by Marie Force
She immediately went rigid. “Um…”
“Relax,” he said. “I only want to keep you warm.”
“I’m not cold.”
Behind her, he smiled. He expected nothing less from her. “This way, you won’t get cold.”
She remained stiff and unyielding for several minutes before she gave in and leaned back against him.
Dan celebrated the victory silently as her hair whipped around his face. He gathered it into a ponytail and held back the urge to kiss the sweet curve of her neck where the straps of her dress came together in a single button that would be so easy to release.
“You’re getting awfully familiar,” she said.
The scent of her hair was driving him crazy. “Am I?”
“You know you are.”
“Is that so bad?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Let me know when you make up your mind.”
“Dan—”
“Shhh. I’m trying to enjoy the ride.”
Even though he knew she had plenty to say, she stayed quiet as she navigated the boat to the far side of the vast pond. He was intrigued to realize it was rather easy to see once his eyes became accustomed to the dark. It took about twenty minutes to travel around the anchorage.
“Isn’t that your friend what’s-his-name’s boat?” Dan asked.
“Do you mean Robert?”
“So now you actually know his name?” He couldn’t believe how furious that made him.
“Of course I know his name. He asked me out.”
“You…he…he did?” Kara laughed softly, and he tugged on her hair. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“Why not? You’re funny.”
“So…what did you say?”
“To what?”
Dan wanted to growl with exasperation, but then he realized she was enjoying playing with him. He liked her playfulness, even if it was at his expense. “When he asked you out.”
“I told him I’d let him know.”
“What does that mean?”
“I wanted to see how tonight went before I gave him an answer.”
Dan reached around her and turned off the engine.
“Hey!” She turned to him, as he’d hoped she would. “You can’t do that!”
Remaining seated, Dan released her hair and reached up to put both hands on her face. When she tried to turn away from him, he resisted. “Don’t.”
For a charged moment, they stared at each other in the darkness, and then he drew her down to him, slowly but purposefully.
“Dan—”
“Shhh. I had no idea there was so much riding on this date. I have to make sure you don’t want to go out with anyone else.”
Their lips met softly, tentatively. He was careful to go slow when every cell in his body was urging haste. This, he reminded himself in a final moment of clarity, was her first kiss in years. He couldn’t screw it up by demanding too much too soon. For the longest time, he thought she wouldn’t respond, and then her lips moved against his. When it dawned on him that she was kissing him back, he slid one hand around to the back of her neck to keep her anchored as he tipped his head to the right to better align their lips.
She was so sweet, so careful and so wounded. He couldn’t forget that last part as he stood and drew her in closer to him. And then her arms came up to encircle his neck, and he wanted to whoop with joy. Rather than do that, he painted her bottom lip with gentle brushes of his tongue, hoping she’d take the hint and let him in.
As the water lapped against the hull of the boat, he teased and cajoled until her mouth opened and her tongue pressed against his. He wasn’t proud of the growl that escaped from him as he took her up on the invitation for more. As the kiss deepened, she pressed herself against him, making the small space between the seat and the console too tight to hide his growing arousal. Without breaking the kiss, he eased her out of the confined area and backed her up to the center seating area that also served as a cover for the boat’s life jackets.
She shocked the shit out of him when she tugged him down on top of her. Who was this girl and what had she done with shy, reserved Kara? Not that he was complaining, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into her.
With their bodies now tightly aligned, Dan could no longer hide the proof of what her sweet kisses were doing to him. He pressed against her and waited for her to push him away. Instead, her arms tightened around his neck and her lips became greedier.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted anything the way he wanted her, and the thought of her going out with someone else was completely unbearable.
She arched her back, released her tight hold on his neck and shoved her hands inside his sport coat to tug his shirt free of his pants. The feel of her soft hands on his back had him gasping.
“Oh, sorry,” she whispered as she began to withdraw from him.
“No, no, don’t be sorry. Don’t stop. Touch me.”
Her hands slid from his waist and up his back to pull him back down for more kisses.
“I want to touch you, too,” he said. “Is that okay?” He waited, breathless, until he saw her small nod. Then he reached for the button that held up her dress and released it, peeling back the dress before she could change her mind. With a single flex of two fingers, he released the front clasp of her strapless bra.
Her rapid breathing was all he could hear over the roar in his own head as he exposed her breasts and watched her nipples pebble in the cool night air. “So pretty,” he whispered as he bent his head and took a stiffly beaded tip into his mouth.
She cried out and gripped his hair, holding him tight against her chest as he sucked and licked and tugged, all the while grinding his erection into the welcoming V of her legs. “God, Kara. I want you.” This was whispered against her neck in the second before he bit down on her earlobe.
Her hands were clumsy and fumbling when she reached for his belt and tugged it open.
There was something he meant to say just then, but the words died on his lips when she unzipped his pants and shoved her hand inside. On the verge of immediate release, he returned his attention to her other breast and tried to buy some time by distracting her. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Where was shy, reluctant Kara? And how far was she planning to take this? He hoped it was pretty damned far, because he wasn’t going to last much longer with her sweet breast in his mouth and her soft hand caressing his shaft.
Dan reached down to her leg, pushing it up and over to open her. Waiting for her to call a halt to this whole thing, he focused his attention on her inner thigh for the moment, all the while continuing to suckle her breasts. Determined to distract her, he drew her nipple between his teeth, biting down only hard enough to ensure he had her full attention. He took advantage of her distraction to move his hand higher and encountered a small strip of satin covering her mound. Holy Jesus, he thought as he moved the scrap of material over the dampness between her legs.
She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
Somehow he managed to gather his wits. “Kara—”
“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
“Are you sure?” The last thing he wanted was to deal with her regret in the morning and have to start again to win her over.
She nodded and stroked him again, harder than before, and all Dan could think about was sinking into her heat. With that in mind, he disentangled from her and quickly shucked his jacket, shirt and pants. Pushing her dress up to her waist, he tugged the thong from between her sweet cheeks and brought it to his face to take a deep sniff of the crotch. “Mmm.” He wished he could’ve seen her face right then. He’d bet everything he had that it would be bright red. In his wallet, he found a condom he hoped wasn’t too old and rolled it on before lowering himself to her embrace. “You’re still sure?”
“Yes.”
“Do you promise you won’t hate me tomorrow?”
“The only way I’m going to hate you is if you d
on’t hurry up.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. With her arms around him and her body arching into his, she was sending every signal that she wanted this as much as he did. He could only hope that was true. His fingers found her slick and ready, and when he focused his attention on the tight bundle of nerves at her core, she gasped in reaction. As his control snapped, he pushed into her while continuing the insistent movement of his fingers.
And then he was kissing her again with far less panache than he normally displayed. All that mattered was getting as close to her as he could while taking as much as she was willing to give. He hammered into her, knowing he’d regret being rough but unable to stop himself. Like a wave determined to reach the shore, the intensity built and built until it broke in a simultaneous release that had them both crying out into the dark night around them.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders, holding on for dear life as she rode the waves of her own climax, clutching him with tight internal muscles that had his eyes rolling back in his head from the sheer, unbelievable pleasure of it. Nothing had ever been like this, he realized as he floated back to earth to find her shivering beneath him.
“Cold?”
“Sort of.”
Reluctantly, Dan withdrew from her, reached for his coat on the floor and wrapped it around her. “Better?”
“Yes, thanks. There’s a beach towel under the pilot seat if you want to grab that, too.”
Dan retrieved the towel and stretched out next to her, covering them both with it. “Come here,” he said gruffly, needing her close to him after what they’d shared.
She turned toward him, her eyes wider than usual and her hair tangled.
He put an arm around her and smoothed her hair back from her face. “You promised you wouldn’t hate me.”
“I don’t.”
“Or yourself.”
“I never promised that.”
“Kara—”
“It’s okay,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m remarkably okay.”
He buried his face in her hair and breathed in her sweet scent. “I have another condom.”
“Is that right?”
“Mmm.” This was said against her neck and punctuated with a stroke of his tongue that made her tremble. “Should I get it?”
“How about we continue this back at my place, where it’s quite a bit warmer and the bed is significantly softer?”
Dan couldn’t believe she was inviting him into her bed. After months of mad, crazy crush, he wanted to pinch himself. “You won’t change your mind between here and there?”
She brushed a lock of his hair off his forehead, a gesture that made his heart stagger. “I won’t change my mind.”
“And you won’t go out with Robert?”
She stared at him, and then she laughed—a deep husky laugh that fired him up all over again. “I won’t go out with Robert.”
Relief flooded through him. “Then I’ll share my other condom with you.”
“You’re just too good to me.”
“I completely agree.”
Joe woke to his favorite sight—his gorgeous wife looking at him with those big blue eyes that usually gave away her every thought. Today, however, her eyes were closed off and shuttered. A ripple of anxiety traveled down his backbone. “What’re you thinking about over there?” He rested a hand on her belly and was greeted with a thump from within that made him smile.
“You.”
“What about me?”
She bit her bottom lip, a sure sign that something was on her mind. “Your mom has something she needs to talk to you about.”
Joe immediately went cold with fear. “Is she sick?”
“No, baby.” She caressed his cheek. “Nothing like that. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He released a deep breath. “What is it? Do you know?”
“Yes, she talked to me about it, but it’s something you should hear from her.”
“You’re freaking me out, Janey.”
“I know. I don’t mean to. I wanted you to be prepared, but I’m messing it all up.”
“Prepared for what?”
“Your mom… She loves you so much.”
“I know that. I’ve always known that. Sometimes I’ve worried that she loves me too much.”
“What do you mean?”
“She sacrificed her own life to make sure I had everything I needed.”
Janey reached for his hand and held on tightly. “I want you to remember you said that. When she tells you what she needs you to know, remember that.”
“As long as she isn’t sick or worse, I can handle whatever she throws at me.”
“Remember that, too.”
He wished she’d just tell him, but he understood that she was unwilling to betray a confidence. Since the love his mother and wife had for each other made him happy, he wouldn’t expect Janey to tell him something that clearly needed to come from his mother.
Joe gave Janey’s hand a final squeeze and got up to shower. As he ran a razor over his face, he reviewed the last few days, wondering if he’d missed something. All he could recall was her unusual reaction to hearing that Seamus had given his notice.
Was she concerned about the business? Did she know something about it that he didn’t know? He went out of his way to make sure she was never burdened by the business they co-owned, but he’d been away from the island a long time. Maybe something had happened and she’d waited until he was home to clue him in.
When he emerged from the shower, Janey was standing in front of the bedroom mirror, securing her hair into a ponytail. She looked so fresh and pretty—and round—that Joe took a moment to hug her from behind. He pressed a kiss to her neck and made her shiver. Here in his arms was everything he’d ever wanted but never dreamed he’d have.
She turned and slid her arms around his waist, above the towel he’d knotted at his hips. Her lips were soft on his chest as she laid a trail of kisses that ended at his lips. “I love you love you,” she whispered.
“Me too. So much.”
“Please listen to your mom with an open mind and an open heart.”
“I will. Of course I will.” He didn’t want to be annoyed that she thought he’d approach his mother any other way, but it did bother him that she was so concerned about him being unreasonable.
“Joe—”
“Let’s get this over with. You’ve got my stomach in knots.” He pulled on shorts and a T-shirt, sliding his feet into flip-flops. As he left the bedroom and headed for the kitchen, he was aware of Janey following him.
Chapter 21
Carolina sat at the table with a mug of coffee cradled between her hands as she stared out the window, lost in thought. The early morning light cast a glow upon her, and Joe realized she was still very pretty. Her eyes, however, were tired and troubled.
“Mom.”
Jolted out of her thoughts, Carolina glanced up at him, her gaze filled with unusual trepidation that did nothing for his already out-of-control nerves.
“You’re up early,” Carolina said.
“Janey told me there’s something you need to talk to me about.” He watched her glance at Janey and then back at him. “Sit, honey. Can I get you some coffee?”
“No, I don’t want any damned coffee. I want someone to tell me what the hell is going on.”
Unaccustomed to such an outburst from him, both women seemed surprised.
Joe immediately regretted the harsh words but not enough to apologize. He sat next to his mother, took the mug and covered her hands with his. “Tell me. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together the way we always have.”
“Oh, honey. I so hope you mean that.”
“I do mean it. Why wouldn’t I?”
Janey sat at the table and folded her hands in front of her.
Filled with trepidation, Joe looked from his mother to his wife and back at his mother, waiting…
“I… um, remember when Seamus told you he was resigning a
nd—”
“Is that what you’re worried about? I told you I’d take care of it, and I will.”
“No, Joseph. Listen. Just listen. Please.”
She only called him Joseph at the most important moments. Releasing her hands, he sat back against his chair, vibrating with tension.
Carolina cleared her throat. “He…he told you he was leaving for personal reasons.”
“Yeah, so?”
Carolina looked him right in the eye. “I’m the personal reason.”
Joe had no idea what she was talking about. “What do you mean?” He shot a glance at Janey, who was intently studying her hands on the table.
“Seamus and I…”
All at once, Joe got exactly what she meant. He stood up so quickly his chair toppled backward, making both women gasp. “What the hell are you saying?” he asked as he picked up the chair.
“Joe.” The single word from Janey and the way she said his name brought him back to earlier when he’d promised to remember what his mother had given up for him.
“What’re you saying?” he asked again, more rationally this time, though he felt anything but rational.
“Seamus and I…we…I…we have feelings for each other.”
Joe saw red as he thought of the trust he’d put in Seamus, and to think, while his back had been turned—
“Whatever you’re thinking,” Carolina said in her stern mother voice, “it’s probably unkind toward Seamus, and I won’t stand for that. He hasn’t betrayed your trust or acted less than honorably or any of the things you’re no doubt thinking. If anything, I’m the one who’s been guilty of all that.”
Janey gasped with surprise. “I don’t believe that, Carolina.”
“Well, it’s true. He was never anything other than kind and wonderful to me, and in return, I treated him as if he’d done something shameful by caring about me. That was wrong of me.”
Joe gripped the back of the chair so tightly his knuckles turned white.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Carolina looked up at her son. “Would you please say something?”
“When did this happen?”
“Last fall. When I planned to come out here, but the boats were canceled—”