Page 96 of Attached At Heart
With his permission, I closed the distance between us again and began fumbling with the buttons on Blake’s shirt. His chest heaved against my touch, quickening the lower my hands traveled. I did it slowly, wanting to repay him for what he’d just done to my nervous system a few moments ago. And it seemed to be working. By the time I pushed his shirt over his shoulders and dropped to unbuckle his pants, Blake’s breathing was ragged, his impatience showing. He kissed the top of my head while I focused on what my hands were doing—shoving his slacks to the ground.
Blake kicked his shoes off and then stepped out of his pants. His socks were the last to go.
And then we stood there.
Both naked except for our underwear.
Both breathing heavily but unable to move.
Blake looked exhausted and invigorated all at once. His thirsty eyes stared at me like he’d been stuck in a desert and couldn’t decide whether I was a mirage. Whether I was real.
I wanted to show him that I was.
I just wanted toshowhim.
And I wanted to do it where all of this had started a few nights ago.
“Will you come outside with me?” I asked.
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he replied without missing a beat.
I studied him for a moment, looking for any signs that he might not be telling the whole truth. Maybe he’d rather not hear the crash of the waves.
“You sure?” I checked.
He held out his hand. “Absolutely.”
With that reassurance, I slid my hand into his and led us outside to the edge of the hot tub. Blake gave me a prolonged, heated look before sliding into the water first. He settled in a seaton the opposite side of the tub, turning to face me. To watch me. Just like I wanted.
Draping both arms up on the edge of the tub, he appeared relaxed despite studying each movement I made carefully, noting how I dipped one foot after the other into the still, steamy water and then perched on the side of the hot tub.
“Is this private enough for you?” I asked, and Blake’s attention snapped to my face.
We were shrouded in darkness, but faint light from the house angled over Blake, exposing the sharp lines of his expression.
“Why?”
I answered his question by spreading my legs and running my fingertips along the seam of my underwear, and Blake’s gaze darkened to a new degree. I heard him emit a soft curse beneath his breath before saying, “Are you going to touch yourself for me, Lane?”
“You seemed to like that idea before,” I said and then sheepishly added, “And I like the way you watch me.”
“Delaney.” He gaped, seeming momentarily speechless. I’d never seen Blake look like this before, so equally tortured and eager. “I could watch you all night and day. You have no idea.”
I was starting to have a little bit of an idea, and God, Ireallyliked it. So much so that I could feel my heartbeat in every inch of my body. All the way to my toes.
But mostly between my legs.
“I might explode if I don’t do something,” I said honestly as I tried to catch a breath through the thick steam rising around me. “I don’t know how you’re so calm.”
“You know I’m not calm.” Blake’s hooded eyes caught on my chest, seeming to study my breasts and how they nearly spilled over the top of my bra with every deep breath. “Not on the inside. I know you can see that.”
That was true. I did know. The tightness of his body and the intensity in his eyes told me he was restraining something wild. But he also didn’t seem in a rush to let go, unlike me.
“I’m on the edge of falling the fuck apart,” he reinforced, leaning forward and pinning me with a look of desperation. “Let me see you. Please.”
Not taking my eyes off his, I stood, letting the hot water swirl around my ankles. I hooked a finger into either side of my panties, shimmying out of them while enjoying how a muscle in Blake’s jaw ticked. Then I threw the discarded underwear to the side and sat back on the edge of the hot tub.
The night air was cool. Cold, even. The glass wall around the patio helped break the wind, but still. In the back of my brain, I knew being nearly naked on a spring night along the coast should set a deep chill into my bones. I knew I should be freezing. Shivering. Shaking. And I was, but from theheat. Of Blake’s gaze, of the water, of the pent-up need inside of me. My hands were clammy, my body feverish, and then Blake commanded, “Legs open,” and I nearly blacked out.
