But the Wilson thing, that was worrying. Should he tell her outright about the shifter thing? Presumably, she already knew he could sense her and she could sense him. But had she picked up on Wilson yet? The man wasn’t a very strong alpha and wasn’t putting out a very intense scent.
“You should be careful around him,” he settled on saying. “Maybe not go off alone with him.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m in agreement there,” she said. Then she gave him a playful look that made him want to pull her close and kiss her. “But who will be my partner?” She gave him a coquettish stare.
Damn, she made it hard to stay serious. Or angry. “Me,” he said. “I’ll partner you.”
He only meant it for activities, but it seemed to mean more once the words hit the air, taking on a flavor that was slightly romantic. “It’s only for a few days,” he amended. “Not a big deal. I’m enjoying being out in the water anyway,” he said.
She went silent then, as if considering everything he’d said, everything that had passed between them. Maybe this female was more serious than he’d first thought. She’d seemed so flippant, whether she was stealing his boat or making fun of him for losing his captain position… or falling off the back of the boat.
But she was a lawyer. There was a smart brain inside that tenacious body. She pushed out of his arms and broke the magical contact between them, becoming that irritating female that was always in trouble once again. She swam away with a laugh.
“We’ll see. Maybe you and Wilson can take turns,” she said.
“Not if he makes a habit of touching you when you haven’t asked for it,” he said with a growl.
She turned back with a grin, a few feet away. “He’s not the only one.”
That was it. He swam after her and caught her again, taking her by the arm and whipping her back against him so he could take her lips in a hard kiss. She gasped in shock, but he smothered it with his kiss, diving deep, swiping possessively through her with his tongue, owning and claiming and letting her know he was a man who took things seriously, even if it were kissing some sense into the most beautiful, frustrating, infuriating woman he’d ever met.
When they pulled away, she was panting softly. There was fury in her eyes, along with something else. Something much more primal that called to him.
“Honey, you’ve been begging me for it from the moment you saw me,” he said gruffly, keeping a hand around her soft waist. “And if you pretend it’s the same with anyone else, I’m going to give it to you.”
She bit her full lower lip and gave him half a grin but then swam away once again, giving him no answer to his statement. He couldn’t tell if she was overwhelmed, like he felt, or if she just had nothing to say.
But he had a feeling he’d won this round, for the first time, between them.
* * *
Kim watched as the others took plates to the barbecue and then sat to eat. She’d gotten her plate earlier, scarfed down what seemed like the appropriate amount of food, and been brooding and nursing a single wine cooler ever since.
The breeze was cooling, the sun was casting beautiful streams of orange and pink and yellow across the darkening red sky in front of her, and the water was turning dark blue and reflecting the sunset.
And she still hadn’t forgotten that single kiss that had rocked her world.
Sebastien was nowhere to be seen while Bart was handling the grill. They were still anchored out here in the middle of this beautiful ocean, with nothing visible in the distance. Tonight, she’d be sleeping in a tiny cabin, not too far from his, dreaming of pulling his hair out of that beautiful ponytail and winding her fingers in it as she took his lips in a kiss in revenge for what he’d done to her in the water.
Not the kiss, but telling her she’d been begging for it. It didn’t matter that he was right.
She checked her watch and waited for the others to finish eating. Wilson kept giving her smiling glances, pushing his thick blond hair out of his face in an attempt at flirting.
The couple was a little standoffish. She got the feeling the wife found her threatening, which was a shame because she could have used a girlfriend on this voyage. She couldn’t wait to get back and talk to Mara. She pulled her phone out of her tote and checked again for service. Nothing.
She’d just have to wait until dark. She had a plan. One she was sure her handsome captain would object to, but she’d already figured out a way around it.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Bart sitting next to her with a plate of his own. The smell of grilled chicken lifted toward her nostrils as he cut in and chewed, looking thoughtfully out at the ocean. Where else was there to look?
“Don’t be too hard on the captain.”
She chuckled. “He’s not captain. You are.”
He laughed, a sound like a small dog’s bark, and slapped his knee. “You know as well as me that no matter who’s piloting this vessel, he’ll always be the captain.”
She laughed and put an arm around the smaller man. He blushed and focused on his chicken. He looked to be around Sebastien’s age, maybe a little older. But Sebastien commanded more attention and respect, and the other man didn’t seem to resent it, even if he did seem to be aware of it.
“He hasn’t had a lot of time for fun. His father wasn’t trying to be cruel or anything, but you can’t get the captain to enjoy himself. He’s been trying to run things since he was little. Since I was little. If he ain’t in control, he don’t know what to do with himself.”
She smiled. “I guess I’m a good counter to that.”
He grinned back. “That you are. Stealing his boat, falling off of it. Getting too far away while swimming. And other things.” He smirked slightly and looked away, and she realized he must have seen them kissing. Of course, since he wasn’t in the water, what else would he have been doing?
“No, no, don’t feel guilty,” he said. “I guess all I’m saying is whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
She smiled. That would be no problem. She even intended to start up again as soon as the sun was down. As soon as the others took to their cabins and were safely asleep. Then she’d enact her plans with the captain.
* * *
Sebastien was on his back, listening to the quiet sounds of the ship rocking at night, when a knock sounded at his door. He sat up a little too quickly and nearly whacked his head on the low ceiling.
“Who’s there?” he hissed.
“Shh…” a feminine voice answered as the door to his cabin opened. He grimaced. He should have locked it, but he didn’t think anyone would have dared to bother him.
But of course, Kim never held to anyone’s expectations. She was in the doorway, wearing another one of those sensuous bikinis that pressed up her breasts in the middle, in bright colors that complimented her smooth, dark skin and lush curves. And a low sarong about her wide hips. Her legs were long and toned, her stomach curved in like an hourglass, with soft fat on the front that he wanted to sink his hands into.
She was soft, womanly, and perfect, and he longed to take her in his arms and show her.
But she wasn’t for him, he reminded himself for the last time. She was a city girl, and he wasn’t looking for a mate. He wasn’t looking to be destroyed like his dad had been.
Still, he found himself wondering what just one night with this gorgeous woman would be like. One night together with no strings attached.
Now that was a dangerous thought. He had a feeling once he found a home inside that body, those arms, he’d never be able to let go. And that thought scared him more than anything.
“Why are you here?” he asked, standing and shutting the door behind him.
“I’m trying something I’ve never done before and wanted to see if you’d join me.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
“I’m thinking of going skinny dipping.”
He bit his tongue and then swore. “And you came to tell me this why?”
“I don’t think it’s safe to go alone.”
He folded his arms, shifting his weight to try to ignore the erection growing in his pants as he thought about her curves half covered by dark water, glistening in the moonlight. “Damn straight. It’s not safe either way, because I’m not going. It would be unprofessional, not to mention unhygienic.”
“Oh, please,” she said, taking a step forward to place a hand on his chest. He could feel his heartbeat hammering away beneath it and hoped she wasn’t aware of it. But when she looked up with a grin on her face, he could tell she was. “Like anything about the ocean is hygienic.” She played with the neck of his shirt, pulling it down slightly, teasing the hair of his chest. “It’s wild, untamed, exciting. And natural. That’s what people love about it.”
That’s what I love about you, he wanted to say. But it made no sense. All the woman did was frustrate him.
“But if you’re not interested, I suppose I could go ask Wilson,” she said, turning to leave.
“Like hell,” he growled. When she turned to him with a satisfied smirk, he knew she’d gotten him. But damn if he’d let another man see her naked curves in the moonlight. He didn’t know exactly what this was between them. Didn’t know why she was the first woman he’d kissed in ten years. Didn’t know why it drove him out of his mind to think of another shifter pursuing her.
And if he did know, he didn’t want to acknowledge that.
All he knew was she was his. Or she could be tonight. And if they didn’t go all the way, at least he could see her naked.
Naked in the ocean with a woman as free as the wind. The idea appealed to him. “I’ll change and be right out.”
“Change?” she asked.
“I’ll come out in my swimsuit. I’m not promising more,” he said.
“Tit for tat,” she said cryptically, winking at him before slipping out and shutting the door behind her. “I’ll be waiting for you in the water.”
No words had ever made him so hard.
5
When he slipped out onto the lower back deck and stepped down onto the swim platform, she was already waiting in the water. He’d changed quickly so she wouldn’t have to wait and because he worried about her out on the deck in the dark.
The others had exhausted themselves and retreated to their cabins, and he’d forbidden them from coming out in the dark before Bart knocked on their doors. They couldn’t risk people getting hurt at night.
But he was a light sleeper and tended to stay awake on nights like this, making sure no one got any bright ideas about night swimming without waking the staff. And he’d just been lucky that she’d decided to come to him first after all. Not Wilson.
There would have been a pretty intense confrontation if he’d found them together, naked. He gritted his teeth and told himself it was just about propriety, but as he saw her emerge, kelpie like, from the water after dipping her head under, he knew it was much more than propriety he was worried about.
He was worried about his heart.
He sat on the platform in his board shorts and watched her tread water. “Are you…?” How did one ask such a thing?
She shook her head and then dunked underwater, leaving her braids floating above her. When she surfaced, she had a grin on her face and a piece of material in her hand, which she tossed to him. He caught it with a stern look and set it on the platform. He’d only held it for a second, but he knew the feel of a built-in bra.
Warmth moved up into his neck and other uncomfortable parts of his body as he saw the tops of her beautiful, smooth breasts in the water. She was glistening, glorious, and he wanted nothing more than to get into the water and make her his. Like he was some cursed ship captain and she was some damn harpy or mermaid calling him to his doom.
She went under again and this time surfaced with the sarong, which she handed him. His mouth went dry. That meant there was only…
She went under again and tossed him small swim bottoms. He gulped and adjusted his sitting position. Damn, not a stitch on. He longed for more light so he could see her beautiful body fully illuminated. He could only make out the vague shape of it, the curves down to her dark legs that fluttered in the water. Her smooth shoulders glistened with ocean water, those gorgeous braids floating around her tantalizingly. He wanted to put his hand in them and pull her close for another possessive kiss.
She opened those full, perfect lips and her eyes glistened playfully in the moonlight. “Your turn,” she said.
He swallowed. It was now or never. Be the stern ship captain he’d always been who’d never allowed himself fun, never gone out of line, never taken a risk, or get in the water with this magnificent creature who pulled him to do things he’d never considered, feel things he’d never imagined.
He was a straight person, and his path had always been in a line. She was a magnet pulling him off his track, but he couldn’t help but like it, even as a part of him felt dimly that this was going to be his doom.
“Come on in,” she said, grinning and moving the water around, causing her breasts to rise and fall in the water in a tantalizing way that made his mouth dry. “The water’s fine.”
The cool ocean breeze swirled around him as he slipped into the sea, letting the cool water caress his skin as he swam toward her. With one smooth motion, he reached down, undid the tie of his shorts, and slid them off to toss them on the platform.
Her eyes heated and locked on his, then ran down the length of his body.
They were naked. This was stupid. He wasn’t looking for anything but tonight, and she wasn’t the type he was looking for if he were.
But still, he ran his hands over her smooth waist, put one hand in her braids to cradle her head, and pulled her to him, relishing in the smooth feel of her curves against him as he took her mouth for the second time.
Her body was warm and soft, plush against him as he made love to her with his mouth. He kissed her lips, her neck, her shoulders, all bared to him and salty in the ocean, but it didn’t matter. He kicked to keep them treading water as he explored her body.
His hands dropped to her chest, and he gently kneaded her smooth bared breasts. “You’re so gorgeous. You infuriate me in every way, but you’re gorgeous,” he said.
She wrapped her arms around him and leaned back, offering herself up to him. “I’m not looking for anything serious.”
“You won’t get it from me,” he growled, lowering to water level to lick at her nipple. She tasted salty, but it felt just right. He arched her farther back and kissed her navel, dipping his tongue along the center. The more he touched her, the more he tasted, the wilder her body felt, the more the bear within him roared for his mate.
But he knew how stupid it would be to answer that call.
She had her life; he had his. It wouldn’t do to pretend being mates would solve all of that. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t experience all this chemistry together.
She flailed slightly in the water, and he pulled her closely, keeping them afloat. “When you’re touching me, I can’t seem to focus on not drowning.”
His eyes grew serious as he made her a promise. “I would never let you drown. I would never let anything happen to you.”
Her eyes widened, like his statement meant something to her, like no one had ever said that before. The thought of it made him angry. This beautiful woman should be protected. She was strong and fiery and beautiful and precious, yet protection seemed to be lacking in her life.
He pulled her close and just held her. Was he really protecting her by taking what he wanted with no thought for the future?
She ran her hands over his shoulders. “I can’t promise you more than tonight, but I really want tonight. Just one night with my captain.”
He swallowed, still holding her, letting the cool water pass them, keeping each other warm with their bodies. What to do? The bear inside him ached to know his mate at least once, and it wouldn’t do to ignore his bear. But the human in him resisted a match
that made no sense. She was everything he wasn’t. She’d be bored with him for sure, and he’d get angry with her.
So why wasn’t he letting her go? Why was he dipping to kiss the shell of her ear? Why was he grasping her large, soft butt in his hands and wrapping her legs around his waist in the water so he could keep her afloat? What was wrong with his brain today?
Damn, his father was a good matchmaker. The problem was neither Sebastien nor Kim wanted to be matched. She didn’t want commitment any more than he did. The thought bothered him slightly, but at least it was fair. If she had wanted him for keeps, he could never condone doing what they were probably about to do.
But just one night with only the ocean as witness, the sound of waves drowning their passion, alone… what could that hurt?
Maybe a lot, but he felt he’d hurt more if he didn’t have it. After this, he could go back to the sea and she could go back to New York, and they’d each have a pleasant memory to treasure.
He took her hand and swam toward the little dinghy he’d brought out with him when she’d stolen the boat. That seemed like an eternity ago, when she’d only been a nuisance. His dad had tried to describe to him just how quickly the mate thing happened, but he’d never believed it, always thought his father frivolous and shallow. Not that he blamed him for what happened afterward, but he had to believe his dad had made some sort of mistake that could be avoided. Because otherwise, how could he prevent the same thing happening to him?
He imagined building a life with this woman, enjoying everything with her, having cubs with her, and then her disappearing one day. The imagined pain of it struck him down to the bone.
That’s why this just had to be a passionate night to lose oneself in. One where they both knew the rules and took whatever passion they could from one another while leaving their hearts intact. But a part of him wanted to know why she said she couldn’t make promises. A part of him realized there was a part of her that was just as trapped as he was. And though he had no intention of getting out of his cage, he found himself wanting to free her.
Some Bear to Love: BBW Bear Shifter (BWWM) Romance Standalone Page 4