“Good.” I bring her palm up to my mouth and kiss it, noting how her eyes fill with heat when my lips touch her skin. “That was a scary moment.”

“Tell me about it.”

“What happened, anyway?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, turning her head to stare at the waterfall. “One minute I was fine and the next, I was being swept away, along with the tide. I couldn’t get my bearings, I couldn’t rise above the water, and I started to panic.”

The worst thing that can happen when something goes wrong while underwater—panicking. “Glad I was there,” I say, knowing we’ve had a similar conversation already but feeling like it needs to be said. She’d come close to death that afternoon.

“I’m glad you were there, too.” She returns her attention to me, her voice going soft, as does her body, since she seems to melt into me. I gather her closer, my gaze dropping to her breasts, the way they’re pressed firmly against my chest, water drops making wet paths all over her abundant flesh. “I’m glad you’re here now.”

“Yeah?” I skim my index finger along her temple, her cheek. Her skin is sleek from the water and chilled, her cheeks and lips redder than normal.

“Oh yeah.” Her smile turns sultry and she circles her arms around my neck, her fingers diving into the wet hair at my nape. “You’ve made my solo vacation infinitely more interesting.”

“Same goes, princess.” I lean in and kiss her, her lips parted and wet, the inside of her mouth hot compared to her cool skin. I sweep my tongue inside, tangle it with hers, and she clutches me closer, her legs curling around my thighs.

I grab hold of her legs and lift, groaning when they wrap around my hips and I can feel her hot pussy press against my erect cock. I’d give anything to drive myself inside her, but I can’t. Not without protection. I’m not about to do something stupid and fuck her bare.

She rubs against me, little whimpers sounding in the back of her throat as she grinds her body on mine, and I know she’s trying to get off. No way am I going to let her find her satisfaction just yet. “Slow down, baby girl,” I tell her, my hand going to her ass and giving one cheek a firm squeeze. “You’re moving too fast.”

“I can’t help it,” she murmurs, wiggling her hips and nearly making my eyes cross. “You feel so good.”

“It’ll feel even better if you can find some patience.” I squeeze her butt harder, wanting her to get the hint, but it seems to only get her off more. “If you don’t stop squirming, I’m going to drop you.”

She sends me a challenging look. Brows raised, lips curved in a smirk, eyes full of doubt. Slowly, boldly, she rotates her hips, slips one hand between us, and grips my cock tight. “You really want me to stop?”

I release my hold on her, shocking her so much her fingers spring free from my dick, and I push her legs away from my hips, putting some much-needed distance between us. Damn it, when she moves like that, touches me like that, I can hardly think straight. And I’m always thinking straight. I’m the one who’s in control, not her. She tends to forget that.

So I guess I need to remind her.

“What the hell are you doing?” she yells, splashing water at me with both of her hands.

I swim away from her, drawing closer and closer to the waterfall. It’s so damn loud I can hardly hear myself think and the water is colder, helping my erection settle down some. “Trying to get you to slow the fuck down. Haven’t you ever heard of anticipation?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of a quickie?” she yells back, looking completely irritated.

And hot. Definitely hot. There is nothing better than watching a naked Lily Fowler swim around in a freshwater lagoon, all those lush curves on display, her expression full of rage. That I’m getting off on her like this shows what a sick fuck I am.

“Baby, you were rubbing against me like a cat in heat,” I taunt, because for some twisted reason, I enjoy riling her up, pissing her off.

“It’s all your fault, you know. You’re the one who makes me feel like a cat in heat.” She starts for me, diving beneath the water and swimming fast, straight toward me like a bullet. I turn onto my belly and put some effort into it, swimming as fast as I can, until I find myself directly beneath the waterfall. The water pummels me deeper and I struggle to swim away from it, opening my eyes to see Lily zoom past me like she’s some sort of mermaid.

Impressive.

She pops her head above water at the same exact time I do, about fifty feet away and glaring at me like she could slice me to bits with just her eyes. “You’re an asshole.”

“You’re only just now realizing this?” I push my wet hair away from my face with both hands. “I thought you had that all figured out when I took you on that death ride to get here.”

“Do you want to drive me away? Because I don’t get this.” She waves a hand at me, flicking water in my direction. “What you’re trying to do. Put a wedge between us? Act like an arrogant prick? I’m confused, Max.”

I tread water, watching her, her words repeating themselves in my muddled brain. She just called me out on my shitty behavior, something that hasn’t happened in a long time. My mama used to do it when I was still living at home, but that stopped once I went into the military and straightened my ass up.

Until I didn’t have my ass on straight and made a spontaneous move, trying to save the men in my squad and losing more than half of them in the process. I lost all control, something I rarely do, and it cost me my military career.