“What’s next?” Sean interrupted, wanting nothing more than to get the practice the hell over with. Lily was staring fixedly ahead, refusing to look at him.
Shit,
he cursed silently. He wished he could take that last set back. He hated it when someone sandbagged—slacked off intentionally, and that’s just what he had done.
Sean could have kissed Hal’s unshaven cheek when he looked at the clock and said, “I think that’ll be it for the night. That was a good workout, guys. Swim down easy. . . .”
She could hardly move, yet she continued swimming, fully aware she would hurt even more if she left the pool without a proper warm-down. Little by little, the pool had emptied, swimmers tiredly hoisting themselves out of the water. Gathering up their gear, they trooped off to the showers. Sean had abandoned the lane long ago, hardly bothering with a warm-down.
If there was a God, Lily hoped He’d make Sean suffer leg cramps and painfully tight shoulder muscles tomorrow.
Hal signaled to her from the side of the pool. She pulled up and treaded water. “Yeah, Hal?”
“I’ve got to duck into the office and make a call to a coach who’s hosting an upcoming meet. You remember where the lights are?”
She nodded.
“Hit them when you’re done.”
“Okay.”
“And Lily?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t drown.”
“Very funny,” she replied with an answering grin.
“You did good tonight, kid,” Hal praised her gruffly. “You can join my masters’ team anytime.”
For the second time tonight, absurdly emotional tears pricked her eyes. “Thanks, Hal. If I ever stayed in one place long enough—”
“Who knows? After all these years of wandering, maybe it’s time to settle down. You could do worse than your own hometown, Lily. Coral Beach needs people like you. Think about it.” Hal grinned down at her. Then, with a wave of his hand, said, “Finish your warm-down, kid. I’ve got to call Lester before he hits the sack.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
She was standing in the shallow end, against the pool’s wall. Her arms were crossed on the deck for support, her slicked blond head was bowed over them: the picture of fatigue.
Sean had returned to the pool deck, looking for Hal so they could discuss entries for the upcoming meet. But Lily was alone. Seeing her like this, looking so exhausted, left him feeling lower than a snake’s belly. He shouldn’t have pushed her so hard. But he would only make it worse if he showed any sympathy; she’d only read it as pity.
He adopted his standard mocking approach. “Having trouble getting out of the pool, Lily? There’s a ladder on the side there for the old ladies who come and do aqua aerobics.”
Everything inside her stilled.
That condescending
wretch.
She felt him come closer, and was careful not to stir an inch, not even a hair.
“You should get out of the pool and take a long hot shower. It’ll make you feel better,” he suggested, not un-gently. His brow furrowed with worry.
She ignored the thread of concern in his voice and concentrated on not moving too suddenly. Slowly, as if in unbearable agony, she lifted her head. He was dressed once more in his khakis and shirt; his sneakers were in one hand, his gear bag in the other. Good. She let her face crumble, her expression slip into wretchedness. Her lower lip trembled, a special added effect. “I—I’m not sure I can even make it to the ladder,” she confessed haltingly. “My whole body’s shot.”
Damn, she must be hurting worse than he’d imagined. Trying not to stare at her lush lower lip quivering helplessly, Sean dropped his gear bag and sneakers and stepped forward. “Here,” he said, leaning over, stretching out his hand. “Grab my hand. I’ll pull you out.”
She’d braced her feet against the wall of the pool, knowing she’d have to strike fast. They grasped hands. The second his tightened about her forearm, she jerked backward with all her strength.
Physics was on her side.
Caught off-balance, Sean somersaulted through the air, with only enough time to yell, “Shit!” before he landed with a cannonball-sized splash.
Lily braced her arms on the pool deck. She’d intended to jump out and make a mad dash for the ladies’ locker room but her efforts were hampered by her convulsive laughter.
A surprised,
“Oof!”
flew from her lips. Sean’s arm had snaked out and wrapped around her waist, dumping her backward into the water. She pushed to the surface to find Sean glowering menacingly.
He was sopping wet and just as furious. Lily’s laughter redoubled, then died away when his hands took her by the shoulders and pulled her close. Mere inches separated their bodies.
“What are you doing?” Her voice came out an alarmed squeak. Her eyes flew to his. They sparkled with green and gold lights.
“Payback time, Lily. You’ve pushed me once too often. I had my cell phone in my pocket. I don’t think it’s waterproof. My leather wallet is in my rear pocket, crammed with pictures of my adorable niece and nephew. Basically, Banyon, you owe me. Big time.” His tanned face, with drops of water still clinging to its chiseled planes, descended.
He was going to kiss her, she realized, panic-stricken at the thought. “Don’t, Sean, don’t!”
“I think I have to. It’s been a long time coming. Oh, by the way, I like lots of tongue.”
Indignant, her mouth opened, ready to skewer him.
But Sean was quicker. He shut Lily up the way he’d been dreaming of for so long. For years she’d driven him mad, made him crazed with desire. Now, by God, he was going to taste her. The passion and frustration inside him erupted. He seized her mouth, molding her lips to his own. Carnal fantasies gave way to a reality a thousand times sweeter. Starved for her, Sean’s lips plundered, boldly claiming her as his.
Lily’s resistance died on a ragged moan of pleasure.
He reveled in the sound, in the helpless tremors that racked her limbs, in the lips that parted, welcoming him. He wanted even more, wanted her tongue tangling wantonly, mating with his. His tongue swept inside, sampling her honeyed warmth. Triumph surged when Lily met him with an eagerness that matched his own. In the long-standing duel between him and Lily, this skirmish was the sweetest of battles.
Lily had never been kissed like this, with an ardor so dangerous it sizzled and cracked, sending sparks shooting everywhere. Her fingers clutched his sodden shirt, needing to feel him pressed against her, to glory in his solid, muscular heat.
“Lily,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning her lips. Slowly, Lily’s eyes opened, stared dazedly back at him. Her eyes had never looked like this, like a summer sky painted in the softest of blues. Their loveliness shook him.
“This payback could take awhile—years even,” he warned her huskily. “Let me taste you again,” he whispered, his mouth already settling over hers.
When at last their lips parted, Sean’s breath was ragged.
Although his face was only inches away, to Lily the distance seemed vast. She drank in the sight of him— Sean, the headiest of wines—and it made her flush with pleasure, made her heart sing to see the blatant, masculine arousal stamped upon his features. To see his eyes gleam green and gold, fired by desire.
Her own need left her dazed, out of control. All she knew, all she craved was his touch, his taste . . . the feel of him. The urgency of it nearly painful, Lily gave a helpless cry. Sean’s response was immediate: his arms tightened, drawing her flush against him, and his mouth swooped down to thrill her anew.
His hands roamed in long, sweeping strokes, greedily learning curves known only from stolen glances. Some part of him had always thought of Lily as an icily distant goddess. Wrapped in his embrace, she burned and fanned his own desire into brilliant flames that licked and spread, engulfing them both. She was all that was soft and giving. And Sean couldn’t get enough of her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he would never get enough, that his desire for Lily was insatiable, endless.
He cupped her breasts and gave a ragged groan of pleasure at the feel of their generous softness, then watched Lily’s face as his hands caressed her. Her lips, swollen from his kisses, were parted as she breathed in short, shallow gasps. Languorously, her eyes opened, meeting his, and Sean knew he’d never beheld such a beautiful sight as Lily in his arms.
Their gazes locked. Her arms reached upward, bracketing his head. Her fingers tangled in his damp hair, and she tugged, a wordless command. For a moment he resisted, wanting to memorize the piercing, haunting beauty of Lily’s face gone soft and dreamy with desire. For him. He swept his thumbs arclike over the tight buds of her nipples, watching her face flush with passion.
“Do you know,” he said huskily. “Sometimes I think I’ve been waiting all my life to touch you, to feel you like this.”
Lily couldn’t reply, could only moan as Sean’s fingers stroked her in achingly tender ministration. Her moan became a ragged cry born deep inside her as his fingers closed over her breasts, caressing her boldly with a master’s touch. Lightning heat flashed through her, making her tremble all over. Her back arched, taut like a bow, offering herself to him. From her lips tumbled soft, frantic whimpers.
The sound drove him wild. He captured her lower lip, biting down, absorbing her shudders. His hands traveled down, past her heaving rib cage, lower still, until they encircled the soft swell of her buttocks. He pulled her to him, letting her feel the rigid length of his erection through his wet clothing, holding her there.
With a tortured cry, her lips pressed against the flushed column of his throat. And then it was his turn to feel the sharp bite of teeth.
Raw need roared through him.
He squeezed her bottom, his mouth hot against her ear as he whispered, “Wrap your legs around me, Lily.”
Her head jerked, eyes meeting his, and Sean saw in them the same wild, reckless need. She was so close to the edge. “Do it, Lily. Open for me,” he urged. His hands closed, kneading persuasively. “Let me see you fly.”
Helpless to resist the erotic lure of Sean’s heated words, desperate to have what only he could give her, Lily obeyed.
Sean’s smile was her first reward. Then, holding her in a fiercely tender grip, he flexed his hips and thrust against her open cleft in a bold caress.
Lily’s head fell back with her broken keen filling the air.
“Holy shit!” Hal came running flat out, Lily’s cry still reverberating. He skidded to a halt on the slippery deck, his panicked rescue unfortunately bringing him quite near to where Sean and Lily were fused together. For a moment he stared, his mouth agape. As comprehension dawned, embarrassment colored his face a flaming pink blush.
Instinctively, Sean shoved Lily behind him, shielding her with his body. He could feel her tremble against him.
Were her tremors the aftermath of blazing passion, or
were they from horrified mortification?
he wondered. He wished he could see her face.
“Sorry we gave you a scare, Hal. I, uh, fell into the water. Then somehow, Lily and I got caught up in a water fight to the death. Guess I forgot how ticklish she is.” He coughed. It was a pathetic story, but the best he could do right now.
At his words, Hal looked up from his seemingly rapt examination of the deck’s tiles. Although his face was still as pink as Evelyn Roemer’s dyed hair, his lips parted in a smile of relief. “Oh, yeah,” he nodded, more than willing to play along. “Everyone needs a good tickle now and again.” He cleared his throat loudly and said, “Sorry to break up the fun, but you two have probably had enough water sports for one night.” Hal’s gaze moved past Sean. “You okay there, Lily?”
Behind Sean, Lily froze. What to say? That she’d been nanoseconds away from a soul-shattering orgasm when Hal came barreling poolside.
Bereft of Sean’s intoxicating kisses to drug her senseless, Lily hardly recognized herself. Had she gone mad? Probably. She wondered whether she would ever recover from what was undoubtedly the most intensely erotic experience of her life.
Oh, God!
Of all the people to have interrupted her and Sean in the pool! Hal Storey was as close to a father as Lily would ever have. He’d always supported her, believed in her. . . .
“Lily?”
“I’m fine, Hal. Just a bit achy.” She cringed, sure Hal would guess that the parts of her that ached and throbbed had nothing to do with swimming. The memory of Sean’s hands was imprinted on her body. And still her flesh cried for more. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, she abandoned the sheltering screen of Sean’s body, waded over to the edge of the pool, and climbed out. She could feel both Sean’s and Hal’s eyes boring into her. Quickly, she went to her bag, yanked out her towel, and whipped it around her body, hiding behind a protective cocoon of thick cotton.
“Why don’t you go take a shower,” Hal suggested. “It, uh, might make you feel better. Just don’t stay too long, ’kay? I’ve got to lock up the building soon.”
She managed a strained, “Sure, Hal,” before gathering up her belongings and fleeing to the locker room.
She didn’t look at me even once,
Sean thought, feeling an icy chill of disappointment, far colder than the pool water. Abruptly aware that he was still standing in the pool, fully dressed, looking like an idiot, he hauled himself out.
Hal’s obvious concern had transmuted into narrow-eyed disapproval. Sean pretended not to notice. He was too preoccupied to deal with Hal right now, too busy trying to figure out what might be going on in Lily’s head.
Damn it, why couldn’t things ever be simple between Lily and him?
With a grimace, he emptied his dripping pockets, dumping his wallet and ruined cell phone onto the deck. He grabbed his sodden towel and made a halfhearted attempt to blot his dripping clothes. Thank God his drenched clothing hid the evidence of his arousal. Fierce need still clawed, its talons deep. If Sean hadn’t been damned sure Hal would hurl himself in a flying tackle if he tried it, he would have marched right into the ladies’ locker room and dragged Lily back where she belonged: into his arms. Arms that ached from the loss of her.
Monitoring Sean’s success with the towel, Hal gave a grunt of disgust. “Come on. I have an extra towel you can use in the office. No way can you drive home like that—you’ll ruin the car’s interior. ’Sides, we need to talk,” Hal added heavily. Turning on his heel, he headed back toward his office.
Sean followed with a decided lack of enthusiasm. They entered Hal’s cramped cubicle of an office and Hal shut the door behind him. It closed with an ominous bang.
He took a towel hanging from the hook on the door and tossed it at Sean, who grabbed it one-handed.
“Thanks,” he said, as he bent to pat his khakis dry.
“I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.” The warning tone in Hal’s voice had Sean pausing to glance up at his friend. He straightened, towel forgotten.
“Hey, I didn’t plan what you saw back there, Hal. It just happened.”
“What’d she do? Pull you into the pool?” Whatever he saw in Sean’s expression had Hal’s face shifting into a lop-sided grin. “Thought so. Serves you right, McDermott. You were being a total SOB. You knew it, so did she. Christ, you would never pull that kind of stunt with Dave.” He gave a snort of disgust. “I was watching the two of you the entire workout. Don’t think I didn’t see when you finally took pity on her. Any slower, and you’d have been doing a dog paddle. Real shitty of you, McDermott.”
I know,
Sean admitted silently. “Right. If she ever agrees to swim with me again, I’ll let her swim her arms off. She got her revenge anyway.”
“Good for her.”
Sean’s gaze narrowed. Sometimes Hal was a pain in the ass. “Gee, thanks, Coach.”
Unfazed by Sean’s sarcasm, Hal continued. “You know, I always suspected something would happen between you and Lily. Intense rivalry can’t come without intense passion; I figured the attraction was there, just waiting for the right moment.” He paused to glare at Sean, then said, “But I would have hoped you’d have a hell of a lot more smarts than to try to seduce a beautiful woman in
my
pool! Anybody could have walked in on you!” His voice was at a near shout.