Riding the Wave (16 page)

T
he way Avalon kissed him made the blood in his veins perk up. As well as his cock. He kept his hands locked over the caps of her shoulders by pure will, and the reminder that there was an entire party behind them. Music and voices and the plenty of oh so sophisticated laughs poured out through the open doors.

But Tanner’s world had become only the soft plushness of Avalon’s bottom lip. The way her breasts brushed against his chest.

The tiny, softly pleading sound she made when he pulled his mouth away.

He kept his hands on her shoulders, more for the chance to keep touching her than anything else. But she was straining toward him still, a tiny bit, with her chin tipping up and her eyes half-lidded. Enough to puff his ego higher than the Rockies.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” He wanted to make sure she understood that. “It was a timing thing. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

Not to mention that after ten years pretty much on his
own, he’d gotten out of the habit of consulting others about every little detail.

“It’s not.” She smiled, her cheeks going round. But the skin at the corners of her eyes wouldn’t quite relax. The touch he soothed over her temple did nothing, either. “It’s your business. I wouldn’t dream of intervening.”

Now he knew something was really wrong. Avalon was a meddler, born and bred. Years of Sage’s stories backed that up.

But before he had a chance to pick that apart, she’d come up on her toes and wound her forearms around the back of his neck. Forceful as she took his mouth again.

Fuck, she was like a drug. One he was rapidly becoming dependent on. He framed her face and pushed her back a bare inch. “Not here, Avalon. We can’t do this here.”

Her gaze flicked over his face. Each glance was like a touch and as evocative. Her lips were glossy. “Where?”

There was an entire party of people behind him. And he couldn’t give a shit for any of them. “Down the rocks, to the water.”

She looked left and right, then laughed when she spotted the gate. “Escape. Blessed escape.”

Escape was ridiculous, since they’d been at the party barely two hours, but there they went. Hand in hand through the metal gate, then down the rock-strewn path. In this portion of San Sebastian to the north, the beaches were ringed with low cliffs and the shoreline scalloped into small coves.

When they hit the sand, Avalon took her heels off, grabbing onto Tanner’s arm for balance as she wiggled and bent. The look she flicked from under her fringe of bangs said she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

Then she wandered off ahead of him, shoes dangling from her fingers. Her ass twitched as her hips swayed.

He pushed his hands in his pockets, the better to not get grabby. If she wanted to tease, who was he to stop her? “You know, that thing deserves a medal.”

She looked back over her shoulder, but didn’t stop. The quirk of her lips carried everything mysterious. He wished the dark didn’t obscure the dark green of her eyes. “What’s that?”

“Your skirt.”

“A medal?” She laughed, a single huff of humor. But it didn’t sound as husky as her normal laugh.

He nodded, then captured her hips from behind. She gave a little shimmy. Something had certainly gotten into her. But at the same time, it was like she rode on the surface.

“Yup.” He rubbed his cheek over hers, the silk of her hair brushing his temple. She felt amazing, anywhere he touched her. Always did. “For valiantly maintaining its position in the face of such extreme fabric shortages.”

Finally, she laughed for real, tossing her head back and offering her gifts like a pagan’s gifts to the gods. “That doesn’t sound much like a complaint to me.”

He skimmed his hands over the back of her leg, up the gentle curve of her ass. “Not at all. I wouldn’t even think of it. In fact, if your skirt would like to retire for the rest of the night, I wouldn’t mind that, either.”

She laughed again, this time a little more quietly. But there was still something dark about her expression.

Around the curve of some rocks, she darted out of his hands. Arms out, she spun with her face toward the darkened sky. The half moon couldn’t do justice to her beauty, though it sure tried. The shadows lengthened and draped.

Tanner had never really been one to look away from the ocean, but this time he couldn’t help himself. The landscape of the tiny cove made the space their own world. Steep-sided cliffs with tiny scraps of green clinging to them hid them and protected them from outsiders. Hard-packed, damp sand indicated that at high tide this entire place would be underwater. But for now it was a couple sticks of driftwood tucked at the base of the rocks.

And Tanner and Avalon. Together.

She tossed her shoes to land at the base of one of the jagged rocks, then turned back to him. The crook of her finger was a siren call that he didn’t mind answering. Breaking open on her rocks didn’t sound so awful.

But when he stepped to her, caught her hips again, she waggled the finger at him. “Uh-uh. I’ve got a plan.”

She’d pinned her hair up for the party, in one of those supercomplicated girl styles that took almost an hour to do but made her look like she’d been freshly fucked. Dark strands framed the angles of her cheeks. He hooked one with a finger and stroked it back. “Do these plans bode well for me?”

“Of course they do.” Her hands skimmed over his torso, quick flashes of promise. They hooked his belt, her eyebrows rising in one of those unmistakable signals.

Her smile became everything wicked, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were skimming over the surface. She hadn’t moved an inch, but it was almost as if some frantic buzzing zinged under her skin. It was as if she’d fly into motion at any moment.

Normally, he liked her energy. Loved it, even. But this felt off. Strange. The manic glint in her eyes could sink them both.

He cupped his hands around her face. The delicacy of her bones was distracting sometimes, an unwelcome reminder that she was surprisingly fragile. He could hurt her if he wasn’t careful.

But that was absurd. If anything, she’d been the one more firm about holding to their expectations. That this was nothing but fun.

Still, he couldn’t stop his mouth. “You don’t have to do this. We don’t have to.”

The second he said it, he could almost kick himself. Because really, what normal-in-the-head red-blooded man turned down a blow job—and he hoped like hell that was where this was going. But he didn’t want it from some weird place or some . . . odd sense of daring.

He wanted Avalon. That was all it came down to.

He wanted more time with her. More opportunities to figure out what was going on in her head.

She laughed a little bit, her teeth flashing white in the dim light of the moon. Her head tilted. “We don’t have to what?”

He opened his mouth, but then shut it again as quickly. Looked past her head to focus on a tiny bush clinging to the rocks fifteen feet up the cliff. Then he looked back down at Avalon. Her eyes were huge, and they seemed to be asking him for something that he didn’t quite understand.

The skin over her bare upper arms was softer than down. He couldn’t stop touching her, it seemed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my school idea.”

Whatever she’d been looking for, that was the wrong answer. Her lips pulled up into a smile again. A false, plastic smile. “It’s okay,” she said. He didn’t believe her. “It’s not a big deal, really.”

She stepped even closer, into his space and breath. So close they were almost one. She rose on her bare toes, until she skimmed over his chest. Her lips brushed over his jaw. “More than that . . . I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

He didn’t know how to explain the tumult that had him so confused at the edges, so he let it go. Felt the mixed-up words tumble through his head . . . then opened his mind and let them fly away. His worries piled up one on top of the other. He had her for now. That would have to do.

Their kisses were always intoxicating and gave him an extra rush, like floating a barrel twice. The extra bonus no one had expected.

He figured it was her enthusiasm, which was out in spades tonight. Her grip wound through his hair, only to change directions. He sucked in a deep breath when her touch dove down again. Straight for his cock. The pressure was dulled through his slacks.

She ended the kiss only to skate her lips over his neck. “Someone wakes up quick.”

“Vitamins.” He swallowed the hard rock that had wedged in his throat and looked up toward the top of the cliffs. Nothing. No one watching.

For now.

A hard shudder worked through him and only got worse when her wicked little fingers went to work on his fly. Two seconds later, warm sultry air brushed over his exposed shaft . . . and her fingers wound around him. Hot brands of intent.

His fists locked at the base of her spine. He wanted to grab and take and snatch.

But she’d do this all on her own if she wanted to.

Like the siren she’d seemed a few moments ago, she sank out of his grip with eternal grace. Her bare knees went to the sand and she looked up at him with a mischievous smile. The curve of her cheek had always seemed innocent to him, a reminder that no matter what they did together, she was still a good girl at heart.

Until she rubbed the head of his cock against that curve.

He bit the inside of his cheek as a hard jolt of lust went through him. Jesus, she looked dirty. Kneeling in front of him, all perfectly styled and beautiful . . . but ready to suck him off.

The first flicks of her tongue over his head were almost enough to undo him. A hot rock of pleasure jolted down his spine to lodge behind his balls. He’d give up anything for her, for this moment, if she only realized.

But she didn’t know. She glanced up at him again as she opened her lips over the tip. Wet and heat had his heart thumping into a ridiculously fast rhythm. The power she had over him at that moment could have levered the world into a different orbit.

She sucked him deeper. Laved over his whole length. The tips of her fingers played low on his body, adding in an extra thump of pleasure he hadn’t expected.

She knew exactly what she was doing. The looks she aimed up at him were half laughing at him, her eyes glimmering. He didn’t care. She could laugh at him forever if she kept making him feel that way. Like his body was going to flip inside out. He wasn’t even sure what she was doing, some flickering action of her tongue over the underside of his cock, but then she did it again.

And Christ, he was going to lose it. Soon. The bone-stomping rush had started in his spine and was promptly
sweeping over every bit of him. His orgasm gathered. Grew imminent.

He wrapped his hands around the curve of her neck, the angle of her jaw. Her cheeks had hollowed with filthy intent. He tugged, which was about as close as he could make himself come to giving up watching her swallow him down. She wouldn’t be put off her prize. Even as she shook her head, making his shaft rub over the tender roof of her mouth, she took him deeper.

He brushed across the back of her throat and goddamn, but that was all he needed. Let go. The orgasm tingled down his cock in a hot rush and he’d be damned if she didn’t take every bit.

She eased back on her heels, delicately wiping at the corner of her mouth. “Now, that,” she said around a bit of a happy sigh, “is how to wrap up a party.”

B
y the next morning, Avalon had almost managed to convince herself that it didn’t matter that Tanner had failed to include her in his plans.

She’d also almost made it out the front door when a creaking stair made her look back over her shoulder. She smiled weakly. “Hi.”

Tanner stood at the top of the stairwell. Wearing only a pair of boxer briefs that clung to his narrow hips, he looked delicious. He had his arms crossed over his wide chest, and it only made him seem bigger. More impressive, with the way it bulked up his shoulders and made his biceps stand out in lovely relief. He lifted an eyebrow. “Going somewhere?”

She leaned backward against the door. She only had her tiny clutch purse, which wasn’t great for fidgeting with. Her trusty camera bag was at home since the party last night had been a nonpress event. Even if she had been hired by WavePro.

Which meant that coming back to Tanner’s place last night had been all booty call.

She’d never been one to feel shameful about sex, but
something sickly and chilling wove through her guts. She flattened her hands against the cool wood behind her and made herself shrug. “Home.”

He smiled. The hand he held out was big and strong and she wanted to feel it on her. So she held still. “The sun’s barely up.”

True. A skinny window next to the front door didn’t have much hope of lighting up the room at this hour, not when the sun was still struggling to get its head up over the houses across the street. The foyer was shadowy, the light of the sun only sending a couple tiny tendrils of yellow across the tiles.

It only made it more apparent that she shouldn’t be there. She had no purpose. Nothing she was doing there, beyond putting out. Without her cameras, she was no one. Not to Tanner, at least.

Not the way it was rapidly becoming apparent she
wanted
to be someone to him. Someone special.

Because he was special to her.

She made herself smile and hoped the dim dawn light didn’t give away the tiny prickle of tears in her eyes. “Don’t you have somewhere to be soon?”

He leaned a nearly bare hip against the railing, then ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “I’m meeting my trainer in an hour.”

“I thought so.” She wanted to go to him so badly, it was an ache inside her chest. Wanted to bury her face against that wide expanse of chest and let her tears go. Let everything go.

But it had become increasingly apparent that wasn’t what he was in for.

She’d known this would happen. Somewhere during the last few weeks, she’d lost her heart. Dropped tiny
pieces of it into his hands, bit by bit. Until she had nothing left for herself.

Her breathing was shallow, rapid. A wispy darkness licked at the outside edges of her brain and she tried to make herself calm. Focus. Find that Zen place she’d always been seeking.

She failed miserably. Of course.

Her insides were as tumbled as her mind. “See?” she said, carefully modulating her voice. The fierce rush of pride that she managed to keep the tears away almost drove off the fear that somewhere she’d fallen in love. “It’s best that I go. I have to go get my cameras.” She ran a hand down the side of her tiny skirt. “And get changed.”

“You’ve got clothes here.”

She did. When the hell had that happened? So gradually, she’d lost sight of what she was bringing to their half-assed relationship. It had been easier to keep stuff here than explain why she was making six a.m. walk-of-shames into the house she shared with Tanner’s sister. And mother.

God, what had she done?

Her heart tried to kick its way into her throat. She’d lost her mind. That was the only possible option.

Because holy Jesus and the seven sacraments, she had to be freaking
nuts
to get herself in this situation. In love with a man who didn’t love her back. Whom she’d have to see again and again for the rest of her life. Because his sister was her best friend and his mother was her biggest source of support and love. Have to see his face in theirs over and over again. Never get away from him.

Her fingernails curled into the tender meat of her
palms, sending a short spike of pain up her forearms. She forced a long, slow breath out. Maybe she wasn’t screwed.

The way he was smiling at her certainly went a good distance toward calming her.

On impulse, she darted up the stairs. Her hands went right to the warm skin over his sides, the steady thump of his heart under her fingers spread over his chest.

She kissed him, hard and fast. Taking his mouth was like throwing herself into a huge wave and trusting she’d make it through. Exhilarating. His arms wrapped around her back and she felt as close to steady as she’d been in years. When she ended the kiss, she dropped her forehead to his bare chest. He smelled good, like a little bit of last night’s cologne but even more warm male.

She let out a shuddery breath.

His hands rubbed over her back. “You okay?”

Though she didn’t look up, she shook her head. “No. Not really.”

His touch rose, smoothing down the back of her hair. He nuzzled her temple with his chin. “Is it something I can help with?”

Considering that he was the problem? Not likely. “I’ll be fine.”

They stood there, wrapped together, for a long moment. Until Avalon felt almost like the version of herself she knew. The one who’d earned her place in the world. She didn’t trust extra gifts.

When the back of her eyes didn’t feel like they were burning with the pressure to cry, she pulled away. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

He looked deep in her eyes for a moment, his hand still wrapped around the back of her neck. The way he
studied her, she could almost make herself believe he cared as much as she did. But that was virtually impossible if he didn’t even think of her when he was in the middle of life-directing changes.

But then he smiled. That quickly, he was all flash again. The gentle charm that had effortlessly seduced her was also shallow. Changeable. And a little more comforting because she knew it so well.

“I guess that’ll have to do,” he finally said. He tugged on a lock of her hair. “But if you don’t show up, I’ll come looking for you.”

She smiled. If only she could believe that. “We can’t have that. You’re too close to the Pro to be screwing around hunting me down.”

He winced slightly. “God, don’t remind me. There’s so much shit to do, still.”

She lifted up on her toes, the better to look him in the eye. “You’ll be fine.” If nothing else, she needed him to believe this. “All you have to do is keep your head in the game and surf the best you’re capable of. You’ll nail this and you’ll take the championship home.”

“You make it sound pretty damn easy.”

“You forget I’ve spent the better part of the last month doing nothing but watching you train and surf.” Her mouth brushed over his jaw. The tension there could almost be tasted. “You own this. It’s already yours.”

He laughed, the husky sound comforting her even more. Nothing got her out of her own head more than helping someone else. It was what she did, after all.

His touch ran over her back, reminding her she still wore the backless blouse from the night before. “You’re good for me, Avalon. I hope you know that.”

That remained to be seen. She brushed another kiss
over the corner of his mouth. From this close, the scar over his lip was more noticeable. She traced it with one finger, half expecting him to pull away from the intimacy. “This was from that reef in Indo?”

He nodded, then licked the tip of her finger. She yanked it back on a giggle.

“Way too shallow a wave to spill out on,” he said, brushing off what had by all accounts been a pretty bad wipeout. Eileen had immediately flown out to Indonesia and Tanner had been in the hospital for three days.

He didn’t even realize the risks he took. The way he harnessed the ocean’s power was everything impressive. Obviously he’d swept away her heart.

She made herself smile again. “I’ll be back before your afternoon surf session.”

“You better be.” He kissed her again, this one long and lingering in exactly the kind of way she couldn’t risk. And couldn’t turn down, either.

Five minutes later, she was out the door with a gentle swat to her rear. When she turned at the street, she saw him still lingering in the doorway. In his boxers, for all the world to see because he was that self-assured.

And she loved the arrogant ass. She waved as she turned the corner.

God there’d be a mess to deal with later. But for now, she could ignore her feelings. She’d have to, or go nuts. If she was already sunk, she might as well enjoy the swim.

The soft trill of her phone jerked her from the task of busily compartmentalizing her life. She muttered to herself as she dug it out of her purse, figuring Sage had called to check in, but she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Have you talked with him yet?”

That voice sent a cold frisson of fear over her skin, manifesting in goose bumps. Her feet stumbled to a halt, her ankles wobbling in the high heels. Uselessly, she turned to look behind her. But she was out of sight of Tanner’s house and even if she hadn’t been, it’s not like he’d have been able to hear who was on her phone. “I haven’t had a chance.”

Mako sighed and it sounded genuinely rueful. “Look, I know it was a lot to ask of you. If you can’t handle it, I’ll go—”

“No, no,” she spluttered, cutting him off. “You don’t have to do that. It’ll be fine. I’ll talk to them. Leave Eileen alone.”

“I can’t promise that.” He’d made that more than clear during their conversation. He was pushing for a meeting with Eileen, and if he didn’t get it, there was apparently more trouble he could make. “I bet
SURFING
would be really interested if I called them back and mentioned how the first time my mom met Hank, she was only fifteen.”

Avalon shuddered so hard that her stomach cramped. She didn’t know if the insinuations Mako made about Hank were true, but no one in the Wright family would want them to go public anyway. “I’ll work it out.”

She didn’t like this. Hadn’t liked it when she’d met with Mako and still didn’t now. Tanner had so much on his plate and Eileen was still reeling from the discovery that Hank was Mako’s father. They needed Avalon to act as intermediary, even if they didn’t know what she was doing. “Are you sure it can’t wait ’til after the Sebastian Pro? Tanner’s got so much on his plate.”

“You know what, Avalon?” Mako’s voice zipped over the line with perfect clarity, as if he were talking right in
her ear. “I was never Hank Wright’s little bitch and I’m not going to be Tanner’s, either. I’m meeting Sage and Eileen one way or the other
and
I’ve got a flight out the morning of the Pro. I’ll leave this one up to you. Call me when you think he can handle it.”

The line went flat as he hung up.

Avalon blindly shoved her phone in her black clutch purse.

So yeah. This had become one giant clusterfuck. Somewhere she’d gone from the Wright family’s protector to the one who’d have to derail Tanner before his big moment.

It would be worse than saying
I love you.