12. Chapter 12 #2
He breaks the kiss to drag his mouth over the corner of mine, then down to my jaw, and I can barely catch a breath.
His hands are steadying and guiding in the same breath as he backs me into the dock railing. The wood presses into my spine.
One palm slides up over my tank top, gliding across my breast before cupping it in a tight, possessive squeeze.
His other hand stays low, fingers splaying over my butt and pulling me firmly against him.
This morning solidified that this man knows exactly where to touch.
Exactly how much pressure to use. I immediately hate every imaginary scenario my brain produces.
How many women has he touched like this? How many times has he done this so well that he can reduce me to trembling with just his hands over my clothes?
I try to push the thought away and focus on the very real possibility that he might do it again.
Right here.
“Zed… anyone could walk by,” I whisper, my voice shaky as I press my hands against his chest. “You can’t—”
“Shh.” His mouth finds the side of my neck, teeth grazing. “I’ve been good all day, snowflake. Let me play a little.”
His hand travels from my ass to the front of my shorts, and my muscles tense even before he’s touched me there.
Oh God.
I feel the single, slow stroke of his fingers between my legs, pressing the fabric of my shorts against my clit. My hips jerk, a startled whimper escaping me.
“Zed!” My hands fly to his forearm, and I feel the ropes of veins beneath my fingertips, the muscles in his arm flexing as his fingers start to move.
He starts rubbing slow, perfect circles with just the right pressure. I bite my lip to stop the sounds, gripping his arm, nails digging in.
“Zed,” I breathe, even as my hips roll into his hand like they have a mind of their own. “We’re outside.”
He backs me toward the shadowed corner of the dock, guiding me where the overhang blocks most of the light. His massive frame completely shielding me. From the path or the cabins, anyone looking over would only see him, just a big man standing by the water.
“Is that why you’re soaked through your shorts, sweetheart?” he murmurs, rubbing a little firmer and faster.
“I can’t… not out here.” I whimper, torn between shoving him away and pulling him closer.
“Yes, you can.” He leans in, and his lips brush my pulse point. “If you keep quiet.”
His fingers keeping up that devastating rhythm. I would be embarrassed by how quickly he’s pulling me toward the edge, but my mind has no room for that.
“God!” My voice cracks.
He kisses me again, rolling his hips once to let me feel exactly how much of his attention I have. His hard length presses against my stomach, undoubtedly ready and undoubtedly bigger than anything I can imagine. Yet my body lights up in sweet anticipation of what it would feel like.
I let my hands travel up his forearms to his shoulders, slide around the back of his neck, and then higher. I need somewhere to put all this adrenaline before it burns straight through my skin.
He makes a low sound against my mouth when I bury my fingers in his hair and tug. His lips leave mine, dragging over my throat, and the second they find that sensitive spot below my ear, a moan slips out of me.
He does it again as his hand moves away from between my legs. I feel his fingers catch on the waistband of my shorts. A second later, the button pops open.
Oh God.
I’m not sure I’m ready for what his fingers will feel like against my bare skin.
I gasp and grab his shoulders, my nails digging into the hard muscle. “Someone will see us.”
His gaze locks with mine, narrowing with dark amusement.
“Yeah?” He tugs me closer by the open waistband of my shorts.
That look means I said exactly the wrong thing if my goal was making him back off.
“Mercer?” A familiar voice cuts across the dark.
I go rigid, and my stomach drops straight through the dock.
“Zed, that you?” my father calls out again.
I have never in my life been this close to a man in this exact configuration while my father calls his name.
Zed looks over his shoulder, glancing at my dad, then turns back to look at me. His mouth curves into the first full smile I’ve seen from this man. It’s every bit as breathtakingly beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
I shake my head no in horror.
“Just getting some air, Coach.”
I jerk against him, eyes wide.
From farther back near the path, my father curses under his breath.
“Christ, Mercer,” he calls. “I don’t know who you’ve got out there with you, but there are kids still up. Take it inside. Not out in the open like that.”
I think I’m going to combust.
My father can’t see me. From where he is, all he can probably make out is Zed’s silhouette by the water and the shape of a woman with him. Not clearly enough to know it’s me.
Zed lifts his head, and when I look at him, there is absolutely no panic on his face. He looks calm. Worse than calm. He looks like he’s enjoying this.
“Sorry, Coach,” he says, voice steady. “She’s insatiable.”
I am going to die.
“Well, she’s also loud. Inside, Mercer. Now,” my father orders.
I am going to fling myself directly into the ocean and let the fish handle the rest.
“Got it.”
My father mutters something under his breath, too quiet to fully catch, then I hear his footsteps retreating toward the house.
“Hear that?” Zed leans in close, and I can feel the dark satisfaction in him before he even speaks. “I have your daddy’s blessing,” he says, voice low, “to take you to my room.”
I’m mortified. The shame and heat mix together until I can’t tell which is stronger.
He must see it too. His mouth brushes my cheek, then the edge of my jaw, and his voice drops low and steady near my ear.
“Go.”
His arms drop to his sides and he moves his body enough to give me a little space. I slip out of his hold and stumble back a step, then another, breathing hard.
Zed straightens slowly and looks at me with hunger flickering across his face.
I take a few more steps back, bracing for him to come after me.
But he stays where he is on the dock, the look in his eyes making it clear that this isn’t over. And he doesn’t need to chase me to prove it.
Then I turn and head toward the house before my courage gives out completely.
I can feel his eyes on me the whole time. I button my shorts, looking around to make sure no one’s watching.
As I near the house, I take one last look over my shoulder. I can’t see his face, just a dark silhouette by the water and the red, blazing cherry of a cigarette.
And despite myself, a giddy smile stretches across my face.