“He was a good man.”
A moment of silence pulsed before he said, “And if he hadn’t died when he did, you and I wouldn’t have met.” Why in the hell had he said that?
Her eyes lifted and clashed with his. A strange emotion filled the air as a loud, thunderous silence beat between them. “Come here,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened and she stayed exactly where she was, so he attempted to soothe, “I’m not going to do anything. Want to hold you, that’s all.”
Her eyes appeared troubled, but after a stilted moment, she left her seat and came about halfway to him. When she stopped, he reached out and took her hand with his and then pulled her into his arms.
She shuddered and he lifted her until she was straddling him, her stomach against his chest. Her body was softly trembling, and Garrett lifted a hand and ran it down the honeyed contours of her back. He felt as if a stroke of magic hit his guts when she laid her head on his shoulder.
“I almost came unglued when I saw how freaked you were,” he said into her ear, nuzzling her gently.
She let out a shaky breath. “It was pretty bad.”
“Shhh. . . I know, baby. You’re okay,” he said, his hands running up and down her spine.
“Garrett?”
He heard his name whispered in that sultry tone straight out of his dreams and his cock instantly engorged. Taking a couple of deep breaths to get himself under control, he asked quietly, “Yeah?”
Her head lifted from his shoulder and her eyes tangled with his. “Will you make me forget?”
He felt as if an arrow hit him straight through the heart. “If that’s what you want, sweetheart.”
****
Maria stared into deep brown eyes that were swallowing her whole. She felt a dip in her stomach before her heart quickened its beat. Garrett’s fingers trailed up her back in a spine-tingling wave of heat before landing on her shoulders and taking a moment to caress her there. Leaning in, he kissed her gently on the lips, his mouth remaining closed on hers. “You’re so sweet,” he whispered, his lips moving to her ear as one arm wrapped around her middle, the other wrapping around her face and cupping her cheek.
She closed her eyes and let the amazing scent he exuded slip over her senses. She took a deep breath and tipped her head to the side. Her action worked, his lips slipped down to her neck and he began to trail a line of kisses over her wet skin. She let out a tiny moan, and the second it slipped from her mouth, the arm around her waist tightened a bit.
His lips trailed down between them, coming to her wet cleavage. His hand slid down and she felt her breasts lifted, as his mouth came down to the top swell of her skin. Slow and infinitely gentle, his lips moved back and forth between each breast, before he groaned and lifted his mouth to hers.
When his lips met hers, his fingers found the turgid tips of her nipples and he began stroking her there, just as his tongue slid inside her mouth and began stroking her in that place, too. A thousand lights went off in her head as a river of temptation made her lift her hips and push into his torso.
The arm he held around her midriff pressed her closer. She began panting under the perfection of his kisses, and his hands ran up to her shoulders and slowly, giving her time to deny him, he peeled the shoulder straps of her swimsuit down and off her arms.
Without releasing her from his kiss, he pushed her swimsuit down until her breasts were bare, and then his hands ran up and down her sides, coming closer and closer to her breasts until finally, she was wriggling and pushing against him, begging for his touch there.
He accommodated her with a deep groan, his hands coming between them and lifting her fullness there. She felt her nipples pebble and as his thumbs stroked over them, back and forth, her hips began pushing against him in time with his tweaks. His kiss became ravenous, and she returned it, completely lost in the sensations coursing between them.
“Maria, baby, I’m going to take your suit off now, okay?”
She mewled an affirmative answer; it was all she was capable of. His hands dropped to her sides and as he pushed her swimsuit down and off, she wriggled for him, helping him, wanting only to feel her wet naked skin against his.
He tossed the swimsuit up on the side of the hot tub, and when his hands fell down to her naked hips and he took them in his hands, she moaned as a feeling of intensity shot down her spine. She pressed her hips against his stomach, and one hand left her hip to come around between them, pressing against her mound, cupping it in his hand with a degree of possession that was making her head spin.