Текст книги "Black Number Four"
Автор книги: Kandi Steiner
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 23 страниц)
It’s early as fuck and I’m exhausted. I wiggle my toes in the wet sand and stare out at the water, noting how the pinks and purples of the sky reflect off the deep blue of the ocean. The wind is still softly blowing in, just like it was last night when I kissed Skyler in the Ferris wheel. I don’t know why I did it, I’m not sure what I’m doing with her, but in the moment I didn’t care. I’m supposed to get close to her, right? Last night I just took it a little too literally.
Oh hell, who am I kidding. I want the girl. Desperately. I know where this is going and I know in the end, we’re both going to get hurt. The smartest thing right now is to just stay friends – I need to be there for her for poker, but nothing else. I need to focus.
No kissing today, Kip.
“Sorry I’m late.” I turn and see Skyler walking toward me, paddleboard in tow. I picked mine up this morning at the surf shop. My original plan was to just rent one, but then I figured I’m going to be here for another three months. Might as well buy.
She’s dressed in a light blue tank top that says MIAMI BEACH on it and short jean shorts. Her hair is still in the same messy bun from last night, but most of her makeup has been washed away. Her skin in the rising sun may just be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“Yeah, you better be sorry,” I say, turning toward the sunrise. “It’s half past early as fuck and we agreed to meet at the ass crack of dawn. Way to make me wait.”
She offers a sleepy smile and shrugs, dropping her board by mine and stripping off the tank top she’s wearing over her swim suit. Just as quickly, she shimmies the small shorts off her hips and lets them fall, kicking them to the side.
Well, that’s one way to start the morning.
She turns and catches me staring. Amused, she lifts a brow and bends over to grab her board. “You just going to stand there and ogle my boobs all day or are we doing this?”
“Can’t I do both?”
She shakes her head and starts toward the water without me. I quickly pull my shirt over my head and grab the new board, jogging a little to catch up.
“Do I need to wax this sucker or anything?”
Skyler laughs. “What? No, silly. Like I said, it’s completely different from surfing.” She walks into the water until it meets her knees before letting her board go, guiding it on top of the waves with her hands. I follow suit.
“Holy shit!” I scream when I hit the water. “It’s fucking cold!”
“Well it is February, genius.”
I shake my head. “It’s just weird. It’s not cold weather, but the water is cold.”
“It gets pretty cool during our winter months, usually doesn’t warm up until April or so.”
I watch as tiny goose bumps break out along Skyler’s skin, marching in a parade from her thighs to her ribs, making her nipples pebble under the thin bathing suit top she’s wearing.
Good God.
“We’re going to guide the boards out a ways, past the waves crashing, and then we’ll jump on. Start on your knees and then when you get out past the big waves, you can stand. Use the paddle to steady yourself.”
I nod. “Straight down to business, aye Ella Mae?”
She shoots me a death glare mixed with a smile. “I’m tired. Some stupid boy with a paper ring kept me out too late.”
“Ouch.” I feign offense and clutch my heart. “I saved up three months for that paper ring, thank you.”
Skyler just shakes her head again before jumping up onto her board, knees bent. I do the same and we paddle out a ways before both standing.
“I’m proud of you. You didn’t fall,” she says, eying me.
“Was I supposed to?”
“No, but beginners usually do when we paddle past the big waves. Or when they try to stand. You did good.”
“Thanks, coach.” I wink.
It takes a while for me to find my groove on the board. The arches of my feet sting from balancing against the waves and eventually my arms follow suit. Overall it isn’t bad, though, and I follow Skyler as she takes us along the shoreline. It’s a peaceful thing to glide along the top of the water, letting my body work and listening to the early sounds of the ocean – the birds swooping down for breakfast, the occasional fish jumping, the boats humming to life in the nearby port. The sun is bright in the sky now, slowly rising higher over the city. Skyler is just a little in front of me, which makes for a better view than the sunrise, honestly. After a while, she pulls back and we paddle side by side.
“Want to go to that sandbar?” she asks, pointing toward a small patch of water that looks a lighter shade of blue.
“Whatever you want to do, captain.”
“First I’m coach, now I’m captain?”
“Would you prefer I call you babe?”
Her nose scrunches up and she sticks out her tongue. “Ew, gross. Don’t ever call me babe.”
We paddle out to the sandbar and Skyler jumps off her board, grabbing a bottle of water from a bag she strapped to the front of her board. I’m salivating at the sight of it, realizing I didn’t bring anything at all with me. She shakes her head and grabs a second bottle, tossing it to me.
“Aw, you thought of me? So sweet.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
For a few minutes we just stand and wade in the water, taking small sips from our bottles. I pretend I’m looking out toward the ocean, watching as a few boats sail by, but I sneak glances at Skyler mostly. I watch as her hair blows down from her messy bun and into her face, try to see what’s reflected in her sunglasses as she stares the opposite direction back toward shore. It’s interesting how the morning light plays on Skyler. She looks more radiant, even more beautiful than she does at night. It’s strange, but amazing at the same time. I haven’t met a girl whom the morning light favored before.
“So what’s your story, Kip?” she asks, tucking her water bottle back in the bag. I hand her mine, too, and lean back with my elbows on the board.
“What do you mean? My story?”
She shrugs. “I mean why did you move out here? Why did you transfer to Palm South of all places? Where are you from? What do you like to do? You know, besides lick tequila off strange girls.”
“Hey, that was definitely not my fault. And who’s worse off here – me or the strange girl?”
She laughs softly. “I think I got the better end of the deal.”
“And I tend to disagree,” I say, letting my eyes fall to her stomach. I imagine trailing my tongue along her skin now, tasting the salt of the water mixed with the sweet taste of her skin.
Skyler smiles, but doesn’t say anything else, waiting for me to answer her questions. Which I can’t do without lying. Which makes me panic. I have answers prepared, of course, because I figured this would happen – but now that I’ve gotten to know her, now that I’ve kissed her, that I’ve felt her pressed against me – well, it’s a little harder to lie. Thank God she’s wearing sunglasses. Those baby blues of hers would melt my resolve in an instant.
“Let’s see,” I say, looking up at the sky. “I transferred to Palm South because I wanted to get out of the Midwest. And because Palm South has a pretty decent screenwriting program, which is what I want to do with my life. It’s not the last stop by any means, but it’s a good transition. It also helps that I could get away from my dad,” I add, a little surprised that those words found their way out.
“Uh oh, Daddy drama?”
I let out a short laugh. “Well, he’s an Army Major General, if that gives you any idea.”
Skyler’s eyes go wide. “Yeesh. Sounds fun.”
“Yeah, real fun.” If she only knew. “I mean I love him and everything. He’s my dad, he’s a good dad in the sense of the word, but he just wants to live his dream through me and I’m over trying to be what he wants. It’s nice to be out here away from his constant glare of disapproval.”
“What dream?”
“Huh?” I ask, a little distracted by the thought of my father.
“His dream? That he wants to live through you? What is it?”
Shit, did I say that? “Uh,” I stammer, panicking a little. I look around as if I’ll find words to speak somewhere in the water. “Being in a fraternity, college, the whole thing. He went straight into the service after high school and I guess he always wanted to go. So he’s had this big dream for me ever since I was little. Perfect school, perfect fraternity, you know.”
Whew.
Skyler chews on her lip for a minute before hopping back on her board. She lies back, sprawling out and letting the sun tan her skin. She reaches out her hand and like an idiot I just stare at it.
“Hold me so I won’t float away?” she asks, smiling.
I grab her outstretched hand in mine. The minute our skin touches, that same familiar spark generates, only this time it’s a dull electric current that keeps running between our interlaced fingers.
“So, if it were up to you, would you be in a fraternity?”
God, I hate lying to this girl. “Maybe, I guess I don’t really know. It’s just always been ingrained in me that I would go to college and be in a fraternity. I’ve never really had the chance to think if I’d actually like it. But, at least being here, I can do what he wants and still do what I want, too. I don’t have to live under his scrutiny, his constant judging of whether I’m doing the right thing or not.”
“I think you’ve got life figured out, Kip Jackson,” she says, exhaling a long breath with her face still turned up toward the sky. “At least, you seem like you do. You know what you want to do in life, you’re not afraid to be who you want to be – I think your dad should be proud of you.”
Her words slam into me harder than they should, but I’ve never heard them in the same sentence before and the combination makes me dizzy. Dad. Proud of you.
“You know, I liked the you that came out last night,” I say, trying to move the conversation to her. “The care-free, I-don’t-give-a-shit Skyler.”
She shakes her head. “I still can’t believe I let you take me around town in my freaking sweat pants.”
“You looked hot in those sweat pants,” I say, running my thumb along the inside of her wrist. “And I dare you to tell me you didn’t have fun.”
She looks over at me, holding up her free hand to block the sun’s glare. “I did have fun.”
I lift my brows in a see? manner and hop onto my board, still keeping Skyler’s hand in mine. I lie the opposite way she does, my feet at the front of my board where her head lays on hers. We hold hands and float on our backs, letting the sun warm our skin from the coolness of the water. I stare at the sun through my shades until my eyes hurt, then I close them and let my brain focus on how Skyler’s hand feels in mine.
And how much I’d like to feel other parts of her body.
“It makes sense, you know,” Skyler finally says. “The screenwriting thing. I can tell you’re into Dr. O’Neal’s class.”
“Yeah, it’s not a bad class,” I say, which is half true. I like Dr. O’Neal and the assignments he’s given us for the semester, but I honestly feel like I’m ready for more advanced topics than what he’s serving us. I’m ready for UCLA.
“What do you want to write? Movies and stuff?”
“I’d rather write television shows, actually,” I say, adjusting myself on the board. I’m starting to sweat a little, the sun winning against the water’s attempt to keep us cool. “Not shitty sitcoms or anything, but like the dramas that people rave about. The kind of shows that draw you in more than a movie does and you can’t wait until next week’s episode. The kind that make you want to buy the seasons after they’re cancelled and watch re-runs your whole life.”
“Like Grey’s Anatomy?”
I smile. “Yeah, like Grey’s Anatomy. Except probably a little more R-rated. I picture myself writing for HBO maybe. Or Showtime.”
“Oh! I loved Dexter,” Skyler says, sitting up on her board and letting my hand drop. “My mom and I watched every season together. She even waited for me to come home after last spring semester before she watched the last season.”
My brows shoot up in response. “I never would have pegged you for liking Dexter.”
She scoffs. “What? I don’t seem like the blood and revenge type?”
Shit, I hope not.
“You did reference Grey’s Anatomy first.”
Skyler shrugs. “Well, I like both. I like romance and drama and cursing and blood.”
“My kind of girl.” I wink.
She hops up on her board. “Let’s go. I want to wear you out and sitting on this sandbar isn’t going to do it.”
“Well shit, Skyler, if you wanted to get me in bed that bad we could have skipped this altogether.”
“Shut up and grab your paddle,” she says, glaring. I pretend like I’m going to stand, but then jump off my board and bring her down into the water with me. When we emerge from the water, she shakes her head and spits salt water off her lips.
“What the hell, Kip?!” I laugh and she doesn’t even try to fight it this time, she just laughs with me, splashing water up into my face. “You’re such a jerk.”
Our laughter fades and my hand finds the small of her back as I pull her closer, bringing her chest to mine. I feel her heart beating hard against her rib cage as I lean in, bringing my mouth close to hers. She closes her eyes, her sunglasses lost during our tumble, and I let my lips barely touch hers before lifting my hand slightly and tugging the string of her top.
She jerks back, grabbing her chest as her top loosens and frees her breasts. I laugh, running away from her toward my board. “Oh my God! Kip!”
“Race you back!” I yell, jumping onto my board. Her face turns red but she’s still smiling as she frantically ties her top back on. I’m already twenty feet ahead when she finally jumps on her board and chases after me. She catches me quickly, though, and ends up beating me back to shore.
“You work pretty well with your clothes off,” I tease as we drag our boards up the sand. She shoves me with her shoulder and shakes her head.
“You know you’ll pay for that, right?”
I shrug. “We’ll see.”
And in a way, I’m kind of looking forward to her paying me back. My mind is racing with the possibilities.
We get to my apartment around noon and I throw together a couple of turkey sandwiches for us. By the time we finish eating, we’re both exhausted – both from paddleboarding and from not sleeping last night.
“Why don’t we take a shower and watch a movie?” I suggest as Skyler yawns.
“I don’t have any clothes here besides the ones I have on now and they’re all sandy.”
“You can borrow a pair of boxers and a shirt of mine.”
Skyler chews her lip, unsure. “I don’t know, I’m pretty tired.”
“So am I,” I say, standing and pulling her up with me. “So maybe we watch a movie and maybe we take a nap. Don’t leave yet. I barely see you during the week and I know there’s not many weekends where you don’t have sorority stuff going on.”
“I actually have a sisterhood event tonight.”
“See?” I pull her wrist and lead her toward my bedroom, which really is just my bed separated by hanging curtains on a rack. I rummage through my clothes until I find a clean shirt and pair of boxers, tossing them to her and pointing to the bathroom. “Towels are above the toilet in the cabinet, shampoo and shit’s in there.”
She still seems unsure, so I pull her into me and move the fallen strands of hair from her face. “Come on. Just for a few hours. You’ll feel better once you shower and I know you’re tired. You’re not going to get any sleep if you go home to your sorority house.”
At that she sighs and nods. “You’re probably right about that.”
I smile and nudge her toward the bathroom again.
“Fine,” she says. “But just for a little while. And no trying to ambush me in the shower, either.”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “I promise. You can shower in peace.”
“Mmm hmm,” she says, suspicious, but she walks to the bathroom and closes the door behind her.
I smile and start straightening my bed, turning on the TV to find something for us to watch. I’m flipping through the channels when I hear the shower turn on and the smile leaves my face. Suddenly, I’m completely aware of Skyler’s naked body in the other room.
Shaking my head, I focus on finding something to watch, willing my own body to behave. After a few minutes, I realize I’ve flipped through the channels three times now without stopping or even recognizing what I was seeing on the screen. I bite my lip hard, cross my arms, and pace.
Don’t do it. Don’t make this more complicated than it is. She trusts you, she’s opening up to you – that’s what you need from her. Poker. Poker. Poker.
That’s all.
I pace more. Back and forth. Back and forth. Before I know what I’m doing, my knuckles are knocking softly on the bathroom door. I have no idea what I’m going to say or what the fuck I’m doing, but I can’t stop my hands. The door opens slightly on the third knock, as if it wasn’t completely closed, and through the slit, I see Skyler.
She’s standing there shocked, her mouth open slightly as the water continues to drip down her body, running in rivers down over her breasts and meeting between her thighs. I swallow hard, unsure of my decision. I have nothing to ask, no reason to be staring at her through this door – but Skyler doesn’t cover herself, she doesn’t scream, she doesn’t tell me to get out.
I open the door a little further, still wondering what the hell I’m doing. I consider asking if she needs anything else, if she found a towel, something – but we both know I didn’t come in here to give her a towel.
“I suck at keeping promises,” I admit, just above a whisper, and I wish I could tell her I’m not just talking about the promise to not interrupt her shower.
“And I suck at pretending like I don’t want you.”
My heartbeat quickens, the sound of it hard against my ears as her words settle around me. I move closer, slowly, my eyes still trained on hers as she stands perfectly still in my shower – legs parted slightly, arms to the side – confident and sexy as hell.
“You want me?” I ask, still moving in.
She swallows, but doesn’t lose her confident stance or her hold on my gaze. “Kip, I’ve wanted you since the first time I felt your mouth on my skin. Maybe even a little before that. I hate pretending like I don’t want you, but I don’t know how to do this. It’s dangerous, you and me. Being together. Like this.”
I’m close enough now to touch her, so I reach out and pull her face between my palms. “This is about Erin, isn’t it?”
Skyler’s eyes go wide and she inhales stiffly.
I knew it.
I shake my head. “Listen, Erin is in the past for me. I’m sure she’s telling you and everyone else to stay away from me, staking her claim – but she doesn’t have a claim over me. I am not hers.”
Skyler shakes her head, her lip trembling slightly. “You don’t understand.”
“I do,” I interrupt, lifting her chin toward me. “Are you going to let her dictate who you like? Who you touch? Just because she’s your Big, because she’s president of your sorority?”
She pulls her eyes away from me, looking down. “It’s so much more than that. It would be easier if you just let me go, if we just stopped this right now. We could save a lot of hurt, a lot of pain.”
I sigh, frustrated. “Skyler,” I say, but she doesn’t look up. I lift her chin up once more and make her look at me. “I want you. If what you said is true just now, then you want me, too. I don’t care about Erin, I don’t care about your sorority or my fraternity – not right now. Right now, I care about the fact that you’re here, with me, in my shower, and I want you.” I let my other hand slide down over her arm to her waist and finally down just above her hip line. “Now, tell me you don’t want me. Tell me you want me to stop.” I push my hand a little lower, my fingers just barely touching her clit. She pulls in a sharp breath, her eyes fluttering. “Tell me to let you go.”
Her breaths are heavy, the steam in my bathroom swirling around us as I wait for her to answer. Impatient, I let my fingers drop a little lower, biting my lip when I feel how wet she is.
“Tell me to stop, Skyler.”
She’s shaking now, but she still stares at me with her baby blues, unwavering. Finally, she speaks softly, almost a whisper.
“I can’t.”
I shake my head. “You have to tell me to stop, Skyler, or I won’t be able to. Once I feel you, once I taste you, I won’t be able to stop then. If you don’t want this, you have to tell me now.”
Skyler lets out a long, shaky breath, trying to steady her voice. “I want this,” she says as her eyes fall to my lips. “I want you.”
Her hands fly into my hair and she pulls me to her, crushing her mouth on mine. In a matter of seconds we’re a tangle of arms, legs, and lips, frantically grabbing at each other, eliminating any remaining space between us. I push her against the wall of the shower, stepping in with her as I pin her wrists above her head with one hand and use my other to slide two fingers inside her in one quick movement. She gasps and lets out a loud cry, making my dick harden even more beneath my board shorts.
I work my fingers inside her, biting down her neck and across her collar bone. She’s so wet that my fingers glide in and out with fluid ease. I want to bury my cock inside her, but she’s not ready for that – not yet. She’s opening herself up to me right now, and I don’t want to push her away.
I move my mouth to her nipple and tug it between my teeth as she arches toward me, thrusting her hips into my hand. My palm works against her clit as my fingers dive in and out. Her moans grow louder, my name escaping between the part in her lips every few breaths. Each time she says it my dick grows harder.
Suddenly, she rips her wrists free and grabs my shorts, untying them swiftly and tugging them over my hips. They fall to the floor of the shower and I kick them to the side, my fingers still inside her as she grabs my cock in her hand.
“Oh fuck,” I groan as she moves her hand over me, slowly at first and then she starts pumping, bringing me close to the edge. I thrust into her hand and dig my fingers deeper, finding her mouth and pulling her bottom lip between my teeth.
I rub my palm against her harder, friction building as my fingers glide in and out. Her breaths get shorter and shorter until she’s holding them altogether and I know she’s close. She tries to keep her hand working on me, but her grip is loosening, her focus drifting.
“This is about you,” I growl against her neck before biting it again. “I want you to come. Come on my fingers so I can taste you.”
“Oh God.” She lets out a loud moan, dropping her hands to grip the wall behind her. Her legs are shaking, so I pull her up into my arms and carry her out of the bathroom to the bed. I lay her down and quickly kiss down her stomach to her clit, circling it with my tongue while my fingers move. She shakes a few moments more, her moans increasing in volume before she stiffens and I feel her release, her pussy throbbing around my fingers as her screams ring out.
I don’t stop moving my hand or my tongue until she falls limp, her legs opening wide against the mattress. Slowly, I remove my fingers, kissing her all the way back to her lips before sucking her sweetness off my fingertips. Her eyes roll back and I kiss her soft and slow, our breaths coming down as she tastes herself on my tongue. My dick is throbbing, begging me for relief, but I focus on Skyler. I can handle myself later.
She doesn’t say anything as I grab a towel and her clothes from the bathroom. I pull her up from the bed and dry her off, still holding most of her weight against me as her legs tremble. She pulls on the boxers and I slide the shirt over her head before pulling her down onto the bed with me. Wrapping her in the covers, I pull her back to my chest and nuzzle into her still wet hair.
Within seconds, she’s asleep.
I wake to the sound of loud laughter on the TV. I reach for the remote to turn it off when I realize Skyler’s no longer in bed with me. My clothes are folded and laying where she once was, but there’s no sign of her anywhere. I check my phone, no missed text or call. No note on the nightstand.
Shit.
Sighing, I check the time before sending her a quick text. It’s just after seven.
– Ella Mae, how could you leave your fiancé without even a kiss goodbye? -
After ten minutes with no response, I throw the covers back in frustration and sit up. There’s a poker tournament tonight at a casino in Miami and I need to go. I haven’t practiced once since I’ve been here, and even if I do figure out Skyler’s weaknesses and power moves, it won’t matter if I’m not up on my own game.
The fact that I just thought about Skyler and poker makes me sick. How can I possibly still have my head in this fucking game of my father’s after what just happened between us? For a brief moment, I try to imagine what would happen if I just told him I wanted out – if I stayed at Palm South and had Skyler, truly had her. If she was mine.
But I know it can’t happen that way.
I shower quickly, my body reluctant to wash away the memory of Skyler’s hands and mouth. Between getting out of the shower and getting completely dressed, I check my phone a total of seven times with no response from her.
Fuck. I told myself not to push her, not to make this something it didn’t have to be, but damn if I had a choice when she was standing naked in my shower, her body glistening, her face hot with want. I should have stopped myself but I didn’t.
But she didn’t stop me either.
I call a cab and grab my keys, turning out the lights. I’m not in the right mindset for this tournament, but I don’t have a choice. As I lock the door behind me and start walking down the stairs, my phone pings in my pocket.
But it’s not Skyler.
It’s Adam.
– All pledges report to the house. You have twenty minutes. -
