Page 77 of Have To Be Mine

“Yeah. Let me go change. I noticed you were kind enough to leave a swimsuit and a change of clothes for me.”

“I was planning ahead. Just following your example.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Yeah, right.”

We climbed down from the platform and headed below deck. My cabin was closer, so we stopped there first. Dash leaned against the doorframe while I reached for the swimsuit he’d been so kind to provide. Of course, it was one from the new line and absolutely gorgeous.

It was a simple black one-piece, thank God. Nothing too revealing or complicated. But definitely sexier than the one I brought with me on this little excursion.

“Give me five minutes,” I said.

“Take your time.”

He pushed off the doorframe and headed toward his own cabin down the hall. I watched him go, appreciating the view, then shut my door and leaned against it.

What was I doing? This was insane. This was unprofessional. This was everything I’d sworn I wouldn’t do.

And I didn’t care.

I changed quickly, pulling on the swimsuit and wrapping one of the plush robes around myself. My sunburn didn’t protest at all. The aloe had been doing its job. I still wasn’t totally sure about the temperature of the hot tub, but I was willing to give it a shot. An opportunity like this would never come around again. I would regret it forever if I didn’t at least try.

I grabbed a towel and opened my door, planning to head up to the hot tub deck. Dash was standing in the hallway, also in a robe, also holding a towel.

We looked at each other.

“Hi,” I said stupidly.

“Hi.”

The space between us felt like a single word or movement would have us both bursting into flames. Like the air before a lightning strike. The energy crackled between us. I could feel it like a static charge making the hairs on my arms stand up. His eyes darkened, his jaw tightened, and then he was moving toward me.

He closed the distance and kissed me. It wasn’t even a little tender. The man was ravenous. Or maybe it was me. We were both desperate for each other. His hands grabbed my face like he was afraid I might escape. I grabbed fistfuls of his robe, pulling him closer.

Every thread of restraint I’d been clinging to snapped. His, too. The man had been patient. He had given me ecstasy and had taken nothing in return. He’d been waiting for me.

I walked backward, pulling him with me, until we were in my cabin. He kicked the door shut behind us without breaking the kiss. My robe fell open and his hands slid over the bathing suit and then into my hair.

“Krista,” he breathed against my mouth.

“Don’t talk,” I said.

“Your burn.”

“It’s healed enough. Now I’m on fire on the inside. So don’t fucking stop.”

I didn’t want words. Words would make me think, and thinking would make me stop, and I absolutely did not want to stop. There had been enough waiting and teasing. It had been days of foreplay and my body demanded a hell of a lot more than a couple of fingers.

His robe joined mine on the floor. I ran my hands over his chest, practically moaning and drooling at the feel his hard body under my palms. All that ridiculous muscle I’d been fantasizing about since I first saw him was almost too good to be true.

He walked me backward toward the bed, his mouth never leaving mine. When the backs of my knees hit the mattress, I sat down and he followed me, covering my body with his, careful to keep his weight off my sunburned skin.

His hands slid down my sides, hooking into the straps of my swimsuit. He paused, giving me one last chance to stop this. I didn’t take it. I was ready to tear the thing off my body if he didn’t hurry up and get it off me.

I reached for the waistband of his swim trunks.

He sucked in a sharp breath. “Jesus.”

“Still want to talk?” I asked.