She wobbled, drunk with desire and unbalanced by the rocking boat. His large, calloused hands caught her around the waist. His balance on the moving boat was infallible; his possession of her body was delicious. Massaging upward, he followed the boning of her stays until he reached the top. Her breasts spilled out, covered only in the thin fabric of her chemise. She burned for his touch. Here, she did not want to ask, she wanted him simply to know. Somehow, he understood, sliding his hands under the low neckline of the chemise and palming her breasts. He worked his fingers underneath, cupping her, thumbing the tips. Dani’s knees gave out.
He groaned and caught her, pulling her back to his front. His erection was hard against her bottom, his hands on her breasts, and she dropped her head back, lolling it against his shoulder. With her face so close, he could kiss her. He seized her mouth, tongue probing. Her knees buckled again, and he grumbled, “Not yet.” He caught her up again.
When she was steady, he moved his hands to the lacing of her stays. His fingers, she noticed, were less adroit now. They were both clumsy with desire. He yanked and tugged, unfastening the laces like he was unwrapping a long-awaited gift.
“The nuns at the convent layered and bound and trussed you,” he grumbled.
“A fraction of what I typically wear. You’ve never undressed me before,” she murmured.
“Can that be?” he mumbled. “How can that be?”
“It was only the chemise, wasn’t it, on our wedding night?”
“No man deserves to wake up and find you in his bed,” he groaned, kissing her neck, “in only a chemise. In any state of dress, actually. But I deserved it least of all. Even so, the memory of that night has sustained me. I relived it every night we were apart.”
“There could have been more fodder to sustain you,” she said lazily. “You could have undressed me before the wedding night. I was waiting for you to undress me.”
With every tug of the laces, the confining garment loosened. She was able to breathe. Her chemise fell off one shoulder.
“I resisted you before that,” he said, “but honestly I have no idea how. Some misguided idea that I was a gentleman—”
“You are a gentleman.”
“Or that you were too young and innocent.”
“I am very young and entirely innocent.”
He growled, yanking at the strings. They flew, popping her skin like little whips.
“I prioritized Linus,” he remembered. “I... I couldn’t allow myself to have you until he was safe.”
“You were right to go for Mr. Welty,” she murmured, looking at him over her shoulder. “I understand now.”
He paused in what he was doing, blinking down at her.
“You should’ve asked me to go with you,” she added, “but you were right to go.”
He shook his head, returning to the laces. “I would never put you in such terrible danger. In fact, I’m furious that you came.”
“So furious,” she whispered, pressing her bottom into his erection.
He growled and gave a final tug to the stays. The binding fell slack and he pulled it from her body, leaving only the thin shift underneath. He smoothed away discomfort, massaging his fingers across her ribs. Gooseflesh crawled up her body. Her nipples were so very taut. She bowed her body, and then his hands were there, lifting her breasts. The pleasure was so intense, Dani cried out.
“Yes,”he hissed, and he spun her to face him. She was limp with desire, falling against his chest.
“Arms up,” he said. Dani blinked at him, eyes half-lidded, breathing heavily. Her body throbbed. Languidly, she lifted her arms, trailing her hands over his shoulders and through his hair. He paused to give her a deep, possessive kiss. She leaned under the force of it, arching over the bunk. He caught her between the shoulder blades and she slid her arms around his neck, trying to pull him down.
“Not yet,” he said against her skin. Gathering the fabric of her shift in two handfuls, he slid it up her body.
“Now the bed,”he breathed.
Dani shivered, awash in sensation. She felt the warm press of his skin against hers; tingles at every point of contact. His erection throbbed against her belly. He breathed in her hair, scraping his mouth along her throat.
“Now,” she repeated in a whisper. They went down in a tangle. Arms grazed the wall; a foot knocked the portal, another dangled over the side of the bed. Dani giggled and Luke gathered her beneath him, shaping their bodies to the compact rectangle of the bunk. All the while, the boat rolled and tilted, rocking them. He balanced above her, using his knees to hold them steady, trapping her shoulders with his arms.
“I love you,m’étoile,” he whispered, descending on her mouth.
“I love you,” she breathed, gasping when he moved from her neck to her breasts.
