He laughed, a low and sexy sound. “I do wish.”
And that lit something up in her, something that said game on. Holding his gaze, she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her yoga pants and slowly inched them down. The cool damp air brought up gooseflesh on her bared hips, but a furnace was overheating inside her. When she got to mid-thigh, she turned to give him a good back view as she bent over to push the stretchy fabric the rest of the way down. Her grey athletic boyshorts covered more than most bikinis, but a choking groan from his direction assured her that he was getting a satisfactory eyeful. Could he tell that the crotch of her underwear was already wet, just from this stripping business and the way he looked at her?
She straightened and turned back to face him. Crossed her arms and raised the hem of her t-shirt to show her belly button, then a little more, until she had it bunched just under her breasts.
“Come on, show me those heavenly tits,” he muttered. “You’re killing me here.”
So she paused a moment more, hugging herself and doing a little twist wiggle. “Why? You got a rocket ship ready for blast-off under those galaxy shorts?”
“Bigger and harder than the Saturn V — you’re absolute rocket fuel, Nell.”
Hot damn. “Modest, much?”
“I’ve got what it takes to send you into space, and you know it. Do you want me to beg?”
Maybe I do. But she’d never been inclined to play bedroom games. Blowing out a shaky breath, she whipped her t-shirt off and slid into the hot tub, sinking up to her neck in the steaming water. Pulsating jets of water massaged her. “Ooh, that’s nice.”
“Now, how is that fair?” Eamonn asked, with a teasing grin. “I barely got to see anything.” Between all the ripples and bubbles, and the candlelight reflecting off the water, and the shifting colored lights underwater, a clear view couldn’t be had. “And our margaritas are way over there on the bench. Someone’s going to have to get out and fetch them.”
Crap. Now what?
He gazed at her across the hot tub, a wicked look in his eyes. “If you go get the drinks, I’ll take any dare you give me. Or I’ll get the drinks and you take the dare. Your choice.”
The thought nearly took her breath away. What might he dare her to do if she stayed in the water and told him to get the drinks? What would she ask him to do if she had the choice? “Dares? Are we in middle school or something?” she asked.
“Aren’t you even a little bit intrigued about where this could go?” he asked, with a smirk that implied he knew exactly how much the idea was affecting her.
Maybe he would think the heat in her face was from the hot tub. “I just… dares are about giving up control, and backing out after agreeing to one would be giving up integrity.” That didn’t mean she didn’t want to go there.
“Oh, babe, dares are about having an excuse to do something you know you want to do anyway. But how about we make it truth or dare instead? You like honest talk, don’t you? And if I’m lucky, it’ll get a little dirty…” He paused, cocking an eyebrow. “Now, you want me to get up and get those margaritas for us?”
I can deal with that. Her mind flashed back to them lying in their separate beds the previous night, and how his words about touching himself had electrified her. “Sure,” she said, meeting his eyes so he’d know she was agreeing to his game.
He stood up. As the water streamed off his beautiful inked body, she licked her lips. Those soaking wet cosmic swim shorts clung to his hips and — he hadn’t been lying about the rocket ship in there. He saw the direction of her eyes and laughed. “Oh, hell yes.”
It took him only moments to get their drinks and splash back into the hot tub, thigh-deep in the steaming water and close enough to touch. As he handed her glass to her — at least, she assumed it was hers, but they’d already swapped spit so it hardly mattered — she blurted out, “Truth.” Before he could ask. No way was she entertaining a dare.
“Sláinte.” He clinked his glass against hers before sinking down onto the seat opposite her, grinning. “So, how about you tell me what dares you were thinking about when I first mentioned it? What you thought I’d ask you to do. What you considered asking of me.”
The hot tub suddenly seemed ten degrees warmer as thoughts raced through Nell’s mind. She took a sip of her margarita, then another. The slushy sweet-tart liquid didn’t make any of this more sensible, but she gathered her nerve and decided to just blurt it all out. “Okay. Honest answer. I thought you’d try to get me to take off my bra. Make me sit on your lap, or maybe… maybe touch myself for you…” The last bit came out as sort of a gasping whisper, but Eamonn heard it.
“Good girl.” He sounded thoroughly turned on and approving. “I like the way you think. So, would any of that have been so bad?”
“No, actually. I like being in charge of my choices, but… we’ll see. A little more truth and a little more tequila, maybe we’ll get to that dare stuff after all.”
He crossed his arms behind his head and stretched, looking much too relaxed and satisfied. “Your turn now. And I’ll make it easy on you and take truth. For the moment.”
Too cocky. He wants me to ask him something dirty. About fantasies or kink. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. “You said sláinte before we drank. Are you Irish?”
He reached for his drink and took a big gulp,
