He believed it. Riley might be a charmer, but she knew he wouldn’t be encouraging her if he didn’t really think she’d be successful at it. Her family was always supportive, but this, this was something different.
Rachel took a deep breath. “I have thought about it. A lot,” she confessed. “If I took on consulting jobs, I could go all over the country. Make my own hours. But I could keep San Diego as my home base. What could beat the beach? Or wearing shorts in November? Like I said, when I still lived in St. Louis, and it was really cold, I’d stay bundled up inside my apartment. I’m not exactly a nature girl, but I missed being outside. Feeling the wind on my face. The sounds of the birds.”
“Ever made love outside?” he asked.
Rachel choked on her beer.
“Careful,” he said. Warmth entered his gray eyes, turning them almost green.
What Riley had just issued was an invitation … not a question.
No, despite living next door to a beach, she’d never made love outside. She shook her head, her skin heating at the thought.
“Someone will see,” she said. Hating how unadventurous she sounded.
“We’ll keep our clothes on. No one passes by this side of the complex, and if they did, they won’t suspect a thing.” His fingers stole the beer from her hand and placed it on the small table.
“You’ll just have to be very, very quiet,” he told her.
The way Riley made love … that could be a problem.
He was behind her now, his lips just under her ear. Her weak spot. Of course Riley Wilkes would find that.
Her body already ached for more. Rachel’s eyes closed at the caress of his lips. The touch of his tongue. She leaned against his chest. Warm and solid.
“As I followed you around the store today, while you grabbed ingredients, all I could think of was lifting your skirt.” His fingers traced the bare skin above her knee. “Bunching the material in my hand and pulling it up.”
Her heartbeat quickened. Do it. Do it. It seemed to beat with her silent request.
Instead he dropped his hand. “But then I’d get distracted by your breasts. This blue shirt of yours with the little bow in the middle has been driving me crazy. I can’t decide whether to tug at a strap or lift up your skirt.”
“You have two hands, don’t you?”
A deep laugh rumbled from his chest. “Yes, I do. And I plan to put them to good use now.”
One of Riley’s hands cupped her breast while the other found the hem of her skirt, slowing raising it. Rachel moaned low in her throat. She’d never had a lover as good as Riley, never had one make her feel so good.
Her nipple hardened beneath his palm.
“Have I ever told you how much I like your breasts?”
All Rachel could do was shake her head no.
“I love how they get all tight when I touch them. Your nipples—” he stopped to tease one tip “—I can’t wait to suck you.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but her nipple grew even tighter, just the way he mentioned he liked. She longed to have his lips, his mouth, his tongue there once more. Like earlier this afternoon. But they were keeping their clothes on.
“How your body responds to my touch drives me crazy.” Riley pressed the hard ridge of his erection against her backside.
Wet heat flooded her lower body. She wiggled back and felt his erection grow larger. Yeah … she loved driving him crazy.
The hand on her leg kept slowly moving up her thigh. His palm was rough from his job, but she didn’t care. She relished the contrasts. His hard cock combined with his gentle touch devastated her senses.
His hand began to ride up under her shirt. He found her bare skin and she quivered.
Rachel imagined how they looked to any passing stranger. Her body slumped against his, one hand up her skirt, the other under her shirt. And she didn’t care. She wanted this moment with Riley to go on and on.
Where his hand touched, she burned. And that burning was leading right to her panties.
“Yes?” Riley asked, his voice more ragged now. “Here, Rachel.”
“Yes,” she said, and his finger looped over the elastic, helping her panties slide down her legs.
“Ahhh, do that wiggling thing again,” he told her.
“This?” she asked, wiggling. She drove herself against his rock-hard penis.
“Yes,” he groaned into her hair. The hand under her shirt moved lower, and for a moment, Rachel just enjoyed the feel of his hands moving and caressing her thighs. Her hips. Her backside.
Slowly he moved closer and closer to the center of her. Do it. Do it. Her heartbeat quickened even more.
She wanted Riley’s fingers between her legs, and she wanted it five minutes ago. “Touch me,” she urged. Although it was more like an order. Whatever. The man was military. He was used to taking orders.
And Riley did. His fingers slipped between her legs, past the curls and over the slick heat of her clit.
“That feels so good,” she said after she caught her breath.
“I’m not done yet,” he whispered against her ear. A promise.
His fingers slid lower, until they were in the moist heat of her. Her legs began to shake.
Riley’s hand retreated. “Gotta stay strong,” he urged. Then he slipped into her once more. She lowered her head against the railing, but her legs didn’t give.
“Riley, if you’re waiting for me to say something like, go … go!”
He sucked in a breath. “As much as I hate to break the mood here, I don’t have any protection. This hadn’t been my plan when we stepped out here to eat.”
Rachel almost groaned in frustration.
She took a deep, calming breath, knowing she was about to offer something to Riley she’d never suggested before. She just wanted him so much. The man held her body in a fever pitch. “It’s okay, it’s not the right time of the month for me.” Thank you, thank you, thank you.
His hand stilled. “I just want you to know I’m totally healthy.”
She nodded in understanding.
“The military tests and—”
“Riley, stop talking and get inside me.” Another order.
The hand that had been steadying her hip, left her. Soon she heard him fumbling behind her. His pants.
“Lean farther over the railing, Rachel,” he said.
There were the shivers again. Rachel leaned, feeling the night air brush her bare backside. The tip of him touched her slick heat, and she bit her lip. This was going to be so good. With one thrust he was inside her.
“Oh, Rachel. This is amazing.”
He was right. It was amazing. She didn’t know if it was their quick pace, the slim chance of being caught or just the decadence of making love while being caressed by an evening breeze … but sex had never felt this good.
Riley’s fingers teased the curls between her legs, then her clit; at the same time his cock plunged into her body. He circled where she was most sensitive as he moved in and out of her. She tightened around him, drawing him deeper.
He thrust faster. “Rachel,”