LOVE LAST

Things were going pretty fucking good with Sarah , Drake thought as he gazed at her from across the dinner table. She was animated as she told him another tale about the dress fitting he arranged for her with Stephanie and how she’d gotten her dress and it was almost half a foot too long till she got a perfect wedding guest dress. Sarah ’s expression was a mixture of amusement and sympathy for the stressed Stephanie , but he had to admit that he wasn’t listening to the story half as much as he was watching her movements. The way that she brushed her hair off her shoulders when she got animated. The way her eyes lit up when she talked about her friends. The graceful curve of her neck. Hell, he was even fascinated with the way her throat moved when she swallowed her drink.
He’d never been this bad over a woman before. Never.
What was fucking ironic was that he was okay with her being his ex. He knew it going in, and he’d figured that he’d wine and dine her, seduce her into giving up her closure and then forget all about her. But the more time he spent with Sarah  . . . the more it didn’t matter. Having her comfortable with him, seeing her laugh and her animated smiles was worth so much more than pushing her to have sex just so he could get his rocks off.
Not that his rocks didn’t want to get off. They did. It was just that . . . Sarah was more important. He could wait a month or two, or three. However long it took for her to be ready.
Sarah was his. He knew her time here at the resort was growing limited, and he was working on a plan to see her again after the resort.
He just had to figure out a way to bring up what he felt and what he wanted from her .
It still amazed Drake that they’d been together for so long and they still haven’t had sex. She . . . trusted him. And that was both humbling and terrifying.
And it made him even more determined not to fuck things up by being his usual self , well as long as he avoided Lilian .
“Drake ? Are you listening?” Her brilliant smile faltered slightly.
“I am,” he lied, and then took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “I was just a bit distracted watching you.”
Her cheeks pinked in that adorable way. “Watching me?”
“It’s my favorite pastime. I fucking love watching you.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but she smiled.
“So . . . when is the wedding?” she asked. “Has to be soon, right?” After all, his crew had already filmed two episodes’ worth of footage for FIND LOVE OR STRIP in this week, and it hadn’t flushed Drake Holt out of hiding just yet. Drake was running out of opportunities.
Strange how thinking of his original motive for coming to Haiti made him feel guilty. Sarah would hate him if she knew the truth. He shouldn’t have hidden why he badly needed her for the job ,but he felt cornered; he didn’t have a choice. If she knew the truth, she’d loathe him. So he kept his mouth shut and pretended to simply be a run-of-the-mill business guy on a business trip and not trying to win back Lilian.
And Sarah was so trusting that she believed every word of it.
“The wedding?” His expression dimmed a little. “It’s in a week.”
He rubbed his thumb over her hand, enjoying the simple act of touching her. “You don’t seem thrilled.”
“It’s not that. I’m ready to go to New York and start my new life. And I’m excited for Matt and Ben.” Her smile returned, but it didn’t have the spark he was used to. “I just, well. I’m not ready for this week to be over yet.”
“I know the feeling.” Christ. Her upcoming job in Haiti was going to be another kink in his plans. Bad enough that he lived in New York and only flew in to Haiti just for business and a chance again with Lilian . How could he date Sarah when he was sure he would not give her all she wanted, he was sure to get her ears filled with tales of how awful he was if he broke her heart again.
Briefly, he contemplated somehow sabotaging the job offer that Brown had extended . . . but then discarded the thought. Even he wasn’t that big of a dick. It’d be selfish to ruin Sarah’s life just because he wanted her all to himself for a bit longer.
A mischievous look crossed her face and she got up from her chair. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” she told him, and tugged at his hand.
He tossed money down on the table to cover the bill and allowed her to lead him out of the dark, atmospheric restaurant, intrigued by this turn of events.
But a few minutes later, he protested when Sarah took off her high heels and began to pad through the sand toward the beach. “Oh, come on. You know I fucking hate the water.”
She only looked over her shoulder at him, her expression playful, and kept strolling toward the beach, her hips swaying with her movements.
And he found himself following her after all. “Are we going to walk on the beach? Because I’m fine with that as long as we don’t go any deeper.”
Sarah simply laughed, and when she got to the edge of the water, she stripped off her dress. He experienced a moment of shock, then realized she was wearing a bikini.
And . . . damn. When had his modest Sarah bought a bikini? He stared at the tiny string tied at the center of her back, at the small stripey panties that barely covered her luscious ass.
“Do you want to swim with me?” she asked, easing into the water. Her long legs were gorgeous in the moonlight.
He was glad the beach was empty, because his pants were growing uncomfortably tight across the groin. “If I say no, are you going to get dressed?”
She looked back at him, smiling, and ran her fingers over the surface of the water. “You want to come in here with me. You know you do.”
“This part of me does,” he agreed, pointing at his dick. “This part of me isn’t so sure.” He pointed at his brain.
Her laughter floated up between the crash of the waves. “It’s still warm. You’ll love it, I promise.”
“The last time I went out higher than my ankles, I nearly became worm food,” Drake called out, but he found himself taking off his shoes and socks anyway. Like a dumbass.
“I’ll hold on to you,” she offered enticingly, and then walked further out into the water, until it was up to her breasts. And then she beckoned him. “Come join me.”
Drake sighed. His hands went to his hips and he studied the beach. It was near midnight, the tide high. The moon was shining down on the dark waters of the ocean, and the waves rolled in rhythmically. The beach, normally crowded in the daytime, was completely empty this late at night. It would just be him and Sarah .
He stalled a moment more. “I’m not wearing a swimsuit.”
“Are you boxers or briefs?” She called out to him, splashing water in his direction.
“Will it bother you if I say neither? I go commando. Always have.”
Her shocked giggle floated through the night air, making his dick even harder. “Really?”
“Really. You still want to swim?”
“I do,” she called out. “I promise not to look.” And she turned her back to him.
Well, dammit, he kind of wanted her to look. Sarah, he reminded himself. With a sigh, he glanced around and then shucked his pants into the sand. This was going to be a huge fucking mistake, he just knew it. But he was drawn toward the frolicking, bikini-clad Sarah like a moth to flame.
The water was fucking cold and he yelped as it hit his bare nuts. “Jesus, you’re a fucking liar,” he called out. “This is like ice!”
She only giggled, her hands moving through the water as she continued to stare out into the ocean, obediently not looking as he eased into the water. He wished she’d look, though. He wanted her to gaze at him with wondering eyes, to check out his package like she had that morning in the hotel room.
Then again, considering that he was probably shriveling thanks to the cold, it was likely for the best that she didn’t check out his stuff. Yet.
“You’re a horrible, horrible little tease,” he growled under his breath, wading out to her. The water grew deeper, now at his waist, and when the tide rolled back, it sucked and pulled at his legs, and panic stirred in him again. “Come back,” he told her. “Don’t go out so fucking far.”
“This isn’t far,” she said lightly, dancing a few feet away. “I’m barely at chest height.”
“Yes, but I’m taller than you,” he said. “You might drown if you go out that far.”
She turned around and splashed him, scowling.
He put up his hands to block the icy water, chuckling. “That got your attention.”
“Cruel man,” she said in a tone of voice that implied he was anything but. Hell, just that teasing note in her voice made his dick get all hard again, icy water or not.
“You’re the cruel one—trying to drown me in the water here.” He skated a hand over the surface. “Do sharks swim at night? Do we need to worry about that shit? What about riptides?”
“It’s fine,” she soothed. “Don’t worry. I’m right here with you.”
“I fucking hate the water,” he grumbled. “Fucking hate it. Can’t believe you’re making me come out here.”
“This isn’t so bad, is it?” She moved toward him a few feet, close enough that he could see the amusement shining in her eyes, and the water lapping just below her breasts in that tiny string bikini. His gaze kept traveling downward, and he kept forcing it up again to be polite.
At this rate, he was going to need a medal for sainthood.
Something brushed against his foot, and he yelped and moved toward Sarah in the water. “What the fuck was that?”
She giggled again. “That was my foot.”
“Christ, don’t do that again.” His heart was hammering in his chest.
“You really are scared, aren’t you?”
“I think I have PTSD from almost drowning last time. It doesn’t bother me too much until I’m out farther than ankle deep. Fuck, I don’t even like baths anymore. Just showers.”
“Poor baby,” she soothed in that teasing voice, and her arms moved to his neck and wrapped around him. “I’m right here. You can lean on me if you need to.”
“That so?” His hands went to her waist, caressing her skin just above the bikini bottom. He didn’t know what had brought out this playful side of Sarah, but he was liking it. He drew her closer, and his mouth moved toward hers. “If you feel something jab you in the stomach, that’s not the Loch Ness Monster. Just my dick.”
She snorted with laughter a moment before her mouth went to his. Then, they were kissing.
Drake had learned something interesting about Sarah this week—every kiss with her seemed to get better. Maybe she hadn’t been all natural with him before, but now when their mouths met, she was as eager for him as he was for her. Her tongue swept into his mouth without him having to prompt her, and her lips were open and eager as they kissed and molded and meshed with one another. Her mouth tasted sweet, her tongue teasing, and he wanted to drown himself in the taste of her. Kissing Sarah was an exquisite torture. Exquisite because he enjoyed kissing her more than he thought possible . . . and torture because he knew it would not go any further than that. His cock wasn’t listening, though. It was an optimist, and his dick was hard with anticipation, practically pressing against her soft belly under the water. He edged his hips back slightly so he wouldn’t alarm her by prodding her with it.
Tonight, as they kissed, her hands moved from his neck and smoothed down his shoulders, her long fingers caressing his skin. And he shuddered under that light, exploratory touch. “God damn, it feels good when you touch me, “Sarah ,” he murmured against her lips.
“I like touching you,” she told him shyly, between little presses of her mouth to his. Her hands slid to his biceps and she squeezed them, testing the muscle there.
He groaned, his brain likening that exploratory little squeeze to her hands doing the same on his cock. Now he was aching with need, his pulse throbbing from her little touches.
“Drake ,” she said, voice soft as she pressed her mouth against his upper lip, then the corners of his mouth.
“Hmm?” It was taking all his concentration not to grab her and force her hips against his cock, to have her soft, slippery flesh cradling him. Definitely bound for sainthood.
“How come we never do anything more than kiss?”
Ah, Jesus. “Because you’re not ready , sweetheart. The last thing I want to do is freak you out or make you feel pressured.”
Her hands skimmed down his sides, up and down, tormenting him with their soft little motions. “What if . . . what if I took the lead on things?”
He stilled, composing himself. “What . . . did you have in mind?”
“I want to touch you,” she murmured against his mouth. “And I want you to touch me. Can we try second base?”
“Sweetheart, we can do anything you want. But you gotta remind me what second base is.” It’d been far too long since he’d dated someone that referred to bases. “And if second base is anal, the answer is unequivocally ‘yes.’”
She gasped. “No, not anal!”
“Darn. What is it then?” His hands went to her hair, tugging it free of her ponytail and letting it sweep over her damp shoulders. So soft and lovely, his Sarah.
“It’s . . . you know. Petting. Above the belt.”
He could practically see the flush on her cheeks. “That so? But you’re already petting me.” Her hands were still gliding over his sides, even though his remained locked in place.
“Drake,” she said in a pleading voice. Her face burrowed against his neck. “You know what I’m asking.”
“You’re asking me to touch you?” Goddamn, it must be Christmas.
She nodded, her nose brushing against his skin, her head still pressed against his shoulder. If she moved one more inch, his dick was going to stab her in the belly.
“I’ll touch you,” he said, gliding his hands up her back. “But you have to tell me if you get freaked out or uncomfortable. That’s the last thing I want.”
“All right.” Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible.
“ Did you go second base since our breakup?.”
“Once .” She admitted
Her arms went around him and he felt her hands against his back, a mimic of his own touch. “I think I mentioned the party I went to? I was drunk and so was he. He saw how short I was the next day and complained to all his friends that he had beer goggles on that night.”
“That fucking little prick.” His hands clenched into fists. “There’s nothing wrong with your height, Sarah. It just gives you a length of short legs, and I fucking love your legs.”
“You might be the only one,” she said, and snuggled up against him before he could warn her. Then, his cock was pressed against her warm body, and she gasped. But she didn’t move away. “Is . . . that . . .”
“Yep.” He stroked his fingers down the curve of her spine. “I was trying to keep it off of you, but it looks like that failed. Want me to go put my jeans on?”
“I . . . no . . .” she breathed, and pressed her body a little closer to his. “I like it.”
Dear sweet fucking god. She was pressing her hips up against him. It was like she was reading his filthy mind. “Christ. You’re perfection, you know that?”
“I like it when you say things like that,” she told him in a soft voice, and then pressed her lips against his neck.
He could feel his dick jerk in response, and he had to fight to keep his breathing even. If Sarah was as unexperienced as she claimed, he was going to have to move slow as fuck to not freak her out. “I’m going to move my hands over your back,” he told her in a low voice. “Just exploring.”
In response, her mouth pressed against his neck again, and he felt her tongue flick against his skin. Jesus, his Sarah wasn’t very good with the meaning of slow, was she? His hands moved up and down her back, carefully avoiding the string-tie of her bikini top. Her skin felt deliciously warm in the cool water, and when she pressed her mouth to his neck again and began to kiss, he forgot to be slow and courteous, and grasped her ass in his hands, pressing her hips forward so she pushed even harder against his cock.
Her gasp rang in his ear, followed by a softly shuddering breath.
“Too much?” he asked in a low voice. If he turned his head, his lips would move against her small ear. So close, and yet he wanted her to be closer. Hell, he wanted her under him, her legs wrapped around him, screaming his name.
“Feels good.”
“Damn, you are absolutely my favorite ex, sweetheart.” He noticed she didn’t protest when he used the nickname on her. Not anymore. That made him feel . . . fucking fantastic, actually. Almost as good as his cock cradled against her sex. She was short enough that their bodies met up at all the right places, and where he’d normally stab a girl in the stomach with his cock, it was at just the right spot with Sarah.
From now on, he was only dating short women.
Fuck that. From now on, he only wanted Sarah.
Her own hands fluttered down his back, and then she grabbed his ass. Just as quickly, her hands pulled away again, and she gave another little shocked gasp. “I forgot you weren’t wearing underwear.”
“Did all that skin startle you?” He chuckled. “I liked your hands. Feel free to grope me wherever and whenever.” Maybe she’d get bold enough to decide to experience his front, too. A guy’s dick could hope.
Sarah’s hands hesitated, and then she put them back on his ass. Her mouth went back to his for another hot kiss, and they remained wrapped in each other’s arms for a long time, the kiss going on endlessly as they tasted each other, tongues intertwining, hands gripping each other’s asses.
His hands began to slowly knead her curvy buttocks, flexing and moving in what he hoped wasn’t an alarming sort of massage. She took the cue, her hands mimicking his motions on her skin, and she clenched at his ass and rubbed, and Christ Almighty, it felt so good that he nearly blew his load right there in the water. Needing a moment, he pulled away from her hungry mouth, ignoring her small whimper of protest.
“How are you feeling, Sarah?” His voice was husky with desire. One hand reached up to cup her cheek, and he brushed a thumb over one of her tiny earlobes. Were her ears sensitive? He intended to find out.
“Good,” she said breathlessly. “Can we . . . can we keep going?”
He’d go until she told him to stop. “Absolutely.”
“Are you still wigged out about the water? Do we need to go in?”
“I can honestly say I’ve forgotten all about the water.”
Her smile broadened, her mouth swollen from his kisses. “That was the plan.”
“Minx,” he told her, pinching her ass. She yelped and gave a little jump of surprise, her body rubbing up and down against his. And fuck, her hard little nipples had scraped over his chest in a way that both of them had noticed.
Sarah sucked in another breath, and then she pressed her breasts against him again. One of her hands left his skin, and she fidgeted. A moment later, he felt the strings of her bikini top hit his hands, and realized she was untying it.
He groaned and pulled her in for another kiss just as the fabric fell away, and this time, her bare breasts pushed against his chest. And fuck, they were nice breasts. Real breasts. Small and firm, like apples, with tiny little tips. Not big and like rocks, with distorted nipples from forcing so much silicone under the skin. “Fuck me, Sarah, I love your breasts.”
“Y-you do?” Her breathing grew faster, and he realized she was nervous. Hell, she was practically trembling against him. “I-I’m not exactly—”
“Complete and utter perfection?” he interrupted. “To me, you are.”
Her dark eyes blinked up at him in the moonlight, as if analyzing that comment. Then, she took his hand in hers and slowly moved it to one of her breasts.
He sucked in a breath at the same time she did. It had been a long time since he’d felt a sense of wonder and reverence at touching a pair of tits, but touching Sarah’s again ? Touching Sarah was totally different from anything he’d felt before. Her breast was small in his hand, her flesh warm despite the goose bumps that pebbled her skin. She was either cold, or terrified—or both. His sweet Sarah. He ran his fingers over her breast, tracing the curves of it with his fingers, his gaze on her face so he could watch each expression as it moved over her. Her eyes grew hazy as he touched her, her expression softening, and when his fingers slid along the underside of her breast, she gave an all-over body shiver.
“Ticklish?” he asked.
“A little,” she admitted, and her voice was so damn shy. How had he not noticed all of her this way when they were together ? It was unfathomable. She was delicious—open and eager and gorgeous and all fucking his. A possessive surge shot through him, and he resisted the urge to crush her entire body against his again. She liked him touching her breasts—he’d keep doing it. He couldn’t wait to see how she reacted when he put his mouth on one of those tiny, hard nipples.
“Want me to stop?”
“No.” Her voice was breathless. “I really want you to keep going.”
“Man, I love it when you fucking say that.” His thumb brushed over the tip of one nipple.
Her entire body quivered in response.
That was fucking glorious to see. “Do you like it when I touch your nipples, Sarah?” His thumb stroked over the taut little bud again, flicking it with his thumbnail. He was pleased when it seemed to harden and pucker even more under his touch.
She nodded, and then her mouth formed a soft little O of wonder when his other hand slid up to cup her other breast. He gripped both of them, enjoying the feel of her soft skin and the reactions racing through her. The expression on her face was full of emotion—shyness and wonder and arousal all at once.
“Do you touch these when you masturbate?” he asked her, leaning in for another kiss.
She gave him a shocked look. “Don’t ask me that!”
He grinned. He wouldn’t tease her half so much if she didn’t react so wonderfully. “Why not?”
“Because—because I’m not going to answer.” Her voice wobbled as his thumbs stroked her nipples again, and her expression grew dazed. “I’m not.”
“No?” Drake ’s voice was husky as he leaned in and pressed his mouth to her parted one. “I’d love to know if you do. Because I’m picturing these sweet little breasts, and you pinching your nipples while you touch yourself.”
Sarah’s gasp sounded more like arousal to him. And she wasn’t pulling away. Instead, her hands moved over his arms, his stomach, as if she had to touch him wherever and whenever she could.
Lower, his mind chanted. Touch lower. But he didn’t say that out loud. Too much at once and he might short circuit his ex’s mind.
So he caressed her pretty nipples and kissed her, pleased when her tongue stuttered against his own with every flick of his thumbs against her sensitive skin. And when her sighs and panting started to turn to moans, he slid his tongue over her open mouth, and took the next step forward. “Can I put my mouth on your skin, sweetheart?”
Her assent was a soft moan and a jerky nod.Drake’s hands went to her neck, caressing her nape, and he was pleased when she made a small sound of protest as his hands left her breasts. He pressed hot kisses against her throat, then moved to her ear, nibbling on her earlobe. She clung to him as he did, and he made a mental note that yes, her earlobes were sensitive, too. He’d bet his Sarah was sensitive in a lot of fun places, and his dick throbbed with need again.
Then he kissed lower, moving across her delicate collarbones and down her breastbone, until she was practically quivering with anticipation in his arms. He cupped one delicate breast in his fingers and brushed the nipple over his lips.
She made a noise that sounded like “guh.”
He couldn’t help it. He chuckled.
Her hands curled into fists on his shoulders. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s not funny. It’s fucking adorable.”
“Drake ,” she complained, shoving at his shoulder. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not,” he said, and brushed his lips over that sweet nipple again. “I love each and every one of your responses, sweetheart. They’re fucking incredible.”
She pressed closer to him, and he took the hint, pulling her nipple into his mouth, his arm locked around her back to hold her in place. His other hand went to his cock, and he began to slowly stroke it, hoping she wouldn’t notice that he was working himself under the water.
But Sarah was past noticing much of anything beyond herself. She moaned loudly, and her hands went to his hair, holding his head to her breast.
And fuck, that was sexy. He began to work his cock even as he dragged his tongue up and down her nipple, figuring out what she liked. He used teeth, he licked hard, he licked soft, trying to see what would elicit the best responses from her. And all the while she moaned and clung to him like she’d never felt anything like what he was doing to her before.
Hell, she probably hadn’t. And that just made him harder. He gave his cock a vicious stroke and immediately came, spurting into the rolling water. Hopefully she wouldn’t notice.
“Your tongue,” she moaned. “Oh gosh, Drake , that feels incredible.”
“I’d lick you all over if you’d let me,” he told her in a husky voice, switching to her other breast. The ache in his cock had been released, and now he was free to concentrate on her as she deserved. “From your head to your toes. And I’d probably lick your pussy for hours, just to see how you’d react when you got all sensitive and needy.”
She shuddered against him, her little nipple tight against his lips as he spoke. “I . . . I . . .”
“What, sweetheart?” He tongued her nipple, gazing up at her lovely face.
A wave slapped him in the face, drenching him.
He sputtered, and she giggled, and the moment died a little death.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Before he could answer, another wave smacked him in the face, and he coughed, getting to his full height and wiping the water from his eyes. “I don’t think the beach is the right place for me to spend lots of time on your breasts, sadly. Not if I don’t want to drown.”
“All right,” she said. “I guess I should find my top, then.”
They located her top through sheer luck, as it had drifted only a short distance away. Sarah put it back on, and Drake watched her breasts move and shimmy as she tied everything in place. Then, when she was ready, she offered him her hand and they walked back to the shore, where Drake retrieved his clothes, put them on, and then Sarah got out of the water. He figured she wasn’t ready to look at him naked just yet.She still very shy .
He supposed that was fine.
For now.