Slippery When Wet Read online

  Dev came out of the water a few feet away from her. “Playing cat and mouse?”

  “Or shark and angelfish.”

  “Are you calling me an angel?” His eyes laughed at her, then he shook his head so that drops of water scattered around them.

  “Somehow, you remind me more of a devil.” This time when she ducked under the water, she brushed a hand down his ass, just to feel if it was as marble hard as the rest of him before she flicked away. Lightning fast, he turned and managed to stroke her leg as she flowed past and up to the surface.

  “Careful when you go grabbing like that, darlin’,” he said when he’d followed her. “You might get hold of something I’ll need later.”

  She laughed. “I don’t know, if I were you, I’d worry more about some hungry little fishy thinking it’s a big fat ol’ worm dangling there and taking himself a nibble.”

  His teeth gleamed white in a smile that suddenly reminded her of the shark she’d mentioned. “It’s not dangling like a worm right now.”

  Taylor ducked back under the water, this time stroking a hand over his belly—oh, those rock-hard abs—as she passed. She was just one beat too slow, though. His hand slid down the length of her back, curving over the taut muscle of her ass. Swiftly it tightened around her ankle, pulling her back toward him.

  When his hand slid up over her bare breast, Taylor jolted and reared her head up out of the water, gasping. It felt outrageous. It felt provocative.

  It felt right.

  Suddenly the mood of play was gone. She let her feet touch the bottom, swaying lightly in the water. Given that it had been years since she’d had sex with anyone but herself in the room, the idea of a man touching her was exciting and more than a little frightening.

  The reality of it was simply exciting, period.

  Dev’s face tightened and he stepped forward, pulling her against him.

  Heat on heat, mouth on mouth, the stroke of hands sending sensation rocketing through her body. Taylor shuddered. God, it had been so long since it had been like this, maybe even never. Surely she’d have remembered this kind of kaleidoscopic physical rush sweeping her along into madness, she thought as Dev crushed her mouth under his. Rough stubble scraped against her skin. Tantalizing, it failed to satisfy but only made her want more.

  She clutched at his shoulders. Buoyed by the water, she wrapped her legs around his waist. The smooth, hard heat of his belly tormented her. She wanted him in her, hard and against her. This had nothing to do with tequila or vacation, it had to do with a wanting that went deep into her bones.

  Waves slapped softly at the pilings of the dive dock. The palapa fronds rustled in the wind. The brush of hand on skin was slick and silent, the shudders silent and swift.

  Dev groaned at the feel of Taylor’s breasts filling his hands, her sleek, soft legs holding him in a slippery grip. He was so hard that he was brushing up against the cleft between her buttocks, the slick touch keeping him on the edge of coming. Not yet, though, he thought. There were places he wanted to take her, things he wanted her to feel before that.

  He slid his hands around her back and pulled her toward him, running his tongue tip along the impossibly soft skin of her jawline, down her throat. He’d wondered how she’d tasted. He’d thought about it all day, as they’d sat at dinner, as they’d walked down the beach in the darkness. The combination of smooth softness and sleek strength enthralled him. To have her now, filling his arms, pressed up against him, robbed him of breath, rendered him rock hard with need. He wanted to make her blind with pleasure, immersed in heat, to send her flying over the edge.

  “Tell me you want this,” he muttered, running a hand down the flat of her belly.

  Taylor gasped and arched against him. “I want you,” she whispered.

  He filled his hands with her breasts again, feeling the soft give and the hard tips against his palms. Unable to hold back, he lowered his head to take her nipple into his mouth. The feel of the rough nub against his tongue sent sudden, sharp arousal jolting through him. His fingers slid lower, passing curls of hair to find her wet in a way that had nothing to do with water. Knowing she was right there, accessible, threatened his control, but didn’t break it. Though he ached to drive his cock into her, he held back. Instead he found the hard, tight bud of her clit.

  Taylor jolted in shock at the hands of another on that most sensitive of spots. The slight calluses on the ends of his fingers teased a thousand nerve endings with slippery friction. She strained against him with a moan, as the tension coiled in her. His fingers tormented, then teased, then stroked rhythmically, leaving her helpless to do anything but feel.

  Pumping her hips to accentuate his touch, she moved against the maddening strokes. His hand tightened on her breast, squeezing the nipple and she climaxed in a rush of sensation that exploded through every cell, crying out and gasping with the intensity, her body bucking helplessly against him.

  Taylor clung to him as the shudders ebbed slowly away. Then her eyes met his, and the desire flared up again, hot and immediate. She pulled his head down to hers for a fierce, fast kiss, running her hands down the taut, corrugated muscles of his belly, feeling them raise up against her fingertips. “I think we need to do something to equalize things.” She slid off of him to stand on legs that were still trembling. Reaching out, she wrapped her fingers around his erection, but he stilled her hand.

  “I’ve got a better idea. Let’s go back to my room.”

  She nipped his lips. “For a bed?”

  He wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her close for a hard kiss. “For a condom.”

  THE DOOR SLAMMED BEHIND THEM and Dev pressed Taylor against the wall, feeling the soft spring of her muscles against him.

  “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he muttered distractedly. “I want you naked and I want to be in you.”“Mmm.” She kissed him, and reached down for the hem of her dress. “Then maybe we’d better stop wasting time.” She pulled it over her head and dropped it in a pool of pink silk on the tile floor.

  Dev slid his hands down the smooth curves of her waist, brushing over her backside for a heady instant before he moved his hands up into her hair and kissed her hard, feeling the soft strands spilling over his fingers. Then he pressed her back to the wall, holding her in place as he knelt down and tormented her with his mouth and tongue.

  She writhed against him until he could feel how wet she was, taste how close she was to the edge. And he stopped, wanting, needing to see her face this time in the light, to watch her flush as her orgasm moved through her.

  When he stood, it was her hands that tugged feverishly at the drawstring on his pants. When he pushed the cloth down, it was her hands that searched him out where he was heavy and hard, jerking just a little with the force of his arousal. And when he stepped forward, it was her hands that guided him inside, her moans that filled the room when his own voice failed and all he could do was gasp at the tight, hot miracle of her body clenched around him.

  RED-GOLD LIGHT STAINED Dev’s eyelids. He moved to roll away from it, to burrow back down into sleep, but he couldn’t move. His arm was numb, held down by a solid weight.

  A weight of warm, soft female flesh.He gathered the bundle against him even as he rose into consciousness, a consciousness laced with sensory snapshots—the maddening moments before they’d reached his room…the yielding heat of her naked body against his…the hot, slick rush as he slid himself into her…the molten explosion of his orgasm into her still shuddering body. And all the times they repeated it in the hours that followed.

  Dev pressed a kiss on the tousle of blond hair and Taylor grumbled once in slumber.

  “Shhh,” he whispered. “You can go back to sleep, just let me get my arm out.” It felt more like a chunk of wood than an arm, but he moved it nonetheless. Enduring its wake-up promised to be excruciating.

  Taylor rolled away from him and burrowed back into the pillow, the sheet falling away from her to reveal an enticingly angula
r back. Dev looked at it speculatively, but then tingling in his fingertips warned him that the fun was just beginning. Minutes ticked by while he suffered through pins and needles, focusing on the curves of her body in an effort to distract himself.

  He shifted onto his side to stare at Taylor in the dim light of the room and stroked a hand down her back, savoring the way it sloped down and then rose in a tight curve.

  She rolled onto her stomach and turned her face to him, squinting at him through her mop of hair. “It can’t possibly be morning. What time is it?”

  “You’re in Neverland, darlin’, there are no clocks. Close your eyes and go back to sleep.”

  Tempting though the prospect was, it wasn’t nearly that easy. She was in the bed of a person she hardly knew after a one-night stand. A memorable one-night stand, but a one-night stand nevertheless. It had been a long time, but as she recalled, the drill was to wake up and leave as soon as possible. Groaning, she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed, feeling the unaccustomed soreness between her thighs. They’d used each other hard and relentlessly, she remembered, stretching in a pleasurable satisfaction.

  She yawned. “Give me just a minute and I’ll get out of your hair.” The next second she was squawking as Dev pulled her back to tumble against him in a welter of sheets and pillows.

  “Who said I wanted you to?” He scooped her in to spoon against him, his chest warm against her back, his thighs strong and solid underneath hers.

  “Well, I just figured this was…” Her voice trailed off as she felt his tongue trace the line of her shoulder.

  “This was what?” Dev murmured in her ear. His hand slid over to one of her breasts, brushing the fragile skin and squeezing the nipple.

  “A one-night stand,” she managed. “A fling.”

  He bit her earlobe lightly. “A fling, certainly. But I never recall any discussion of a time limit.” His other hand slid down between her thighs to find where she was already slippery. “We’ve got the whole rest of the week. I was hoping to talk you into something a little more leisurely. I’ve definitely got no interest in letting you walk away this morning.”

  She could feel him hardening against her bottom. “I just don’t…” His fingers moved against her, forcing a moan from her.

  “You don’t think you could walk out of here this morning without coming at least once? Smart girl,” he said approvingly.

  Clever and slick, his fingers slid against her clit. The bolts of sensation had her moving her hips helplessly. Reaching back, Taylor pulled his face toward hers. His mouth. She wanted his mouth, then his cock, as deep as he could go. “I need you in me,” she whispered against his lips.

  “Always happy to oblige a lady,” he returned, shifting so that she was beneath him.

  “CAN YOU JUST CARRY ME to the beach?” Dev groaned.

  “You were the one who had the big idea about round two,” Taylor said, rolling over to prop her arms on his chest.“I’ve always been the kind of guy who sticks with what works.”

  Taylor fought to keep a straight face. “And in this case?”

  “Well, round one worked, and round two worked. I think we ought to stretch it out a little more.” He stroked her back and she purred like a cat.

  “What did you have in mind?” she asked, pressing little kisses on his jaw.

  “We’re both here the rest of the week.” He held up her left hand and inspected it. “No tan lines. Good. You appear to be footloose and fancy free and God knows I am. I got blood tests for the wedding, so I’m healthy and clean. How about you?”

  “I give blood monthly.”

  “So we’re set there. What do you say?”

  “About?”

  “About making a week of it.”

  “Sleeping together, you mean?”

  He nodded. “Unless you were faking it and really didn’t have a good time. It’s perfect. No ties, no commitments, just whatever we want, whenever we want.”

  “And nothing when we get home.” She didn’t phrase it as a question.

  He shook his head. “Nothing when we get home. You can do anything and everything your heart desires and know you’ll never have to face me again.”

  “If you agree to it, you’ve got to mean it,” Taylor warned. “No looking me up after we get home.”

  He leaned in and bit her shoulder. “Not that you aren’t completely delectable, but after what I went through a couple of weeks ago, darlin’, I’m not exactly leaping out of my skin to get involved in another relationship.”

  Taylor looked at him consideringly. “How’s your stamina? I’ve gone without for quite a while. Whenever I want might be pretty often. I’d hate to choose you over some of the other guys around here and find out that I’ve worn you out.”

  He silenced her with his mouth. “Well, you can stop your search right here. I’m all the man you’re going to need.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  He curved his hand over her breast. “I’m up to the task.”

  “Oh, yeah?” she asked, her hand straying down to find that he was, indeed, up. “Oh,” she said softly, “yeah.”

  “I take my vitamins,” he murmured.

  “Good thing,” she whispered against his mouth. “You’re going to need them.”

  4

  “I LIKE YOUR ROOM BETTER than mine,” Dev said, lying back watching Taylor change out of her clothes from the night before. The ceiling fan turned slowly, the woven bamboo paddles lazily stirring the air.

  “It’s no different than yours.”“Oh, yes, it is. You’re standing in it. That makes all the difference.” He rolled up onto one elbow and watched with interest as she worked her way into her bikini. “Let me know if you want some help with that,” he added.

  She shot him a look. “Oh, no, we’re not going down that path again. I came down here to lie on the beach, not to stay in a room all day.”

  Dev rolled off the bed and onto his feet. “I don’t know, it’s a nice room,” he said, looking around at the golden stucco walls dotted with mock Mayan artifacts. The coverlet and the couch held the vivid primary colors of a serape; the terrazzo floor was cool under his feet. “Besides, I can make it worth your while.” He stepped up behind her and began un-hooking her bikini top.

  “Stop that,” she laughed, swatting at him.

  “What’s this?” he asked, picking up a disposable camera sitting on the counter.

  “What does it look like?” Taylor gave him an amused glance, then slipped on a tank top.

  “You’ve only been here a day and you’ve already filled up a 36 exposure roll?”

  She zipped up her shorts. “I’ve been taking photos of the resorts. I put them in a book back at the agency to show to customers when they ask.”

  “You’ve got one more shot on here, you know.”

  “Yeah.” She headed to the bathroom to get more sunblock. “Toss it into my beach bag,” she called. “I’ll finish it up when we get down to the beach.”

  He watched her come back out into the room, slim and luscious, already with a faint golden glow to her skin. Desire tugged at him but he pushed it down. He wanted to see her out among other people. He wanted to see her smile at another and be able to look at her and know that she was his for the taking.

  They left the room, threading their way along the winding walkway out to the lush jungle path that headed toward the beach. Dev caught at Taylor’s elbow to stop her. “Up ahead,” he said softly. Near the flagstone path stood a trio of exotic black birds with rolls of glossy black feathers that furled back from the tops of their heads. “They look like they got into a packet of Jheri Curl.”

  “Do you think we scared them?” she whispered, admiring their long sweeps of ebony tail feathers.

  “Who knows? Maybe they get paid to stand around and look intriguing for the guests.”

  As though they’d heard his remark, the birds looked at them disdainfully, then turned and began stalking away deeper into the jungle.

  “So much
for the wildlife,” she said.

  Dev caught her around the waist. “I’ll show you some wildlife.”

  “I bet you will, you—”

  “Hola, amigos,” said a voice behind them. Taylor turned to see Dev’s crony from the restaurant the night before walking down the trail toward them. He was dressed this time in the royal-blue polo shirt and shorts of the Nova Friends, the resort’s entertainment and recreation crew.

  “Hola, Raoul,” Dev said. “I don’t think you two met properly last night. This is Taylor. Taylor, this is Raoul. He’s a Nova Friend.”

  “But I thought you were working in the restaurant last night,” she said in puzzlement.

  He nodded. “Sometimes, when I am doing a favor, I will do that.”

  She looked at them suspiciously, wondering exactly who he’d been doing the favor for.

  As though reading her mind, Dev smiled easily. “Raoul and I have done a little fishing and sailing while I’ve been here.”

  “Si, we are amigos. But you, señorita, are much prettier company than I am. I am afraid I will not see so much of Señor Dev before he leaves.”

  “Don’t talk about leaving yet,” Taylor protested. “I just got here. I don’t ever want to go.”

  “But once you spend time in Mexico, you carry always a little piece of him with you. You can look at the pictures and return.”

  “Speaking of which, here’s that camera,” Dev said, pulling it out of his pocket and handing it to her. “Don’t forget to finish it off.”

  “Ah, a camera.” Raoul’s eyes lit up and he reached out his hand. “If you will allow me, I will take a photo of you.”

  “Well, I don’t think…” Taylor began.

  Raoul took the camera neatly from her hands and stepped back. “Ah, now, in such a romantic place, my friends, you must be romantic also.”