Page 54 of Savage Assassin

“Come on! It’s only a little cold!” she calls out, up to her chest in the water now, just her slim tanned shoulders and arms above it. I can see the water beading on her skin, glinting in the sunlight, and an ache spreads through me that I can’t entirely put a name to.

I want her. I want more than just to fuck her like all the other women who’ve passed through my bed in the last decade. I want to lay her down and show her all the different ways I can make her feel pleasure, touch her in all the ways that no one else has done before. I want to teach her all of it, and learn everything about her—all the secret spots on her body, all the sounds she’ll make when she comes, and everything else in between. I want to make her feel so fucking good that no one else can ever compare to it.

More than anything else, I know that’s not fair, because whatever we did together, it wouldn’t be able to last. And I’d ruin her for anyone else, any of those boys she might find in Boston that might actually be able to make her happy.

Worse still, Iwantto ruin her for any other man. And that makes me feel like the kind of man I’ve never thought I was.

I walk up to the very edge of the water, letting it wash over my bare toes as Elena frolics a yard or so away from me, running her hands through the crystal water before reaching up, trailing her fingers through her thick black hair, the tops of her breasts rising above the water as she does so. I can feel my mouth go dry at the sight, my body tensing with the urge to go to her, and I know better than to walk into that water.

“Levin!” She calls out my name again, brighter and happier than anyone should ever sound under these circumstances, and I find myself reaching down to strip my shirt off over my head before I can stop myself.

She goes very still in the water, staring at me as I toss it onto the sand.

What the fuck are you doing?I can hear the thought shouting at me from the inside of my head. Still, my hands are at the belt of my jeans, undoing them, pushing them down so there’s only the thin fabric of my boxers keeping my hard cock from springing out, and it’s too close for comfort.

“I knew you’d come around!” Her hands are cupped around her mouth, her breasts vanish from view under the water again, and I know I still have a chance to put my clothes back on and go back up the beach. “Come on! It’s fun!”

I keep the side of my hand against my cock, relying on the shock of the chilly water to make my erection go down before Elena can realize how turned on I am. I step into the water, walking towards her as it splashes up around my calves, and despite myself, I have to admit that it does feel good. Refreshing, especially considering I haven’t had a shower in longer than I normally would.

And cold enough to do something about my arousal before I get to her.

“I’ve never gone swimming like this.” Elena spins around in the water, going up on her toes as she runs her arms through it. “It’s beautiful out here.”

“Elena–”

“Don’t say it.” She turns back to face me, her mouth suddenly thinner than before, her lips pressed together. “I don’t want to hear how serious it is, Levin. Not right now. You already told me the truth. Now I just want to enjoy this despite how bad it is, okay?”

There’s a small tremble to her chin that stops me from saying anything else. She tips that chin up, swallowing hard, and then her lips spread upwards in a smile as she reaches out, splashing a wave of water toward me.

It flies directly in my face, showering me in cold droplets, and I feel an instant burst of annoyance, an urge to reach out, grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense back into her.

And then I hear her laugh, and the annoyance starts to melt away.

“Splash me back!” she calls out, swimming around me and sending another wave towards me. “If you can get me!”

Don’t let your guard down. If you allow yourself to relax, if you let yourself stop watching what you say and do, you’re going to slip up. You know it.

Another splash, and she swims back, giggling as she smooths her hands over her dark hair, gleaming like a raven’s wing in the sunlight.

I can’t remember the last time I really let loose. Getting drunk in a series of bars and letting down a string of women whose names I don’t remember doesn’t count; I know that. I can’t remember the last time I felt happy, that’s for sure–notreallyhappy. Not the kind of happiness I see on Elena’s face, a smile spreading across it like sunshine.

My hand skims across the water, splashing her back, the water raining over her in a sparkling wave. It splashes over her hair, slicking it back, and she laughs out loud, shaking her head.

It sounds like music.

When she swims towards me, her tan skin gleaming under the water, I reach for her. It’s supposed to be to stop her, to push her away. She swims right up in front of me, and I grab her slender waist, a jolt going through me at the feeling of her soft skin under my hands. I want to pull her close instead, to feel her bare and smooth against me, and I hesitate for the brief second that it takes for her to take advantage of my indecision.

Her hands land on my shoulders, gripping them as she pulls herself through the water, all the way up against me as her legs go around my hips. Ifeelher soft gasp more than I hear it as she locks her ankles behind me, her breasts pressed against my chest, her lips a breath away from mine.

“If we’re going to die anyway,” she whispers, tilting her head slightly as her wet, dark hair falls forward, “why shouldn’t we?”

And then her mouth is on mine.

It’s not as clumsy as the first kiss. It’s as if she did her best to remember everything about the kiss I gave her in that bedroom, and thought about how she’d do her part differently if she got another chance. Her lips brush over mine, lightly at first. Then her tongue flicks out against my lower lip as if she wants to taste me, sliding lightly over the curve of it as she arches against me.

I should stop her. I need to stop her. My hands tighten on her waist, and it’s meant to be to push her away, but somehow I end up pulling her closer. The feeling of her breasts pressed against me, soft and plush, is intoxicating. Even in the chilly water, she feels exceedingly warm, and I can imagine just how much warmer she must be between her thighs.

And then she shifts against me, her legs tightening around my hips, and I can feel that heat pressed against my cock through the fabric of my boxers, drenched and sticking to me in the water.

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