River's End (River's End Series, #1)(85)

He paused and lifted his head. “What did you say?”

“We can’t do this. I slept with Joey. Right over there. You…You can’t mean to do this.”

He dropped his head, with his face nuzzling her stomach, and groaned. “God damn Joey. Yeah, I know what you did and where it happened.”

“Then what… what are you doing?”

“I’m going to do this better than my brother did. I’m going to make you scream until you never again remember my brother’s name.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. She never expected that. Not from the stern, somber, always in control Jack Rydell.

His hands moved again and his face was close to her. She shut her eyes as he kissed her in soft, butterfly-like kisses. She couldn’t do this. The thought flashed through her mind, but the swirling behind her eyelids clashed with it. He kissed her between her legs until he touched his tongue inside her. She nearly sat up in shock at the sensations. She couldn’t handle it. It was too much, too good, and she was too quick. She came in a blinding scream as she shut her eyes and felt the pulsing aftershocks all the way down to her toes and right through her fingertips. She lay back down, breathing hard, the dark silence filling her after totally letting go.

She heard him move. He was taking off his wet swim trunks. He had a condom. He planned to do this? Impossible. No way. Jack never planned to sleep with her. She, who slept with his brother.

“What are you doing?” she finally asked, her voice almost sounding like a croak.

“Getting laid.”

That wasn’t right. The thought passed over her brain, and it wasn’t what she wanted with Jack. However, after he raised her legs around him, and pushed himself into her, she forgot what to think. He was so good. It was the last thought she had as he moved inside her, against her, over her, and his hand raised her ass and positioned her just the way he wanted. And he was right. It was hot and quick and earth-shattering. She never experienced such sharp, white-hot pulsations from orgasms that were so fast, so furious and so close together.





Chapter Twenty-Three


Jack lay down next to her, and as it turned out, he could damn well sleep anywhere, even on a lumpy, sandy beach. It had been a long drive home, made even longer by watching Erin in the pool all afternoon. He tried to convince himself there was nothing there for him. For them. She slept with Joey, and she lived there, for God’s sake. That was no set-up for any kind of affair, especially with his kids there too. No way.

Except: he did it anyway. She was hotter than he ever fantasized. Hotter than Joey even implied she was. As soon as he came inside her, he was fast asleep beside her.

Waking up to a face full of sand that exploded over him, entering his mouth and nearly choking him, his eyes automatically snapped opened. Big mistake. He rubbed at them to wipe out the fine, dry sand granules. His eyes were stinging and it was dark around him. It took him a moment to understand what happened. Erin was sitting next to him, her knees pulled up to her chest and a towel wrapped around her, hiding all of her, as she glared at him.

He rolled over and sat up. “What the hell did you do that for?”

“You just went to sleep.”

He stared and spat out the sand on his tongue. Then he got up and went to the river to rinse his mouth out as he flushed his stinging eyes. Finally, the pain subsided. Only then, now fully awake, did he turn towards Erin who still sat huddled, her eyes focused straight down towards her toes.

He was naked still, but he didn’t care. He stomped forward and sat down next to her. “You want to tell me why you just threw sand in my face?”

She shook her head and wouldn’t look at him. He finally noticed the tears. “Have you been crying?” His tone came out more annoyed than he meant to sound. Why was she crying? He was sure he hadn’t hurt her. She’d been a lot louder and lustier than he. What was her problem then?

“I want to go back to my trailer now.”

Her voice was quiet, almost tragic sounding. He had no idea what the hell was going on with her. Why was she acting like he just stole her virginity without her permission? Damn, if she hadn’t liked what they just did.

“Fine. Let’s go,” he said, standing up before grabbing his t-shirt and pulling it over his head. He threw his wet clothes into the bag and wrapped a dry towel around him before jamming his feet into black flip-flops. Erin stood there, wrapped up tightly, her hair half dry and hanging to her waist.

He went first as it was pitch black now on the trail. He kept his eyes wide open and his ears perked up, listening for rattlers. He should have remembered to bring a flashlight. He stopped when he heard Erin whimper.

“What now?”

“I-I heard something. Right there.”

He turned and looked to where she pointed. A rock. “It’s nothing.”

He kept walking and she stayed close. He walked faster, his anger growing with each step. Who was she to act like that? He was the one who broke his own code. He never intended to sleep with a woman whom one of his brothers had first. It wasn’t something he was proud of, so who was she to act so miffed? Or so offended? He didn’t even pretend to get it.

They reached her trailer and she threw her swimsuit onto the deck. She slipped past him, making it obvious she wasn’t going to speak to him again. He grabbed her hand and forced her to turn towards him.