Jack Rogan - The Ocean Dark

Tori had wondered about this moment, thought that when it came the electrical charge between them would vanish. But the effect was quite the opposite. Josh cupped the back of her neck with one hand, fingers tangling in her hair, and deepened the kiss, their tongues lightly dancing.

He slid the plate from her lap and set it on the floor, then rose slightly, almost bent over her as he kissed her eyes, the line of her jaw, brushed his lips over her throat. She felt his breath hot and intimate on her neck. Tori opened her eyes wide and looked up at Josh. The lopsided grin had vanished, replaced by a look of pure desire. She had seen men hungry before, but never like this. The way he stood above her, so utterly in control, made her slide down in the chair in surrender.

But Josh had other ideas. Slowly, tracing his fingers along the bare flesh of her arms, he knelt on the floor in front of her chair. Looking up at her now, their situation reversed, he reached out and gently stroked her body through the thin cotton of her shirt. The backs of his fingers brushed across her nipples and she uttered a tiny gasp of pleasure, arching her back, as little shocks spread out from her core. With one thumb he traced circles around the nubs that were so prominent now, straining against the cotton, and with the other he reached up to caress her face.

It seemed strange not to be kissing him — not to be pressed together, eyes closed, lost in herself the way she had often been with men. It felt so open, so intensely wanton, that she was torn between wishing he would tease her like this forever and craving the finish, the gratification of his flesh.

Keeping her gaze locked with his, she reached for his belt, but Josh pushed her hand away. Now the lopsided grin returned and, for an instant, she stopped breathing entirely. He pulled her down to kiss him, and as he did, he hooked his fingers into her shorts and panties. She rose just enough for him to slide them down, and he removed them with unhurried tenderness.

When he touched the insides of her thighs, her legs fell open of their own accord and he settled on his knees between them, hands opening her farther, kissing her there, tracing every line with his tongue. And all the while he never took his eyes off hers, gazing at her, not letting her look away, even when her body began to quiver and then to tremble and then to buck against his ministrations.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, pushing her fingers through his hair, still staring into his eyes as the first wave subsided.

Josh reached up again, but this time he pulled her down onto the floor, onto him. Tori helped him undress but made no attempt to move them to the bed. If he wanted her on the floor, that was where he would have her. The metal was cold and she felt the sway of the ship against her back, but her skin was hot and flushed. Josh stroked her hair and kissed her deeply, trembling now himself with each breath. When he slid inside her, she thrust upward to meet him halfway and wrapped her legs around him. As he moved within her, his hands on her body, his lips upon hers, Tori felt another orgasm building. And suddenly it was as if they were no longer on board the Antoinette —as though nothing remained of the world but the places where their flesh came into contact.

With her legs around him still, Josh sat back, pulling her up onto his lap, and they made love in that undulating embrace until his breath began to hitch and she saw a warning in his eyes. With a whisper, she assured him he had no need to hesitate, and then she held him as he bucked inside her.

“Wow,” she said softly, as their bodies rested against each other and she felt his heartbeat against her chest, slowing in time with her own.

“Yeah,” he whispered, brushing the hair from her face and kissing her softly.

They grinned at each other, then laughed a little, and she tensed with tremors of pleasure because he remained inside her.

“It’s about time you got the hint,” Tori said.

“Are you kidding?” Josh asked. “I’ve been struggling to keep my hands off you for weeks.”

She stared at him. “Why would you do that? Vow of chastity?”

Josh gave her a tiny shrug, causing another wonderful tremor. “You said you had a thing for bad men. I didn’t want you to think I was one of them.”

“I used to have a thing for bad men,” she said. “It’s something I’ve been working on.”

Josh arched an eyebrow. “I wish you’d been clearer about that.”

She ran her fingers across his chest, smiling up at him. “Me, too,” she said, and then she grew serious. “So, you’re a good guy, are you?”

He kissed her again, then studied her, unsmiling. “I’ve done my share of bad things. But I try.”

Barely realizing it, she had begun to slowly rotate her hips on his lap, and though he had nearly slipped out of her, she felt him stir once more.

“Good enough,” she whispered.

Tori stood and led him to her bed. The first time had been slow and powerfully sensual, her arousal completely intoxicating. Now their rhythm changed and they tore into each other with hunger and abandon, hard and fast, and in the end she screamed, and didn’t care who heard.

In the aftermath, she lay in his arms, the two of them tangled together in her sheets. It’s been too long , she thought. And then chided herself — for, in truth, it had never been like this before. It wasn’t love — Tori didn’t think she believed in love — but it was glorious.

“Do you feel that?” Josh asked, his voice sounding very far away.

Tori would have answered in the affirmative, thinking he had been referring to the intensity of what had just happened between them, but then she opened her eyes and saw his troubled expression, and knew he wasn’t talking about sex.

“We’re changing course,” she said.

But not just changing course. Usually a change in heading was so gradual it was hardly noticeable. They were turning.

“And speeding up,” Josh said. He looked in the general direction of the bridge, as though he wished he could see through all that metal. “What are they up to, in the middle of the night?”

Tori wondered as well. Was this the sort of thing she ought to be looking into as part of her job doing quality control? Under normal circumstances, she would think so. But just today Captain Rio had seemed to lose some of his irritation with her, and she hesitated to piss him off. And right now, naked and drained, she really didn’t feel like getting up.

“Maybe we’d just gotten off course somehow.”

Josh shrugged. “Maybe. Weird, though.”

“Yeah.” She thought about it a moment, then sighed. “Damn it. I should probably go up and check it out.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

The temptation to stay and see if he had it in him to go a third round was powerful, but she knew what her bosses would expect of her. They had given her the gift of this work, this voyage, and the adventure she’d always hoped for. She owed it to them to do the job.

“Unfortunately. Anyway, you’ve gotta be in the galley before dawn, so your bed is calling. But this isn’t over.”

Josh kissed her. “Not even close.”

They dressed quickly and she made him take the plate with him. He set the juice next to her bed. “I’ll leave this in case you want some later, but don’t let it sit too long. Once it warms up, it won’t taste very good.”

She thought of several filthy retorts, but decided to save them for another night. She opened the door for him.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bright and early,” Josh agreed.

As she ushered him out, preparing to lock the door behind her, they heard someone else coming down the corridor and turned to see Dwyer heading for his quarters. The deckhands and Hank Boggs’s engine room minions all had to bunk up two to a room. But the mates, like Dwyer and Suarez, got their own space, as did Josh and Tori.