Page 53 of Taming Waves

I feel heat travel up my spine and spread across my cheeks. Damn, this man can knock me off-balance with just a look. No words. Just his gaze burning with desire as it skims my body.

“Hi,” I murmur, my throat suddenly dry.

He grins as he stretches his hand out to me. I consider it for a moment. His long fingers and large palm, connected to a strong forearm with thick veins and corded muscles. The sleeves of his green henley are pushed up to reveal the ink that I know wraps around his biceps.

Deciding to let myself have one night where I don’t overthink and analyze every little thing, I take a deep breath and climb the remaining steps to him. His extended arm folds around me, and his hand splays across my lower back, tugging me in close, straight into his chest.

“Hi,” he says as he lifts his other hand and brings it to my face. The warmth of his touch penetrates my cheek as I close my eyes and inhale his clean, spicy scent.

He slides the bag off my shoulder.

“You didn’t have to send Anson away,” I say.

“I didn’t. I just told him to put on some pants because you were coming over. He went to his room and came out with a bag. He said he called Sebastian and no one was staying at the beach house, so he was going to stay there tonight.”

“He wasn’t wearing any pants?”

He grins at me. “The asshole sits around, watching television, in his tighty-whiteys at night.”

I wrinkle my nose, and he chuckles.

“You want to come in?” he asks.

Suddenly nervous, I scoot past him and over to the railing.

“This view is incredible,” I say as I look across the sand to the water.

The waves glisten in the moonlight, their silvery edges rippling and shifting before dissolving into the darkness. The horizon is almost invisible, just a faint blur where the starry sky meets the inky water.

I take a deep breath, the salty tang of the sea filling my lungs, and close my eyes, taking in the sound of the crashing waves and the sigh of the wind.

I feel him come up behind me. His hands rest on the railing on either side of me, caging me in. The heat of his body envelops me as the breeze kicks up.

“Turn around, Audi.” His voice is low and seductive.

“I don’t want to,” I reply, trying and failing to control my breathing.

He dips his head, bringing his mouth to my ear, and I feel his lips graze my skin.

“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to admit it,” his deep voice growls in response.

“Parker Alston, when did you become so conceited?” I ask, feeling my breaths quicken and my pulse race.

“Confident. Not conceited, sweetheart,” he says, taking my earlobe between his teeth.

“Good, because I was promised your fingers, tongue, and cock could make me scream your name,” I say as I loll my head to the side to give him better access.

“I thought that was hypothetical,” he says as he kisses a path from my ear to the top of my shoulder.

“Well, if you think you can’t deliver,” I murmur, and he sinks his teeth into my collarbone.

A shiver runs from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

“All you have to do is come inside,” he whispers.

I open my eyes, take one last look at the ocean, and decide to jump.

Audrey

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