Chase rolled his eyes toward the sky. "Thank heavens for the local bad boy."

"Mmm-hmm." Abby captured his nipple, suckling him.

He hissed, feeling his penis jerk as pleasure exploded through him.

He tugged at the straps of her suit. "We need this off now."

Abby released his hardened nipple and smiled like the Cheshire cat. "You have the most sensitive

nipples," she informed him.

This was an ongoing battle between them, whose nipples were the most responsive. And Chase decided that once and for all, he needed to prove the truth. He pushed both straps off her shoulders and down her arms, peeling the stretchy material down to her waist. Her beautiful, full breasts bobbed in the water, the rosy crests appearing just above the surface.

He cupped one mound, loving the softness and the weight of it. Her nipples were already gathered to hard points, from the coolness of the water or from his touch, he didn't know. And he didn't care. Either way, they begged to be tasted.

He trapped the beaded flesh between his lips, sucking on it.

She gasped and dug her fingers into his shoulders.

Abby had the most incredibly responsive nipples. He could bring her to orgasm by just stimulating her

there. And although he knew it was just how Abby was designed, it still made him feel powerful. Like he had some magical touch. She gasped again, pressing herself harder against him. He nipped her, and she let out a sharp moan, grasping his head to keep him still. "You win," she panted. Chase raised his head. "You're finally admitting it?" "Yes," she said, her eyes glazed with unfulfilled desire, "yes, I'm more sensitive."

He grinned arrogantly. "Told you."

"Conceit isn't attractive," she said, attempting to be stern, but the effect was lost with her bedroom eyes and her pink parted lips. "Now get back to what you were doing."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I'm the one who should call the shots here, since you're the one who owes me."

She nodded. "You're right."

"And I want to see you naked."

"Okay."

Within seconds, she was naked. Chase flung her suit over his shoulder so it wouldn't float away and then he concentrated on the gorgeous woman in front of him.

He could see all of her. The refraction of the sun and water rippled over her body, making her look like

a watercolor painting come to life. A masterpiece, alive and his.

He moved his hands to her waist and lifted her to him. The buoyancy of the water made her feel weightless. The impression added to the surrealism of the situation. She was a figment of his imagination,

created by water and sun and his own desire. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and the touch of her skin became very real. The chafe of her taut nipples against his chest. The tickle of the dark curls between her legs against his stomach. Suddenly she was excruciatingly real, and so was his need to have her.

His mouth found hers, hard and demanding.

She responded in kind, squeezing him with her arms, with her thighs.

"I don't think I can just stop at kissing, " he muttered against her lips.

"Then don't," she said simply.

He groaned at her invitation. "Baby, we don't have a condom."

"I am on the pill."

He debated her comment. He didn't take foolhardy risks, not anymore. But they were a couple now, not just two people sharing a fling.

"Are you sure?"

Abby smiled at him, her lids heavy. "We both know we're sale. We've been truthful with each other, right?"

Chase froze. About his sex life? Yes, he'd been truthful. About other things... "Yes, I'm sale."

"Then make me pay."

He groaned again. Grabbing her hip, he positioned her away enough so he could get to the fly of his jeans. The button and the zipper unfastened easily in the enveloping water, but the denim shorts clung to him, stiff and immovable.

He yanked at them, but they only budged a millimeter. He let out a frustrated growl.

"Are they stuck?"

"Yes," he said. "This has to be what a chastity belt feels like."

Abby smiled sympathetically, then uncurled her legs to stand. "Let me try."

She snaked her fingers under the waistband and wriggled the sides up and down quickly. Gradually, the unyielding material shimmied down his hips and slipped off.

"There," she said with great satisfaction.

Chase released a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Abby smiled. "Where were we?"

Chase snared her to him, placing her arms around his neck and pulling her legs up around his hips.

"Here." And he kissed her.

Quickly, the aggravation of his shorts disappeared, and he felt nothing but the slick brush of Abby's smooth body over his.

She moaned as his hand slid over the sleek roundness of her bottom, gliding between her legs to the tight passage spread wide against his stomach.

Abby gasped as he slid a finger inside her, her own moisture like oil to the water around them.

He pulled out and entered her again.

She cried out, this time biting his shoulder and squeezing him with her arms, her legs, and those tiny muscles deep inside her.

He wanted those muscles to clench more than his finger.

"Lie back," he said roughly, unwinding her arms from around his neck.

She complied, laving back in the water with her legs still anchoring her to him.

He watched her for a moment, floating in front of him, only her perfect face and the rosy peaks of her

breasts rising above the water's surface. Dark hair billowed around her, and she looked like how he imagined the Lady of the Lake must have looked, rising magnificently out of the dark depths to bestow Excalibur to the worthy King Arthur.

If only he were as worthy. A moment of guilt and shame washed over him. But the sight before him was too enticing, and he wanted Abby too much. His remorse drifted away, and he was touching her, her lovely breasts rising out of the water like inviting islands in an endless sea. The curls between her thighs swayed around his fingers like exotic sea life.

Again, he was struck by how otherworldly she seemed, and he had to make her magic his. Like the sailor following the song of the mermaid, he had to go, to surge forward, to make this gorgeous creature his. And damn the consequences.

He positioned his penis and entered her slowly, feeling her hot textures encircle him, amazed at how slippery her wetness was in comparison to the water. He began to move, lost between the contrast of her heat and the lake's coolness.

He held her hips as she bobbled in front of him, water and sun lapping her bare skin. Small sounds of pleasure escaped her parted lips. Her eyes were closed and her arms out to her sides as she accepted him fully. The vision was as thrilling as the feel of her silken warmth gripping him. When the sensations became too much, Abby reached for his arms, and he pulled her tight against him, still thrusting in and out of her. The motion grew more frenzied, more desperate. And when he heard her cry out with her release, he followed headlong into the dark, wet abyss. Chapter 25

"I'm starving," Abby said as they waded out of the lake arm in arm, their swimsuits a little twisted and their skin a bit waterlogged. "Are you hungry?" "Are you kidding? After that, I could eat an entire peck of clams myself," Chase said, bending to retrieve their beach towels. He handed her one and began to dry himself off with the other.

"Ooh, fried clams," Abby said longingly.

"Mmm, that does sound good. Afternoon Delight?"

"I think we already had that," she pointed out, with a happy little grin.

"Your sense of humor is getting as corny as mine."

She smiled wider, quite pleased with herself and very pleased with the whole wonderful afternoon.

She'd learned to swim! And she'd compensated her handsome instructor with incredible sex. Although,

she sort of thought that she made out better with that particular method of payment. She felt fabulous. Her belly rumbled. Fabulous and ravenous. "I would love Afternoon Delight," she said, grabbing her T-shirt and starting in the direction of the small dirt parking area.

Chase caught her wrist, and she turned back. He touched her face and pressed a kiss against her mouth, his lips gentle and caressing. When they parted, his pale eyes searched her face. Her skin tingled under his icy blue gaze. "Abby, I love you, " he murmured. His voice was rich, chocolaty and so sweet. Abby's heart raced, then stopped. She felt elated and scared and... speechless. Chase Jordan said he loved her. Her!

She continued to stare at him. And all she finally managed was a nod.

Chase glanced away from her, and when his eyes returned, they were a shade grayer, but his easy smile was in place.

"You ready to get something to eat?"

Abby nodded again, all connection between her brain and her tongue severed.

Chase Jordan loved her!

When they reached the truck, her jumbled, useless brain kicked back into working order and she said,

over the back of the flatbed as if she said it every day of her life, "I love you, too."

Chase drove Helen to the Afternoon Delight on autopilot. Thankfully, he knew the route well, because if he didn't, they would have ended up in a ditch. There was no way he could concentrate on the road. He was too riddled with conflicting emotions-happiness and uncertainty and guilt.

What was he doing?

He glanced at Abby. She leaned back against the vinyl seat, her eyes closed, a contented smile on her lips. The air from the opened windows stirred pieces of her damp hair.

She looked lovely, and he was the world's biggest heel. How could he be so selfish to make her think this relationship could last?

Even if they sorted out their residences and their careers, which were big enough obstacles, they still had one major difference that was insurmountable.

He looked at her again. But it was as if he were powerless when it came to this woman. He wanted to be with her so much, he could convince himself of anything to achieve that goal.

Even now, he could feel his qualms fading. He'd always been a realist, and suddenly, he found himself in a fantasy world. The worst part was he liked it there.