Bring the Heat

by Margot Radcliffe

  After setting his beer on the ground, he dropped gentle kisses up her neck, loving that she shivered at the contact. No other boats were on the water near them today and he wanted her badly out in the open air where it was just them, the wind and the water. She took a sip of her beer and he drew her earlobe into his mouth, his tongue batting the squishy pad between his teeth as she began to squirm against him. His thumb found the line of her spine and caressed down the length of it, pressing in at each delicate knob and dip. “I like you a lot, Molly,” Oliver murmured as he tucked his hands under the bottom hem of her shirt and lifted it up. All that golden skin was revealed to him and he wanted to worship every inch of it. So he did, setting his lips to her spine and following the path his thumb had taken, his hands circling around her stomach to reach up and unclasp the simple white bra. He didn’t think there was anything sexier than the bright white cotton against her sun-kissed skin, but he admitted he was biased, in so damn deep with Molly that she could be wearing a garbage bag and he’d think she was sexy as hell. She just was.

  “I like you, too, Oliver,” she said softly back to him, and he wondered if she also wanted to say the other, similar, words like he did, but knew it was too soon.

  “You fucking better,” he warned.

  Her ponytail twitched as she shook her head. “Or what?” she asked, teasing but also genuinely curious.

  He waited, giving her spine a little lick before her head turned back to meet his eyes. “Or I’ll stop what I’m doing right now.”

  So he did, removing his hands from where they’d been traveling up her abdomen to her straining nipples.

  Her hands found his legs, the ones bracing her on either side, and squeezed. “I guess we’re lucky I like you a hell of a lot, then,” she said.

  He leaned in and took her mouth in his, their tongues meeting in a sweet and luscious sweep. Her arm reached back to hold him to her while his clasped around her waist and brought her back into his chest.

  “Shirt off,” she instructed.

  “You got it,” he murmured against her mouth, holding her gaze as he leaned back and pulled off his own T-shirt.

  He let out a breath of satisfaction at the skin-to-skin contact. Their lips met again and he threaded his hands through her hair, loving the small sounds of contentment she made that got lost in his own mouth. Dragging a hand up to her breast, he let his palm run over puckered pink nipples, taking one between his thumb and forefinger on the second pass, drinking in her gasp of pleasure when he pinched it.

  He’d had every intention of taking things slow when he’d sat down, showing her just how much she meant to him, but she was already hot against him and the arm she had around his neck was tightening with need that echoed in his own body. He’d been hard as a goddamn rock all day as they’d acted like a real couple, that everyone they’d passed assumed they were together, were in love. And he was so fucked because he’d loved it.

  He paid his regards to the other nipple and she gasped, making him grin. There was nothing better in the world than making out with Molly under the stars in the middle of the ocean. He didn’t know why he hadn’t been doing it for years.

  “We don’t have condoms up here,” she said eventually when his hands were on the snap of her jeans.

  He tugged down her jeans, her hips raising up to help him, and once they were in a pile on the floor he raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you think I’m the type of person who isn’t prepared to have sex with you whenever and wherever I like?”

  From his wallet he produced two condoms and flipped them onto the table beside them.

  “I guess not,” she got out before gasping for breath as his fingers slid into her heat. His own breathing deepened at the contact; he fucking loved touching her.

  “You might be able to fix things, Molly, but I’m the guy with a plan. And my only goal most days is getting us into the position we’re currently in, so yeah, so that pretty much entails having a condom on me at all times.”

  “Maybe that should be your next venture instead of building yachts—put things in clothing that are like secret compartments for condoms. That way you’re never without them.”

  He grinned against her neck. “Do you mean I should invent pockets?”

  She gasped and bucked against his hand when he slid over her wet clit, stroking slowly so he could revel in every millimeter of her velvety skin. “Just shut up,” she croaked out as he placed a single finger into her, crooking it against the little rough patch of skin, tormenting it over and over again until she was fairly panting, her neck straining against his shoulder.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he laughed before taking her mouth again.

  Pushing another finger inside her, more blood rushed to his cock as her wetness flowed over his hand. She was close and getting closer to letting go, biting at his tongue as it mimicked what he was doing with his hands. It was messy, it was awkward and sweet, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

  “Oliver,” she breathed as she shattered around his fingers, his thumb slowly brushing over her throbbing nub as he helped bring her back down to equilibrium.

  “I’m right here,” he murmured, kissing across her jaw and down her neck. “Not going anywhere.”

  She put her hand on his knee, leaning into his chest for a quick moment before shoving forward. Then she was twisting around in the seat so that she was straddling him, her warm, sated core up against his pulsing dick.

  “Hey,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re good at that.”

  “Thanks.” His hands came around her back and pressed her forward. “Are you going to thank me, too?”

  She shrugged, lips twitching. “Didn’t I just?”

  “No, you complimented my skill, but didn’t express appreciation.”

  “Well, if we’re being honest about it, you have done better.”

  Oliver wanted to laugh. She was so full of shit, but he loved a challenge. So he stood, picking her up in his arms, and took her to the deck’s metal railing, sitting her on the top rung. He covered her hands with his, securing them to the bars so she wouldn’t fall over into the water below.

  “Actually,” he said as he considered her before him, perched on the side of the boat. He wanted her to be a little out of sorts, but not truly in danger.

  So he opened a piece of the floor and pulled out a stretch of rope.

  “Um, oh,” Molly breathed, eyes surprised but definitely interested.

  “It’s just so you don’t fall off, Molly,” he assured her, motioning for her to stay on the railing. He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Trust me. Once I start, you’re going to be glad I did this.”

  She clasped her hands on the railing again and watched as he tied both her hands and feet down to the metal poles until she couldn’t fall backward into the water if she tried. Her legs spread wide, he stretched his neck back and forth in preparation.

  “Now,” he told her. “It’s my turn for dessert since you ate all my cake at dinner.”

  “You said you didn’t want it!” Molly exclaimed, her hands straining at the ropes. The material was a smooth nylon and wouldn’t abrade her skin.

  He sank to his knees before her, looking his fill at the prettiest, pinkest pussy he’d ever seen and feeling like every decision he’d ever made up to this point had been the right one if this was where he’d eventually ended up.

  “Shh,” he said as his fingers opened her wide, exposing her to the sea breeze whipping across the top deck of the boat. “This is what I was waiting for.”

  And then he went in, licking her entire slit in one deliciously erotic swipe, the sound of it laying him out flat. She was so wet now that she’d already come, her entrance puffed and soft, ready to take him, which she definitely would just as soon as he’d driven her to the brink of insanity. Stiffening his tongue, he speared it inside her, thrusting as
she moved against his mouth, her cries already being lost across the endless ocean surrounding them. It truly felt like them against the world.

  She was murmuring his name over and over again now, her knuckles white where she gripped the railing. She was a goddess, the moon illuminating her golden skin against the darkening sky behind her, and he’d worship at her feet forever like this if she’d let him. So he let himself go all in, his mouth devouring her as if it was the last thing he’d taste on earth. He sucked on her clit, her cries in his ears begging him for release, but he kept at it, taking her just to the edge and then retreating to her entrance to consume what he’d elicited, her sweet, tangy taste spurring him on.

  He explored every inch of her, the lips he was spreading, every rounded secret curve of her clit, the sensitive hood, nothing was left unaccounted for as he drove her mad. And then, his own cock throbbing in pain, he sucked on her engorged, slick nub until she screamed, her inner muscles pulsing around his two fingers as he rubbed her, heightening her orgasm so she’d never forget he was the one who gave it to her.

  Standing, he brushed a piece of hair out of her face, but the wind just blew it back so he tucked it behind her ear and left his hand there, his eyes searching hers.

  “Do you want me to take you here while you’re tied up or on the chaise?”

  Her eyes widened and her lips trembled as she said, “I don’t want to wait. Please.”

  Eyes closing, he grabbed the condom and ripped it open before stepping between her thighs again and rolling the latex down a dick that he’d never seen so hard.

  “You’re so damned perfect,” he told her, dropping a kiss on her nose. “Thank you for this.”

  Just as he hitched his wide head at her entrance, she seemed to come back to herself. “I’m just thinking about next time when I do it to you.”

  He eased into her an inch and took her mouth, biting at her bottom lip before growling, “I can’t fucking wait.”

  And then he surged into her waiting warmth—she opened up for him like she’d been waiting for just this moment to take his cock.

  He tried to be gentle, he really did, but she was clenching him from the inside and he was barely hanging on as she gripped and thrust against him just as hard as he was going at her, as if she couldn’t get enough of him. So he gave her everything, arms across her back to hold her steady against the onslaught of their joining. His balls tightened and his lower back began to twitch in warning, unspent desire brewing and bubbling in every cell of his body as he got closer to exploding.

  But there was no way in hell he was going before she went again; he was already addicted to her muscles gripping him at the same time that he came, that they were together, a team in crossing the finish line and glorying in the victory together. So he dragged his thumb across her sensitive nub again, loving her jerk against him as the pleasure got too great to contain. He thrust again and again until she started to break apart, her head thrown back and her cries being carried away over the water, and that was when he let himself go, shuddering against her and missing her hands on him.

  Still inside her, he pulled at the ropes, releasing them, and her arms came up behind him, holding him close against her as they both caught their breaths. When he was able to breathe normally, he undid the ropes at her feet and picked her up in his arms, carrying her over to the round lounger in the middle of the deck and laying her down on it. Picking up her clothes, he dropped them beside her before going back over to the small bar area and disposing of the condom. He procured a bottle of water and two glasses of wine and took them back over to where she’d stretched out with her gaze on the stars.

  He handed her a glass of wine before lying down next to her. She immediately curled into him and he felt contentment drift over him like a warm blanket. It’d been such a long time since he’d simply held someone that being here under the stars with her was a dream. A notion that he’d pulled out and discarded over the years because it’d seemed too unrealistic. Every day kept getting better with Molly and he thanked some deity that he hadn’t caved to pressure over the years and just married someone like his parents wanted, that he’d waited for something more, because nothing compared to this.

  She leaned up from where her head rested on his chest to give him a kiss and he melted at the sated “mmm” sound she made against his lips. Shit, he loved that she liked touching him.

  “You had a good time?” he asked, stroking the silky strands of hair pooled on his chest. “My best performance yet?”

  She gave a barely there snort at the callback to her earlier challenge. “Good would be an understatement, I think. I didn’t think sex with you could get better, but I’m not ashamed to say that I was wrong.”

  Oliver’s eyes closed. He couldn’t get enough of her honesty, her fearlessness. Knowing he never had to hide from her, too, was such a gift, and in this moment where there was so much he felt and wanted to say he still kept silent. Because if she felt like he did now, he knew she wouldn’t hesitate to say it because she was brave and forthright and Molly. So he held back the words he wanted to say, words he probably should have said all those years ago before she moved to Colorado.

  “And think,” he told her, “we still have weeks to improve upon it as well.”

  The fingers roaming aimlessly on his chest stilled and her big eyes gleamed at him in the dim deck lights scattered across the floor. “Oh, I think I’ll be dead in a week if it gets any better than that.”

  He laughed, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “Silver lining. I can’t think of a way I’d rather go.”

  “Fair point, well made,” she told him with a grin.

  They fell into silence, him sipping on his wine, letting himself indulge in his mellow a little longer. He twisted a piece of her hair in his hand while her thumb moved absently over his abdomen.

  She sighed and he gave her a squeeze. “This is the best vacation ever.”

  Oliver tucked a finger under her chin and brought her gaze up so he could kiss her, a gentle kiss that nearly turned heated again before he broke away, pressing soft pecks to her nose, eyes, cheeks—anywhere she felt soft, he touched. “I’m glad you decided to come. To take the risk, I mean.”

  He pulled back, their eyes on each other now, her warm brown depths pulling him in with possibility. He wished he knew what she was thinking. “Yeah, it was worth it.”

  His heart clenched and he knew he was probably reading into the statement, but he needed to know that she was okay with who he was off this yacht. He could give away all his money today and he’d still be the same person and he didn’t want to constantly worry that he would scare her away. He wanted her because she was strong, because she could stand up and be a partner with him, someone who walked beside him as they took on the world. That was what he intended to do and she was the only one he’d ever thought was up to the challenge. Underneath the quick smile and light conversation he offered to other people, he wasn’t an easy person to be with. She could ask the string of women who’d walked straight out of his life without a backward glance. He needed one who wanted to stay even if it was difficult.

  He kissed her again, this time joining her tongue with his, reminding her of what they’d just had together. “Damn right it was worth it.”

  She searched his eyes because his voice had turned gruff with bottled-up emotion. Now that he’d had a taste of bliss, he couldn’t imagine going back to his life before Molly took a risk and came on this boat, taking a break from her job, flying across the country, sailing throughout the Caribbean all to spend time with a guy she used to date. He had to believe it meant something.

  “You okay?” she asked, concern in her eyes.

  “Yeah, just as long as you’re not going anywhere.”

  She shook her head and he closed his eyes in relief.

  CHAPTER TEN

  MOLLY HAD WOKEN up without a blaring alarm for t
he nearly two weeks that she’d been on Oliver’s yacht, feeling blissful. She’d fallen asleep in his arms last night, but when she reached out a hand for him she only got cool sheets instead of his warm body. Rising from the bed, she noticed that the bathroom was dark, which meant he wasn’t in there, either. Quickly getting ready for the day, she made her way to the galley kitchen and found him making breakfast again, shirtless with the gray swim shorts riding low on his waist showcasing the deep ravines of his lower abs.

  “Pretty sure as the boat’s engineer I should tell you that you cooking shirtless is a fire hazard.”

  He turned to her fully, a huge grin on his face. “Fire hazard? How so?”

  “Because if you get injured from some blowback grease then I might be forced to cook in your place.”

  Oliver shook his head and pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. “Good morning.”

  “You, too,” she returned, peering over his shoulder onto the griddle. “Pancakes?”

  He nodded. “Sunday is for pancakes.” Flipping over a row of them, he caught her as she stepped away to go get a mug of coffee. “You like them, right?”

  “Of course,” she said. “I’m a human being, aren’t I?”

  He gave her hand a squeeze before letting her go. She held back a sigh because mornings with Oliver and pancakes were amazing.

  She piled the fruit, maple syrup, sausage and their coffees on a tray and followed Oliver up to the sky lounge again. It was definitely their favorite place on the boat and since it was on the same level as the bridge, he could easily check the maps and controls of the boat while still having access to the minibar, the Jacuzzi and a deck with comfy chaise longues.

  They were in the middle of eating when Oliver’s phone rang and she startled. Their communication with the outside world was pretty limited at this point, but the shrill ring was a loud reminder that it still existed.