He moaned, and I kept rubbing, working down his back, slipping my hands to his sides. I could scarcely believe it, but he felt even better than he looked.
I was careful to keep my chest from touching his back as I reached around to rub his abs. It was only fair…and I was dying to know how they felt. I’d never touched six pack abs before.
I shut my eyes, leaning into him, as I kneaded at his hard flesh.
“Now you’re helping him put some on his belly, boo?” Mat shouted.
“Yeah, peeka,” I said, flushing hotly.
I stepped away from Tristan, handing him the bottle of sunscreen so he could finish putting it on.
I didn’t look at him, taking a few brisk steps, and diving into the pool.
CHAPTER NINE
We both made a good show of ignoring those brief moments of contact, but I couldn’t seem to get my mind off how good he’d felt, or how amazing it had felt to let him touch me.
We swam for hours, playing and frolicking in the water.
Tristan was great with the boys, throwing them around the pool just how they liked.
He lifted a giggling Ivan above his head before dropping him into the water.
Ivan resurfaced, laughing. He pointed at Tristan. “I bet you can’t do that to Danika!”
“You bet me?” Tristan asked.
“I dare you!” Ivan said.
Tristan arched one sassy brow, sidling over to where I was working with Mat on his backstroke. I yelped as he gripped his big hands around my waist, lifting me before I could think to put up a fight. He didn’t throw me, as he had Ivan, but lifted me high, thrusting his head between my legs, and settling me onto his shoulders.
I scrabbled for a handhold, trying to grip his too-short hair, finally settling for a hold under his chin. My thighs clenched hard around his neck.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Ivan dared me.”
“You can’t say no to a dare, can you? Even if it comes from an eight-year old?”
He shrugged his shoulders, jostling me until I clutched him harder, screeching.
“I guess not,” he said.
“I dare you to drop her!” Ivan called, the little traitor.
Tristan didn’t hesitate, lifting me by the hips, holding me high over the water for a brief moment, then dropping me.
I came up sputtering and glaring.
He just smiled.
I started thinking hard about how to get even.
The sliding glass door opened, and Jerry leaned out. “I’m running errands, boys. Anyone want to join me? I might just be getting ice cream while I’m out…”
Mat was climbing out of the pool before Jerry had even finished. Ivan paused for a moment, considering. Finally, he chose ice cream, bolting out of the pool.
Jerry waved at us as the boys ran inside. “I’ve got them for the afternoon, so, have fun.”
I waved back, still plotting about how I could dunk Tristan under water. He was just so big…
Jerry ducked back inside, and we were left alone.
Tristan smiled at me, leaning back, and propping his arms up along the side of the pool. He sank low, watching me, and I saw my chance.
I glided over to him, trying hard to look perfectly innocent. I moved close, getting right up in his personal space.
He watched me, swallowing hard.
I slid my arms around his neck, brushing my hands over his hair. I leaned in very close, and his breath caught, but he didn’t stop me.
I straddled him, hooking my legs behind his knees.
“What are you doing, Danika?” he asked roughly, looking almost panicked, but still, he didn’t stop me.
“I’m daring you,” I began, gripping the backs of his massive arms, “to go under!”
I took his legs out from under him, yanking his arms away from the side of the pool.
He went under, but then again, so did I.
The maneuver also had the troublesome side effect of shoving his face between my breasts.
He didn’t come up right away, instead wrapping his arms around my waist and keeping his face right where it was. When he stood, he took me with him. I laughed as he began a wet motorboat between my breasts. I yanked at his short hair to no avail.
He finally tilted his head back, laughing up at me.
We both stopped laughing abruptly as he lowered me, and my body slid along his. There was a brief moment of contact between my sex and his. He was hard. We both gasped.
I pushed away, and he let me, taking a step back himself.
“Bad idea,” I said breathlessly.
“Yeah,” he agreed, running a hand over his wet hair.
“Guess we’re done here. You can shower first,” I told him, since we were sharing a bathroom.
“Thanks,” he said, lifting himself out of the water with one smooth move. He wrapped a towel around his hips as he moved toward the house.
“Just let me know when you’re done. I’ll wait out here.”
He was already at the door, sliding it open. He kept his back to me as he gave one short nod.
I stayed in the pool, trying not to panic. So we were attracted to each other. It didn’t mean anything. We were two grown-ups who could control ourselves.
I didn’t even want to have sex. Sex had never been good for me. For me, at its best, it had been a way to stay connected to someone that I wanted to feel intimate with. It was a sad fact that if I really wanted to get off, I had to take things into my own hands, and not just when I was single.