Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Read online

“If I can teach a classroom of teenagers, I think I can handle one.” They climbed into the truck, and she leaned across the seat and kissed him. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  “Then I’m a lucky man.”

  BELLA AND CADEN went to Fisherman’s Landing, a large lake shaped like a figure eight that wound beneath a bridge and disappeared behind a bank of trees on the other side. A wooded trail led from the parking lot to the beach. There were a handful of rowboats, pedal boats, and kayaks tied to a small dock. The rental kiosk was down the beach to the left. They walked down the narrow stretch of beach in the opposite direction of the boat rentals, past families with small children darting in and out at the water’s edge, past the roped-off swimming area, and found a quiet spot at the far side of the beach.

  Bella lay on her back in a yellow bikini, which tied at the hips. Her hair spread out like threads of gold around her beautiful face. Caden couldn’t stop himself from stealing glances at her. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, and it was all he could do not to climb on top of her and kiss her until she begged for more.

  “I can feel you looking at me.” Eyes still closed, Bella smiled.

  “Caught me.” He leaned up on one elbow and ran his fingers over her stomach. Her skin was soft and warm from the sun.

  “That feels nice.”

  “You’re telling me?” Caden glanced behind him to make sure no one had moved closer to them. When he was sure no one could see them, he leaned over and kissed the crest of her breast, just beyond the yellow triangle of stretchy fabric.

  “Mm. That felt good, too.” She shifted onto her side, stretched her arm along the blanket, and rested her head on it.

  Caden leaned on one elbow and ran his hand along the curve of her hip as it dipped to her waist, then up her ribs. He moved closer, so their bodies were almost touching. The closer he got to Bella, the hotter, and harder, he became.

  “You’re dangerously sexy, babe,” he admitted.

  She draped her arm over his waist and pressed her hips to his. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

  He exhaled a breathy laugh and sealed his mouth to hers. She met his desire with a needful, eager kiss and eased onto her back. Caden slid his leg over her thighs and the skin-to-skin contact spurred him to deepen the kiss.

  “Bella,” he whispered against her lips, then kissed her again. “I feel like such a letcher around you.”

  She looked up at him through a sexy haze of desire so thick he had to kiss her again.

  “If you’re a letcher, then what does that make me?” She ran her fingers up his back and brought her mouth to his shoulder.

  Holy hell. The warm, sensual strokes of her tongue on his heated skin nearly did him in. When she drew back, her eyes darkened seductively. A quick sweep of their surroundings confirmed that they were far enough away from anyone else that as long as he kept his back to the other side of the beach, he could tease her right back without being seen.

  He slipped a finger beneath the tie on her hip and slid it along the seam of her bikini bottom. The crease of her thigh was warm and inviting, and when she opened her legs for him and narrowed her eyes with a challenging look, his pulse quickened. He leaned down and grazed her lips with his. He’d never done anything like this before—right out in the open—and it amped up the thrill a zillion times. He couldn’t resist brushing the damp skin between her legs with his finger.

  “You are a naughty, naughty girl, Bella Abbascia.” He trapped her lower lip between his teeth and sucked. Heat flared in her eyes.

  She wrapped her slender fingers around his wrist and opened her legs further, pressing his fingers against her wetness. He glanced over each shoulder in a way that he hoped was casual, trying to mask the urgency racing through him, and he wondered if the risk they were taking was making this as exciting for her as it was for him. When he met her gaze again, Bella dragged her tongue across her lower lip, leaving it glistening wet, and pulling a groan from his lungs.

  “Touch me,” she whispered.

  “How about you let me lead?” He kissed the corners of her mouth and licked the glistening streak on her lower lip while stroking her into a sea of desire.

  “So wet,” he whispered against her cheek.

  She arched against his hand, pleading for more. He brought his mouth to her neck and kissed a path to her ear.

  “You can arch and plead all you want. You’re not getting what you want until I’m good and ready,” he whispered.

  “You’re so unfair.”

  “Am I?” He sucked her earlobe, and her hips bucked against his hand.

  “Caden,” she said in one long breath.

  “I love hearing my name come off your lips like a plea.” He dragged his tongue across the crest of her breast, feeling her shudder beneath him. Her breathing hitched, and he knew she was getting close to coming apart. She gripped his wrist, harder this time, and tried to push his fingers inside her.

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’m not gonna leave you hanging.” He kissed her lips and she opened her mouth, greedily sweeping his mouth with her tongue. He pulled back, now in full tease mode, and pressed featherlight kisses around her lips.

  “Un-fair.” Her eyes fluttered closed, and her arm drifted to the sand beside her.

  Her lips parted as he traced them with his tongue. He stilled his hand between her legs, pressing his fingers against her slippery folds, and used his thumb on her swollen, most sensitive area. She gripped the edge of the blanket and arched her neck back. He covered her mouth with his and took her in a deep, soulful kiss, swallowing the sexy little sounds that she tried so hard to repress as she came apart beneath the heat of the sun. When their lips finally parted, her eyes fluttered open. He withdrew his fingers, grazing her overly sensitive nub and causing her to suck in another breath. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another mind-numbing kiss.

  “Holy cow, Caden. I’ve never…you know, without penetration.” She closed her eyes for a beat and he touched his forehead to hers.

  “Wow,” she whispered. “Wow.”

  I’m so in love with you. He silenced the words that ached to be heard with another soft kiss.

  BELLA DIDN’T KNOW how long she lay on her back with her eyes closed, trying to quell the desire that snaked through her veins and stole her ability to think clearly, but when she finally opened her eyes, Caden was about fifty pages into a novel. He was perched on his elbows beside her. He squinted against the sun.

  “Hey there, beautiful.”

  “Sorry for zoning out.” She rolled onto her side and ran her hand along the muscles that flanked his broad back.

  “Don’t be. I’ll take it as a compliment.” He leaned over and kissed her.

  “You blew my mind. Literally.” She smiled and gazed into his eyes. She could lie right there beside him all day long and be perfectly content. Happy, she corrected herself. Perfectly happy.

  “Can’t ask for more than that.” He set down his book. “Do you want to rent a boat?”

  “Sure.”

  They walked down the beach hand in hand, and for the first time in a very long time, Bella felt like she was part of a real couple. She’d never felt very connected to Jay, so he’d always felt a little like a friend with benefits. Even with the other guys she’d dated throughout the years, she’d never felt the same deep connection she felt with Caden. Holding his hand wasn’t high school exciting. It wasn’t a precursor to sex. It was so much more than those things. Holding Caden’s hand felt like their lives were joining together and becoming one. She could see herself years from now sitting on the beach reading beside him; she could picture him graying around the temples with crow’s feet around his beautiful dark eyes. None of those thoughts were part of her summertime plan, and yet they were there, as real and as present as the man who instilled them.

  Caden rowed them out to the middle of the lake. Children’s voices drifted farther into the distance, birds flapped as they landed on the wat
er, and Bella soaked in the peaceful moment.

  “I kind of like this whole setup.” She leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her, wiggling her toes between Caden’s bare feet. “You can row me around anytime you want. You know, if you get bored one day and just feel like being a sexy, shirtless water taxi.”

  He shook his head, but his smile reached his eyes. “Can I?”

  “Uh-huh. I mean, I wouldn’t fight it or anything.”

  Bella spread her towel out on the metal seat and lay horizontally, dangling her toes in the water. Her arms fell limply to her sides, and she closed her eyes. It had been a perfect morning, and now, as the boat moved swiftly through the water, the comfortable silence that had become familiar no longer surprised her.

  From behind closed lids, a shadow darkened the sky and the air cooled as, Bella assumed, they passed beneath the bridge. When her closed lids were struck by the blazing sun again, she knew they’d passed through to the other side. The lake was large, and in all the years Bella had been going there, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen people go beyond the bridge. She kept her eyes closed and listened for sounds of others. She liked drifting along without knowing exactly where she was, letting Caden make the decisions of where they were headed. She trusted him, and that thought nestled into her heart like a bear bedding down for a long, cold winter.

  She heard the sweeping of the oars in the water cease and felt the boat drifting slower. She heard Caden sigh. He sounded as relaxed as she felt, and she wondered what he was doing, but the moment was so blissfully peaceful that she didn’t dare open her eyes. The boat rocked, and she sensed Caden’s closeness before she felt his mouth on hers. She opened her lips and welcomed his warm, loving kiss. Every stroke of his tongue was deep and sensuous. She kept her eyes closed, relishing the anticipation of not knowing what might come next. She willed her hips to remain still, and when his big hand slid beneath her bikini top, a quiver spiraled in her belly. Her nipples hardened between his index finger and thumb. He kissed her like he was making love to her mouth, and her mind drifted far, far away. When he lowered his mouth to her breast, she gasped and opened her eyes, quickly looking around the empty lake, before he reached up and brushed her lids closed again.

  “No one’s around. I promise.”

  She closed her eyes, trusting him completely. The risk heightened the excitement, and she hoped he was feeling the same thrill as she was. He grazed her sensitive nipple with his teeth, and she sucked in another breath. She reached for him, eyes still closed, and felt his hip, then followed the line of it to his firm ass. He moaned, then dragged his tongue between her breasts and whispered against her lips.

  “I swear I love more about you than your body. I really do.” He kissed her softly, and she opened her mouth and tried to deepen the kiss, but he drew back, teasing her once again. Every sensation magnified with each hot breath as he whispered against her ear, “But I want to be inside you.”

  She fisted her hand in the fabric of his shorts and licked her lips.

  “You know that drives me crazy.” He kissed her again, and she opened her mouth wider, trying to take more of him.

  His big hands gripped her hips and held on tight as he brought his mouth down to her belly, leaving her panting in his wake. He licked along the edge of her bikini bottom.

  “I love how you tremble when I touch you.”

  Tremble. Touch. More.

  His hands left a hot trail as they slid up her body and he filled them with her breasts. Oh God, yes. She felt his tongue drag along the center of her chest and swirl in the dip of her collarbone. He nibbled the edge of her jaw, bringing her nerves to the surface of her skin. Jesus, he could make her come again without ever entering her. She sensed his face over hers, and she forced her eyes open and met his gaze.

  His eyes slid to the water, and the edge of his lips curved up. “Up for a swim?”

  Hell yes. Her mouth still wasn’t working. He sank to his knees beside her and drew her close.

  “I don’t have a condom,” he whispered.

  Her heart was beating so hard she was sure he could feel it. She forced herself to speak. “I really am on the pill. I’m not a college girl just looking for sex, or someone who forgets to take the pill religiously and willing to risk a pregnancy.”

  He touched his forehead to hers. “I know, Bella.”

  She quieted, letting him make the decision. She wanted to be close to him, to be with him in every sense, and as he contemplated the situation, she was hit with a thought so powerful that it drew her back. She could see herself having a child with him.

  “I haven’t risked this since Caty.” He pressed his hands to her cheeks and gazed into her eyes with the most serious look she’d ever seen on him. Her pulse quickened from the unsureness of what it meant. His jaw clenched, and his eyebrows drew together. His eyes swept over the empty lake. They were alone, so very alone. It felt like they were the only people on earth.

  “We don’t have to…” she offered.

  “I want to, Bella. I want you. I want you in every way possible.” He kissed her then, and she couldn’t hold back any longer.

  She grasped at his shoulder, his back, his hair, whatever she could reach. He was kneeling beside her. She pushed him back on his palms, then pulled the top of his suit down and took him in her mouth.

  “Oh, sweet Jesus,” he said through gritted teeth.

  She swallowed him deep, stroking him with her tongue. He was sweet and salty and hot—oh so hot.

  “Good Lord, Bella.”

  His voice was thick with need. Heat seared through her as she placed a hand on either side of him and kissed her way up his body. His chest heaved with every jagged breath.

  “Water.” A command. Another desirous thrill.

  He stepped over the side and reached for her.

  “Come to me, baby.”

  She leaned toward him, and in one swift move, he had her in his arms, the cool water warmed in seconds. He sealed his mouth to hers and kissed her like he needed her in order to breathe. His powerful legs kept them afloat as he pulled the string on one side of her bikini bottom and the fabric fell away, connected only by the thin thread on the other hip. Without missing a beat, still lip to lip, tongues urgently colliding, he pushed down his swim shorts and thrust into her. Bella’s head fell back with the force of him. He filled her completely, and as he drove into her, she felt every stimulating inch stroking her into a frenzy of tingling nerves and pulsing need. He grasped the side of the boat for leverage, holding on to her with his other powerful arm.

  He tore his lips from hers, breathing hard and holding her tight against him.

  “Caden.” She paused to catch her breath. I love you. “I…I’ve never done this before. You’re my first outside lover.”

  “I hope to be your last.” His eyes darkened, piercing through to her soul, as he thrust in deep and loved them both over the edge.

  Chapter Thirteen

  AFTER SPENDING THE afternoon lying on the boat, then dozing beneath the warm sun, Caden thought the urge to tell Bella he loved her might have subsided, or at least lessened to a nag rather than a continuous, all-consuming need he could barely contain. Boy, had he been wrong. He fought the urge to share his feelings with every breath he took. After they arrived back at her cottage, Caden wanted to savor their last moments alone. He still felt a tether of guilt over those thoughts because of Evan, but all it took was one look at the love in Bella’s eyes for him to push that guilt aside and bring her hand to his lips.

  “Sorry I introduced you into a world of debauchery?” Bella’s cheeks pinked up against the tawny glow of her fresh tan.

  “Hardly a world of debauchery, and that was my idea, remember?” He leaned across the center console and touched her cheek. “Wait right there.” He stepped from the truck and opened her door. Bella shifted in her seat, placing her legs on either side of him. Caden folded her into his arms and breathed in the coconut scent of her
suntan lotion.

  “Mm,” she murmured. “Quite possibly the best Saturday ever.”

  He drew back and gazed into her eyes. He knew committing to seeing him was a big step for Bella, and hell, it was a big step for him, too. He thought about her as much as he thought of Evan, and he couldn’t deny that he cared about her as much, too. But would he scare her off if he admitted it to her? All afternoon he’d tried to gauge her feelings for him, and he thought they were definitely on the same page, but what did he know? He hadn’t allowed anyone into his heart for years.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, you’re going to make me worry,” Bella said. “You look like you’re debating breaking up with me.”

  He smiled and touched her cheek. “Just the opposite.”

  She drew her brows together.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you.” His feelings didn’t tumble or jump from his lips. They came easily, softly spoken and smooth as silk. They were true, so damn true.

  In the space of a breath, Bella’s eyes widened and her lips curved into a smile. Then her eyes narrowed and she hooked her finger into the waist of his bathing suit. Her lips parted—every second felt like a lifetime as he waited for a response that he could understand.

  “Caden,” she whispered. Her eyes searched his and her mouth opened, as if she were going to say more; then she trapped her lower lip between her teeth.

  He brushed her hair from her shoulder. “I can’t help it, babe.” His voice refused to speak louder than a whisper, and in this intimate unveiling of his heart, a whisper was all that was needed. She rested her forehead against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Caden stroked her hair, wishing she’d say more—and wondering if he’d made a mistake by saying as much as he had.

  Bella lifted her head at the sound of Vera’s violin. He repressed the heartache brewing inside of him in an effort to give Bella whatever space she needed to digest his words. When she finally looked up at him again, he still couldn’t read her thoughts.