NAUGHTY BUT NICE Read online

  His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he kicked off his shoes and socks.

  Then shoved off the rest of his clothes.

  And my, oh, my, Cassie thought, her body humming already, he looked amazing naked. She splashed him again for the sheer pleasure of watching water running down his big, strong, sleek form in little rivulets she suddenly wanted to lick off. Broad, tanned shoulders, hard chest tapering to a narrow waist, powerful legs … and what lay between those thighs made her breath catch. "Coming?"

  "Oh, yeah."

  Oh, yeah. With any luck, they'd both come.

  She needed this, she decided. She deserved it. And afterward, she'd feel better. More relaxed. They could go back to ignoring each other. But damn, he looked good strutting into the deliciously cool water without so much as a wince, never breaking eye contact, until, a few feet from her, he vanished into the water.

  With the lack of a moon, she couldn't see where he was headed, but she wasn't stupid. Braced and ready, she let out only a cool smile when he surfaced again, slowly, confidently, only a fraction of an inch in front of her.

  He shook his hair back. Water ran down his jaw. A jaw she suddenly wanted to touch. Strange, that urge. Sex was a tool and only a tool. A stimulus. A muscle relaxant. A great way to guarantee a good night's sleep.

  Nothing more.

  So this urge to be tender bugged the hell out of her. Forget tender. She wanted hard and fast, and then she wanted him gone. To facilitate the matter, she put her arms over his shoulders, letting him do all the work to keep them afloat.

  It also slid their bodies in direct contact. Chest to chest, thigh to thigh, and everything in between. And oh, baby, was there a lot in between. Her nipples brushed the light hair on his chest. His legs entangled with hers. And his erection… Mmm, she slid it between her legs, loving the feeling of having him there. He was hot, pulsing. Huge. And it wasn't easy to keep her eyes open on his, to keep her thoughts straight, when her entire body had melted so that she had no bones left.

  "Cassie." One large hand danced down her spine, cupped her bottom and pressed her against his hot, hard body as he supported her weight. "I'm ready to hear about the restraining order," he said very quietly, keeping them above water with no apparent effort.

  "I…" He had his hand on her ass, his penis between her legs. "Um…" Her heart was pounding dully in her ears. Her nipples had long ago pebbled to hard, needy beads. And between her clenched thighs she was creamy. Rational thought escaped her and he hadn't done anything yet. "What?"

  He let out a slow, knowing smile.

  Damn him and his unbearable control. Well, she had enough left to know she had to destroy it. Sinking her fingers into his hair, she shifted even closer so their mouths were just touching. "So. You really want to…" She wrapped her legs around his waist, thrilling to his quickly indrawn breath. "Talk?"

  Now both hands held her bottom, hard, his fingers squeezing. She was so close to him they'd melted together. And because she'd spread her legs wide, wrapping them around his waist so satisfactorily, the tip of his penis … oh, yes, nearly slid home.

  Nearly. Because he held back. Everything. "You want me?" he asked, his voice rough and serrated, his mouth so close to hers, but not close enough. His hands still gripped her bottom, holding her slightly away, so that his wonderfully hot, hard, huge erection only teased the very center of her universe.

  "I think that's fairly obvious," she answered.

  "Then talk to me."

  "Uh…"

  Looking fierce and hot, and so damn sexy she wanted to gobble him up in one bite, he stroked her again. This time his chest lightly brushed her nipples, and she could barely breathe.

  "Maybe you skipped the birds and the bees lesson," she said. "But you should know, talking has little to do with wanting you."

  He looked down at her breasts, two hard, aching points brushing against his chest, and groaned. Slowly he lifted her up a little, dipping his head so he could rub his jaw across the very tips. "Can Pete find you here?"

  No, she wouldn't talk about this, even if he'd forced a pathetic, needy whimper from her throat.

  "Cassie?" Another little stroke with his not-so-little penis. Her entire body quivered, dancing on the very edge of an orgasm she wanted with all her heart.

  "Can he?" he growled.

  She stared down at his mouth, wanting it on hers. At the look, he groaned low and deep. His fingers, still supporting her, glided farther down her backside and dipped between her legs. Unerringly found her flash point.

  Unable to help herself, she thrust against him and he groaned again, the sound melding with hers. She'd never had an orgasm without purposeful, calculated thought before, and yet here she was, quivering on the very edge without a thought in her head other than … more, please, more.

  They weren't very far out in the water. Not too far to miss the fact that her cell phone was ringing. She stared at the spot where she'd left it while he stared at her.

  "You get a lot of calls?" he asked hoarsely.

  "Very few now that I'm off work." She closed her eyes, then jerked them open when she felt his mouth slide over hers in a far too brief kiss.

  Bending his head, he sighed and rubbed his jaw lightly over her breasts, making them both moan again. "Get it," he said and with one last perfectly aimed stroke with his fingers, gently unwrapped her legs from around him. "It might be important."

  Walking out of the water, feeling him alongside her, Cassie wondered at the amazing control of the man. She wondered how he'd gotten that way, and— And all else fell from her mind as she scooped up the phone from her towel. She'd missed the call. But the caller had a New York area code that didn't belong to her agent. And then the phone rang again … same number. "Hello?" she said.

  "Hello, Cassie," said Pete. "I'm here and you're not."

  Cassie looked up into Tag's face and felt the blood drain from her own.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  «^»

  "You haven't called," Pete said in a congenial voice. "Even though I know you had some … car trouble before you left. Why didn't you call, Cassie?"

  Very aware that Tag stood less than a foot away, still as gloriously naked as was she, Cassie didn't say a word. Pete's voice gave her goose bumps, as did his casual reference to how he'd slashed her tires.

  "We're friends," he went on. "Friends, Cassie. And we're so much more than that, too. Did you know I haven't come to find you, not because I couldn't, but because I wanted you to come find me?"

  His words disturbed her, made her feel sick. She'd liked this man, had let him into her life, and that her instincts had been so far off, so wrong, cut deeply.

  "We belong together, you know this," Pete said in her ear. "We were meant to be. I'm going to make it happen."

  Her skin crawled. "No—"

  "Yes." His voice hardened. "You can't treat me this way, Cassie, vanishing from my world like this. It's not okay. Friends don't do that to one another."

  "Friends." Suddenly she felt cold, so very cold, and she grabbed for something to cover herself. That it happened to be Tag's T-shirt didn't stop her; she shoved it over her wet head and body, then wrapped her free arm around herself. "Funny you use that word. I don't have any."

  "Cassie." His voice was low now, conciliatory, quick to soothe. "Just tell me where you are, I can make it all up to you."

  He was insane. And she hadn't seen it until it had been almost too late. "Don't call me again, Pete." She clicked off, tossed the phone down by her sandals, and stared off into the night, telling herself he still had no idea where she was or he'd have come for her by now.

  Tag came up beside her. He was still looking at her with his sharp, probing gaze, still naked and apparently unconcerned about that fact. She knew male models, tons of them, and had never seen a man so comfortable in his own skin. He was beautiful, and the way he looked at her … in another place and time she might have been tempted to let herself weaken for him.