Take What You Want (44 page)

Chase reached across the
space separating their two chairs and ran his knuckles over the back
of Alex's hand draped over the arm rest of the chair. “I want
you, Alex – with me, and Danni,” he said. “And, if
you had any idea how much, you'd probably pack-up and move back to
Los Angeles right now.” Chase swallowed hard. He was opening
himself up to a world of hurt if Alex decided to leave.

“
I'm
happy to hear you say that, Chase, and I'd like that, too, but,
remember, Danni has to want it just as much – without us
pushing it on her. This has to be something she wants for herself.”

-0-

Chase was grilling
hamburgers when Danni returned. She tossed her empty beer bottle in
the trash bag hanging from the door handle of the truck, then went to
the cooler and pulled out another chilled bottle. Chase pulled her
close as she attempted to walk by and kissed her forehead.

“
Where's
Alex?” she asked Chase.

“
He
went for a walk to take a leak,” Chase said. “Are you
okay, babe?”

“
I'm
sure you both think I'm acting like a bitch, but this is a
lot
for me to deal with,” Danni said.

“
No
one thinks you're a bitch,” Chase said. He used the spatula to
flip a burger and looked at her.

Danni sat down in a beach
chair and watched Chase working at the grill. “It's not that I
don't like Alex, because I do,” she said. “He seems like
an okay guy and he's cute enough.”

“
Cute
is a word you'd use to describe a puppy,” Chase said with a
laugh. “I don't think you mean to compare Alex to a puppy.
Besides, the way you've been checking him out tells me you think he's
a whole lot more than cute.” Chase glanced over his shoulder
at her again and raised one eyebrow. “Am I right?”

“
Okay,
so he's smoking hot! Is that what you want to hear?” Danni
asked.

“
Who's
smoking hot?” Alex asked, coming around the corner of the
truck.

Danni
jumped in her chair at the sound of Alex's smooth, rock star voice
and took a long drink from her beer bottle.

Chase looked at Alex and
smiled. “You are, stud,” Chase said.

“
I'm
glad you think so,” Alex said. He moved behind Chase, barely
touching his chest to Chase's back, and gave a quick peck to the nape
of his neck, then stepped away.

“
I
wish you wouldn't do that in public,” Danni scoffed.

“
What
did I do?” Alex asked.

“
The
PDA with my
fiancé
,
Alex. Don't act like you don't know what you're doing,” she
said.

“
Danni
…” Chase started to say, and Alex held up a hand to stop
him.

Alex stepped in front of her
and knelt down in the sand. “You're right,” he said,
“And, I'm sorry. You're the last person I want to upset.”

“
Could've
fooled me,” Danni said.

Alex
stood up and held out his hand to her. She looked at it, then at his
face, and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Danni. Take a walk with
me,” Alex said.

Danni pushed herself out of
the chair and spun away from Alex, walking in the opposite direction.
“Go away, Alex, and leave me alone.”

Alex glanced over his
shoulder at Chase. “She's a mouthy girl, isn't she?”
Alex asked.

A
slow smile curled Chase's lips. “Maybe she needs to cool off
in the water?”

Danni
heard Chase's comment and turned around in time for Alex to hoist her
over his shoulder. Her beer bottle went flying and landed in the
sand.

“
Put
me down!” Danni screamed.

“
I
don't think so,” Alex said. He gripped her hips tighter and
started running toward the ocean, splashed through the waves and
pulled them both beneath the cool water. Danni twisted in his arms
and surfaced for air, wiping the water from her face and pushing her
long hair off her forehead. Alex came up behind her and wrapped his
arms around her in a loose hug. She fought his touch and Alex
laughed. He crossed his arms over her chest and dipped his mouth to
the nape of her neck, planting a soft kiss.

“
Same
spot as Chase, so you're even,” he said. “But, your skin
is softer than his.”

Danni spun in Alex's arms
and faced him. She tried to slap his face, but Alex caught her hand
before it made contact. She struggled again, but the teasing grin on
her face told him she wasn't as angry as she pretended to be. She
pressed on both his shoulders and he let her submerge him, but then
he tugged her under the water with him. They surfaced together
again, with Danni restraining a giggle. Alex scooped up her slender
frame in his arms and tossed her back into the water a few feet from
where he stood, like he was throwing a toy, then dove under the water
to pull her up. He kept her firmly pressed to his slippery chest;
his hands fanned on her lower back. This new embrace was more
intimate and he knew she felt it. He let her squirm for a bit until
fatigue stilled her. She was laughing, trying to catch her breath,
with her cheek pressed to his pectoral and her fingers digging into
each of his biceps. Jesus, her laugh was magical. He set his face
to the side of her head.

“
Had
enough?” he asked. “Or do you need to be dunked again?”

“
Fuck
yo …”

Danni didn't get a chance to
finish her statement before she was flying through the air again and
crashing into the crest of another wave. A moment later, strong arms
were pulling her to the surface and green eyes were staring down at
her. One sharp tug and she was against Alex's chest again.

“
Is
that a promise or a threat?” Alex asked.

“
What
the hell do you think you're doing?” Danni asked.

“
Adjusting
your attitude,” Alex said. His fingers ran over the slippery
flesh on her back and stopped short of drifting below the waistband
of her jean shorts.

“
Stop
it,” Danni said. “You're getting hard.”

“
And
that pisses you off, too?”

Danni's hands pressed firmly
on Alex's chest, trying to create more space between them. “I
suppose I should be flattered it isn't just my fiancé that
gets you hard.” She gave him another shove and Alex released
his grip on her.

Alex watched her walk back
to shore. The gentle sway of her hips had his complete attention.
His cock was now fulling straining against his swim-shorts. He
closed his eyes and flopped back into the water, like a tree falling
in the woods. There was no way in hell he'd be walking out of the
water in this condition.

Danni jogged up the beach
toward Chase and stood beside the truck. She pulled the wet tank top
over her head and draped it over the bed of the truck to dry, then
she adjusted the bikini top covering her breasts.

“
Your
boyfriend
has a hard-on,” she said, looking at Chase. She unzipped her
cut-off shorts and shimmied out of them. “You should go join
him in the water.”

Chase started laughing. He
walked over to her and pulled her backside to his chest. “If
Alex is hard, that was your doing – not mine.”

Danni twisted against him,
then quickly pulled away and faced him. “Oh, my God! You're
hard, too!”

Chase
reached for her again, this time pressing her hips square to his
groin. “Watching you with Alex put me in this state.”

She looked up at him, the
smile faded from his face, and the lust masking his eyes washed over
his entire body. He bent closer and took her mouth; his tongue
sliding into the warmth to stroke against hers. His cock thickened
more and he rubbed it against her.

“
Christ,
I'd like to take off those bikini bottoms and do you right here
against my truck,” Chase said in a husky voice.

“
Are
you sure it's me you want to fuck?” Danni asked.

Chase
ran his tongue beneath her jawline then covered her mouth with his,
again his tongue did amazing things to her. “I'd like to fuck
you both – or, even better, him and me fucking you together.”

Danni heard herself whimper,
as Chase slipped his fingers inside the leg opening of her bathing
suit. His index and middle finger found her slit and this time he
was the one to moan.

“
You're
slick as hell, babe,” he whispered against her neck. “Did
Alex do this to you?”

“
No,
you created that,” she sighed, when his fingers slipped inside
her.

“
I
don't think so,” he said. “I could tell you were worked
up as soon as you left the water.”

Chase rubbed himself against
her again. His cock was throbbing for attention now and desperately
wanted inside of her, but here wasn't the place. He pushed his
fingers deeper inside her pussy and felt her muscles clenching around
them, then his thumb pad found her clit, and she exploded into a
million pieces in his arms. His fingers worked on her until the
final aftershock shivered through her.

When Danni opened her eyes,
Alex was standing beside Chase.

“
Fuck.
I should have stayed in the water,” Alex said.

Chase
pulled his hand out from Danni's bathing suit and started lifting it
to his mouth. Alex grabbed Chase by the wrist and directed the
fingers to his mouth.

“
Don't
you dare, Alex,” she said, then watched in horror as Alex slid
Chase's fingers between his lips to taste her; his tongue
suggestively swirling around Chase's digits.

Chase moaned. “Damn,
that is sexy as fucking hell,” he said. He pulled his fingers
out of Alex's mouth and slid them into his own. Alex bumped his
shoulder into Chase's and Chase reached for him.

“
Have
you two lost your mind?” Danni asked Chase. “We're at
the damn beach! Try and control yourself – please!”

She wiggled out from between
them and walked over to the platter of hamburgers sitting on top of
the grill. She grabbed one and started eating. A minute later, she
realized both Alex and Chase were staring at her; erections tenting
their bathing suits.

“
Your
lunch is getting cold,” Danni said.

Alex looked at Chase. “You
hungry?”

“
Yeah,
I'm starved, but not for the burgers.”

Knowing Danni was working
late, Chase arranged to meet Jayson at his house after work. Jayson
greeted him in the driveway with a cold beer and motioned for him to
follow him. They walked together around to the back deck of his
cottage.

“
Thanks
for agreeing to meet me at the house, instead of going into town,”
Jayson said. “I really didn't want to talk to you about this
in a public place.”

Chase's brow furrowed in
confusion. He walked to the deck table and sat down in a chair,
taking a long drink from his beer. He looked at Jayson; still
standing against the deck railing. His friend appeared nervous, his
movements jerky and uncertain. Something was up, Chase thought. He
only hoped it wasn't more of the third degree concerning him, Danni,
and Alex. If that's what Jayson wanted to talk about, then this
would be a very quick visit.

“
Why
the secrecy, Jay?” Chase asked.

Jayson finished the second
half of his beer in one swallow, then opened up a second bottle.
“We've known each other a long-ass time, Chase. Jesus! When I
think of some of the shit we've been through together, secrets we've
shared, hang-overs, break-ups – you name it and its been shared
between us. Am I right?”