“What are you worried about then? I’ve already seen you wet and you look beautiful with your hair all stringy. Unless you don’t want to get that suit wet.”
She wore a pretty flowered two-piece that left just enough to the imagination. It was the first chance he’d had to really appreciate the beauty of Angie’s body. She was fit, not thin, with curves in all the right places. Unlike a lot of the girls he’d dated, she boasted no surgical enhancements. Her breasts, her nose and her lips were all completely natural.
Angie leaned back and stared up at the sky, kicking her feet in the water. “This is so nice. It’s like we’re not even in the city anymore. I can’t believe people don’t use this pool. I’d be up here every night.”
“It would be more fun if it belonged exclusively to us,” he said. “I have a pool at my place in Florida.
Bigger than this one.” He kicked off the side and swam toward her. “With a hot tub. And a big, tall fence around it.”
“I have bathtub,” Angela teased. “I do laps every morning.”
“All right,” Max said. “That might have sounded a bit egotistical. Maybe I was hoping to impress you.” In truth, he was thinking about how much fun it would be to take off his shorts and her suit and enjoy the feel of her body against his in the water. If they were in Florida, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone barging in on them. After swimming for a while, they could lie down on one of the comfortable chaises on the deck and continue what they’d started in the pool.
Max pulled himself out of the water and sat down next to her, pushing aside the fantasy. “You’re very hard to impress.”
“That’s not true,” she said.
“What do you like about me, Angela?”
She regarded him with a cool stare, her eyebrow arched. Max had never met a woman like her before. She certainly kept him on his toes. He wasn’t sure from one moment to the next what she was thinking. But then, when she turned that smile on him, he could almost believe she was as captivated by him as he was by her. “I like your…hair,” she said, lowering her gaze in mock innocence. “And you have a very nice body. And your voice. That’s nice, too.”
“Nice?” He jumped back down into the pool, then pulled her along with him. She cried out in surprise, but he held tight, cradling her body against his. “I told you the water was nice.”
“It’s warm. Like bathwater,” she said. Angela wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, deliberately taking her time before drawing away. Her body rubbed against his provocatively and Max wondered if she knew what she was doing to him. “I like your mouth,” she said. “And the way you kiss me.”
Max growled softly as he pulled her into another kiss. Beneath the water, her skin felt like silk. He ran his palms from her shoulders to the small of her back, then drew her hips against his. “What about the way I touch you?” he asked.
“I like that, too,” she whispered. “See, there’s a lot about you that I appreciate.”
Something had changed. The moment she’d kissed him, he felt her grow pliant in his arms. A silent surrender. He slipped his hand between them to cup her breast, softly teasing at her nipple through the fabric of her suit. Angela watched him, and then to his surprise, she reached back and untied the top, letting it fall in front of her.
Max bit back a groan. It took every ounce of his will to resist. But she’d given him an invitation to touch. How could he refuse? Sinking down further, he traced a line of kisses from her shoulder to her breast. And then, his mouth found her nipple, peaked from his caress.
Angela moaned, tipping her head back and furrowing her fingers through his hair. Max pulled her legs up around his waist as they bobbed in the water, his lips gently exploring the exposed flesh. But as he continued, Max knew they were reaching the point of no return.
He drew back and waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him. “Are you hungry? We could go down and order the pizza.”
Angela sent him a puzzled looked, the same one she’d given him that first night when he’d stopped mid- seduction. “No. Let’s stay up here a bit longer. It’s so relaxing.” She undid the back of her suit and tossed it on the deck, then closed her eyes and leaned back, holding her arms out until she floated in front of him, her hair fanning out around her. He moved his palm up her belly, then back again.
It was so easy to get caught up in his desire, Max mused. Though he tried to ignore his need to possess her, there were moments when he let himself imagine what they might share, what it would feel like to move inside her. He’d always followed his instincts, taking pleasure where it was offered without any regrets.
But what had seemed so casual with women he barely knew, took on much more meaning with Angela. He wanted her, not to satisfy his own needs, but so that he might know everything about her. The impulse to strip off the rest of their clothes was too intense to ignore.
She opened her eyes and he pulled her back into his arms. “I’m hungry,” he murmured. “We should go down.”
Confused, Angela watched him for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. He slipped his hands around her waist and set her on the edge of the pool, then crawled out next to her. Straightening, Max helped her to her feet and collected the towels he’d brought with him, wrapping one beneath Angie’s arms to hide her naked breasts.
They rode the elevator down three floors to his twenty-second floor apartment. When they opened the door, the chill from the air conditioning rushed out.
“You should get out of that wet suit,” he said softly, his gaze fixed on her mouth. Max rubbed her arms and her skin prickled beneath his touch. “I’ll get you something warmer to wear.”
She stared at him, silently, as if she were waiting for something more than words. “Here we are again,” she said. “With just a towel between us.”
“I don’t-”
“The last time we were in your apartment, you were wearing it.” She reached down and slipped out of the bottom to her suit, letting it drop to the floor before kicking it aside.
This was crazy, Max thought. They were both consenting adults. Why wait any longer? And she was right. All it would take was just a flick of his finger and the towel would be gone. He reached down, smoothing his hand over her shoulder. “You really want to do this? I can wait.”
“Why are you waiting?” she asked.
“I don’t want to mess this up,” he said. “But if you really want-”
Angie nodded. “Yes, I really want this. Do you?”
“Oh, God, yes,” he said.
A moment later, the towel fell to the floor and she stood in front of him, naked. Max wasn’t quite sure what to do first. He picked up the towel and rubbed it over her body. He’d never denied himself before, never even considered the consequences of indulging in recreational sex. But it was different now. He needed this to be right between them.
She grabbed the towel from his hands and began to rub it over his chest. Then she hooked her finger in the waistband of his board shorts. “You should get out of your wet suit,” she murmured.
He slowly shoved the shorts down over his hips, then let them fall to his feet. Drawing a deep breath Max waited, allowing her to make the next move. She made work of drying him off and every time she came close to his growing erection, he held his breath. There was no ignoring the fact that he was aroused, but she was doing a pretty good job of it.
When she finally tossed the towel aside, Max slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her body against his. The contact was everything he’d expected it to be, electric and overwhelming, so powerful that he thought he might come before she even touched him.
With nothing between them, they were both free to explore each other’s body and they did, slowly, silently, each caress a tantalizing prelude to the next.
There was nothing of the practiced seducer in him anymore. He wanted to proceed at her speed, making sure that his pleasure was secondary to hers.
The distance that she usually kept between them was suddenly gone, dissolving the moment her naked body touched his. She arched into his touch, her breathing quick and shallow, her lips searching for his. And when her fingers finally grazed his rigid cock, Max was ready to explode.
He clenched his jaw and drew a deep breath, thinking about the embarrassment he’d suffer if he let himself go
