Commanding Her Seal (Plus Bonus Novella)(45)

“Not impressed yet,” she shot back.

Wow. That had actually been a pretty good comeback that didn’t scream desperation, I’ve got no idea how to talk to a cute guy or hi, it’s my first time in public.

By way of answer, he waggled his brows and started the boat. The engine caught, and he swiped a finger across the tablet thingy mounted to the dash that had all kind of lines and squiggles on it. Maps. GPS coordinates. Obviously a navigation system. She’d been too busy not falling into Fitz’s lap earlier to notice how Jack had maneuvered the boat from island to island.

“Bingo,” he called. “There’s an island near here called Palm Cay. Gotta be our coconut source.”

Since there was little she could find wrong with that logic, she sat back and enjoyed the ride. If her gaze strayed over to the boat driver instead of sticking solely to the scenery, oh well. Of course, the beauty of Fitz put the turquoise water and wheeling clouds to shame. Occasionally they passed a few other boaters, but for the most part, they could have been alone together in another world.

“Thank you,” she said. “For being my team. I’m having fun.”

He shot her a sideways grin. “Me too. Almost there. Should see the land mass up ahead.” Except nothing but more water met them at the horizon. “That’s weird. It should be around here according to the GPS coordinates.”

“Is this the part where I panic?” she joked.

“No, this is the part where you kiss me.” Before she could fully process how the suggestion settled low in her belly with a long liquid pull, he jerked his chin to the left. “It’s behind you. Slippery little sucker. I hate Internet maps. I’m not a fan of being given the wrong intel.”

Oh. The concept of kissing had been a euphemism. He really meant she should thank him for getting them where they needed to be. More disappointed than she had a right to be, she glanced over her shoulder. Her breath caught.

The small island stuck up out of the water like a green porcupine with trees for the quills. It was nothing short of stunning. Definitely there were lots of coconuts. But nothing else except a mile or so of gorgeous white sandy beach.

“Where are all the other contestants?”

“I dunno.” Fitz toyed with something on his navigation system, throttled back until they glided to a halt, and then killed the engine. “Maybe they’re around on the other side? Or late?”

But there was no dock or marina or anything even remotely civilized about this place. It was as wild as the beat of her pulse in her throat that she couldn’t quite tame after the word kiss had rolled off Fitz’s tongue so casually.

“How are we going to get to shore?”

“Swim maybe.” But he wasn’t looking at the island, he was looking at her with lazy interest that set off a dozen or more alarms. “But you’d get all wet.”

“I’ll… uh, dry.” Assuming that wasn’t supposed to be a double entendre. If it was, then dry wasn’t the goal. And he was already halfway to getting her good and soaked with nothing more than his voice.

“I was being serious.” He flowed to his feet and held out a hand, which she was clearly supposed to take. She did. He hauled her out of her chair, and before she could blink, his arms slid around her waist. “About this being the kissing part.”

“Oh.” All righty then. The pinwheel of gold flaring around his pupils mesmerized her. “Is kissing the established way to celebrate finding the next destination?”

There was really nothing else to do with her arms but put them around his waist as well, and oh, yes, that was exactly where she wanted them. Her whole body sang with the promise of kissing. With Fitz. Because he was so… everything.

“Yes. Absolutely. We’ll make it a thing.” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “But the thing right now is that you’re driving me crazy and I have been taunted with the promise of tasting you since you first brought it up. I don’t think I can fully concentrate on finding the next clue until we’ve cleared up this little mystery between us.”

She was mysterious? A delicious tendril of need stabbed through her abdomen as his thumb brushed across the corner of her mouth. And then everything froze—time, her heart—as his lips touched hers.

She should have heeded the warnings.

In a flash, he dragged her deeper into his arms, and all the ferociously hard planes of his body molded to hers. The kiss fell open, sucking her down a rabbit hole of sensation as his lips slanted over hers, completely melting her insides. Good thing he had her. Oh, yes, he did. Those arms.

The slick, hot slide of his tongue against hers slammed through her senses at the same moment his hand cupped her rear, pushing her hips into closer contact with his, where she became intimately familiar with how very turned on he was. The hard length of his erection pressed into her stomach.