Watch Over Me: A Military Romance (Uncharted SEALs Book 1) (6 page)

After cutting the engine and dropping the anchor, he pulled his t-shirt over his head, stepped up on the ledge and dove into the water. A second later, he heard a splash and kicked toward the surface.

Once there, he shook his head like a dog and then swam toward her. She’d foregone her bra but wore her skimpy bottoms. A choice that made him grin because they covered so little she might as well have gone naked.

“You checked for sharks?” she asked, arms stroking just beneath the surface as she peered downward.

“Not a fin in sight.” He swam around the end of the boat, climbed half-way up the ladder and reached into a storage bin for goggles, flippers and snorkels. “Ever done this before?” he said, raising them for her to see.

“Not since I was a kid. Just don’t expect me to go very deep, the pressure hurts my ears.”

“We won’t go deep.”

They spent an hour swimming above the reef, watching schools of colorful fish and exploring varied corals. A lazy day in warm waters, just the sea and a pretty girl, and a guy who felt as though he was living a dream, because this was as far from the goddamn sandbox as a SEAL could get. Something he might have dreamed about doing, but never thought he’d live long enough to enjoy.

After they returned to the boat, they sat beneath the canvas top, eating from a picnic basket the hotel restaurant had prepared.

Nicky sat cross-legged on the floor of the boat, facing him. They’d only known each other a day, but apparently, she had no inhibitions. Not that he minded. He’d never get tired of looking at her luscious body.

When she caught him staring a little too long, she frowned. “What? Do I have food on my face?”

She didn’t, but he gave a little nod, and while she was distracted wiping her face with a paper napkin, he stuck his finger in the fudge frosting on his uneaten piece of cake. He quickly reached out and smeared it on her nipple.

Letting out a short gasp, she glanced down, then back up. Her lips twitched. “You made the mess. You clean it up.”

Deke rolled to his knees and swept away their plates and drinks, uncaring for the mess he made or Nicky’s squeal of laughter, and came over her, his mouth going straight for the frosted tip. He latched his mouth around it and sucked, giving the straining peak a thorough licking, then pulled away and smacked his lips. “Best dish on the menu.”

She giggled and reached sideways for her piece of cake. Then with a wicked gleam in her eye, and ignoring his ferocious warning frown, she smashed it against his chest, rubbing it lower, then pulling down the waist of his swim trunks to smear crumbs and frosting on his cock.

Deke shook his head as he glanced down at himself. “I’ll bet you need to have the last word in any argument, too,” he muttered.

“I like being on top.”

He rolled to his back and shoved his trunks off the rest of the way. “You made the mess,” he said, raising a brow.

As he’d expected, she didn’t back down from the challenge. She crawled right between his legs, rising on her arms while she followed the cake crumbs and frosting on his chest, working her way slowly south. By the time he’d endured her licking his lower belly clean, he was fully erect and gritting his teeth. “You didn’t have to be that thorough. We can wash off in the water.”

“Shhh,” she said, reaching to press her finger against his mouth. With her head directly above his groin, she kept her gaze locked with his, and slowly lowered to trail her tongue up his length.

Deke groaned and let his head fall against the deck with a thud. Again, she was excruciatingly thorough, lifting him with two fingers to suction away crumbs from his belly, then returning to pull him upward and skim along the upper side of his shaft. When he felt her fingers wrap around him, he glanced back down to spot that cat-like smile stretching wide.

As he stared, she opened her mouth and rubbed her lips around and around the edges of his cap, flirting with her tongue to stab the soft head with hot, wet dabs.

When she teased his opening, he shot out a hand and gripped her hair, pulling her over him, forcing her mouth to close fully around his length. And then he pumped his hips to spear deep. Her moan vibrated around him.

He hissed between clenched teeth, and speared her again. “Nicky.
Jesus
.” His jaw sagged when she began to suction, pulling so hard his toes curled and his balls hardened and drew up snug against his groin.

But she wasn’t finished. While she bobbed, letting him set the pace with his hand on the back of her head, she fingered his balls, scratching the sensitive skin then plucking his stones.

He nearly went cross-eyed with frustration, wondering what she was up to, but her tongue was working him inside her mouth, sliding up and down his length while she continued to suck, and he didn’t want to distract her by asking. Instead, he enjoyed the arousing sensations she created.

Her finger scratched just behind his balls, and he bucked. “Sorry,” he said, when she made a gurgling sound. But it turned out to be laughter, and she scraped her fingernail against the tender spot, and then trailed downward.

Deke went still, his muscles tight as steel. “Nicky?” Her finger slid between his cheeks. “Stop.”

She gave a muffled “Uh-huh,” and continued to tease him.

By now, he was feeling nearly delirious, because she was working his cock faster and faster. At the same time, he was growing anxious, because she continued sliding closer to forbidden territory.

When she tickled him where she shouldn’t, he clamped his hands around her cheeks and lifted her from his cock. Then he rolled, trapping her beneath him. With her hands held beside her head and her legs locked beneath his thighs, she was completely at his mercy.

“Was this what you were hoping would happen?” he asked, giving her a disapproving look.

“Must have liked it,” she said, sounding breathless. “Took you long enough.”

Deke drew a deep breath. She was unrepentant and grinning. He almost smiled, but that would be capitulation. A thought rose of a way they could both win this battle of wills.

He pushed up and pulled her into his arms, then walked her toward the captain’s chair. With a quick turn, he bent her over the low-backed leather seat then reached for one of the tie-off ropes and quickly unwound it, using it to tie her clasped hands to the wheel. With her torso stretched, she was helpless. But he wasn’t finished. He quickly pulled down the bottoms of her swimsuit. With his toes, he nudged her feet wide apart then stood back, admiring his work and her soft rounded ass. The view was sexy as hell and his alone to enjoy.

She angled her head, trying to look back at him, but failing. “Look, I wasn’t planning on doing any more than teasing you. Promise I didn’t have any designs on your virtue.”

“Getting nervous?” he asked, smoothing his hands over her bottom. When he parted her buttocks, she drew in a hissing breath.

“Yes,” she said quickly, then tossed back her hair. “No.” Her breath held as he traced the length of her divide. A shiver worked its way down her spine.

“Baby, you have a great ass. Anyone ever tell you that?”

“Yes. My last boyfriend,” she gritted out.

Jealousy sliced through him, a foreign emotion that surprised the hell out of him. His eyes narrowed. He didn’t want to hear about her former beaus. And yet, he never felt possessive of his partners. Nicky had managed to get under his skin.

He cupped his palm and smacked one side of her cheek. The blow was louder than it was hard, but still she yelped. Maybe he’d surprised her. Maybe she just liked making noise.

Unable to resist, he petted the spot he’d just slapped. “You deserve a spanking,” he murmured.

She remained silent, so he gave her another cupped clap—this time on the opposite cheek.

Her head dropped, and her feet inched slowly outward.

Oh, she liked it all right, and now begged silently for more.
Interesting
.

Deke went to his knees behind her and stroked her folds with his fingers, and then his tongue. A quiver shook her thighs. Moisture seeped from inside her. He cupped his hand again, and popped it against her sex. Then smacked it again and again, until she was wet and his hand was soaked. She was wriggling, bucking, but still wasn’t complaining enough for him to take her resistance seriously.

He gave her inner thigh a kiss. “Have you learned your lesson?”

“Not quite yet,” she said in a small voice.

Satisfied that she appeared eager for more, he spread her labia and sank two fingers inside her, curving them to rub against a spongy spot deep inside.

A gasp sounded, and then a tiny, kitten-like mew. “Deke. Yes, I’ve learned. I won’t do it again. Not ever.”

He tsked and twisted his fingers inside her then bent toward her and tongued her clit. It was exposed, the hood having slid free from over the aroused bud. He tapped it with his tongue, then latched his mouth around it and sucked.

When he heard her keen, he released it, withdrew his fingers and stood behind her.

She was breathing in deep jagged breaths, her head lowered, her back shivering.

He reached and tugged the knot to loosen it, freeing her hands. Then he pulled her backwards and folded her hands over the top of the seat. “Stay bent, baby. We’ll do this standing.”

Her fingers crushed the leather, and again, she widened her stance. When he came close, clutching her hips and nudging her with his cock, she pushed back to meet him.

With his feet braced to accept the roll of the boat, he slid slowly inside and began to thrust. For Deke, the moment was perfect. Every time they came together was strangely better than the last. Hotter, grittier. Perhaps knowing better what pleased her, being free to show her what pleased him, was the reason, but he wasn’t sure that was all of it.

Nicky Martir was addictive. What else explained the fact he was standing in a boat in the middle of the Caribbean, food scattered at his feet, and the only thing he cared about was whether she came, how hard she came, and whether she would agree to see him once they are back in Virginia.

Shock at that last errant thought sent a wave of cold over him. He went still. Not realizing it, he dug his fingers into her hips.

“Ouch,” she said, casting a look behind her. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and lowered his gaze. What the hell was he doing?

“Deke.”

He pulled free then stepped back. His hands curled at his sides. This was supposed to be light. Just sex. When had he decided he wanted it to be more? No, he needed their relationship to be more. And that couldn’t be. The last thing Nicky needed was some SEAL with a ton of baggage showing up on her doorstep. And he had things to work out, guilt to overcome, before he could trust himself to be the kind of man a woman would want past a night or two of pleasure. When he glanced up, Nicky had turned.

One hand held back her hair, the other stretched out, reaching toward him, but she slowly let it drop. Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “It’s not nice stringing a girl along like that,” she said, the husky tone of her voice at odds with her words.

Exactly his thoughts. But she was right. His body was still hard and ready, she didn’t deserve to be left wanting simply because he’d had an inconvenient flash of self-awareness. He held out his hand, then walked toward her, passing her to sit in the captain’s chair, then pulling her next to him. He guided her with his hands until she straddled him. “Take what you want, Nicky. What you need.”

Her brows lowered as she stared into his eyes. “I hate when you do that.”

“When I do what?”

“When you shut down on me.”

Rather than pretending he didn’t understand, he pushed back her hair and met her steady gaze. She deserved honesty. “I like you a little too much.”

“And that’s a problem?”

Jaw tight, he nodded.

She sighed and settled against him, snuggling close. “I hate that you think of me as a problem.”

“I’m no good for you,” he said simply.

“That’s horseshit,” she said, her words gusting beside his ear.

A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “Your daddy know you talk like that?”

“My daddy was SEAL. Do you really think he cares?”

“Baby, he cares.”
So do I
. He wrapped his arms around her and tightened them. “We both know this is just a…thing.”

“A vacation fling?” She leaned back, her expression neutral, her eyes studying his expression.

“It’s all it can be.”

Her mouth opened, as though she was about to say something, then snapped closed. She planted her hands on his shoulders and pushed up, circling her hips until she caught the tip of his cock, and then she lowered herself slowly down. She leaned toward his ear. “Flings are supposed to be fun,” she whispered and bit his lobe.

Deke grunted, relieved she was back to sexy teasing. He gripped her hips, taking charge of the pace as he moved her up and down on his lap.

Nicky tossed back her hair. “Thought you wanted me to do all the work, to take my pleasure.”

“Are you feeling good?”

Her breasts shook when he bounced her a little quicker. She cupped both, and her eyelids dipped. “Do that again and I won’t utter another complaint.”

Knowing he might be fighting a losing battle, he shook his head. Loving her the way she deserved was proving impossible to resist.

‡