Love Me If You Dare (Safe Haven) by Kate Laurens Page A

ground.
    “What
are you doing, Kaylee?” Dylan asked, his voice wary.
    “I’m
being me,” I replied. My pulse began to pound, hot and fast, as I reached
around to unhook the clasp of my sports bra.
    “Kaylee.”
Dylan’s voice was harsh, tight. I flipped my hair out of my face and looked
back up.
    Something
pulsed in the air between us as I covered my naked breasts and slowly tossed my
sports bra on top of my shirt.
    “Kaylee,”
he said again, and I knew that I wasn’t imagining the need that colored his
voice.
    Nerves
skittered along my skin as I slowly shoved my yoga pants down my hips to pool
at my feet. I considered sending my purple lace panties down with them, so that
I was truly skinny dipping, but I lost my nerve.
    I
dropped my hands, then watched Dylan’s mouth fall open, probably with shock.
Before he could see much more than a glimpse, I spun and ran into the water.
    I
heard him groan, or maybe he was shouting at me. But I waded into the lake, the
cold water giving me goose bumps and making my nipples contract.
    Ducking
under the surface of the water as soon as I was in deep enough, I shielded my
eyes from the glare of the sun off the water and looked back at the shore.
    Dylan
was reversing his climb surely, steadily. My heart threatened to choke me when
I remembered that he wasn’t wearing a harness and that if he slipped he could
have broken his neck.
    “Stupid,
Kaylee. That was stupid.” I stood and started back, feeling ridiculous. I
should have stayed there so he didn’t have to climb down by himself. People
climbed in partners, didn’t they? If they didn’t, they should.
    But
he was at the bottom before I could climb back onto the sand. He turned, tossed
the rope he’d held against the wall, and met my stare.
    “This
is a dangerous game.” As with the kiss the night before, he gave me a chance to
change my mind, poised to take off his shirt but waiting for me to give him the
go ahead.
    “I
know what I want, Dylan.” What I wanted was to watch him strip, to see
that golden skin exposed just for me.
    Instead
I turned and began to wade in deeper, looking over my shoulder once with a
nervous smile, to tell Dylan that I wanted him to follow me.
    Though
the water only reached to my shoulders, and I could have stood, I treaded water
and watched Dylan stalk through the water. His T-shirt and track pants were
lying beside mine on the sand, and knowing that he was all but naked caused
something needy to coil tightly in my belly.
    “What
are you doing, Kaylee?” Instead of reaching for me, as I’d expected—and kind of
hoped—Dylan mimicked my stance, ducking into the water to his chin.
    “What’s
wrong with some change, Dylan?” My voice trembled, and I told myself that it
was just from the chill of the water.
    He
moved closer to me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath
misting over my lips.
    “Nothing
is wrong with change.” He replied, brushing his knees against mine under the
water. “As long as you’re the person you’re really supposed to be. As long as
you’re not just trying to keep someone else’s memory alive.”
    I
saw his hand moving, a flash of golden white sliding through the water. Then
his fingers were cupping the back of my neck, wet and cold and slippery and right .
    I
tilted my head up to welcome the press of his lips against mine. Instead of the
touch I was expecting, he pressed that cool mouth against my temple, the touch
tender enough to make me shiver.
    Pulling
me closer, he slid his lips over the plane of my cheekbone, along the line of
my jaw, then finally over to my lips.
    “Kaylee.”
He spoke against my lips, and the flick of his tongue as he spoke made me
squirm.
    I
moaned softly in response, pushing forward until our bodies were aligned. Dylan
let a choked sound escape his throat when my breasts met the hard muscles of
his chest, when my belly pressed into his pelvis.
    Slowly,
slowly his free hand clasped my waist, then played up over