Page 122 of Falling Overboard

I knew I was rationalizing it but I didn’t care.

“And we don’t have to tell the captain,” I added as he pulled me flush against him. “I know the rules still apply even if we aren’t on the ship, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Yep, definitely trying to justify what we were about to do.

What Ineededto do.

Because if I didn’t kiss him again soon, I was going to explode. And I already knew that Hunter had the patience of a Christmas ornament still hanging in September. He would wait. I just couldn’t do it anymore.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” he asked and it startled me.

“You’ve never said that before.”

“I didn’t want to scare you off. I was supposed to only be your friend. I thought it all the time, though. I should have told you every day, every minute, every second. Because you are so beautiful that I sometimes forget to breathe.”

Which I got because his words were strangling the breath out of me right now.

“Tell me where the boundary is,” he said lowly, digging his fingers into my back.

His respect, him saying I was beautiful, along with the way he was looking at me—like I was a bowl of cookie dough—was a lot for my loins to take. I listened to him breathe, and each quick, sharp inhale and exhale only made me more excited.

“Where is the boundary for you?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t asked him and feeling bad about it. I played with the hair at the nape of his neck, letting the short, silky hair there bristle against my fingers.

“I’ve never had a boundary where you’re concerned.”

The still-functioning part of my brain realized how bad that was. How easily and quickly things could spin out of control if we let our bodies and emotions take over.

“Just kissing,” I said, before I could convince myself to change my mind. This was the only way to make things okay. If we didn’t actually take it too far, then it wasn’t quite so bad.

Deep down I knew it was untrue, but it made my conscience feel slightly better. “And we shouldn’t even be doing that. Your parents are the ones who made this rule. I don’t want you to get in trouble or to be the reason why you lose out on getting that residential treatment center to honor your sister.”

He leaned forward to nuzzle his nose against the side of my face. “Like I said, I only think my dad made that rule for liability reasons.”

“And to keep you on track,” I reminded him. One of us needed to be thinking somewhat clearly and very soon it was not going to be me. Especially with him leaving butterfly kisses on my temple.

He stilled. “I’m doing my job. I’m doing it well. And I can multitask.”

“You cannot.”

“Not usually, no,” he agreed. “But I’m pretty sure I can kiss you at night and still tie a good bowline the next day.”

He somehow managed to draw me even closer so that his body was a hot, hard line against me. I felt the violent beating of his heart against my chest. It made my body heavy with want, tense with need.

We were alone. We wouldn’t be interrupted. No one would walk in on us. Nobody would know what we were about to do.

“Kiss me, Hunter.”

He did not have to be invited twice. With a rough groan his mouth descended on mine. Bright, hot sparks exploded along my veins as he kissed me fiercely, fervently, searing both my lips and my heart.

We crashed into each other like two giant waves, and I was plunged into the undertow, being dragged down toward the bottom of the ocean,unable to breathe, but not resisting. I wanted to be fully immersed. To drown in him and never surface again.

There was nothing gentle about this kiss—it was raw with his need. Rougher, edged with frustration and desire. It felt like my lips were connected to every nerve ending in my body, and all my senses seemed to blow up at once.

He ignited me. His mouth was wild on mine, relentless, scorching, and it felt like I was standing over a blazing campfire, bolts of heat being shot through me. The sweet fire continued to race as he threaded his fingers into my hair, tilting my head back to give him better access to my jaw, my throat.

I was panting as he dragged his mouth along my skin, leaving blazing trails in his wake. I had forgotten what an expert he was in this. Like his law school had offered it as a special course and he’d gotten an A.

There was no way I could give this up again. Captain Carl could take a long walk off a short pier.

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