Just One Night (7 page)

From you
, she knew he
meant, but he had to go and sooner than either of them might want.
 
Ignoring that troubling reality, she leaned
her elbow on his chest and smiled.
 
“If
we stay here, you won't get to find out what else I had in mind for tonight,”
she teased.

* * *

Jase
offered her a
crooked grin, liking this new assertive
Nickie
, and
tapped the tip of her nose playfully.
 
“I'll be up for whatever you want.
 
Just not for a little while.”

He was still half-hard
inside her and enjoying the feel of her around him and above him.
 
Memorizing every nuance of her to keep with
him for when this night was over.
 
That
realization stole the last remnants of pleasure, but he forced that worry
aside, wanting to focus on the now with all its goodness and of course, with
Nickie
.

She must have sensed his
thoughts since she said, “I'm glad we finally did this,
Jase
.”

He smiled reassuringly
and nodded.
 
“I am, too,
Nickie
.
 
It can only
get better from here.”

She smoothed her hand
across his chest which was still sweaty from their lovemaking and the heat of
their bodies pressed together.
 
“It would
be nice to cool off, don't you think?” she said and looked toward the ocean.

Early June and the
Atlantic would be more than cool.
 
The
water would be downright freezing, but as he met her gaze, and noted the brief
hot look she gave him, he realized that she had more in mind than just a quick
dip.

“Is this something else
you've wanted to do
– ”

“For a very long
time.
You don't know how many summers I sat there reading
–
”

“Pretending to read
obviously,” he kidded and playfully chucked her under her chin.

She chuckled and shook
her head.
 
“Yeah, I confess.
 
I can’t deny it any more.
 
I was paying more attention to you than to
the book.”

“I'm honored.
 
I know how much you love to read.”
 
He skimmed a finger across the blush of color
that came to her cheeks and then trailed it down across her lips.
 
He traced the edge of them with that one
finger, over and over.

“Don't get all full of
yourself,
Jase
.
 
I did finally read all those novels,” she teased back and kissed the tip
of his finger.

“And I'm glad you did,”
he said.
 
Because he knew their time
alone was running short and he was totally game for fulfilling her fantasy, he
asked, “So are you ready for that swim?”

She grinned and hopped
to her feet.
 
“Last one in has to do what
the other one says.”

She bolted for the water
and he scrambled to his feet and raced after her, not that he'd mind
losing.
 
So far he'd liked everything
she'd asked of him.

Yeah, I've
definitely liked it
, he thought as his gaze zeroed in on her perfectly-formed ass as she ran
in front of him.

The ocean was smooth as
glass tonight and reflected back the bright moon which glittered like diamonds
along the surface of the water.
 
Only a
few small waves lapped at the shore.

Nickie
rushed headlong
into the first few feet of water.
 
She
turned and faced him, wrapped her arms around herself, and jumped up and down
as she shouted, “Shit,
Jase
.
 
This water is freezing.”

Didn't he know it
after years of being a lifeguard?

But he also knew there
was only one way to get past the cold.

He hurtled toward her
and tackled her into the surf, breaking her fall with his body and scooping her
up against him as he brought them to the surface.

“Shit,
Jase
.
 
Shit, that was
cruel,” she said as she pulled her hair back and shivered in his arms from the
cold.

“I warned you it would
be cold, babe,” he joked and added, “But there is one way to chase away the
chill.”

She grinned and arched a
dark brow.
“Just one?”

He laughed out loud, the
sound alive in the early morning.
 
He
brought his body flush against hers and cupped the ass he'd been admiring just
moments before. The tips of her breasts were tight hard points against his
chest and he bent and sucked them into his mouth.
 
They were salty from the sea, but that taste left
quickly thanks to the sweetness of
Nickie’s
skin.

She wrapped her arms
around his head and held him close and the shivers of cold were soon replaced
by ripples of desire.
 
Heat built between
their bodies at every point of contact.

He urged her to wrap her
legs around him and found her center with his one hand, caressing her and
building her passion.
 
Playfully nipping
at her breast as he said, “I was the last one in.
 
Tell me what you want,
Nickie
.”

“You.
 
All of you, inside me.
 
Now,
Jase
.
 
Now,” she said and he grasped her ass and positioned
her for his entry.
 
He drove in with one
sharp thrust.

Chapter 7

Nickie
cried out at his
rough entry and the almost pleasure-pain it brought.

She hadn't realized just
how tender she was from their lovemaking, but there was no avoiding that every
inch of her body was agonizingly sensitized.

Thankfully he didn't
move, but let the gentle ebb and flow of the ocean around them slowly carry
them upward until the sensations crested and sent waves and waves of pleasure
through their bodies.

He continued to hold her
long after and she didn't let go, keeping him tight to her with her arms and
legs and kiss after kiss until it was no longer possible to ignore the frigid
water and the first blush of an early summer dawn on the horizon.

They hurried back to the
blanket where she slipped on her cover-up and he tucked the blanket around them
to dry and warm their bodies.

Their hips bumped
against each other as they climbed the steps to the boardwalk cutting through
the dunes and onto the lawn.
 
At the edge
of the flagstone terrace, she stopped and he faced her, a questioning look on
his face.

She cupped his cheeks,
rose up on tiptoes and kissed him, her heart swelling and almost bursting at
the thought the night was over.
 
That
he’d be leaving soon.

“It’ll be okay,
Nickie
,” he said and swiped his thumbs across her cheeks
and the tears there.

She hadn’t even realized
she was crying.

With a sniffle and a
hesitant smile, she nodded and dropped a quick kiss on his lips.
 
“It’ll be okay,” she repeated and laced her
fingers with his.

As they sauntered across
the terrace and into the house, the muted sounds of activity came from the
kitchen.

It was probably Rosie,
their housekeeper.
 
She raised a finger
to her lips, warning
Jase
to keep silent as they
avoided the kitchen, scurried up the steps, and back to her room.

He tossed away the
blanket and she shivered again, this time from the cold of the air conditioning
on her damp skin.

“I need a hot shower,”
she said and quickly added, “Will you join me?”

At his doubtful look,
she said, “Just a shower,
Jase
.
 
A quick one to warm up and
wash away the salt.”

With a quick sexy grin,
he said, “Now that's a promise I wish you wouldn't keep.”

“Come on.”
 
She grabbed hold of his hand and hauled him
into her bathroom.
 
She shucked off her
cover-up and stood by the immense shower stall to get the hot water running
through the multiple shower heads.

“Is this a car wash or a
shower?” he teased and nestled behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist
as he waited with her.

“Very funny,
Jase
.
 
You'll thank me when your squeaky clean and deliciously warm.”

He chuckled and nipped
the crook of her shoulder.
 
“I think I'm
already getting warm,
Nickie
.”

“Yeah, I can tell.
 
I guess Marines can always rise to the
occasion,” she teased since despite his earlier comments, he was gradually
hardening against the small of her back.

“
Oohrah
,”
he huffed playfully and rubbed his hips against her.

Waving her hand through
the water spewing from the shower heads, she was satisfied it was hot enough
and opened the stall door.
 
Together they
stepped beneath the cascade of water and she turned to face
Jase
.

“
Mmm
,
that water does feel good. Hot. Wet.”
 
His voice was low as he skimmed his erection back and forth across the
slick wetness of her belly.

“Amazing thing
about water.
 
It’s wet,” she kidded.

He grinned and her
insides twisted at that little boy smile, but even as they did, she had to
admit to one little problem.
 
“
Jase
, I'm a little
– ”

“Sore?
 
I'm sorry about that, babe.
 
I know this is all probably too much in just
one night.”

Her heart stuttered
painfully and her stomach clenched at his words.
 
She smoothed her hands across his damp
shoulders and down his arms to his hands.
 
She twined her fingers with his and said, “Is that all this is or ever
will be?
 
Just one
night?”

* * *

Jase
knew the answer
he wanted to give, but didn't yet trust that she was ready for a full out
admission of love.
 
Maybe he wasn’t ready
for it either.
 
Or if he was being totally
honest with himself, maybe he wasn’t ready in case she decided to reject him.

“That's up to you,
Nickie
,” he said hesitantly.

She met his
gaze,
hers suddenly clouded and filled with doubt.
 
She worried her lower lip with her teeth and
he leaned forward and kissed that spot.
 
Whispered against her lips, “No regrets, remember?”

“No regrets,” she
whispered back and answered his kiss, opening her mouth to him and accepting
his every lick, bite, and taste.
 
Exploring his mouth with hers until he was nearly ready to come
just from the pleasure of her kiss.

He held back his
release, wanting just a little more of her to remember for when he was gone.

Bending, he caressed her
breasts and helped himself to the taste and feel of her delicious tits, smiling
against them at her urgent cries of need.

He moved lower, kneeling
before her and as his gaze skipped up to
hers,
there
was no doubt about what she wanted.

He parted her gently,
mindful of her tenderness.
 
Softly he
brushed a kiss across her clit as the warm water streamed down her body and
between her legs.

She moaned and shifted
against him.
 
She grabbed hold of his
shoulders and her nails bit into his skin as she held him tight.

The sharp sting of them
made his balls hard and he groaned against her clit from his need.

She gasped his name and
urged him up, parting her thighs as she did so.
 
Guiding him to her and he eased in slowly.
 
Carefully.
 
Stood there joined with her
as the water rained down on them and against them.
 
Warmed every inch of their
bodies that wasn't already heated from their caresses.

He locked his gaze with
hers as he braced his hands on the shower stall behind her head.
 
Her long hair was seal black from the wet and
plastered against her head and shoulders, exposing her heart-shaped face and
long elegant neck.
 
Her expressive hazel
eyes were almost cocoa with desire and so alive with everything she was feeling
at that moment.

God, but she’s
beautiful and she’s mine
, he thought.

She cradled his cheek
and skimmed her thumb against his rough morning beard.
 
“
Jase
,” she began
hesitantly, but then something came over her.
 
He could see it in her features as she plowed on, all doubt gone.

“I love you,
Jase
. God, I so love you and if you don’t love me back,
please don’t say another word, ‘
cause
I don’t think I
could handle it right now.”

He dug his fingers through
the wet strands of his hair and grinned broadly. “God,
Nickie
.
 
I love you, too,” he said and emotion
overwhelmed control.

He came inside her,
spilling himself deep within and a moment later, her release exploded around
him, milking him.
 
Drawing
him ever deeper.

For long moments they
stood there, holding onto satisfaction for as long as they could.
 
Forgetting the world around
them for as long as they could.

But as his watch alarm
beeped in warning, it was impossible for them to face the inevitable.

Their one night together
was over.