“Nah, I’ve done it in colder. It was fine.”
I put an arm around him. He’s icy. My heart is still racing at the idea of him never coming up from the water.
I get him inside the cabin where we’re at least out of the wind. He may think he’s fine, but his lips are bluish, and his teeth are chattering so fast I’m worried he’ll bite his tongue off. I grab a towel from under one of the benches and throw it over his shoulders, rubbing forcefully to get his circulation back up.
“What made you think that was a good idea?” I ask.
“I wanted to get the fish smell off.”
“There are other ways to do that.” I cover his head with the towel and scrub to get the water out of his hair.
“Like what?” he asks when he re-emerges. “Not like you’ve got a shower onboard this thing.”
I roll my eyes. “If you were really that desperate, I would’ve tossed one of these towels overboard and you could have washed off with that.”
He blinks at me several times like his brain is so chilled he’s struggling to make sense of the words. His lips are still trembling, but the color is coming back.
“Oh,” he says finally. “Guess I didn’t think of that.”
I’m on my knees. My jeans are soaked through from where he’s dripped all over the floor. David’s got his hands shoved under his armpits, which to me says he’s still cold. I tug the towel tighter around him.
“Scared the hell out of me,” I mutter as I rub my hands over his arms. “I’ve got a responsibility to look out for you. If you hadn’t come back up, I’d have—”
He kisses me.
David’s hands on my face are ice cold, but his tongue as he presses it against my lips is warm and alive. I open up for him immediately, and he draws me closer, pulling me up and spreading his legs so I can fit between them. My thighs press against the edge of the bench, and it’s uncomfortable, but it gives me something to lean against instead of falling into him completely.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says between kisses.
“Well, you did.” I push the towel off his shoulders so I can explore the muscles I was eyeing a few minutes ago. His skin is cool but warming quickly, and underneath he’s all toned strength.
“Can I make it up to you?” He leaves my lips to nip at my chin through my beard, then moves farther down to mouth at my throat.
“Getting better already,” I say, holding onto him as the boat rocks underneath us. Truthfully, I’ve nearly forgotten about his unplanned polar plunge. All I can remember now is the taste of him, the mint and leather smell from yesterday—now washed away—and the promises made when we were alone.
David’s hands are on me, moving, exploring. He slides them under my shirt, then down my hips and around into the back pockets of my jeans so he can pull me closer. I don’t really have anywhere to go in the confined space of the boat’s cabin, but I do my best, finding every inch of him I can touch.
He suddenly stands, and I scramble to keep up with him. David backs me up until my ass hits the cabin’s small table, and I have to put my hands down to keep from falling backward. He lines his whole body up along the length of mine, and the thick ridge pressed against my thigh is pretty unmistakable. He’s wearing nothing but cold, wet underwear, which makes the enthusiasm of his erection all the more impressive.
“David,” I say. “God.”
“I’ll stop if you want,” he says. “I didn’t mean to get out of my clothes so fast.”
“If you’re suggesting I’d have let you grind up against me while you were covered in fish guts, we probably need to talk about your common sense.”
He laughs softly as he squeezes my ass. “I’m not sure I have any common sense when it comes to you.”
“I have the exact same problem.”
I tangle my fingers in the elastic around David’s midsection. “These seem unnecessary.”
He grabs my wrists and smiles. “Let’s keep those on. One of us is overdressed here, and it’s not me.”
I push up on my elbows as David sinks to his knees, kissing along my thighs over the denim as he goes. He slides my boots off, and I work to uncurl my toes before they give me away. Socks next, and when he kisses the arch of my foot, I make a noise I’ve never heard before. He glances up with an arched eyebrow.
“You like that?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
