by Zoe York
Dex willed patience. Moira was the sort of person he could take in small doses—infrequent, minuscule doses. “And I can’t imagine you having a minister as a dad.”
Katy gave a crack of laughter. “Moira’s a minister’s daughter?”
Moira bristled and her lips formed a pout.
“Then we have something other than diving in common,” Jack said in a voice so low Dex had to strain to hear the man speak. “My father is a canon.”
“Is that so?” Moira’s catlike smirk was back in place. She inched closer to Jack and placed a predatory hand on his thigh. “We should get together some time and…discuss theology.”
Jack turned beetroot and stammered something incomprehensible in response.
Out of habit, Dex caught Katy’s eye and winked. She started to smile back, then checked her reaction and buried her nose in the menu.
Aw, hell. Did Katy still think he’d joined Moira on the Indonesian trip because he wanted to jump her bones? Regret gnawed at his stomach. He’d been a fool to leave Katy behind in Ireland, an idiot to take the words she’d hurled at him seriously. After the miscarriage, she’d fallen into depression. He’d known that but he was struggling with his own smorgasbord of emotions. He should have given her a couple of days to simmer down, then tried to patch up their relationship. Instead, he’d hopped on a plane bound for Jakarta and buried himself in work. What a fucking idiot.
The meal passed in the usual jocular fashion. Everyone was hungry—including Moira—and they ate like proverbial horses. By eight o’clock, the rigors of the day were catching up with them. Every member of the team, including the normally indefatigable Bill, was wilting and keen to call it a night.
Outside the pub, Rick addressed the team. “Be back at the boat tomorrow by seven o’clock. Currents will be dicier earlier in the morning. If we manage a dive and salvage some more artifacts, we’ll have Mickey and Katy shoot some video clips for the local Lusitania exhibition. Now go get some sleep.”
Katy and Dex drove back to Seán’s apartment in silence. He was glad they didn’t have far to go because the tension was flaying him. He stole a glance at her in the passenger seat. Fatigue was etched on her delicate features, but she was making a herculean effort to stifle her yawns.
“Tired?” he asked, flashing her a knowing smile.
She stiffened in her seat, adopting her Katy-in-defensive-mode stance. “I’m fine. No more tired than anyone else on the team.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that you were. There’s no shame in being exhausted after today’s dive, especially if you’re out of practice.”
“I started training as soon as I heard I had a place on the expedition,” she snapped. “I’m as fit as any of you.”
He cast an appreciative eye over her muscular form and felt his mouth go dry. Hot damn she was one sexy woman. “I know you are, Katy. You’re a damn good diver and you have a nose for where to find salvage-worthy goods.”
“You’re a shameless flatterer, Dex Fitzgerald.” This time, a grin teased the edges of her mouth.
“No flattery required,” he said, pulling into his brother’s parking space. “It’s the truth.”
When they reached the apartment, Katy flopped onto the sofa, wincing. Then she caught his teasing eye and grimaced. “Okay, I admit it. I ache everywhere.”
“You ache?” he asked with a laugh. “How do you think I feel? I’m the one condemned to sleep on a too-short sofa bed for the rest of the expedition.”
“About that…” Her expression was inscrutable. Then she sighed and shook her head. “Who are we trying to kid? We can share the bed.”
A shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, but I am sure I want to jump your bones.”
“Katy…” His heart rate kicked up a notch imagining her naked. Even when they hadn’t seen eye to eye, the sex had been off the charts. Katy enjoyed sex and she wasn’t ashamed to show it. There wasn’t an ounce of coquetry in her. Every flicker of emotion she displayed was genuine.
Her adorable rosebud lips curved into a smile. “Come on, Dex. No-strings sex. That part, at least, was always good between us. We’ve been dancing around one another all day like animals in heat.”
He laughed. “You have a way with words. You certain you want to start something with me again? It didn’t end well the last time.”
“That’s why I said no strings and no promises. Just you, me, and a comfortable bed.”
He ran a practiced eye over her sexy little body. Underneath the military-style clothing, he remembered every square inch of muscular flesh. His mouth grew dry. Crap. He was a lost man. “Okay, Katy. You had me with the promise of a comfortable bed.”
— SEVEN —
In an instant, Dex had closed the space between them and cupped her chin. “You are beautiful.”
Katy shivered in anticipation, her lips parting before her brain registered their action. His eyes darkened and he lowered his mouth.
The sensation of his lips on hers was exquisite. A starburst of feelings and physical reactions made it hard to think, let alone breathe. It was as if the last year had never happened, like they’d reset the clock to happier times. She tugged him closer and intensified the kiss.
This was insane. Dex Fitzgerald was the last man she should get involved with, but he was the only man she craved. And boy did she want him…If Dex had written that note, it was in the guise of a warning, not a threat. Whatever side jobs he did for extra money, he was a good man, right? A niggling doubt tugged at her heart. How well does anyone know another person? Could she truly say with certainty that Dex wouldn’t hurt her?
He broke the kiss, jolting Katy back to reality. Heat suffused her cheeks. She was being ridiculous. No way would Dex harm her. He was a complicated man to whom a myriad of descriptive adjectives could be applied—both positive and negative. Furtive wasn’t among them. Whoever left that note in her pack did not wish to be unmasked.
“Was that good?” He ran a fingertip over her cheekbone and down her throat.
“Yes,” she whispered, craving more. “Don’t stop now.”
He chuckled, and the low, deep sound reverberated against her neck. “I don’t intend to stop, merely change our location. Do you want to go to the bedroom?”
“What? Dex Fitzgerald wants to have sex in a bed? Are you getting conservative in your old age?”
“Far from it.” He grinned, placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back, and propelled her toward the bedroom. “But this isn’t going to be a sweaty quickie on the kitchen counter. I intend to make this last.”
In the bedroom, they hit the bed immediately. His hands caressed her shoulders through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. She tugged at his shirt and inhaled his scent greedily. “I’ve missed this,” she murmured. “I’ve missed it so damn much.”
So much for keeping her cool and ensuring the sex was of the no-strings variety. One touch was all it took for Dex Fitzgerald to shatter her bulletproof glass enclosure.
“I’ve missed this too. What happened to us, Katy?” he asked in a voice choked with emotion. “When did we stop talking? We used to have so much to say to one another. All of a sudden, you shut me out.”
“Shh. We’ll need to have this conversation at some point, but not during foreplay.” She found his lips again, silencing him with ruthless efficiency.
Dex ran a palm over her stomach and under her T-shirt. When he toyed with her bellybutton ring, she drew in a sharp breath. It didn’t take long for him to tug her T-shirt off and toss it to the floor. She smiled at his obvious appreciation for her small-but-firm breasts, still contained in a bra that she didn’t need to wear.
“Perfect,” he murmured. “Just like the rest of you.”
“They haven’t gotten bigger since you last saw them,” she said with a dry laugh.
“So? They’re yours and they suit you. Besides—” he flashed her a bone-melting smile and unhooked her br
a in one neat movement, “—a mouthful is all I need.”
Then he claimed her nipple with his mouth and sucked her breast. Electricity shot through her body, igniting sexual desire in every atom of her being. She didn’t want this to end. She never wanted him to stop. Yet when he did stop, and trailed a zigzag line of kisses down to her navel, she gasped anew the instant he teased her bellybutton with his tongue.
He unsnapped the button on her jeans and tugged on her zipper. Wriggling the tight denim over her hips, she laughed when he rolled the jeans off and tossed them on the floor.
She leaned forward on her elbows. “Now it’s your turn, Fitzgerald. Loose the shirt.”
“With pleasure.” His fingers flew over the buttons, and the shirt hit the floor.
Katy propped her head up and enjoyed the view. Same six-pack abs, rock-hard torso, and sexy sprinkling of dark chest hair. His arm muscles were well developed from frequent dives and regular training sessions.
“You approve?” His amused smile warmed her belly.
“Definitely. But I’d approve even more if you lost your pants.”
“Uh, uh. Not going to happen. Tonight is all about you.” With those intriguing words, he climbed on top of her, kissed her thoroughly, and began a tantalizing descent south.
Each kiss brought him closer to his target. Katy’s clit tingled and her pelvis ached with need. And then he completely ignored the entire area and skipped to her toes. “Not fair,” she said, outraged.
His deep laugh tickled her feet. Trailing kisses up her calves, he paused to tease behind her knee, sending a shock of awareness straight to her groin. She felt wet between her legs—wet, slick, ready.
Dex’s mouth moved north to the tender flesh of her inner thighs. The sensation of his stubbled cheek against her soft skin was almost unbearable. Katy ran her hands through his hair, twisting dark strands around her fingers.
Finally, the torture ended when he claimed her clit, only to start again a second later. Katy pressed her head back into the pillow and moaned. Dex had many faults: arrogance, ruthless ambition, and a tendency to make light of situations she felt ought to be taken seriously. Oral sex was not among his list of deficits.
At first, she was aware of her surroundings but then quickly lost herself in mounting pleasure. Her breathing became shallow, her heart rate rapid. Man, she’d missed this. She’d missed him.
Dex used his tongue and stubble to maximum effect, every lick, every movement bringing her closer to the edge. Every time she neared climax, he retreated, only to renew the exquisite torture a few moments later.
“You’re an evil man,” she murmured when he stopped for the nth time. “Just let me come already.”
He buried his face into her neck and tickled her with his laughter. “Hell, no. Torturing you is fun.”
She gave him the stink-eye. “You were totally the kid who made his candy last.”
“On the contrary. I’ve learned patience over the years.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Now, Miss Katy, where’s your vibrator?”
Her attempt at feigning indignation only made him laugh harder.
“I know you have one. I read a magazine article on the plane back from Australia. It claimed that ninety-nine percent of modern women own a vibrator.”
“What makes you think I’m not the one percent?”
He looked her up and down and snorted with laughter. “Are you going to make me search your bags?”
“Oh, all right. It’s in a pink case at the bottom of my backpack.”
His eyebrows arched. “I didn’t think you did pink.”
“Vibrators don’t tend to come emblazoned with the Jolly Roger,” she said dryly.
Dex located the sex toy and returned to the bed. His eyes bugged at the sight of the neon pink rabbit. “Holy crap. This thing is huge.”
Katy pushed herself up on her elbows. “Poor little Dex. Are you feeling insecure?”
He grinned the wide smile of a man who knew he had no reason to worry about his size. “Not in the least. Now lie down.”
She obeyed and struggled not to crack up at his expression of dismay when he caught sight of all the buttons.
“Who knew the female orgasm was this complicated?”
“You manage complex diving equipment on a daily basis, Dex. Don’t tell me you’re defeated by a vibrator.”
“How do I turn this thing on?” He hit the silver button that put the vibrator on maximum power. The pulsating rubber shaft shot out of his hand and flew across the room.
Katy dissolved in giggles. “I didn’t think I’d need to bring the manual on this trip.”
He scrambled to retrieve the still vibrating sex toy. “What’s this powered with? Nuclear energy?”
“Come over here and I’ll show you how to use it.” When he handed her the silky-soft silicone toy, she closed her fingers over his. “I didn’t mean I’d do the work and you’d watch. I’m going to guide you through all the buttons.”
After positioning the vibration the way she preferred, she directed his finger toward the middle setting. “The lower button is better to start, but you’ve already done a fine job at turning me on.”
When the rabbit began to whir, she moaned in pleasure. “Move it around a little.”
“Like this?” The circular motion made her cry out.
“Yeah. Exactly like that.”
With his free hand, he massaged her breasts, tweaking each nipple in turn. The roughness of his palm against her skin made her blood hum.
As the pressure increased, her heart rate accelerated and her breathing grew shallow. When her orgasm hit, she cried out in ecstasy. He kept up the pressure, letting her ride wave after wave of pleasure until she collapsed, sated, against the pillows.
“That was spectacular,” she murmured groggily. “So good.”
He kissed the base of her throat. “I aimed to please.”
“You succeeded.”
He pulled her close and she laid her head on his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath her cheek.
He ran his fingers through her hair. “I’ve missed you, Katy. So damn much.”
The feeling was mutual but she wasn’t ready to admit it. Not yet. “This is supposed to be no-strings, remember?”
She yawned and her eyelids fluttered. And then blissful sleep engulfed her.
***
When Dex woke the next morning, Katy was still asleep. Limbs splayed, mouth parted in a delicate O, hair wild. She looked adorable. He’d missed this so much over the last few months. The languid pleasure of waking up next to a naked Katy. The skin-to-skin contact that was so much more than mere sexual attraction. The sense that the two of them—broken, battered, and frayed as separate units—somehow fit together to make a perfect whole.
Katy opened one eye, then the other. A wide smile spread across her face. “Good morning.”
“Morning to you, too.” He kissed her softly on the cheek.
A shadow crossed over her face. “I guess we need to talk about last night.”
“We need to talk about why we broke up.” He pushed a lock of hair back from her forehead.
She scrunched up her pert little nose. “I hate intense conversations.”
“So do I, cupcake, but this one is necessary.” He propped himself up on one elbow and stared at her intensely. “I’m sorry for leaving. I should have canceled the Jakarta expedition and stayed to work things out with you.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Working abroad is part of your job. It was my decision to settle in Dublin and finish my PhD.”
“I know but I can’t help feeling we’d have patched up our relationship if I’d stayed.”
Katy placed a hand on his arm. The warmth of her skin on his felt good. “I was hurting after the miscarriage. I wasn’t behaving rationally.”
For a woman as proud and stubborn as Katy, admitting culpability was a big deal.
“You were depressed and I felt powerless to help you. Everything I said or did see
med to make it worse.”
She bit her lip and fiddled with the edge of her pillowcase. “You were the focal point of my anger. That wasn’t fair.”
“Losing the baby hit me hard, too.”
Every one of her limbs bristled and her eyes flew to his face. “Why? You didn’t want to be a father.”
“That’s not fair, Katy. We didn’t plan the pregnancy. It took me a few days to adjust to the idea of becoming a dad. By the time you went for the first scan, I was excited. And then…” he trailed off, his voice breaking with emotion.
“And then it was too late,” she finished for him.
Tension hung in the air, stretching the seconds into an awkward minute. Eventually, he broke the silence. “Where do we go from here? Were you serious about last night being a no-strings deal?”
“My answer to both questions is ‘I don’t know’.” She leaned forward and ran a fingertip over his early morning bristle. “I didn’t expect seeing you again to have such an impact, but I’m not willing to risk getting hurt again.”
Dex winced but she had a point. His heart was still bruised after their break-up. Whatever happened between them in the future, he wasn’t ready to pass up this chance to start over with her.
“Do you want to stick to the no-strings plan while we’re sharing the apartment?” he asked. “It’s okay if you change your mind.”
“Yeah. Let’s have fun and see what happens.” A wicked grin suffused her face, banishing the shadows beneath her eyes. “Now let’s cut to the important question.”
“Which is?” he whispered, heart beating a rapid rhythm.
Her grin widened. “Which member of the expedition team is the spook?”
Dex’s smile faltered. “What?”
“Oh, don’t play the innocent with me, Dex Fitzgerald. I know why you’re here, and it’s not for the love of the Lusitania.”
He laughed and squeezed her hand. “I fucking knew it. Who hired you?”
Katy shook her head. “Not telling. I know you won’t tell me who tipped you off.”
“Nope,” he said with a cheeky grin. “Professional discretion and all that.”
She snorted. “Sly, yes. Discreet, no. But to come back to my original question, at least one of our crew has to be a spy. Rumor has it that there was always a spy on previous expeditions in case the divers found anything inconvenient like, say, hard evidence that the Lusitania was carrying munitions from America to help the British win the war against the Germans.”