Chapter 5
FIVE
JESSICA
“Come on, baby. Play with me,” he teases, that dangerous smile of his looking even more threatening now that he’s soaked, water droplets trailing down his chest.
This is a terrible idea. I sensed it the moment I agreed to spend the afternoon with him, and I still feel it now as I slip off my shoes and shimmy out of my jeans. After all, I promised my brother I wouldn’t see Kane again, yet here I am, peeling off my socks.
“You kill me,” Kane says when I stand before him in my sky-blue cotton panties, and I flush beneath his heated gaze. I have the urge to cross my arms over my breasts, but I like the way he looks at me, so I let him devour me with his hungry eyes.
Still, I’m slightly self-conscious about my underwear. They’re the cheap kind I grabbed from Target on a multibuy deal, not the luxurious lace I imagine women from the Heights wear.
Kane doesn’t seem to care.
“Take off your panties,” he says. “Let me see all of you.”
“You’ve already seen me naked.”
His lips curve as he runs a wet hand through his hair, pushing it back from his dark brows. He’s even more immersed now, the rippling water teasing his chin as he studies me like I’m all he sees in this beautiful clearing.
“And I want to see you now, too. You’re fucking beautiful.”
My heart pounds as I hook my thumbs into the fabric. Kane sinks lower in anticipation, his shaky exhale rippling the surface.
As my panties slip to my ankles, a twinge of guilt stirs in my stomach, gentle but persistent, like a whisper I try to ignore.
What am I doing? My home life is falling apart, yet here I am.
.. stripping naked for Kane Ravencourt. It’s as if my mind insists it’s wrong to feel anything but grief and sadness.
“Fuck… baby.” Kane’s heated, slightly choked whisper pulls me back to the moment. “You’re perfect.”
His words touch something in me I’m not ready to examine, something that makes my stomach flutter. I’m not overly confident in my body, but he makes me feel pretty and comfortable in my own skin.
That alone should be a major red flag.
I dip my toe in the water with a playful, teasing smile. “You call this cold?”
The best way to deal with these complicated emotions, the ones I’d rather shove under my bed than face, is good old sarcasm and snark.
Kane’s face breaks into an infectious smile that could brighten any room. “I dare you to join me without pulling a face.”
That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? I can do that.
“Stone face. Got it.”
He chuckles and quirks a finger at me. “Come join me, little thief.”
I step into the water and suppress a surprised gasp. It’s freezing.
Kane watches me intently with a slight, knowing smirk. He’s waiting for me, his defined arms creating ripples that drift toward the small beach.
“I swear if a crab bites me, I’ll make you pay.”
“Crabs live in saltwater. You’re fine.”
I wade deeper, acutely aware of my rock-hard nipples and the goosebumps raising the hairs on my arms.
“What about freshwater crabs?” I tut disapprovingly, doing my best not to suck in my gut as the water rises higher with each step. “I thought you, with your private lessons, would be better educated than that.”
While I’m talking, his mouth dips beneath the surface.
When he comes back up, his lips are wet and tempting.
“You insult me a lot, you know that?” He tilts his head, and the faint hint of a smile makes my heart beat faster.
“There are no native true freshwater crabs in North America north of Mexico.”
Fuck me. The water reaches my nipples, and Kane wasn’t lying when he said it was cold. A thousand painful needle pricks have me close to caving. But no—I refuse to let him win, even if it’s nearly impossible to keep the mask in place.
“You look cold, baby,” he teases.
“Not at all. This is warm.”
A quiet laugh slips from his lips. “I really like how stubborn you are, you know that?”
“It’s one of my finer qualities, if you ask me,” I say with a teasing grin as I finally reach him. It’s deep enough out here that I have to tread water, whereas Kane, with his impressive height, doesn’t face the same issue.
We’re close now… close enough to see the green flecks in his blue eyes. My heart rushes against my ribs when he looks at me like that.
“You got me here,” I say low, and he drops his eyes to my mouth, where the water tremors against my chin with each exhale. “What now?” I ask, my pulse roaring in my ears.
“Tell me something about yourself.”
“About me?”
He nods, his lips disturbing the surface.
“What do you want to know?”
Overhead, an eagle circles. Kane keeps his eyes on mine, as if it’s just us here. “What kind of music do you like?”
The water isn’t as cold anymore since I’ve gotten used to it—it’s almost comfortable, and I swim in circles around him, but we never break eye contact… not once.
“The old school rock classics. Think eighties.”
“Aren’t you a little young for that?”
“Who’s insulting who now?”
His lips curl slightly at the corners as he dips his head back down for another second, submerging his mouth in the water while watching me.
“What about you?” I ask. “What kind of music do you listen to?”
He rises again, lips slick under the sunlight, strands of his dark hair glued to his forehead. “A little bit of everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Artic Monkeys. The 1975. Deftones.”
“Really? I guess I pictured you listening to Mozart and Beethoven or something similar.”
Kane watches me intently for a long moment… long enough for my chest to feel strange. Then a dimple deepens in his cheek as he splashes water at me.
Surprised, I laugh and dive away, but he grabs my ankle and pulls me in, wrapping my thighs around his waist.
“Kane.” It’s hard to speak past the sudden lump in my throat. I don’t even know what to say.
“Yes, baby,” he replies, slowly sliding one hand up the back of my thigh and over my ass. His other hand grips the back of my neck, holding me close.
My nipples brush his hard chest, and I gasp, clutching his wet shoulders.
“I want to know more about you.” His gaze drops to my mouth as his hot, hard length presses against my slit. “What’s your favorite food?”
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Lasagna.”
“I like lasagna, too.”
He drags me over his length, and I part my lips with a moan. “Why does your brother not want you to see me?”
His cock splits my pussy lips as I slide back down, my head falling back.
“Oh my god. It feels… It feels…”
“Amazing, I know, but Jessica…” Kane’s voice rumbles, distant and rough. “…why does he not want you to see me?”
“Besides the obvious? You’re bad news.”
“Bad news, huh?”
His shaft drags up my slit again, the head bumping my clit.
“Why am I bad news, baby? Aside from the fact that I’m about to tear into your pussy out here in the open?”
“You’re not fucking me, Kane.” My breathy, needy voice convinces no one.
His hand tangles in my hair, pulling my gaze to his. “We both know I am. Now answer the question.”
Yes, we both know he is, but I’m still going to resist.
Kane lifts me higher, making me bounce with a surprised yelp before his hot mouth closes around my nipple.
“Fuck,” I choke out. He sucks on the sensitive bud, then swirls his skilled tongue around the other, arousal coiling low and tight in my belly, a slow burn that leaves me trembling in his arms.
As he lowers me back down and glides his cock through my slit, the world narrows to the heat where our bodies meet. My pulse kicks deep and low, every beat louder than it should be.
“Answer the question,” Kane demands, his voice tense with arousal.
“You’re from the Heights. You fuck girls and then leave them, and you’ll hurt me.” The words tumble out in a breathy rush. “Dating someone from the Heights is against the rules. It would ruin our family’s reputation. And your family is dangerous.”
The heat in his eyes cools, but only for a moment. “What about your friends? You’re close to your sister and that girl with the purple hair.”
“Rain. She’s my best friend.”
“Is she against me, too?” Kane asks, teasing me with the crown of his cock, rubbing it through my slit while his arm bands around my waist.
I shake my head. He traps his bottom lip between his teeth, his focus fixed on my mouth and eyes. “What do I need to know about her?”
What is this? A million questions. An interrogation.
“Nothing.”
“There must be something.” He presses just enough at my entrance to make me squirm, still not filling me.
“She lives in a trailer with her brother. Her mother ran away. Her father is in prison.”
Why did I tell him that? It’s none of his business. But it isn’t a secret either. He could find it out on his own.
“Good girl.” He feeds me more of his cock, just enough for the swollen head to slip inside. “Want my cock now?”
I shake my head, and his mouth curves into a dazzling smile. “No?” he asks, pushing me down on his length. “You don’t want it?”
“No,” I lie on a whispered breath.
“What a fucking shame.” He rams his cock home, sending ripples through the water as I cry out, clutching him while his thick girth stretches me.
“You’re never fucking me, Kane.”
He holds me close, his mouth brushing mine before he pulls out to the tip and thrusts back in. “I guess, I’m not, huh?” Another deep thrust rips a moan from my throat, and he says, “I guess I’ll never fuck your sweet cunt.”
“No, definitely not.”
Though his sharp thrusts are deep, he fucks me slowly and thoroughly, watching me the entire time, as pleas and whimpers spill from my lips in a breathless stream of please and more, sounds I never knew I was capable of.
“I’m definitely never fucking you, baby,” he whispers. “And you’ll never fall apart on my dick.”
“God no.” I drop my head back as he kisses my neck, nibbling on my wet, sensitive skin while the water sloshes around us.