Free Playing It Close by Kat Latham Page A

her lips tight around it so every stroke did double duty, rubbing her from the inside and out. She tightened her legs around his waist and drove her hips against his, riding him until her orgasm crashed over her, through her, liquefying her. All she could do was collapse against him and hold on while he thrust a few more powerful times before groaning his release against her neck.
    They held each other for countless silent heartbeats, uneager to let reality return. When he finally disengaged, Tess let her jelly legs slide over his hips and into the water again, but she tightened her grip around his neck. How could she let go? He’d helped her feel something she never had before: completely, utterly desirable. Like a woman who could drive a man mad with desire. Playful yet sensual.
    Like a nymph.
    He nuzzled her temple and held her close. “You okay?”
    “Mmm-hmm.” Finally she let her arms relax, and he slowly lowered her into the water again. But he still held on with one arm. Good thing too. She would’ve collapsed in an embarrassing sloppy heap without his support.
    He stroked her, and they both watched his hand roam over her breasts, lazily circling her nipple before journeying farther south to tangle in the dark hair over her sensitized mons. “So...” he said, “you’re not a natural pinkhead.”
    His meaning took a moment to sink in, but when it did she laughed so hard the sound bounced off the rock and vibrated around them. When she caught her breath again, she kissed his pec, grateful that they wouldn’t have an awkward post-coital moment. “Sorry to disappoint. Maybe I should’ve dyed the hair down there to hide the evidence.”
    He cringed. “I don’t know much about genital grooming, but I’m fairly sure it’s a bad idea to put chemicals down there.” He leaned into her and gave her a gentle kiss before pulling back and looking at her with a teasing glint. “Besides, I like you just the way you are...Nymph.”
    * * *
    A cool breeze drifted over Liam’s skin and sunlight glowed through his closed eyelids, prodding him awake from a deep slumber. He stretched, his muscles thanking him for a day of activity after one spent on planes and another lazing in bed. Activity —that might describe yesterday’s hike, but it didn’t even come close to summing up the afternoon of earthly delights he’d shared with Tess.
    And not just earthly delights. When they’d started their hike yesterday, he hadn’t intended to develop terminal chattiness and tell her all about his mum.
    Well, not all about her...but enough to ease some of the tension that had been squeezing the life out of him. Last night was the first night he could remember sleeping a dreamless sleep. Good thing, because a ghostly visit from his mum would’ve been a real mood-killer.
    Reaching across the bed, he searched for Tess. When his hand touched nothing but cool sheets, he reluctantly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get rid of the blurry sleepiness. He was alone in the bed. He glanced toward the bathroom, but the door was open and he didn’t hear the shower running.
    Then a dreamlike memory came back to him. Tess leaning over him at some point in the night, her hand wrapped around his biceps as she kissed his shoulder and whispered, “I have to go. Thank you for everything.”
    He’d thought it was a dream, and even at the time he’d felt a twinge of discomfort at whatever part of his ego had conjured up a lover thanking him for services rendered. Or maybe she’d thanked him for the dinner he’d bought when they’d returned to the hotel, which they’d eaten on his balcony again before curling up together and kissing in his hammock.
    Or maybe it was for the shell necklace he’d got her in a village Tony had stopped at on their way down the mountain. Several women there had been selling items they’d made, and he’d told Tess that every nymph needed some shells.
    “I think you’ve got nymphs confused with