Taking Summer Read online

  Taking all the encouragement I needed, I swung my legs around him, until I was upward and he was underneath me, his back pressed to the mattress. I locked my hips down until I met his upright erection underneath his briefs.

  He was already ready for me.

  Turned on, I tugged his boxers down until my fingers found his erection, stroking him, feeling the full length of him in my palms.

  James’s breathing was fast, and his tortured, handsome eyes found mine.

  “Fuck that feels good. Don’t stop, Summer.”

  I didn’t.

  I continued, pressing a thumb at his crown, teasing and massaging until his breath grew more rugged and he shut his beautiful eyes. He surrounded to my touch, and I shivered at the sight before me.

  It drove me crazy, witnessing this effect I had on him, and I reveled in the power I had, to make him feel like this.

  He was mine now, all mine.

  James groaned heavily, almost as if in reply.

  James’s lips found mine in a vicious kiss, full of want and urgency.

  I could tell he was itching to get inside me, but not yet.

  I took my sweet time, building up the momentum until he let out a guttural groan and ripped open my cropped top.

  Literally, he shredded it into tatters.

  Not wasting a second, our lips found each other again, and we kissed with brutality, fire, and a simultaneous softness that spoke of our chemistry.

  He took my nipple in his mouth and sucked it, swirling his tongue over it, making me moan out loud. His hands clasped over my breasts, and he cupped them gently. I cried out again.

  He didn’t stop there.

  James sat up and pulled my leggings down, peeling off my panties until I was fully exposed in front of him.

  His eyes grew lustrously dark as he scanned every inch of me.

  “You are so fucking beautiful, Summer,” he murmured.

  I knew what was coming, and I was ready for it.

  In one swoop, he reversed positions until he was on top, saddled in between my legs.

  This play at power control strangely turned me on.

  “You like being in control, don’t you?” I smirked.

  James looked at me, his eyes lit with intent.

  “Whatever do you mean?” he said almost innocently.

  And then his tongue found my clit.

  Hot, wet bliss consumed me.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” James murmured, and then he did.

  His tongue drew torturous circles on my clit, timed to perfection.

  “Oh my god, James,” I groaned out.

  My hands gripped his lustrous hair, and I guided him deeper inside me.

  He was soft and smooth, gentle yet fierce, all at once.

  His tongue picked up the rhythm, working faster and harder.

  My spine tingled with pure ecstasy, and white spots danced in my vision.

  And then his finger joined the chorus, until an explosion built up, ready to burst at the dams.

  I surrounded into his skilled tongue and showed him how he made me feel.

  I came in one swoop, and James groaned in delight.

  He came up, his heavy eyes catching my euphoric ones, and I smirked.

  Squirming underneath his arms, I caught him by surprise, and I leaped on top again, grinning.

  His eyes widened for a second, and then he smiled, that earth-shattering grin of his that lit up his entire handsome face.

  “Holy fuck. What are you doing to me?”

  I replied by guiding him inside me, feeling his full erection embed itself in my inner core.

  I adjusted my hips until he slotted in perfectly between my thighs, and James let out a groan on impact.

  Possessively, I thrusted my hips against his, until we found a rhythm with me on top, capturing the essence of him.

  “Who’s in control now?” I panted, and James groaned in reply.

  “Fuck, Summer, don’t stop.”

  I obliged. He thrusted in slowly, then gradually picked up his speed, until we rode the wave together.

  Ecstasy climbed upward, my pussy clenched, and James felt it all. He thrusted fast and hard, and then his lips found my throat, kissing me gently as he drove into me faster.

  His cock swelled larger inside me.

  “You’re going to come again. Mark my words,” James ordered, and then he rested his fingers against my clit and massaged it, in sync with his thrusts.

  Holy fuck.

  Already sensitive and swollen, my clit exploded under his touch, until it built up again. “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it,” I moaned out.

  James obeyed, not once releasing his fingers from my wet sex, until the familiar delicious tingling built up, hovering dangerously close to another explosion—

  And then James tossed his head back and came with me.

  I watched as the muscles in his neck jumped out against the beam of the sun shining through the window.

  Our bodies were harmony.

  I knew sex was good…but this, this was something else entirely.

  A small voice popped in my head, uninvited.

  Is this what love feels like?

  I attempted to shut down the thought, but it was too late.

  Pulling myself off of James, I plopped down beside him, destroyed, but not before he tucked my chin upward, so that our eyes entwined, a hot mess of emotions swirling together.

  He smiled again, his eyes lighting up like a clear blue morning sky, and he said, “Tell me you felt that too?”

  Chapter 12

  James

  This is how I wanted to wake up every morning.

  With her curled up on her side, facing me, her long locks of hair spread across my pillow angelically.

  She looked so at peace, so safe, that it kicked an intense need in me to protect her.

  I watched her for a long second, observing the way her chest rose up and down steadily, her eyelashes fluttering subtly in her slumber.

  And then she opened her beautiful green eyes groggily and connected them with mine.

  “Hey creep, whatcha staring at?” she mumbled, fighting the sleep from her face.

  I broke into a wide smile.

  She was so fucking beautiful.

  “You were snoring,” I said teasingly.

  “Whaat.” Startled, Summer lifted up her head, to reveal sexy disheveled morning hair. She stared at me now, wide-eyed, her eyes a shade clearer.

  I loved teasing her. And sure enough, the blush shot up her cheeks, firing up her olive-skin a shade brighter.

  “I’m joking. You’re adorable when you sleep.” I gave in much too quickly.

  I leaned in for a kiss, but she jerked her head back.

  “Let me brush my teeth at least.” She muttered shyly.

  I snorted. “You smell like roses, darling,” I teased, and I reached over and planted a long gentle kiss on her lips.

  Little did she know how good she smelled. So utterly delicious I could spend an eternity down there, devouring every last part of her.

  Summer whimpered under me, and her whole body sagged in relaxation.

  “Mmm. I could get used to this.” The words slipped out of her accidently, and she halted, searching my eyes for some kind of answer.

  I was right there with her and so damn tired of keeping myself closed.

  “Me too. Summer…you make me feel things I never knew were possible. I—" I hesitated for a second.

  I knew it was too soon, but with Summer it was all or nothing.

  There was no in between with her.

  So I plunged off the deep end.

  “You’re the only thing that makes sense to me,” I confessed. I returned Summer’s intense gaze, assessing her reaction.

  She looked…happy. Elated. Joyous. Her eyes watered with emotion and as she smiled, and my breath hitched.

  “I feel the same way. Isn’t that insane? We’ve known each other what… eight, nine days?” she said so
ftly.

  “There’s no time stamp on feelings,” I admitted.

  She smiled at that. “How right you are. I always thought there was something wrong with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been with a lot of guys, James, but none of them have made me feel so alive like you have.”

  Her confession shattered me. My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes flew toward her. Her face. Her eyes. Down to her lips.

  I made her feel alive.

  You make me feel alive.

  I wanted to utter those words. I battled internally with myself until she made the decision for me.

  An infectious smile broke across her beautiful face. It was a smile full of love and hope, a smile that touched the darkest depths of me, warming me up inside and out.

  “You make me feel alive too,” I finally confessed, watching for her reaction.

  Summer didn’t shirk my gaze. In fact, she not only reveled in it but returned it with equal fierceness, and that is how I fell harder than I ever thought possible.

  Summer finally pierced through the spell by biting her lips suggestively. “So I’ve been thinking. We should play identity quest.”

  I stared at her, long and hard, attempting to suss out where she was going with this.

  “Do I even want to?” I finally drawled.

  She smirked at me, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

  “Hell yes. It’s one of my favorite icebreaker games. We get to ask each other glaringly uncomfortable questions. We have to answer truthfully. If we don’t, we get to do naughty things to each other. We have to submit to one another.”

  Whoa. This woman never failed to amaze.

  Instinct took hold. “Something tells me you’ve tacked on the sexual part at the end.”

  Summer pursed her lips together cheekily. “Well usually we play it at dinners, with alcohol. It’s a fast way to get to know people at awkward social dinners, But lying here with you… I had to get creative, didn’t I?” She grinned naughtily at me.

  I wanted to take her, right there and then, but I guessed I could play this little game of hers…and torture her into screaming out my name.

  Pretending to be dead serious, I asked, “What happens if I can’t answer a question?”

  Summer cocked an eyebrow at me.

  “You’ll have to face my wrath.”

  I pretended to quiver in fear, biting back a sly grin. “Oh, I’m so scared.”

  She rolled her eyes, smirking. “Are you in or out?”

  Oh honey, she had no idea what she was in for.

  I smiled at her and nodded along. “Let’s play this game of yours then. You first.”

  I settled back down on the bed and curled up to my side, so we faced each other head on.

  “Why did you become a lawyer?”

  Her question threw me off. I relented and debated how much I should tell her, but she intercepted quickly.

  “Ah, ah. No stalling,” she teased.

  Maybe I should have reconsidered agreeing to this game, considering journalism was her profession and all. Journalists loved their questions. Yet in a way, lawyers were damn good at them too.

  I decided to be honest with her.

  “You got me,” I joked playfully, before continuing. “My dad’s law firm was wrongly accused of a money laundering scheme. Being a partner and all, naturally he was directly accused as well and dragged to court. He got out free, but the trial alone destroyed his career and reputation.” I shrugged and stopped for a second, judging Summer’s reaction.

  She was listening in intently, her head resting against her arm as a pillow.

  “It was there and then that I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to prevent people from getting ripped apart by the law, especially the wrongfully accused. So I enrolled in law school.”

  Summer took a deep breath in as if she were absorbing my answer and then nodded slowly. “That makes sense, you had a lived experience of your family suffering at the wrong side of the law, and you wanted to never feel that powerless again.”

  Her words hit a soft spot in me.

  It threatened to open up that dam of crap I had fought to keep hidden for so long. So I pushed on, firing a question her way instead.

  “My turn. What were you writing about yesterday, when I talked about needing to keep an eye on Nara?”

  Summer responded by stretching herself against the mattress, stalling.

  “Who’s stalling now?” I called her out on it.

  She laughed. “I am so not stalling. I guess I realiszd something yesterday. The way you’re running your ranch and tending to the animals. There is something deeply ethical about it, you do it with so much love and passion. I don’t know—" Summer stopped mid-sentence, shrugging.

  “Go on.” I urged. I wanted to hear it.

  “The way you’re running your ranch, it directly challenges what I thought I knew about the meat industry in general. I always had this black and white concept about right and wrong. Eating meat, killing animals for meat was always wrong. And I associated people with that industry as heartless. But I don’t really see it that way anymore,” Summer confessed.

  That’s exactly what I needed to hear. I stewed on her words for a while and instinctively grabbed hold of a loose strand of her hair and tucked it underneath her ear.

  Summer shuddered underneath my touch, and my heart picked up, almost as if it was determined to jump out of my chest.

  “Ball is back in my court. Do you think you’ll ever forgive Bruna?” she asked, sending my heart into full-gear overdrive.

  Her question punched me right where it hurt. I struggled to regain composure, but it was too late. Summer caught every little flinch that passed through my face.

  She read through my pain and absorbed it as her own. She shut her eyes for a second, shaking her head.

  “I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped.”

  I threaded my hand downward until I found hers resting by her side, and I captured it in mine. I interlaced our fingers and squeezed softly.

  Summer’s breath caught.

  “It’s a fair question.” I stopped for a second, wondering how I was going to answer this one.

  After what Bruna had confessed the other day, it was incredibly difficult to stay stone-cold mad and hateful toward her.

  “What Bruna did to me wasn’t right. But I survived it. And the other day, she partly explained her actions. Why she left me at the altar.”

  “And why is that?” Summer pressed for more answers. She was always hungry for more information.

  I suppressed the urge to frown at her. “Bruna was a mess. She claimed she was a drug addict and that the guy she ran off with supplied her with that kind of lifestyle. Apparently, she was very lost in her life when she cheated on me and abandoned me in the middle of our wedding. I can’t help but think…” I was unable to go on.

  Summer finished for me. “You think it’s your fault that she ended up like that? No, James, that’s not true.”

  “How can I not think that? I was in a relationship with her, Summer. I was supposed to know her inside and out. And under my nose she was a depressed addict who tried to starve her way through to a size zero. I missed it all. All of it.”

  The guilt was unbearable. I couldn’t look at her anymore. The shame rushed upwards, and I allowed in. It lodged itself in my throat, and I made my way to get up from the bed, but Summer pushed me back down with her hand.

  “Don’t run from this, James. The only person responsible here is Bruna. She chose fame over you. She chose her career over you. And she chose drugs over you. You have to stop blaming yourself for that.”

  I struggled to make sense of her words.

  Yet still Summer persisted, adding, “She left you at the goddamn altar in front of the media. Don’t forget that.”

  I responded to her with silence.

  Did I have it in me to forgive Bruna?

  Part of me knew the answer already.

  Small hands wormed their way over t
o my chin and tugged, capturing my attention. Our eyes locked together, two energies colliding with each other.

  Something tugged at my insides, too. The way she looked at me…not with disgust or disappointment, but with understanding and patience.

  So I went for it. I answered her question. “I think I’m going to forgive her one day. I have it in me. But that time hasn’t come yet. It’s too soon.”

  A contagious smile broke across Summer’s face. “I think I anticipated you saying that.”

  Why was I not surprised by that? Summer had this uncanny ability to see straight into me.

  One thing was for sure.It was time to break through this emotional drama that had me tied up in knots.

  “I can’t imagine identity quest being a somber game at a dinner gathering. So let’s lighten the mood. Do you miss meat?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Summer looked at me mischievously, and then covered her hands in front of her face, shrieking, “I’m a sinner!”

  Laughing, I reached down and peeled her hands away so I could soak in her embarrassment.

  I knew it. Meat was undeniably delicious.

  “Well then, what would it be. Bacon? A chunky piece of steak?”

  “Salami,” Summer blurted out.

  Now that one I wasn’t expecting.

  I arched my eyebrow at her infinitesimally.

  “Let me get this straight. The vegan misses the worst possible meat you can have? Salami?” I snorted.

  Summer quickly jumped to her defense. “The question was whether I missed meat, not whether I was going to eat meat. Big difference.”

  “Same difference in my opinion. If you already miss something, that demonstrates its lacking in your life and that you crave it. That becomes as good as eating meat.” I argued back.

  “Well then, James, would you rather spend the rest of your life riding a horse or a tractor?”

  A chuckle escaped my lips.

  “Really? That’s your question? Are you sure we’re playing identity quest here and not would you rather,” I said playfully.

  “Hilarious. Now you’ve got 3 seconds to answer the question otherwise…” Summer reddened as her eyes darkened with suggestion.

  I smiled at her insidiously. “Oh no. I’m scared.”