Page 75 of Catch and Release

She took off her shirt and shorts, and without preamble, she jumped into the water with a shriek. As she surfaced, she pushed her hair back and looked up at the boat. Shawn was nowhere to be seen.

“Shawn?” she asked, uncertain why she suddenly couldn’t see him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he came running toward the edge of the boat.

“CANNONBALL!” he shouted as he jumped in the water right next to her.

Willa started laughing so hard she couldn’t stop, even when he surfaced next to her and gave her an exasperated smile.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said.

He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, pressing a kiss to her lips.

“You don’t seem to mind it too much,” he said against her mouth.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him closer, kissing him as they treaded water, feeling his muscular body against hers in the Bay.

“Is this the part where you fuck me on a boat?” she whispered.

He laughed and started swimming toward the back of the boat, where he’d released a ladder for them to climb back up. Once they got back on, she took a sip of her beer and laid out on the bow, allowing the sun to naturally dry her off.

“Thanks for this,” she said. “Today. The boat ride. All of it. I feel like a kid again.”

He laid down next to her on the front of the boat, resting his hands behind his head.

“You won the free chartered ride, fair and square,” he said.

“It’s more than that, and you know it,” she said, curling her body into his. “Thank you.”

He turned his face toward her and she pulled herself toward him before pressing her lips against his in a kiss that she hoped conveyed the depths of her gratitude. She kissed him lightly, at first, her lips barely skating over his. But it deepened as she kept going, her tongue swiping against his as she plunged into him, pressing her body against his. His hands came up to steady her hips as she straddled him, and she grinded against his length as she dragged the tips of her fingers up and down his muscled abdomen.

She sat up and admired him, and he gave her a quizzical look.

“You know, muscular guys are a dime a dozen in California,” she said, earning a pointed glare from Shawn. “But the first time I saw you, I knew these muscles were the real deal. From reeling in 100-pound fish and rebuilding the wharf after hurricanes.”

She pinched a bicep and then kissed him again, her hands splaying out on the soft ridges of his arms. Shawn rolled over their bodies so he laid on top of her and her back rested on the bow of the boat. He traced a thumb over the crook of her nose and the curve of her cheek, his eyes dark with lust and restraint and something else Willa couldn’t figure out.

Something tender.

“I love your freckles,” Shawn rasped. “I want to fucking memorize them.”

The breath whooshed out of Willa, but as she digested his words, he claimed her mouth in a scorching kiss. She couldn’t think about anything but the feel of his lips on hers, the way his body curved protectively around her as if hiding her from potential onlookers, the way his tongue moved with practiced precision against hers.

“If we’re going to do this, you have to be quiet and do as you’re told,” he whispered against her lips before consuming her with another kiss.

She smirked, then saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

His eyes narrowed. “Gonna have to fuck that sass right out of you.”

“Please,” she whimpered as he tugged her bikini bottoms down.

“That’s more like it,” he grinned devilishly at her, then tugged his swim trunks down and pulled a condom out of his back pocket. “This is going to be quick, but you’re going to come.”

“Have you had that with you the whole time?” Willa gasped, eyeing the condom in his hand.

“Been keeping ‘em in my wallet since we started hooking up,” Shawn said as he rolled the condom down his length. “Grabbed one after you laid out here in that tiny little bikini like you were begging me to make you come.”

With no preamble, he thrust into her so hard she thought she’d elevated to another plane. She moaned, and his hand came up to cover her mouth.

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