Author's Note: There's some sexual content in this chapter, so if this bothers you, I'll get the next clean (well, sort of clean, lol) chapter up as soon as I can.
"Oh, come on." Lucas easily intercepted Sami's attempt to score a basket and began dribbling the basket-ball back up to the other side of the court, "You're not even trying, are you?"
Sami jogged lightly to catch up with Lucas, wiping the layer of sweat covering her forehead away with one hand. The rays from the hot Florida sun beat down on Sami, causing her skin to heat up to an almost unbearable level. She couldn't understand why Lucas would want to be playing basketball on the outdoor basketball court at the hotel instead of doing something enjoyable that wasn't painful. He was right, he had to be a masochist, which meant she was one too for actually agreeing to play with him. She didn't even like basketball. Besides, the sight of Lucas in that pair of jogging shorts with his tanned, sweaty chest bared was driving all thoughts related to basketball right out of her mind. She was also almost positive that the sun wasn't the only thing causing her temperature to raise.
She positioned herself in front of Lucas and made a half-hearted swipe at the ball, "Are you sure you don't want to do something else?"
Lucas grinned, bouncing the ball further away from Sami's reach, "What's wrong? Are you upset that I'm winning?"
"No." Sami grumbled, making another attempt to take the ball away from him.
"I think you are." Lucas mocked her, "I know how much you hate to lose anything. Maybe you're just jealous because I got the moves and you don't."
"Um, no, not really." Sami shot back, her eyes leaving the ball and focussing on his chest. She was almost mesmerized, watching as a tiny drop of sweat trickled down his stomach and disappeared into the material of his shorts. His entire chest was covered in a light sheen of sweat and she was surprised by the sudden urge she had to run her palms down the moist heated flesh.
"Sami, my face is up here." Lucas told her, throwing the words she had used on him on the cruise ship back in her face. Sami scowled petulantly.
"I'm not supposed to be looking at your face. I'm supposed to be getting the ball away. Which is exactly what I am going to do." before Lucas could react, she dove in and snatched the ball away from him. Laughing, she began dribbling back over to the other basket. Lucas hurried after her. He came up behind her and reached around to try and grab the ball. Sami stopped dribbling and held the ball tightly, backing up until her back was pressed firmly against his chest.
"That's not how you play basketball." Lucas informed her, "You can't hold the ball like that."
Still laughing, Sami used her elbows to push his arms away from the ball, "If it keeps the ball away from you, then I don't care."
"Fine, if you're going to cheat, then I will too." Lucas replied. He stopped trying to take the ball away from her and poked her in the ribs. She shrieked and almost dropped the ball.
"Lucas, don't! You know I'm ticklish."
"Yes, I do know that, don't I?" Lucas proceeded to tickle her ribs until the ball fell out of her hands. Instead of running after it, Lucas stopped tickling her and his hands rested lightly on her waist. Sami stopped laughing when his hands slipped underneath the back of her shirt, his hands hot against her back, as if there was fire beneath the surface of his skin. His hands inched higher, smoothing along her skin until he reached the clasp to her bra.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sami demanded, trying to sound offended but her voice came out breathless and suggestive instead. She felt his fingers fumble with the clasp until it finally broke apart. He didn't respond, instead his hands slid around to her front of her body, slipping underneath the unfastened bra to cup her breasts.
"Lucas! Someone could walk out here and see us at any minute." she hissed, then bit her lip to keep from moaning as his hands ran along the under swells of her breasts, stroking her slowly and deliberately. His hands felt like two fiery brands against her already overheated skin and she almost collapsed from the heat his touch was generating.
"So? I think the chances of getting caught makes this so much more thrilling. Don't you?" he whispered, shooting hot breath against her ear.
"No, it would humiliating for anyone to see me out here with you like this." Sami bit back a whimper when his fingertips brushed against her erect nipples, "Lucas! Stop!"
"Stop what?" he asked innocently, the pads of his thumbs trailing down the curves of her breasts.
"That." she responded weakly, her legs shaking uncontrollably. Lucas seemed to realize how unbalanced she was and tightened the pressure of his arms a tiny bit so she wouldn't fall.
"Why?" anyone else would have thought he was genuinely confused but Sami knew him better than that and knew he was purposely making this harder for her.
"Because I don't like it." Sami answered, still not making a move to squirm away from him.
"Really?" Lucas' said blankly, leaning down to press a kiss into her neck. His mouth continued moving along her neck, sucking gently on the flushed skin. Finally, he spoke again, "I don't think that's true. I know how you act when you don't like something. You wouldn't still be standing here if you didn't like it. You like it when I kiss you, when I touch you, don't you?"
Her breathing was low and ragged but she didn't answer him. Lucas pressed his face against her hair, drawing the sweet, faintly-perfumed smell into his lungs, "Sami, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like that. But it's so hard to stop myself from touching you sometimes because you're so beautiful."
You are so beautiful, the words he had said to her that night in the cave rang in her ears. His hands slipped off of her body and she whirled around to meet the sincere, affectionate look in his chocolate brown eyes. Threading her fingers through his thick hair, she smiled up at him.
"I guess I can't keep denying it for much longer. I do like it when you kiss me and when you touch me. And I don't want you to stop. But I want to finish this in our hotel room, where we can lose complete control." her left hand slid along the sweat-slicked skin of his chest to the bulge in his shorts. She cupped him gently, causing him to groan.
"Sami..." his voice trailed off and he dropped his mouth onto hers again in a searing kiss. To Sami, it felt like he was devouring her completely with his searching kiss but at the same time it felt like he was giving himself completely to her, filling her with his desire and affection for her. Finally he broke away from her and grinned, "I just hope I can get you back up to our hotel room without losing anymore control than I already have." he mumbled, biting her earlobe. Sami smirked at him and pushed her body closer to his, bringing her head up to taste him again.
"Oh my God, you killed her!" Sami's eyes flew open at the sound of Jan's voice. She raised her head to see Lucas sitting next to her on the bed in their hotel room, his back turned to her as he looked at Jan and Nicole.
"I did not." Lucas retorted, "We were outside playing basketball and then she fainted. I think she got sun stroke, it was pretty hot out there. And no, Nicole, not like that. God, is that all you ever think about?"
Sami shifted on the bed, causing Lucas to turn back around to look at her, "How are you feeling?" he asked softly, using his hand to apply more pressure to the damp cloth on her forehead. Sami looked at him questioningly, trying to ignore the dull throbbing in her head and the waves of nausea washing over her.
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy and sick to my stomach." she lowered her voice so Nicole and Jan couldn't her what she was saying, "Lucas, what... happened right before I passed out?"
Lucas frowned, "Right after I started tickling you, you just dropped the ball and you blacked out. I was really worried about you."
Sami felt her already hot face growing hotter when she remembered what had obviously been nothing more than a fantasy. She couldn't believe it hadn't happened, it had all been so vivid- his touch, the feel of his skin, of his lips joining with hers. Forgetting Jan and Nicole were in the room, one hand reached up to brush his chair, before sliding down his face and finally stopping on his chest. Lucas looked at her in confusion while she swallowed hard, realizing how dry her throat was.
"Water." she croaked. Lucas immediately got off the bed and went to go get her a glass of water. Nicole stared at Sami with a mixture of concern and annoyance.
"You look like hell." Nicole said bluntly, "You better not get sick on me, you still have another three weeks of appearances to make with Lucas. I'm glad you finished the book signing at that book store yesterday, it would have sucked for you to go in looking like this."
Sami felt rage surge through her at Nicole's words. Nicole had no right to talk to her like that, not after what Nicole was putting her through. She had agreed to go on this publicity campaign to help Nicole, even though she knew it was going to make fighting her feelings for Lucas harder to do. And she blamed Nicole for all of her problems. It was Nicole's fault she was having these fantasies about getting to be with Lucas for real instead of just for show. It was Nicole's fault that it was killing her to know that until this trip was over, it would always be fake when she and Lucas kissed and held each other, even if deep down Sami knew it wasn't really fake to her.
"Get out." she said coldly, her eyes flashing hatefully. Taken aback by the look in Sami's eyes, Nicole took a step towards the door.
"Obviously she's feeling a lot worse than I thought she was." Nicole tugged Jan towards the door, "Come on, let's go." the two of them left the room and Lucas returned with a glass of water for Sami. He handed it to her and she quickly downed half of it without stopping.
"I shouldn't have kept you out there so long." the look in his eyes was gentle and apologetic, "I've had sun stroke before and it can be really harsh."
He pulled the cloth off her forehead and moved it down to her cheeks, then to her neck and finally to the skin just above her the top of her shirt. He was obviously trying to cool her down but he was actually having the opposite effect. It felt like the heat from his hands was transferred to her skin through the cool wetness of the cloth, causing her entire body to tingle. I'm not suffering from sun stroke, Sami thought to herself, I'm suffering from Lucas stroke. The throbbing in her head increased and Sami shut her eyes, willing herself to think about anything but Lucas Roberts and what his touch did to her.