Sea of Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 4) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  Dane laughed at a joke Rob made and cast a glance back at Lacy, stretched out on the deck cushions with only those tiny triangular patches of cloth covering the parts of her body that were so fresh on his mind. Beneath her head was the sweatshirt she’d had on earlier. Her curls fell away from her face like heavy twine. The evening before, he’d wrapped his fingers deep in those curls when she’d been on her knees, and he’d guided her to touch him in ways he never would have if she hadn’t begged to be shown how to pleasure him. He’d never met a woman whose desire to please was as strong as her desire to be pleasured. Then again, Lacy was like no other woman he’d ever met, and he knew she’d be the last woman he invited into his bed.

  Now, looking at her lying in the sun, the curve of her belly moving up and down with each peaceful breath, all he wanted to do was love her. Need felt too shallow for the emotions that were burying themselves deeper in his mind with every thought. His feelings for Lacy encompassed love, adoration, inspiration, respect, gratification, and yes, need was a part of those feelings, but they were not the driving force of his emotions toward her.

  “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Rob asked.

  “Tomorrow?” Dane pulled his attention back to his friend.

  “We’re supposed to go free diving, remember? You delayed the tagging, but I got a message from Carl today, and he said our equipment would be ready for the dive,” Rob said.

  Damn. He looked at Lacy. She might be fine lying out in the sun on a luxury boat, but he doubted she’d be okay on a dive boat while he was underwater looking for sharks.

  “Yeah, I did forget, but I’ll be there,” Dane assured him.

  “Great. So, what’s the deal with Lacy? Fifteen months is a long time. Is she everything you hoped for? She seems like a really nice girl,” Rob said.

  “The deal?” Dane looked at Rob’s expectant stare and shook his head. “Every time I think I have her figured out, she throws me for a loop.”

  “That’s women for you,” Rob said.

  “I think it’s more than that,” he said. “I don’t know.”

  Lacy came up behind the men. “Are you talking about me?” she asked. She put her arm around Dane’s shoulder and kissed his cheek.

  “Not you—all women,” Rob said.

  “That’s worse,” she said with a feigned pout.

  Dane pulled her onto his lap. “Did you enjoy the sun?”

  “Mmm. It was glorious, and I’m not the least bit anxious,” she said.

  “There are no s-h-a-r-k-s here either.” Dane kissed her cheek.

  “Rob, I’m glad things are going better for you and Sheila,” Lacy said. “I look forward to meeting her.”

  “And you’ll meet my kids, too. They’re so damn cute, but they’ll pester you. Katie loves anything girlie—hair, nails, makeup—and Charlie is pretty quiet, but if you get onto a subject he likes, he’ll talk forever.”

  “I love kids. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” Lacy said.

  “So you work for World Geographic? You think you can help us get people to fund our research? It’s a tough job,” Rob said. “It’s like asking Hansel and Gretel’s parents to fund the wicked witch’s cooking classes.”

  In addition to Dane and his siblings having very successful careers, they each had trust funds. Their father would never have allowed them to grow up acting as if they’d had silver spoons in their mouths. He’d instilled in them solid morals and work ethics, and to this day, Dane tried not to dip into his trust fund to subsidize the Brave research. He was emotionally and physically invested, but he knew the only way to get the public to care about the oceans, and the sharks that lived within them, was to educate them and enlighten them to the value of protecting the sharks and, in turn, the oceans.

  “I think we’ll find a way to make it appealing. I’ve actually got a few ideas up my sleeve.”

  “Have you?” Dane arched a brow. You’ve thought of something other than me?

  “That is what I’m here for,” she said, leaning in to his chest.

  “That’s great. I don’t know if Dane told you, but there’s some question about whether the Cape has become a shark breeding ground the last few years, so we’re also looking for residency hot spots, which we hope will give us enough information to help keep the sharks and the public safer,” Rob said.

  “I think you can use that angle with your marketing, too,” Lacy said.

  They talked about Brave and marketing strategies for the next hour. Rob pulled Dane aside and said, “She’s a bright woman. I thought you said she was afraid of sharks. She seems comfortable talking about them.”

  “She is afraid. Talking and seeing are two different things,” Dane said with a smile.

  Rob looked at his watch. “You wanna bag the sighting then and go back in?”

  “I’ll leave that up to Lacy,” Dane said. They went back to the seating in the rear of the boat, where Lacy was sitting in the sun. Dane sat beside her. He put his hand on her knee and looked her in the eye.

  “Lace, we can take this next step toward helping you overcome sharks if you are ready, but if you’re not, we can go back in.” Dane searched her eyes, recognizing the flash of fear that she was trying to hide with her rapidly blinking lashes. Her leg went rigid beneath his palm.

  Lacy nodded. “I think I want to try. I just need to remember that I’m not going in the water with them.”

  “You control your safety when you’re in the boat, and I’m right here. I’ll be holding you tight, but we don’t have to do this. There’s no gun to your head, Lace. I’m so proud of everything about you. That won’t change at all if you decide we should head in. I don’t want you to feel any pressure,” Dane assured her.

  “I know. Thank you.”

  Dane took her hands in his. “Let’s go over again what to expect.” He couldn’t shake the worry that this would be too difficult for her. She couldn’t go near the sharks in tanks. How the hell would she handle seeing them over the side of the boat? He took a deep breath and continued. “Rob will throw chum into the water, and you’ll see it. You’ll see fish, blood, and a trail as we go, okay?”

  Lacy swallowed and set her lips in a tight line. Her eyebrows drew together and Dane felt tension stiffen her arms.

  “We may or may not see a shark, Lace. I don’t know if we will. Sometimes it takes hours, and other times…” He shrugged. “It could happen really quickly.”

  She nodded again.

  Rob put a hand on Lacy’s shoulder. “Dane and I are right here, Lacy. We would never let anything happen to you.”

  Now, that’s the Rob I know and love.

  She smiled, and Dane knew it was forced. “I know. Thank you,” she said. “Let’s do it.”

  Dane’s heart thumped against his chest so hard he was sure he was more nervous than she was. He moved closer, pressing Lacy’s body tight against his side, one arm around her shoulder, the other covering both of her hands in her lap. He nodded to Rob, and Rob went to work chumming the water. Lacy sat rigidly beside him. He kissed the side of her head. “I’m right here. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

  She stared straight ahead as she nodded, but it was her silence that worried him.

  “Lace, look at me, babe.” When he saw the fear in her eyes, it was all he could do not to turn the damn boat around and head for shore, but this was Lacy’s choice, and he respected her decision. “I just want you to know that even if you are never comfortable on a boat when I’m working, we can make this relationship work. That doesn’t worry me one bit.”

  Lacy let out a breath. She lifted her lips into a nervous smile, and an ounce of fear disappeared from her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But I want to do this anyway.”

  “Okay.” He nodded. “Okay. I just wanted you to know.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Rob gave Dane a silent signal, indicating that he’d spotted a shark. Dane looked over the side of the boat and spotted a five- or six-foot shark just below the surface in
the chum trail.

  “Babe, do you still want to do this?” Dane asked.

  She nodded, her eyes wide. “Is there a shark?” She grabbed his hand.

  “There is. It’s a small one.”

  She licked her lips, then pressed them tightly together and nodded.

  Dane helped her stand, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, her body pressed to his side. Rob came to her other side and put a hand on the small of her back. Then he and Dane both took a half step forward, so Lacy was tucked safely between and slightly behind them.

  “We’ve got you, Lacy,” Rob said.

  Lacy stared straight out into the water, but Dane knew her eyes were riding the surface.

  “Lace, to your right about fifteen feet from the boat is where the shark is,” Dane said. “I’ve got you, and the shark can’t hurt you. You’re safe in the boat.”

  She nodded and dropped her eyes to the water. Dane watched as she dragged her eyes in a slow line toward the chum trail. She sucked in a breath and pushed her body closer to him.

  “You’re okay,” he said. “He’s a small one, Lace. He’s too far away to hurt you. You’re safe.”

  She nodded. Her fingers dug into the waist of his pants.

  “You did great, Lacy. I think that’s enough. You saw it. Now let’s sit back down and head in,” Dane said. He nodded toward Rob.

  “Wait,” Lacy said, grabbing Rob’s arm. “Wait. I want to look again. I need to do this.” She whispered, “I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m safe. I’m in control. One, two, three…”

  Her shoulders were pinched tight and high, just below her ears. A deep vee had formed between her eyebrows. Dane held his breath as she stared at the shark, whispering her mantra and counting to ten into the breeze. Her heart thundered against his side.

  “Ten. Okay,” Lacy said. Clutching Dane’s side, she walked backward two steps. The words tumbled from her mouth. “Okay. Can you please get me to the seats? And can we leave?”

  Dane led her to the seats as Rob took them toward shore. Dane didn’t let out his breath until Lacy was settled safely on the aft seating. He knelt before her and rested his hands on her thighs.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, and let out several loud breaths through puckered lips. “I’m good. I did it. I’m okay.”

  The trembling began in her legs and wound its way up her body until she was shaking like a leaf in the breeze. Dane wrapped a blanket around her and pulled her into his lap.

  “You’re safe, baby. I’m right here, and I’m so proud of you.”

  She clutched the ends of the blanket and turned damp eyes toward Dane. “I’m not sure I will ever be able to be on a boat when you’re down underwater with a shark. I’m not just afraid for me, Dane. The risks…I’m afraid for you. But I can be on a boat when you’re not actively seeking sharks. Then I’m fine.”

  “Lacy, I’ll take you with me any way you’ll let me. We can make this work.” He kissed her forehead and held her against him, with one hand buried in her curls and the other around her back, until her body stopped trembling and his own breathing calmed.

  By the time the marina was in sight, Lacy was back to her normal self. She’d shed the blanket and stood in the middle of the deck with her shoulders back and a gleaming smile across her lips.

  She placed her hands on her chest and proclaimed, “I did it. I didn’t freak out.”

  “You sure did, Lacy,” Rob said. “We’re so proud of you.”

  “You never fail to amaze me, Lace.” Dane swooped in and twirled her around with a kiss. “You ready to blow this taco joint?”

  Lacy flashed a flirtatious smile at Dane. “You lead; I’ll follow.”

  The same words you used last night. “I’ve got some studying I want to do before we go to dinner.”

  The flush on Lacy’s cheeks told Dane that she was thinking the same thing.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  STUDYING. THAT WAS all Lacy could think about from the second the line flew from Dane’s lips. He was a fast learner, too. She stifled a smile as the memory of the night before came back to her. She walked away from the men, wanting to clear her head. If she didn’t hear his voice, she wouldn’t think about the things he’d said to her the night before, in the throes of passion.

  The dock was not coming into focus fast enough. Her body was pumping with adrenaline from seeing the shark. Thoughts of touching Dane were sending her heart into a state of desperation. Hurry up. Hurry up.

  Once they reached the marina, it seemed to take forever to bring the boat into the slip. Lacy went to Dane’s side, and he reached an arm around her, stroking the bare skin of her waist beneath her T-shirt. Every touch made her mind wander to sensual places. Every minute was a slow, treacherous drag of time. She didn’t understand why she was so sexual with Dane, but she didn’t want to question it, either. Once she’d found out that he’d gone eleven months without touching another woman, her whole outlook had changed. Eleven months. When she’d heard it, she’d wanted to dance around the room singing, He likes me. He really, really likes me! Eleven months was beyond what she could have hoped for, and now, as she watched Dane and Rob, laughing, patting each other on the back, all Lacy wanted to do was get him belowdecks and show him that she’d been worth the wait.

  Lacy watched Dane and Rob secure the boat to the dock, and when they were done, she touched Dane’s arm. His skin was hot from the sun. She wanted to run her tongue up his rock-hard abs and taste his saltiness. He flashed an urgent, hungry look from the dark shadows of his eyes, and the word savage came to Lacy’s mind.

  Rob gathered his stuff and stepped to the edge of the boat. “Thanks for a great run,” he said with a smile. “I loved your ideas for Brave, Lacy. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the strategic marketing plan.”

  Oh, I have a few strategies up my sleeve. “I can’t wait to meet Sheila.”

  “We’ll see you tonight,” Rob said as he stepped onto the dock.

  Lacy watched Rob get into his car and drive away. She turned around and bumped into Dane’s chest. He didn’t give her time to recover. In the next breath, his mouth was on hers, his hands pressed to her bottom, pulling her hips against his. He kissed her passionately and came away breathing hard.

  “I thought we’d never get back,” he said breathlessly. He pulled her toward the cabin, tugging her shirt over her head as they stumbled down the stairs.

  “I know,” she said between hungry kisses. “All I could think about—”

  Dane pulled her into another kiss.

  “Was studying.”

  Dane ripped his shirt off, then brought his full attention to Lacy’s body. Her skin was hot to the touch. He groped her breasts through the thin fabric of her bikini, and her nipples hardened beneath his touch. Lacy grabbed his head and pulled his mouth to her breast with a guttural moan.

  He wrapped both hands around her breast as he flicked her nipple with his tongue. She brought his hand to her mouth and sucked on two of his fingers, then pushed them beneath the front of her bathing suit. The minute he touched her, she wanted more. He thrust his fingers inside of her, using his other hand to tease her nipple while his tongue worked wonders on the other breast, sending need searing through her.

  “Lacy,” he whispered. Dane ripped her bathing suit bottom down to her ankles and pushed her up against the wall, spreading her legs with his feet.

  “Touch me,” she said, and he followed her command, moving his fingers in and out of her again as her every nerve grew hotter, more sensitive to his touch.

  “I’m gonna…” Her breath came in short, fast bursts. His hands moved to her ass, and right before she came, he lifted her up and drove himself into her—hard. She cried out, unable to control the lustful demands screaming for more between her legs. Her back slammed against the wall with each pump and thrust of his rampant heat. Lacy went up on her toes as he quickened his pace, his thighs straining against her. His lips found her mouth; his hand
s grabbed her cheeks, and he held her in a possessive kiss. He was claiming her as much as ravishing her. Their bodies slipped and slid, igniting a fire that ripped through them and exploded as a burst of light behind Lacy’s eyes and electric pulses between her legs. Dane met her release with his own powerful climax. He held her as he drew his lips back and brushed her sweat-dampened hair from her forehead.

  “When did you turn into such a temptress?” he whispered.

  Lacy felt her cheeks flush. “I don’t know.” Her breath came fast and hard. “I realized my fear was probably more of everything...” She took a deep breath, trying to gain control over her breathing. “Not just sharks. And when I let go of that…” She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, her lungs finally regaining control. “And let you into my heart, everything changed.”

  Dane leaned his forehead against hers. “You own my heart, Lace. I want only to protect you.”

  Lacy snuggled against him with her hand on his chest. Feeling his heartbeat against her palm, she realized that she’d been falling in love with Dane from the first moment she’d met him on the beach in Nassau. She had never realized that she might need protecting, but as the words fell from his lips, she couldn’t think of another person she’d rather have watching out for her.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  AFTER DANE DROPPED Lacy at her cottage to get ready for dinner, she showered, dressed, and read an email from her boss advising her of the status of her previous work and congratulating her on solidifying Brave as a client. You have no idea how solid Brave is. She called Danica to fill her in on how things were going.

  “I’m seriously the worst sister ever, and I’m sorry,” Lacy said when Danica answered the phone.

  “I don’t know. Kaylie has her moments,” Danica teased.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t called. So much has happened, and I don’t know where to start, but I know I owe it to you, Dan. I thought about what you said about letting his past go, and it’s like the minute I did that, all the fear and anxiety fell away.” Lacy put the call on speaker and began applying eyeliner beneath her lashes.