Page 58 of The Wedding Proposal
The awkward moment stretched out. Elle’s breathing played hopscotch.
‘Elle.’ His voice was a caress. He lifted a hand and stroked her hair back from her face. ‘Going to bed with you was all kinds of things, all of them a lot more than OK.’
Shyly, she lifted her gaze.
His eyes were glittering like black glass. His smile began slowly. ‘A lot more than OK.’
Unable to lubricate her voice enough to speak, she just nodded. A smile took over her lips.
He shifted so that they were facing one another, as much as they could within the confines of the dinette. He studied her face. ‘If I thought—’ His Adam’s apple moved.
Elle found herself nodding.
And then his head was moving closer. Until their lips touched with the lightest of kisses. Again. Again. Sweet, soft, barely there kisses.
Then he slid his hands up into her hair and his mouth took hers, his tongue hot as it traced her lips, and she was pulsing against him.
And it felt like coming home.
In a blur, Elle was vaguely aware of them struggling out from the dinette, scooting along the sofas while trying not to lose contact, banging knees and elbows, almost falling onto the floor.
She heard him begin, ‘Are you sure—?’ A question she answered by rubbing herself against him, smiling against his mouth when he groaned.
Steering her backwards, he lifted her off her feet for the four steps from saloon to galley, putting her feet back to the floor so that he could fumble behind her for the door handle to his cabin. The door crashed open.
‘Be careful with Simon’s boat,’ she murmured.
‘All I care about Simon’s boat right now is that it has a bed and you on it.’ He paused to glance ruefully at his tumbled sheets. ‘I didn’t realise that I’d be entertaining.’
She laughed. Then Lucas’s strong hands were searching until his fingers found her zip and unfastened it with a long, slow swoosh that raised goosebumps on her neck.
‘I’ve been fantasising about getting you out of this . . . thing,’ he breathed, sliding the fabric down her arms soooooo slooooowly that every hair on her body seemed to stand up and crackle.
‘Playsuit,’ she supplied.
His laughter was soft and low. ‘Stupid name for it. I’ve worked out a route to getting you out of just about every outfit I’ve seen you in since you came on board this boat. Dresses that tie at the neck, shorts that zip at the side, buttons, hooks — I formulated strategies for them all.’ He dropped his head and nibbled her neck, his stubble brushing her skin.
She tried to take half a step back to read his eyes. ‘You’ve been planning this?’
He pulled her up against him again. ‘More dreaming than planning. If I’d known this was going to happen I would have been a lot more cheerful. I wouldn’t have acted like a moron about Kayleigh.’ He backed her up until the edge of his mattress caught her behind her knees. As she began to topple, he slipped his hands into her waistband and tugged, following her down so that, somehow, as she bounced onto the unmade bed, fabric was already skimming down her legs and off over her bare feet.
‘Impressive,’ she gasped.
He grinned as he let himself down gently on top of her. ‘What else have you got to challenge my ingenuity? A front-loading bra?’
‘No. Just the usual variety.’
He rolled so that she was on top of him, tasting the skin of her collarbone, her neck, exploring the strap across her back until he found the hooks and pinged them open. ‘So no particular ingenuity required.’ Then the laughter left his voice as the heat of his mouth found her bare breast. He groaned. ‘You are so amazing. I want you—’ He paused, his teeth grazing one nipple, making her jump. ‘I want you—’ He closed his lips around her and sucked, making her arch her back so that she could press herself against his mouth.
He sighed and his breath passing over moisture made her breast feel both hot and shivery. ‘I want you.’
* * *
Lucas woke slowly.
Eyes still closed, he felt the lift-and-slide movement that told him the boat was riding a swell. The day was going to be another hot one: his naked skin was bathed in sweat, though not even a sheet covered him.
Someone was breathing beside him.
