I laugh. “I’m not going to drown. I lived on an island for six years. I swim like a fish.”
“You certainly drink like one,” he mumbles. “I can’t believe you’re still standing after all that whiskey.”
“Believe it,” I say, reaching for the bottom of my T-shirt and pulling it over my head, a thrill racing through me as I toss it away.
This is what I love about whiskey. It makes me feel ten feet tall and bullet proof, capable of indulging the wild, decadent side of myself the normal Maddie keeps tightly under wraps. Normal Maddie would never dream of stripping down to her skivvies in front of Jamison.
She’s probably going to be pretty pissed when she wakes up tomorrow, in fact, but that’s not my problem. Tonight, Whiskey Maddie is in control and she’s enjoying the pained expression on Jamison’s face as I step out of my shorts, revealing my lacy white panties.
He looks…hungry.
And I like it. I like it a lot.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but stop taking your clothes off, Mad,” he says through what sounds like a clenched jaw. “Right now. I’m serious. If you get in the water, I am coming in there after you.”
“Is that a threat?” I ask, reaching for the back hooks on my bra and popping them free. “Or a promise?”
I toss my bra to the ground, electricity dancing across my skin as I meet Jamison’s gaze. Even in the moonlight, I can see how much he’s enjoying the view. How much he wants to touch me. Maybe even as much as I’m dying to be touched.
The realization makes me feel even more invincible.
Invincible and confident and ready to ask for what I want.
I back toward the water, beckoning him with a crooked finger.
“Come and swim with me, Jamison,” I say. “I dare you.”
And then I turn and stroll into the water, secretly hoping he’ll dare more than a swim.
A whole lot more…
Chapter Three
Jamison
I’m fucking frozen, paralyzed by the sight of Maddie Whitehouse slinking into the waves in nothing but a pair of lacy panties.
Fuck. Fuck. And more fuck.
I shouldn’t be looking at her, let alone thinking the things I’m thinking right now, but I can’t tear my eyes away. She’s all curves, the deadly, heart-stopping kind that make my hands itch to memorize every inch of her skin. I want her full breasts pressed against my chest and her ass in my hands more than I want my next breath.
In the months since our almost-kiss I’ve done more than my fair share of fantasizing about having Maddie naked and eager in my arms, but those were fantasies. I never dreamed something like this would happen in real life, let alone on a deserted stretch of beach in blue moonlight that makes my childhood friend look like a sex goddess rising from the waves.
She’s fucking beautiful. Mesmerizing. And sexy as hell.
She’s also potentially going to get herself killed. She may be a strong swimmer, but she also drank an impressive amount of whiskey.
As a friend, I’m obligated to go in after her and make sure she doesn’t drown.
Or so I tell myself.
Yes, my heart is in the right place, but there’s nothing friendly about the hunger dragging between my legs as I strip off my T-shirt and jeans and follow Maddie into the ocean, my cock so hard it pulses with its own heartbeat.
For a moment, the chilly water threatens to defuse the situation, but then Maddie turns to face me and my dick rallies with the enthusiasm of a long-benched player being called onto the field.
She’s waded in far enough for the waves to lap against the underside of her breasts, making it impossible to keep my eyes off every delicious inch of her chest. She’s at least a D cup, maybe more, and I can already imagine the delicious weight of her resting in my palms, her nipples tightening as I brush my thumbs across her tips, making her moan and whisper my name.
Lately, I’ve been fantasizing about Maddie calling my name with disturbing frequency. No amount of logical thinking about how off-limits she is seems to be able to keep the younger Whitehouse sister from dancing, semi-clothed, through my thoughts and popping up in hot, sweaty dreams where I do things to her a man shouldn’t do to an old friend.
And she’s not just an old friend.
Maddie’s also one of my closest friends. We were so tight growing up that she practically feels like family. I don’t want to risk losing her over a fling we might both come to regret. Not to mention the fact that my brother and her sister are getting married and starting a family. We’re going to be in each other’s lives for the long haul, a long haul that could get very fucking uncomfortable with a failed fuck fest added into the mix.
The smartest call would be to stay far away from this woman and all her irresistible parts.
But that’s the trouble with irresistible things, they’re just so…irresistible.
I wade deeper into the water, not stopping until I’m close enough to see that Maddie’s nipples are pulled into peaks and her lips parted in a silent invitation that’s going to be hard as hell to refuse.
Still, I try. “You’re drunk, and I don’t want to do something you’ll regret. But if you keep looking at me like that…”
“Like what?” she asks, brushing her hair from her face, the movement making her right breast lift in a way that practically begs me to take her tight nipple in my mouth.
To kiss it, suck it, make it even tighter, needier.
“You know like what,” I force out. “And if you keep it up, I’m going to kiss you.”
“Oh yeah?” She nibbles the corner of her lip in a way that makes me want to do the same. “Just kiss me?”
“Maddie,” I warn.
“Jamison,” she says in a teasing voice as she steps closer, lifting her damp fingers to slide my St. Florian’s medal over my shoulder. The sound of the charm dragging over the metal chain is enough to send another jolt of arousal through me. “I’m practically naked, and all you’re going to do is kiss me?”
“Yes,” I grit out.
Her lips push into a pout as she reaches beneath the waves. A moment later her hand emerges with her soaked underwear clenched between two fingers. “What about now?” She tosses her panties into the sea with a flick of her wrist, sending more blood rushing to my suffering cock. “Now, I’m completely naked. Naked and ready and willing. Don’t you want to lure me into your smolder-web?”
I swallow hard, fighting to keep my hands to myself as she shifts closer and the waves swirl between my legs.
“I mean, considering your reputation, I expected more,” she continues, tilting her head back to hold my gaze. “Don’t you want to touch me?”
“So damned much. I want to do a hell of a lot more than touch you.”
“You want to fuck me?” she asks.
“It wouldn’t be like that, and you know it.” She bobs even closer, so close I can feel her heat against my skin and her breasts are mere inches from my chest and I want to touch her so badly it’s painful.
I’m seconds from losing control, but I have to try to get through to her, to sober Maddie. I don’t want to take advantage or do anything she’ll regret when the whiskey wears off.