Claiming Her SEAL(19)

 

"That's not what you said." Before he could go off again, she closed the  gap between them and risked settling her palm on his forearm because  she had to touch him. Had to somehow communicate that she could tell he  was hurting but wasn't alone. "You said I can trust you in the water.  Only in the water."

She kicked at the surf, sending a spray sideways for emphasis.

His eyelids slammed shut and his mouth softened, just a touch, but it was enough.

"James," she whispered and reached out, sliding both palms to his steely  biceps. "I've heard every word you've said. Now I want to hear the  words you didn't say. Tell me why you've tried so hard to convince me  you'd be bad for me."

His eyes blinked open, and it was too dark to read them. The moon had yet to rise, and the sun had long abandoned the beach.

"Why are you trying so hard to convince yourself I'm not?"

"Because." Cursing the quaver in her voice, she sucked in a breath.  "We're stuck in a cycle of crazy that needs a different ending. I came  to the Bahamas so I could pick up the pieces of my life. You're a part  of that, have been since the moment we met, whether you see it or not.  You can't take it back. You can only accept what's happening here."

"What's happening here, Emma?" he murmured and his arms dropped from  their clinch across his midsection. But he didn't reach for her in kind.  "A seduction? Is that what you're trying to get to? You have your  sights set on a vacation fling, and nothing else will do."

"Really? That's how you're interpreting all of this?" She scowled at him  and inwardly cursed herself for telling him she'd wanted a fling when  that was so clearly not the right tactic. So clearly not what either of  them craved. "If I was only after sex, I'm pretty sure I could have  found someone a thousand times less difficult to scratch my itch with.  I'm here because you need me. We need each other. To heal, to connect."

He laughed. "Oh, so now we're at the part where you're going to shower rainbows and puppies on me."

"No," she countered fiercely. "We're at the part where you stop being  such an ass and throw down. You tried to scare me off due to some  ridiculous idea that since you're not a choir boy, I'll be tainted by  your black soul. Get over yourself. You sent me away because you're  scared."

"Oh, this should be good. What am I scared of?" The amusement in his voice pissed her off even more.

"You're scared that I can take it. That you've finally met your match.  Because if I can hear the list of your sins and stick around, what will I  do with that? What demands might I make of you that you can't meet?"

He went still under her palms, and she could feel his energy whipping  through him, coiling like a snake about to strike. But she wasn't going  to run, not this time. Because she wasn't afraid of him, despite his  best efforts to the contrary. Maybe the cloaks he hid behind were good  enough to fool other people-someone who wasn't looking closely enough.  But Emma saw Dex in ways he clearly didn't anticipate.

"You're playing with fire," he said softly. "And the burns are not going to be pretty."

"Life is not pretty, James. I have scars from the last time I tried to  have something meaningful with a man. If I'm going to be marked anyway,  I'd rather I know going in what I'm signing up for. Besides, I think  you're worth it."

She stopped just short of pointing out that he hadn't argued with her  assessment of his fears. Of course, cagey was his default, and she  wanted that gone. This man open to her. Oh, yes, that was the goal, and  she was going to get there.

"Emma." Her name came out garbled as if he'd strangled over it. "This is a bad idea."

A charge zipped through the atmosphere, prickling her skin. There was no  way to misinterpret what he meant by this. "Why? What do you think is  going to happen if I say I want you? If I say I want your mouth on mine,  because I can't stop thinking about how you kiss with your whole body?"

"What's going to happen is-" He cut himself off with a curse and his  torso heaved with it. "I won't be gentle. I won't make it nice and sweet  for you. It will be brutal because that's who I am."

And therein lay the problem. That's how he saw himself. It was up to her  to help him redefine James Riley. Dexter had no place here.

Her lips curved up involuntarily. "It will be beautiful because you're  James when you're with me. Whatever that entails. I want to learn every  inch of you, inside and out."         

     



 

"You shouldn't want that," he murmured and cursed again. "I shouldn't want that."

But he did. His confession thrilled through her, dragging heat and sharp  desire as it winnowed straight to her core. "Why not? Why shouldn't you  deserve something good?"

"Because it might come at your expense."

And that was the final straw. "Stop protecting me! Let me worry about  me. Besides, if you're so concerned about hurting me, you already know  how to solve that problem."

Before he could blink, she grabbed the hem of her dress and whipped it  off over her head, chucking it behind her into the ocean. "You say I can  only trust you in the water? Put your money where your mouth is, James  Riley."





The faintest tinges of moonlight kissed Emma's skin, turning it silvery as Dex drank in her nearly naked form.

"What are you doing?" he asked hoarsely, though it was obvious that  she'd intended to strip down to her lacy pink bra and matching panties.  Obvious that she meant to drive him insane with that one small act mere  seconds after throwing his words back in his face.

He tried to warn her away. Tried to scare her away. Tried to horrify her  enough to drive her away. And she'd come back again and again, offering  herself up on the altar of his conscience, only this time she'd come  armed with a silver bullet-a challenge. If he'd claimed she could trust  him in the water, was he man of his word or not?

Her firm breasts peeked over the top of the shelf bra, and his knees  weakened. It was a totally different look than the white bikini, though  every bit as sexy. Actually, it didn't matter what she wore; it was the  woman in the outfit that was the kicker.

Seduction. Who was he kidding? This wasn't a seduction as if she was in  the process of it. It was done. He'd been thoroughly seduced by Emma  from moment one.

He'd just hoped to be strong enough to resist her. That wasn't going so well.

"I'm daring you to prove I can trust you in the water." Her brows lifted a touch. "Maybe I'm being too subtle."

Her hands worked at her back, and the shelf bra went the way of the  dress. Gone. Her breasts peaked up under his gaze, hardening and turning  his insides molten, and he couldn't look away. Shouldn't be required to  when she obviously wanted him to see her. Otherwise she'd have never  left the resort.

"We're not on a private beach," he rasped before she stripped off that  little scrap of pink between her legs. Once she did that, all bets were  off. "I don't-"

Launching toward him, she threw herself into his arms and he caught her instinctively. "Shut up and kiss me, James."

The way she breathed his name swirled through him, beating against the  last of his resistance. His erection pulsed painfully as her hard  nipples scraped at him through his shirt.

Just this once, he promised himself. Only in the water.

Brilliant. Here he could pretend nothing outside of the two of them  existed, as if there would be no consequences later, because it didn't  count. One time. He could lose himself in her sweet body and then forget  about her and her white bikini and all the things she made him question  about himself.

Hell, it wasn't like he'd ever had a choice. She'd just keep barging  through his barriers. Next time, she might bring a battering ram, and he  was so tired of being noble.

He wanted Emma. Wanted to soak up a little of that brightness she carried around inside like a corona.

Gathering her up, he nestled her into his body, and the heat of her bled  through his clothes. Heavenly. He wanted to take and take until he  couldn't hold anymore of her inside. But first, that luscious little  mouth-he needed it under his.

Without checking his passion, he kissed her. Hard. She opened instantly,  inviting him in. Sucking him in. He fell headlong into a spiral that  left him breathless and dizzy as her hot tongue found his, slick and  purposeful, stirring up his juices with erotic little moans.

His hands loosened and spread as he familiarized himself with her bare  back. It felt lush under his abused fingertips and he kept going,  skating downward along her spine with his thumbs until he hit that thin  bit of fabric.

Her bottom was bare. Thong. So sexy, he couldn't even …  he groaned as he  dipped under the string between the rounded globes, threading it to his  knuckle as he kept going until he hit the slick paradise at the juncture  of her thighs.

Her head tipped back as she panted his name-James-and hearing it on her  lips pleased him so much he pushed farther, deeper, sliding into her  damp heat until he was the one gasping as his lungs hitched. Tight and  wet and hot. The trifecta. His erection throbbed as an unholy desire to  bury himself in her nearly drove him to his knees.