In Too Deep (6 page)

He was gorgeous. And the way his muscles bunched and flexed when he moved...

“Doc, you keep looking at me that way and we’re going to do something we’ll both regret.”

“What?” she asked, forcibly jerking her gaze up from Knox’s chest to his eyes. His hot, molten-caramel eyes. She could just lick him up with a spoon. Which was funny because she rarely allowed herself to indulge in sweets. Things that were bad for her. Just as Knox McLemore would be if she let him get too close. “What? How am I looking at you?”

“Like you want to run that gorgeous mouth all over my chest.”

“Hmm.” She enjoyed the sensation of the sound in her mouth. “Maybe I do.”

She could hear her own words, a little slow, a little slurred. Logically, she realized what that meant, but she no longer cared.

“You’re drunk, doc.”

“That’s usually what happens when one drinks alcohol, smart guy.”

Flopping back onto the sand, Avery stretched her legs out to her side and somehow found her head propped against Knox’s thigh.

She stared up at him, his head haloed by the black sky and twinkling stars. They both seemed so far away—Knox and the heavens.

He watched her, the spot right between his eyebrows creased with worry even as the corners of his mouth tipped up in stifled amusement.

Lifting her hand, Avery smoothed the tip of her finger over the ridges, hoping the action would take away the emotion causing them as well. She didn’t like seeing Knox upset.

“I don’t think you’re drunk, though,” she finally said.

“No.”

“Pity. I’ve never gotten drunk and made bad decisions. Yet another rite of passage I’ve missed. Was hoping you were drunk enough that maybe we could make one together.”

He made a sound, a cross between a laugh, a wheeze and a groan. “What kind of bad decision did you have in mind?”

“Oh, you know, giving in to the sexual tension that’s been clawing at us both since the day we met. But I guess you’re not drunk enough yet to want me.”

The frown lines were back, only this time the grooves were deeper.

“No, no, no,” she said, trying to make them disappear again. But her hand never connected with his face. Instead, his fingers circled her wrist, holding her just out of reach.

“Trust me when I say I don’t have to be drunk to want you, Avery.”

She made a scoffing sound. “I call bullshit. You don’t even like me.”

Slowly, Knox lowered her hand to her side. The solid weight of his thigh shifted beneath her head. She wanted to roll just a little so that she could press her mouth against him, even if his skin and muscles were covered by his clothes.

His other hand smoothed across her face, fingers gliding from cheekbone to forehead to chin in a soft caress that had a shiver rolling through her body.

“I like you just fine, doc,” he whispered, his voice gruff and smoky. “You’re irritating.”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds like affection.”

“And gorgeous and brilliant and maddening and you have a body built for sex.”

Avery pulled in a gasp.

“All lush curves and compact energy. Don’t doubt for a second that I want to stretch you out and touch every inch of you. I want to watch you completely unravel. I want to muss up that perfect exterior and drive you so crazy that the only thing you can think about is screaming my name as I finally give you the relief you’re craving.”

Avery arched her back. She couldn’t help it. The sound of his voice, the words he was spilling across her like warm honey. She wanted everything he was saying. Right now. Needed him to move his hand and touch her. Soothe the tight ache of her erect nipples and the liquid burn settling between her thighs.

He growled low in his throat. His palm landed on her belly, spreading wide and applying the slightest amount of pressure. “I’m fighting very hard right now to do the right thing, Avery. Be still.

“What if I don’t want you to do the right thing?”

She felt the slight tremor in his hand against her belly. The commanding force of him weighing her down. And she needed that right now. She was half-afraid that if he stopped touching her, she might simply float off into the night and never find her way back.

“I don’t take advantage of women who are inebriated.” His words were harsh, but his eyes glowed as they stared down at her. Devoured her.

Never in her life had she felt so...desired. And she wanted that. Wanted him.

Hell, didn’t she deserve a little bit of what Knox McLemore could give? She’d been good her entire life while her sister had gone out and partied. She’d never let herself go there, because she’d seen the devastation left in the wake of bad decisions.

Avery had no doubt this was a bad decision, but for the first time she understood how Melody could be lured into them. Because there was no doubt in her mind this was going to feel good. Damn good.

“Let me tell you something, Knox. I’m not the kind of woman who does this.”

“Does what? Gets stranded on a tropical island with a guy she barely knows?”

“Sleeps with someone she doesn’t intend to have a relationship with. I’m the kind of woman who employs a six-date rule.”

“Six? I thought most women went with three.”

“Exactly,” she said, throwing her hands into the air and nearly smacking Knox in the face. He laughed and ducked. And the way his hand moved across her belly...his fingers brushed the underside of her breast, leaving behind a hunger for more.

How could this man completely undo her with such an innocuous and fleeting touch while every other man she’d let into her bed had had to work damn hard for every orgasm she finally succumbed to?

“You might have noticed I’m a little uptight.”

“No,” he said, laughter filling the single word.

“Bastard. I don’t allow myself this kind of thing.” His fingers were back at her face, smoothing across her skin in a rhythm that was probably meant to be soothing, but only had the molecules inside her moving faster and faster. “But I want it now. With you. Please.”

Avery was absolutely certain that in the morning she’d hate herself for that single word and how close her voice sounded to begging. But right now, she didn’t care.

“Please,” she whispered again, just to make sure he understood she really meant it.

6

G
OD
,
SHE
WAS
ADORABLE
. Who would have thought perfect little Avery Walsh would be such a cute drunk? He would have bet money she’d become weepy and emotional, the alcohol finally letting free everything she was so careful to keep bottled up.

And, he supposed, that was what was happening. Lust was definitely a response, even if it wasn’t the one he’d expected.

But holy hell, she was gorgeous. Her dark red hair was spread across his lap, gilded with firelight, her creamy skin luminescent as moonlight spilled across her. And those pale blue eyes...they were going to be his undoing.

So earnest, so much heat and need.

It hadn’t taken him long to realize the ice queen was an act, a facade she used to keep people away. What he hadn’t realized was just how tempted he would be when she finally dropped the walls.

He needed to get her out of his lap before she noticed how hard his dick was and how close to the edge of reason he teetered.

“Please,” she whispered, the single word ghosting across her ripe, pink lips.

It went against every rule he lived by to even contemplate giving her what she wanted. And yet, here he was, thinking about it anyway. About how smooth and soft her skin would be. How hot and wet he could make her and how good it would feel to slide his aching cock deep inside her.

“Dammit,” Knox murmured, right before his hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her close.

His lips slipped across hers, teasing. A bare brush that had her chasing after more. Avery sighed, opening her mouth to him and unconsciously giving him everything.

And it was sexy as hell, the way this buttoned-up woman with the prickly exterior just...let go and gave herself to him. It felt like a gift.

Knowing her the way he was beginning to, he realized it
was
a gift. He hadn’t needed her to tell him she never did this kind of thing. So he was going to cherish what she was giving him.

Wrapping an arm around her back, Knox arched her tighter against him. He tugged at her lips, sucking the bottom one into his mouth. He wanted more. She tasted like the firelight and moonshine, sweet, smoky and hot enough to burn. And yet, there was an innocence lurking just beneath the surface as well.

His tongue swept inside, exploring, invading, taking. He caressed her, teasing and soothing, drawing them both closer to the point of frenzy.

He wanted to go slow, to give her an experience she wouldn’t forget. But with that first taste he knew he didn’t have the willpower. Not after fighting his desire for the past two days.

Her mouth was soft and pliant. Knox drank in every whimper, sigh and groan like the prizes they all were.

Avery’s fingers gripped him, silently compelling him to keep going.

But he didn’t. Instead, he pulled away.

He had to find some sanity or they were both going to have regrets. And that was the last thing he wanted.

Knox had enough of those in his life.

Avery’s judgment was impaired. He knew she wouldn’t have asked him if she’d been sober...or if they’d been on the
Amphitrite
instead of a deserted island. Which, incidentally, was his fault as well.

So, like any good soldier, he surveyed the landscape and formulated a plan of attack that would satisfy both her need and his conscience.

If he could hold his shit together.

Digging down deep, Knox searched for the discipline the Navy had taught him. He was going to need it.

Avery stared up at him, her pale blue eyes no longer cool, but a raging inferno of need. She was panting as if she’d just run a 5K.

He could read her nervous uncertainty, liked her that much more for the glimpse of vulnerability. “Every girl’s dream. To be cursed at then kissed,” she said on a tiny laugh.

It took him a second to figure out what she meant.

“I wasn’t cursing at you, Avery. I was cursing myself for not having the strength to say no to you.

Shifting, Knox reached for the shirt he’d left on the sand and rolled it into a tube. Lifting her head, he replaced his thigh with the shirt and then stretched out beside her.

Smoothing his hands down her body, Knox stared into her eyes, looking for any sign that she wasn’t as certain as she seemed.

“You’re sure this is what you want?”

She swallowed, the elegant line of her throat working even as she nodded. All he could see was crystal-clear need, the same thing that was pulsing through his own body.

At least one of them should find some relief.

With deft fingers, Knox pulled the hem of her shirt up over her head and tossed it somewhere on the sand behind him. Underneath she was wearing a pale blue bra covered in beige lace. It was sweet yet sexy, not unlike, he was coming to realize, the woman who owned it.

“Please tell me your panties match this,” he murmured against her mouth, trailing a single finger over the strap at her shoulder.

She shivered at the gentle caress, arching into his touch in a way that told him she wanted more.

“Maybe you should find out,” she whispered, grasping his hand and drawing it down to the zipper on her shorts.

Tugging at the tab, he slowly pulled it down, but kept his gaze focused squarely on Avery’s eyes. He couldn’t look away, not even to see what he was revealing.

Because her expression exposed more.

The way her pupils dilated, pushing against the pale blue in the same way he wanted to push deep into her body. The heat and hesitation—not because she wasn’t sure about what they were doing, but because she was as overwhelmed as he was.

He was afraid that once this line was crossed, they’d never be able to go back. But he was doing it anyway. Couldn’t stop himself, not when Avery’s lips were parted slightly, air rushing in and out of her moist mouth.

She swayed into his touch and that was all the reassurance he needed.

She didn’t wait for him to push the shorts off, but lifted her hips and did the job herself, revealing panties that absolutely matched, although they were more lace than anything else. And the glimpses of skin through the tiny holes only made him want to see more.

He hadn’t expected anything less. The rest of her wardrobe was too precise for what went under it to be haphazard.

Not that he minded. And knowing what she hid beneath those damn business clothes was going to drive him insane the next time she put them on.

Arching her spine off the sand, she reached behind her back and popped the catch of her bra.

“Am I not moving fast enough for you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “These clothes are too tight. It feels like I’m suffocating. My skin is on fire.”

Was that him or the moonshine? Or the heat from the flames beside them?

Not that it mattered.

A part of him wanted to undress her, but he couldn’t deny himself the privilege of watching her uncover her body. For him.

Hooking fingers into her panties, Avery pushed until they slid to her ankles before kicking them off.

Completely naked, with the firelight flickering across her skin, she was absolutely breathtaking. The most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen.

And she’d revealed something intriguing.

Dropping to the sand between her thighs, Knox placed his palms on her bent knees and pressed outward. Even as her thighs fell open, he leaned down to study her left hip.

The last thing he’d expected to find was a tattoo. Avery didn’t strike him as the kind of woman to want to permanently mark her skin.

But the ink was as intricately beautiful as it was unanticipated. An eye in perfectly shaded black and white, dripping tears of brilliant orange, red and gold koi fish.

Knox traced the lines with the roughened pad of his finger. He wanted to ask her about it, but now wasn’t the time.

Poised between her open thighs, Knox glanced up to find her watching him. The cloudy, dreamy expression that had entered her gaze a few swallows into the alcohol was gone, replaced by a wariness that nearly stole his breath.

She was waiting for him to say...what?

For the first time, Knox realized the languid easiness that had invaded her muscles was gone. She’d pressed her legs tight against his sides, closing herself off as much as his hips and shoulders would let her.

In that brief moment, he thought about stopping, but the vulnerability in her eyes wouldn’t let him. Not even as his brain screamed it was the smart thing to do.

Allowing his finger to caress the lines of her ink, he said, “Beautiful.”

And the tension that had invaded her body leaked back out again.

Leaning up, Avery reached for him, going for the waistband of his shorts and trying to get them undone.

But there was no way he could handle that right now. Not and keep his sanity.

Wrapping his fingers around her wrists, Knox stalled her. “No.”

She stilled. “What do you mean, no?”

He didn’t really give her an answer, partly because he didn’t think she’d like it, but mostly because he didn’t want to take the chance that she’d argue with him. He was fighting himself as it was; he didn’t think he could handle fighting her on this as well.

Pressing against her knees, Knox urged her to open wide. His palm skated down the inside of her upper thigh, delighting in the delicate, soft feel of her against his palms.

He followed that with his lips, pressing openmouthed kisses from the bend of her knee all the way up to the crease at her hip and back down the other side. He wasn’t certain when she dropped back onto the sand, not that it mattered.

Not when each tiny whimper that fell through her parted lips echoed through his chest. Not when her hips squirmed and arched, silently begging for more. Not when the scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, driving out every thought except how she would taste.

He was almost as desperate for it as she was by the time he let his tongue slide across the wet slit of her sex.

“God, you taste so damn good,” he managed to groan out, even as he went in for more.

His hands spread wide across her hips, holding her captive.

He could stay between her thighs all night, drinking in her little moans as he lapped up every drop of her arousal.

Knox worked her over, taking his time and enjoying the way her body tightened, drawing closer and closer to an explosion he wanted for them both.

She arched up each time he dipped his tongue inside her opening. He loved her little sounds and the way the tiny bundle of nerves at the top hardened with each passing lick or deliberate press of his tongue.

Sucking it into his mouth, he relished her whimper when he gently placed the edges of his teeth on either side and stopped, letting anticipation, adrenaline and the moist heat of his mouth drive her crazy.

There was something so satisfying about knowing he had the power to make her mindless with need. Knowing he alone could break through that perfect facade and see her like this, flushed with passion and longing. It was a beautiful gift, one he had every intention of earning.

“Knox, please,” she begged, her fingers tugging hard at his hair even as she writhed beneath the weight of him pinning her down, searching for relief. “Please, I can’t take...”

“Shh, I’ve got you, doc,” he murmured against her.

Slipping two fingers inside, he delighted in the way she bucked against his hand. Curling his fingers, he found that magic spot deep inside and began to stroke in steady, even thrusts.

His own erection ached in time with the pulses fluttering through her body. He could feel it, pounding so hard he was afraid he might explode before he had the chance to make her come.

And, damn, he wanted to see that. Wanted to see her completely unravel. Hold her through that storm and be the first thing she saw on the other side.

Knox flicked his tongue across her clit in time with the thrust of his fingers. It was an orchestrated rhythm that had her bowing up and her mouth opening on a silent scream.

Her orgasm hit them both. Knox had to fight back the urge to pump against the soft curve of her hip and find his own relief, he was so damn close. The way her sex clenched and released, holding his fingers hostage made him desperate to drop his shorts and push inside.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Knox coaxed her through the orgasm, drawing out the pleasure, not just for her, but because he was greedy and wanted every last whimper he could wring from her.

When her body quieted, collapsing bonelessly beneath him, Knox crawled up to lie on the sand beside her.

Wrapping his arms around her body, he pulled her back against him.

They were both breathing hard. He could feel the knock of her heart against the band of his arm where it stretched across her chest.

He should probably find her clothes, cover her up. It would likely get a little chilly in the middle of the night, even if they were in the Caribbean.

But he didn’t have the energy or the willpower to let her go right now.

For some strange reason, the thought of not touching her sent panic fluttering through his belly.

Slowly, her breathing evened and her heartbeat returned to normal. She stirred in his arms. At first, he tightened his hold, thinking she was trying to put distance between them. And he wasn’t ready to let her do that.

But when he realized she just wanted to reposition herself, he let her go.

She rolled, turning so that they were face-to-face with the fire at her back.

She glanced up at him and then back down. “You didn’t...”

Knox tangled his fingers in her hair, bending her back so he could look her in the eye. “No. That was for you.”

“Oh.”

Her body stiffened. Tucked so tightly against his, it was a cue that was damn near impossible to miss.

Little white teeth dug into her bottom lip, but the move couldn’t completely hide the pull of a frown. Nodding, she slipped away, and this time he let her go.

Standing up, she prowled through the dark. Knox rolled onto his back to watch her slip her clothes back on beneath the cover of the shadows.

Somehow it felt like a metaphor for whatever had just happened.