips bucked as she convulsed around my fingers. Victory.

But before I could savor the moment, she tapped my head. I looked up, my tongue still tippling her core. She shivered, languid humor swimming in her eyes.

“We’re not done.”

I trailed my fingers up and down her thighs. “Tell me what you want.”

“You.”

I was on my knees between hers in an instant. Unfastening the waistband of my jeans and tugging them down with my boxer briefs became a group project. I stretched naked above her. She hooked her feet around my legs, and I plunged into her sweet heat, closing my eyes but still seeing stars.