Commanding Her Seal (Plus Bonus Novella)(47)

“Hey.” He pulled her close and tipped up her chin with a clenched fist, needing to connect but not totally clear on whether it was her that could use it or just him. “Trust me, okay? I’m here. I will not let anything happen to you.”

Her dark eyes softened and she nodded again, but with far more conviction, like she believed him. Good. He could work with that.

“Look around. This place does not suck,” he said with a bit more cheer because come on. They’d landed exactly where he wanted to be. On the beach, with a sexy woman.

Half-dressed could definitely happen if he put his mind to it. He had all the time in the world to talk her out of her clothes. This stranded-on-a-deserted-island deal was looking more and more promising.

He let his arm drift around her waist, and she didn’t balk, so he pressed the advantage.

“We have plenty of food. Jack bought enough for four. The boat has a place to sleep. Or—” He waggled his brows. “If you’re feeling adventurous, we can sleep on the beach. There’s no rain in the forecast. Should be a gorgeous view of the stars.”

He’d slept in the elements plenty of times, mostly because he had no choice. This would be the first time in a long time he’d done it willingly. With a hot girl. Who needed sexing up really badly. Or was that still just him?

“What do you say?” He tightened his arm around her, infusing the deal with some honest physical contact in the hopes that would sway it. “Live dangerously with me?”

Her palms came up to rest on his chest. Tentatively. But still. And then she smiled, poleaxing him in the gut.

“You, um… had me at hey.”

Which made him laugh, and then he had to kiss her again because laughing while kissing was the best. And then things got serious the second his mouth hit hers—this was exactly where they’d been when the boat had run aground.

Her lips parted oh so slightly, and yes, he would like some more of her hot tongue. Without missing a beat, he took advantage of the opening and licked his way into her mouth. So sweet. Not enough. He deepened the kiss, determined to taste, to devour. God, she was responsive, sucking him in until every nerve in his body was on high alert.

But then everything shifted. She was kissing him. She was kissing him. Like she wanted to drive the bus. Well, then. It was A-OK if she wanted to use his mouth for her personal training exercise. Was there a signup sheet for other body parts?

She took her time testing out different angles until she found one she liked, and it was a good one. He groaned as she nipped at his lips. Instinctively, he held back because, well… it seemed like she wanted to experiment and it was lighting him up in all the good places.

Then she started toying with the hem of his shirt, and his heart nearly stopped as she hesitated. Go on. His skin was screaming for her touch, and finally she slipped a hand underneath, spreading heat along the small of his back as her fingers went on a recon mission.

His lungs strangled over a breath. God, when was the last time the touch of a female hand affected him like this? He was so hard all at once that his erection could clear-cut the wide swath of palm trees in the distance all by itself.

He ached to wrest control back, to dive into this woman. To lay her back and mouth his way down to the valley between her legs so he could really get a good taste of her, but this was totally uncharted territory. Next move had to be hers.

All at once, she stepped back. Not the move he’d been hoping for. But she was breathless and blushing, and hell if that wasn’t the most arousing look on her thus far. He nearly yanked her back against him with a plea to please, please, please try out whatever she wanted already primed to fly from his throat.

But a gut-deep ping stopped him. She wasn’t ready. He shut down everything in a supreme act of will that was so flipping difficult it totally deserved an award.

“Sorry,” she croaked. “I got a little carried away.”

“Lilah Houston, don’t you ever apologize for kissing me.” Geez. What was going on between her ears? “Or for getting carried away. That’s the whole point of adventure. You wanna tell me to strip naked and dance for you? Fire away. You want to see how much of your breast will fit in my mouth? I’m your man. But feeling bad over getting caught up in the sensations is not okay.”

She blinked. And blinked again. “You’d strip for me just because I asked?”

“In half a heartbeat.” God, he needed a fire extinguisher. Water would do. “But I’m sensing that request is not forthcoming, so I’m going to take some stuff to the beach. I’m on vacation and that’s where I want to be. Coming?”