Beautiful Illusions (19 page)

“No problem solving necessary.” I readjust myself, and Reese leans up beside me on her elbow. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll shape shift back to your regularly scheduled stud.” I hope. Not sure it’s possible but it was worth the lip service.

I pluck at my shorts as her tits campaign hard for my attention. Looks like this bad boy isn’t going anywhere.

“I want to see it,” she says it sweetly. She’s looking up at me from under her lashes, biting down over her lip with those paper-white teeth.

“It’s not a pet.” I hold back a laugh because it sort of is.

“It can be,” it sails from her lips smooth and sultry. “I’ll
pet
it if you let me.”

In the shade her skin looks perfectly bronzed, her bathing suit bottom catches my eye, and I want to run my hand over her velvet thighs, land my fingers in all the right places.

“Reese.” I lean back on my elbows, considering her offer. It’s not like anyone ever visits the Eagle’s Nest. We’re secluded with a bed of pines all around, nothing but rolling oaks filling in the blank spaces. I doubt we’d be discovered anytime soon.

“Please, I want to.” She pulls the string to my board shorts and unties the front. Her fingers comb out the laces, and before I know it she’s excavated my hard-on, and lands it between us. It does look like a pet, one big, oversized, hairy beast. “Wow. Impressive,” she whispers, a soft giggle ripples through her chest, and I start to lose it.

“
Reese
.” I arch back, unsure of how the hell I’m going to alleviate the pressure, short of tossing off in the bushes, and, right about now, I’m not entirely opposed to the idea.

She runs her fingers along the length of it, and I give a hard groan.

“You’re amazing.” She looks up and holds my gaze, her mouth parted like a seasoned seductress. Reese easily puts to shame any number of the girls I’ve been with. Never in my existence have I felt so fucking turned on. “I’m going to kiss you right here.” She runs her finger over the tip and my throat locks off.

Shit.

She blinks up at me innocently. A dirty smile waits to break loose on her lips. “Do you want me to kiss you there?”

“Yes,” it rasps from me.

“You like this, don’t you, Ace?” She holds her voice steady and calm while running her fingers over my cock soft as a feather.

A dry laugh rumbles from me. She’s doing exactly what I did to her the other night, and she’s a hell of a lot better at it.

“Ace.” She leans over and brushes the tip with her lips, and it takes all my strength to not to give a shout of approval. She looks up, licking her lips. “I don’t know how to do this. I want you to teach me.” Reese bows her head and glides her mouth over the entire length of me.

Oh fuck. I let out a moan as if I were in pain.

I dig my fingers in her hair, guiding her in a steady rhythm. I offer just enough encouragement, but she goes down on her own, and I’m pleasantly surprised she’s able to take just about all of me in without bringing her breakfast up over my balls. I’ve never had a girl go this far down before. I’m more than impressed as she runs her tongue over me, sucks me down likes she’s about to digest me. Her cool fingers slip lower still, and before I know it, the boys are in on the act.

I can’t take it.

“
Reese
,” it hisses out of me as I thrust my head back. It feels so fucking good. I want it to last forever. A heated rush blows over me, and I can feel the storm cinching up inside me until my entire body feels as if it’s about to shoot out of my dick. “Reese.” I pull her shoulder back, but she gently restrains me by the wrist. If she’s looking for the full experience, I’m not about to fight her.

“I’m coming.” I struggle to push her off, but Reese maintains her position and— fuck. She swallows down every last bit. I shudder over her hard, digging my hands into her hair, holding back the groan that’s trying to knife its way from my vocal cords. I tremble to completion as her lips throb around me until she finally pulls away.

Shit.

Our eyes lock, and I don’t know what to say.

“You can throw up if you have to.” Maybe not that.

Reese touches her fingers to her lips. Her eyes widen as if she’s considering it.

I pull her to me, and we fall over the blanket, her face buried in the crook of my neck.

“Hell, Reese,” I pant. I’ve never had a girl do that before.

“Did I do okay?” She glances up. Her eyes are watery, and I’m praying to God it’s not tears of regret forming in her eyes.

“You did better than okay.” I press a kiss into her hair. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“What if I want to?”

“You won’t,” I tease, stroking my fingers down her back. “If you ever want to venture there again, I’ll pull you out of the line of fire, and, if not, feel free to spit.”

“Spitters are quitters.” She scratches at my stomach, and our chests rumble with a quiet laugh.

“You know what I can’t quit?” I tuck a kiss in just behind her ear.

“What’s that?” A lock of dark hair glides over her face, smooth and glossy like a ribbon. I pull it back and take in her beauty.

“I can’t quit you.”

Last Dance

Reese

The lake rises and falls as a steady stream of boats glide over the water. The smoky scent of the grill infiltrates my senses.

Last night, Ace and I stayed at the Eagle’s Nest long after the sun set. We held each other and talked for hours. I told lame jokes, and he was nice enough to laugh. It was comfortable. That’s the best part about being with Ace—everything always feels so natural. There’s never an awkward moment, no forced conversation, even the long gaps of silence feel easy as breathing.

Kennedy convinced me to head over to her beach party this afternoon. I know for a fact she invited Ace to come down because she told me so herself. She called him the special guest of honor just for me.

I spot Brylee down by the waterline. She’s already set up a place for us by the edge where we can dip our toes to keep cool, so I head over and plop down beside her. The sun shines its harsh glare right over the lake, turning the water into one giant spotlight. The entire shoreline is crawling with Greeks from Yeats who made the trek up the mountain. I spot Warren walking over with both Gavin and Ace, and my stomach turns.

“Looks like things are about to heat up.” Brylee tickles my foot, and my entire body jerks.

“Here’s the old lady.” Warren lands on the towel next to me, a beer already in his hand. “Take it.” He tries to pass it to me. “You need to mellow out a little.”

“No thanks.” I guess he hasn’t thawed out since I put the freeze on his balls last weekend. I suppose his next plan of action involves large doses of alcohol and the hot afternoon sun. Come to think of it I haven’t eaten anything yet, so I suppose it wouldn’t take much to get me wasted.

Kennedy bounces over in her teenie-weenie barely-there bikini, and I cut a quick glance to Ace to see if he’s noticed. But Ace’s eyes are firmly planted on me, with a warm smile on his face to boot. Ace has a way of making me feel like the only girl in the world simply by looking at me.

“So you guys have to be social.” Kennedy is quick to chastise us. None of this ‘we’re locals’ shit. Our friends hauled ass to Loveless to spend time with us. I want to show them that we know how to entertain.”

“Turn up the music.” Brylee cranes her neck up at my sister. “Give them enough beer, and they’ll entertain themselves.”

“I’ve got a killer speaker you can use,” Gavin offers.

“Bring it,” Kennedy barks, still in drill sergeant mode.

Gavin hops up and disappears toward the parking lot. Gavin is a nice guy and hot as hell—but not in the “for me” kind of way—for Kennedy. Maybe this is the year we both leave the country club boys for some downhome decent mountain loving.

“Hey, we should play chicken.” Brylee nudges into me.

“We should
not
play chicken.” The last thing I want to do is wrap my legs around Warren’s neck in front of Ace. Wait, who says I have to choose Warren? “On second thought, I call Ace.” I glance up at him, and his eyes widen a moment, his lips tug upwards, but he’s slow with the smile. Ace is perfection with his deep-set dimples, those glowing eyes that give the blue of the lake a run for its money, and that dark, thick hair, I could lose all day running my fingers through it, burying my face in it like a pillow.

“And”—Brylee kicks into me with her knee—“I call Warren. Come on, McCarthy.” She yanks him up by the fingers. “Get ready to dominate out there.”

“You wish,” I say, dusting the sand off my thighs as I jump to my feet.

“We
will
dominate.” Warren pulls me in by the waist and smirks over at Bry. “Only you’ll be on the losing team. It’s my old lady and me.” He slips his fingers over my left boob and gives a squeeze like he expects it to honk.

I suck in a quick breath and glance back to find Ace looking like he’s about to murder someone.

“Would you stop calling me your old lady?” I push Warren back a good foot.

“Would you stop being such a little bitch?” He reaches over and rumples my hair so hard my head knocks forward.

Ace steps in and pushes Warren flat on his ass. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”

Warren jumps up and lands chest to chest with Ace, both of them primed for some serious guerilla warfare as a small crowd gathers.

“
Dude
.” Warren butts his chest into Ace. “You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. Reese knows I was shitting around.”

“Do you, Reese?” Ace doesn’t take his eyes off Warren, just presses in with a hard glare.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” I touch my hand to my throat. “
I’m
fine. No fighting, please.” I take a step toward the two of them.

“I’m going for a swim.” Ace sweeps over me with heavy eyes before wading in and diving into the lake.

Gavin comes back and helps Kennedy hook her phone up to his speaker until the sand vibrates to Coldplay’s
Yellow
. Some kids from Yeats start swaying to the beat, and the mood elevates around us.

Warren speeds off toward the coolers, ticked as hell, and I watch as he pounds beer like water.

“Old lady, huh?” Brylee shoulders up to me. “I take it you didn’t break things off with him yet.”

“It’s kind of odd knowing I have to break up with someone I was never really officially with to begin with.” I spot Ace’s dark hair glistening in the lake.

A girl from Alpha Kappa crosses his path while doing the backstroke, and my insides feel like they’re being boiled in oil. She bumps into his chest, and I can hear her high-pitched laugh carry all the way over to my ears like a curse. It guts me to think he might find her pretty, that he might want her in general.

“You know, I think I’ll go for a swim.” The cool water runs up my thighs as I speed in and dive under. I move like a seal all the way over until I graze against Ace’s leg and pop up next to him.

“Hey, beautiful.” Ace gives his signature killer grin, and my insides melt like candle wax.

I blink the water from my eyes and glance to shore. Gavin and Warren are back on the sand next to Brylee along with a bunch of people I don’t recognize.

“I’ll race you to Boulder Island.” I cock my head, doing my best to flirt openly. It feels good to be with Ace in public even if I am a hundred feet from shore.

“It’s on, but you’ll never win.” His dimples dig in and out. “I’ll even give you a ten second lead,” he teases.

“Oh, I won’t need it.” I glide my fingers up the inside of his thigh. “Ready, set,
go
.” I dive toward the overgrown rocks and missile right past him. Our fingers touch the blue granite at the exact same time, and I laugh as I submerge myself one last time.

Ace helps hoist me onto the heated rock and starts leading me to the back.

“No, this is fine,” I say, pulling him to the flat surface that faces out toward Kennedy’s huge summer bash. “I don’t have anything to hide.” We find a spot that’s partially in the shade, provided by a lonely pine shooting from the center of the mass group of boulders and take a seat.

Ace scoots in until our shoulders touch. “I don’t like the way he talks to you,” he says it low as if there were a chance Warren might hear.

“I don’t either.” I make a half circle over the rock with my toes. “He’s just being Warren.” I shake my head as I pick up a twig that’s drifted from the pine.

“I don’t hear him talking to anyone else like that.” Ace cuts me a looks that lets me know he’d knife Warren’s balls off if I let him.

“Nor should he.” I swallow hard. The truth is, I don’t know how to get rid of Warren without turning this into some kind of familial and business meltdown. “I think we should change the subject.” I rock into him. “We should talk about
us
.”

“My favorite subject.”

“Mmm.” I moan into him. “You always know what to say. Is that what they’re teaching you down in Collingsworth? How to Treat A Lady 101?”

“Nope. With you it just comes natural. So what do you want to talk about?”

“I want to see if you’re still into doing this with me—you know—our special summer thing.”