Her breath caught as we cleared the rose of Sharon and other overgrown vegetation.
I climbed up and held a hand out for her. When we got to the top I helped her sit down and settled beside her. “I come up here to think sometimes. There’s a place I go a little farther back that isn’t someone’s property—yet.”
She glanced over at me. “I can see why you wanted this one, though.” Then she looked out over the lake. You could see the entire lake and a great deal of the properties. “I can see Lakeview Terrace from here.”
I propped myself on my hands a few inches behind her. “One of the reasons I was interested in the property. It had been up for auction, and I’d gone to look at it impulsively. In the end, the three of us had gotten a crazy idea to go in together.”
“Whose idea was it first?”
I laughed. “Mine.”
“That makes sense. You’re the gambler.”
“I am.” I turned to look at her and she was smiling. Following impulse again, I leaned into her. When she didn’t rear back, I laid a light kiss on her lips.
She tasted of the wind and the lake.
Of things I never knew I wanted.
She licked her lips when I eased back an inch. “Why did you do that?”
I grinned. “Gambler, remember?” I leaned in again and licked along her lower lip until she dragged in a surprised breath. “I didn’t see you coming, Duchess.”
“You aren’t the only one.” Then she closed her mouth over mine and I was the one breathless.
The kiss went from tentative to sweet as she learned my taste. I let her take the lead for a few minutes, content to see where we went. If she wanted it to be just a kiss, I’d leave it here. Even if it killed me.
She drew back, her eyes still closed. She pressed her lips together as if savoring our kiss, and my chest ached. Her eyes slitted, the honey gold of her eyes pulling at me. A brief flash of a future moment slammed into me. This is what she’d look like on a Sunday morning. The lazy contentment there as pleasure overtook sleep-filled eyes.
I cupped her cheek, her silky sun-warmed hair twining around my hand.
I saw something else in the warm gold before she shut me out and kissed me like she meant it. Like there was no time to hold back. Rocked by the sudden change in the flavor, I pulled her closer until her breasts crushed to my chest.
Her arm wound around my neck and we fought for dominance. Her mouth hot and wild as a hint of something cherry lured me even closer. Her fingers tunneled through my hair and the groan between us was a harmony of need.
The angle wasn’t right for much more than kissing, but my hand slid down her side, my fingertips brushing under the side of her dress.
She sighed into my mouth, and I teased the soft fullness of her breast. Nothing under her dress.
God.
She reached behind her neck and broke the kiss for a moment. Her golden eyes were like fire. She glanced down at my mouth then back up to my eyes and one of the ties to her dress slipped down.
“You’re going to kill me dead, Duchess.”
Her swollen mouth spread into a delighted smile, then I couldn’t focus on anything other than her amazing breast.
Cinnamon-tipped and full, I lowered my mouth to her nipple. Her nails dug into my neck as I lightly sucked at the tight tip. I looked up at her as I cupped the fullness of her. Her lips parted as I let her free.
My thumb swiped over her nipple, and I went for her mouth instead. The moan vibrated over my tongue. I swept in, tangling with hers—starved for her.
Something I never knew I needed.
Her surrender.
I wanted to lay her out and worship every inch of her, but the rocks were unforgiving and hot from the sun. Her sensitive skin was already pinking up from my late-day stubble.
I flipped down the other strap until she was completely bared to me and the sun. In our own little alcove, there was just her and me. Just her taste burning on my tongue until I tore my mouth from her to race over her skin again.
