Kara Lennox - The Good Father

She tasted his ear, delighting in the way he squirmed. But when he kissed her breast, circling her sensitive nipple with his tongue until it peaked, she was the one driven nearly out of her mind with wanting.

“Birth control?” she managed to squeak.

“Got it.”

In the back of her mind she wondered why he was so well prepared when he’d had no idea they would be together tonight. Was he just optimistic that an opportunity would present itself? Or if things hadn’t worked out in their favor, would he right now be at Old Salt’s trying to seduce some other woman?

But she pushed those thoughts out of her mind. Tonight was about living in the moment, not worrying, and the moment was pretty darn good.

By the time Max entered her she was incapable of thinking about much else, anyway. She wanted to scream with passion and excitement and sheer exuberance, but because she didn’t want to alarm anyone who happened to be out for an evening stroll on the dock, she limited herself to heartfelt moans.

When her feelings threatened to overwhelm her self-control, she pressed her face against Max’s shoulder and cried out one last time as the intense pleasure reached its peak.

As she rode out the waves of sensation, reveling in the simple physical release, Max thrust inside her harder and faster until he, too, found release.

A few minutes later, the air conditioner kicking on brought Jane back to the real world, and the fact she was lying on the salon floor with a delicious man on top of her.

This was crazy. She laughed, because what else could she do when she realized they were complete lunatics?

Max rolled over and pulled her on top of him. “What’s so funny?”

“Us. We couldn’t even make it to the bedroom.”

“I don’t know about you, but I had a lot of suppressed lust built up. Watching you parading around in those little shorts-”

“I do not ‘parade.’”

“You can’t help it. Everything about you turns me on. Your smile, your knees, your collarbone. Even your fingernails.” His smile faded. “Jane, I think…I mean, I don’t know much about these things, but…”

“But what?”

“Oh, hell, nothing. I never used to worry about anything, and lately I’ve been one big tension knot.”

She wanted to know what he was worried about. But she sensed whatever it was, pressuring him wouldn’t get results. He would tell her if and when he really wanted her to know.

She pressed two fingers into each of his temples and gently swirled. “Tonight isn’t about worry, okay? I’ve been doing my best not to think about the future. Not even tomorrow morning.”

“I have to get up early.”

“Me, too. Allie will probably bring Kaylee home around 7:30.”

“I’ll be gone by then. But that gives us-” he raised his left arm and pressed a button on his watch. A cool blue-green light briefly illuminated his face “-nine hours.”

“Nine hours! That sounds like a lot.”

“Unless you factor in sleep.”

“Who needs to sleep?”

“Not me. But I wouldn’t mind a bed.”

Reluctantly, Jane eased her body off Max’s and got to her knees, then her feet. She offered a hand to Max. “Bedroom’s this way. But don’t expect much. Everything’s smaller on a boat.”

Jane had always found the main cabin on the Princess II to be adequate for her needs. But when Max entered, his presence filled it so thoroughly she felt like they’d entered a hobbit house.

“Good thing I don’t mind cuddling up with you.”

Jane pulled back the covers and slid between the sheets, and Max joined her. He couldn’t even stretch out all the way, but he didn’t complain. He tucked her against him and idly caressed her breast, and she sighed.

She’d never known a human being could feel such contentment.

It was just sex, she reminded herself. But she’d never felt this way with Scott, who by comparison had been a rough and insensitive lover, more interested in conquering her than pleasing her.

Tentatively she touched Max, pleased that he responded instantly and amazed that she could want him again, already. At this rate, in nine hours they could make love nine or ten times. She suppressed a giggle.

He probably hadn’t come that prepared.

The second time they made love was slower, almost drowsy. Max thought he’d appreciated every part of Jane before, but now he noticed more things about her. She made little whimpers low in her throat when he found just the right place; she had an adorable freckle right in one of the dimples above her bottom.

Now thoroughly sated, Max was content to watch Jane as she fell asleep. So much for staying up all night.

But he had no more condoms anyway.

This was the point where, with other women, he’d felt a strong urge to flee. He hadn’t spent an entire night with a woman since his breakup with Alicia, and even with her he’d stayed only because she had pressured him about it.

He had absolutely no desire to leave Jane. In fact, he could have happily stayed here with her for days. It was so easy to put work out of his mind. They could sail the Princess II to some secluded harbor where even Cooper and Allie couldn’t keep an eye on them, and live on love and vanilla wafers.

Was this love? When you were fascinated with everything about a woman, in bed and out, and you cared more about her welfare than your own, was it love?

He’d almost told her he loved her. But some small grain of self-preservation instinct, maybe only a holdover from his swinging bachelor days, had stopped him.

It would be bad to say it if it wasn’t true. And what did he know about love? He only knew that he’d never told any woman he loved her before, not even Alicia. Love-real, true love-implied a future together. Commitment. Marriage.

He had other priorities right now. The Remington Agency was on the brink of turning a profit. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, worrying about Jane and Kaylee and how to provide for their futures as well as his own.

It was too much.

But if he’d fallen in love with her, how did he undo it?

He fell into a troubled sleep. Jane nuzzled him awake at some point in the early morning hours, when it was still dark out, and though he was out of condoms they still managed to pleasure each other in mind-boggling ways.

When seven o’clock came, Max had to drag himself out of bed. Tempting though it was to invent some excuse for blowing off the whole day and spending it in bed with Jane, he could just imagine the gossip fallout.

Jane, however, still snoozed blissfully. Max took one look at the miniscule marine shower and decided to bathe at home. How did Jane live in such tight quarters? The Princess II was large compared to, say, the Dragonfly, but it was still cramped.

When he was dressed, he woke Jane with a light kiss but pulled back when she reached for him.

“No, no, gorgeous. If we even get started I’ll never make my meeting in time.”

Jane sat up, rubbing her eyes like a child. “Wow. What time is it?”

“Seven-fifteen.”

“I can’t believe I slept this late. I never sleep past seven.”

Max grinned. “We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

She grinned back. “Good point.” Then she frowned. “You’re already dressed.”

“I have to go. I’m not sure how long this meeting will last-it might be an all-day thing.”

“You never told me who you’re meeting with. Is it a secret?” Jane slid out of bed, and Max got a glimpse of her lush curves before she grabbed a silk dressing gown from a hook and wrapped it around herself.

“It’s not a secret, exactly. It’s my brother, Eddie. I’m not sure if he’s here to spy on me, scold me or beg me to come back. But whichever, I figure I owe him the courtesy of a meeting.”