Page 15 of Wicked Waters

“No. Is there, like, a manual or anything?”

“Do I look like I know? It’s not my fucking boat.” He was getting more and more angry, and it shouldn’t have affected me the way it did, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. He was so beautiful, even in his anger, cursing the sea like some kind of vengeful god.

When he slammed his hand down on the control panel, I finally looked away, glancing through the windshield. We seemed to be drifting farther away from the island. “Um, Roman? Does this boat have an anchor? I think the tide is carrying us along. Look.” I pointed towards the now-distant lighthouse, which appeared to be off to the right instead of directly behind us now.

His eyes widened as he took in what I was seeing. “Shit. Yeah. Anchor.” Both of us turned to scan the boat, and I immediately saw the anchor.

I raced for it, grabbing the handle of the winch. “Roman!” I called, and he was suddenly there with me, his hands on mine as we turned the heavy handle together, and the anchor released, the clanking of chains as it descended into the depths the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. There’d been a moment there when I had a vision of us being carried away on an empty ocean, swallowed up by the night.

“We did it!” I forgot who I was talking to for a moment, turning to Roman with a huge smile.

He stared at me for a moment, his face illuminated by the moonlight, and then he gripped my face in his hands.

Then, his lips were on mine.

I froze in shock for all of two seconds before I kissed him back.

It felt like I’d been waiting my whole life for this kiss.

He pulled back slightly, his breath coming in pants as he stared down at me, his eyes wide. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Fuck, why do you do this to me?” he groaned before his lips descended again. I lifted myself up on my toes, winding my arms around his neck, and he slid his hands from my face, down around my body until his arms were around me, holding me to him.

This kiss. Everything about Roman was hard, so hard, but his lips were so soft. My tongue slid against his as he pressed into me, grinding his hardness against my body.

“No.” With an effort, he pulled away from me, stepping back towards the helm. “We need to get out of here,” he muttered to himself. I collapsed back on the padded leather bench seat, attempting to slow my breathing and get my elevated heart rate under control. Everything in me wanted to carry on kissing him, to make the most of being alone with him here on this boat. No one would know. There was nobody to see us, no way for anyone to find out.

He was the biggest temptation I’d ever had, and I knew that if he kissed me again, out here with no one to see, I wouldn’t stop him.

I watched him as he tried again, and failed again, to restart the engine, distracted by the way his arm muscles were flexing. Then a thought came to me. “Isn’t there some kind of radio or SOS thing on here? I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Blaine’s stupid rule about not bringing phones to the island.”

“Flares.” His voice was suddenly hopeful. “In the—” He cut himself off, slamming his hand on the control panel. “Fuck. We cleared everything out to make room for the drinks.”

“You cleared out the life-saving stuff to make room for alcohol?” My voice was incredulous. “Whose genius idea was that? There’s nothing else we can do, then. We’ll have to wait for the others to find us when it gets light. Or the coastguard, I guess.”

“The engine’s overheated. It might work again if we leave it for a bit.” His voice sounded uncertain, and I was sure that neither of us believed that was the problem, but I nodded.

“Let’s try it again in a bit.” Biting down on my lip, I warred with myself before I let the words come out. “We can have that talk, if you want.” Both of our defences were down right now, and maybe this was what we needed. A chance to clear the air.

He stared at me for a long, charged moment.

Then he spoke. His voice was low, his words carried away on the night breeze, but I read the intent in his eyes perfectly. “I don’t want to talk.”

He crossed the boat to me in three strides, threw himself down on the seat next to me, and tugged me onto his lap.

There was no hesitation from either of us. I poured everything I had into this kiss, grinding down against his hardness, digging my knees into the leather of the seat as his tongue swiped into my mouth. The boat rocked, making me slide across his thighs, and his hands came down to grip my hips, holding me steady.

“I want you,” I whispered as he kissed along my jaw, then bent his head to drag his teeth down my throat.

“Yeah. Here, where there’s no one to see,” he muttered into my neck.

The hurt tore through me, and suddenly, I wanted to explain. Explain what I could, to make him understand it wasn’t what he thought. I gripped a handful of his hair and tugged, making his head come up. His darkened eyes met mine.

“Listen to me.” I took a deep breath. “I want you all the time. Those things I said to you in the boat sheds…none of them were true. I lied to you.”

His brow creased. “Why say them, then?”

“I-I can’t tell you. But I want you to know that if there was a way for you and me to be something, or even to just be friends, I would seize it. But we can’t. Please, please don’t ask me why. I can’t tell you.”

“Is this?—”

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