I laughed, wondering if I should feel defensive. But she hadn't said it meanly, so I supposed I'd let it slide.
We continued to stroll down the beach, moving further and further away from the crowd that was still left at the luau. “God, it's so peaceful out here,” I said, shaking my head a little. “Seriously. It almost feels like we have the whole world to ourselves.”
“It does,” Gretchen agreed, sliding a little closer to my side.
“I'm really happy that I've met you,” I told her, suddenly drawing us to a halt, looking seriously down into her warm eyes. “You've made my time here in Hawaii into something special.”
“I'm glad I could help,” Gretchen said, smiling shyly.
I bent down to kiss her, sliding my lips softly against hers. I could turn this into something filthy, but I found myself wanting to take my time, to get her riled up. I went slow, carefully increasing the pressure and finally sliding my tongue alongside hers. She moaned into the kiss as I altered the angle slightly, and I pulled her closer into my arms, holding her body close to mine.
“Fuck,” I said, long and low as we pulled apart. I didn't release my hold of her waist, and I kept my forehead pressed against hers.
“We could,” Gretchen suggested, the words barely a whisper.
I blinked at her, wondering if she was suggesting what I thought she was suggesting. I glanced back toward the luau and saw that we had come far enough away that we were alone on the beach. We really could have sex there, if we wanted to.
Still, I couldn't help remembering the debacle at the end of the last time. “Are you going to tell me I ca
n never see you again if we have sex?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light.
Gretchen groaned. “I'm still so sorry about that,” she said. “I don't know what came over me. I mean, I do, but-”
I silenced her with another kiss, this one more passionate than the last, filled with intent. I hoped she wasn't about to change her mind because I was already rapidly hardening in my shorts even just thinking about it.
I wasn't sure what kind of spell she had over me, but sex with her had me feeling almost like a teenager again. It felt like if she so much as got a hand on me, I would come like a fountain. Of course, I wasn't about to let that happen.
“Fuck me,” Gretchen murmured against my lips. When she pulled back, there was a devilish, crooked smirk on her face. “Fuck me, right here, Christian Wall. Prove to me how much you like Hawaii.”
I couldn't help laughing at that, but the lust in her eyes and the matching dark desire in her voice lent a gravity to the situation that I couldn't ignore. I shook my head and moved my fingers toward my shirt, pulling it off over my head. “Lie back and get comfortable, then, babe,” I told her.
Chapter Twenty
Gretchen
I didn't have that much to drink at the luau, and I wasn't drunk, but something about seeing Christian there with my friends, and looking so sexy in the firelight, had gotten me hot over the course of the night. And there was something in me that wanted to be bold, to be more spontaneous, to be more like the person that Mina kept urging me to be. Where was the harm in letting Christian claim me here on the beach? It was a special night.
Or maybe this was just to spite Lino, whom I still couldn't believe had had the balls to come up and talk to me when Christian and I were off on our own. I had toyed with the idea of telling Christian why Lino and I had broken up because I had an idea Christian would think differently about the guy if he knew.
But I didn't want to start something. Whatever I'd had with Lino, it was over now.
I moaned as Christian stroked his fingers up my bare skin, kissing along my jawline and nibbling at my earlobe, making heat flare in my groin. There was something about being out there, beneath the open sky, that had me so incredibly turned on. Something about the way he had managed to charm all my friends by the end of the night. Something about the fact that he seemed to fit so naturally into my life.
I was in definite danger of getting attached to him, in ways that I knew Mina would frown about. But for now, I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on just being there.
Christian nudged my legs further apart and began to slide his hips back and forth, his hard length dragging against my velvety folds, making me arch with desire there against the sand. I caught his hand in mine, tangling our fingers together, giving me something to anchor myself against what I could already tell was going to be one of the biggest orgasms that I'd ever had. It was already building inside of me, already so close to consuming me.
He bent down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss, his lips searing against mine. His tongue, when it entered my mouth, was more heated than the fire at the luau, prompting little mewls from me as he licked along all my sensitive spots, sucking at my lower lips and nibbling gentle sparks of flame there as well.
Then, he moved down, sucking a mark into the side of my neck, one that I knew, distantly, would be visible when I went to work, but I couldn't find it in me to care, in the heat of the moment. Instead, that little bit of pain, there amongst all this pleasure, was enough to push me spiraling toward new heights, and he hadn't even entered me yet.
His mouth slipped lower, his teeth grazing across my pert nipples, tongue lapping at the buds and making me wild with desire.
“Christian,” I whimpered, unable to take it any longer. I wondered if he was doing this on purpose, this teasing. But there was my answer, in the smirk that he turned toward me.
“Patience,” he chided.
I practically sobbed at that. “Please,” I whined.