Toni Blake - Swept Away

TONI BLAKE
Swept Away

The night of Kats high-school graduation Ten years ago
A thin rivulet of sweat rippled between her breasts as she shut the car door and walked toward him. The flirty skirt of her short dress flounced around her thighs, and her nipples rubbed against the fabric with each step. Shed never been so aware of her body.

Or of his body. He sat in a black bucket seat that had once resided in a car but now perched beside a swampy lake. A cigarette dangled from his mouth and a beer can rested between his legs, against the bulge in his worn blue jeans. His black T-shirt fit him just as well as the denim, molding to biceps, chest, and stomach, and messy hair hung too long over the ribbed neck of his shirt in backone wayward lock dipped recklessly onto his forehead.

He looked as dangerous as the night. Exactly what she wanted, needed.

She stood before him, equal parts fear and excitement. She didnt know how to do this, at all but shed wanted him for so long, ever since hed started working for her father at the gallery six months ago, lugging crates and making deliveries. Clean-cut high-school boys whose lives revolved around locker-room boasts and who had the fastest car? She didnt need em. Shed known the moment she set eyes on Brock Denton that she needed a man.

He was twenty-two and lived out here in the swamps with his grandpa. She knew the way because shed ridden along with her dad once when Brocks car had broken down. She remembered the tense, quiet ridehow clear it had been that her father didnt like Brock even being in the same car with her, and shed instinctively understood why. Because sex oozed from him like swamp mud if you picked it up in your hand and let it squeeze out between your fingers. One look from him and her whole body turned to liquid, something hot, bubbling from the inside out beneath the baking sun.

But now her father was nowhere around. And she was ready to become a woman with Brock, ready to learn all the secrets of passion, ready to sweat with him, ready to let him show her everything.

His dark eyes burned right through her, tightening her nipples further. What are you doing out here in that fancy car, kitten? He didnt smile, but his gaze held exactly what she wanted it to sex. Like always.

She tossed a vague glance over her shoulder at the shiny new red Mazda Miata. Really not so fancy in her worlda starter car, for college, her father had called itbut she guessed Brock saw it differently given the beat-up old Mustang he drove and talked about fixing up once he saved some money. Its a graduation gift from my father, she said.

Doesnt answer my question. His eyes pinned her in place so that she couldnt quite move shed been walking toward him, taking steady steps in her low heels over the uneven dirt drive, but now she stopped. Your daddy know youre here?

She gave her head a saucy tilt. What do you think?

The first hint of a smile quirked one side of his mouth, drawing her attention to the dark stubble that covered his chinshe wanted to touch it, feel its roughness against her fingertips. But just as quickly, his amusement faded back to serious. I think this is an awful dangerous place for a pretty little thing like you. He hiked a thumb toward the marshy lake to his right. Moss

covered much of the surface, thick cattails rimming the edge, and for the first time she noticed the fishing pole propped over a tackle box, the line sunk in the water nearby, waiting for a nibble. Alligators out here, you know. They eat up kittens in one bite.

Why did even that make the juncture of her thighs tingle madly? Im not afraid.

Maybe you should be. Maybe you dont know what youre getting yourself into. And maybe you better just tell me what you came here for, kitten.

She took a deep breath. Now or never. Make it now. Get exactly what you want for graduation. She took another step toward him, and the mere movement reminded her again of her body and what she craved. A beat-up radio sat on the ground nearby, and the sexy strains of an old song, Hot Child in the City, gave her the urge to sway. She let her hips begin to move, ever so slightly. Since I graduated tonight, I want you to give me a present, too.

He flicked his cigarette aside, into the tall grass that edged the water, and crossed strong arms over his chest. His eyes narrowed into dark slits that should have warned her away but instead lured her nearer, especially when they followed the movement of her hips for a long, sultry moment before rising back to her face. And just what do I have that you could want?

She swallowed back the lump in her throat. I want you.

Then, ignoring the heat that rose like flames to her cheeks, she reached up, hooked her thumbs into the thin shoulder straps of her dress, and let them falllet the whole dress fallskimming her curves until it dropped around her white graduation shoes, so that she stood before him in nothing but a pair of lacy pink Brazilian-cut panties bought just for this occasion.

God, she couldnt believe shed done it. But she had, and this was itshed put her whole self out there, her whole soul, just for him.

A hot evening breeze wafted over her, as intense as his gaze, and there was no going slow now, no stopping. It had taken every ounce of courage within her to come this far, and she had to forge ahead. Never taking her eyes off his, which had grown blessedly lust-filled as he looked on her body, she stepped free of the dress pooled at her feet and took slow, steady strides toward him across the rough ground. Be cool. Be seductive. It suddenly wasnt as hard as shed expectedthe moves coming almost naturally now. Heat permeated her, both from the humid Florida night and the desire sizzling inside her. Without hesitation, she lifted one foot over the bucket seat and lowered herself onto his lap, straddling him.

Her crotch met the chilled beer can, so she reached deftly between them and tossed the aluminum aside, letting it spill foamy in the dirt. Neither looked toward it as she pressed herself to the mysterious bulge that had been the object of her fascination for so long. Mmm, yes. She was really doing this, really seducing Brock Denton.

Jesus, kitten, he groaned at the connection.

She let out a hot, thready sigh, amazedhe was so hard. His rough hands closed loosely at her hips, and the mere touchhis flesh on hersset off a whole new firestorm inside her. She started to move against him, not by plan but by pure, driving instinct, and the thick crease of his zipper abraded her through her panties to deliver the most delicious sensation shed ever endured.

I didnt know you were such a bad girl, he said in a low rumble. It was as if he were everywhere, all around her, consuming her.

Make me a bad girl, Brock. Take me. Take my virginity right now. Not wanting to wait another second, she reached down to the button on his jeansjust as his grip tightened on her waist to lift her slightly away from him.

She knew intuitively that it wasnt a giving-her-better-access-to-the-zipper lift, but more of a halting lift. She jerked her gaze from bulge to eyes. They shone dark, deliciousbut not inviting.

I dont think so, kitten. His voice remained only slightly husky and as arrogant as ever.

She stopped breathing for a second at the hideous impact of his words, until finally she managed, What?

Afraid Im not into virgins. I like my girls with a little more experience.

Push down how much that hurts. Dont let yourself feel how clear he just made it that this is only sex. Make this happensomehow. It was the overriding thought pummeling hershed come too far to fail now. Convince him to want you.