The ‘map’ was now wrinkled, no doubt from the boys fighting over it, and a little wet, and Grey had to admit that it made it look more authentic. “Awesome. Good luck then. Hopefully you guys will come back with some treasure, huh?”
“Yeah!” the boys chorused as they took off up the stairs at a sprint.
“We’ll probably spend the day at the beach,” Kim told Lauren and Grey with a pointed look as Will scampered up the stairs after the boys. “So, you know, don’t feel like you need to hang out here on our behalf if you’d rather go back to the boat. I have the walkie-talkie. I’ll just buzz when we’re done.”
“Oh my god,” Lauren muttered as she rubbed her hand over her forehead.
Grey cleared her throat loudly and nodded. “I…uh…got it. Thanks.”
Kim grinned. “See you two later!”
Lauren and Grey watched Kim jog up the stairs with matching dumbstruck expressions on their faces and, once Kim had disappeared from sight, Lauren turned to look at Grey. “Did she really just do that?”
“She did.”
“Wow.”
Grey nodded. “Yeah.” She laughed and shook her head. The whole thing was utterly insane, but she had to admit that she greatly appreciated Kim’s not-so-subtle-suggestion. “So, since we have been effectively relieved of duty for most of the day, what do you say we finish exploring these caves and then head on back to the boat for a bit?”
Lauren looked around the grotto and smiled. “We can explore on the way back to the boat. Once you’ve seen one rock grotto, you’ve seen them all…right?”
“Pretty much,” Grey agreed with a chuckle. She tipped her head at the triangular opening that led them back toward the beach where their dinghy was moored, and waved for Lauren to go first. “After you, milady.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“OH MY GOD.”
Lauren chuckled and pinched the sensitive skin of Grey’s throat between her teeth. The tender emotion that had flowed between them ebbed as they made their way out of The Baths, morphing with every stolen kiss and knowing smirk into something that was much easier to understand. Desire. Pure, wanton, naked desire. “Yes?”
Grey bit the inside of her cheek and tried to focus on maintaining a straight course toward theVeritas, which was increasingly difficult with the way Lauren’s fingers were tweaking and rolling her nipple. Lauren pinched harder, and Grey groaned as she reflexively jerked the rudder to the left before quickly correcting it.
“Are you having issues?” Lauren smiled as she brushed her lips higher, fluttering her tongue over the sweet spot below Grey’s ear before raking her teeth over the line of Grey’s jaw. “We seem to be swerving all over the place…”
“Tell me about it,” Grey laughed. She used her free hand to pull Lauren’s from her breast, and smiled as she pressed a wet kiss to the center of her palm. “You do realize that once we get back on theVeritas,you are mine, right?”
“Is that so?”
“It is.” Grey flicked her tongue along the seam between Lauren’s index and middle fingers. “I have a bet to pay up on, and the egregious sin of leaving you alone in bed this morning to make up for.”
“Oh.” Lauren licked her lips as an expectant shiver rolled down her spine and curled low in her hips. “Really?”
“Really.” Grey gave Lauren a thorough once over as she killed the engine to let the dinghy drift the final few yards to theVeritas’stern, and smirked at the sight of Lauren’s nipples straining against the flimsy fabric of her bikini. “We do have the boat to ourselves for the next few hours, after all.”
Lauren laughed and shook her head in amusement even as her stomach fluttered with anticipation. “Few hours, huh? Somebody’s feeling ambitious.”
“You have no idea.” Grey winked at Lauren as she dropped her hand and edged toward the bow of the dinghy to soften their landing. She tied the bow line to a cleat by the dive platform, and tipped her head toward theVeritas. “Well…shall we?”
“I guess,” Lauren replied with a dramatic sigh as she made the small hop onto the yacht. She smiled over her shoulder at Grey as she started up the stairs. “I mean, there’s really nothingelseto do…”
Grey laughed and hurried after Lauren, easily catching up to her by the time she had reached the back deck. She wrapped her arms around Lauren’s waist from behind, and pressed her lips to the curve where Lauren’s neck and shoulder met. “You don’t want this?”
“I never saidthat.” Lauren relaxed back into Grey, and sighed when Grey’s fingers began slowly massaging her stomach. “That feels good,” she breathed.
“You know what would feel even better?” Grey brushed her lips over the shell of Lauren’s ear and chuckled at the way Lauren groaned.
“Hmm?”
“You…coming against my tongue,” Grey answered in a low, seductive purr.
