Wicked Thing (C.O.A Series Book 2) (7 page)

Grey looked at her and said, “Do you remember the first time we danced together?”

She did. It had been the three of them, Arrianna, Grey, and her. They had been here, in the in-between.
Before she met him she’d never danced and it had been years since she’d even heard the sound of laughter. He’d brought those things with him into her life. Lexy gazed into his eyes and said, “I’m back already Grey. There’s no need to keep trying.”

He laughed, towed her towards him and started to dance with her. Her heart couldn’t help but join her undeniably lovable soul mate. He spun her around and then dipped her.

She smiled, and teased, “There’s no music, Greydon.” Just as she finished the sentence a song that she’d always adored began to play. Grey pulled her close to him and they swayed together to the romantic song. He started to be goofy and sang the words in her ear. It wasn’t remotely sexy but it filled her with joy. She closed her eyes, rested her head on his shoulder and melted into his embrace. It was in these moments that she wished with all of her heart that they were allowed to be together. The fact that they weren’t had never stopped it from happening. The sensation of her toes in the warmth of the sand as they danced, along with the tenderness of his hand on her back deterred her from stopping the moment they were in the middle of. Being with him like this made her feel happiness that was worth every second of pain she’d be feeling in the aftermath.
This was how she continued to break her own heart.

The scenery flashed around them and they came upon the strangely placed little tidal pool that contained mystically seductive powers. This particular place had always intrigued her. It was a perfect little swimming hole in the middle of a meadow beside one lone apple tree in the in-between. Sometimes it was more like a miniature lake and you couldn’t tell what lay beneath the surface and other times it was all white sand and scattered with brightly colored starfish. Today, it was the ocean version.
Why had he brought her here?

She gave him a funny look and questioned, “Why are we here?”

He replied, “I didn’t mean to bring you here. I’m sorry I guess all of that talk about Melody made this place cross my mind.”

Ouch. Yes, his unknowing insensitivity knew no bounds. She reminded herself once again that he didn’t remember.
“We can’t stay here. You know what this place does.” She glanced at the tree full of ripe apples and added, “I’m just going to quickly grab an apple. I’ll only be a second.” Lexy wandered away from him and over to the apple tree. The orchard from her childhood flashed through her mind as she plucked an apple from one of the low hanging branches. Lexy tossed it to him and Grey caught it in mid-air. Then she tried to yank another one off of the branch for herself and couldn’t.
Not a damn one would budge.
She grabbed for another, allowed her legs to go out from under her and dangled rather humorously from the apple with the full weight of her body.
Oh, Come on!

Grey tossed his head back and howled laughing. He strolled over to stand beside her, as she dropped from her chuckle worthy position and landed on her feet. He handed her his apple and chuckled, “Take a bite of this one and let me try.” He leapt up, grabbed the branch, and dangled from it. Eventually, he lost his patience and started to comically swing up and down on the branch like an immortal yoyo. Not a one of the apples dropped to the ground. “Seriously, what in the hell is with this damn tree?” Grey laughed as he jumped up and tried again.

Lexy took a bite of the scrumptiously delicious perfect apple and savored it, while she watched him rather ineptly endeavouring to remove another from the branch.
Grey was a stubborn guy. If she didn’t stop him they’d be doing this for hours.
She felt a warm shiver and glanced back at the naughty thought inducing pool.
It was time to leave, with every second that passed her best friend slash Handler was looking more appetizing than the apples on the tree.

She grinned at him as her eyes travelled to his rippling tanned abs to his sexy toned chest. From this vantage point that little loin cloth he was wearing wasn’t concealing much anymore. The pool was working its seductive magic on him as well.
They needed to leave
.
Tiberius had left her feeling rather unsatisfied at the Summit
.
It would be wrong, so wrong to be with Grey for the sake of a physical release. But you’re in love with him. He loves you too he just doesn’t remember. She had to snap out of it and now
. Lexy looked at the love of her life and asserted, “We need to leave. Right now!”

He dropped to the grass and started to chuckle, “Is that pool over there making me too sexy for you to handle?”

Yes, it was…
She rolled her eyes.

He laughed spun around slowly in a circle and teased, “Well, take it all in.”

Her increasingly sexy Handler glared at the tree, leapt up and dangled from the branch and started to comically shake it.

Come on, Greydon. She knew they’d be here for a while. He wasn’t about to allow himself to be beaten by a tree.
She’d seen that pig headed expression on his face on countless occasions. That was the, ‘I will continue trying to do this until hell freezes over look.’ He growled and reefed on the branch then pulled himself up and straddled it. He was using every bit of strength that he had to tug the apples off of the tree and they wouldn’t budge. He was huffing and puffing having a seriously comical testosterone fuelled hissy fit. In all of these years she hadn’t been able to stop herself from giving him a little push over the edge while he was like this. Lexy grinned and teased, “I thought I told you to grab your balls before we left the Testing?”

She reached up and easily plucked an apple from one of the branches and then doubled over laughing. It had randomly come off like it was nothing. Lexy hollered, “Get down, or I’ll knock you down.”

He scowled at her from his perch in the tree and said, “You wouldn’t dare.”

She’d never been able to resist a dare.
Lexy wound up and poised herself to throw the apple. She launched it at Grey just as he jumped off and landed on his feet in the grass. It missed him by a hair.

Grey started to chase her around the tree while animatedly mocking her, “You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you? I’m so tough. I’m a Dragon.” His face broke into a grin as she darted out of his way.

She backed up and warned, “I’ll throw another one, if you come any closer.”

He took a step towards her and cockily mocked, “Give it your best shot, cupcake.”

She wound up, fully expecting him to step out of the way as she whipped the apple at his head, but there was a cracking noise behind him and the whole branch he’d been hanging from a moment earlier thudded to the ground. His attention was diverted for only that split second that it took for the apple to smoke him on the back of the head.

He bent over, rubbed his wounded skull and complained, “Shit Lex, you weren’t supposed to actually do it.”

She strolled over to him, smiled sweetly and said, “I thought you’d move out of the way.”
He was faking her out. She knew it but took another step towards him anyway.
He grabbed for her and she darted out of the way. He caught up to her and gave her a good shove into the pool of pheromone enhancing water. She grabbed for him as she toppled over and yanked him in with her. They both surfaced, still laughing as they started to splash each other like children. They looked at each other and raced for the edge, knowing the first one out of the water would have the upper hand. Lexy scrambled up the embankment and she was almost out when he grabbed a hold of one of her legs and towed her back in. Grey had her trapped against the sandy edge of the drop off. Something changed in his expression and she’d seen that look enough times to know what happened next. Lexy placed her hands against his chest to keep him from closing the space between them and whispered, “We should get out of the water and go somewhere else.”

He quietly replied, “Not just yet.” Grey tucked her soaking wet crimson hair behind one of her ears and stared into her eyes for a moment before whispering, “I wish you could see how beautiful you are with the sun shining behind you. You’ve taken my breath away, twice in one day.”

“Grey,” she whispered.
Damn it, he was smooth. Her resolve was going to last all of five seconds if he didn’t stop looking at her this way.

He stared deep into her eyes and confessed, “I know I acted like I didn’t remember kissing you but that wasn’t the truth. Tiberius was all over you and I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know. I guess I was trying to give you an option if you were needing that from someone. I know it’s been a long time. I mean how long ago were you with Tomas?”

He actually thought she’d gone without since Tomas.
She smiled because the only person she’d been with since then was him.

He continued his little speech, “I was only gone for a few minutes and when I came back you were talking to Orin and I thought that made more sense than risking any complications in our situation. At the end of the night I was kind of put in the position where either it had to be me or Frost that took Lily out of the equation and we both know Frost can’t be the one to do that for ability control reasons.”

Every inch of her being wanted to embrace this confession and take the beautiful experience that came with it but she knew how this would play out
.

I know you were upset about the Lily thing in the morning but you have to know that wasn’t what I wanted. I’m past her. You know I’m over her.”

She stood her ground even though her heart kept saying,
fold, damn it! You know you want to.
“Grey, I think we should just get out of this pool.”

He cupped her cheek gently with one hand and said, “I was so jealous at the Summit. I was just wrecked when I didn’t know where you were and I thought you might be with him. I spent all night telling anyone that would listen that I was in love with you.”

Lexy, bit her bottom lip and shook her head.
What?
She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. She was breaking her own heart, but she’d never been able to turn him away when he was in the process of laying his heart out on the line.

Grey gazed into her eyes. His voice cracked with emotion as he whispered, “I can’t have you be anything but mine.” He started to move his lips towards hers.

Her resolve to stay away from him was growing foggier by the second.
Lexy placed her hand against his chest and attempted to reason with him once again, “Grey, if we go somewhere else and you still feel this way then...”

He interrupted her, gazed deep into her soul with his intensely sexy eyes, “Tell me you don’t love me back and I’ll get out of this pool and never mention this again.”

Lexy couldn’t do that. She loved him more than anything. She always had…

He whispered, “You want me too, don’t you?”

Shit…this was going to happen
. Lexy slowly nodded and whispered, “I always have.”

Grey grinned and his eyes softened as he whispered, “Why didn’t you just tell me how you felt?”

She’d told him countless times.
He was staring at her with such adoration; Lexy knew she had no choice. If she allowed him to have what he wanted from her, he’d wake up in the morning with no recollection of the events and everything would go back to normal. Grey kissed her gently on the lips and as always it felt so right that she couldn’t bring herself to stop the scenario from playing itself out. Lexy shivered as his tongue dared to dart between her parted lips and began a smoldering dance with her own.
At this point it didn’t matter if it was wrong or right. She needed this…
Her pulse raced as Grey groaned her name as he always had in the past.
Oh, hell…One last time
.

Grey slipped his hand under the soaking wet almost see through material that clung to her breasts. She gasped as his hand caressed the aching hardened peak of her breast as he nibbled on her neck and ear lobes. It tickled and she giggled as she slipped off her sarong and tossed it onto the shore. He removed his bottoms under the surface of the water and tossed it over his shoulder.
Why did she have to love him this much?

“There is nothing I wouldn’t give you.” Grey promised, as he took her in his arms, and nuzzled her neck as his fingers slipped between her thighs under the surface of the water. She gasped as he pleasured her until she began to ache for a more substantial appendage. He whispered in her ear, “Tell me what you want.”

She kissed him and darted her tongue between his parted lips until reason for either of them was a thing of the past. Then she reached for him and whispered, “You.” He cupped her buttocks with both hands and she arched her back as she took the rigid length of him inside of her. They began to move together as the water lapped around them. The pained expression on his face gave her this reckless sense of satisfaction.
For once he’d been the one driven mad by jealousy.
Grey groaned as he roughly pinned her up against the sandy ledge of the tidal pool and gave it to her with such reckless abandon that his savage thrusting quickly brought them both to a gloriously mind blowing crescendo. She felt the surge of ecstasy building within her to its peak and she cried out as a tidal wave of pleasure released within her. Every nerve ending in her body was still humming from the sensation as she slumped against him with the length of him still inside of her.
He was nowhere near done with her. She knew every move he made by heart.
She noticed that a half dozen apples had randomly fallen from the tree onto the ground. It was as though they’d secured themselves to the tree to keep them here until they gave in and did what they needed to do.

He gasped in her ear, “Why haven’t we been doing this, every night?”

They’d been doing this for thirty years. God, she loved him
. It was so unfair that they couldn’t be together. It was easy to pretend while she remained spent in his embrace that it could be like this …always.

She smiled but kept her mouth shut as he whispered in her ear, “This is going to be complicated.”