Her Moonlit Gamble (6 page)

She'd lost her mind. Andrew was over her, inside her and felt amazing, pressed against all her favorite parts. Andrew, her best friend. She'd definitely lost her mind.

But then he touched her face, looked into her eyes like it was the most natural thing in the world, and began to move.
 

She thought she'd come right away, but the strokes of his cock inside her added another layer of sensation, his groin against her clit, his breathing hot and hard as he kept his thrusts slow and deliberate. And the way he was looking at her, with such focus, terrified her. She wanted him to lose control, to be driven by pleasure, not--not that look in his eyes that made her want more, made her want everything.
 

How could he not be as crazy as she was? How could he not be desperate to come? She struggled to move into him, to urge him on. He cupped his hands beneath her ass and angled her to him, moving faster and stronger and deeper. God, he felt amazing, the way he stretched and filled her, the way his cock stroked her channel. She clung to his arms and matched his strokes, wishing he was bare inside her, wishing he could feel everything she was feeling, wishing...

And then she flew apart, the orgasm tearing her apart, tearing apart everything she knew. But Andrew was there, holding her, loving her, following her with a shout of pleasure and long, slow thrusts that told her he wasn't ready for it to end.

Finally, he pulled out of her, dealt with the condom in a swift, practiced action, then did something none of her lovers had ever done before. He stretched out beside her, naked damp skin to naked damp skin, and kissed her. Not a thank-you-good-night kiss, either, but a long, slow, leisurely kiss, all lips, tongues, hands. She lost herself in it, in him, his taste, the sensation of his hands in her hair.

But most of all, she lost herself in the reverence, in the way he seemed to cherish each caress. She'd never been cherished before.

Finally, he eased away and smiled at her. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"
 

She blinked at the shift from lover back to friend. Would that ever be smoother? Would it eventually blend, one to the other? Or would they even last that long? Tension over not knowing the future leeched some of the pleasure from her and she sat up, reaching for her shirt.
 

"I could eat."

He grabbed the menu from the night stand and flipped it open between them. She tried not to wince at the room service prices.

"We'll eat on the balcony," he announced, rolling out of bed after placing an order for burgers and dessert.
 

She watched as he yanked on his shorts without underwear. She may have drooled a little at the way they rode low on his hips, beneath his magnificent abs. Funny how that could send a thrill through her when she'd just had him naked, for heaven's sake.

He popped open the drawer and grabbed something, stuffing it in his pocket before heading into the main part of the suite.
 
A condom, she was sure. What did he have in mind? She tugged up her panties, then her shorts, grimaced at her reflection in the mirror and attempted to finger-comb her wild hair before joining him on the balcony.

Once there, she wasn't sure what to do, exactly. He'd arranged the patio furniture so they could eat while looking over the dark beach. She had no clue what time it was--it had to be close to two. He straightened from his arrangement to curve his hand beneath her hair and plant a quick kiss on her lips.

"Have a seat. It'll be half an hour or so."

Considering she hadn't even thought about food for the past hour, she was suddenly famished, and thirty minutes seemed an eternity. She sat on the edge of the chair and wondered what the hell they were supposed to talk about for the next half hour. Part of her wanted to bolt, to hide in her room until it was time to fly back to Oahu in the morning. Part of her wanted to figure out the new reality between them. And part of her wanted to know what he planned to do with that condom.
 

He sat in the chair on the other side of the table, leaned his head back and sighed. "Wish we could stay another week."

In a way, so did she, to continue this fantasy. But another part of her wanted to know how their new relationship would work in real life. She couldn't figure it out. They hadn't lived in the same city in years, so just that would be an adjustment. Add to that the whole lover thing...would they date? Would they sleep over? He had an apartment, had just rented it a couple of weeks before the trip, in a brand new complex about fifteen minutes away from her, pretty Spartan. She had a house. He'd be starting a job with Elizabeth's father. She'd go back to her job as trauma nurse with its crazy schedules. She just...did one date one's best friend? There was no etiquette here that she was aware of.

"Jos? You here?"

She looked over to see him frowning. "Sorry. Just thinking about home."

"Good or bad?" He shifted in his chair, folding one arm over the other against his chest.

"Just--wondering. We haven't lived in the same place in a long time."

He reached over and wrapped his hand around hers. "It's going to be awesome."

"Is it? Because I'm scared shitless."

"Of me?"

"Of everything changing! I mean, how are we going to handle this?"

"Jos, you've been my best friend since high school. We know how to talk, how to communicate. If anyone can figure this out, we can. I figure, I've already loved you forever. Now I get to sleep with you, too."

A chill washed over her that had nothing to do with the breeze coming off the ocean. Had he just said...? What was she supposed to do with that? Ignore it? Say it back? But he was right, the one thing they had going for them was complete honesty.

"You mean you love me like a friend, right, like family?"

He sobered, his green eyes drilling into hers. "Is that what that felt like in there? Like I love you like family?"

No, it hadn't, but she hadn't wanted to put words to it, particularly not
the
word. "Are you sure? How can you be sure?"

"Joslyn, I've been sure since I was eighteen years old. Being away from you just proved it to me. I kind of hoped it would prove it to you, too."

"I've never loved anyone, Andrew, not since they died. I don't even know if I would recognize the emotion if I felt it."

He grinned, and some of the tension washed out of her at the sight.

"I'm here to help you with that."

CHAPTER SIX

Joslyn was used to eating at odd hours, catching dinner when she could in the ER. But eating on the balcony of a posh Hawaiian hotel, the ocean at her feet, her best-friend-turned-lover beside her with a condom in his pocket, felt completely decadent. The hamburger was huge, no way she could eat it all, especially not with the banana cream pie sitting beside it. She licked ketchup off the side of her hand and reached for a fry.
 

Honestly, they could have ordered sexier food, but they were both mad carnivores, so this suited them, mess and all.
 

Beneath the table, Andrew rested his feet on hers. It had taken her a moment to get used to the sensation, but now she liked it, and occasionally rubbed her foot up his ankle, savoring the rasp of his hair against the arch of her foot.

He dropped his hamburger onto the plate, took a swallow of root beer, and dragged her chair closer. Her squeal of alarm bounced off the balcony and shimmered in the air around them. He cocked an eyebrow and she started to giggle. She pressed her lips together, embarrassed at causing a ruckus, and he planted a kiss on them. Then another, softer kiss. Then another, more enticing, until she parted her lips and let him in.
 

What started as a playful kiss quickly shifted to something deeper, hungrier. He lifted her from her chair and placed her on his lap, straddling him. She gasped into his mouth to find him hard, his cock pressing against the vee of her legs. Seriously? He got turned on watching her eat a burger?
 

Those thoughts were pushed out of her head by his hand roaming beneath her shirt, up her back, his fingertips trailing up her spine, the caress sending sparks of arousal to her sex. She rolled her hips against his to ease the ache and he growled low in his throat, tightening his hand at the back of her neck, angling his mouth, his tongue stroking into her mouth in hot thrusts.
 

Suddenly the chair was too small, and she wriggled on his lap, trying to get up, but her toes barely touched the ground. He wrapped one arm around her waist and stood with her, setting her on the edge of the table. He eased back and she wrapped her legs around his hips, desperate to feel him inside her again.

"Let me--" he managed, and shoved their dinner back onto the tray, clearing the table quickly and laying her back on it, pushing his hips between her legs so his erection pressed against her cleft.

She moaned, her nipples hard, longing for his mouth on her clit, his fingers, something to take the edge off. He lowered himself to his forearms and kissed her, only his mouth and hard-on touching her, and her skin burned with the need to be naked with him. She reached between them to unbutton her blouse, and he gave her enough space, looking down the length of her body when the fabric fell open.
 

He straightened to admire her, and only when the breeze blew across her skin did she remember they were outside. It was late, but--outside. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more.

"I've never made love outside before," she admitted, and his nostrils flared.
 

He yanked at the button of his shorts and let them drop to the concrete before he reached for hers and jerked them off, bringing her hips to the edge of the table in the same move. He dragged the head of his cock over her tender flesh, and closed his eyes in appreciation. Then, snapping himself back, he bent to retrieve the condom and applied it with a shaking hand.
 

"Andrew. Please," she whimpered when he stood between her legs, pressing against her entrance, but not into her, not where she needed him.
 

And then he was, lifting her hips in his hands, thrusting into her in short, eager strokes, the wet sound of their joining bouncing off the walls of the balcony, off the balcony above, but Joslyn didn't care. She met his strokes with eager thrusts of her own, curved her hands around her own breasts, rolling her nipples between her fingers.
 

Andrew choked and stilled, deep inside her, just to watch her. "Sweetheart. Jesus."

Embarrassed, she let her hands fall away, but he cleared his throat, grabbing one hand and putting it back over her breast.
 

"Don't stop on my account."

"I need more," she said.

"In a minute," he promised, and lengthened his strokes, all the way in, almost all the way out, dragging deliciously along her inner walls.
 

Then he pulled out completely and lowered his head to the breast she held, his breath hot on her hand, on her nipple, before his lips nudged her fingers aside and he sucked her in, hot and hard. If he'd still been inside her, she would have come, just from that.
 

Instead, she bowed her back, holding his head to her, gasping when he slipped his fingers between her legs, blunt and rough, stroking over her slick folds, circling her entrance, dragging her wetness up over her clit, then circling there. She caught her breath, ready to tumble over the edge, and he stopped, returning to her channel, sliding one finger inside, then another, hooking them forward, and...

The cry that tore from her throat as she came was guttural , and echoed around the balcony before heading out over the beach. Anyone who heard that had no doubt what they were doing up here, but she didn't care. She shoved his hand away and locked her heels around his hips, bringing him to her.
 

"Andrew, please, inside me. Please."

He chuckled and drove into her still-pulsing flesh, groaning at the way her body spasmed around him before he thrust hard, deep, taking her higher again, watching her breasts bounce as he fucked her. Sweat sheened his body as he stood over her, and she wanted to feel his skin against hers, but wanted another orgasm more. She worked to meet his thrusts, grinding against him, teasing her own clit against the hair of his groin and there....just there...

She tightened her legs around him, holding him flush against her as she came, and came, and came, rolling against his hips, pleasure bursting in pulses that made her whole body jolt. Only vaguely was she aware of his need to move, and she loosened her grip enough for him to plow into her, hard, sending the table scooting across the concrete in loud screeches until it bumped up against the edge of the balcony and he stopped, balls deep, his orgasm pouring through him and into her.

He didn't leave her body, but scooped her up in his arms and held her against his chest for a long kiss, before he walked with her, still joined, into the bedroom.

***

Andrew never thought he could be this happy, especially not after his last tour overseas. But Joslyn was in his arms, in his bed. Her eyes drifted shut with pleasure as he curved a hand around her breast, stroking his thumb in a circle around her nipple before he bent to sip the dark tip into his mouth. God, she had gorgeous breasts, full and lush, with pretty dark nipples. He'd always wondered.
 

And sensitive. He'd only made love to her a short time ago on the balcony and already she bowed against him, making these sweet humming noises in the back of her throat as she shifted her legs on the bed, sending her scent into the room, making him harder. Jesus, it'd been awhile since he'd had sex, but he never thought he'd be up for three times in one night. Then again, he'd been a walking hard-on since he got to Hawaii.

He dragged his tongue over her nipple, sucking hard, then released it and turned to her other breast, sliding his hand down her smooth belly, over her neatly trimmed curls, to slide his fingers over her slick petals, parting her, finding her swollen clit and tapping it lightly. She moaned and drew her legs up in invitation.