Ex on the Beach (19 page)

But he liked the idea of her being jealous of Wendy. It meant she cared. At least a little.

“The fact is …” he started, his gaze roaming over Andie’s chest as he taunted her. She reminded him of a ripe peach. And he liked peaches. He dipped down to nip the inside curve of one breast and smiled when he felt her catch her breath. “She did have on a bikini,” he whispered against her. He flicked his tongue out to soothe over the spot he’d just tasted. “It was red. And very tiny.” He nipped again. “And so
hot
.”

“Of course it was,” she growled out the words.

“And it was held together with itsy-bitsy little strings.”

Her leg shifted, but he shoved against her before she could lift it, trapping her two legs beneath one of his. “No, no, no,” he tsked. He stared down into her face. “You don’t get to knee me again, sweetheart. Especially when you’re just looking for a fight. That was a one-time-only deal.”

“I am not looking for a fight. I’m pissed at you. You’re trying to stop the wedding, you’re flirting with Wendy, probably sleeping with her, and you—”

He closed his mouth over hers, swallowing her words and catching a moan. He gave one in return. Damn, she was hot. He’d always loved her riled up. It might be the wrong thing to do when she was clearly trying to avoid certain issues, but she had him so turned on he was going to take what she was offering and worry about his conscience later.

It wasn’t as if they weren’t going to end up in bed together anyway. They would have been there last night if they hadn’t gotten interrupted.

He turned one wrist loose only long enough to bring both her hands together above her head, clasping them against the wall. He liked her stretched out in front of him like that.

“You wanna fight, babe?” he asked, holding her trapped before him, one thigh now sliding between her legs. He nibbled along her neck and nudged his leg upward until he felt her tremble. “Because I’ve decided I’ll give you what you want. But I don’t think it’s a fight you’re looking for.”

He brought his free hand to the front of her shirt and yanked, ripping it the rest of the way open. “I think you want me. Inside you. And I think you want it right here.”

“No, I don’t.” Her words came out breathy and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Guess I should turn you loose, then.” As he said the words, his hand slipped behind her and undid her bra. Her breasts dipped with their weight, as did she. She now sagged against the hand holding her up.

“Don’t stop, Mark,” she whispered, all the fight gone from her, her voice breaking. Slate-colored eyes pleaded up at him, her rosy lips mesmerizing to watch. He liked that he’d put the flush on her cheeks. “Please,” she begged. “Don’t stop.”

He wasn’t planning on it.

Getting a firmer grip on her wrists, he cupped her jaw and brought her mouth to his. She met him move for move, her tongue darting out to play with his until he felt his knees go weak. When he eased his mouth back an inch, pressing his forehead to hers while trying to catch his breath, she dipped her head and put her lips to the spot just below his ear. Her teeth bit down gently and he shuddered against her.

“Hurry,” she whispered. “Fast.”

Oh, hell. He’d intended to do a bit more than unzip and push into her, but she was making it very hard. In more ways than one.

“Let me take you to the bed, sweetheart. Slow down and do this right.”

She shook her head and put her mouth back to that spot just under his ear. “No time. I want you now.”

In a matter of seconds he was sufficiently protected, had his shorts dropped to his ankles, her panties tossed across the room, and was gripping Andie’s bare ass in his hands. When her legs and arms all wrapped around him, he knew she’d won.

She dug her hands into his hair, and he slammed her back against the wall. Then he was in her. They both reared back, their breaths momentarily caught as they eyed each other from under their lashes. And then he pulled out and plunged in again.

Everything about her was both hot and soft. She tasted good, she felt good. She was freaking dynamite in his arms. He couldn’t focus long enough to do more than hang on and keep pounding.

“Oh God, Mark,” she whimpered. “Yes.”

Yes.
He had to agree.
Yes
.

This was where he belonged.

Her legs squeezed tighter and her arms clenched him like a vise. She had his mouth fused to hers as if she’d never get enough. He was going to finish in a matter of seconds if they didn’t slow down. But damn, she was wanton. Bucking and whimpering. She murmured his name over and over.

“Baby,” he whispered. He kicked off his flip-flops and the shorts around his feet, then shifted the two of them to another wall where he could see the ocean sparkling outside the window. Focusing on it was almost enough to help him slow down, but then she tightened her inner muscles and arched herself back just enough to make their contact a little more exact, and he knew it was over. His biceps tensed, a lamp crashed to the floor, and he shoved her into the corner and braced his palms against the wall so he could drive himself home.

He wanted to make sure she was there with him, but he couldn’t wait. His mind was blown. She’d pushed him over the edge.

The last thing he remembered before he threw back his head and let out a groan was seeing her do the same thing. Her breasts rose in the air, her back arched, and she ground herself into him.

They shook against each other, their orgasms seeming to go on forever. He was pretty sure his leg muscles were going to give out before he was empty, but somehow he managed to hang on. And he hung on to her at the same time. Or even better, she hung on to him.

Her hands clutched at his arms as she convulsed around him, animal noises coming from her throat. He couldn’t help but smile.

This was his Andie.

The one he’d wanted to keep forever.

The one he was terrified he still wanted. Forever.

They both calmed, and he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a gentle kiss to her open mouth. She let out a tiny sighing noise in return.

She was sated. His woman. And he’d done that.

Keeping her tucked against him, he crossed to the bed and yanked back the covers, then followed her down. He’d thought he was taking advantage of her when they’d started, but he had the sudden notion that maybe she had been the one taking advantage all along.

If that were the case, would she now tell him to go? Because he wasn’t ready to leave. He didn’t know if he ever would be.

And how ridiculous was that? He closed his eyes, praying that he wasn’t falling for her again.

CHAPTER TWELVE

A
ndie let out a happy groan and stretched, enjoying the feel of Mark up against her. That was one way to release some stress. “Can we do that again?” she asked. It was all she could do not to purr like a cat. Why hadn’t they been doing that for the past week?

A large hand slid over her bare stomach, fingers stretching from one side to the other, and she looked over to find Mark smiling wickedly at her. His hand crawled under her skewed bra to settle around the bottom curve of her breast and he gave a little squeeze.

“We can do that as many times as you’d like. The next time should be slower, though. So I can properly touch you.” His thumb slid over her nipple, making it instantly hard. “And taste you.” He licked her through the lace. “Just let me catch my second wind.”

Her eyes lowered to his crotch. “Is that what it’s called these days? A second wind?”

“Smart-ass,” he muttered. He squeezed her again, then shifted so that he could grab a tissue and dispose of the condom. Next he ripped off his shirt and propped himself up against the headboard. He then pulled her in snug beside him and turned his gaze on her with a knowing look.

It made her feel guilty. If he’d used her as she’d just done to him, the situation would not be pretty.

“I feel like I should apologize,” she whispered. Embarrassment engulfed her and she tried to duck her head. He wouldn’t let her. “I wouldn’t have slapped you,” she tacked on, her voice quiet as she glanced down at the shirt hanging off her shoulders and the jean skirt bunched up at her waist. “I only acted like it because I knew you’d stop me.”

The gravity of her actions rested heavily on her, but at the same time her inner voice kept shouting:
I had sex with Mark! I had sex with Mark!

“I see,” he said. He slid a hand down her arm, then reached around front to locate her breast. It had always amazed her how much of her he could palm at one time. “And what about the kick?” he asked. “Were you going to try to kick me in the boys again? Because I’ll tell you, it wouldn’t have gotten you the result you were looking for.”

“Not a chance.” She closed her eyes as he caressed her, enjoying the slow touch. It was heating her up again, much faster than she would have thought possible. “And I have to tell you that I felt really bad about that the other night.”

He chuckled, then pulled his fingers away from her skin.

“Hey.” Her eyes popped open. “I was enjoying that.”

“I know, too much. That’s why I stopped.”

“Well, that makes no sense at all.”

He tilted his head down and kissed her on the nose. “I thought maybe we could talk first.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t want to talk.” She made a move to get out of bed, but his hands wrapped around her waist and brought her back to him, this time settling her directly on his lap. She couldn’t help it, she wiggled her butt on his crotch.

“Stop it,” he growled. “We’re going to have a grown-up talk now. Not hide things with hot sex.”

The way he said it made her think he was under the impression that that’s what they’d done in the past. She studied him, thinking back to heated arguments and even hotter make-up sex, and wondered if he might be on to something. Had they skirted around too many issues in the past? She’d have to give it more thought later.

“What if I did naughty things to you?” she asked. She wiggled against him again and felt him stirring beneath her. “Could we have more hot sex then?”

He shook his head at her. “You are the devil, woman.” He parked her back on the bed and pointed a finger at her, strangely reminding her of Aunt Ginny. “Stay put.”

He got out of bed and headed to pick up the bottle of water that she’d thrown at him, while she got busy shedding the remainder of her clothes.

“I’m sorry I hit you with the bottle of water,” she said. She really was. It had connected harder than she’d intended.

He looked back at her and she smiled. She was now completely naked. Just exactly as he was.

“And that I hit you with a pillow,” she added.

He turned up the bottle and drank half the water, all the while eyeing her as she sat in the middle of the bed. She did her share of eyeing, too. It had been a really long time since she’d had the chance to do that.

She wet her lips. “Looks like you still work out.”

He smiled around the mouth of the bottle, and kept drinking.

Looked like he never put an ounce of anything bad in his body, actually.

How could a man have such defined abs? It made her want to suck in her own stomach, but the way he was looking at her implied he hadn’t noticed their differences. Or if he had, he liked what he saw, anyway.

When he lowered the water to his side, she couldn’t help but notice that he was hard again. Fully.

“Do you want a bottle?” he asked. His voice was tight.

She nodded. “Please.”

He got her one and crawled back into bed with her, but when she started to scoot over next to him, he pointed back to the other side of the mattress.

“Come on, Mark. Why not?”

“Because we have things to talk about, babe.
You
have things to talk about. You said a lot downstairs.”

She made a face at him and pulled the covers up, tucking them under her arms. “Then cover that thing up so I don’t have to look at it.”

He grinned at her — his entire face softening and looking like the man she’d once fallen head over heels for — but did as she’d asked. With both of them sufficiently hidden and once again propped up against the headboard, she let out a long breath and asked with a petulant groan, “What do you want to know?”

He laughed, the sound almost bitter. “Where to start? There are so many things.”

Well, she wasn’t going to start it. When she remained silent, he finally came out with a question.

“Your mother’s full name is Cassiopeia?”

She jerked her gaze to his and burst out laughing. “Yes. My mother’s full name is Cassiopeia. My grandmother apparently saw her as the beautiful one. My oldest aunt was Athena, the wise one. But apparently by the time Aunt Ginny came around, Grandmother had moved on to patron saints. There’s no telling what a fourth child would have been named.”

“And your mother continued the tradition by naming you Andromeda?”

Andie shrugged. “Apparently. The myth goes that Andromeda was Cassiopeia’s daughter. I can’t imagine why my mother did something so fanciful. From what I can tell, she’s never had another moment’s lightheartedness in her life.”

Which led them to the topic of her mother. Both of them sat quietly, and Andie knew that he was waiting for her to bring up the fact that her mother was there on the island. At the house. And possibly he wanted her to bring up that Andie had declared that her mother had never liked her. But how did one just bring that up?

Especially when she’d hidden it from him the whole time they’d been engaged?

Not to mention that it barely mattered because Andie had always loved Aunt Ginny more than her own mother, anyway?

A soft whimper embarrassed her as it slipped from her throat, and Mark’s strong arm came around her and pulled her to his side. His embrace gave her the courage she needed. She rested her head in the curve of his shoulder and began talking.

“She was thirty-seven when she had me. You might remember that from … before, though. Anyway, she’d been married for years, and from what I can gather, the two of them never wanted kids. Then she got pregnant with me and he left her.” She glanced up at Mark before continuing. “But he wasn’t my father. Though I’ve no idea who was. I told you that before, too. Then she met John when I was seven. They dated for a year and got married. And I started coming to Aunt Ginny’s the next summer.”