Page 3 of Half-Court Heat (Hoops & Heartstrings #2)

Chapter

Two

W e took our time walking back to our room at the end of the night. An illuminated boardwalk hugged the resort’s sandy shoreline. Miniature lights marked our path and cast warm pools of gold onto the weathered planks.

Our steps were unhurried; we paused from time to time to stare out at the inky ocean, turquoise in the day, but now dark beyond the lighted walkway.

Eva’s fingers curled around my bare bicep, warm and steady.

She hadn’t let go since we’d left the restaurant.

She tugged her knit shawl higher up her shoulders with her free hand.

The fabric slipped over the straps of her dress, nearly the same color as the bikini she’d worn earlier, the one still seared into my mind.

“Are you cold?” I worried. A cool, ocean-kissed breeze swirled around us. The temperature had noticeably dipped after sunset, sometime between our entrees and dessert.

“I’ll be fine.” I felt the light, reassuring squeeze of her fingers. “You can warm me up back at the room.”

My tongue darted out to wet my lips before I could stop myself. She caught it—of course she did—but instead of calling me out, her thumb traced slow circles in the crook of my arm.

Another couple passed us, moving in the opposite direction—a man and a woman, arms linked like ours. The woman’s laugh floated in the night air, light and easy. My body tensed out of habit, expecting Eva to shift away, to drop my arm and put distance between us.

But she didn’t.

If anything, she tilted her head closer to mine. She continued to hold onto me, our shoulders pressed together. We weren’t just good friends or former teammates. This wasn’t something casual, either, something to keep hidden behind closed doors. This was real.

And she wanted the world to know.

By the time we reached our room, I wasn’t thinking about the cool night air or the curious eyes that had lingered at dinner. I was only thinking about her—and how I couldn’t wait to show her exactly how warm I could keep her.

The door had barely clicked shut behind us before her hands were on me. Eva pulled me to her as if we had only minutes, not the entire night, to spare. Her hands slid over my shoulders and down my bare arms, a mix of tenderness and need.

I managed to shrug out of my cross-body bag, letting it drop to the floor, just as she backed me up against the wall in the entryway.

We never made it past that wall.

Eva busied herself with the buttons at the front of my shirt while I pressed hot kisses to the tops of her naked shoulders. When she finished with the last of my shirt’s buttons, I spun us around so it was she with her back against the wall.

My eager fingers explored the expansive fabric of her maxi dress. The material was light, perfect for a tropical vacation, but impractical for intimacy. I gathered the generous skirt in my hands and purposefully passed it off to her.

I leaned close and breathed my command into her ear: “Hold up your dress.”

I took a few steps back to admire the view. Eva’s long, powerful legs. Her smooth, lotioned skin. The seamless underwear that hugged her hips and tapered waist.

“You look so good like that,” I murmured my approval.

She visibly trembled.

Neither of us really dominated the other in the bedroom. Eva liked to be taken hard while I didn’t particularly care for penetration, but that didn’t mean I naturally topped her. If anything, she was a power bottom who told me exactly what she wanted. How fast. How deep.

And I was a good listener.

I stepped close again to brush the tips of my fingers against the front of her underwear. My fingers gently passed over her slightly protruding clit through the satin material.

I smiled, hearing her breath catch and quicken.

“What’s that line?” I rhetorically posed. “Lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets?”

“Forget the streets,” Eva replied huskily. “It’s all about those sheets.”

I pushed the center panel of her underwear to the side. Eva’s eyes fluttered closed, and she let out a soft sigh. I gently ran my fingers over her exposed clit, feeling it throb beneath my touch.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” she quietly admitted.

I smiled, feeling a surge of confidence at her words. My fingers continued to dance across her clit, applying gentle pressure.

“You should have said something earlier. I would have fucked you.” I leaned in closer, my lips near hers.

“In the pool—I could have had my fingers inside you. Or in the shower before dinner.” I pressed a small kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“Under the table at the restaurant?” I suggested.

“Or maybe a stall in the restaurant bathroom? All you need is to say the word.”

Eva released an uneven breath. “Can’t have you thinking I’m some sort of nympho who can’t get through the day without your hands on me.”

“I don’t know why you’d want to deny yourself what you want,” I said pragmatically. I pressed down on her clit through her underwear and she shuddered. “But at least now you don’t have to be quiet. Now you can be as loud as you want.”

Her hips started to move—subtle at first, then insistent as I increased the pace and pressure of my touch.

I needed to taste her. I dropped to my knees on the cool tile floor and stared up at her with obvious adoration. Her eyes locked on mine, a smile of encouragement pulling at her lips.

I gently tugged her underwear down over her hips, exposing her pussy to my eager gaze.

Eva stepped out of the fabric one foot at a time, steady even in her excitement. I guided her back against the wall with a hand to her thigh. I kissed the inside of her knee and slowly worked my way up. Her scent—clean, sweet, familiar—filled my lungs, and I exhaled against her.

She threaded her fingers into my hair, letting her head tip back as I nuzzled into the juncture of her thighs. I licked a slow, deliberate line along her seam, then paused to kiss just beside it, teasing her the way she liked—gentle to start, coaxing her open.

“Lex,” she breathed. It wasn’t a plea. It was a warning.

I smiled against her skin. “I know.”

My tongue circled her clit, slow and rhythmic, and her knees buckled slightly. I caught her hips in my hands and pressed her tighter to the wall for balance, for leverage, for control.

Her breath quickened, short little exhales timed to the flick of my tongue. She grabbed my shoulder with one hand, the wall with the other. I loved her like this—uninhibited, not trying to be quiet or composed or polite.

“Oh God, that feels so good,” she breathed.

Her moans turned guttural, deeper, edged with desperation. I could feel her trembling against my mouth, the strain in her thighs as she tried to hold still, as if she didn’t want to come just yet—or didn’t want to come like this.

She pressed her hips forward, insistent, her body saying what her mouth didn’t.

And then her hands were on me—gripping, clutching. Nails raked over my shoulders, not to push me away, but to pull me up.

She needed more.

She didn’t need to say the words. I knew what she wanted. I wished I had packed my strap so I could fuck her against the wall. But we didn’t really need the plastic. My fingers could handle the job.

I surged up, crashing into her mouth, and she sucked my tongue into her mouth. I knew my mouth probably tasted like her arousal.

“You taste good, huh?” I said, honest and undone.

“So do you.”

Her hand slid down the front of my linen pants and beneath my underwear. My knees buckled when solid, confident fingers slid along my slit. Her hand was gone nearly as quickly as it had made its appearance.

Something wild and feral flared in my chest to see her bring those fingers, wet with my own juices, up to her plush mouth. Eva sucked her fingertips clean and made a quiet sound of approval.

My arm went around her waist. “God, what you do to me, Eva,” I practically growled.

Her stare was bright. “It’s almost like I do it on purpose,” she declared with mock innocence.

She grabbed the front panels of my open shirt and yanked me closer. “C’mon. I need to feel your hands on me. In me.”

I unfastened the clasp that had secured her halter top at the base of her neck.

The fabric slipped loose, revealing her breasts.

My mouth found them instantly—her nipples already swollen and sensitive.

I suckled and licked, tugging softly with my lips and teeth, and drew out the prettiest sounds from her equally pretty mouth.

My hand found its way back between her thighs, beneath her skirt. I slid two fingers between her folds, easing them inside with practiced care. The gasp she gave let me know she’d been wetter than I’d realized.

Eva moaned as I began to finger-fuck her against the wall. Her head fell back and her leg wrapped tighter around me, pulling us together so that our hips touched.

My fingers moved faster with every thrust. The sound of flesh on flesh filled the air along with our heavy breathing.

“God, I love your fingers,” she groaned.

Her breathy praise was my favorite sound.

“Deeper,” Eva murmured. “I want to feel you deeper.”

I obliged, sliding my fingers further into her as she gasped in response. Her hips began to buck against me, meeting every thrust of my fingers as she sought to deepen the penetration.

“Harder,” she breathed. Her eyes locked on mine, fierce and burning. “Fuck me harder.”

I gave her everything. I increased the pace and pressure of my strokes, feeling Eva’s muscles tense up in response.

My thumb found its way to her clit, rubbing gently at first, then with more pressure as Eva’s cries grew louder.

She gasped, a loud and almost surprised noise, each time I curled my fingers inside of her.

Her control slipped with every thrust. “Yes, like that,” she moaned. “Don’t stop, don’t stop ...”

The sounds she made—raw and unfiltered—were good for my ego, but they were also definitely loud. I hoped for good insulation between the resort rooms. There was no question as to what we were doing in our room.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” I grunted, my fingers never faltering. “I love how you feel around my fingers.”

Eva’s leg tightened around me, holding me in place as she rode my fingers with abandon. “Now, Lex,” she demanded. “Make me come now.”

I pounded into her with renewed intensity, feeling Eva’s muscles coiling tighter and tighter as she strained towards release. She convulsed around my fingers in a rush of heat and sound—body shaking, voice rising.

“Yes … oh, God… yes!”

The walls didn’t stand a chance against her cries. Let the whole resort wonder. There was no mistaking what was happening in our room.

And God , I hoped the night was just getting started.