Chapter 29 Bad News About the Green Bikini
Bad News About the Green Bikini
Eric
I follow Darcy back to our beach chair. Maybe she can feel the way I’m eyeing the swing of her hips, because she gives me an arch look over her shoulder before I can sit down. “I have bad news about the green bikini.”
“What?” I pull up short and grab my chest. “I don’t think you understand. The green bikini is incapable of letting me down.”
She looks up at the cloudless sky. “I’ve had about forty minutes of sun already, and sunblock only goes so far. A redhead has to cover up. Or else I’ll look like a lobster tomorrow. And on the off chance that my family includes me in any of the wedding photos…” She shrugs.
It kills me that her fucking family treats her like an outsider. That’s not a problem I can solve. But the sunburn is. “You need to get out of the sun.”
She reaches for her beach bag. “I have a lot of SPF clothing in here. I’m used to this.”
“I’ve got a better idea. Come on.” I shove my feet into my shoes. “Come with me.”
“But you wanted some sunshine?”
“And I’m gonna get it. Just not here. Follow me.”
I take Darcy’s hand and walk her back inside the hotel. In the elevator, I hit the button for the penthouse floor. “We’ll hang out on your terrace. I saw an umbrella out there.”
“But the beach…”
“I’m still at the beach, Kendrick.”
Upstairs, she unlocks the room, and I march right out to the terrace and start rearranging the furniture. “Check the mini fridge? Did the Diamond Member get a refill on drinks and snacks?”
Darcy heads inside, emerging a few minutes later with some drinks and a bowl of giant strawberries. I’ve set up our two lounge chairs side by side, with one of them shielded by the umbrella, and the other not.
It’s glorious up here. Sunlight glints off the distant waves, and there are zero annoying family members in sight.
“You’re a genius,” she says.
“Nope. In spite of what our families think, it’s not actually that hard to give everybody what they need.”
She gives me a funny little smile, and together we relax on our respective chairs. The green bikini is on full display, and after a few strawberries and some seltzer water, I nod off to the sound of the surf and seagulls’ calls on the breeze.
When I wake up half an hour later, Darcy is lying on her tummy, her chair reclined. She’s flipping contentedly through a magazine.
“How much time do we have until the wedding rehearsal starts?” I ask lazily.
“Two hours,” she says. “Technically, we’re not required to go to the rehearsal, just the dinner.”
“I need to stop by to make sure my father turns up, because I promised Maribel I would give her away if my parents get squirrely.”
“Oh.” She gives me a soft look. “That’s really nice of you.”
“Being there for Maribel is the simplest thing in the world. I wish my mother could see that.”
Darcy looks sad. “I wish she’d figure it out. But some people never do.”
“I’m starting to catch on. You were right when you said that I can’t make my mother behave. I can only change my reaction.”
“Oh God.” She reaches over and gives me a friendly nudge. “Don’t take advice from me! I’m the one who lost her cool today.”
“Yeah, you did,” I say, catching her hand and kissing the palm. “You naughty thing.”
She sniffs. “Tessa had it coming, though.”
“Sure did.” We both laugh, but I don’t let go of her hand. I place it on my chest, instead. “That’s not the only thing you’ve done wrong, baby. You’re actually very naughty.”
She gives me an amused glance. “How do you figure? Have I not been a perfect wedding date? I’m fantastic at scouting out the best appetizers. I cheated in the hedge maze when you asked me to. And then I invited you on a very exciting tour of the local emergency room.”
“Uh-huh. But there are still some issues that need addressing. Let’s discuss, please. I’ll need you to behave and hear me out.” I swing my legs over the shady side of the chair, and then I pat my thigh. “Come here, honey. It’s lesson time.”
For a second, Darcy looks a little bit startled, and I wonder if she’s going to play along. But then she slowly sets her magazine aside and sits up to transfer her weight onto my lap.
“Captain,” she whispers in a husky voice. “What seems to be the problem?”
Christ. I inhale the scent of coconut lotion and sun-kissed skin, and my blood is already rushing south before I’ve even told her my plans. “We have plenty to discuss,” I purr, running a hand through her hair. “See, you play the part of a good girl, but you’ve actually been very bad.”
“Have I?” she whispers. “Last night?”
I shake my head immediately. “Last night you were perfect. An A+ student at the Tremaine School of Good Times.”
Her lips twitch. “Did I miss an assignment, then?”
“You did. And I’m kind of pissed off about it, to be honest.”
My delivery must be pretty convincing, because her expression turns uncertain. “What could I have possibly done to make you mad?”
“It’s what you didn’t do,” I say simply. “Because you knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Knew what?” She reaches up to rub a hand against my scratchy chin, and our gazes lock. “I don’t understand.”
“You knew,” I say quietly, “exactly how good we’d be together. And you weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?”
Her eyes widen. Then she gives her head a petulant shake. “No. I wasn’t going to tell you. Ever.”
“How come?” I demand. “Only a bad girl would hold out on me like that.”
Her eyes darken, and she strokes a thumb across my jaw. I feel it in my cock. “I wasn’t going to tell you, Captain, because it was so obvious that you should have been able to figure it out for yourself. You do walk past my desk every day.”
“Kendrick,” I whisper, leaning in to scrape my whiskers against her cheek. “Are you trying to tell me I’m a dumb jock?”
Her chest shakes gently with suppressed laughter. “You said it. Not me.”
I take her earlobe between my teeth and give it a little bite. When she inhales sharply, I put my tongue in her ear. Her hands turn to liquid on my body, and I can see her pulse flutter at her throat.
“Kendrick,” I whisper. “It’s not nice to call a man stupid. Our egos are very fragile. And you should know that bad girls deserve punishment.”
She shivers slightly, then presses closer to me. I can feel the heat rising off her sun-warmed skin. “What sort of punishment?”
“The teasing kind.” I run my fingertips lightly down her bare back. “Bad girls get stripped down and teased. And tasted.” I slide a hand between her thighs, and she clenches her legs around my hand. “Can I demonstrate? It’s the best way for you to learn your lesson.”
She nods immediately.
“Answer me out loud, Kendrick. That’s how this problem started, right—you didn’t tell the jock what he needed to hear?”
“Right.” She clears her throat. “Okay, Captain. School me. Show me the error of my ways.”
The moment the words are out of her mouth, I tighten my arms around her and rise from the chair. She lets out a little yelp of surprise, but I’m already heading inside, toward the bedroom.
When I get there, the bed is pristinely made. It gives me great joy to reach down and yank the comforter onto the floor. Then I set Darcy down on the edge of the bed. “Let’s get this out of the way.” I nudge the straps of the world’s best bikini off her shoulders. “Off, please.”
The command has Darcy glancing up at me. She reaches around to her back and fiddles with the closure. Holding my gaze, she drops the bikini top and lets it slide off the bed, revealing herself to me. Then? She leans back on both elbows and gives me a sultry look. “Better?”
“So much,” I say roughly, because weeping with joy might destroy the tough-guy cred I’m working on. “Now, lie properly on the bed. Head on the pillow.”
She lifts her smooth legs and moves into position, just like I asked.
“Good girl,” I encourage her. I’m shedding my own shirt now. And—fuck it—my swim trunks, too. My cock stands tall at the ready, and I see her eyes travel there and stop. She licks her lips, and my whole body tightens with expectation.
But I have plans, and they don’t involve her mouth. Not just yet, anyway.
Instead, I move onto the bed and kneel, nudging her legs apart. I drop down onto my elbows, my lips skimming a trail across her tummy, right above her bikini bottom. Her stomach ripples, and she sighs.
“You like that?”
“Yes,” she says softly. “More.”
“You’ll get more when I’m ready,” I insist. I move to her inner thigh and lick a stripe across her skin. She makes another soft noise and moves her hands into my hair.
“Nuh-uh,” I say suddenly, glancing up. “No touching me.”
“Okay,” she says quickly.
And when she spreads her arms out on the bed, it gives me an idea. “Darcy—I’ve got a question for you. Answer carefully. Remember your plans for my bow tie?”
Her cheeks redden instantly. Fascinating. “Y-yes?”
“Was that just a joke? Because I’d like to restrain your hands, if you’re into it.”
She inhales sharply. “Do it.”
I sit up slowly, taking in her excited flush, and hoping she really means it. “Yeah?”
“Just said so, didn’t I?”
Can’t argue with that. Wouldn’t even want to try.