Passionate Tides (4 page)

He waited for her to come down from her high, her muscles relaxing their hold on him, and then captured her lips for a soft kiss. When they broke apart, their breaths heavy with exertion, they stayed connected, her hand tiny in his. They lay on the sand, their faces turned to the night sky, listening to the sound of crashing waves in the distance. Rolling to his side, he stared into the face of the woman who was threatening to steal his heart and watched as a chill ran over her. The night wind was making its way across the ocean, cooling her skin.

Jake reached for her clothes and pulled her up to help her dress. It was erotic watching her lift her arms, allowing him to slip her tank on. He leaned down, her panties in his hands; he kissed the hollow of her hip while she stepped inside. She balanced with her hands on his shoulders her lips skimming the top of his head. He instantly felt regret that her beautiful body was now covered and hidden from him.

* * *

The sound of the ocean lulled them into a relaxed state as they walked back to his car waiting on the end of the island. She leaned against the door while he pulled his keys from his backpack and watched his muscled shoulders bunch as he dug through the bags debris. Keys finally in hand Jake looked at her, a smile curving the bow of his lips, he leaned into her, effectively trapping her between his hard body and the cold steel of the car door. “I wish I had known you when you were little, I bet you were a cute kid. I can see you now, red haired and freckle faced driving all the little boys wild.” She could feel the chills run over her body and she knew it was from his touch and not the cooling August night.

His strong hands held her tight as the solid length of his body was being pressed against hers. He lowered his head and captured her mouth once again and she responded with her whole body. She pressed her body against his, standing on tip toe to grant him easier access to her mouth, she parted her lips for his probing tongue and welcomed his kiss. Releasing her lips he began teasing her with small kisses to her jaw and throat. His hands traveled to her shoulders then fisted in her hair.  She could feel the passion wash over them like the oceans tides. His need was evident by his throbbing erection against her leg. Her mind was racing, the mix of lust and confusion warring inside of her. She wanted him. Her body wanted him. But she came with baggage and she didn’t want to weigh him down with the demons of her past.

“We need to get home. I had a good time tonight. Thank you for…everything”

The mood swing was sudden and she could see confusion written on his face, his eyes searching hers for a clue, but he didn’t seem hurt by her stopping his actions. She continued their journey back to civilization, the street lights coming into view like a beacon to her good senses. She wanted him so badly that her body ached for him and knew by the gentle touches and looks they shared he was willing to give her everything she wanted, but in a few short weeks she would be back on the road, headed to her empty home, remembering the summer fling and reliving his kiss and the feel of his body in her dreams while he would be here lying on the beach.

She wouldn’t risk her heart again. Never again would she be used and thrown away like yesterday’s news. Turning her back on him so that he couldn’t see the silent tears fall from her eyes, she hurried her steps to put distance between them.

“Jake, I can’t. I’m just not ready for whatever this is between us to go any farther, I’m sorry.” With each step that she put between them, she knew that she was going to not only remember his kiss, but she was going to regret her choices. Her fear was thicker than any passion she was feeling, and her first response was to protect her heart. They walked back toward the truck, and this time the silence was thick with the words they left unspoken and the distance between them grew greater with each footprint they left in the sand.

* * *

Time had flown by and the summer was coming to a quick end. The work on the house had started and Jake knew that the men would finish ahead of schedule. The thought that Paisley might leave early tore at him. After that night on the beach, he had apologized for moving too fast and asked if they could start over as friends. She had agreed on certain terms. It was to stay strictly platonic and there was to be no more earth shattering kisses or naked play.

He had agreed against his better judgment. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her full mouth and touch her smooth skin. Instead of making out like newlyweds, they had spent several evenings curled up on the couch, eating popcorn and laughing at old movies or sitting on the deck, watching the waves crashing across the sand as the ghost crabs bobbed for safety from the coming tide.

She would sit with her laptop on the table but never open it, her eyes locking on some far off object over the ocean. She never spoke of her life before coming to the beach except to mention Tiffany and James. He had tried to get her to open up more about her parents and the asshole of a husband she had only spoken of once. They had been sitting on the back deck, watching the shrimp boats coming in from their morning runs when the doorbell interrupted. It was a certified letter letting her know that the sale of her house was nearing its close. She mourned its loss but it was the last thread connecting her to Vince. It signified the end to ten years of degradation and abuse. She had locked herself in her bedroom for hours. He had wanted to console her, but she kept pushing at the distance between them, making it harder and harder to get close to her.

He wanted desperately to know this woman and he found that his mind wandered back to her even when they were apart. It was rough having her body so close and her mind so far away, shutting down her emotions. He felt like he was swimming against a strong tide that wouldn’t break and allow him into open waters.

Jake felt there was something she was holding back from him, but he couldn’t ask without feeling like a hypocrite. He had secrets of his own. No one really knew why he had left Tennessee. His family thought he had broken off the engagement and he let them believe it. There was no need for them to know he wasn’t good enough for Tara and that she had left him for another man. It didn’t matter to him what Paisley’s past held, he just knew she was here with him now, and he wasn’t going to look back any longer. He needed to find away to convince her that what was between them was stronger than anything he had felt before. Nothing had ever compared to way Paisley made him feel. She made everything okay, his past disappearing with each glance at her face. The hurt that washed over him from his broken engagement evaporated under her touch. His chances of getting her to see that the feeling between them could be something more than a friendship was fading away with each sunset. He had to make the best of the time they had left together and fight to keep Paisley by his side

Hoping to impress her with his cooking skills, he spent hours in the kitchen working on a dinner that was one of his favorites. He turned the heat down on the crab legs when he heard her car pull in the drive. Jake ran to the door to catch her before she had the chance to disappear into her part of the house like she had been doing so often. He was surprised to see her laughing and smiling, talking with one of the workers that had been hired to fix the damage to the house.

Jealousy tore at him like a hot knife stabbing him straight in the heart. He had no right to be jealous, but watching her with someone else had him balling his fist, ready to take the man’s head off with one well targeted punch. As she waved her goodbyes, he could have sworn he had seen her let out a sigh of relief. When their eyes connected, he could see that she was just being friendly. The way she kept her eyes on him and not on the man she was walking away from gave him hope that he still had a chance at winning her heart.

The weight of his relief left him lightheaded, and watching her walk toward him made his body respond in ways it only did when she was near. The memory of her soft curves under his hands had him locking his arms to his sides to keep from reaching out and taking her in his arms. She had gone out of her way to put distance between them, keeping his romantic intentions at arm’s length. Now that she was this close, he planted his feet, determined not to let her lock him out of her life any longer.

* * *

“Hey there.” When she had first saw Jake standing in his doorway, his face had been covered with a look of pure hate that had scared her, but when their eyes met it was if his face changed completely and she felt the tension drain from her body. He gave her a look of awe that made her cheeks flush and her body tighten with desire. She had never had a man look at her like that. She could feel the waves of heat rolling off of him and see smoke billowing from the fire in his belly for her …no wait, that was smoke but it was rising from his apartment.

“Jake, there’s a fire in your apartment!” she yelled, running toward his door. Getting there just in time to see a kitchen towel on fire, she stood in the doorway as he grabbed a pot off of the stove and dumped the remaining water on the towel.

Once Jake had the fire out, he went outside and took a seat on the sidewalk, trying to catch his breath. “I’m fine. The fire’s out now and subsequently, so is our dinner.” He looked up at her, a mixture of anger and defeat written on his face. She tried to hold it in, but was unable and the girly giggles forced their way out. She felt like a teenager who was being picked up for the prom, that first glance at her date standing on the porch trying to impress her with carnations instead of roses. It was the thought that counted but how do you tell someone that the effort means more than the actual act?

* * *

“I tried to cook you this amazing dinner to make you smile. Who knew all I had to do was set the place on fire?”

She sat down on the sidewalk beside him, their view of the ocean blocked by the grass covered dunes, but the sound of the crashing waves and the salty breeze left him feeling light hearted as he stared at her. As if pulled by a magnetic force, she leaned into him and captured his mouth. Jake parted his lips, allowing her tongue entrance. She tasted like the sea, warm and salty, with a hint of something sweet he didn’t recognize. Jake pulled her to him, sitting her in his lap. His erection was a hard reminder between them of the way she engulfed his body in flames, the burning passion between them a constant sign of how this woman made him feel. When she was in his arms, the rest of the world fell away and nothing else mattered to him.

“Paisley, I’ve missed having you so close to me. It’s been torture not having you in my arms.”

Her soft flesh gave way to his strong fingers as they kneaded their way up her arms, and curled into her long silken hair. He had never felt a connection so strong to another person in his life, not even the woman that had torn his heart out, causing him to leave his hometown behind. He thought that living alone on the beach would allow him to heal from the betrayal that had brought him here. He never once thought fate would give him another shot at happiness, and the women in his arms would be the remedy to his broken soul. This chance had an expiration date though. Did he have a chance in hell with Paisley? He wasn’t sure, but he knew he needed to take a leap and faith and find out.

His hands found their way to the hem of her shirt and began moving up and down her waist.  She stood abruptly and he thought that he was going to lose her again, but as she grabbed his hands and began leading him into the house, he felt his luck had changed.

“We can’t do this here, someone is bound to see us,” her voice breathless, as she motioned for him to close the door behind him. He followed her up the stairs to the bedroom that overlooked the ocean. The breeze that was blowing through the open doors caused the curtains to billow in the wind, but still shadowed the room from the blistering autumn heat. The warmth of the afternoon sun cast a candlelight glow over the room, setting the perfect scene.

She started to slowly unbutton her top, but his hands snaked out to help her, taking control of how fast her body was revealed to him. He took his time unwrapping her body, treating each button as if it would snap under the pressure of his fingers. Pushing her shirt from her shoulders, he slowly turned her around, and unsnapped her bra, allowing it to slide down and pool at their feet. With her back still facing him, he turned his attention to her shorts. He undid the button and pulled at the zipper. The sight of her lace panties, barley covering her luscious ass, had him picking up the pace to expose every inch of her to his wanting eyes. When she was finally bare before him, he stood and gazed in astonishment at her beautiful body.

Her curves were perfect, her breasts hung high and heavy, and he ached to take them in his mouth. Jake allowed his hands to slowly travel the length of her body, starting at the curve of her neck. He moved his callused hands down her arms to hold her wrist tight against her hips.  With her pinned in his grasp he took control of her mouth, turning the kisses into something deeper then started and when the need to taste her became overwhelming he began his journey down her body, starting at the sweet hollow just below her neck. She tasted like the ocean from the breeze leaving just a hint of salt on her sweet skin. He alternated small kisses and light nibbles as he made a path down her body.