Pushing The Limits

“My climbing partner and fiancé, Alexi. He wanted things...that even he was afraid to admit.”

“Like you? Are you afraid to admit what you want?” Hemi asked. Again, so much easier to turn the spotlight on her.

“Like me,” she admitted. “Which is why I’m here trying to teach you and the other candidates all I know about surviving in hostile environments. Maybe that is what I need to finally feel some peace.”

“I hope it works for you,” he said.

“You do?” she asked.

“Yes. I like you, Jessie. I want you to be happy.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know, right? But there it is. When you left the party I was like...well, a typical guy and I thought screw it. If Jessie doesn’t want me then I don’t want her.”

She drifted, putting a few feet between them, then cupped her hand on the surface. He had a second to recognize what she was doing before she pushed her hand through the water and a huge splash hit him in the face.

“Screw you, too, Thor,” she said, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice.

When he brushed the droplets from his face and looked around for her, she was gone.

The water was still except for the ripples caused by the breeze, and he floated on his back to give his legs a rest. He waited. No matter how at home she felt in the water, sooner or later she’d have to come up for air.

She did—behind him. He heard her surface a second before she once again arched a powerful spray of water at him.

He rolled over and used his water polo experience to do an American crawl toward her. Keeping his head above the surface, he saw the shock in her eyes as he approached. God, he wanted her.

He’d known it earlier.

Hell, he hadn’t followed her out of the party and to the gym and then taken her to the lake to cement a friendship. The desire that rocked through him was hot and hard. It made everything else fade away.

He stopped just as their bodies met, put his arm around her waist and used his legs to keep them above the water. Her arms snaked around his neck and her nearly naked breasts pressed against his chest.

His heart beat so loudly he was sure she could hear it, and his blood flowed heavily in his veins.

Her nipples were hard, poking into his chest. He tightened his grip, holding her to him as he looked into her eyes. They weren’t lost or lonely right now, and if he had one goal it was to make her forget whatever her pain was.

“You got me, Hemi,” she said, rubbing her fingers over his light stubble and then higher, tracing the birthmark around his eye.

She made him proud of the mark, though there were times growing up when he’d wished he didn’t have it.

“Do I?” he asked. “I think I might be able to hold you for this moment, but I’m far from catching you, Jess.”

“Jess? I don’t believe I gave you permission to call me that,” she said.

“Lady, we’re nearly naked in a lake together. I’m pretty sure you’ve given me permission,” he said.

“For what?” she asked, her tone challenging.

What was going on in that head of hers? She’d said earlier that she was lonely, admitted to what he had already guessed, but now she didn’t seem lonely. It was as if being in the lake had grounded her.

The way that he felt when he was in zero-g, even in the simulator. It made everything clearer when he couldn’t control even the simplest things. Was it the same for her?

“Another kiss. That’s the only thing I want from you right now,” he said. Her lips were full and wet from the lake and the water.

“One more kiss?” she asked. “I doubt that will satisfy either of us.”

“Agreed,” he said. “But it’s a start.”

She spread her fingers against the side of his face and ran her hand over his scalp until she held the back of his head. She drew him forward and then scissored her legs to lift herself out of the water. Their lips met and an arch of pure electricity flashed between them.

His cock hardened further and nudged her thighs. His arm around her waist tightened, and for a second, he stopped treading water.

Then he tucked her against his side, lifted his mouth from hers and side-stroked them both to shallower water where he could put his feet down on the muddy bottom of the lake. The water came up to her shoulders.

Safe.

They were as safe as he could make them in this moment. Her strong legs slipped around his and he felt like he’d found something in Jessie that he hadn’t been aware he’d been searching for.

It was the last thought he had before he lowered his head, brushing his lips over hers again.

A jolt of adrenaline and lust went through him again and he tangled one hand in her wet hair, pulling her head back so he had a better angle for the kiss. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, feeling her tongue brush over his. Her hand on his head tightened, the other stroked his chest. She squeezed his pectoral muscle before letting her hand drift to his hip. She reached behind him, cupping his butt and drawing him closer to her.

He pulled his head from hers and looked down at her. Her eyes were half-closed, her lips swollen and parted. Her hair drifted out behind her on the surface of the water. And he felt something inside him change.

He couldn’t identify it but a part of him knew this kiss was different. Jessie was different. He held her with one arm around her waist and lifted her slightly until her breasts were revealed.

He caught his breath, watching her as she put her hands on his shoulders and then arched in his arms.

Her breasts were thrust upward and forward to him, and he groaned, lowering his head toward one of her nipples. She lifted one hand, pushing it through his wet hair as he licked her nipple and suckled at it through the flimsy bra.

Her legs came up around his waist, and she used her strength to hold herself wrapped around him.

The tip of his erection rubbed against her center and he heard her breath catch. She moaned, and the birds on the shore answered the sound. They were one with each other and the lake.

She slipped her arms around his neck, pulling close so that he couldn’t tell where his body ended and hers began. She awakened a hunger in him for so much more than just kisses. But he never wanted to lift his mouth from hers.

He caressed her long back. She had a lean torso with a nipped-in waist. He squeezed her hips and slid his hands lower to cradle her behind. To be honest, her figure was the first thing he’d noticed about her at the party. Her ass was world-class and he’d wanted to cup her cheeks and hold her against his body. And now he could.

His tongue tangled with hers and she sucked on it before leaning back, loosening her arms so she could rest her forehead against his. Her eyes were closed and each of her exhalations brushed over his jaw and neck. She returned her hands to his shoulders as she opened her eyes and he felt her gaze searching his.

It was as if they were made for each other. She was taller than most women and fit him better.

He liked the feeling of her pressed against him. He ran his fingers along the small of her back, saw the gooseflesh spread on her arms and felt her nipples tighten even more against his chest.

She made him forget everything else.

He shifted his hips and rubbed himself against her. The tip of his cock started to slide inside of her. He pulled his hips back before he went any further. Damn.