Travis (Pelion Lake) by Mia Sheridan

Our tongues tangled, danced, parried slowly, her mouth angled over mine so that I could taste every inch of her sweetness.

Our breath mingled, and Haven brought her hands from around my neck, holding my face as her legs circled my waist. I gasped out a ragged moan as her core pressed against my erection and for a moment, I thought I might come in my shorts like a teenage boy feeling a female body for the very first time. She fit so perfectly against me. I used one arm to hold her steadily around the waist, and the other dipped, first to the round curve of her ass, down to the silky smoothness of the back of her thigh, pulling her closer yet, torturing myself.

“What are we doing, Travis?” she breathed, slowing the kiss once more, her lips trailing over mine, her hands weaving into my hair, even as she drew her body away from mine so very slightly.

I don’t know. I have no idea. “Enjoying ourselves,” I murmured, trailing my lips down her throat as she leaned her head back to give me better access. I darted my tongue out, licking the spot where her pulse fluttered under my mouth. I felt an odd feeling just under the intense arousal, and I could only call it fear. But of what? I knew how to do this. I was an expert at this.

“Why?” She raked her fingernails through my hair and I moaned again at the pure pleasure assaulting every part of me. But I also heard the barest hint of panic in her tone as though her mind was searching for reasons to resist, even if her body was not. Why what? I’d lost the thread of the conversation, and I had to force myself back the same way I sometimes pulled myself from sleep when an emergency call came through in the middle of the night.

When had I ever wanted to be lost like this? When had I wanted to lose control?

“Because it feels nice,” I answered. It felt better than nice. It felt amazing. Incredibly erotic. Right.

“That’s all?” She drew back slightly and looked me in the eyes, searching, giving me a moment to get control of the runaway lust pumping through my veins. Was she looking for a reason to stop? A justification to continue?

“Of course,” I answered. “You have . . . feelings for Gage, remember?”

Her gaze went a little hazy. “Right,” she said. “Oh. Yes. I do. I’d like to . . . keep myself available just in case.”

Available. The words felt wrong, as if the ones we were using were conveying something different entirely.

“Just in case,” I repeated, leaning back in and running my nose along her jaw, inhaling the sun-drenched scent of her skin.

“And you’re . . . you’re on the rebound,” she reminded me.

“I know,” I said. Something sparked in her eyes, her brows lowering even as she nodded.

“But there’s no reason we can’t enjoy each other in the meantime,” she said.

My heart soared and I felt a moment of victory, despite that she’d just re-established the very temporary nature of our . . . friendship.

I was going to make the most of temporary. And I was going to be a very good friend.

“Keep our skills honed and all that,” I added.

“Exactly. It doesn’t have to be complicated,” she said.

“No. Simple. Very simple.” Lord, but it felt simple. So simple I could hardly think.

She ran a finger down my stomach and I sucked in another breath, my cock jumping, a flush of heat infusing my limbs. I desperately wanted to pull her swimsuit bottoms aside, push into her tight heat, thrust gently at first, and then harder, faster, the water splashing around us as I sought the sweet relief that only her silken body could bring.

That couldn’t happen. Not here. But I could give her relief and despite my own raw need, I’d never wanted anything more than to pleasure her, to watch her face as she fell apart, to know that I had been the one to do it. I removed my hand from the back of her thigh and moved it between our bodies, drawing back so I could slip it lower, into the waistband of her bikini bottoms, my finger sliding over her hot, swollen flesh.

“Oh, oh God,” she moaned, her head going back, her hands falling from my head and gripping my shoulders. “Travis, yes . . .”

My hand went lower, my thumb trailing that hard bundle of nerves, even as my finger dipped into her wet heat. Oh God was right. She was slick and hot, snug around my finger. My cock throbbed with frustrating intensity, a primitive ache so deep it made me dizzy. Haven’s head came forward, her cheeks flushed, eyes half shut as she melded her mouth with mine once again.

I circled and slid and in only moments she was moving with me, riding my hand, the kiss growing erotically sloppy as she made a deep sound of primal pleasure in the back of her throat.

“Oh God, oh God, you’re good at this,” she said, breaking away from my mouth. “Don’t stop.”

I had no intention of stopping.

I lifted her higher and bent my head, closing my mouth over the thin fabric that covered one hardened nipple, and tugging on it lightly as she cried out, bucking gently, my finger going deeper as a frantic-sounding groan emerged from her throat. Her hands came away from my shoulders momentarily as she reached behind her, untying the strings of her bikini top, the fabric dropping.

My mind went blank, eyes feasting on perfect round breasts, her nipples tight, rosy points. Apparently, I didn’t need my brain to figure out what to do because before a lucid thought had formed, my mouth was wrapped around one bare nipple, tongue lapping at it slowly as she let out a long moan of pleasure, hands finding my shoulders once again and grasping.