The Dare Collection: August 2018. Avril Tremayne

by a couple of thousand decibels.”

      Fine, so my voice was a little loud. It was barely daylight and I’d slept like shit. “I said—”

      “I heard you the first time. I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard you, too.” She attempted to break free. I held her tighter, propelling her from the center to the side of the pool.

      The water wasn’t deep but with her small stature, her feet dangled above the bottom. When she tried to move again, I trapped her with one leg.

      She wriggled, braced one hand on my shoulder. The small charge that detonated inside me at her touch was perfectly echoed in her expression. A tiny hitch in her breathing, and then her hand disappeared into the water. “What are you doing?” Her voice squeaked but that fire that was never far from the surface blazed pure challenge with her glare.

      I shoved away the effect of her hand on me and glared right back. “I think that’s my question. What the hell were you thinking, coming out here on your own?” I demanded.

      The first rays of the sun chose that moment to emerge and bathe her face in golden light, illuminating the pearls of moisture dotting her pale, beautiful skin. I couldn’t take my eyes off the three fat drops clinging to her top lip. Or the pure temptation of her full lower lip.

      “I couldn’t sleep. Swimming relaxes me—wait, why am I explaining myself to you?” She shifted impatiently, her toes brushing my bare calf.

      I clenched my teeth and tried not to let the heat stabbing my groin distract me. Now that I had her attention, it was probably wise to let her go.

      Not until I made my point.

      “Do I really need to spell it out to you? And these things in your ears?” I tugged the earbuds out and tossed them onto the tiles. “How the hell do you expect to hear anything with them plugged in?”

      “I always swim with my earbuds in. And no, I can do without that narrow-eyed judgment. This is my home. My life. I can do whatever I want.”

      “You have a thing for control. Trust me, I get it. But you don’t know when this creep will step things up another level. Why the hell didn’t you wake me if you wanted to swim so badly?”

      She blinked. “I swim every morning, and I don’t need your permission to do it.”

      “For fuck’s sake. That’s what I’m here for—”

      “I’m not going to live in fear and let some random stranger pull my strings!”

      The forceful words hit the tranquility of the cool morning. Echoed all around us before settling like a boulder between us. Lily froze as if her outburst had electrified her into silence. The stunned look on her face confirmed she hadn’t meant to voice them.

      When she went a little pale, I frowned my concern. “Lily—”

      “Let me go!”

      Her hands rose in the water. One braced on my stomach, the other brushed my upper thigh, then my bare hip. Her green eyes went wide. A moment later her gaze dropped down my chest, and then lower. She gasped. “Are you...naked?”

      Despite my disgruntlement, I smiled. “I don’t get my favorite sweatpants wet for just anyone, sweetheart.”

      Delicious heat poured into her cheeks as her hands jerked away from my body. “Oh, my God!”

      “Why the outrage? Just a few hours ago you were stroking—”

      “Shut up!”

      I followed the blush, unable to take my eyes off the alluring sight of it. God, I wanted to taste that blush, trail it with my tongue up and down her body.

      “My, what a hot little temper you have. I could—”

      The words choked off as the hands that pushed me away a minute ago clutched my head and yanked me down to meet her waiting lips.

      She kissed me. Then bit me. Hard. Then swallowed my stunned groan into her open mouth as she swiped her tongue over the sting. Once, twice, then with slow, dragging licks that rained fire through my body.

      Jesus.

      I parted my lips to better taste her. She immediately slid her tongue into my mouth, pressing her velvety lips harder against mine as she licked her way inside the way I wanted to lick her pussy—bold and relentlessly. She nipped the tip of my tongue. I groaned again at the taste of her. She was just like I imagined she would be.

      Heaven and hell.

      Sin and absolution.

      Pleasure and—

      She pushed me away as quickly as she’d pulled me close. My stunned brain was still absorbing her spectacular taste when she whirled away, planted her hands on the edge and launched herself out of the pool.

      “What the fuck—?” The rush of saliva in my mouth as I watched the water glide off her body was disgraceful enough to make me grimace. Jesus, she was breathtaking.

      Her glare didn’t hold much power, diluted as it was by her arousal. “That was to shut you up. Nothing more.”

      My eager gaze raked her incredible body, took in her erect nipples, the pulse racing at her throat. “You sure about that?”

      She looked off to the side. After a minute she balled her hands. “Swimming alone is off the table for now. I’ll agree to that.”

      “Let’s make a list so there’s no confusion. Five minutes in the kitchen okay with you?”

      Her eyes still refused to meet mine. “Fine.”

      Beneath the water, my cock pumped to full, eager life as the sun rose higher, giving me an even better view of her.

      The black one-piece was skimpier than most two-piece suits purely because it was held together by a crisscross of ties designed to draw attention to her impressive curves. I stared my fill while telling myself if my gawking made her uncomfortable then it would be a little payback for what she’d just put me through. But I accepted that my reasons were far baser.

      She looked even smaller in her bare feet. God, handling her during sex would be infinitely delightful. She turned away and my gaze dropped to her heart-shaped ass, her shapely legs and the cutest ankles I’d ever seen.

      I bit back a groan as my groin kicked hard.

      Hell, at this rate, I’d need a cold shower before I could conduct a coherent conversation.

      When she reached the lounger and grabbed a towel, I struck out for the far side where I’d dropped my clothes.

      I hauled myself out, hoping the cool air would do what the tepid water hadn’t been able to achieve, and calm my excitement.

      Her sharp intake of breath reached me as I bent to pick up my pants.

      Don’t turn around. Don’t—

      I turned and surprised her gaze on my ass. On any given day, I would’ve tossed out a cocky remark, encouraged her to look her fill if she promised to let me do the same. But we were already in uncharted territory and it’d barely been twelve hours since we met.

      Not to mention, there were cameras out here, set up by my team, recording every second of our little show. Set-jawed, I pulled on my pants. First priority after our talk would be to access the security feed and delete that stretch of footage.

      She’d disappeared by the time I locked the doors and went into the kitchen. Her coffee machine looked as if it hadn’t been touched since it came out of the box. After setting it up, I grabbed two mugs and waited for the machine to do its thing.

      She walked in just as the first cup filled. The thin, long-sleeved sweater wasn’t temperature-raising in and of itself except it was cropped, exposing a good three inches of her midriff. Paired with black leggings hugging every glorious inch of hip, thigh and legs, it was incredibly potent. I swallowed a groan and busied myself