Chapter 21

21

Cutter

Underwater, I open my eyes.

All I see is Piper's hair.

I start to laugh and we pop up out of the water.

She gasps and pushes at my chest to get away from me. She runs her right hand up her face to get her hair out of the way.

"I'm going to kill you for that," Piper growls.

"You have to catch me first, sweetie," I say.

I drop under the water and start to swim. I come up for air, look back and see Piper ready to attack. I know she's going to catch up to me. She's a champion swimmer and I'm some baseball player who uses the pool to rehab an injury.

Of course that's the point. I want her to catch up to me…

I swim hard and fast.

Piper is way faster than I am.

I stop swimming and turn, letting her come right for me.

She's on top of me a second later.

"I hate you," she growls as she jumps up and places her hands on my head and shoves me under the water.

Again… that's the whole fucking point!

I'm underwater and I grab for her sides. I pull her shirt up a little, seeing sweet and smooth skin. I touch her and then pull her against me.

Piper wraps her legs around me and eases up on the attempt to drown me.

My head slowly lifts up out of the water.

I blink fast.

We're eye level with each other.

Her body against mine. Both of us in our clothes, soaking wet.

We start to kiss.

Wet kisses. Chlorine flavored kisses.

I bounce my feet against the pool floor and move to where I can reach better. Still holding Piper. Still kissing Piper. Walking her into the shallow end of the pool.

"You brought me here to throw me into a pool?" Piper purrs.

"Yes, I did, sweetie. Worth it. I love seeing you wet."

"You're crazy, Cutter."

She's puts her feet on the pool floor.

I tower over her.

My hands are still up the back of her shirt, touching wet skin.

"You do know I'm not going to let you fuck me in this pool, right?" Piper whispers.

"Really?"

"Chemicals, Cutter. It's not some dirty movie. Tell me that's why you brought me here?"

She's getting worked up already.

All I can do is smile at her.

She's beautiful. She's stubbornly perfect too.

"What is wrong with you?" Piper asks.

"I already chased you away once, sweetie, I'm not running that risk again."

That makes Piper gasp. And it sort of shuts her up.

"If you really want to know the truth, I just wanted to annoy you tonight."

"Annoy me?"

"Annoy you with all the things you don't like. Someone making plans for you. Someone setting things up, leaving you without control. Then, yeah, bringing you here and throwing you into a pool."

"All that for this?"

"You're worth the hassle, Piper. Not sure anyone has ever told you that before. But I am telling you that."

I drop my mouth down to hers again.

My hands rest at her hips and I quickly pick her up out of the water.

I sit her on the edge of the pool. Now she's just a little bit taller than me.

I move my hands under her shirt again. Climbing up wet skin. Moving over her soaked bra.

"Think these cameras record all night?" I ask.

Piper laughs. "No. Not even close. I mean, maybe they do now. There was that possible security breach."

"So your boss could be watching us right now? Swimming in the pool in our clothes?"

"I'm probably fired by now."

"That's okay."

"Why? You think it's smart for me to lose my job right now? Or is this hero talk again? You're going to pay all my bills and spoil me?"

"If I say yes are you going to run away again?"

Piper dips her right hand into the pool water and splashes me.

I dip down, lift her shirt a little and kiss her stomach.

The move surprises her and she lets out a cry.

Her voice sounds sexy bouncing around the large pool area.

"Cutter," she growls.

"Just kissing," I say.

I keep kissing her stomach. She leans back on her elbows.

My eyes look up at her.

I playfully kiss down to the top of her pants.

Then I move back up. Over her belly button. My right hand wrestles her shirt up.

I kiss up to her bra and then nuzzle my nose against her chest.

Her nipple is a tight, hard bud, pushing against her bra.

I find skin again and kiss just above her left breast.

"Cutter, what's the actual plan here?"

I pull my mouth from her chest. "I just had to see you again, Piper. I had to annoy you. I had to kiss you. I had to taste your skin."

"Why?"

"Because I can't get enough of you."

Piper moves her legs and playfully kicks me away so she can get back into the water.

She throws her arms around my neck and I hold her with ease.

"I don't know how to pull this off, Cutter, but we need to get out of here and go back to my place," she whispers. "But you can't be seen."

"Does this make me your dirty, sex secret?"

"If that helps you sleep at night, sure."

"There's no sleeping tonight, sweetie."

"Okay, that's enough of the flirty stuff," Piper says. She then touches my face. "Get me out of this pool and drop me off at home. Then find a way to sneak around back and I'll let you in."

I smile ear to ear.

"Not that back door, Cutter," she says.

I turn to swim and Piper is on my back.

I swim to the opposite end of the pool, taking her with me.

We get out of the pool, gather up our stuff and leave.

As I'm jogging to the SUV with a soaking-wet Piper next to me, I feel something…

I feel two things actually.

The first is the feeling inside me. I should keep that shit to myself at this point, huh?

The second thing I feel is physical? Or I should say, it's the vibration from my phone.

I look at my phone and then look right at Piper.

Nope. Not going to let a thing bother me.

Even though I should.

It's not the first time the person blackmailing me has text when I was with Piper. It happened at the house I'm renting. When Piper asked me if I was married.

This text…

Okay, Cutter. Time's up. Did all I can to protect you from this. Remember, you chose this. Not me. Have a great night!

We get to my SUV and before Piper can run to her side, I grab for her arm and pull her toward me.

She spins around, a slippery, soaked mess from the pool.

She smells like chlorine and she smiles like a light from heaven.

I kiss her.

A very soft, tender kiss.

The kind of kiss that if she slapped me and ran away from me I wouldn't blame her.

Piper doesn't slap me. She doesn't run away.

Damn, this beautiful stubborn woman just melts right into my arms.

I trace my fingers down her back.

She jumps a little and arches her back, thrusting her chest into the hot shower water.

She puts her head back and sighs.

When I get to her hips, my right hand travels around and down between her legs.

I gently grab and cup her body, pulling her against me.

She's tender with warmth, ready for me, and believe me, I feel the same way too.

My cock is pointed up, pressed between our bodies.

Piper turns her head and smiles for a fraction of a second, then she looks nervous.

I understand her worry right now. It makes sense.

When you think about it in basic terms, she's snuck a man into her house to have sex with. While her son is in his room, watching a movie, falling asleep. It's far from the ordinary for Piper. In fact, it's never happened before.

These are all things she told me as I dropped her off at the corner of the street and she told me where to park and how to find her backyard.

It's been a long time since I ran down a side street, jumped a fence, and snuck onto a back porch to get into a woman's house for some late night fun.

There's something about us together though. This whole thing just works.

On the surface, which is all we need right now.

I curl my middle finger and rub her eager clit.

Piper rocks her hips, pressing her body hard against my cock.

I can't take it anymore.

I spin her around and pull her against me. My right hand lifts her left leg up into the air. I bend my knees and position myself right where I need to be.

Piper bites her bottom lip and interlocks her fingers around my neck.

Then she nods to me.

Oh, fuck, she's nodding… telling me yes… offering herself…

My feet are planted firmly and strong against the shower floor, defying all command from the water that I should slip and slide.

I thrust forward and up, my precision like a trained marksman.

I sink into her, fast, thorough, not stopping until our bodies collide.

She has all of me. I have all of her.

She holds at my neck with all her might.

My left hand slides up between our bodies and I cup her right breast. Hard. Tight. I breathe heavily, slightly growling. I look down at my fingertips as I clasp at her nipple with my pointer and thumb. I pinch. I roll her nipple between my fingertips.

Piper groans. "Easy, Cutter. I'm stubborn and mean but I'm fragile in many ways."

That sentence tears through me. The most vulnerable I've ever heard Piper before.

I move my hand away from her breast and dip my mouth down, kissing her. Gently rolling my tongue over her nipple. Softly. With care. With love.

Her hands dig into my hair.

I pump harder. Faster. My right hand moves to the small of her back. I feel her body fucking my cock as much as I'm fucking her sweet… delicious…

I lift my mouth up toward hers.

Then I speak that forbidden word.

"… cunt…"

"What?" Piper asks.

"Your cunt, sweetie. It's warm and tight. I can't get enough of it. You're an addiction, Piper. A fucking addiction."

I thrust harder and hold. Lifting her up to her toes. Making her jump a little.

I grit my teeth. I'm in complete control of her.

She claws at my head and then my neck.

When she touches my face, her touch is suddenly soft.

I kiss her.

Her right leg wraps around my body. The heel of her right foot is kicking against my ass.

I kiss her. I fuck her.

Every few minutes the shower water gets cool but not cold. Then it turns hot again.

Piper ends up sliding her hands down and around my body, grabbing for my back.

I stand tall, towering over her, still thrusting.

I touch the tiled wall and feel Piper kissing and biting at my chest.

Suddenly, she's whimpering. No need for her to say a thing. I feel her begin to climax.

I look down at her and touch her face with my right hand, making her look up at me.

I stare into her eyes as they wash over with pleasure.

Piper Maple is the kind of woman you could fall in love with and not realize until it's too late.

She's wearing my same t-shirt again and nothing else.

Tucked in under the covers.

Sleepy, curled up, facing away from me.

I'm sitting over her covers, wearing nothing.

I have to leave soon, which means I have to wrestle my way into damp clothes and sneak out through the backdoor, make sure it's locked, and then run to my SUV, while hoping nobody sees me and calls the police.

I look over at Piper and shake my head.

"Cutter," she whispers with her eyes shut.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Just don't fuck this up, okay?"

I swallow hard. "Never."

I lean down and kiss her shoulder.

She drifts off to sleep.

That's my cue to leave.