Page 38 of Reckless Kiss

“Okay, Archer Turner, I’ll be ready. Now let me go before I drag you inside.”

Archer groaned at her suggestion, dropped a soft kiss on her lips, and stepped away. He whistled to Teddy to getdown from the sofa. Teddy trotted to Erica, who let him lick her hand, and then he came to Archer’s side.

“Bye,” he said quietly and walked away.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. Archer wanted nothing more than to take her inside and intobed.

Chapter 21

Erica

The following day, Erica watched Archer stride across the lawn. His eyes fixed on her legs. She was sitting on a wicker chair with her feet kicked up on the low wall at the back of the cottage. She slowly, purposely moved her legs as she swivelled in the chair. Archer’s gaze remained fixed on her bare legs.

It was a sunny day, so she thought it would be better to wear shorts if they were going to a remote island. Bare legs were easier to dry than wet clothing, she reasoned. Also, to see Archer’s attraction was a bonus. Archer may have openly admired her legs, but she couldn’t get enough of his thighs. They bunched and flexed as he walked in a solid stride towards her. Erica knew from sitting on his lap how firm they were.

“Are you a leg man, Archer Turner?” Erica said as he neared the wall separating them.

Archer balanced the picnic basket on the bricks but kept his hand on the top while he leaned in to kiss her. Asoft press of his lips made Erica let out a sigh. He smelt like fresh washing from the line.

“I’ve not given it much thought. In those shorts, your legs are sensational, so I am definitely an Erica’s legs kind of man.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s go. Time and tide wait for no man,” Archer said, smiling at Erica and holding his hand out.

She took it, laced her fingers, and fell into step with his long stride. He led her down the narrow path at the end of the lawns down to the white sand. Erica shaded her eyes with her hand to look across at the small island across the water. From her viewpoint, it looked to be water everywhere.

“How will we get across?” Erica asked.

“We’ve got about five minutes to wait, and then all will be revealed,” Archer said, setting the basket in the sand. “Whatever could we do in the meantime?”

Erica didn’t get a chance to answer as Archer’s mouth covered hers. His hands held onto her waist while he devoured her. The kiss became heated fast. Erica was swept away by the passion igniting her body as soon as Archer touched her. In all her years of acting, she never felt a spark let alone the electricity coursing through her body when kissing a man. Her thoughts darted to the kiss she saw Gregg give Monica on her Hollywood star and instantly understood the passion she never had with Gregg.

Archer lit every one of her nerves on fire.

They swayed back and forth as each of them tried to take control. Erica wrapped her fingers around his neck to anchor her body as close as possible. He kissed her slowly, softly, but in the sexiest of ways when he slipped his tongue in and out of her mouth. The temptation to jump up andwrap her legs around his waist was strong. She mentally willed him to carry her over to the rocks as they battled to keep things PG. In the end, neither of them won. Erica needed to take a breather, or else she would’ve dragged him onto the sand and pulled his clothes off.

Archer pulled away so fast that she swooned for a few seconds, regaining her balance. Then, blinking her eyes in the midday sun, she looked to Archer. He stood with his hands on his hips, and his chin dipped as his chest rose and fell with exertion. Anyone else would’ve thought he’d been for a run.

“Archer,” she whispered.

Archer shook his head and picked up the picnic basket. He looked across to the island. “We can cross now.”

Accepting Archer didn’t want to talk about the orgasm-inducing kiss, Erica followed his gaze and still saw water everywhere.

“Are we going to walk on water?” she asked.

“Kind of, come on,” he said and held out his hand.

Erica followed him, their fingers barely touching as he strode ahead, just the tips hooked together. She could see the sand bank when they reached the water’s edge. As the minutes ticked by, the path to the island materialised like magic.

“This is fantastic, like a hidden route to a secret realm.”

Archer laughed at her words. “My aunt would say it was a biblical warning not to get up to anything God would disapprove of. Which pretty much covers everything. My dad would warn of the riptides.”

“Is it safe?”

Archer looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a wink. “It’s safe when you can see the sandbank and the tide is going out. But you don’t want to be on this causewaywhen the tide is coming in. It’s faster than you can imagine. You can easily get into trouble if the timing isn’t right. If you’re with someone and they get into trouble, there is a length of rope and a floatation ring over there on the tree.”

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