Chapter Four #2
Laughing, she sloshed through the foaming surf and gained the firm-packed sand. Skimming her hands over her hair, she gazed up at the clear blue sky, her joy in the day expressed for all to see.
“So you get the prize,” he said, following her from the water.
“What is it?”
Wringing out her hair, she fluffed the damp strands with her fingertips.
“This.”
He pulled her against him and lowered his mouth to hers.
Her lips were cool and tasted of salt. He wanted more than a brush of lips. Would she reciprocate?
Slowly he felt her mouth move against his, open to the gentle pressure of his tongue against the seam of her mouth. Slipping inside, he felt the heat, tasted her unique flavor, the contrast to the sea salt both exotic and sweet. He wanted more.
Slowly pulling her cool body against his, he felt his own skin heat, then warm hers. Softness met hardness, passion met rising passion as he deepened the kiss and glided one hand over her back, from her shoulders to the gentle swell of her hips.
Her body moved against his in tantalizing temptation.
Her mouth responded, shyly at first. He found the uncertainty erotic, intoxicating him, building his need and desire to monumental proportions.
He’d known the woman for more than two years but the raw need that filled him at this moment staggered him. He had never felt like this before.
When she pushed against him, he eased his tight hold, pulling back enough to gaze into her stunned eyes.
Taking a trembling breath, she asked, “And what would your prize have been if you’d won?”
“This.”
He kissed her again, as hard, as long. And drew the same response as before. When he pulled back this time, both of them were breathing hard.
She licked her lips, her tongue taking its sweet time. Logan groaned, pulling her closer.
“No. Stop. This is a public beach, Logan.”
“I knew it. You’re up to something, Lily. When did you let something as inconsequential as being on a public beach stop you? What are you playing at? You’ve never come close enough for me to touch, much less kiss before. What is going on?”
“Excuse me. I don’t think I was the one kissing. If anything, I was the kissee.”
“As soon as I get enough sleep that I can think straight, I’ll figure it out, so you might as well tell me what’s going on,” he said a bit roughly.
Emma pushed away, and headed back toward their towels. He’d probably figure it out in two minutes if he wasn’t almost dead from jet lag. And when he did, how would she explain why she’d pretended she was Lily? What a mess. To save herself a flood of embarrassment, she ought to leave instantly.
“Lily?”
“You’re tired. We were playing in the water and what else could you offer as a prize?” she rationalized.
The sun now rode high in the sky, the warm air dried her skin; the sand grew hot beneath her feet.
Yesterday she’d brought the umbrella, but she’d left it in the shed this morning.
Maybe she should get it. She didn’t want to burn, there was too much yet to do on her vacation to be incapacitated by sunburn.
She could use that as an excuse to escape.
Come back to the beach after he went home.
“Give me your lotion, I’ll spread it on your back.”
Logan came up beside her, silently. She jumped and shook her head. There was no way she could think with him touching her, his kisses had proved that. She licked her lips, tasted him on them and felt heat blossom deep within.
They were on a public beach, for heaven’s sake, and she’d almost forgotten that. Actually she’d almost forgotten her name. His kisses had blown a fuse and she needed to get some sort of control over her rampant emotions. Longing went deep. Desire flooded each cell. Need clamored for release.
Sitting on her towel, she rubbed lotion on her skin, her neck and shoulders, each arm, and her legs. Replacing the cap, she lay back and closed her eyes. Even behind her closed eyelids the imprint of Logan standing beside her remained sharp and clear.
“If you had worn your bikini, you could remove the top so not to have lines,” he said lazily. From the direction of his voice, he had apparently sat on his towel.
“Oh, like I’m going topless here,” she muttered, shocked at the suggestion.
“Why not? It’s not as if you haven’t done it before, or was that story about the French Riviera just an exaggeration?”
“This isn’t the south of France.”
“No, but it’s just you and me.” Humor laced his tone.
She opened her eyes, squinting in the sun’s glare, and tried to frown at him. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
He chuckled and leaned over her. She squirmed away and closed her eyes.
She heard him move, yet his fingers on her jaw were unexpected as he tilted her head in his direction. She opened her eyes a slit. His head blocked the sun.
“I wasn’t the only one in that kiss. I felt your response. You can’t hide something like that.”
Blunt and bold, he stated the fact and nothing more.
Her heart caught, raced. Blood pounded through her.
Fire licked through her veins. The sun might burn her skin, but his words melted her center.
For one blinding moment she wondered what it’d be like to make love with Logan Beckett.
His kisses almost shattered her, making love would probably finish the job. But what a glorious way to go.
Then reality set in. He thought she was Lily. He didn’t even know her.
The reality was staggering. Appealing, exciting, daring.
No one had ever found her captivating enough to kiss her as passionately as he’d done.
Her heart pounded so hard it shook her body.
The delightful images that flooded her mind almost melted her resistance.
Would he kiss her again? Push for a closer relationship? Want to make love with her?
Good grief, she’d just met the man. She wasn’t a woman to give in to hot passionate affairs with strangers. She and the man who had proposed to her had never made love. What was she thinking?
That was the problem, she wasn’t thinking. When around Logan Beckett, she discovered she couldn’t think at all. Just feel. And the feelings were outside her normal realm.
But vacation or not, there were limits.