Skin (27 page)

He closed his face, now void of emotion, but his eyes burned hot. “Fifteen.”

She reached out to him in a comforting gesture, but he flinched from her. “I don’t need your pity.”

She set the camera aside and ignored his chilled demeanor. He crossed his arms over his chest and his dark brows drew ominously down over his flashing eyes. “Pity is the last thing you’ll get from me.” She touched the scar. His jaw clenched and she felt something clench inside her too. She thought it was her heart. “Mr. Tough Guy.”

She moved closer to his face, her finger softly trailing the scar. She pressed against his chest and on her tiptoes, she kissed the scar where it turned downward to his throat. His jugular pulsed strong against her lips.

“I guess we both have screwed-up families,” she said.

Reese ran his hands up her ass to her waist to her shoulders. Clasping them, he pushed her away from him. “My turn now. Truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“Do you want me?”

“Want you how?”

“Inside you.”

Frankie swallowed hard. Reese smiled harder.

“If you don’t answer truthfully, I get to dare you.”

“How will you know if I’m lying?”

“I’ll know.”

“I — dare me.”

“Chicken.”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to take off your clothes.”

Without a word Frankie stripped. Her sultry skin glowed under the light. Reese got harder.

He moved closer, the warm water swirling around him. In a surprising move, he sunk to his knees less than two feet from her. “You’re so pretty and pink, Frankie. I want to fill you up.”

“My turn,” she whispered. “Truth or dare.”

He looked up. “Dare.”

Her eyes locked with his. “I want to see you masturbate again, like before, but for me this time.”

Slowly he rose to his full height and without breaking their gaze he unbuttoned his jeans. This time he didn’t just push them down to his thighs; instead, he took them off, flinging them to the stone side of the pond. His dick jutted into the air, full and demanding.

He wrapped his right hand around the thick shaft and began to slowly pump. The temperature spiked. Frankie smiled and began the same slow, rhythmic movement against herself.

“My turn,” he hoarsely said.

She nodded, her excitement as she watched his big hand wrapped around that beautiful cock of his her only concern at the moment.

“Truth or dare.”

“Dare,” she panted.

“I dare you to come before me.”

Biting her bottom lip, Frankie inhaled sharply. She settled back onto the slope of the beach entrance to the pond and lay in the water. The buoyancy bounced her hips up above the surface. She pushed up on her elbows, her lips spread, and smiled at Reese. “If you come first, I get two truth-or-dares in a row.”

He nodded, his eyes blistering in their sharpness, his hand slowly pumping his shaft. Frankie lay back. Slipping her right hand back down her belly, she dipped the tip of her index finger between her slippery lips, then trailed it up to her straining clit. “I wish that were you, Reese.”

His hand squeezed his cock and his hips thrust toward her. “Me too.”

In a slow swirl she rubbed her hard nub, the sensations her own touch wrought almost as good as if it were Reese’s hand between her thighs. She began to mimic his slow rhythm but, unable to halt the rising waves of sensation, increased the pressure and pace. Her body drew taut in the water, her toes pointing toward Reese, her hips pushing the air above her hot box.

“Faster, Frankie,” Reese hoarsely said.

She didn’t need much encouragement; the sensation welled and she couldn’t stop if she wanted to. Open mouthed, she licked her lips and increased the tempo, her fingertips moving faster and faster across her pussy, her clit straining, every sense heightened. When the crest reared, she gasped and her body went completely rigid. Then the orgasm hit, washing over her one intense wave at a time. Her hips bucked against the rippling water and despite the quick, hard release, she wanted more.

Her pussy throbbed even as her hand slowed, then stopped. She felt her swollen lips, so sensitive to her touch but wanting something more, something stronger.

Reese.

Watching him increase the momentum of his rhythm, she felt compelled to touch him herself. She sat up, reached out, and put her hand over his hand. He started, his eyes boring into her.

“Let go,” she said, and moved closer, replacing his hand with hers.

She thought he was as big as he could get, but he swelled fuller beneath her hand. He groaned softly and pushed hard against her.

“Finish what you started,” he demanded.

Grasping him with her right hand, she cupped his heavy balls with the other and gently massaged them as she moved her fist slowly up and down the length of him. She wanted to spread herself for him and mount him, to rock him into the next universe.

Her pussy constricted and her hand increased its tempo.

He reached out a hand to her breast and bent down, taking a nipple into his mouth. The heat and intensity of his mouth almost caused another orgasm.

She arched against him and they moaned together, his breath hitching as she ground her hips against her fist and his cock.

“Faster, Frankie,” Reese said against her breast, his teeth tugging on her nipple.

The sweet pain drove her wild. She pushed against him, her fist pumping wildly. His hips rocked against her, and his right arm slipped around her waist, pulling her even harder against his body. The slapping sound of their humid skin hitting against each other excited her further. She threw her head back and watched his hooded eyes watch her. He bit down on the soft flesh of her throat.

“Oh, God,” she gasped.

Reese pulled a hank of her hair, pulling her back head, forcing her face up to his. Her body arched in a backward C, and he pressed harder against her throbbing clit. Their momentum climaxed at the exact moment. Reese came against her belly, his warm seed shooting up between them. He groaned and jerked hard against her, still holding her hair in his hand. He sunk his teeth deep into her exposed neck and she screamed, the primal act and the ensuing pain more exciting than anything she had ever experienced.

Like animals they panted in each other’s breaths, their bodies naked, slick with sweat and come. She grabbed his shoulders to keep herself erect. Slowly his fist unwound and he let her go, but kept a strong arm around her waist, still holding her tightly against him. Their breaths blew hot in each other’s faces, and Frankie licked her dry lips.

“Truth,” Frankie panted.

Reese flexed his cock against her belly.

“Okay, truth.”

“Was that the wildest thing you ever did?”

“Yes.”

R
eese admitted the truth. It surprised the hell out of him. He wasn’t a Boy Scout by any stretch of the term, and although they hadn’t actually had intercourse, latent primal urges overtook him. He’d never been so physical with a woman.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, pulling away from her.

She shook her head no, but when he glanced down at her neck, bruises where he’d bit her already stewed. He traced a fingertip along the bite marks. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had the urge to chew my partner before.”

Frankie laughed and touched her fingertips to the tender spot as well, brushing his fingers in the process. He didn’t pull away. Neither did she. “It’s okay.”

He watched fire spark in her eyes as she felt the swollen flesh of her throat. “You liked that, didn’t you?” he asked.

He grinned when she blushed. “So, Frankie likes it rough?”

“I never thought I did, but with you, it seemed…right.”

Always thinking of the shot, Frankie snatched the camera from the ledge. “Your semihard state is perfect for what I want. Come lie down here against the slope. Yes, just like that. The waterline is perfect, you can just” — she clicked off a few shots — “see the full root of your cock.”

He flexed his hips and the head of his cock bobbed against the water. “No. No head shots yet.” She laughed at her pun, then frowned. Film over. Quickly she scrambled from the water and loaded a fresh roll. Reese kept his pose. He seemed relaxed for the moment and contemplative in the water. Her body still throbbed, every one of her senses still lit. She wanted the full effect of that man inside of her turning her inside out.

“Truth or dare?” She prayed he wouldn’t figure out she lost the bet, and he’d go for the dare.

Reese’s head snapped up from his resigned pose. He eyed her skeptically, then slowly smiled. “Which one do you want me to pick?”

Her brain debated his question. Reverse psychology or shoot straight?

“Truth.”

“Dare.”

She smiled. Men could be so predictable sometimes. “I dare you to let me set a timer on a tripod and photograph us.”

He cocked a dark brow. “Doing what?”

She bit her bottom lip and chewed on it for a thoughtful moment. She was going way out on an emotional limb here. If he rejected her, she didn’t know how she would handle it. Taking a deep breath, she went for it. “Making love.”

Reese snorted and pushed up from his supine position. “Making love? Don’t you have to be
in
love to do that?”

She scowled and felt embarrassed. It wasn’t like she was declaring herself or something.

“Poor choice of words. How does hot, sweaty, no-holds-barred sex grab you?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t making this easy for her. He stood naked as the day he was born and contemplated her offer of sex on film as nonchalantly as if deciding what he wanted from a breakfast menu.

“Offer withdrawn.”

She turned to get out of the water, which suddenly held no more allure, and the humidity, now too stifling.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She stumbled in the water, losing her balance. He scooped her up against his chest, his cock rising in a hard hello.

“I can’t let you think you have me wrapped, Frankie.”

She relaxed in his arms but swatted him. “I’m a woman first, an artist second. And sometimes the two meld. Like now. I want to capture our passion on film.”

“What happens when we break up?”

“Since we aren’t anything but employer and employee, we’ll be nothing but professional when that time comes.”

“What if I don’t want it to come?”

Frankie pulled back and stared at him. “Get serious. Our worlds don’t mix.”

He released her and sighed. “You’re right. Besides, your family knocks people off.”

His comment jolted her back to the reason they were there. Not for the first time, she desperately yearned for a normal life, one uncluttered, one where she could wake up every morning and not have to wonder what shenanigans her family was up to, and not always have to look over her shoulder. Although she was a “mafia princess,” as Reese had labeled her, she wanted what most women wanted. A life devoid of wondering if she’d wake up dead. Someone to love, a few kids to raise in a safe, loving environment, and a career that satisfied. Basic.

She cocked an eye toward Reese and smiled to herself. There was no doubt in her mind. They could produce some of the best-looking children the earth had ever seen.

Egads, there was that ridiculous image again. Frankie mentally kicked herself. It was time to change gears.

“Let’s get into some dry clothes, eat, then go toss my father’s room.”

“What about the hot monkey sex?”

“Later.”

He scooped her wet shirt from where it snagged on a rock and handed it to her. When she grabbed it he yanked her toward him, and she slid into him. His long arms encircled her waist and he smiled down at her.

Her hazel eyes looked almost green in the low light, and her cheeks flushed rosy.

“You are the most intriguing woman I’ve come across in a long time.”

“Hmmm, how long?”

He was bending his head to kiss her when the low beep of the perimeter sensor went off. Frankie’s body tensed. “Someone is on the property,” she said, her voice high. What seemed like an instant later, light flashed through the misty glass windows.

“Shit!” Reese pushed Frankie down into the water, killed the soft ground lamps nearest them, and followed her. Only their heads remained above water. “I’m not sure if those were headlights or flashlights.”

Reese moved forward, his head popping up from the water like a periscope. From his vantage point he could see nothing. If they stayed they were sitting ducks. He moved back to Frankie and whispered, “Stay low and stay quiet, and don’t let go of me.” He took Frankie’s hand and crept from the pond, pulling her behind him.

Frankie halted, resisting his tug on her hand. “I can’t leave here, Reese. Not yet.”

He turned. Damn it, she picked a lousy time to defy him. “If we don’t leave now, you’ll be here permanently.”

“We can hide.”

He shook his head vehemently. “Don’t argue with me. We’re out of here.”

“But —”

He pulled her hard against his chest. “Listen to me. I don’t care how many hiding spaces this place has, we need to get out of here, out of California. You need to trust me on this. Otherwise you’re dead.” He watched the turmoil in her eyes, and each second she wasted deciding if she could trust him or not was a second closer to a dire end.

She nodded. “I trust you.”

“Good, now let’s get the hell out of here.”

They slipped from the pond and tugged on their soggy clothes. Frankie grabbed her camera, stuffing it in the bag, and followed close behind Reese. They both left wet footprints in their wake.

“This way,” she whispered, pulling him down the hall and up the wide, winding stairway. “We can use the butler’s elevator to go down when they come up.”

Reese nodded and just as they were halfway up the staircase, voices infiltrated the wide entryway. They hurried to the landing.

“Bobby says the tags came back as a rental,” a voice clearly said. She recognized it as one of the two who had shot the second set of thugs in her house. “He’s working on the who.”

“I know it ain’t those old folks who used to live in the back,” his partner said.