Page 31 of Faking It at Sea

Sutton sucked in a breath. “You’re not playing fair.”

I really wasn’t, but I was tired of fighting my attraction to him, and tonight was my last chance to do something about it. I raised myself up a little higher and whispered in his ear, “Which deck, Sutton?”

“Eleven,” he growled.

I dropped back down, hit the button on the screen, and waited an eternity for the elevator doors to slide open again. Then another eternity dragged as that small metal box took us down. With every floor we passed, the walls seemed to close in a little more. Sounds that shouldn’t have even registered in my awareness grew until they drowned out my thoughts. My heartbeat. His breathing. The glide of my dress against my skin. The scuff of his shoes on the floor.

Between the need aching in my core and the excitement—or maybe it was terror—feeding adrenaline into my blood, I could barely breathe by the time the elevator stopped. Sutton led me down the passageway to his cabin and unlocked the door, cracking it open a few inches before he turned.

“Are you sure...” His words faded as he searched my face.

Yeah, I was sure. I pushed him against the door, wincing a little when it banged back against the wall.

Whatever. If I did any damage, I would cover the repair cost. All I cared about at that moment was finally sating the hunger that had been gnawing at me since that very first kiss in the bar.

12

SUTTON

June’s soft body pressed against me, a vivid contrast to the cool, hard door at my back. She was all heat and curves, and the kind of desire that would burn me alive if I wasn’t careful.

I’d suspected she had this side of her hidden away since our kiss at the Sunset Deck Party. It was probably tucked away in a little box that she kept so tightly under wraps that even she forgot just how passionate of a woman she could be when she loosened the reins.

I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her deeply as she battled the buttons on my suit jacket. A hint of champagne lingered on her lips, sweet and tart. The distant sound of conversation filtered through my hazy mind, and I turned her, never breaking the kiss as I kicked the door shut behind us.

Jesus, she already had me so spun up that my hands were trembling to explore her body. The desperate need to hike her dress up and finally fucking taste her clawed at me.

I didn’t want to rush this. I wanted to enjoy every last second but having her in my arms again after two days of torturous distance was stealing my resolve.

Her hands slid up my chest and over my shoulders, forcing me to release her gorgeous face as she wrenched my jacketdown. I fought to peel it off one arm, not caring when it ripped because all that mattered was the way her deft fingers attacked my belt.

Too fast.

I knew what she wanted, and fuck, I wanted it too. I’d already imagined what it would feel like to pin her to the bed and drive into her so deep that she would be screaming my name for the rest of our lives. But I had one potentially serious problem.

I caught her by the wrists. “I didn’t plan on meeting anyone on this trip, June,” I reminded her. “So, I’m not exactly prepared for this.”

Her brow furrowed. “Prepared how?”

“I don’t have any condoms.”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Have you been tested?”

I nodded. “I’m clean.”

“Me too.”

My pulse jumped, and my fingers twitched around her wrists. “Birth control?”

“Take it every day like clockwork,” she said, leaning forward. She nipped at my bottom lip and a groan escaped me.

I pressed her against the wall with my body, pinning her hands over her head as I took her mouth. The kiss was rougher than I intended, more raw, but it only seemed to rile her up more.

Fighting to steady my breath, I pulled back far enough to search her gaze. “If this is all I get, we’re doing this my way,” I growled.

Hesitation flickered across her face. “And what way is that?”

I dropped her wrists, slid her dress up her thighs until I caught her just below that luscious ass of hers, and lifted her. Those strong legs wrapped around me like we’d done this athousand times. “It means I’m going to take my time,” I rasped. Then I nipped her exposed neck to drive my meaning home.

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