“That’s so sweet. And I get it. I do.” She shuffled her feet ahead on the sandy bottom.
“Do you? Really?”
“I do. You love my brother. He loves you. I admire the hell out of your friendship.” She sucked in a deep breath, hoping that she could summon the courage to say what she would always regret if she didn’t let it out. “But I also know that I’m incredibly attracted to you, Zane. And judging by what you just said about the thoughts going through your head, I’m reasonably sure you’re attracted to me. If I’m wrong, you could save us both a lot of time by saying it. Then we can go on with the rest of our vacation as nothing more than friends.”
“I’m attracted to you. A lot.”
She was thankful for the forward progress, but she wanted more. She needed to seize this moment. “I’m glad. Relieved, actually.”
“You had to know that.”
She shrugged. “A girl likes to hear that she’s pretty. That a guy is attracted to her. It’s not rocket science, Zane. I’m glad you confessed what you’re thinking.”
“Do you want to know what I’m really thinking?”
Words seemed impossible. All she could do was nod enthusiastically.
Zane then did the thing she’d been waiting a decade for. He gave her a sign that he wanted this, too, by taking a single step closer. “You’re so beautiful. I just want to see you. All of you.”
Goose bumps blanketed her arms and chest, even in the warm breeze. She swallowed hard. Without a word, she reached back and pulled the string on her bikini top. As the knot fell loose, she lifted the garment over her head and tossed it up onto the sand. “Like this?”
It was his turn to move closer again, his eyes first scanning her face, then shifting to travel all over her body, looking hungry, but he would likely never know that whatever lust he was feeling for her wasn’t even a fraction of what she felt for him. “Yes. Like that.”
She took another step. Mere inches separated their feet. Their legs and stomachs. Her breasts were only a whisper away from his unbelievable chest. “Do you want to know what’s going through my head?” She loved the way his lips twitched at the question.
“It would make my life so much easier if you told me.”
A tiny laugh escaped her lips, but there was no mistaking the gravity of this moment. “I want you to touch me.” The words came out with little effort. She’d been practicing them in her head for eons.
He raised his hand slowly, his palm facing her breast. Her nipples gathered tight in anticipation. He breached the sliver of space between them, his warm and slightly rough hand covering her breast. This was not sex, not even close, but it caused such a rush of heat in her body that she gasped.
“Like this?” he asked, gently squeezing.
“Yes.” Allison’s need for Zane made her breasts full and heavy. Electricity was buzzing between her legs. Now that the floodgates had been opened, she didn’t merely want him anymore.
She needed him.
Five
What in the world was he doing? Zane’s hands were on both of Allison’s magnificent breasts, and he knew the logical next steps—kissing, trunks off, bikini bottoms gone and what he could only imagine would be the hottest sex of his life. Up against a palm tree. Rolling around in the warm sand. As amazing as that sounded, there was part of him that was terrified to go there. The temptation of forbidden fruit was no joke—he already had an erection that was not going to go away without some effort on somebody’s part. He never should’ve started this by touching her, but the look on Allison’s face right now, eyes half-closed in absolute pleasure, was such a turn-on, he wanted to get lost in it.
“Allison, I want to kiss you.”
“I want you to kiss me.” Her reply was swift and resolute.
He sucked in a deep breath as the ocean breezes blew his hair from his forehead. He dipped his head lower and closed his eyes, not thinking about anything other than doing what felt good. His lips met hers, and it was like tossing a match on a pile of tinder—her mouth was so soft and sexy. So giving and perfect. It was everything he could ever want from a kiss as her tongue swept along his lower lip. She popped up onto her tiptoes and leaned into him, telling him with a simple shifting of weight how badly she wanted him. But to punctuate the gesture, she reached around and grabbed his backside with both hands, pulling his hips sharply into hers. His body responded with a tightening between his legs that left him dizzy.
Allison flattened both hands on his pecs and spread her fingers wide, curling the tips into his muscles while peering up at him. “I want you, Zane. I want every inch of you.”
“Here? Now?”
She slid her hands across his chest away from each other and turned her attention to points south. His swim trunks were fully tented. “I hate to make either of us wait, but I don’t want to do this in the sand. The beach is beautiful, but one of our beds would be even better.”
Zane didn’t want to put anything on pause now that he’d made his decision. Everything between his legs was screaming at him to argue her point. But it might be wise to hold off until they could get back. It would give Allison a chance to change her mind. Zane could endure his inner tug-of-war some more. Then, if he and Allison still ended up in bed, he’d know in his heart that it hadn’t been a rash decision.
She grabbed his hand. “Come on. We can get back to my cottage in a half hour if we hurry.”
Disappointingly, while Zane collected their gear, Allison put her bikini top back on. They sat together
