Page 98 of The Beast of Beswick
“Astrid.”
That’s it.
She blinked, focusing uncooperative eyes on him. His hands skidded to her ankles and gripped gently. And then he smiled. Right before pulling her in. With a squeal, she surfaced, her mouth full of warmed saltwater, and squeezed water out of her eyes. “You scoundrel!”
“Can you swim?” he asked with a worried look as his hands settled around her waist.
She shot him a smirk. “Does a fish have gills? There was a pond on the Everleigh estate when I was a girl.”
He laughed. “Let me guess—you wanted to do whatever the boys did.”
“Correct.” She pushed off his body in a glide. “I was the best swimmer of all the boys and could hold my breath the longest.”
His powerful arms windmilled as he swam to her in three easy strokes. “Shall we put that to the test?”
And then she was the recipient of the sweetest, hottest, wettest kiss as he sank them both beneath the surface of the water. Her legs weaved between his, the water making the coarse male hair on his thighs feel impossibly sleek. He was hairless in patches where his scars stretched but no less manly for it.
Astrid felt his hands at her thighs and the hem of her sodden chemise scraping up along her body as he divested her of the last of her clothing, breaking the kiss only to pull it over her head. Then it was pure heaven as his big, warm body met hers skin to skin, chest to chest, and still, they kissed, an endless tangle of lips and tongues.
She felt him hard against her body and moaned into his mouth softly as he pushed them back to the surface in a shower of droplets. His hands wandered along the length of her back, gliding over smooth, wet skin, down to the curve of her buttocks to hitch one leg over his hip. She gasped at the sudden feel of the broad crown of his erection nuzzling into her sex.
“I want you,” he whispered, kissing her nose.
“Then take me.” She wriggled her hips, making him hiss as the head of him notched in slightly.
Bringing her to the side of the bathing pool, Thane’s palm brushed against her belly and over her breasts, then down to the other thigh, which he hefted to wrap around his waist. Bending his head, he caught a taut nipple into his mouth and sucked hard as he drove up with his hips, spearing himself into her body.
The combination of his powerful body, the feel of him thrusting into her, his marauding mouth, and the sleekness of the water made the experience the most erotic thing Astrid had ever felt. She felt himeverywhere. The water against her skin amplified every sensation, swilling between their sliding bodies and creating a slippery friction that made every inch of her feel ferociously alive.
“See?” he murmured. “We are a perfect fit.”
“I don’t know why I doubted you.”
He smirked. “Men are always right, likely due to the smaller, weaker female brain.”
She squeezed her inner muscles together, wringing a groan from him. “What was that?”
“Men are superior in every way.”
She tightened again and made his eyes dilate so much that the black of his pupils nearly swallowed the gold. He retaliated by thrusting hard into her, making her gasp as he filled her to the brim.
God, she loved him to absurdity. Dueling with him. Making love with him.
“Thane,” she said, cupping his jaw. “This feels incredible, but I want to see you.”
Thane waded to the steps at the near end and, without breaking their seam, walked them slowly over to the chaise. Every rocking step made Astrid shudder as he shifted inside her, and by the time he sat on the sofa with her on his lap, she was a quivering, whimpering mess.
“I’m going to…oh…”
Her release came upon her in a rush so intense that she went blind for a full second. It was like being at the center of the sun. Pleasure streaked through her body in hot golden waves, centering at her groin and shooting into her breasts, until she sobbed his name and collapsed against him.
“I love when you come,” he said, and she felt him throb within. “It feels incredible when I’m inside you, but I love to see your face.”
“I loveyourface,” she whispered, kissing him. Kissing his scars and his eyes and his brow. Leaning back, her hands wandered down his damp injured left side and stroked over the ridges that wound around to his ravaged back. Her fingers trailed over him, mourning his pain, worshipping his strength, and loving him.
Her husband was watching her, breath ragged and eyes shadowed. His pitted flesh flinched at every caress, but he made no move to stop her exploration. Finally, she raised her hand to his heart, feeling the steady thud against her palm.
“Mine.”
