Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) (12 page)

“Gouged
and
speared. You ladies are dangerous. Yes, Mrs. Daniels. I’m aware my brother’s reputation precedes me, but, I’m not my brother. I promise.”

A horn honked a rapid burst. Grandma smiled and nodded her head. “I’m just sayin’,” followed her out the door.

Like smoky tendrils,
sex
loomed around Riley and me, silently curling into our thoughts. After Grammy left with the other dinosaurs in her church group, we stood facing each other, our thoughts intertwining with the same sinfully delectable ideas as if sharing the same brain. Riley’s arms knew their way around my waist, drawing me into him while his lips tried to suck mine off my face.

“Slow down big boy. We’ve got the whole day to ourselves.”

“We could just stay here, you know.” His hand settled over a favorite curve, his thumb stroking the spot where my brain vaporized, taking all common sense away.

“
Riley,
” I moaned, already getting that hot dreamy feeling all over my body. “Don’t do that.”

His lips pressed my ear, his breath hot. “Do you really want me to stop?” I braced myself against his purposely placed knee, feeling my body becoming supple as soft wax in his arms.

“No…”

He lifted me in his arms and all the way up the stairs, the voices in my head jumped up and down excitedly.
This is it! Today’s the day you let him go all the way!

Yesterday, I treated myself to a waxing to insure smoothness where it counted, and a pedicure, so my feet would be soft. Yes, this would be a good day to lose my virginity.

Riley closed my bedroom door and flipped the lock. He eased onto the bed, pulling me off the pillows and under him. Each button undone met with a kiss, until my sundress lay open and my red bikini exposed. I waited, holding my breath until his lips touched the swell of my breasts, his tongue drawing a wet line inside the fabric line.

“Damnit Riley, “ I writhed against him, feeling his
eagerness
pressing into my thigh through his swim trunks.

His smile turned wicked when his lips, hot and swollen, pressed mine. “I love torturing you,” he whispered. Riley’s hand stroked my stomach, slowly smoothing over the stretchy fabric of my swimsuit bottoms to a place they hadn’t touched before. Panic struck.

“No! I can’t, I’m not ready,” I hissed against his lips.

“That’s not what your body’s telling me, baby.”

My nails dug into his arms when his leg pushed mine apart and he pulled at the fabric.

“No, Riley, I mean it. I
can’t.
Please stop!”

His hand moved away and my legs quivered under the weight of his body.

“Okay,” he whispered, giving a favorite curve of his a light kiss. “You know I’ll never push you.”

I rolled on my side, facing him. He slipped a loose strand of hair behind my ear and grinned lazily, his eyes still sensually dark. I slithered closer, placing a light kiss on his mouth.

“Sorry. I guess I’m scared about going all the way. I want to, really, and
with
you, but I just can’t.”

He pecked my lips back. “It’s okay, really.”

“Maybe it’s being inside Gram’s house. It’s like she’d
know
the minute she walked through the front door. I swear she’s got
sex
radar.”

We both laughed, easing the tension slightly. Riley climbed off the bed and pulled his T-shirt over his head. My eyes raked over his ripped body, noticing a certain
part
stretching a flower printed on his shorts as he watched me adjust my bikini top.

“As you can see,” he smiled, his cheeks pinking, “water skiing in
cold
water better happen sooner than later.” He flipped his cell phone opened, “Hey Cade, we’re running late. I’ll call when we get to the dock.” Riley paused in the conversation. An odd look covered his face. “Shit. Well lay down the ground rules before we get there. Oh and,
friend
, I
know
. Good thing I don’t give a fat rat’s ass anymore. Good luck to you.” Riley shut his phone, staring at the floor. “Kaylee’s coming.”

“Is that going to be a problem for you?” I asked, deciding whether it would be for me.

One side of his mouth pulled up. “No.” He pointed to his shorts,
almost
back to normal fit, “This bad boy only wants you, baby
.
”

I knelt on the bed, tugging the sides of his T-shirt and bringing him close for a kiss. “I noticed.”

Without breaking out locked lips, Riley lifted me off the bed and held my legs around his waist. “Girl, you drive me crazy. I’m falling for you fast, so I hope you’ve got a safety net to catch me.”

I kissed him back, hard. “I’ll never let you hit the ground, I swear.”

Our foreheads pressed, our breaths blowing on each other’s face. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said solemnly. “Life’s full of surprises. You never know what’s swimming in deep water, babe.”

“As long as I have you for a life preserver, I’ll never drown. You won’t hurt me Riley, I know that. By the way, I’m not
falling.
I fell for you the minute you rescued me from the pond.”

**

The water felt icy and I could no longer feel my lips. My teeth chattered, but I refused to give up. I would water ski, if it took my last breath.

“
Number twenty-four
…” resounded the obnoxious chant echoing at the end of a seventy foot rope. The glittery neon blue paint on the boat bobbing on the water, blinded me whenever a ray of sunlight caught it just right.

“Come on babe! You can do it!” Riley’s vote of encouragement came through a laugh and sounded loaded with doubt.

I secured a deep breath, wrapping my hands around the spongy handle and pulling my knees close to my chest.
Keep the tips up. Pretend you are sitting on the toilet
. Damn, I tried, but each wave rolling my way pushed the tips to the right or left. I had to wait for that one split second when all the planets in the universe lined up and the tips stayed straight.

“Go!” I yelled, assured
this
time I’d “pop” on top of the water. The rope went taught, and my eyes went wide when I felt the familiar yank of neoprene between my fists. I didn’t have time to take a breath, and fought with all the strength I could muster in my legs to keep the tips straight against the wall of frothy water fighting from the other side. I tucked the handle to my chest,
trying
to let the boat pull me up and not force myself to stand.

Suddenly, I landed on top of the water! The skis clacked against the washboard surface speeding beneath them and I thought
yes!
I’m skiing! I let out a whoop and leaned too far back. The water slammed my back and my arms went straight up, allowing my lifejacket to slip off effortlessly, taking my swimsuit top with it! One ski escaped. The other twisted my ankle the wrong way with the current of the wake from the boat when it made the all too familiar cut to the left, circling back.

Water washed over my head and my world became a cloud of fizzy bubbles. I bobbed back to the surface, gasping for more air, before I finally released the other ski from my foot to tread water.

Riley dove over the side of the boat with another life vest hooked over his shoulder and swam towards me. He disappeared under the water for a moment and I panicked. His head popped up in front of me and his arm circled my waist, holding my
bare
chest against his and taking over kicking for both of us. His finger held up the strap of my swimsuit top.

“Missing something?”

I couldn’t breathe, but not from fear of drowning, but by the way my breasts felt pressed against Riley’s chest. My fingers tugged the fabric, but Riley held tight.

“Not so fast. I kind of like the way things feel right now.”

Riley wrapped the life vest around my hips, keeping my half naked body below the water line and pressed to him. “You okay?”

My arms locked behind his neck. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I’d say you’re a hell of a lot better than
fine.
Shit, Taylor. I’m horny.”

I smiled back,
feeling
Riley horny. “I know,” I giggled.

“
Twenty-five, twenty-five…”
The chant and clapping started again.

“You want to try again?”

“Technically, I
was
skiing.”

“Thirty seconds hardly counts. What do you say? One more try?”

I locked the rubber vest over my chest, leaving the swimsuit top in Riley’s fingers. “Twenty-five’s my lucky number.” Riley looked confused, holding my top up. I pressed a hard
cold
kiss to his lips. “Keep it. The extra weight is throwing off my balance.”

“Damn girl, you’re evil.”

“Send me the skis and rope. If I don’t get up this time, you get to take off the vest and warm me up. If I ski more than two minutes, you don’t get the peep show and I get my top back.”

“Will
show and tell
be a ‘hands-on’ experience?”

“Maybe. But, if you don’t help me get the skis, this cold water will shrivel everything up like prunes. I poked his belly under the water, “Including what’s inside your shorts.”

Riley helped me strap the death traps back on my feet and grabbed the rope when the boat circled again to bring it closer. He kissed me. “I’ve never wanted you to fail at something as bad as I do
this.
”

He tied my swimsuit top around this arm and swam back to the boat. I resumed my “toilet seat” position, determined to make attempt number
twenty-five
work. Drowning would be easier to survive than feeling Riley’s warm hands on my cold boobs. After this afternoon,
hands on
would apply to more than “chest compressions.”

**

Riley sat on the quilt overlooking the lake.

“You can turn around now.” I refastened my bikini top, making sure my
assets
were covered. He glanced over his shoulder at me, pouty lips turned down in dramatic overkill.

“Quit sulking. I told you
twenty-five
would be my lucky number.”

I managed to stay on top of the water almost ten minutes, finally letting go of the rope near the shore because my legs were tired. Riley didn’t try to hide his disappointment, barely saying two words.

“You don’t play fair,” he growled a little too seriously. “You’re such a tease.”

“I beg your pardon?
You’re
the tease.” When he wouldn’t return my banter, I kneeled behind him, looped my arms around his neck and flicked my tongue along the edge of his earlobe.

“Don’t be like this Riley. I’m having fun. Don’t spoil things.” The vein behind his ear visibly throbbed, hinting that other parts of Riley may be as well. I kissed his neck, noticing the slight tilt of his head to allow me access to the full length of tanned skin. I found a spot midway, and started sucking. As soon as I thought fangs might appear in my mouth, Riley flipped me on my back, his body pressed to me.

“A
hickey
? You gave me a damn hickey?”

“I marked my territory. You’re now bound to me by bloodlust,” I giggled.

“Your
territory,
huh?” he mumbled against my lips. “I think I like the sound of that.” He pinned my hands over my head in a surprise move. “Prepare yourself. Paybacks are a bitch, baby.”

**

The warm shower soothed my sun parched skin. Every muscle in my body ached and my stomach felt queasy from all the junk food I consumed.
Hot dogs
turned out to be a side dish.

I wrapped the towel around my moist skin and wiped the steam off the mirror. Streamlets of water trickled over my shoulders from my wet hair and puddled against the rim of terry cloth across my chest. When I raised my arms to comb through my hair, the bright purple bruise peaked over the edge. The quarter size mark proved more painful than all the muscles in my leg. I peeled the towel down and Riley’s
payback
on my breast glowed like a beacon.

Damn you Riley!
Yeah . . .
damn.

“Good Lord Taylor! Is that a hickey on your
boob
?

Apparently, I forgot to shut the door again.

Fifteen

A TRULY “RELIGIOUS” EXPERIENCE

Riley

“I’m serious, Riley, don’t come over today.”

The clock said 7:15 A.M.
Sunday
morning. Taylor had to be insane calling me this early. I eased against the headboard and slapped my face to wake up so I could understand her because she whispered so close to the phone receiver. The room came into focus after a couple thousand blinks.

“Why are you whispering? And what do mean I can’t come over?”

Not
seeing Taylor would never be an option in my life anymore. I needed her worse than food and water to survive. She was my oxygen supply.

Her hissing in my ear continued. “Because I’m not supposed to be talking to you. Riley, we’re in deep trouble. Grams saw your
brand
on my, um, chest, and she’s pissed. She thinks I’m a slut, and well, I can’t repeat what she said about you.”

“
What?
How the hell did she see your boob?
I
didn’t even get to see your boob.”

Jaxson slapped the wall on the other side of my bed. Waking “the dead” could bring on my demise. I tossed my pillow to the foot of the bed and leaned on my stomach.

Taylor started crying, putting me at a loss. “Babe, calm down. You’re
eighteen.
She can’t
ground
you.”

“It’s worse. She told me if this is how I behaved with boys, she wanted no part of it. Riley, she wants to send me back to Boston.”

Okay,
that
would not happen. Taylor and I didn’t do anything worth sending her back home and taking her away from me. We still a month of summer left and I wouldn’t let old lady Daniels screw things up.

“Hell no!” I yelled out, surely waking the entire upstairs. Jaxson slammed the wall hard enough I expected to see his fist on my side. I walked into my closet, lowering my voice and searching for something to throw on. “I’m coming over to talk to her. We didn’t
do
anything.”