His gaze dropped and his eyelids flickered for just a second. His chest billowed around a deep indrawn breath. But he shook his head, a smile quirking up one corner of his mouth. “Pretty tits. I’ll see you at seven.”
Then he strode past her, leaving her standing in the middle of her room, wondering why she was smiling over the fact he’d walked away.
Dinner was a quiet affair. They barely spoke over their meal of pulled pork and spicy rice. She slowly nursed her second glass of wine, hoping he didn’t notice she couldn’t keep from staring.
Deke looked gorgeous, the clothing blunting the shape of the hard body they covered—white shirt with the collar open, sleeves casually rolled up to his elbows, and dark slacks. Anyone looking at him would note was he was in excellent shape, but wouldn’t have a clue about just how ripped he really was. Intimately aware of what the crisp cotton hid, she couldn’t stop the images of his nude upper torso from bombarding her thoughts, and her fingers curled, remembering the thick muscle she’d pressed against.
However, other than a murmured, You look nice, when she’d opened her door, she didn’t detect the same heated awareness on his part that he’d demonstrated earlier. His lack of interest was deflating really, since she’d gone to extra effort with her appearance. Her navy sheath hugged her breasts and hips. Her legs were bare except for a gleaming application of perfumed oil. She’d curled her hair into easy waves that brushed her shoulders. Her makeup was subtle, but she’d taken extra care with her mouth, lining it, staining it with carmine and glossing it—to draw his gaze and invite another scorching kiss.
You look nice. She’d been tempted to kick him, then and there, but instead, had lifted her chin and gave him a chilly glare. A gesture he didn’t seem to notice as he cupped her elbow and led her to the elevator.
Even now, she sat forward, the scoop neck of her dress displaying the rounded tops of her breasts. His gaze had flicked over her, but once again turned toward the view of the ocean. Moonlight sparkling on rippling waves was pretty enough, but seriously?
Her muscles tight with irritation, she turned to stare at the dark ocean. Was he wishing he was a million miles away? She’d never been in this position with a man before. Not that she expected him to be entranced or anything, but a little healthy interest would have gone a long way to soothing her bruised ego. She knew she looked better than nice.
With any other date, she would have been busy fielding innuendos, flirting with desire, while she decided whether she was truly interested enough to accept the guy into her bed. In her work at the bank, she met plenty of eligible, attractive men from all walks of life. Firemen, business men, lawyers, doctors—everyone applied for a loan at some time, and she had never been a shy woman. If she was attracted, she followed that attraction until the man proved to be a toad. Her last boyfriend had outlasted the others. He’d been a nice man but her desire for him, beyond companionship, hadn’t grown. She’d never felt the intense attraction she felt for the man sitting quietly across from the table and ignoring her this very moment.
“Your father says you’re staying a week.”
Watching him from the corner of her eye while she pretended to look at the water, she said, “Are you hoping I’ll cut my vacation short? Do you have plans I’m ruining?” Maybe her tone was a bit too snippy, but the first night of her vacation was turning into a flaming dud. Her hopes dashed. The most attractive man she’d ever seen in the flesh wasn’t feeling the heat like she was.
“I’m attempting polite conversation.”
The stiffness of his tone pulled her attention back to his face. His eyes were narrowed. A dark look that made her heart skip a beat. Anger was better than boredom. She jutted out her chin. “If you want to be polite, you could start by complimenting me. I went to a lot of effort to look this good.”
He blinked and the corners of his mouth curved upward. “I said you looked nice.”
“Nice is something you tell your mother.”
Leaning a forearm on the table, he pressed his lips into a straight line and arched a brow. “Are you angry with me?”
Nicky sniffed and placed her glass on the table, her cheeks warming from embarrassment. She sounded like a spoiled brat, but she’d never before had to beg a man for a compliment. Maybe it was time to end this awkwardness. “Thank you for dinner.”
“Don’t. Your father’s picking up the tab.”
The smile she gave him was thin and brittle as she gripped the edge of the table and stood. “Then I should have ordered filet mignon and lobster.”
“You should have ordered what you wanted to begin with.”
How can he be so calm? “What I wanted wasn’t on the menu.”
Slowly, he stood.
His height and breadth instantly made her feel overwhelmed and a little light-headed as she tilted her head to hold his stare.
“Let’s walk.”
Spoken in a low growl, those words shouldn’t have had the effect they did. Apparently, her body wasn’t heeding the warning bells going off in her head, telling her she’d poked a bear with a stick. Heat licked across her skin.
His hand snagged hers and he turned, tugging her behind him. His rapid steps didn’t take her heels into consideration, and she skipped behind him to keep up. He pulled her to a side door, which opened onto a white stucco staircase leading to the beach. Once there, he dropped her hand and quickly knelt, lifting one of her feet to slip off her shoe, then the other. When he stood, glaring down at her, he toed off his own shoes and placed both pairs on a ledge, then quickly unbuttoned his shirt.
Her breath caught as he removed it. The ocean breeze wafting over her skin did nothing to cool another jagged burst of heat as he unzipped his pants and pushed them down his long, thickly muscled legs. The boxers were a disappointment, because she’d wanted to see everything. The holster strapped to the inside of his calf was an unwanted reminder of his true reason for being here.
Before she could think to ask him what he was doing, stripping in the open, he turned her body, his fingers finding the tongue of her zipper and sliding it down. With a gentle touch, he moved his hands along her curves, smoothing her dress downward, but caught it before it touched the sand.
Without his asking, she stepped out of the garment, waiting while he folded their clothing and left it in a bundle next to their shoes. With both of them in their underwear, she felt somehow lighter, less affronted.
“We deal better with fewer clothes,” he whispered.
She agreed, but couldn’t manage to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth to tell him so. And because she didn’t want to do something foolish like beg him to make love to her, she gave him a sudden flashing smile and darted past him, running toward the water.
His chuckles followed her, but his steps were unhurried.
Feeling happier now that he’d managed to break the ice between them, albeit in an unconventional way, she dove into the waves.
She didn’t get far before strong arms surrounded her ribcage, turning and lifting her. She wound her legs around his hips and tilted her head, relieved beyond measure he was holding her again, and the hands gripping her bottom clutched hard.
As he opened his stance to brace against a wave, he let go of her ass, and his hands bracketed her cheeks. “Nicky Martir, you are beautiful.”
Her eyes widened. The way he was looking at her now, his expression so taut, told her how much he meant the words. “You couldn’t have told me that at my door?” she replied huskily. “You’d have saved us both a lot of aggravation. And we might have actually enjoyed our meal.”
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “I wanted to walk you backward into your room. Straight to your bed. I figured pissing you off was safer.”
Her mouth curved in a slight smile, and she pinched his nipple then rubbed it with her finger, watching as the tiny tip hardened. “We barely know each other. I know this isn’t smart…” She bent her head and trailed her tongue across the top of his shoulder. Ummm
…he tasted salty. “But I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to hold a real conversation until we get past this…” She traced his nipple again, and then glanced upward.
Shadow darkened his eyes, his features tightened, cheekbones and jaw hardening even more. When he bent his head, she met his kiss, opening beneath it, inviting his intrusion. No, begging him to deepen it.
Their second kiss went beyond simple intimacy straight to erotic bliss. His tongue stroked into her mouth, sliding along hers, tangling as his mouth suctioned to deepen his caress.
Her nipples prickled and spiked. Wanting nothing between them, she reached behind her back to unhook her bra, dragging it away and letting it fall into the water. Naked, soft breasts to hard chest, she rubbed against him while the kiss continued.
She mewed. He groaned. His fingers thrust through her hair and held her head still as he plunged into her, again and again. As they rocked against each other, gentle waves providing the rhythm, heat filled her core, and she nearly wept when she felt his arousal, growing more insistent by the second, pressing against her center. He wants me. Again, relief mixed with joy, and she clutched his shoulders, fingers digging into rigid muscle.
Deke broke the kiss and rubbed his forehead against hers, breathing hard.
His hand still gripped her hair, and he was pulling, causing a delicious ache in her scalp and neck. She eased back and closed her eyes. Hoping he was staring at her breasts, hoping he’d decide to act on his hunger before scruples and his mission interfered with this delicious moment.
He grunted. “Someone might see.”
“You’re the stealth man. Did you see anyone lurking in the shadows?”
“No.” His mouth slid along her jaw. He bit her earlobe then nuzzled his nose behind it. “But I’m a little distracted.”
“A little?”
He ground against her sex. “More than a little.”
Yes, little wasn’t what she was feeling. She told him so, which elicited a choked laugh.
“Let’s get back to your room.”
Afraid one of them would have another attack of conscience if they paused, she shook her head. “Here. Now.”
“I promise you don’t want sand getting anywhere it doesn’t belong.”
“What about the chaises beside the cabana?” she whispered. “No one will see.”
He kissed her hard, and then let her down until her feet touched the sandy bottom. Together, they ran out of the water. Deliciously aware her naked breasts bounced, she wished they were both nude. Both completely free.
Deke pulled a chaise behind the little building and managed to sneak out a towel from beneath the metal curtain guarding the bar. After he laid it on the chaise, he held out his hand, a silent command for her to come closer.
A feeling unlike anything she’d ever felt before washed over. Her eyes lowered, shyness and excitement warring as she obeyed. Something in the tightening of his face, in the intensity of his dark, shadowed stare made her feel small and lusciously feminine. She wanted him in control. Wanted him in complete charge of their pleasure. Responding to the gentle pressure of his hands on her shoulders, she sank onto the chaise, following his lead as he placed her hands beside her head, as he spread her thighs and lifted her knees.
She’d never been this acquiescent, this submissive, but she was as eager to please him as she was for him to surprise her. At this moment, she’d give him anything if only he’d ease the terrible ache growing in her core.
His hands pressed on her inner thighs, opening them wider, and she moaned, turning her head, because even in moonlight, he might read some of the intense emotions flooding her.
A finger glided over the tip of a breast. Then he plucked it, pinched it. A hand smoothed up her inner thigh.
The sensations running through her body were almost too much. She’d been edgy and aroused all evening. When he slid his lips along her crest of her breast, she inserted her hand between them and covered herself, wanting only a moment to regroup and catch her breath.
Deke leaned back and raked a hand through his thick, wavy hair. “Second thoughts? We could dress. I’ll leave you at your room. This is your choice, Nicky.”
Breathing deeply to bolster her nerves, she shook her head. She’d never been this tightly wound. Her reactions were out of proportion to the intimacies they’d shared. Get a grip. Good Lord, how would she stand it when it he finally came inside her?
“I don’t want to stop. But I’m already coming apart,” she whispered, her tummy and thighs trembling. She reached to sink her fingers into his warm, thick hair and pulled him closer. “Please, Deke. I don’t want to wait.”
Chapter Three
‡
“Deke, please.” Her back arched, breasts rising, the tiny points shivering with her shattered breaths. Droplets of saltwater shone like stars on her skin.
Deke couldn’t help but stare. She was perfect. Lush curves, heavy breasts, and fleshy ass. Sexy as hell as she lay quivering and panting. Perfectly fuckable.
But her sexy body and aroused state weren’t the only qualities that drew him. She was willful and strong. Things he loved finding in a woman, because he knew he wasn’t an easy kind of guy to be with. Too moody, he’d been told before. But this woman had read through his bullshit and figured out exactly how to rope him in closer.
She’d lifted her chin. Challenged him. And from that first little gesture, right there at her hotel room door, he’d known he was lost, ruefully self-aware the question was just a matter of whether he would last all the way through dinner, or take her right there in her doorway.
Although doing so had nearly killed him, he’d played the gentleman, which only seemed to irritate her more. Something that secretly amused him. He’d have preferred ordering in and then feeding her by hand, watching her open and close her pretty mouth, feeling her suck his fingers with every morsel until they were both so aroused they finished their meal, feasting on each other.
A nice fantasy, but here they were. About to make love on oily beach furniture in the shadowed space between the hotel fence and the back of a tiki bar. He hadn’t wanted their first time to be something sordid, but she’d been insistent. At the very least, he could take off the edge before convincing her to move their sex play inside where he could treat her the way she deserved.
Hell, he’d been so eager to take her, there in the water, he hadn’t been thinking with his brain. His hands curled. They were in the open, vulnerable to prying eyes—an act she should never suffer. Exposed to possible danger. Fuck. He let loose a deep sigh. She would think he was a faucet, going hot and cold. She’d likely never speak to him again. He grabbed her hand and gently tugged her up to sit on the edge of the chair. “Baby, we’re going inside. Out here is not safe.”
Her fingers wrapped around the edge of the seat, and her shoulders curved. Her chin dropped to her chest. “Is going inside really for my safety, or are you playing with me? Are you a sadist?”
Ah, hell. Deke went to his knees in front of her. He reached out to cup her cheek, but she jerked away. “I’m not a sadist.”
Her mouth curved downward. “I guess I’m tired anyway.”
He studied her face, as much as he could see of it in moonlight. Her eyes were downcast so he couldn’t read her emotions there, but her breaths were shallow, blowing through pursed lips. Not a good sign. “I’ll go get our clothes.”
When he returned, she was standing, faced away. He placed her clothing on the sand beside her feet, and turned away to dress himself. When he looked her way again, she was closing her zipper.
At a loss as to how to salvage the moment, he fisted his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry, Nicky.”
“Don’t be.” She strode toward him, stopping directly in front of him then lifting her face to glare. “Today’s been…interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever been with a guy who could go from hot to cold so fast. I have to admit, I’m confused.”
“It’s not that I don’t want you.”
&nbs
p; Her mouth twisted. “I’m underwhelmed with that admission.”
He huffed out a breath, irritated with his inability to express himself in a way that didn’t make her angrier. “Dammit, Nicky.” He grabbed her hand and, ignoring her gasp, held it against his cock. “I’m so goddamn hard, I can’t think. I’ve been this way since you untied your swimsuit top and asked me to apply sunscreen.”
Her fingers trembled in his grasp and he slowly unwrapped his own, releasing her. But her hand remained snug against him, fingers spreading and squeezing. His cock pulsed, and he closed his eyes, savoring the sensation of being stroked.
When he opened them again, he found Nicky looking at him, uncertainty gleaming in her eyes.
“Is this all you want from me?” she whispered, her hand giving him another squeeze.
He shook his head, because he really didn’t know what more he could accept. Being here on this island was a job with a limited window of opportunity. When they returned to Virginia, they’d both go back to their own worlds. But his silent answer seemed to satisfy her.
She nodded curtly. “Good.” She dropped her hand, and stepped sideways, around him, leaving him as she walked back toward the hotel.
He turned and sprinted after her retreating form. “Wait. That’s all you have to say?”
“You want a poem? Hearts and flowers?” She gave a cute, girly grunt. “I’m not that kind of girl, SEAL-boy.”
His strides didn’t shorten as he caught up to her. He caught her hand and lengthened his strides, pulling her behind him again, eager to get her alone, because once she was safely inside her room, he didn’t intend to stop. Not until they were both sated.
“Like I said,” she grumbled. “Hot and cold.”
And back to boiling. He tightened his grip and walked faster.
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