Feel the Rush: A Hard Feelings Novel (InterMix) (18 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Meagan had crawled in bed and died. The combination of beer and tequila shots, mixed with the oh-so-comfy familiarity of her bed that she had missed so much, had her passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

She was dreaming. And hell yes, it was a good dream too. The kind of dreams that were all chocolate and margaritas—hell, even a chocolate margarita—all your favorite book boyfriends popped into three-dimensional sex slaves for your dreamland vacation fantasy, mixed with sandy beaches and warm sun and a couple of mani-pedis thrown in there for good measure.

But said fantasy dream was cut short when she felt something brush across the bottom of her foot. It tickled. It was soft and it caused her to jolt so quickly from dreamland that she jerked awake. She kept her eyes shut, praying she would fall back asleep so she could get back to the goodness that was men and margaritas and foot massages. But then real life started kissing the back of her calves, igniting goose bumps to scatter across her bare legs.

Her eyes fluttered open when she recognized the featherlight touches. She laid perfectly still. She wanted to soak it all up, let her body absorb all it could. A rough pair of hands led a path for the mouth that was still taunting her body with sensuous kisses. The pressure was gentle—but anything but light. It was as if the fingertips were branding her skin with their personal imprint—bruising her without leaving a mark. She wasn’t sure if she was awake or not anymore. . . .

The calloused sensation traveled over her hips, giving attention to the exposed panel of skin between the bottom of her tank top and the top of her panties as she laid facedown on her cool sheets, her head still sunken in to the down-feather pillow.

She closed her eyes as she felt the warm flat of a tongue lick the same path the fingers had previously taken and she writhed as the wet stimulation aroused a layer of goose bumps that penetrated her skin, reaching her insides.

“Mmm.” Teeth sunk into the fleshy skin of her side, right above her hip. “You taste sweet, just like sugar,” he whispered, his words barely audible.

She smiled into the pillow, the bend in his scruffy voice setting off a chain reaction that started in her ears and dominoed though out her body.

His hands raised farther up the bare skin of her sides. His fingers slowly crept under her, toying with the smooth flesh under her breasts. She felt the weight of his body press on top of her, but she continued to lay still, her eyes closed, and her breathing calm and even. She liked this, this sensuous, sweet side of him she was experiencing.

His lips fastened over the back of her neck, right in the pillow-y spot where her neck and shoulder met. His mouth was warm. He sucked gently, then pressed a soft, chaste kiss. “Hey, baby, time to get up.” His mouth hung next to her ear, his lips brushing the bottom of her earlobe. He slid down next to her, his body enveloping as much as it could around her as she laid on her stomach. She sleepily lifted her lids, opening them to see Reed staring straight back at her.

“Morning.” He smiled.

Meagan felt the need to cover her mouth with her hand to prevent her morning breath from seeping out when she spoke. She lifted her hand to her mouth. “Morning.”

Reed tucked his arm across her back and under her stomach, flipping her over and pulling her back flush against his chest. “Now, can I kiss you like this?” His lips barely brushed against the skin below her hairline, and a fresh patch of goose bumps scattered down her body.

“Mmm-hmm.”

She felt his lips tighten into a grin as he continued to dot kisses along her neck, her shoulders, and the top of her back.

She squirmed her body back, trying to wedge herself in closer to him. She felt the swell of his cock press against her ass and a pleasing hum vibrated from his lips.

His hand left her stomach and slid between her thighs, cupping her through her cotton panties. She had a moment’s thought, a mental note she tacked in her mind, to start wearing something a little sexier to bed.

Reed’s fingers grazed her, never applying pressure, and the featherlight touch was torturous. It almost tickled, but in the way that made her crave more.

“God, I want to taste you,” he mumbled against her skin as he continued to kiss her. His finger pressed against her, slightly dipping inside her through the fabric, her panties soaking up the wetness.

His hand left her abruptly. “Fuck, baby.”

She rolled to her back as Reed stood up. He slid his arms under her legs and back and scooped her up. She giggled—a sound that was usually left for her tipsy moments.

He spun around and headed toward her bathroom. “You need to take a shower and get ready to go.”

“How is that fair after you just teased me like that? Take a shower with me?”

Reed bit his teeth together and sighed. “Don’t tempt me,” he said as he stepped into her bathroom and placed her feet on the floor.

She hooked her finger in the waist of his blue and white board shorts and skimmed it back and forth. The muscles tightened under her touch and she smiled. “I want to tempt you.”

He grabbed ahold of her wrist and pulled her hand away from his stomach. At first she thought he was angry, but then she lifted her eyes to him and saw nothing but the same wanton craving she was having staring back at her.

He lifted her tank top and she raised her arms, allowing him to pull it over her head. His eyes devoured her naked breasts as he hooked onto the edge of her panties and dropped to his knees. Her mouth parted slightly as he slowly and deliberately inched the cotton toward the floor. She felt the fine hairs on the nape of her neck stand up as his feverish touch set flames to her body and although she was warm and flushed, a tremble coursed through her.

She stepped out of her panties. Reed stood back up, and a small wave of disappointment crushed against her when the anticipated feel of his tongue tasting between her thighs vanished. But her disappointment didn’t last long, because the second his mouth was in front of hers—it was on hers.

His kiss was smooth, controlled, and anything but the way she was feeling. It was like he was forcing her to be patient, teasing the eager part of her that was ready to wrap herself around his body. But she’d seen this side of Reed before. The in-charge, calm, and controlled Captain Porter—and she knew better. If she had to guess, the last thing he was feeling right then was calm, and the only way he knew how to strangle the agitated rush of arousal he was feeling was to feign his control.

She gave into him, lowering from her toes and then releasing the grip she suddenly had on his shirt. She broke their kiss, breathless and more than a little worked up. “You sure I can’t change your mind about that shower?”

Reed ran his hand through his hair as he dipped his head toward the ground. Meagan pressed her lips together—her suspicion was spot-on, he wasn’t the least bit in control. All she would have to do is reach out and run her hand. . . .

“Sanders is waiting out in the truck for us”—his eyes glazed over and his voice dropped an octave, giving Meagan the shivers, the good kind—“otherwise, I would have already had you pinned against the wall.”

She swallowed hard as the lascivious image ran through her mind, but then it registered.

“Sanders is waiting for us now?”

Reed laughed. “Yes. You overslept. We were supposed to leave”—he pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time—“almost fifteen minutes ago.”

“Shit!” She reached behind her to turn on the water.

“You’re staring,” she said in a singsong voice when she turned around to a gawking Reed.

“I am.”

“It’s distracting.”

He laughed, and the sound titillated her skin. “I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

***

“So, Meagan, have you been boating before?” Sanders asked as they walked down the side of the boat ramp to where Murano and the girls were waiting in Finn’s boat, which was tied up to the dock.

“A time or two.”

Reed saw Finn cup his hands around his mouth. “Hurry the hell up! You guys are late!”

Meagan’s eyes darted to Reed’s as a blush crept over her cheeks. “I’m so sorry I slept—”

He hooked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “Nope, no apologizing. Besides, you’re cute as hell when you sleep. I liked getting the chance to come wake you up.”

She tilted her head back and looked at him. It was those sweet fucking looks that twisted him up. The easy, genuine looks that stirred something inside him that was foreign. She smiled and he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

“Think you can wake me up in the morning?” she whispered. And there it was—the sexy, teasing Meagan. He liked seeing that mischievous smirk on her face almost as much.

“I’d be happy to wake you up, as long as I get to put you to sleep too.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

They stepped up on the dock and Reed held Meagan’s hand as she stepped down into the boat.

“Finn, this is Meagan,” Reed said, climbing in after her.

Finn reached out his hand to her. “Meagan, it’s nice to meet you. Welcome aboard.”

“Okay, and you know Murano. And this is Tessa,” he said as he gestured toward the woman with long, dark hair who was wearing a swimsuit that looked like it was from the forties. It was sexy. Finn and her had an on-again, off-again thing, but she hung around either way, so it was hard tell which course they were currently navigating.

“And this beauty is Hadly,” he said as she stood up and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “Finn’s little sister.” She’d moved in with Finn a few months ago after she dropped out of college and her parents stopped supporting her. She was feisty and hilarious. She had a rockin’ body, more curves and meat to her. She also had the same taste in women as Reed.

“Hadly, this is Meagan.” Reed attempted to suppress his smile as Hadly attempted to keep her eyes from roaming over Meagan, but what could he say, his woman was a knockout.

Hadly reached forward and shook Meagan’s hand. “Hi.”

“Okay, now that all the introductions are made, sit your happy asses down so we can get the hell out of this idle zone.” Finn started up the boat and backed it away from the dock.

Meagan plopped down next to Reed on the bench seat at the back of the boat and flung her legs over his. His hand automatically found its place on her thigh.

“I’m boarding first,” Sanders shouted from the seat across from him. They had passed the wake zone and the boat was gliding effortlessly through the water, the wind blowing past their faces, making it difficult to hear one another.

Meagan’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? Luke, you can wakeboard?”

Sanders’ eyes darted between Reed and Meagan. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

“I can’t wait to see that.”

“What? Why?” he said, suddenly looking embarrassed or worried—neither emotions Sanders showed often.

“You are huge, like, Hulk-Hogan-meets-the-Incredible-Hulk huge. I just can’t picture you standing on a tiny board, jumping over the wake.” Meagan laughed and when Reed looked over at Sanders he laughed too. Sanders was grinning ear to ear. “Something funny?” Meagan challenged.

“I was just trying to picture
you
wakeboarding. You know, since you seemed to enjoy a visual of me on the wake, I’m trying to get one of you. Actually I’m trying to determine if you can even pull yourself up out of the water.” He was probably more than likely trying to get a visual of her tits bouncing around on the wake instead.

Hadly reached over and slapped Sanders on the bicep with the back of her hand. “Knock it off, Luke.”

Meagan just laughed. She wasn’t affected by Sanders’ teasing, if anything it seemed to spark something in her eyes. “Hmm, guess I’ll have to try it.”

Reed squeezed her knee. “You wanna wakeboard?”

“Sure, why not?”

Luke threw his hands in the air. “All right, I’m giving up my call at first go. Meagan, it’s all yours.” He snorted.

Ten minutes later and the boat was sitting in the middle of the lake as Meagan situated herself behind it, the rope in hand.

Reed was kneeling on the bench seat, leaning over the back of the boat. “You good, baby?”

She gave the universal thumbs-up. Reed turned around and nodded at Finn, who wasn’t known for his lack of speed. “Take it easy on her, man.”

Finn just nodded before throwing the boat into drive, giving it just enough of a kick of speed to help Meagan get up easily—and she did.

“Well, look at that, Luke,” Hadly said.

“Hell, man, looks like your girl’s been boating more than we thought.”

Reed watched as Meagan glided behind the boat with ease. She was even power sliding and lip sliding through the wake, which was pretty damn impressive.

Then she jumped it.

“No fucking way!” Murano laughed, standing up to look over the girls, who were sitting in front of him.

Then she did it again.

“All right, she has been doing this way more than she led on. Where the hell’s my phone? I need to video this shit,” Sanders said.

“Oh!” Murano pointed at Meagan, who had started to bend her knees. “She’s jumping again!”

She slid across the water and jumped the wake, her board going high in the air as she grabbed ahold of the front of the board with her hand, then landed facing the opposite direction.

Reed shook his head and smiled. “She just did a nose grab 180.”

He looked over his shoulder at Sanders, who looked like he had just seen a monkey fucking an elephant. “You see that, Sanders?”

“Fuck yeah I did, and now she wants Finn to go faster.”

Reed turned back around to look at her and sure enough, she was bouncing her thumb-up in the air, signaling to go faster.

Murano laughed. “She’s gonna put you to shame, Porter.”

“Hell no. I’m proud as shit right now.”

The boat picked up speed and the wake got bigger. Reed couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was shocking the hell out of him. She had a smile that lit up her entire face. And there was something to be said about all of his buddies watching his girl show them up out on the water—doing better than half of them could. He fucking loved it.