Now’s not the time,he scolded his little head, although the damn thing rarely listened to him.
Or maybe it is,he thought a second later, because Chrissy looked up at him and there was devilment in her eyes. “What I need is a distraction,” she said. “Otherwise I can’t stop worrying about Winston.”
“You got somethin’ in mind?” He arched an eyebrow, even as he rubbed his hand down her bare arm and tangled his fingers with hers. Her skin was like fire. But, damn, he liked being burned by her.
“Oh, yes.” She nodded. “I want to touch every inch of you like you touched every inch of me. And then, once I’m finished doing that, I want to straddle your hips and lick my way from the base of your throat to the tip of your cock.” She canted her head coquettishly. “That sound good to you?”
He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think. All the blood had rushed from his head.
She took his silence as a yes and said, “Good,” before she dragged him out of the kitchen and down the hall.
The minute he walked into her bedroom, his nostrils flared like a stallion scenting a mare. The air inside smelled of sex, but also of the promise of wonderfully erotic things to come.
Holding his gaze, she slowly untied the robe’s belt. She groaned—they both did—when she reached between the silken halves and took him in her hand.
Going up on tiptoe, she claimed his lips in a kiss so deep and carnal he lost all sense of time. They could’ve been kissing for seconds or hours—he wasn’t sure—when she finally pulled her lips free and whispered against his mouth, “I want you, Wolf. Right, now.”
With a hand in the center of his chest, she pushed him back onto the bed. Then, proving he wasn’t the only one capable of putting on a show, she slowly stripped out of her clothes. Even the sling didn’t hamper her sexy, graceful movements. And then,thank you baby Jesus, she was naked and crawling onto the mattress to straddle his hips.
For the next hour, she made good on her plan.
Chapter 30
12:01 AM…
The moon was a Cheshire cat smile hanging low in the diamond-studded sky. The sea breeze was a warm, soothing breath of air over bare skin. And the sound of the waves washing to shore was a quiet, rhythmic lullaby.
All told, Mia should be asleep.
She wasusuallyasleep by this time of night. Weary after a day in the sun. Lulled by the slowness of life on the island. And feeling, perhaps for the first time ever, as if she were truly protected from the evils of the world.
In fact, she’d gotten better sleep in the month since she’d moved to Wayfarer Island than she had in…well…she supposed in the preceding twenty years. With no cell service keeping her tethered to family, no television keeping her abreast of the world news, and not even a radio to pump in the newest pop hits, she could finally disconnect. Be free.
Breathe.
But tonight she lay on the porch daybed—the one she inherited after Alex, it’s previous occupant, moved upstairs into Mason’s room—and no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she cajoled, she couldn’t convince the Sandman to visit her.
Blame it on Romeo.
Dinner had been an odd affair, with him conspicuously absent and Doc shooting her searching looks. At one point, Doc had leaned over to whisper, “In case you’re wondering, it’s hashtag Team Mia for me.”
She’d blinked at him, completely dumbfounded. But she hadn’t had time to question him before LT said something that drew his attention away.
After dinner, she’d made a quick escape, pleading exhaustion after the trip to Key West. But in the hours since she climbed into bed, she’d done nothing but toss and turn. Even Meat, who usually liked to sleep with her because the screened-in back porch was the coolest spot in the house, had gotten fed up with her constant agitation and taken himself off to find more peaceful accommodations.
“You’re nothing I need, and I’m nothing you should want.”
Those words kept echoing through her head, and each repetition rankled more than the one before.
The gall! The conceit! The…the…sheerarroganceof him assuming I wanted him for his body instead of his friendship! I mean, I’d like to haveboth,but I’m not stupid! Come on!
A rustle came from the forest growing at the back of the house. She bolted upright in bed, the light quilt held to her chest. Squinting her eyes, she tried to see what was headed her way, but even the bright, silvery moonlight wasn’t enough to cut through the eerie black shadows created by the tree canopy.
There are no predators on this island,she reminded herself. Even so, her heart beat against her ribs until they began to ache.
Snap!The sound of a twig breaking in two.
Crackle! Rattle!Someone orsomethinghad stumbled into a pile of dead palm fronds that’d fallen to the ground.
