Page 70 of Diving In

“I obviously didn’t plan on being out here in the middle of a storm. It just sort of happened. I came straight from the airport, running on pure adrenaline, so it never even occurred to me to whip out my weather app before taking the boat out.” I looked up at him before admitting, “If I had time to put that much thought into it, I would’ve never made it out here in the first place.”

“How about you make it a point to do so next time, yeah?” His voice was deep. Demanding, even.

But really fucking hot.

“Whatever you say,” I assured him.

“Why did you come back?” he asked, looking at me with a sincere gaze.

For the first time in my entire life, I’d made a spur of the moment decision, solely for myself. No planning, no questioning, nothing. I’d decided to do something simply because I wanted to, and I knew that I had been pulled back to this island for a reason.

Not just for Cal, not just for Fletcher or Jack, and not even just for the island itself.

For all of that, sure, but most importantly, for myself.

As I looked at Cal, his beautiful indigo eyes staring intently back at me, I was overcome with just how deeply I had fallen for this man. For once, I let my feelings do the talking.

I tugged at his light blue PFG, pulling him toward me and closing the space between us in record time. Our lips smashed together, both of our mouths parting simultaneously. The rush of blood to my head would’ve brought me to my knees had I not already been laying on top of Cal.

This kiss was magical.

It destroyed the walls that’d once stood so tall. The same walls that’d held me captive with their roaring fires and inconsolable thoughts. This kiss burned them all down, leaving nothing but ashes.

With Cal bearing witness to it all, I rose like a phoenix, leaving behind everything that no longer served me. And for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime,I felt like myself.

As we both came up for air, I pulled his face closer to mine, allowing my lips to linger next to his ear. “For me,” I whispered. “I came back for me.”

I bit my lip and tried to quiet the want growing inside me. He inched closer, almost as if that was the answer he’d been waiting for. The desire overtook his entire body, and based on the look in his eyes, I thought he might combust right here. He caught my last breath in his mouth before everything around me went blurry and our tongues collided like the waves surrounding the boat.

But this was different. This was real.

There was nothing holding me back—no guilt, no shame, no apprehension. There was only pure fucking desire raging like a wildfire, untamable but so fucking bright. A desire that screamed for no one besides the man laying underneath me. The same man who wanted nothing more than to devour me and finally make me his, for good this time.

As our kiss deepened, so did my aching for him. I let out a soft groan under my breath.

“It was that good, huh? Had to come back for seconds?” he asked, ripping his mouth away from mine.

I pulled his face closer to mine, trailing my mouth a mere centimeter from his ear. “It was that fucking good,” I breathed.

As the words left my mouth and tickled his ear, I could feel him growing underneath me, doing nothing to quell my need for him. The hairs all over my body stood as goosebumps sprouted up.

“Fuck, Georgia. I’d like to fucking devour you, every inch of you. But we can’t, not here,” he huffed on a groan. “The storm isn’t over and I’m not putting your sweet little ass in any more danger, not to mention how uncomfortable this is. We wouldn’t want you to bruise your knees, now would we?”

My eyes flashed in his direction at the same time a rumble of thunder rebounded through the clouds. This was hardly the time, but the thought of me on my knees with him filling my mouth almost melted me on the spot, and I couldn’t resist tempting him a little.

“If we did it out here, no one would hear me when I screamed your name. I could be as loud as I wanted,” I told him.

“That’s the thing… Iwantpeople to hear you scream my name.”

“Oh my fuck, you can’t do this to me,” I said, practically begging him to take me right there.

“Oh, but I can, Georgia James. And I will, because seeing how badly you want me is almost as hot as it’s going to be to watch you take me—allof me.” His eyes danced up and down my body.

I ran my hand down my body, doing my best to contain myself. “You win, Callahan Thomas. You fucking win.”

“Let’s get this boat back to the marina. We’ll just tow my jet ski.” He nodded in the direction of the orange and lime green jet ski that was tethered to the side of the boat.

How could he go from seducing me to casually talking logistics? Apparently I needed to compose myself.

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