She didn’t make any move to stop her work, and though he liked that he knocked her off-kilter, he wanted her to relax some. Or just enough so he could knock her off her feet and rock her world later.
“You hungry?” he asked, lifting her beer as if it were his own and downing the last swallow.
She glanced over her glasses at him, and the look was so damn sexy, he nearly trashed his plan to take things slow and easy with her tonight. Several seconds passed before she looked down and shrugged again. “I could eat, I guess.”
He smiled as he pushed out of his seat and headed for the galley. Definitely nervous. He’d change that. Before the night was over, he wanted her panting.
He moved to the galley and searched cupboards and the small icebox they kept on board.
Minutes later, she sighed and dropped her glasses on the worktable. “That helpless look better not be a ploy to get me to cook for you.”
His grin widened. “I’m not a total loser. I do know how to work a stove.”
“Good thing.” She moved into the galley and sank onto the padded bench around the kitchen table.
“There’s just not a lot to work with,” he said, frowning into the icebox. “How do sandwiches sound?”
“Anything sounds good right about now.” She rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn.
“You look wiped.” He retrieved bread and found cold cuts in the icebox. “Didn’t you sleep last night?”
God knew he hadn’t slept. He’d kept replaying their dance, the way she’d tasted on the beach, all the things he’d wanted to do to her in that soft sand but had restrained himself from doing.
“If Patrick’s not working us to the bone, he’s not happy.”
There was definite truth in that. Thad slathered mayo on the bread, then slapped turkey, lettuce, and tomatoes on top.
“None of that red stuff on mine.”
He glanced over at her. “You don’t like tomatoes?”
“Ick, no.” She scrunched her nose in an adorable little way. “Too squishy. They just turn slimy between the bread. Tomatoes are fine in Italian food and salsa; otherwise, gag me.”
He chuckled, then dumped a can of chicken noodle soup into a pan and flipped on the stove. “See, I learn something new about you every day.”
She rested her chin on her hand as she watched him, and he found his own nerves easing. He’d missed this, the easy way they just seemed to fit together, no matter the situation.
“We’re making good progress,” she said. “Once we raise the cannons tomorrow, we’ll be in even better shape.”
Thad chuckled as he brought the soup and sandwiches to the table and slid into the booth across from her. “I’m glad we’re all meeting your standards.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said with a frown.
“It’s okay, Maren.” He licked his fingers and picked up his sandwich. “You’re a perfectionist. You always were. It’s why you’re so good at this whole gig. You’ve whipped Patrick’s grad students into shape. Even your dad’s impressed. Who knew they’d get a crash course in chemistry on this dig? I don’t think I ever learned the single replacement reaction for bronze disease, and I’ve been doing this for years. You sure taught me a thing or two.”
A timid smile curled her lips. Between dives, she’d been spending time with her father’s grunts, teaching them everything they’d need to know to clean the artifacts they’d bring up once they located the Conquistador. “Can you just see me in a lecture hall? My students would die of boredom.”
“Is that what you want to do? Teach?” He lifted his beer and studied her across the table while she took a bite.
She shook her head and swallowed. “No. I hated teaching when I was working on my doctorate. I’m happy doing this—research, recovery, recording.”
“Will you go back to the hotel when we’re done here?”
She looked down at her plate, and that same dark look he’d seen outside on the deck, when she’d interrupted his conversation with Patrick, crossed her features. “I don’t know. I think that’s up in the air at this point.”
She shook her head and reached for the beer he’d set in front of her plate. “What about you?”
“I usually play things by ear. I have a couple of guys I work with. They call me when things come up.”
“No responsibilities, no ties.”
The wistfulness in her voice belied the dark look that had crept back into her eyes. And in that moment, he had an intense, urgent need to prove to her he was willing to toss away everything about his old life for her if she wanted him to. “That doesn’t mean I’m not up for a change.”
Their eyes held. Electricity sparked between them. And her sweet blue gaze grew warm. Hot. Needy.
She looked back down, breaking the connection arcing between them. She did that a lot, and he couldn’t help but wonder what was holding her back. It was more than the past. More than his stupidity as a kid. Somehow, he knew it had something to do with the secret she was hiding from him.
She looked back at her dinner and picked up her sandwich. “So where’s home base?”
She wanted to play the avoidance game. He could do that. For now. He sat back against the bench and twirled the beer bottle in his hand. “I’ve got a little place in Virginia Beach. It’s not much, but it’s enough for the time I’m around. My parents live in Richmond now.”
She swallowed a bite. “How long have you been there?”
“About five years.”
“Why did your parents leave upstate New York?”
Surprise registered. That she remembered. He’d told her that…what? Once? “Dad would tell you it’s because they needed a change of pace after he retired from the school district, but I think they did it because they were worried about me.”
“Why would they be worried about you?” She lifted the beer to her lips and took a long sip.
He shrugged, loving the way the fading sunlight through the window caught the long column of her throat when she swallowed. “Maybe because they know I haven’t been really happy these last few years.”
Her beer bottle wobbled before she set it down again. She went back to her sandwich. “Do you see them much?”
Oh yeah, he was definitely getting to her. He relaxed a little more. “More than I used to. They vacationed in Turkey a few years ago when I was working there. And every few weeks my mother pops in unannounced to harass me over the fact she doesn’t have any grandchildren to dote on in her old age.”
“Oh.” She swallowed hard and reached for her beer. She downed the rest of it before gasping and saying, “I suppose that means you never got married.”
One side of his mouth curled. “Thought about it. Once.”
“What happened?” she asked without looking up.
“Wasn’t the right time. Thankfully, things are different now.”
Her hand froze against her sandwich. Slowly, she set it back on her plate, then pushed out of the booth. “Are you done?”
“Yeah.”
She took their dishes to the counter without looking at him, and he bit back the curse on his lips. He’d pushed her too far. In his attempt to be cute, he’d just brought her nerves back.
She was quiet as she cleaned off the counters and put the food away. He moved out of the booth and stepped up behind her.
“You’re a complicated woman. Every time I think I’m starting to get a handle on you, you go and throw me for a loop.”
She tensed, one hand on the cupboard door above her head, and lowered to her heels. “Maybe I don’t want to be handled.”
“If I believed that, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.” He drew in a deep breath of her scent and let it warm him, everywhere. Gently, he brushed her hair to the side and skimmed his finger down the length of her neck “This is my favorite spot on you. Right here, where your neck meets the top of your back. When you wear your hair up, it does a number on me every time.”
“I-I’ll try to remember to w
ear my hair down from now on so I don’t distract you.”
“Won’t make a difference. Just imagining it is enough to make me all lightheaded.”
He stepped closer, until he could feel the heat of her body mixing with his own. Until it pushed aside everything else. Logic. Reason. Even sanity. “I don’t usually agree with your father, but I’m damn glad he paired us up tonight.”
“Unfortunately,” she whispered, “so am I.”
She turned quickly, slid her arms up his T-shirt, then lifted her mouth to his.
Surprise hit first. Followed by a bone-deep relief that zipped through every cell in his body. He opened to her and drew her tongue along his own. Loving that there was no more hesitation. No more pretending. No more secrets.
He tipped his head and kissed her deeply, then slid his hands down her back to pull her tight against his throbbing erection.
She moaned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and all he could think about was getting inside her. Now. Right now.
“Maren,” he managed, pulling away from her mouth. “I want you.”
She pushed him back until his butt hit the table. “Don’t talk.”
She kissed him again. Needy. Frantic. As if she couldn’t get enough. Her hand streaked down his side as she devoured his mouth, then up and under his T-shirt. She pushed the fabric up his torso, drew back from his mouth, and tugged it over his head.
He only had time to draw in a quick breath before her mouth was back on his, her tongue stroking his again and again as if she wanted to taste every part of him.
This was a different woman than he remembered from years past. Different even from the hesitant one he’d pleasured during that storm. This one was aggressive, insistent…on fire. And he loved it. Loved the change. Loved her.
He gripped her face in his hands, wanting to slow things down, to show her how he felt. “Maren—”
She turned him toward the salon and pushed him back until he hit the worktable. His body wobbled. She jerked back from his mouth. “Don’t talk.”
She tugged her tank top up over her head and tossed it on the floor. And then she moved back into him, rose on her toes and slid her tongue into his mouth while her hands fumbled with the top button of his shorts.
His head spun. Sensations bombarded him from every side. She tasted like beer and sin. Felt like heaven against his skin. Her tongue flicked against his, and the button popped on his shorts.
Her hands slid inside, down his lower abs, then her silky, soft fingers grazed his cock.
He groaned and gave up all pretense of trying to hold it together.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor. She gasped into his mouth. Quickly, he turned her around and laid her out over the charts and graphs on the worktable, then climbed up and knelt over her.
Her blue eyes were as dark as he’d ever seen them, her cheeks flushed with her arousal, her lips swollen from his mouth. He kissed her again and reveled in the way she lifted to meet him.
His fingers found the front hook of her bra and flicked it free. And then her succulent breasts were there, so soft…the tips a dusky pink and all his.
She pushed her hands underneath the fabric at his hips and pushed them down an inch. Moaned when he trailed kisses across her jaw to her ear. In a throaty voice, she said, “Please tell me you have a condom.”
He nibbled at her ear and worked his way down her throat. “In my pocket. I wasn’t going to let there be a repeat of last time.”
“Thank God.”
He chuckled at the sweet relief he heard in her voice. Kissed her collarbone, the top of her breast, working his way toward her scrumptious little nipple.
But before he got there, she flipped him to his back.
Thad gasped and threw out an arm to keep from flying off the edge of the table. Maren caught him and hauled him back to the middle. Paper crunched under his back. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
She didn’t seem sorry, though. She was too busy pulling his shorts down his legs.
Okay, yeah, going way too fast. This wasn’t the sweet seduction he’d planned for the night. “Maren—”
She yanked his shorts off and threw them on the floor.
“Maren, wait—”
She bent forward, and the locket she wore, warm from resting against her breasts, fell across his thigh, heating his skin. Then she lowered her head, closed her mouth over his cock, and every protest died on Thad’s lips.
Her mouth was hot and wet, and her tongue flicking against the flared underside drove him absolutely wild. She took him deep, then slowly eased back until just the tip remained in her mouth. He lifted his hips on instinct, tried to get deeper again. She sucked, and he saw stars.
He groaned. She released the pressure, drew him to the back of her throat again. He thrust up to meet her, wanting to get even deeper. And then she swallowed.
Holy hell… If she did that again, he was going to lose it.
“Maren—” He reached for her, but she pushed his hand away and sucked hard. Groaning, he closed his eyes, loving her mouth, the way she felt…loving everything. Tingles raced down his spine. Perspiration dotted his forehead. He wanted to come, needed to come, but he also wanted to feel her release around him at the same time. Working to hold off his climax, he fought from thrusting up into her lush mouth, but when his cock brushed the back of her throat again, when he felt her muscles begin to work around the tip, all thought rushed from his mind.
His body took over. He thrust up to meet her. The orgasm steamrolled in. Stars fired off behind his closed eyelids.
Then fizzled before they could explode.
She released him. Gasped. Quickly shucked her shorts and climbed over him.
His hands landed against her bare thighs. He reached for her but couldn’t seem to move. Foil crackled, and he felt her soft fingers at his erection, rolling the condom down his length.
Through blurry vision, he looked up at her, at the halo of gold all around her head, and felt his heart roll. “Maren, I lo—”
“No talking.” She straddled his hips, leaned forward, and claimed his mouth in the same moment she took him deep in her body.
Home…
He’d been alone a long time. And yeah, over the past nine years, he’d had other women. But none had ever touched this place inside him. None had ever made him feel part of something bigger than himself. None were able to push aside the pain he lived with every day and make him feel whole again.
None but her.
He wrapped his arms around her, sat up and devoured her mouth. Her locket—the one he’d given her all those years ago—fell against his chest. The position forced him deep inside her, causing her to shudder. He thrust up against her downward strokes, kissed her again and again, and hoped she could feel what was in his heart. She might not want him to say the words. She might not be ready to admit she felt the same. But he knew it was there. This kind of connection didn’t die. It spanned time and distance. And it would bring them back together for good.
She rocked against him. Moved faster. Her slick, tight channel gripped him again and again while her bare breasts jostled against his chest. He lifted to meet her. Heat condensed against his lower spine, and his balls grew tight, sending a tingle straight into his cock.
He wasn’t going to last. “Maren—”
She gripped his face in her hand and pulled his mouth back to hers, sliding her wet, sinful tongue deeply into his mouth, cutting off his words. And he couldn’t hold back anymore.
His climax slammed into him, sucked the air from his lungs and shot through every cell in his body. He groaned into her mouth as it consumed him, but kept thrusting because he wanted to feel her come too.
She lifted and lowered, faster, rocked her hips again and again, over and over. And just when he thought she was never going to get there, that he’d failed, her entire body tensed. The warm wetness surrounding his cock grew incredibly tight. And she pulled her mouth from his just as a high
-pitched shriek burst past her sweet, tantalizing, beautiful lips.
She collapsed against him, a hot, sweaty, sticky mess trying to catch her breath, but he didn’t care. He kissed her brow, her temple, anything he could reach. Breathing deep, he closed his eyes and held her close, reveling in the feel of her.
No matter what secret she was keeping, he wouldn’t let it ruin this. There was no way he was letting her go again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Coffee.
Maren smelled the delectable aroma before her eyes even opened. Memories of Thad and the way he’d touched her last night filtered through her hazy mind, bringing her entire body to life.
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and her stomach tightened as she blinked and stared up at the ceiling in the main stateroom, unable to stop the smile on her lips. His mouth against hers… The taste of him on her tongue… And oh, wow…she’d attacked him on that worktable, hadn’t she?
A familiar tingle grew heavy between her legs. She was sore, but in such a good way. And even though she knew it was wrong, part of her only wanted to repeat every wicked, mind-numbing thing they’d done to each other last night in this bed.
A rustle sounded from the hall, and she looked that way just as Thad ducked his head inside the room. “You’re awake.”
He was wearing low-slung cargo shorts and nothing else, and his broad, muscular chest with that fine dusting of hair caused her breath to catch. She’d had her hands all over that last night. Her lips too. She swallowed, feeling that heat in her cheeks sink into her chest and slither lower.
A cocky, one-sided smile brightened his dark eyes. He set a steaming cup on the dresser at the end of the bed, then climbed over her, all long-limbed and predatory, like a lion about to sink its teeth into something good. “You don’t look nearly as tired as you should, Dr. Hudson.”
Her heart thumped erratically. Gently, she ran her fingers over his strong, hard abs. “I’m not.”
“Hm. I might have to do something about that.”
“You might,” she whispered, loving his playful tone. Loving just being close to him like this.
He lowered his mouth to hers, and she lifted to meet him, greedy for the feel of him. God, he tasted good. Like mint and coffee and everything she’d been missing. She let her tongue dance playfully with his, but she wanted his weight on her. Wanted to feel him slide inside her body like he’d done last night. Only this time she wanted to savor it. In case it didn’t happen again.