Page 41 of Code Name: Harbor

The fight in my chest competes with the need there. I can’t seem to separate them, so I pull Josie to me and kiss her.

It’s not the kiss from when we were on the Catherine. That was the kiss a man gives a beautiful woman after a romantic dinner. This kiss is representative of a man who’s just been told by the woman he’s falling for that she won’t move from a path that’s going to get her killed.

It’s rougher… faster.

And fuck if she doesn’t kiss me back in the same way with the same desperation.

I break it for one second—long enough to look at her face, to make sure—and she says it before I can ask.

“Yes.”

CHAPTER 10

Josie

The decision is made and I don’t regret it.

I’ll never regret it.

I’m that sure.

Finn takes my hand and leads me up a sweeping staircase. The top of the stairs opens into a hallway and he turns left. His hand is warm around mine, his grip assured.

He guides me through the doorway to his bedroom, and my eyes immediately lock onto the king bed set on a low platform. It abuts another wall of windows overlooking the water twinkling with white, gold and red city lights. There’s a chair and ottoman in one corner with a book on the seat, and I can envision Finn sitting there reading by lamplight.

But that’s all I see because he spins on me and his mouth is back on mine. The kiss is the same kiss from downstairs but rougher, half desperation and half follow-through on a decision we’ve both made. He’s not gentle and I don’t want him to be.

A thrill runs through me when his hands find the small of my back, then slide up. Mine move to his chest, linger only briefly before I start working the buttons of my own blouse. He watches for a moment before he halts my efforts.

“Let me,” he growls low, and I feel it straight between my legs.

His hands twist the buttons one at a time, slower than I would have expected and frustrating that he just doesn’t rip it open.

I almost push him away to do it myself because I want to be free and naked with this man, but I look up and find he’s not watching his handiwork.

No, rather, he’s staring at me. His eyes roam my face to watch my reaction and I barely notice as the silk is slid free of my shoulders where it flutters to the ground.

My bra is plain white and practical. When I chose it this morning, I never thought a man would be removing it tonight, but he’s not paying attention to the lack of lace. He deftly flicks the catches at the back, and it’s gone in a more practiced motion than I would like.

I don’t have time to be jealous of every woman who came before me in this room because he’s kissing me again. My hands grab the hem of his sweater, pulling it up his body, and he lifts his arms to allow its removal. Before I’m able to admire him, he’s pulling me to him, bare skin against bare skin, and the only thing in the world I can think about is the heat of his body.

Finn’s mouth goes to my throat, and I tip my head back in a languid sigh. It’s magic and it drifts lower.

We’re on the move as he walks me toward the bed. The backs of my knees hit the mattress and I sit, lifting my gaze to him.

He stands over me, tall and looming, just like I remember him on the boat when he pulled me out of the water. Hungry, hungry eyes that make me bold. I reach for the waistband of his jeans, popping the button, and his breath catches as I pull down the zipper.

There’s no hesitation… my desire drives my motions. I slide my hand inside the denim, past his cotton briefs and find him hard against my palm. Granite and satin, thick and long. I curl my fingers around him, my mouth going dry as I realize my fingers don’t quite close around his girth. I am, in some distant analytical part of my brain, surprised by his size and wondering if I can take him.

I tighten my grip and he makes a sound in the back of his throat that soaks my panties. I stroke the length of his cock, slow, and the wetness at the tip catches against my thumb. I drag it back the way I came.

“Jesus, Josie,” he says, and his voice has gone rough.

I freeze.

Am I moving too fast or being too presumptuous or too forward?

Does he like this as much as I do?