She licked her lips, smiling. Languid with release, yet yearning for more. “Your turn,” she promised, panting. “Just as soon as I catch my breath.”
His deep chuckle rumbled through her chest, knocking against her heart. “You are,” he told her, sucking her earlobe into the wet, hot wonder of his mouth and keeping her blood running wild, “hands down, thesexiestwoman on the planet. And I intend to—”
Whatever he intended to do or say was cut off when a series of pounding steps echoed from the stairs leading down from the living quarters. “Sorry to interrupt! Again!” Bran’s deep voice rolled into the galley.
Leo growled. A sound of murderous frustration if ever there was one. “I’m seriously goin’ to kill him this time.”
Olivia opened her eyes to find color riding high on his cheekbones. His eyes were dark with unfulfilled passion.Oh, how she wanted to fulfill that passion, feel him pulse deep inside her, see his jaw clench and his eyes sparkle as he found his own release. “I’ll help,” she groused as she pulled up her bra, yanked down her tank top, and bent to retrieve her panties and shorts.
Holyshit, I’m dizzy.All the blood in her body was still circulating around her happy bits. She had to blink and shake her head, trying to jog her brain and body out of let’s-get-it-on mode and back into business mode.Easiersaidthandone.Especially with Leo standing so close. The length of his hard-on was a massive wedge beneath his wet suit.
“Give us a second, will you?” Leo called, turning to make sure she was decent. When her fingers fumbled on the button of her shorts, he gently brushed them away, doing up the fastening himself. A small smile played around the edges of his mouth. That brilliant,brilliantmouth.
“You’re pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” she asked.
He lifted a brow. “Shouldn’t I be?”
“Sh’yeaaah.”
Now he was grinning in earnest.Men. They give a woman an orgasm, and it’s like they think they split the atom.
“Admit the thundering herd,” he called toward the door after she’d smoothed her hair as best she could. There was no hope for the beard burn she knew pinkened her cheeks, or the flush of the skin over her chest that was the telltale sign of her recent orgasm. She’d been caught getting busy with Leo.Yetagain.His men must think her the easiest woman on the planet. And the truth? When it came to Leo, she absolutely was.
“We found it,” Bran said from the doorway, taking in the scene with a leering smirk. “The tangos’ sunken vessel. We’ve dropped anchor and a location buoy.”
Leo sighed heavily and turned toward her. She wasn’t prepared for the hand he wrapped around the back of her neck. Neither was she prepared for the deep, wet kiss he pressed on her mouth. Instantly her knees were weak…uh…weaker, her womb humming, her head spinning. Then he broke the seal of their lips and leaned his forehead against hers. “To be continued?” he asked, his words as slow and sweet as molasses.
“You bet your ass,” she told him, smiling.
“Wedoseem to have the same conversations over and over again, don’t we?” The question was purely rhetorical, because he released her to turn back to the two men standing by the door. And talk about a couple of voyeurs.
“Am I the only one who needs a cigarette after that?” Bran mock-whispered to Wolf.
“It’s almost better than late-night Cinemax.” Wolf chuckled.
Because she was a firm believer in theIfyoucan’t beat them, join themphilosophy, and also because she couldn’t allow them to know she was even the teensiest bit flustered, she called to Bran, “You have theworsttiming, you know that? I mean, jeez, cliterference much?”
“Huh?” Bran asked. “What the heck is cliterference?”
Olivia grinned and winked at the men in the room. “It’s the female version of cock-blocking. You know, cliterference? Damnit, Bran. It loses itsoomphwhen I have to explain it.”
Leo threw back his head and laughed. It was a good laugh. Deep and rolling. The kind that made you smile when you heard it. The kind that boomed around the room and inside her heart.
Chapter Fifteen
4:31 p.m.…
The instant Leo’s fins touched the sandy bottom of the Florida Straits, he checked his diver’s watch, then the dive computer beside it. The glowing readout said he was at a depth of 198 feet.Deep.But he’d been deeper. Numerous times. Of course, he’d always had a team of well-trained men swimming beside him.
He noticed the comfort he usually experienced when wrapped in the arms of Mother Ocean was strangely absent, the sense of solace oddly missing. In fact, as he switched on his headlamp, illuminating the dim water around him, he realized all he felt was…alone.Not scared or panicky, simply…separate.
Ormaybethat’s the gases messin’ with my head.Was he a little dizzy? He checked his mixture, adjusted it a bit, tapped the gauges on his tanks to make sure they were reading correctly, and concentrated on his breathing. The gentlesssskkkk, sssskkkkof his regulator joined the chorus of bubbles that burbled happily as they traveled toward the surface. The water here wasn’t cold…more like cool. A pool on the first day of summer. Still, he was glad for the protection of Maddy’s brother’s wet suit. The exposed skin on his hands and face grew chilled.
After a bit, he felt more clear-headed, though a twinge of loneliness remained. He supposed that was natural. Hewasalone. No other human being anywhere around. In fact, he might as well be on another planet.
Havin’ yourself a bit of a “Ground control to Major Tom”moment, are you?
He shook his head at his own whimsy, then lifted his chin, his gaze following the beam of his headlamp as it traveled up the line of the nylon rope that attached him to Wolf and Wolf to the positional buoy they’d launched. He couldn’t see his friend hanging out at the halfway point. The water was too murky at this depth. The minimal sunlight that managed to filter in from above was barely enough for him to see five yards in either direction.
