I took her hand and we started walking again. The energy was different. We both felt it. Her hand was trembling in mine. Or maybe it was mine. I was breathing like I’d been running. That’s what she did to me. My heart refused to just beat normally. It insisted on going too fast, which made my breathing come out in short gasps. I wanted her to make the first move, but dammit, I didn’t have that kind of self-control. Not around her.
I stopped walking but didn’t let go of her hand. She looked over at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, Summer. That’s the problem. Everything is right.”
I turned to face her. I wouldn’t push. I looked into her eyes and tried to make her understand what I was feeling. Her eyes held mine and I was transported back to one of our last nights together. She could say so much with one look. She offered a soft smile.
“Summer.”
Her smile slipped. “Colt.”
I reached up slowly and pushed her hair back from her face. My fingers slid through the waves before my hand cradled her cheek. She went very still. Her eyes dropped to my mouth and then came back up to mine. There was no stopping thistrajectory. We’d been moving toward each other for seven years. There were always obstacles but we never let them stop us for long.
Every agonizing minute of being near her and not touching her had been leading to exactly this moment. Every night I lay awake staring at the ceiling thinking about the way she looked at me before she caught herself and looked away. Every private moment I had with her face in my mind while I touched myself was only ever going to bring me to her.
I tilted her face up with my thumb under her chin. My thumb brushed across her skin. She swallowed hard. My other hand was still holding hers. I ran my thumb across her wrist, feeling the rapid pulse there.
“Summer,” I said.
She didn’t answer. She just looked at me with those eyes that had never let me go, not in four years of being apart. Not ever. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes fluttered closed. That was the invitation I needed.
I lowered my mouth to hers, tasting the wine and a faint whisper of saltwater. I kissed her the way I’d been wanting to since the moment I saw her for the first time in way too long. She made a small sound against my mouth and then her hands curled into my shirt. Her lips parted and she kissed me back. A rogue wave could have swallowed us whole and I wouldn’t have noticed or cared. I pulled her closer, my hand sliding from her cheek into her hair. My tongue slid into her mouth. Her body relaxed against mine.
My hand slid down her bare back, my fingertips tracing her spine. I swallowed her moan. Her hands slid into my hair, tugging at the strands before moving them down my back. She pulled me against her. We were so close a breeze couldn’t get between us.
She tasted like every summer I’d ever spent here. I couldn’t get enough. I pulled back just enough to drag my mouth along her jaw and down her neck. She tilted her head back, giving me permission to take my time. I intended to.
“Colt.” My name came out breathy and unsteady.
“Still here,” I murmured against her skin.
Her laugh was low and a little undone. I felt it vibrate against my lips. I brought my mouth back to hers and kissed her slower this time. Deeper. I wanted her to feel every single thing I hadn’t been able to say to her in four years. Every night I’d reached for my phone and put it back down.
Her fingers worked at the back of my neck, her nails dragging lightly across my back. I felt it everywhere. I slid both hands down her back and relished the feel of her satiny skin under my palms.
Another wave came in and broke around our ankles. We ignored it as we continued to explore each other’s mouths. Her hands came around and jerked at my shirt, pulling it from where it was tucked into my waistband.
The second her fingers scraped across my chest, I jerked, my cock jumping to attention. Damn this woman. She could undo me with a single touch. Her mouth pulled from mine. Her teeth nipped at my jaw before sucking the flesh on my neck. She nibbled and sucked while I rocked against her. Her mouth was going to be the death of me.
I tilted my head back and gave her better access, my hands gripping her hips hard enough that I was probably going to leave marks on that perfect skin. I didn’t care. She didn’t seem to care either. She worked her way along my neck with that wicked mouth like she had all the time in the world and nowhere else she’d rather be. I felt each pull of her lips like a wire being drawn tight from my throat straight down to my groin.
“Summer,” I groaned.
She hummed against my throat but didn’t stop. My hands slid up her bare back, fingers spread wide to get maximum coverage. The dress had seemed like a good idea when I ordered it. Standing on a dark beach with my fingers tracing the long line of her spine, it was the best decision I’d ever made in my life. I found the nape of her neck and gathered her hair in my fist, gently pulling her head back so I could get to her mouth again.
I kissed her deep and slow and thorough. I had never needed a woman more than I needed Summer Banks.
CHAPTER 25
SUMMER
Icouldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. There was nothing in the world except his mouth on mine and his hands on my skin. It was like no time had passed. The only difference between this kiss and our last was he had gotten better at it.
His tongue swept against mine. Four years of absence suddenly felt like the cruelest punishment I’d ever endured. How had I survived without this? Without him? My fingers worked at the buttons of his shirt, fumbling because I couldn’t see what I was doing and I didn’t care. I needed to feel his skin under my hands. I wanted my mouth on his hard chest.
He made a sound low in his throat when I got the first button undone. Then the second. I spread the fabric apart and ran my palms up his chest. So fucking hard. More defined. I’d dreamed about touching him like this more times than I could count, but the reality was so much better than any fantasy.
His hands gripped my hips, pulling me flush against him. I felt exactly how much he wanted me. The hard length of him pressed against my stomach through the wet fabric of his pants. Heat pooled low in my belly and spread through my entire body like wildfire.