Page 145 of Overcast

“Why did you come over here?” My voice is mild and genuinely curious as she wraps her arms around her body.

The coolness is starting to creep up through the late hours of the night, and I don’t have anything to block her from it but my arms.

“Because I was hot,” she states matter-of-factly then peers up at me. “And it looked like you needed a swim.”

The next thing I know, my body is hitting the chilly water before my feet hit the sandy bottom of the lake.

Breaking through the crest of water for air, I run my hands down my face to rid the water. When my eyes crack open, Stormi is on the deck, already lowered on her haunches, lofting over me.

“I’ve been wanting to push you in this lake since the day you tackled me on the grass over there.” She points down the shoreline, where I bear-hugged her and toppled us over onto the ground. “Figured I’d kill two birdies with one stone.

I perk a brow. “Killing now, are we, sweetheart?”

“Metaphorically, of course.”

“You mean when I took the brunt of the fall, and you had all your bodyweight on me and my injured shoulder?” Her face doesn’t show any remorse—it shouldn’t, I deserve way more than a knife and a tease of her body from last night.

“Serves you right, mister,” she confirms with a lift of her shoulders.

I swim towards her. “Why don’t you come in, the water is great.”

“Mhm—” She rises, not stupid enough to get within my reach to haul her in with me. “Looks like there are sharks in the water.”

I smirk. “I promise to protect you.”

“Says the shark to the little fish.”

“I dare you,” I deadpan, extending my arms and adjusting to the temperature. It’s not freezing, but I wasn’t hot in the first place.

“And what do I get?”

“Come in and find out.” I lean back, letting my body float on the surface and begin slowly paddling away from the deck.

I’m luring her in, I’ll admit it. The fact that I’m trying to make this look fun and casual is just to bait her to take a chance and jump in.

That and I want her against me again.

It’s all I can think about. It’s all I can feel, my body still reacting to the memory of her grazing her body against mine. Her soft lips coaxing and needy as I drive her into an orgasm.

I crave it more than any need to kill. This woman makes me feel like a battered wife, walking back into the throng of torment just to experience it all over again.

I meant what I said when she was doing just that. I don’t think anything else could compare to how she makes me feel. How she creates a sense of serenity that I haven’t felt in such a long time.

A small splash hits the lake, and I smile, repositioning myself to meet her jumping into the shark tank.

Because I’m starving.

“It’s freezing,” she exclaims, brushing away stray hairs from her face.

“Move around,” I tell her. “You’ll get used to it quick.”

She stands still, watching me loom closer as water trails down the side of her face and drips down her chin.

I think the moon has casted a spell or some shit because I’m hypnotized. I feel the pull and need to know how much I want to own her.

My hand extends to wrap around her bicep, and I pull her into me, lifting her by her ass so that her legs follow suit with circling around my hips.

“How did you plan on ending all this, sweetheart?” I ask her, studying how the light overhead casts down a blue haze over her skin.

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