His eyes said it all, so I grinned and turned to hug him, pressing my face into the hollow of his neck. Then I bit him lightly, and he growled in response.

"It's pretty warm," he said. "Want to swim?"

I opened my mouth to say no, because that was my default answer when it came to displaying my body around others. But why did I need to be so insecure around him? He hadn't hesitated to tell me how much he loved my curves. Why not allow myself a bit of fun?

I shrugged. I'd worn my tankini over a jean skirt, and swim bottoms that were more like little shorts underneath.

"Sure. The water will feel good." It might even actually cool me down from all the heat Leo was throwing my way.

"You're going in fully clothed?" Leo asked, running his hand down my back and onto my butt, squeezing lightly.

"No, this is my swim top. And I've got swim shorts on underneath my skirt. I'm a Florida girl, remember?"

He released me from his embrace, and I noticed his eyes lingering on my chest. This navy blue tankini top tucked and squeezed just so, making my breasts look impressively large. I grinned.

"Turn around." I made a little rotating motion with my index finger. "I don't want you seeing me undress."

"But you're in full view of everyone else and I'm going to see you in your suit in a few minutes. And I've seen you naked. What's the difference?"

God, he was cute. "You're killing me with logic, dude."

He grinned.

Keeping my eyes locked on his, I slowly unzipped my skirt, making sure to turn around and wiggle a little when I slipped it over my butt to reveal the blue swim shorts beneath that hugged my hips.

When I faced him, a delicious thrill went through me a seeing the way his eyes had grown wide and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Leaning close, I spoke in a low voice. "Race you."

And I was off.

Laughing, I ran into the water, then screamed when I got knee-deep. "It's cold!"

Leo caught up with me and kept going, then dove in when the water reached his waist. But I wasn't going to let him be the only brave one, so I followed. Soon, I skimmed through the clear Gulf, shutting my eyes because of my contact lenses. Swimming furiously, I propelled myself forward with mighty strokes. I'd been on the swim team in high school, and I'd even won medals and been called a powerhouse.

I undulated my body like a dolphin, swimming fast. Then my head hit something. Something both soft and hard. Something wonderful.

I promptly surfaced, slicking back my wet hair. Leo was in front of me and laughing as I opened my eyes. My feet floated to the sandy bottom. We were in water up to my shoulders.

"Did I just swim into you? I'm sorry," I laughed, gasping for breath.

"I think you were trying to drown me," he said. "Your head's pretty hard. I might not be able to have children if you had hit me any lower."

I floated over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Sorry."

We laughed hard as I treaded water.

"Chilly?" Leo asked.

"A little, I guess." My teeth were chattering some, but not really from the air or the water temperature. It was from the sight of Leo's brown skin, his muscles around his shoulders, his perfectly shaped mouth.

Our eyes locked. I stopped moving and stood in front of him, my toes digging into the soft sand beneath.

My voice took on a mock seriousness. "There are predators in the water here. Sharks. Stingrays. Jellyfish."

"I can think of an even bigger predator," Leo said. Then he growled and moved playfully toward me.

I yelped, swimming away. This was what I wanted: him chasing me, catching me, and never letting go.

I giggled and yelped out loud as I swam away. Soon, he caught up and pulled my body to his. I melted into him. His front pressed against my back, and he encircled me with his strong arms. I was tall and broad, but he was bigger, and the feeling of being buoyant in the water and small in his arms was so damn wonderful.

"Caught you," he said softly in my ear.

We were in pretty deep water still, but he held me with ease. We bobbed for a while, legs entwined.

"It feels amazing to be with you again," I said, turning my head.

He kissed my cheek. "Yeah. It does. Absolutely amazing. I'm kind of shocked we haven't made it even better."

I laughed. "You mean, you're surprised we haven't slept together?"

"Yep. I mean, before we were together...what, two weeks? It took us about eight days to work up the courage to get together, and then how many times did we...?"

"Have sex?" I loved how we were finishing each other's sentences a lot lately. "I don't even remember. We were so creative. You snuck into my room, and we brought a sleeping bag to the beach..." I giggled at each memory. "We were crazy."

"Oh yeah. I was crazy—for you. Remember how we went into an empty guest room that one afternoon?"

I hummed in response. "When I was on top of you? That's a good memory."

"Mmmhmm. I've remembered it on many lonely nights." He paused. "Do you ever think we should have waited?"

I tilted my head and considered. "Maybe. We were young. I mean, plenty of my friends had already had sex by the time they were sixteen, and it seemed right at the time...I don't know."

One of his arms encircled my torso under my breasts, while the other rested on my stomach under my tankini top. Normally, I didn't like anyone to touch my midsection. I felt too soft and jiggly there, but in the water, I relaxed. He certainly seemed to like touching me. His fingers skimmed the top edge of my swim shorts, and I realized just a few inches more and his hand would be between my legs.

The thought gave me a thrill.

And an idea.

A sexy, naughty idea. One that made me nervous. Curious too.

I turned my head and kissed his cheek, my eyes darting around. There weren't many people on the beach this morning, and we were the only ones in the water. His hands and nearly all of my body were invisible. We couldn't have sex here, that was certain, but I was curious to see just how my muscles down there reacted to his fingers.

"Touch me," I whispered. I felt so relaxed in the warm ocean, in his strong embrace.

"Where?" he murmured into my ear.

"You know where."

He sucked in a breath, and one of his hands gently cupped my breast. His possessive squeeze sent heat down my spine while his other hand inched lower, stealing my breath.

"Like that," I whispered. "And lower. Please?"

He took his time.

My heart beating like crazy, I felt his fingers slowly, too slowly, inch lower. Goosebumps flared up my legs. Leo's hand slipped beneath my shorts, and the sensation of his finger parting me made me inhale. This was exactly where I wanted him to touch me.

And guess what? I didn't tighten or feel any pain. The realization, and the feeling of his fingers, made me relax even more and bite my lip in pleasure.

His finger slid inside. His voice was gravelly.

"Jess, you're wetter than the ocean."

"Please, Leo." My eyes fluttered, so I could only see the sparkles of sunshine dancing atop the blue water. Part of me was shocked I wanted this, shocked my body was allowing it and begging him to do it in public. The rest of me wanted to simply let go and enjoy.

I would let go.

He circled and massaged slowly. I gasped a little when he pressed his erection against me. Every nerve in my body felt tight, needy, except where Leo's fingers were. I could easily orgasm right there in the water, that was how talented he was with just his fingers.

He slowly moved his hand, dipping his middle finger into me. Then back to my clit. Then inside. It was driving me crazy. Yet I was reacting normally. My body was allowing him inside. That was the best part of all.

"That. I love that," I groaned. "What you're doing."

"I think I might love it just as much, babe," he murmured against my ear. "I think I want to put something else inside you now. I'm so fucking hard."

I whimpered. Couldn't help myself. "Please, Leo. Please don't stop."

He stopped. Giving a sharp breath, and a little shudder, he said, "Jesus, Jess. We've got to stop. We can't do this here."

My eyes snapped open. He was right. God! What had come over me? I'd been so eager to test my body's reaction, I was willing to let him do this in public. I pulled his hand out of my bikini, giggling out of sheer nervousness, and twirled around, a little embarrassed.

With no small satisfaction, I noticed he was breathing heavy. A rosy flush had spread on his sharp cheekbones as I buried my face into his neck and sighed loudly.

"This is driving me insane," he said. "It's what you do to me, Jessica. You make me want to do illegal things in public. But I can't keep my hands off you." He squeezed my ass hard. "I lose control."

"Tell me about it."

I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, my legs around his hips, and kissed him madly. When were we going to try to have sex? Soon, I hoped. Would my body cooperate? I finally had reason to think it would.

In fact, there was no way I could wait. Didn't want to, didn't need to. It was time to let go of the guilt from before, the shame of disappointing my mother and having sex as a teenager, of nearly getting pregnant because we'd been stupid and not used a condom that one time.

And I was finally ready to let go of the idea that I was broken or frigid or undesirable.

"I want you," I murmured.

He held my face in his hands, his gaze serious. Then he nodded, and I pressed my mouth to his, wondering why he didn't seem happier about it all.

____