Pushing His Luck (Surf, Sun & Sex Book 3) Read online

  “Huh,” she murmured, sounding genuinely surprised.

  “What?” he asked with a crooked, uncomfortable smile. “Why’s that so surprising?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted with a soft laugh, shaking her head. “I guess because you have one of the most stressful jobs in the world. If anyone’s going to have shit they need to shovel and talk about with someone they can trust, it seems like it would be a cop.”

  “Some cops do. But…it’s not really my thing.”

  Her lashes lowered for a moment, then lifted, and he found himself bracing as she looked him right in the eye and said, “About what you mentioned earlier—that you felt toxic after what happened with Jenna. That’s the kind of thing that can fester and cause all kinds of damage. So as your friend, I’m going to tell you that you should really find someone to talk to about what happened.”

  “I don’t need—”

  “Don’t be a macho asshat and tell me that you don’t need to because you’re fine,” she cut in, rolling her eyes. “Just find someone you feel comfortable with and talk.”

  “I’m talking to you,” he blurted, hating how fucking desperate he suddenly sounded.

  She caught her lower lip in her teeth, then shook her head again. “Nice try, but I don’t count.”

  “Really? Because it’s started to become really fucking clear to me that you’re the only one who does count.” The telling words tumbled out of him before he could hold them back, and he knew from the way she flinched and shifted away from him, her body facing forward in her seat again, that he’d said the wrong thing.

  “Don’t,” she breathed out a second later, the catch in her voice making him feel like a dick. “Just because we’re talking and getting along doesn’t mean you can say things like that to me. Not after the way you hurt me.”

  “I know,” he rasped, while his pulse roared like an engine in his ears, “and I wish I could say I hadn’t meant to, Rin. But I refuse to lie to you.”

  He watched as she unhooked her seatbelt, half expecting her to make a run for it. But that was crazy, because her little boy was fast asleep in his backseat, and even if he wasn’t, Paul realized that running wasn’t her style. No, that dickless move belonged completely to him, and God only knew how long it was going to take for him to dig his way out of the miserable hole he’d dug for himself. “I just… Christ, I wish you’d let me make it right. I can’t stand not being around you. And I sure as fuck can’t stand the thought of you going out with other men.”

  “There are so many things I need to say about that,” she murmured with a heavy sigh, reaching for her door handle, “but I can’t do this right now. It’s been a long night, and I need to get Jase inside.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he muttered, opening his own door. By the time he came around the back of the truck—the faint sounds of the bonfire that was still in full-swing only just reaching them—she’d already opened the backdoor and was trying to reach in for Jase without dumping the kid’s backpack and her purse onto the ground.

  “Here, I’ve got him,” he said, gently nudging her aside. Then he reached in and lifted the little boy into his arms, easily settling him onto his shoulder.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, hoisting Jase’s backpack higher onto her shoulder, along with the strap to her purse.

  “It’s all good,” he assured her, genuinely happy to help out, while hating that this was the kind of thing she always had to do on her own, thanks to her asshole of an ex.

  She gave a little nod, and he followed after her as she started walking across the lot, his gaze focusing in on her long, smooth legs, and he knew he had it bad when even the shape of a woman’s ankles struck him as impossibly sexy. Less than a minute later, she was closing her front door behind them, and he looked around her place with a curious gaze, soaking up as many of the details as he could as he followed her across an open, airy living room, then down a hallway and into Jase’s bedroom. She pulled back the colorful quilt on his bed, and Paul carefully laid him down on the Captain America sheets, then locked his gaze with hers as he quietly said. “I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

  She looked like she wanted to argue, obviously hoping he would simply leave after getting them home, but no way in hell was he going to just walk away. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he headed into the hallway, planning to walk back into the living room, like he’d said. But as he passed the open door on his right, he saw Karin’s bed from the corner of his eye, and without any conscious direction from his brain, Paul found himself standing a few feet inside the doorway to her room. Pulling in a deep breath, he caught the delicious notes of the perfume she was wearing that night on the air, along with hints of coconut and sandalwood, the seductive combination going straight to his head. The far wall hosted two large windows, the floor the same dark hardwood as the rest of the condo, a soft-looking gray rug at the foot of the bed that was only a shade darker than the plush comforter and mound of pillows that covered her queen-sized mattress, the furnishings dark and sleek, the walls a pale cream.

  It was a warm, inviting space that made him get a little lost in his head as he imagined stretching Karin’s gorgeous body out across the bed late on a Friday night and covering her with every hard, hungry inch of him, while he stretched her arms up over her head, drove his hard cock deep inside her cunt, and fucked her beautiful brains out. He had no doubt that sex with this woman would be unlike anything he’d ever known before, the pleasure so intense that he just kept craving her more…and more. And yet, as desperately as he wanted to fuck her, he wanted everything that came before and after it too. The conversations and the snuggling, movies and meals and walks on the beach. He wanted the whole relationship package, in a way he’d never wanted anything before, and the fact that it had been so close to his reach, only for him to fuck it up so completely, made him want to throw back his head and howl like an animal.

  A soft sound came from the doorway behind him, and he turned to find Karin standing there with guarded eyes and pink cheeks, the soft glow of the hallway light shining around her like an otherworldly glow. She was so fucking mouthwatering he felt a little lightheaded, his heart hammering and every ounce of blood in his tense body rushing straight to his dick.

  “Um, so, thanks again for driving me to the hospital,” she said, her voice a little breathless…as well as husky, as if she were caught up in the same heady rush of lust that was battering him, coursing through his veins like liquid fire. “You didn’t have to… Um…”

  Her voice trailed off as soon as he took a step toward her, his eyes narrowing as he watched her pink tongue flick out across the lush swell of her lower lip, his heart thudding like a fucking jackhammer.

  One second he was towering over her, staring down into her flushed face as she tilted her head back, and the next thing Paul knew, he was curving his hands around her waist, jerking her against the front of his body…

  And then he covered her gasping mouth with his.

  Chapter Six

  Paul Cartwright was kissing her again, and just like the last time this had happened, back in March, Karin was kissing him back.

  And not just a little brush of the lips or slip of the tongue.

  Oh no. No, she was kissing him like her freaking life depended on it. Kissing him like it was an Olympic sport and she was determined to win the gold. Like the world might very well end if she couldn’t rub her tongue against his, his rough growls filling her mouth and her breathy moans filling his.

  Her arms were thrown around his wide shoulders, her head tilted back as he gripped her ass in his strong hands and pulled her even tighter against him, until there wasn’t even an inch of space between their bodies and his big, deliciously hard cock was shoved up against her butterfly-filled stomach.

  “I can’t get enough of you,” he groaned against her lips, nipping the bottom one, before sliding his slick tongue against hers in a way that made her damn knees weak. She held on to him tighter, her thoughts in chao
s as he pushed her cardigan off her shoulders, his warm hands moving lower. He didn’t ask her permission, but he paused with his hands on the outer swells of her breasts, the silk of her top so thin she could feel the heat of his touch, and when she didn’t object, he made a rough, sexy sound of hunger and covered them with his hands. His thumbs swept over her nipples, again and again, the sensitive nubs swelling and hardening beneath his touch, her skin prickling with the need to feel him stroking her bare flesh.

  As if he could read her mind, he gripped the hem of her top and whipped it up over her head, her arms automatically lifting to help him, and then he was tugging down one side of her bra as his dark head lowered, and she gasped at the decadent feel of his tongue stroking across her nipple. Her head went back, banging against her closed bedroom door, and she blinked in confusion, wondering how in the hell she’d missed the part where he managed to get the door closed and her pressed against it.

  “You taste so fucking amazing,” he growled, before pulling the tip of her breast into his hot mouth, the feel of him sucking on her nipple so freaking incredible it had scorching waves of heat melting through her body, settling like lava between her legs. While he tormented one breast with wickedly sexy flicks of his tongue and sucking pulls of his mouth, he worked the other one with his hand, squeezing the heavy mound as he rubbed and pinched her nipple, the pleasure so intense she was moaning between each gasping breath. Full-blown sex had never felt this shockingly good to her before, and she wondered if she were having some kind of out of body experience as her hands, which seemed to have a life of their own, gripped the hem of his T-shirt and shoved it up his chest.

  Their ragged breaths filled the air as he straightened and quickly yanked the shirt over his head, dropping it to the floor. Karin had seen him shirtless on the beach dozens of times, if not more, but had never been this close to his naked chest before, and her mouth was literally watering as she hungrily took him in. His naturally golden skin was tanned from all the hours he spent on the beach, his tattoo a dark, sensual swirl that made her want to lean forward and trace its intricate pattern with her tongue, until she remembered watching the blonde do that very thing. So she lowered her gaze instead, her breath catching at the sight of his tight abs and the impressive erection tenting the front of his shorts.

  As if he could feel the weight of her stare like a physical touch, he made a low, guttural sound in the back of his throat, and she could have sworn his hard-on got even bigger. Her gaze lifted, locking tight with his, the moment so heavy with anticipation it was like an actual entity there in the room with them, pulsing around their bodies. She whispered his name, her voice cracking, and it was as if that hungry sound was the starting gun for them to spring into action. They both reached down at the same time as their mouths crashed back together, lips rubbing and tongues stroking as she reached for the button on his shorts, his shaking fingers already working her denim cut-offs over her hips. He fisted his hand around the slender hip strap on her underwear and ripped them off of her with one powerful tug, just as she shoved his tight boxers down over his lean hips.

  He lifted his mouth from hers, both of them sucking in deep, harsh breaths of air, and she used the break to look down between their bodies. She caught a flash of a colorful tattoo low on his right hip, but couldn’t focus on it, her avid gaze locking too quickly on to his cock. His hands settled onto her hips as he shifted back slightly—just enough to give her a better view—which is exactly what she knew he’d intended. He wanted her staring at his diamond-hard erection, the long shaft thick and broad and heavily veined. The head was as round and succulent as a ripe plum, and almost as dark, the slit in the tip already leaking with moisture. But for all its brutal details and shocking size, his dick was…well, beautiful.

  And, yeah, Karin had never thought she’d actually be staring at a man’s cock and thinking about how gorgeous it was—yet that was exactly what she was doing.

  When she placed her trembling hands against his chest and lifted her heavy-lidded gaze back to his, he husked, “My turn,” and his right hand pressed between her legs, one long finger pushing into her body while his thumb found the sensitive rise of her clit.

  “Christ, Rin. You’re so fucking wet,” he growled, leaning down and pressing his open mouth against the side of her throat, the head of his magnificent cock pressing against her stomach, leaving a streak of moisture across her flesh. Her head tilted to the side to give his mouth better access, her body all but melting against the door as pleasure burned through her like a molten ball of flame, her hands curling over his wide shoulders and her inner muscles greedily clenching around his thrusting finger, his thumb working her clit as if he were inside her head, taking mental cues directly from her mind. Slow, dizzying circles, with the perfect amount of pressure, the heady sensations he was creating more intoxicating than any alcohol she’d ever consumed, and she could feel a devastating orgasm already rising up inside her—swelling, building, tightening—her sex so wet she could hear the slippery sound of his finger moving in and out of her.

  Any second now, she was going to come all over Paul Cartwright’s big, masculine hand, and the eyes she hadn’t even realized she’d shut suddenly shot open to find his handsome face right above hers, his dark, beautiful eyes staring down at her with a breathtaking look that was more visceral and hungry than anything she’d ever seen—and the reality of the situation slammed into her so hard that she gasped. But before she could wrap her brain around the fact that she was actually getting hot and heavy with the gorgeous detective, he pushed a second finger inside her, the fit so snug it would have been painful if she weren’t so freaking drenched for him.

  “Fuck, you’re tight,” he scraped out, his nostrils flaring as he sucked in a sharp breath and fingered her deeper, and she watched his own raw, powerful need carve itself into his rugged features, his cockhead burning like a brand against her stomach, every muscle in his tall, ripped body coiling with tension. “Let go,” he growled, curling his fingers forward and rubbing the callused tips against that spongy spot that made her knees nearly buckle. “Come all over my fucking hand, baby.”

  “Paul, I—” she started to say, only to break off with an excited moan when he pulled his hand from between her legs and lifted it to her face, his slick thumb stroking over the curve of her lower lip. Then his mouth was right there, his tongue licking her taste from her lip, his hands moving down her sides and around, squeezing her ass as he slanted his head to the side and kissed the ever-loving hell out of her.

  “Better yet,” he panted against her lips, looking her right in the eye, “I’d rather feel that sweet little cunt come all over my tongue.”

  “Oh God,” she moaned, her voice soft and hoarse, her lust-wrecked brain desperately trying to figure out what the fuck was happening.

  But Paul was already dropping to his knees in front of her, and her body eagerly followed his lead as he lifted one of her shaky legs over his shoulder…and used his thumbs to spread the sensitive folds of her sex.

  Oh fuuuck. Just…fuck, Paul silently cursed, blinking, unable to believe anything could be so fucking perfect. But she was. Karin’s tight cunt was pink and wet…and completely bare. He hadn’t expected her to be waxed, given how shy she was. But that was a massive fail on his part, because her shyness in social situations meant shit all when it came to her willingness to get her pretty little pussy waxed.

  And it wasn’t just pretty. It was fucking beautiful. His mouth was already watering for more of her lush taste, her delicate scent filling his head with each of his deep breaths, and he was pretty sure he was going to blow his fucking load the second he pushed his tongue up that tight, tender little hole.

  “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he groaned, just before he leaned closer and finally swiped his tongue across her rosy clit, and her husky gasp was rounded out by a soft, shy laugh of pleasure that curled around his dick like a tight squeeze.

  God, this woman turned him on unlike any
other, and if he ever actually managed to get his cock inside her, it was probably going to feel so fucking good it killed him.

  Reaching down, Paul fisted his dick in a firm hold and started stroking, unable to control his pace as he licked along the length of her plush, glistening folds, her creamy juices so goddamn sweet he couldn’t choke back the sharp, raw sounds vibrating in his throat. He used his free hand to grip her inner right thigh, forcing her leg up higher so that he could tilt his head to the side and press his face right up against that gorgeous, slippery slit. She was so wet his mouth and chin were already drenched, and he kept right on growling as he pushed his tongue into the snug hole, her slick, cushiony sheath sucking in around him, the fit so tight his eyes started to roll back in his head.

  “Fucking love this.”

  “Wh-what?” she stammered, the sting in his scalp as she buried her fingers in his hair and tugged him closer shooting straight to his dick, his fist pumping faster, squeezing his sensitive head on every upstroke.

  “Your cunt,” he growled, hungrily thrusting his tongue inside her a few more times, before moving his mouth back to her clit and sucking the tender bud between his lips. “You’re fucking addictive.”

  She mumbled something that was husky and thick, and he smiled against her soft flesh at the erotic sound, everything about her somehow cranking his own need even higher, his balls tingling as his cock swelled in his pumping fist, on the verge of exploding.

  “You ready to come all over me?” he groaned, pressing his thumb to her swollen clit again as he flicked his tongue against her slick entrance, and she broke with a muffled cry, a quick look at her face showing her pressing her hand against her mouth to stifle the sounds of her pleasure as she crashed over the edge. Snarling like an animal, he shoved his tongue inside her, needing to feel those tight pulses tugging on him as her warm cum slipped into his mouth, his throat working as he swallowed down every sweet, heady drop. He shuddered as he followed her over, every vein in his forearm no doubt sticking out in sharp relief as he worked his cock in a brutal grip, his own hot release spurting out over his hand and stomach, the pleasure so intense he would have fallen onto his ass if he hadn’t already been kneeling.