by Joanne Rock
“You’re doing well,” he whispered, gathering her up in his arms and positioning her over the hot tub. “You can get in while I enjoy the view.”
Lowering her onto the small sun shelf built into the hot tub, Jack slid Alicia into the water while he remained on deck. Just like the previous night. Only now there were no clothes in the way when he looked at her. The jets churned the water and hid parts of her in a white froth, but her breasts bobbed enticingly at the surface, the nipples dark pink and slick.
Perfect for tasting.
“Well, I have to admit, this is a pretty easy gig so far.” Alicia lifted her arms to redo the knot in her hair, magically keeping most of it out of the water.
“I just wanted to take my time and go slow with you.” Pulling off his shirt, he put his feet into the water near her and leaned close enough to massage her shoulders from behind. “Sometimes we wind each other up so much, so fast, that I don’t get to savor all the details. I figured if I could make you be still—”
“You’d get to dictate the pace.” She arched her neck when he touched her, rubbing her temple against the inside of his forearm as he moved from her shoulders down the front of her to explore the swell of her cleavage. “You get to drive me crazy while I have no chance to return the favor.”
She gasped as he reached the tight peaks of her breasts and thumbed the tips. He cupped the hot, rushing water around her curves, watching the way the bubbles clung to her skin and slid down the sloping mounds.
“Not true,” he assured her. “Just looking at you tests my restraint.”
In fact, he needed to be in the tub with her sooner rather than later.
“Yeah?” She appeared genuinely surprised for a moment before he rose to undress.
Maybe the lightning-fast speed with which he peeled off his clothes helped convince her how close he was to the brink. Certainly the erection he sported had to communicate a whole hell of a lot about how much he needed her. He found a condom in his discarded clothes and set it near the edge of the tub.
By now, the sun had set fully, leaving them in darkness except for the light inside the tub. Jack slid into the bubbling beside her, the narrow size intended for two. There were seats built into it, but he wasn’t there to relax. He wrapped his arms around Alicia and pulled her against him. She was hot and slick everywhere. His hands glided easily over her shoulders and down her arms.
To her waist and belly. Her hips. She tried to circle her arms around his neck, but he pinned her wrists to her sides and steered her closer to a wall of jets in the tub.
She squealed as the stream of water surged against her skin. He aligned one nozzle toward her right breast and another toward her left, holding her steady in the onslaught. Then, skimming his palms down her waist to her hips, he steered her so the cradle of her thighs landed in front of yet another jet. Jack could tell when he got the stream just right because her whole body bucked and rocked against him, the orgasm shuddering through her almost on contact.
“Jack!” Eyes closed, she leaned back into him, the soft curves of her bottom nudging his shaft. Reminding him how much more he needed from her.
But he savored the moment first. Her cheeks were flushed bright pink even in the dull glow of blue light from the tub. Water droplets congregated on her dark, spiky lashes. Her hair floated around her in the small pool, the blond waves encircling him like a mermaid’s locks.
“This is what I wanted to see,” he whispered in her ear when the shudders had eased. “You. Just like this.”
Slowly, her eyelids lifted, her dark eyes locking with his as she peered back at him over her shoulder.
“It was…more rewarding than I expected, to be compliant.” She licked her lips with a slow sweep of her tongue. “I think I could be convinced to do it again sometime.”
“I’m holding you to that.” He spun her in his arms, unable to wait any longer for what he wanted.
“I want you to hold me to this.” She wriggled against the hard length of his cock, driving him out of his mind in two seconds flat.
Apparently she’d already punched the clock on submissive. She was like a firecracker that didn’t stop once she got started—all motion and heat. Her hands traced wet paths down his chest before disappearing under the water.
To surround him.
The sensation drained all thoughts of who was in charge. There was only Alicia and the feel of her everywhere, all over him. Her mouth on his. Her teeth nipping his lower lip before trailing slick kisses down the column of his throat.
She palmed the condom and put it in his hand, the salt water in the tub not affecting it since it was still in the package. Vaguely, he realized they ought to at least lie on the sun shelf in more shallow water—where they wouldn’t be immersed—so the condom would still work.
Hooking his arms under hers, he lifted Alicia up and set her where he wanted her, water sluicing off her body as their skin steamed in the cooler air. Being careful to keep her at least partially submerged so she would stay warm, he unwrapped the prophylactic and rolled it on.
He nudged her thighs apart and entered her. A low, throaty moan hummed like music in his ear as she arched her hips up, giving him better access. Taking the full length of him.
She looked so beautiful. So delicate and pale in the blue light as her hair swirled in the water beneath her. Her eyes locked with his, assuring him that she was right there with him in every way possible. Present to the moment. All his.
Possessiveness surged through him in a primal rush. He wanted her on a fundamental level. Thrusting hard, he pinned her hips down, holding her steady to imprint the moment on her as thoroughly as it would forever be imprinted on him.
When his release came, it pulsed hot and hard, his body straining inside her, reaching deep. Alicia’s soft feminine muscles milked every last spasm from him, contracting around him like a tight fist, until they lay spent in the shallow water.
At some point, they’d need to have dinner. Make conversation again.
But for now, he wished they could stay here forever. Unaffected by old mistakes. Taking pleasure from each other. Not worrying about the separation that awaited them at the end of this journey if Alicia didn’t give him a second chance.
8
“WHILE LOSING THE BET was admittedly fun, I still say you cheated.” Alicia speared a bite of her dinner as they sat at the table near the helm.
They were farther out to sea now, but Jack had headed for a string of tiny islands to set the anchor for a couple hours so they could eat without worrying about navigating in the dark. There were no marinas or even developments on the smattering of rocky outcroppings nearby, but the water was shallow enough for the long-line anchor to hit bottom. He’d killed the engine and left the lights on for other boats to see. Not that there was traffic out here at this time of night. They hadn’t seen a boat since long before sunset.
Now, he savored a forkful of the silver hake she’d cooked for his dinner. Victory tasted sweet. Especially with the memories of everything else they’d shared tonight.
“A bet’s a bet,” he reminded her, adjusting the height of the flame on the hurricane lamp between them. “And you have to admit my fish dwarfed yours by a couple hundred pounds.”
“But you didn’t technically catch it if you didn’t drag it on board,” she grumbled, lifting her wineglass to her lips.
Even in the candlelight he could see the high color in her cheeks from the day in the sun. A sun-bleached-blonde strand blew against her jaw and skimmed along her throat. She wore a lemon-yellow hoodie over the layered tank tops she’d sported most of the day. No makeup and no jewelry were in sight; Alicia required no decoration. There was a strength and competence about her that drew his eyes like no other woman he’d ever met.
“Did you really want me to haul in what was probably a northern bluefin tuna—a species that is seriously overfished?” He cut more bread from a baguette she’d warmed in the galley oven with some herbs and olive oil. “Because
if I went to the trouble of pulling an Old Man and the Sea we would have had to sit at this table until we choked down all three hundred pounds of that sucker.”
He didn’t believe in catching fish you weren’t going to eat. And since Keith’s cushy corporate toy didn’t come equipped with a fish locker, that meant they could catch only what would fit in the galley’s refrigerator.
“I am hungry, but maybe not that hungry,” she finally conceded, a hint of a smile curving her lips. “Plus the cleaning would have taken forever.”
“Dinner is fantastic, by the way.” He lifted his glass in a toast, the white wine catching the candlelight and casting watery reflections on the table. “Cheers to the chef.”
“Thank you.” She clinked her glass to his. “We lucked out that Keith keeps the pantry nicely stocked.”
“Along with the wine fridge.” Jack had found a temperature-controlled drawer in the galley that held ten bottles ranging from pinot grigio to Chianti. “So how often do you talk to Keith? I didn’t know you kept in touch with the family.”
“I didn’t for a long time. But Keith remembered my water sports business a couple years ago, and asked me to take some clients out for a day of kite-boarding lessons. It was a big job for me and it went so well that he recommended me to some other bigwig types who did the same thing. Those group sessions really boosted my income and grew my reputation in a hurry.”
Jack would have to thank his brother for helping her out like that. He studied her in the candlelight for a long moment while the waves lapped the side of the boat, rocking them gently. The rhythm was slow and easy, kind of like the way he wanted to take her again tonight. He didn’t want to take one moment for granted.
“What are you going to do with all your loyal customers when you move to Bar Harbor?” He guessed she must have built quite a following if that was her only business and it had generated enough profit for the down payment on a bed-and-breakfast.
“They’ll get a discount coupon for a weekend at my new inn and a free lesson with me once I reestablish a water sports business up there.”
He nodded, seeing the benefit of that. No doubt she’d fill the rooms on her new property for at least a few nights with that deal. It would be a hell of a lot easier to be happy for her if she were planning all this for an inn on the Cape. He’d help her fill those rooms, damn it. In fact, he’d be sure he kept one on standby for all the nights he wanted to be with her.
“You don’t miss the event planning you used to do with my dad?” How could she walk away from everything—everyone—she knew? “I seem to recall you were having a great time at the charity golf event where I first asked you out.”
“Not really. I like to entertain people on a smaller scale than that. I was just having so much fun that night because you couldn’t take your eyes off me.” She pushed her plate aside and folded her arms on the table, fixing him with her dark gaze.
His heart thudded hard in his chest.
“I remember.” He’d fought the attraction for months. But that night, it had seemed as if she was everywhere and he couldn’t escape how much he wanted her. “You laughed during the follow-through of my drive and my shot sliced into the woods so far I thought I’d never find the ball.”
He’d been off his game, to say the least. She’d filled up every corner of his mind, not leaving room for anything else.
“You must have had bionic hearing,” she protested—the argument was almost as old as their acquaintance. “I was on the eighth hole and you were on the ninth.”
“What can I say? Your laugh can turn me on from a mile away.” He’d hardly been able to finish his game, torn between a desire to stay below par and the need to drop his clubs and hunt down Alicia.
“Then how come you needed the bet with Ryan before you even walked over to me that night?” She swirled her wine in her glass and avoided his gaze.
He’d confessed long ago that his older brother had egged him on, betting he would never get a kiss from their dad’s sexy young intern. Jack hadn’t been able to let the jab slide, countering that he’d have a kiss in less than five minutes.
Alicia had never seemed to mind being the subject of a wager. But now, he wondered if he’d misunderstood her easy acceptance of that gamble. Her concentration on the wine in her stemware made him think his answer mattered more to her than she’d care to admit.
“I knew it wasn’t a good time to get involved with someone—I was flying to Rome on business a week later.”
“There’s never been a good time for us, has there?” She set aside her unfinished wine. “First I was too young. Then you didn’t want me to wait for you while you were in the navy.”
He couldn’t read her mood. But he sensed an under-current of tension—her frustration with him.
“Now is a good time.” He’d turn this boat around and make serious time back to the Cape if she would agree. He’d be home twice as fast as they’d gotten this far, thanks to the prevailing winds.
“Only because of another bet, right?” She pushed his plate to the side so there was a clear path between them to lean farther across the small table. Her fingers brushed his chest. Right over the steady thump of his heart. “I ended up with you tonight because of a contest for sexual favors.”
And didn’t that sound sordid as hell all of a sudden? He hadn’t meant it that way.
“We’re not together because of any bet.” He clamped his hand around her wandering fingers, unwilling to take things further if she had any reservations about his motives. No matter how much he wanted her. “It’s a good time for us now because we’re older and wiser, plus there’s still one hell of a spark between us. Come back home with me and we can explore this thing without a time limit. Without the impending deadline of Bar Harbor hanging over us.”
She stilled in his grip.
“I seem to recall you weren’t terribly concerned about imposing deadlines on our relationship when you were the one who wanted to stretch his wings.” She didn’t spell it out, but she was clearly trying to equate his commitment to the navy with her desire to run a bed-and-breakfast in Maine.
Another time, he might have debated the point with her, but right now, he realized he had zero desire to do battle. He didn’t want to waste a second of what little time they might have left together. They’d be in Bar Harbor tomorrow no matter how much he dragged his feet on the rest of the voyage.
“You’re right,” he conceded. Picking up his napkin, he waved it. “See my white flag? I surrender.”
“That fast?” She blinked and peered over her shoulder. “Where did my competitive ex-boyfriend disappear to?”
Jack wasn’t so sure himself, but his best guess was that he wasn’t the same man she’d dated four years ago. Since returning home, he hadn’t made a plan for what he would do when he saw her, but he’d always imagined he’d at least look her up. He’d hoped she was single, knowing neither of her relationships after him had lasted very long.
Seeing her here on Keith’s boat—holding her in his arms and remembering what they’d been like together—had forced Jack’s hand where she was concerned. If he didn’t make a play for her now, he’d never be with her again. And the thought of her stepping off this boat without looking back made his chest ache with a hollowness he couldn’t deny.
“You know we’ll arrive in Maine by tomorrow afternoon, right?” He loosened his hold on her hands, trailing his thumb over her knuckles and down each finger.
Her skin was smooth. Perfect.
“I guessed we’d get there pretty quickly once we moved away from the coastline.” She glanced down at their hands.
“Since there is an undeniable deadline involved with our arrival, I don’t want to waste one second between then and now arguing about anything. Not who caught the bigger fish or who owes who a sexual favor. I want a truce for as long as we’re on this boat together.”
Mostly, he wanted her—every second between now and when they docked.
AS FAR AS A
LICIA WAS concerned, it was a perfect metaphor for their relationship that they were adrift at sea in the dark. Actually, the comparison could only be more apt if she jumped overboard again. Any way she looked at the situation, she was in too deep with Jack. She didn’t know where they were headed, but she couldn’t let go of him if she tried.
Tomorrow, in Bar Harbor, she would sort it all out.
Tonight, the only lighthouse on the horizon was what she felt for Jack.
“A truce.” She nodded, the movement jerky thanks to the buzz of anticipation that vibrated through her limbs. “I like that. But I don’t think that means we need to forgo sexual favors.”
Her voice didn’t resemble her own in her ears, the low, throaty murmur seeming to belong to someone else.
“No?” His shoulder muscles bunched as he leaned across the table, impossibly close. His lips brushed hers lightly. “Maybe we could make an exception as long as the recipient is willing to give as good as he gets.”
His tongue teased a path along her lower lip, sending a pleasurable shiver down her spine. Her world narrowed to the stubble-rough feel of his jaw against her face. The scents of ocean and aftershave.
“I trust you implicitly on that one.” She lifted a hand to his cheek and traced the outline of the dramatic bone structure that helped give all the Murphy men their good looks. “You’re very generous that way.”
He broke the kiss to rise, tug her out of her seat and into his arms.
They stood, feet braced on the gently swaying boat, sizing each other up in the glow of the hurricane lamp and the white light that shone from the boat’s highest point. Her heart raced with the desire to wrap herself around the sexy stud in front of her. She was playing with fire, being with him, but was irresistibly drawn to his dark good looks and the wicked gleam in his green eyes. Jack was a man of endless capabilities, a man she respected.
