His cock had stiffened with excitement and anticipation at the thought of claiming her again, maybe this time adding some rope and chain into the mix. That first time had been too fast, both of them too needy to hold out. But now, he could take his time. He was eager to press the envelope of her newfound submission, and see how far he could take her.
But then, to his disappointment, she had pushed his hand away and, before he could even react, had rolled from the bed and sprung to her feet. Whirling, she had reached for her discarded clothing.
“Come on, lazy bones,” she had chided with a grin and a toss of her hair. “The day’s too gorgeous to lie around in bed all day. Let’s go swimming.”
Now, as he swam after her, he decided it was probably good that they had come up for air. Things were moving awfully fast between them.
While he’d known the sex would be hot and sweet, he hadn’t been quite prepared for the intensity of her reactions, or for his own answering intensity. It was a little scary, if he were honest with himself. Though he had remained outwardly in control, Lainey was definitely getting under his skin in a way he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
Was it because of the finite nature of their relationship, which would end when he left the island in three days? Was that what had allowed him to dive headlong into this wild infatuation?
Because that’s all it could be, surely. You didn’t fall in love in a day, however real the connection felt.
Love?
It had been a long time since Cooper had felt anything close to love. He’d put that part of his life on hold while his work had consumed him. Was this just a case of good timing? Was he, like Lainey, driven by the challenge? Or was it the woman herself who drew him, with her enticing combination of tough-girl cool and submissive vulnerability?
He knew, even before posing the question, what the answer was.
Stay in the moment, he cautioned himself. He didn’t need to figure everything out right now. This wasn’t an engineering problem to be tackled. Lainey wasn’t a mathematical equation to be solved. She was a flesh-and-blood woman who was struggling with her own issues about her submissive nature. Right now he would focus on helping her continue on that path for as long as they had together.
She was out past the waves now, her head bobbing, strong arms slicing through the sparkling water. He redoubled his efforts, swimming hard to overtake her. But it wasn’t enough. She reached the buoy before him and grabbed hold of the top of the cone. Turning back toward him, she whooped in triumph as she whipped her long, wet hair from her face.
He reached her a moment later. Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping them both afloat as he treaded the deep water. “You’re fast,” he said, panting a little as he caught his breath.
“I was a competitive swimmer in high school,” she replied, barely winded. “I placed in every state event my senior year. I came in first in the mixed medley relay, beating out a girl and two boys.”
“Of course you did,” Cooper replied with a grin. “But you cheated just now, so it doesn’t count.”
“I did not,” she retorted, though her eyes were dancing. “It’s not my fault you missed the starting gun. I won. End of story.”
“Is everything about winning with you?” he asked, his voice light though the question was serious.
“Of course,” she promptly replied, her lips lifted in a teasing smile. “What else is there?”
“I can think of a lot of things,” he answered, though he, too, smiled.
As they faced the shore, Cooper saw the lifeguard, seated high on his tower, waving his arms toward them. Cooper lifted his arms to wave back, a signal that they were fine. “Guess we better head back,” he said. “The lifeguard looks nervous.”
They made their way to shore, swimming leisurely alongside one another. When they got back to the sand, they flopped down on their beach towels, content to let the sun dry their bodies.
After a while, Lainey lifted herself on her elbows, her eyes fixed on the horizon. “So,” she said, a studied nonchalance entering her tone. “Tuesday’s your last day here?”
“That was the plan,” Cooper replied, wincing at the thought of leaving her so soon. “I’m supposed to meet some old buddies who are going on a deep-sea fishing trip. They’ll be leaving from New Bern Wednesday morning and plan to stay out on the water a couple of days. It’s not written in stone though. I might just bail. Maybe stay a little longer on the island.”
He wanted Lainey to eagerly agree and encourage him to stay. But all she said was, “I have the rest of the weekend off, but I have work again starting Monday. I probably should head back to the mainland later today. I have a bunch of stuff I need to do at home. I have like zero food in the house and a couple of other errands. Not to mention, I don’t have much in the way of clothing here. There’s a ferry at four and another at eight, so…” She trailed off.