Page 56 of Unmoored

“Agreed,” Murph chuckles in a deep rumble that makes me prickle all over again, almost forgetting what we’re talking about. “But safety comes first.”

“But—”

Murph doesn’t let me protest. His teeth close around my lower lip for a delicate nip, while his tongue skims across it and wakes up a hundred fucking nerves I had no fucking idea were there. He kisses me until I forget my sassy response, and then he pulls away and says something else.

My ears aren’t working anymore. Not enough blood flow. All I can think about is getting him to kiss me like that again, so I just nod and whimper softly, turning my face up toward him.

Murph’s chuckle is slow and deep enough to break through the fog. He gazes down at me with such amusement, his palm still cupped around my cheek. “Oh, Eden,” he finally says. “You didn’t get a word of that, did you?”

“Mm-mmm,” I shake my head, trying to sit up as much as I can so I can reachhislips instead.

Murph straightens up instead, his eyes twinkling as he grabs a lifejacket. “Put this on. Keep your ass in that seat until I tell you otherwise. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Oh, fuck.I hope he keeps up ordering me around like this. “Yes, skipper,” I breathe out, shoving my head and arms through it and looking up to him for confirmation that I’ve done it the right way.

“Good.” Murph buckles it up and kisses me once more for the road—slow and deep, but without that incredible trick with his teeth. Then he peels himself away, and I grin and roll my head back, trying desperately to catch my breath in the early dawn air. “Hold on tight,” he warns.

“Yes, skip—ooh!” I squeak. Just like that, we’re off.

It’s only now that I realize how much Murph usually tries to keep the speedboat quiet. The outboard engine roars to life behind me, and the nose of the boat rises in the air with how suddenly we pick up speed, effortlessly cutting through the water.

The adrenaline goes straight to my head. I’m laughing out loud, clutching the seat with all my might as we skim across the waves and around the corner of Sunrise Island.

I’ve never been wanted like this before—so bad, so urgent, that Murph can’t resist stealing me away to his bed. And holy shit, I’ve never felt sexier in my life. I’m glad to turn my face into the wind, letting it whip around my face as I blink back the tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

Murph expertly steers us around the rocky outcroppings. The engine noise is quieting again. I blink as the nose of the boat dips, and then I can see it—we’re approaching a long dock, and Murph’s barge is moored on the other side. Just beyond the end of the dock, a house peeks through the trees.

That must be his place.

“Ready for dry land?” Murph asks me, his voice a low rumble—promising all the things he’s going to give me when we set foot upon it.

“I’ve never been more ready,” I breathe out. Then I lick my lips and wince. “Shit… uh, wait. I don’t have shoes on. Tell me you don’t have a gravel path.”

Murph snorts, which almost makes me tense up. I’m half-expecting him to make fun of me for suggesting such a dumb thing. But the noise is soft and affectionate. “You think I was planning to let you walk? All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.”

I shiver, grinning up at him as he moors, and I stay obediently in my seat. “Yes, skipper.”

Murph grins and flicks me another glance as he coasts toward the dock. “And keep telling me that, too.”

“Yes, skipper,” I say again in a soft moaning voice. We’re too close for me to resist the temptation to distract him, so I let my thighs peek open again, spreading them even wider when Murph looks over at me with that dark, hungry gaze.

It’s working. He’s looking at me, not where we’re going. My heart is in my throat, but we’re coasting slowly and gently now—and even though he’s not looking, he’s pulling back on the throttle, gathering up the rope coil near his hand… and he even throws it without a second glance.

“Did you just—” I break off as I look over hastily. The rope is looped around the cleat on his dock. With a single yank, he pulls the speed boat into the dock, twists the rope around the cleat, and moors us in the blink of an eye.

“I did,” Murph says with a slow grin, lifting his chin.

I swallow a moan as I shake my head. I’ve never seen him show off like this before. It’s so obviously for my benefit, but it makes him ten times hotter. “Fuck. How the fuck did you…?” I trail off, my voice slightly strangled.

Murph winks. “You can get up now,” he finally tells me. I rise to my feet, wobbling as I try to figure out the lifejacket. But he’s already right there, helping unfasten it, then pulling the whole thing over my head in one swift move.

I’m mostly naked again… and he’s scooping me straight into his arms this time.

I yelp and hold on tight around his shoulders, closing my eyes. The world lurches around me, but I’ve never felt so safe as I am right now with him climbing up to the dock for both of us.

“You think we’ll even make it into the house?” I murmur into his neck. “When we’ve got a whole barge deck right there?”

Murph huffs and shakes his head at me, setting into a rolling stride of a gait. “You’refullof bad ideas.”

---