Risky Rockstar: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 64

He reaches for me, but I slip out of his grasp. Scrambling onto all fours, I jump up and make a run for it. Kade is fast on my heels, and I shriek. Self-preservation carries my legs faster, and I reach the water’s edge long before he does. Or maybe he lets me get away. I raise my hand.

“Wait, wait. I have a better idea.”

Kade stops and shoves his hands in his pockets. He’s trying not to laugh at me. “Better than me kissing you?”

I don’t waste time with words. I simply lift my teal and pink floral dress over my head so I’m standing in my turquoise underwear. Maybe I matched these to his eyes tonight. Kade runs a hand through his hair. The patterns of his tattoos are indistinct, but the colors still glimmer in the moonlight, and I know them all by heart. I’ve thought of nothing but the way those tattooed arms look when they caress my body.

I don’t want to think of that now—of how I failed. “Join me?”

I gesture with my head to the sparkling pool below the waterfall. It’s probably freezing in there, even though it’s seventy-five degrees out, but I have no doubt Kade will warm me up in no time.

He doesn’t answer me. He toes off his Vans, then lifts his shirt above his head, giving me a much better view than the waterfall in the moonlight. My breath catches in my throat as he slowly pulls his zipper, then pushes his jeans down. I unclasp my bra and drop it to my feet. Kade’s Adam’s apple bobs in a hard swallow, and it has to be one of the sexiest things I’ve seen. I love watching how he responds to my body. He’s about to step out of his jeans when a flash of light catches my eye, and I gasp.

“Shit! Kade, the security guy!”

I grab my clothes and bolt into the nearby trees. Kade tries to follow but trips over his jeans around his ankles and face-plants in the grass. I slap a hand over my mouth to stop the laughter that’s bubbling up my throat from erupting out of my mouth. I wish more than ever that I had a camera with me. Kade’s face tells a story as he lies spread-eagle on the grass when the security guy shines a torch on his naked ass.

“Oh, Mr. Tennick, I’m sorry. I thought I’d just come see if everything is okay. That I set things up the way you wanted. I’m sorry, I…I’ll leave you in peace now.”

The guy leaves, and I fall to my knees as laughter overtakes me. Tears stream down my face as I watch Kade beat his head against the grass and groan. When he looks up at me, he narrows his eyes in mock anger. “Funny, is it? You definitely owe me a kiss after that. Bad breath or not.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll try your caviar.”

Kade grins. “It’s a small victory, but I’ll take it.”

“Then I’ll kiss you.”

“Now you’re talking.”

♫♫♫

Kissing Kade under the moonlight with the sound of the waterfall, crickets, and frogs as the background noise has now become my favorite thing to do. Scratch that—kissing Kade anywhere and at any time with any background noise has to be my favorite thing to do.

He brushes the hair from my face and looks at me so tenderly that a lump forms in my throat. I rise up, kissing him on his neck where I can feel his thundering pulse. He’s hard for me—I can feel him through the jeans he pulled on after we decided to forego the swim. And I’m wet for him, but as much as I want to ask him to make love to me next to the Falls, right here and now under the open sky, I don’t. Because I’m too scared to.

Tonight has been perfect. More perfect than I could have ever dreamed it could be, and I’m nervous if I initiate sex and Kade fucks me and I can’t come again, I’ll ruin this night.

Kade is the kind of guy that would go to all this trouble for me so I can escape for a few hours and get out of my head. The romantic picnic, unseasonably warm weather, and moonlit night is the perfect setting to do just that.

In theory.

But all I’m feeling is pressure. I don’t want anything to ruin this incredible night, and all I’ve been thinking of is that if we have sex and I can’t let go, all of this will be nullified.

He sits back on his heels. I know what he’s going to do, and my own pulse races with a mixture of anticipation and nerves. I’m confused. My mind all over the place because my body wants him—I want him—but at the same time, I’m overwhelmed. I try desperately to push the negative thoughts from my mind. To focus on the here and now instead of fixating on what-ifs, but I don’t seem to be able to switch off.

Not now, Hayley. Not freaking now.

Kade undoes his zipper, then stands and removes all his clothes, then kneels back down to make short work of my clothes. He kisses along my body, his mouth peppering along the notes of the tattoo at my hip, and I swear I can feel the music course through me. We kiss for what seems like hours, Kade’s hard naked body pressed against mine until I’m throbbing with need. He doesn’t rush me, even though he must be painfully desperate to be inside me. I focus on how understanding he was when I told him I get trapped in my head. Aware that he is taking this slow for me, I focus on the fact that he hasn’t pushed me. My mind wanders to the night I got off in the tub, and a sliver of hope sneaks through. I need to just concentrate on how everything