In Over His Head

shush of him removing his jeans. She pried open her eyes in time to see him rolling on a condom. Then he loomed over her, and their lips met in a voluptuous kiss. His heat, mingled with her musk, inundated her senses. With her skirt still nicked up about her waist, she spread her legs wide, lifting her hips to welcome him.

He slid into her in one long stroke, filling her. She expected fast and furious, flash and heat, but instead he stilled. Breaking off their kiss, he propped his weight on his forearms and looked down at her.

Compelling eyes, dark and intense, searched hers. She looked up at him, absorbing the sensation of him inside her. The brief thought that this interlude was supposed to be light and fun flickered through her mind. Surely it wasn't supposed to feel this… intense. Surely she wasn't supposed to feel this connection to him.

'Lexie.' That single, husky-voiced word sounded faintly like a question. As if he, too, felt and wondered at this… whatever it was passing between them.

She wanted to reply, to say his name, but then he started to move, slowly rocking his hips, and she lost the ability to speak. Her eyes slid closed, and she gave herself over totally to her passion. Her hands glided down his smooth back, to his buttocks, urging him deeper, higher. Her tension escalated, then in a rush, her orgasm washed over her like a great wave. A long, deep moan vibrated in her throat and she clutched him tighter, wrapping her legs around his hips. She felt him thrust again, then he buried his face against her neck, his groan of release sounding in her ear.

Still intimately joined, she laid beneath him, sated, languid, listening to his choppy breathing as she waited for her own breathing to regulate. His weight pressed her into the mattress, and she savored the press of his chest against hers, the tickle of his chest hair against her breasts.

She felt him lift his head, and opened her eyes to find him looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

There were about a dozen things she wanted to say, first and foremost, Thanks, I needed that, but lengthy speech was still beyond her. So she said the one word she could manage.

'Wow.'

He studied her in silence for several seconds, then nodded. 'Yeah.' He touched the tip of his tongue to his lower lip. 'You taste like flowers. Everywhere.'

Heat swept through her. 'Well, you would know.'

'That's some spark that's between us.'

'Definitely shorted out all my circuits.' She raised her hands above her head and stretched like a contented cat. Then she ran her index finger over his lovely bottom lip. 'You know, in the body-score-keeping scheme of things, you know a lot more about me than I know about you. And now that I can breathe again, I think it's about time I evened up the score.'

'Consider me at your disposal.'

'So, uh, what's your recovery time looking like?'

'Definitely gonna need a few minutes.'

'Would a massage help?'

'Depends on what you plan to massage. What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking about you, me and a nice warm shower. What are you thinking?'

A slow grin eased across his face. 'That great minds think alike.'

* * *

'Hey, there's no scar on your ass.'

Josh pushed his wet hair from his eyes, then looked over his shoulder. Lexie stood behind him, shower spray bouncing off her shoulders, bar of soap in hand.

Her eyes were narrowed on his butt, and she looked disgruntled.

'I beg your pardon?'

'Your ass.' She ran a soapy hand over his buttocks and he sucked in a breath. 'No scar.' She looked at him with a clearly suspicious expression. 'I thought you were bitten by a snake.'

'I was. Right there.' He touched his finger to a spot on his left buttock. 'Didn't leave a scar. Snakebites usually don't.' He turned around and took the soap from her.

Her gaze skimmed over his torso, lingering on his groin, which tightened in response. Then she reached out and brushed her fingertips over his upper thigh. 'How did this happen?'

'All your fault, sweetheart. 'Fraid I took one look at you, and I've been hard ever since.'

'The scar. On your leg.'

'Oh. Got caught by a Brahman horn.'

Her eyes widened. 'Brahman? As in bull?'

'Don't know of any other kind.'

She ran her fingers down the length of the thin seven-inch scar. 'Aren't those bulls wild and vicious? What were you doing so close to one?'

'I was ridin' him in a rodeo. Or rather, I was trying to ride him. Without much success, unfortunately, as that scar can attest.'

She stared at him with an expression he couldn't recall any other woman ever looking at him with, especially when he mentioned riding in the rodeo. Instead of interest and admiration, Lexie looked downright horrified. 'Rodeo? You ride in rodeos?'

Hmm. Her reaction piqued his curiosity, but at the moment, other things were much more interesting.

Such as that trio of golden freckles dusting the base of her throat. Brushing a single fingertip over the marks he said, 'You say 'rodeo' like I kicked small dogs and stole social security checks from elderly ladies. Most cowboys try their hand at the rodeo at least once.'

'Isn't it very dangerous?'

'It is. But I don't do it anymore.' That was certainly true. He was officially retired. 'Now, I can think of at least ten other things I'd rather be doing than talking. Like playing a game of Shampoo, for instance.'

'Sounds interesting. How do you play?'

'I get you all in a lather. Then rinse and repeat.' To demonstrate, he leaned forward and kissed her.

When he lifted his head, she murmured, 'Hmm. Nice kiss. I give it a 9.4.'

'Nine point four? Hell.' He stepped forward, backing her against the wall. Shower spray rained down on them as he pressed against her, his erection sliding against her soapy belly. 'Hang on, sweetheart. We're going for a ten.'

Chapter 5

Lexie spent the entire next day trying to do two things: not watch the clock and not think about Josh.

She failed miserably on both accounts.

Not only did her eyeballs constantly stray to her watch, but each time her mind performed a quick calculation, then registered its report. Only twelve hours and fourteen minutes till you see him again… Only eleven hours and forty-two minutes… Only nine hours and eight minutes…

If she had a nickel for every time she scanned the pool and beach areas for him, she'd be in Bill Gates's league. And it was totally ridiculous to even scan for him since he'd told her he planned to spend the day checking out sailboats. It was fortunate she knew the routine at the resort by rote, because her mind was simply not on her job. No, her mind was too busy reliving last night… and anticipating tonight.

An image of her and Josh in the shower flashed in her mind and she had to take a deep breath. He might have been going for a 'ten,' but he had delivered a twelve. At least. More like a fifteen. Had any man ever looked so good all wet and soapy? Felt so good? Made her feel so good?

Nope. On all counts. No doubt about it, Josh was an amazing and generous lover. She couldn't have picked a better guy to have a fling with.