by Rachel Grant
She flinched. “I told Greg no, Luke. Fight fair. Don’t hold me responsible for something I had no control over.”
“Fine. I’ll accept that you didn’t set out to fuck with my life again, but you will acknowledge that was the end result.”
She gave a sharp nod.
He put his SUV in reverse and pulled out into the main road. He’d drop her at her cabin and go back to his place and jack off if he had to. A minute later, he parked in front of her unit and grunted out a good-bye as she slipped from the vehicle.
Her wet jogging shirt was plastered to her body and the headlights revealed the goose bumps on her skin. She fumbled in her pocket for the key, but it appeared her fingers were numb.
Shit. He shut off the engine and climbed out. He’d get her inside, make sure she got warm, then he was out of there.
Surely he could control himself for five lousy minutes.
He met her on the porch and slipped his hand into the small zippered key pocket on her pants to grab her key.
She met his gaze, her big brown eyes full of surprise. “Thank you.” She leaned into him as if seeking warmth. He pulled her against his chest as he reached for the lock, key in hand.
The press of her body against his as she shivered overwhelmed his control. She smelled like the sea and he wanted nothing more than to warm her from the inside out. He had to taste her again. He pinned her to the door and slid his tongue between her lips. Her arms circled his neck, and she kissed him back with the same heat she’d given on the beach. He worked the key and her mouth at the same time. When he had the dead bolt unlocked, he wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted so she wouldn’t stumble when he pushed the door inward.
He carried her inside and slammed the door behind him. He set her down and ended the kiss so he could lock the dead bolt. “Strip. We need to get you into a hot shower.”
“You first,” she said.
He leaned his forehead against the door as he considered her clear invitation. He should walk right now.
He faced her and was about to say as much, but she was trapped trying to pull off her wet, tight jogging top with built-in bra. She had the garment wrapped over her head and shoulders, leaving her breasts exposed to his gaze and touch.
Unable to resist, he leaned down and licked one salty peak and then the other. He cupped both breasts in his palms and stroked her nipples with his thumbs.
Oh Jesus. He couldn’t walk away now. Not unless she called a halt.
She groaned and said, “Help me out of this thing. I want to touch you.”
Okay, she wasn’t putting on the brakes.
He freed her from the shirt, then whipped off his own before pulling her to him so her chilled skin pressed to his. “God, you’re beautiful.” He kissed her, sliding his tongue deep into her mouth. This was so wrong, but he was going to have her. Here. Now.
She kissed him back and ran her hands over his chest, moving to his hips and down to cup his butt. “I’m going with A-plus for your ass,” she said against his lips.
He laughed. “Wait until you see my…ego.”
She made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan and slipped her hand inside the front of his damp jeans and stroked his erection. “Ah, fuck, but I want this,” she said.
He didn’t need any more encouragement. “Get naked. Now.” He followed his own command and stripped. He grabbed his wallet and plucked out a condom, then met her gaze.
She was beautifully naked. All sleek muscles and curves. He wanted to lick every inch of her. But he wouldn’t lie to her about where this was going or what it meant. “This means nothing, Undine. I don’t accept your apology. This is simple proximity and lust. You have a problem with that, this ends now.”
She nodded. “Just shut up and fuck me.” Then she smiled and dropped to her knees before him. “Or better yet, put your cock in my mouth.”
Jesus. This wasn’t the response he’d expected. But then, she likely harbored her own cauldron of pent-up emotions. That thought would give him pause, except she didn’t wait for permission and licked the underside of his cock from base to tip, then took him deep into her throat.
“Holy fuck. Undine.” Her name was a prayer. Or a wish. Or a thank-you to the multiverse that he existed in this here and now that included Undine Gray’s hot mouth on his hard prick.
He watched her through slitted eyes, his pleasure sensors nearly overloaded with the sensation of her tongue running up and down his cock as he feasted on the sight of her lips wrapped around him. The suction and slide. Her beautiful lips. Her hooded eyes. And adding to the intensity was her soft moan that told him she enjoyed sucking on him as much as he enjoyed the sucking.
She cradled his balls with one hand, stroking underneath, while her other hand wrapped around the base of his cock and added to his pleasure. Christ, she was about to make him go off like a firework with a short fuse.
He pulled back, sliding out of her mouth. “Careful, babe. I don’t want this to end too soon.”
She met his gaze and ran her tongue over her lips. “I want to make you feel good.”
“You already have. Your mouth is so fucking hot. But we can both get there when I’m deep inside you.” He pulled her to her feet and slid his fingers between her thighs. She quivered as he stroked her clitoris and let out a gasp when his fingers dipped inside her slick heat.
She was wet and ready for him. He groaned. “I need you on my tongue.” He scooped her up and tossed her on the mattress, then spread her legs and licked her. She bucked against him, and he chuckled, then dipped his tongue inside her. He pressed his thumb to her clit as he fucked her with his tongue, loving the taste of her wet, tangy arousal.
He grazed her clit with his teeth, and she came off the bed with a jolt. “Get your cock inside me, Sevick. Now.”
He chuckled and stroked her with his tongue some more. Her body curled around him, cradling his head at the juncture of her thighs, and he figured that was pretty much the best place in the world to be.
“Shit, Sevick. You’re going to make me come. Dammit, I want you inside—” She gasped, and he felt her shudder as she slipped over the edge, her body quaking with the power of her orgasm.
He pressed his tongue to her clit, holding her there as she thrashed. When she reached the end of her tremors, he scooted back and searched for the condom. He spotted it on the floor and climbed off the bed to grab it.
He wiped the moisture of her from his chin as he stared at her, splayed on the bed. A feast for eyes and body. She smiled at him, her face relaxed and her eyes slitted. She curled a finger toward him and slid to the edge of the bed. “Before you put that condom on, bring your cock over here.”
He wasn’t one to pass on a summons like that, and slipped his penis into her inviting mouth. She brought him to the edge of orgasm so fast, he was nearly blind with the intensity.
He stepped back before she could push him over the edge and rolled on the condom. He climbed on the bed and settled between her thighs, his erection ready at her vagina. He lowered himself until they were chest to chest and kissed her. He explored her mouth with his as he shifted his hips and in one smooth thrust, buried himself deep inside her.
Her tight heat encased him and felt every bit as good as he’d imagined. Better even.
She felt so good, the way she wrapped her legs around his hips and gripped his ass. She kissed him deeply and made sexy moaning sounds against his lips. She tasted sweet and salty and smelled like sand, sea, fresh air, sex, and Undine. His four favorite scents with one new addition.
He opened his eyes and lifted his mouth from hers so he could watch her face as she neared a second orgasm. Every thrust brought him closer to release, and with all his senses fully engaged, this one would be powerful.
She crested, and her moan pushed him over the edge. Pleasure swamped him, and he couldn’t hold back a curse as he pulsed inside her. His orgasm was hard, lasted longer than usual, and was blinding in intensity.
&
nbsp; Holy hell. He should have known it would be like this with her. After all, she was the ultimate forbidden fruit, the one woman he should avoid at all costs. So it would stand to reason that fucking her would be the ultimate dirty pleasure.
He stared down at her, still inside her body. His heart rate was nowhere near normal, but heading in that direction. Her eyes were closed, and a soft smile played about her mouth. Oh God. That mouth. The one that had been wrapped around his cock.
The one he wanted to see wrapped around his cock again and again.
He didn’t know who he’d been fooling when he tried to convince himself he didn’t find her attractive. She might not be supermodel gorgeous, but to him? She was utterly beautiful, this woman who’d just returned to his life with a vengeance.
What the hell had he just done?
He’d had sex with Undine Gray.
He slid from her body and climbed from the bed. He made a beeline for the bathroom, where he cleaned up and disposed of the condom. He splashed water over his face and found it hard to meet his own gaze in the mirror.
Due to the accident, she was vulnerable, but he’d taken advantage and had sex with her.
Willingly or not, she was messing with his career again, and he’d had sex with her.
He was back on the radar of her asshole father who’d ruined his career once, and he’d had sex with her.
He’d ask himself what the fuck he was thinking, except he’d have to have a brain to think, which obviously he didn’t.
He swallowed cold water directly from the faucet. How could he let himself be drawn in by Undine again? And yet, he couldn’t blame her. This was all on him. He was both asshole and fool and so completely fucked.
He stepped from the bathroom.
She was still sprawled on the bed. She smiled at him. Nothing tentative. She was the picture of sexual contentment, and he felt a flash of pride at being the cause.
Too bad he was also about to be the source of anger and hurt. He plucked his damp jeans from the floor and pulled them on. A glance in her direction showed her expression had gone from languid to guarded.
He pulled his wet T-shirt over his head. It was cold against his skin. He deserved the discomfort.
He sat on the edge of the bed to slip on his shoes. She sat up at that point. “You aren’t even going to say anything? You’re just going to leave?”
He shrugged. “There’s not really anything to say, is there?” He grabbed his wallet from where he’d dropped it on the floor and met her gaze. He was thankful to see anger. He’d have a hard time walking away from hurt.
“You might have an A-plus ass, but you’re also a grade-A asshole.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m the best at everything.” He opened the door and stepped outside. He didn’t have it in him to say good-bye to her one more time.
Chapter Ten
For two days, rain fell in sheets across Neah Bay. The potholes that littered the parking area in front of Undine’s cabin had turned into lakes, with rivers of mud that ran in between. She sat on her porch, dreading Luke’s inevitable arrival but knowing he’d show up today just the same.
She hadn’t seen or spoken with him in the two days since he bolted after sex. Two days during which she’d negotiated with her boss over when and how she’d dive again on the Wrasse wreckage. Twenty minutes ago, she’d been given the final word: Lt. Luke Sevick was being lent to UAB for an indefinite period. He was hers to command until they’d documented the digging and potential looting of the Navy submarine.
Luke would have no say in the matter. NOAA had long been seeking action from UAB around some Navy vessels that needed cleanup in two marine sanctuaries. A deal had been struck, and Luke was part of the trade. As soon as Greg delivered this news, Undine had parked herself on the porch to await his furious arrival.
She’d had nothing to do with the negotiations. Had, in fact, been actively seeking another dive partner. Lt. Parker Reeves, the Coast Guard officer who’d accompanied her on her aborted dive attempt a week ago, had agreed, but he was being relegated to backup aboard Ray’s boat, as he wasn’t as experienced as Luke, and the Navy really wanted the former SEAL for the dive. But still, she had no doubt Luke would blame her. Another sin to lay at her feet. It was a special touch that officially he would be working for her.
Oh, irony.
She’d be amused if she weren’t so damn angry—at Luke. At Greg. At her father. The trifecta of men who could and had hurt her the most.
She wasn’t angry she’d had sex with Luke—she’d wanted him and had enjoyed every moment of the encounter. But she was hurt by the way he’d walked out, and mad at herself for wanting—even expecting—more from him.
Instead of waiting for Luke to show up now, she would attempt to track him down, but she didn’t have a car. She’d spent the last two days stranded as the storm raged. She never should have agreed to return her rental car in Port Angeles, but money had been tight and it was an expense she could cut.
Neah Bay was a small town—she could walk from end to end in less than twenty minutes—but walking in cold November rain got old fast. At least the grocery store was next door, and the biggest restaurant was just across the highway. She hadn’t starved in her isolation, but there’d been precious little to entertain her.
Two days ago, she’d walked to the Makah Cultural and Research Center. The curator had agreed to let her set up an electrolytic reduction tank in the museum’s curation facility for the case she and Luke had collected from the wreckage.
That task complete, she’d spent an hour touring the museum and hoped that before she left Washington, she’d make it out to the beach at Ozette to see where the village archaeological site had been located. She’d done little terrestrial archaeology as an undergrad, and the digs she’d worked on had been historic sites, so she was out of her depth, but she still found the subject fascinating. The Ozette site, considered the American Pompeii due to the incredible preservation, was a Makah village that had been buried by a mudslide around five hundred years ago. It was a rare and detailed glimpse into the precontact period of the Pacific Northwest. Plus the thousands of artifacts collected from the village were just plain cool.
Ozette was on the Pacific coast, south of the northernmost tip of the contiguous United States at Cape Flattery. It was just over twenty miles from Neah Bay to the trailhead, about an hour-long drive given the winding road. She’d have made the trek during her last two down days, but she didn’t have a car, thanks to Luke, the grade-A asshole.
She wished he’d get here so they could hammer out the details of their dives. She wanted them done and behind her, so she could go home. She’d settle back into her life in DC and happily never see him again. But she’d decided to stay on in Neah Bay and see this through, because she owed it to the people who died on Petrel to get in the water and look for answers, even if that meant diving with Luke.
At last, Luke’s mud-splattered SUV pulled into the parking lot. He took one of the potholes head-on, and a sheet of water sprayed out. If he’d been at a slightly different angle, it would have drenched her on the porch.
Yeah, he might be a little bit pissed. Bully for him.
He sat in the cab of his SUV, staring at her. A scowl settled so deep across his features, she was reminded of the childhood whispers that if you held your face in a certain way too long, it would freeze in that position. Finally, he climbed from the cab and stood in the rain in front of her porch, demonstrating he’d rather get soaked than stand too close to her.
“If I have cooties, Sevick, it’s safe to say I caught them from you.”
His features softened, one brief flash of amusement, then the scowl returned. “Ms. Gray, I may have been your first and even your last lover, but I’m going to venture to guess I’m not the only man you’ve screwed.”
No. But as in everything, you were the best.
She refrained from making that observation; it would only feed his enormous ego. “At this poin
t, it doesn’t even matter if you don’t believe me, so I’ll only say it once. I had nothing to do with you being forced to work with me. I did what I could to stop it. It turns out what I could do wasn’t much.”
He stood in the rain, silent and glaring. Finally, he gave a sharp nod. “I believe you.”
“I’m curious… Why?”
“Because I can’t imagine you wanting to dive with me again after the way I left the other night.”
“Is that why you did it? Why you screwed me, then bolted?”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t have an ulterior motive. And we had an agreement that it meant nothing.”
“True. I guess I’m just old-fashioned and expect at least one post-sex kiss before the kiss-off.”
He shrugged. “I’m not one for useless gestures or fake sentimentality.”
“Apparently.” She cleared her throat. “So how are we going to do this? You, working for me?”
He stepped up on the porch and planted himself in front of her, looming, his shoulders wide enough to block the sun—if such a thing existed on this sloppy, wet day—his stance pure intimidation. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. I am not working for you.”
He’d miscalculated, clearly, because standing as he was, his crotch was level with her face, and all she could think of was how beautiful his body was when she took him in her mouth. Her breathing turned shallow, and she licked her lips—unintentionally. She didn’t even realize she’d done it until his jeans bulged with a growing erection. She flashed a defiant grin. “Parts of you work for me just fine.”
He leaned down and braced his hands on either side of the flimsy deck chair. “I never said I didn’t want to fuck you again. I’ll take you here and now if you want, and it will mean exactly as much to me as the other night did, which is to say, nothing. The fact that my body responds to you is simple biology.”
She was tempted to take him up on his cold offer just to prove him wrong. Instead, she got a grip on her emotions and tapped his chest, pushing him back. Once she had room, she stood. “Get over yourself, Luke. This isn’t about us. This is about Wrasse and Petrel. The only reason I’m willing to dive there again—either with or without you—is because we need answers. Did you read the report on the accident?”
