Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (13 page)

             
Cage found this funny. His low chuckle made me
feel flush all over.  I headed toward the water without looking back at his amused expression.  Besides, I was pretty sure making eye contact with him would be difficult with that damn nipple piercing taunting me.
One more reason to gawk at Cage’s chest.

             
“You
gonna
tell me why you’ve been avoiding me the past couple of days?”

             
I dipped my toes into the water testing the temperature. With the shade from the trees
,
our part of the lake remained cooler than other parts.

I tried to focus on the water and ignore his question.
How was I supposed to answer that anyway? I didn
’t want to tell him the truth: t
hat I was embarrassed because I smelled
horrible,
slept in his bed and probably snored all night.

             
Shrugging, I stepped into the water and kept going until
it
reached my waist. Then I turned back to look at Cage. He was standing on the bank with his eyes focused on me. The dark blue boxers hung on his narrow
hips
and the dark hair that began just below his navel had me swallowing hard.

             
“You wouldn’t consider walking back out of the water and letting me stand here and watch, would
ya
?”

             
“What?” I asked and he just smiled and shook his head.

             
“Never
mind.”

             
He held my gaze as he walked down into the cool water. I wanted to stare at his nipple again but I wouldn’t let myself. It would just give him one more thing to tease me about.

             
“Ah, sweet relief. My invisible fairy has left me high and dry the past two days. I’ve had to fend for myself with my water and all I’ve had to cool
off
with
was the lake. Wonder what it was I did to piss her off?”

             
The laugh that bubbled up inside me surprised me. I hadn’t laughed in so long, until Cage. He always knew how to make me laugh.
How to make me forget.

             
“The invisible fairy was
embarrassed
by
her behavior,” I muttered and sa
nk deeper into the water.

             
“Why
? W
hat did she do?” h
e asked
,
following m
e
out deeper into the water.

             
“She drank a little too much,” I admitted.

             
Cage’s eyes went wide in
surprise
, “Really? Fairies drink?
I’ll be damned. I had no idea. Would you mind letting her know I don’
t hold it against her?
I happen to have made some bad choices where tequila was involved.”

             
His acceptance of my stupidity made something in me melt. Had I ever known anyone like him before?  He made mistakes and fessed up to them. He didn’t make excuses for the things he did wrong. He just
dealt with it and went
on. I wanted to be that strong. I wanted that kind of determination to just live.

             
“I wish I were more like you,” I said before I could think about it.

             
Cage’s eyes really did go wide with shock
this time. “
What?” he asked.

             
Shrugging
,
I dipped my head back to wet my hair and slick it back out of my face. “You heard me. You accept life and your mistakes and you go on. I don’t do that well.”

             
“Don’t say that Eva. You don’t want to be anything like me
. I’ve done some fucked-
up stuff. Made some really bad decisions. If I hadn’t had Low there to keep me grounded
,
who knows?
I’d probably be in jail by now.”

             
Low? As in
Willow
the redhead? So, she was his girlfriend? If Low had been the one to keep him from completely screwing up his life then why the heck was he flirting with
Becca
Lynn and me? The old me would have stormed off in a huff. I didn’t want to do that now. Josh would have run after me and tried to fix whatever was wrong. Cage wouldn’t do that. He would expect me to tell him what was wrong with me. He wouldn’t run after me. Cage York didn’t run after women.

             
“Does
Low
know that you flirt with every attractive female you come in contact with?” I asked
,
trying hard not to sound jealous.
Because I was not jealous.
I was not.

             
“Hell yeah, she knows.” He replied. The confused look in his pretty pale blue eyes changed to understanding. “Oh wait, you think Low and I have a thing?” He
let out a loud amused laugh
, “Not even cl
ose. Low is engaged and it
ain’t
to me.”

             
What was an engaged woman doing changing his sheets and
bringing
him towels? “She’s awfully helpful when yo
u need her. Does her fiancé
know this?”

             
Cage smirked, “Yeah
,
he knows. When he got Low he got her best friend too. Low and I grew up together. We both had shitty families in an even shittier part of town. We watched out for each other. We were each other’s family
. She’s the only family I got.”

             
My heart ached a little at the picture he’d just painted with so few words. Two kids
who only had each other. No parents or siblings to love them. I remembered Low’s sweet smile and confused expression when I’d been so rude about the sheets. She probably thought I was a complete bitch.

             
“Oh,” I replied. “I didn’t realize that. I thought she w
as one of your many beck-and-
call girls.”

             
Cage roared with laughter, “Please don’t ever let Low hear you say that. She’d go all redhead spitting mad.” He took a step
toward me and his cocky smirk
returned
. “You think I got beck-and-
all girls?” he asked

             
I raised one eyebrow and
returned his stupid smirk,
“I know you have beck-and-
call girls. Guys like you have them lined up and waiting.”

             
Cage took another step toward me, “You think you have me all figured out
,
don’t
ya
?”

             
I nodded and cle
nched my fist to keep from reaching out
and touching his nipple barbell
now that it was so close to me.
So very tempting.

             
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”

             
“Like what?’ I asked
,
needing to get my mind off his nipple and abs so very close to my hands.

             
“Like the fact
I think you’ve got the prettiest damn eyes I’ve ever seen. I think about them way too often. 
Or
that I told Low about you.
I never tell Low about girls. They’ve never been important enough. And that Sunday night was the best fucking night of my life even if your drunk ass probably can’t remember it.”

“Oh,” was the only response I had. My heart was beating so hard in my chest I wondered if he could hear it.

“Speaking of engaged females,” Cage picked up my left hand where my ring finger was now bare. I’d taken it off when I was drunk and tucked it away in my purse. Wearing Josh’s ring while I drank tequila shots and danced in a bar just felt wrong. I hadn’t put it back on.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me too,” I murmured.

Most guys would press for more.
But not Cage.
He just accepted what I wanted to tell him and didn’t ask for what I wasn’t ready to give.

Cage’s chest was so close to me now it brushed up against my breast.  I gave in. I couldn’t help it. He’d just said I had the prettiest
eyes he’d ever seen and that sleeping with me was
the best night of his life. Reaching up I brushed my thumb over the small silver bar. Cage’s
pec
muscle jumped. I took that as encouragement. I ran my fingertip around it slowly. His chest began rising faster with each quick intake of bre
ath. Knowing that I
was affecting
Cage gave me an odd sense of power. His touch was the one that always sent me into a tizzy. It was nice to reverse the roles.

             
“You really like that nipple piercing
,
don’t you?” he said in something close to a growl.

             
“
Mmmhmmm
, I’ve never seen one before. I like it a lot.”

             
“I’m not complaining. If it fascinates you that much
,
I’ll go get the other one done too.” His breathing was jagged.

             
The naughty girl inside me
,
that I honestly didn’t know existed
,
bent my head down and looked up at him through my lashes as I flicked it with my tongue.

             
“
Ah, shit
,” he whispered but it almost sounded like a moan.

             
Encouraged by his response I flattened my tongue and ran it up and over his hard nipple.

Cage

             
Nothing. Absolutely nothing
I’d ever experienced was as hot as Eva licking my nipple like it was a damn lollipop. She had my dick so hard there was no way I was going to be able to get rid of this thing without some relief. Cold water wasn’t going to be enough this time. I was going to need some serious private time real
fucking soon.

             
“Can I
watch you get the other one?” s
he asked
,
staring up at me with those eyes of hers through heav
il
y lidded lashes. Damn. Wha
t had she just said? I couldn’t
keep my train of thought straight.

             
“Huh?” I managed to ask.

             
She began placing small kisses around my
pec
.  “Can I go with you when you get the other one done?” she asked with her lips against my chest.

             
“Baby, I’ll let you sit in my damn lap if you want to,” I replied.

             
She giggled and her sexy little tongue went right back to flicking the barbell. I deserved a damn award for not having her perky
titties
out of that
bikini
top and giving her nipples the same attention she was giving mine.

             
“I’d like that,” she whispered.

             
“I’m real glad you like it
,
but I don’t think I can take much more.”

             
She stopped and raised her eyes to meet mine, “Does it hurt?”

             
Fuck
,
she was innocent. “No, sweetheart it feels amazing. But I want your pretty little nipples in my mouth real damn bad
right
about now.”

             
She froze. I waited for her to ba
ck away and run for the shore, back t
o safety.

             
If she left me here I was jacking off right here in this damn water. I wouldn’t be able to get far with the insane throbbing
between my legs
.

             
“Okay,” she said
,
so softly I wondered if I’d heard her right. She reached back and undid the strings holding her top
up
as
I watched afraid I was going to
wake up any minute alone in my bed and horny as hell.

             
She pulled the small piece of fabric covering her tits away and laid it over
my shoulder. They were perfect: r
ound and soft
,
just
a little more than a handful.
I covered each one and held their weight in my hands. This m
ight
never happen again and if this was all I was going to get of Eva Brooks then I was going to savor every damn minute.