Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (20 page)

Everyone chuckled, including her.

She glanced over at me and smirked.
"Well, enjoy yourself. It's the only weenie you'll be seeing me
blow."

The group laughed louder.

"Maybe. We'll see." I let my
smile falter a little as the image of her on her knees in front of me blasted
through me, promising to cripple me.

"You guys are too much." Clay
shook his head. "Who wants to tell the first ghost story?"

"I think instead of ghost stories, we
should tell stories on each other. I'll go first." Derek smiled and
glanced over at me.

"Oh shit...why am I suddenly
terrified?" I laughed as he continued.

"So a couple of years ago, Brody here
decided that he wanted to try and steal the panties from the president of the Sigmas.
It was a feat no man had yet taken on and come out victorious, but this bastard
just knew he could do it."

"Hey...let's be fair now."
Daniel cut in. "No man had done it before because Danielle didn't wear
panties. Everyone knew that."

"Danielle Moore?" Cindy piped
up. "I know her. We took a marketing class together."

"I thought you were going to be a
chef?" Derek turned from the group and glanced down at Cindy.

"Keep going, please..." Cora
begged.

I glanced over at her and let my eyes run
down the length of her.
She's everything
I want in a woman.

She looked my way as her smile reached her
eyes. "Did you get the panties?"

"Yep, but I didn't sleep with
her." I winked and reached for her hand. "Come on, I'm not in the
mood for stories."

"Awww, we're just getting
started." Dedra called after us as I pulled Cora down to the water's edge
with me.

She took another bite of her hot dog and
tugged her hand from mine. "What exactly do you think you're doing? I wear
panties, and you can't have mine."

"It's not your panties I want."
I tossed my stick behind me. "First one naked and in the water is the
winner. You ready?"

"No, I'm not playing your stupid
game." She shrugged and took another bite of her hot dog, watching me with
a false sense of disinterest.

"Fine, but the winner gets to
pick." I reached down and tugged my shirt out of my shorts.

"Pick what?" She reached out and
gripped my hand to stop me from taking off my shirt.

"Pick the inevitable. You
know...which position we fuck in first." I moved back and pulled my shirt
over my head, half expecting her to scoff at me. She had her shirt over her
head and was headed toward the water before I could blink twice.

Good. At least I'd validated the one thing
I needed to know most: she still wanted me.

Chapter 21

Cora

Damn
him
.
I hated more than anything to lose a battle, and even though my actions would
solidify the fact that I knew we were eventually going to end up in bed
together, I was tired of moping. I was ballsy and controlling and got what the
fuck I wanted out of life, too. He wasn't the only one with game.

Laughter bubbled up out of me as I ripped
my top off and stopped at the edge of the water to tug my bottoms down. I
glanced back to see him standing there stark naked with his eyes wide.

"Shit. You win; I'll give you
anything you want." His voice was airy as he brushed his hand over his
chest. His body was hidden by the darkness, but the bits I could make out from
the shadows of the moonlight were delicious. Cut abs and thick thighs framed
his large cock, which stood erect and ready for attention.

"Fuck," I muttered and turned
around, walking into the warmth of the lake. "Come on. I won. Guess what
position I choose."

I turned to watch him walk in after me,
stalking me like a hungry predator might his prey.

"Tell me. I'm dying to know." He
moved into the water until it covered his waist and stopped. "You're so
fucking beautiful. Did you know that? I need to apologize.”

"No, you don't." I took a few
more steps back and sunk down until the water covered my chest.

"What position, Cora?" He moved
closer as voices called at us from the shoreline.

"None." I laughed and swam over
to the side a little. "Come on, guys. Feels great."

"Did you guys really just strip
down?" Emily picked up my bikini and held it up against the moonlight.

"That's what skinny dipping is."
I tried to ignore the nervousness as Brody moved closer to me. He stopped just
beside me and turned to look at our friends.

"Stop being chicken shits and come
on. You guys wanted this."

I yelped as something nipped at my butt,
and I shot out of the water. "What the hell?"

"That was me." He smiled and
reached for my hand. "Come here. Let's pretend we're still pissy with each
other and that sleeping together is the farthest thing from our minds."

"I'm not sleeping with you. You have
a million women.” I yelped again as he tugged me toward him, his body pressing
flush against mine. Desire raced through me in thick waves as I reached out and
rested my hands to his shoulders.

His strong hands wrapped around my waist
and pulled me in tight. "Hush."

"What? Where is this coming
from?" I turned my head a little as my heart worked to beat its way out of
my chest. I'd slept with plenty of guys over the years, and yet this guy left
me feeling like a virgin all over again.

"It's the buildup of a long week of
thinking about nothing but you. I fucked up. Badly." He moved back and
pulled at my hand. "Come on. Swim over to this alcove with me."

"Brody. You know this isn't good for
either of us." I let him pull me along, not really wanting to dive back
into whatever was starting between us, and yet not able to deny him. I was
interested and wanted to see where it would go, even if it ended with one of us
hurt. It was even harder to fight against myself naked in the water with him
beckoning me.

"That's why we should just go with
it." He released my hand and moved into an open area where the moonlight
bathed the water. "I said I was sorry for the other night. I fucked up
because I was trying so damn hard to be someone I wasn't."

"The good guy?" I kept my chest
under the water and moved toward him.

"No, Cora. That was me at dinner, but
by the time we'd gotten to the beach, I'd talked myself out of trying to seduce
you. I didn't want you to look at me like everyone else does. I'm a dick, yeah,
great, but there's more to me than that. At least, I think there is. I want
there to be."

I moved closer to him, unable to help
myself. His thick shoulders bobbed above the water's edge, and the wicked smile
on his lips left my thoughts diving into depravity.

"So you turning me down wasn't about
me not being good enough to take to bed?" I stood up, letting the curve of
my breasts touch the top of the water. "I mean, you've taken everyone else
to bed from what I hear. Why not me?"

He offered his hand. "Is that a joke?
You're the hottest girl on this fucking lake, and I've not slept with everyone
on the lake. Almost, but I'm not quite there yet. You showing up kinda thwarted
my plans."

"Whore," I whispered as I took
his hand and let him pull me toward him.

"Help me change that?" He slid
his hands over my hips and up my back, surprising me a little. I half assume he
would cop-a-feel the minute he got a chance.

"Something tells me I would only add
to-”

"There you guys are!" Emily's
voice pulled me from the moment, stunning me a little. I moved back and turned
from Brody, almost grateful for the break. I was ready to forgo my promises to
keep away from the sexy bastard and just dive in deep, if even for a night.

"Now who's being shy?" Derek
laughed and moved through the water with the rest of the group in tow.

"I was hoping to show Cora a
different side of my personality. That I'm not just all heat and tension,
muscle and manliness." Brody moved up beside me, still keeping his hands
to himself.

"Yeah right. We've heard all your
lines before buddy." Clay moved to my left and pulled Emily to rest
against his side as he glanced up at the sky. "It's beautiful out here.
How did we get so lucky?"

"I don't know, but someone must be
doing something right." Daniel's voice was nothing more than a whisper.

I reached out and brushed my hand down
Brody's arm until I found his palm. I wrapped my hand around his and moved
closer as I gazed up. I wanted what everyone else had, I just was choosing the
wrong man to have it with. On one hand, it was a good thing, seeing that I
wouldn't be breaking tradition, but on the other hand...could I survive a guy
like him?

He squeezed my hand under the water and
cleared his throat. "What's the plan for tomorrow night? Are we going to
the big bash in town or doing something together, just the eight of us?"

"Let's do both." Cindy wrapped
her arms around Derek's neck and pressed herself to his back. He growled
softly, causing all of us too chuckle.

"I agree. Both sounds fun."
Dedra turned to Daniel and smiled. "I'll race you to the dock across the
lake?"

"I'm a good swimmer. You sure about
that?" He smiled, looking incredibly handsome without his glasses.

"Can you see a fucking thing?"
Brody asked, smirking.

"Nope, but there's no need to when I'm
swimming, you ass." Daniel moved toward Dedra. "Winner gets to choose
where we eat tomorrow night."

"You're on." They took off as we
all watched in anticipation of Dedra smoking him.

"Why did he offer something like
dinner, and you offered-” I started, but Brody cut me off.

"Because he's a really, really nice
guy. I'm just a nice guy." He turned to face me a smiled. "Let's find
some place we can talk. Just us."

"And, by talk he means” Clay started,
but Emily cut him off.

"Alright, you. Let's go back toward
the boats and make out. Stop cock-blocking." She pulled him away, and
Cindy and Derek followed them.

"She's gotten a little more ballsy
since you guys got here, hm?" Brody turned to me and smiled, pulling me
closer.

I brushed my hands up his chest and
stifled the need to sigh at how fucking good he felt against me.

"She's getting comfortable around you
guys, which is always a good thing." I slid my foot down the outside of
his leg and brushed my hands up to cup his neck. "I'm not sure them
leaving us alone is a good thing, though."

"I agree." He moved closer and
touched the side of my face. "But there's no point in not taking full
advantage of it."

I couldn't think of anything but how good
it would feel to have his mouth on mine again, his body pressed against mine.

His hands tightened on my hips as I leaned
in and pressed my lips to his.

A groan left both of us, and I opened
myself up, inviting his tongue deep into my mouth. As badly as I wanted to wrap
my legs around his waist and grind against him, I held back. Fucking in the
lake sounded hot, but it wouldn't at all be the experience I wanted for us—at
least for our first time. I could only hope that somewhere in the recess of his
thoughts, he imagined more than one time with me.

Pull
back. You know he's just like Brandon. He even looks like him. He had some
chick on his lap a few hours ago.

"God, you're so damn hot, Cora."
He kissed down the side of my neck, his lips soft and tongue warm as he lapped
at me.

A million images rushed through my mind,
most of them fantasies I wanted to play out in the closest bedroom with the
sexy bastard.

"I'm not sleeping with you," I
murmured and sucked his earlobe into my mouth.

"You're right. There's not going to
be any sleeping." He chuckled and pressed his teeth against my neck,
causing goosebumps to break out along my exposed skin.

"You're so damn corrupt." I
almost melted when his hands finally moved down my back and over my ass,
cupping it tightly as he tugged at the back of my thighs.

As much as I promised myself that I
wouldn't, I wrapped my legs around him and slid my arms around his neck,
gliding along the thickness of his erection as a whimper left me.

"Mmmm...now we're talking my
language." He licked up the long column of my neck and pressed his lips to
my ear. "How long has it been since a man took care of you?"

"Too long." I turned toward him
and gripped the back of his head as I pressed my lips against his again. His
fingers tightened on my soft skin and tugged me up and down, massaging his cock
with the softness of my body.

"Ouch!" He jerked forward as his
expression changed.

"What?" I glanced around, fear
filling me where desire once was.

"Fuck. Something is in here with us,
Cora. Let's go. To the shore. Fucking fast. It's big." He grabbed my hand
and waded through the water as I ran beside him, my heart racing as panic
filled me.

I glanced back to see something dark
moving through the water and screamed, releasing his hand and hauling ass back
up to the shore.

"Holy shit." He stopped beside
me as he walked to the edge of the water. "It's a fucking alligator. I
thought they didn't come around people."

"We gotta tell everyone." I
cupped my breasts and ran around the shore, yelling at the top of my lungs.
"There's an alligator in the water. Get out. Now!"

Brody did the same, and by the time we got
back to the fire, everyone was covering themselves and laughing nervously.

"Unbelievable." Clay walked down
to the water's edge and peered out as Brody joined him. I took advantage of the
opportunity to get dressed, but most of the guys seem to not have a care in the
world about walking around naked.

"Where are Dee and Daniel?"
Brody turned to look at me, disappointment flooding his features as I fixed my
top and stood up dressed.

"Across the lake." I moved up
beside him and ignored just how incredibly hot he looked standing there
completely naked as rivets of water ran down his tanned skin. Now wasn't the
time. I cupped my face and looked around to see them sitting on the far side of
the lake on the shore. Sitting?

"Are they making out?" Brody
chuckled and moved away from me, grabbing his swimsuit.

"They sure are." Clay turned and
smiled at me before cupping himself. "Shit. Sorry, Cora."

"It's all good." I walked back
over to the fire and helped Emily tie her top back into place. "Well, that
was an adventure. Not the kind I'd regularly sign up for, but something to
remember the trip, by nevertheless."

"Remember the trip by? I'm not
enough?" Brody pulled his shirt over his head and gave me a sexy smile.

"That's yet to be determined,
mister." I dropped down on a log and pulled out the marshmallows.
"Alright. Obviously, we're not supposed to make-out tonight, so back to
stories and treats?"

The resounding grumbles around me were
humorous, but the gleam in Brody's eye as he dropped down next to me and turned
my way was all-consuming.

"Let's get out of here. Go back to
the house and pick up where we left off?" He leaned in and slid his hand
down my back, cupping my butt as if we were a sure thing.

"Nope. You had your chance, and you
decided to let the little alligator scare you off. Puss." I shrugged and
pulled out some marshmallows as everyone laughed.

"Little alligator?" He moved
back and took hold of the bag, popping a few of the sugary treats into his
mouth. "I don't want to even hear the lies you're willing to tell about me
after I give you the best night of your life."