Forever Bound Read online

  I let myself fall, drifting along with his kiss, the heat of his body, and his hands, moving again along my back. We would be at the beach soon. Maybe I should slow this down. Take a little time.

  Chance lingered, not in any rush, tasting me, nipping at my tongue with his teeth. He made me giddy. I wanted to laugh, to cling to him, to fall apart, all at once. He was everything in a single package. Passionate, silly, romantic, careful.

  I hadn’t been this swept away by anyone in a long time. If ever.

  Chapter 10: Chance

  I regretted asking Jenny to take us to the beach. A big ol’ interruption was about to come, and I’d heard about getting sand in all the wrong places.

  I brought things down a notch even though it took some effort. Jenny was more than I bargained for, a pink goddess in her green dress. I had ascertained she wasn’t wearing much under that gown. There wasn’t any strap or band breaking the smoothness of her back.

  As I tugged on her lower lip with my teeth, the urge to drag her down on that limo seat was hard to keep in check. We’d get there. She was pausing and dodging a little, but since that first crazy kiss at the party, she’d been making her intentions clear.

  When I was growing up, my grandpa told me about girls who were tigers. That I ought to give them a wide berth. But I learned pretty quick that those were the ones who interested me the most. I never could say no to a single one.

  Every now and again, I’d find out the hard way that one of them had a boyfriend — or a husband. I was better now about getting lost in a hurry if I had to. Not that I wasn’t up for a fight. But even a single hard punch to some asshole’s jaw could mess up my hand for a week, and when you’re playing by the seat of your pants on the road, your fingers are your moneymaker.

  These days I tried to make sure the girls in my lap were single. I should’ve asked Jenny about that guy at the party, but I just hadn’t done it.

  Jenny sighed against my mouth, then pulled away. “We’re probably almost there,” she said.

  I ran a hand along her bare shoulder. “You going to be cold?”

  “Not if you do your job.” She snuggled up against my chest.

  The limo jolted as we bumped over something. We both looked out the window.

  “It’s the parking lot for this stretch of beach,” Jenny said. “It’ll be pretty deserted on a night like this.”

  I reached down for one of her shoes. “You going to try wearing these?” They looked like little death traps to me, spiked heels and very little to hold them on.

  “No, I’ll go barefoot in the sand.”

  The limo rolled to a stop. Outside, I could see the ocean in the moonlight, dark through the tinted windows, endless and shifting.

  When the driver opened the door and I got a whiff of the sea air, I felt exhilarated. I tightened my arms around Jenny and ducked outside, keeping her in my arms.

  “You gonna carry me the whole time?” she asked.

  “Maybe,” I said. “You told me to do my job.” She didn’t weigh a whole heck of a lot, and the effort felt good.

  “Well, all right, Mr. Strongman,” she said, and wrapped her arms around my neck. “To the shore!”

  I stepped off the asphalt of the parking lot and took off across the wide expanse of sand. There were no lights out here, only the moon. Farther down, I could see some structures with lamps on the side, and behind us was the road. But ahead was nothing but water as far as you could see. The moon reflected on its surface, fading from the bright ball into a line of sparkling waves that eventually disappeared into the dark.

  I stood, feeling a little dumbstruck.

  “You can set me down,” Jenny said quietly.

  I let her feet fall to the sand. Her dress shimmered in the moonlight, although in the darkness, I could no longer see the color of it or the pink in her hair. She stepped out into the first lap of water on the sand, then squealed. “It’s always so cold!” she said.

  She turned around to me, her body silhouetted in the form-fitting dress. With the dreadlocks dropping to her shoulders, and the perfect outline of her curves, she was like a mermaid coming on land. My groin tightened so painfully that I wanted to snatch her right there, to hell with the sand.

  Jenny ran along the edge of the water in short, abrupt steps, leaving shallow melting footprints. “This silly dress!” she exclaimed, then grasped the fabric of the skirt and jerked it higher to free more of her legs.

  I had to clamp down my jaw as her thighs were revealed in the moonlight, smooth and soft. The dress was crazy short now, and the need to touch her again was too strong for me to ignore.

  I followed behind her as she skipped along the waves. Then I couldn’t take it any longer and swept her back up in my arms.

  She squealed and kicked her legs, sending sand flying. But she turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I ducked my head to capture her mouth. Every movie I’d ever seen on the beach had it nailed. This was hands down the most intense place to be with a woman.

  She dug her fingers into my hair as I took over her mouth, drinking deeply from her, ready for more of her, my appetite whetted by that new bit of skin she’d shown.

  “There’s some rocks a little farther down,” she said. “Just keep walking.”

  We were pretty out in the open, but that didn’t stop me from working my hand as far up her thigh as I could while still holding her.

  She shifted position. I stopped to see what she was doing, and she swung around, straddling my waist and locking her ankles at the back. Now I could put my hands on her sweet little behind, round and tight beneath the stretchy dress.

  We were face to face, and she bounced a little as we walked along. Her breasts swung just enough to tease me. She caught me staring and looked around us, up and down the beach. “Seems pretty empty tonight,” she said, and let one arm come away from around my neck.

  Before I could figure out what she was up to, she’d pulled her arm up and out of the sleeve of her dress. It clung to her, just barely, as she wrapped the freed arm back around me and did the same to the other side.

  When both arms were back around me, I couldn’t tear my gaze from that loosened top. It was tight enough to stay roughly in place, but each step we took sent it slipping a little farther down. The suspense was torture as I took bigger strides, encouraging it to fall.

  Jenny threw back her head and laughed, knowing she was making me crazy. Her hair draped down her spine and tickled the backs of my hands where I held on to her.

  She slipped a little, and I pushed her back up on my waist, shifting the bottom of her dress. And that’s when I felt the warm smooth contact of her skin down there.

  She wasn’t wearing panties.

  I lost it, my raging need of her too intense for another moment of this torture. I stopped right there on the shore and brought one hand around, pulling that infernal dress down to expose her beautiful sweet breasts.

  My mouth closed over a nipple and she gasped, clinging to my head. I pressed that breast up and into my mouth, kneading it, reveling in its full round softness.

  She squirmed against my waist, and knowing she was exposed against me made me a little crazy. I shifted her body up against my jeans and slid her down, imagining that pretty unprotected part of her getting the full treatment of the rough denim.

  She groaned and pushed harder, her breathing rapid. I was beginning to really regret the beach idea. I lifted my head from that luscious nipple, about to suggest we get back in the limo.

  That’s when I noticed the rocks she’d been talking about, just a bit farther down the shore. It was an outcropping, and I could see why she mentioned it. It gave a little protection, something less exposed than standing in the middle of the unbroken sand.

  I headed straight for it. Jenny leaned her head down, resting it on my shoulder. Her dress was pushed together at her waist now. I wanted to set her down, look at her, touch and taste everything.

  The rocks were surrounded by upshoots of we
eds. There was no place to lie down, but that didn’t matter. Once we were inside the shelter of their towering sides, I set her in the sand and jerked the dress down from her body. Now, I only had to plan my nonstop worship of her skin, starting at her ankles.

  Chapter 11: Jenny

  Holy shit-sparkles. This guy was intense and I was naked on the beach.

  Hidden among the rocks, I felt less exposed, not that I wasn’t an exhibitionist. Enough people had seen me naked to populate a small town. But getting arrested wasn’t on the agenda tonight.

  Chance knelt down low, his hands massaging my ankles, his mouth kissing the inside of my knee.

  I leaned back against the wall of rock, rough and gritty. He was heading north, and seemed intent on making a rest stop at —

  Yes. There.

  I clutched at his head as his tongue slid in all the right places. This was crazy, even for me. The beach. A stranger. I inhaled sharply as he sucked at me, his hand lifting one of my thighs to rest on his shoulder.

  His other hand worked his magic. Just as I thought. Strong, deft fingers.

  The world was already starting to splinter. It had been a while, and my body sang to his strumming like a Stradivarius. I didn’t care if I was mixing musical metaphors. I just wanted more, to shatter, to get what I’d been missing all those months.

  He moved up, his hands still working on me, until his mouth reached a breast. One tweak there and that was it, I was over the top, shuddering against his palm, hanging on to his hair for dear life, crying out, long and slow. Random words. Then his name. Chance.

  My knees started to give out, and he clasped my waist. My skin sizzled despite the chill.

  “You okay, darlin’?” he asked, pressing me in.

  I nodded against his chest. I fingered the bottom of his shirt, ready to see this boy who’d just turned me inside out. I pulled it overhead and let it fall. It hit the sand with a whisper.

  Our little spot was dark, hardly any moonlight straining in, but I could see the contours of his chest. I ran my hands over those hard shoulders and down the bulge of his arms. I reached those talented fingers and squeezed.

  He unfastened his belt with a jingle of metal. I couldn’t see much in the shadows, but his boxers were light colored, visible as he pushed his jeans down.

  The pale fabric bisected him in the dark. He was erect and pushing against the elastic band. He kicked off his shoes and the jeans.

  The waves crashed in the distance as I reached for him, feeling hot again already. I pushed the boxers down and out of my way.

  The length of him was plenty enough and my fingers encircling him tingled with the knowledge of his girth. I worked him a little and he braced his hands on the rock on either side of my head. Without my killer heels, I stood well below him, my face right at the center of his chest. I leaned in to lick that hollow between his pecs. He was salty and warm, smooth and hard.

  His breath hitched. “I have a condom,” he said.

  Good idea. I was on the pill, but I didn’t know this boy, where he’d been, how often he did things like this.

  “Wallet?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” His voice was low and hoarse. He was working hard to keep control as I kept one hand on him, easing up and down his length.

  I liked that he was having a hard time.

  I bent down for his discarded jeans. He reached to cup my bottom, not a squeeze or anything rough, but reverently, like I was fragile. I managed to lift the heavy denim one handed, but I couldn’t free his wallet without letting go of him. So I released him and turned away to get the condom.

  He closed the gap between us, grazing me from behind with that extended erection. He groaned as I fumbled to find the little package.

  His fingers started working me again, and sparks burst through my head. I gave up on the condom for a moment and braced my hands in the sand, glad for the flexibility earned through years of modern dance class. I felt both his hand and the rest of him sliding along between my thighs, hot friction laced with the tight circles around my swollen nub.

  God, I was going to go again.

  I pushed against him, suddenly desperate to have him inside. The condom. I needed it now. I opened his wallet and found it. Desperate, I tore at the corner, releasing the lubricated disc.

  Chance pressed against me, dangerously close to being inside already. I opened for him, reveling in that feeling. Then he hit just the right spot and I lurched forward, crying out.

  And dropped the condom.

  “Shit!” I cried.

  He pulled away immediately. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No!” I said. “I dropped it.”

  “The condom?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s all right. It’s safe in the package.”

  “But it wasn’t. I took it out.” I felt around in the sand until I found it. It was coated with sand, sticky and gritty.

  Chance exhaled in a long rush. “That’s all right. We can drop by somewhere and pick up some more.”

  I wanted to weep. He was right there, right where I wanted him. “Just tell me you don’t have anything catching.”

  “I don’t.”

  “I’m on the pill.”

  His fingers continued their fervent press against me. I leaned back, wanting him back where he was, to keep going.

  He bent over my back and lifted my hair from my neck with his free hand. “You sure?”

  I pushed harder, feeling him at the entrance again, and that pulsing need that seemed to draw him in.

  “Yes,” I managed to say. “Please.”

  He pressed forward, the delicious tip slipping inside. I groaned as I expanded for him. It had been too damn long.

  He rested his hands on my hips and slid the rest of the way until his body was flush against mine.

  I cried out, overcome with sensation.

  Chance started an easy rhythm, holding me in place. I turned to the stone wall to brace my hands, rocking into him, urging him on.

  He matched my pace. My body shifted along with his, my hair tickling my naked back, the breeze from the ocean caressing my tender nipples. I felt so crazy alive there, on a public beach, sheltered by nature, taken by a total stranger who could probably make me orgasm with his voice alone.

  I learned the sounds of him, his throaty exclamations. And his grip, fingers tight on my hips. The flat muscled planes of his abs bumped against me with every shift we made into each other.

  He picked up speed, and I could hear myself groaning along with him. As he rushed into his climax, he reached around for me again, teasing my tender flesh, touching me with the knowledge he’d gained just moments ago.

  I didn’t think I could go again, but I did, and when I began to shudder around him, my voice hitting that higher pitch, he released into me, jerking me hard against him, squeezing everything he touched, elongating the moment, wringing it for every ounce of pleasure.

  My palms were raw against the rock, my toes deep in the sand. The wind had whipped my hair into chaos. But I was so high, so crazy elated. I wasn’t sure if I should cry or laugh or be embarrassed by the insanity of what we’d just done.

  He lifted me up against him, his arms crisscrossing my belly, palms protectively cupping my breasts. His mouth kissed my hair, my head, my ears. I realized tears were streaming down my cheeks. Above us, the wind rushed over the rocks, and the stars were easy to see on the edge of the vast ocean. We stayed like that a little while, just holding on, like two refugees stranded together with only each other for comfort.

  Chapter 12: Chance

  Something had just happened, and I couldn’t explain it. It was emotional, like a tender blues song coming to life.

  Jenny laid her head back against my shoulder. I was holding on to her, doing my job keeping her warm, like she asked, although her body was still hot and worked over.

  She shuddered a little and I felt the unmistakable drop of a tear on the back of my hand.

  “Hey,” I said softly,
close to her ear. “You okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “That was…unexpected.”

  I knew what she meant. “Yeah. Weird, huh?”

  Jenny laughed a little. “For lack of a better word.”

  “I’m not known for my pretty talk.”

  “Just your pretty singing?”

  “People say I’m not half-bad.”

  She turned around in my arms to face me. “So sing me something soft and romantic.” Her face was upturned, but I couldn’t make out much more than her eyes.

  “Any requests?”

  “The first thing that pops into your head.”

  I started singing, and only after a few words did I realize it was the opening line to “Fools Rush In.”

  Damn. That’s over the top. Falling in love. Not being able to help it. My gut tightened at saying anything like that to anybody. I wasn’t up for entanglements. I’d only just managed to sever everything that had been dragging me down when I left Tennessee.

  But now I was committed to the line, or I might upset her. So, to lighten the mood, I pressed my hand to my heart and shifted to falsetto. “I…can’t…HELP…”

  She smacked my chest with a giggle. “Okay, okay, stop.”

  “What?” I asked. “You’re not impressed with my crooning anymore?” I put my hands on her slender waist and lifted her up. “Rather I use my mouth for something else?” I blew a loud phbbbttttt on her belly.

  She shrieked and wiggled against me, trying to push off. “Aaaaah, stop! It tickles!” She laughed and fought against me, but I kept my grip and did it again.

  This time she managed to work loose and took off across the sand. “No zerberts!”

  I chased after her in the dark, the ocean roaring and powerful in front of us.

  She made it to the first waves and shrieked again at the cold. She ran with high steps and now that we were out in the moonlight, I could see the bouncing of her breasts as she ran.

  I glanced up and down the beach to confirm we were still alone and chased after her.