Wild And Willing

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to see the rest of the boat.” He reached for the ignition but Mia shifted her hip in his path.

He drew his hand back, knowing if he touched her once more, he wouldn’t be able to stop touching her.

“Why not?” She peered around the deck until her gaze landed on the stairs leading to the berth.

“Because there’s a bed down there, Mia. A big bed in a tiny cabin.” Was he the dumbest guy on earth to forsake a chance at having this sexiest-of-all female in that bed? Or was he being smart to save himself messy complications with a woman he’d probably never understand?

He plowed ahead, hoping he fell into the latter category. “And I don’t think it’s such a good idea to go traipsing down there next to that big bed when we’re both already thinking about orgasms and sex and…undulation.”

A breeze tossed her dark hair over her shoulder, sending the silky strands to wave, flaglike, behind her. She smiled, a small upturn of her lips that called to mind illicit kisses and all the things a sensualist sort of woman might do with her mouth.

“You make it sound like a dirty word,” she chastened.

“No, you make it sound like a sexy-as-hell word when it shouldn’t be.” He’d probably get an erection for the rest of his life when he heard someone say “undulate.” Lucky for him, it wasn’t the kind of thing apt to surface in daily conversation, right?

She edged by him, her gaze focused on the stairs behind the helm.

“Wait a minute.” He scrambled after her, her floral skirt flapping in the breeze and teasing him with glimpses of thigh. “Where are you going?”

“I just want to look around. You don’t need to come with me.” Mia gripped the handrail at the head of the stairs and started down, puckering her lips at him to pantomime an exaggerated kiss before she totally disappeared. “Although you might have fun if you let yourself.”

No other man with even a flicker of a pulse would ignore such a blatant invitation. But damn it, he didn’t get involved in relationships lightly. Never had. Never would.

His father’s lack of commitment to his family had taught Seth from an early age to be responsible, to take care of everyone around him, and most of all, not to get involved with any woman on the spur of the moment to assuage some temporary hunger.

Seth had only just taken his boat out of storage last weekend, and he sure as hell didn’t have any condoms lying around for protection’s sake. No way was he getting into a situation he couldn’t control, even if the woman in question had him wound so tight he couldn’t see straight.

“Wow! You call this tiny?” Mia enthused from downstairs, her thin sandals padding around the hardwood floors below deck. “This is huge!”

Her compliment nudged him closer to the stairwell.

He’d always loved this dang boat. The cruiser had been his first totally selfish purchase once he’d had enough money to do as he pleased. Now he could afford a boat that would make this one look like an afterthought, but Seth would sooner part with his corner office with a Bay view or his fifty-yard line season tickets for Buccaneers games before he traded in his boat.

How could he not go downstairs to sing its praises when Mia was so obviously interested? He could take ten minutes to show her the boat and then they’d be on their way to a routine tourist trek to Egmont Key.

Besides, it wasn’t like Mia was going to jump him, right?

He took the stairs two at a time and realized by the time he got to the bottom that his body seemed to be in charge here and his rational mind was in danger of being utterly ignored. Knowing that didn’t stop his feet from finding their way to Mia.

She stood in the salon, turning her head every which way and running her palm across the surface of an interior wall.

When she noticed him, she pointed toward the porthole. “The light is great in here. See how that last little bit of sunset casts a pinkish glow on this wall? You need a strip of mural right here to soak up the colors.”

He envisioned a painting of a big fish on the wall. “How about a guy wrestling an oversize dolphin fish?”

She frowned. “I was seeing more of a quiet tropical island, but I guess that would work.”

“You want the tour?”

Nodding, she joined him, taking his arm so he could lead her through the cabin areas. He started with the master stateroom so he could get it over with first. The double bed seemed much bigger than that in the small space. A navy comforter and white pillows made the room inviting, and Seth braced himself to be enticed by Carmen the Temptress.

“Nice,” Mia commented, taking it all in before she backed into another room. “And this is the kitchen?”

“Galley,” he corrected automatically, surprised at the twinge of disappointment he experienced at not being wrestled onto the bed. He reached into the chest of drawers in his stateroom and found a T-shirt to wear, then joined her in the kitchen. “I’m not much of a chef, but then, it doesn’t take much talent to make fresh fish taste good.”

“So this boat belongs to you, not the bank?” Mia ran her fingers over the countertops, clicking out a quick rhythm with her nails on the laminated surface.

Of course, she thought he worked for Gulf Coast. Part-time pirate and full-time gopher. How the hell could he have ever afforded a toy like this on a pirate’s wages?

“Yeah. I bought it a few years ago with some money I’d been saving.” Not an outright lie. Still, he hustled to redirect her as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. “But I spend a lot of time on the water, so it seemed worth it. You probably don’t think twice about how much you spend on paints and canvas.”

She followed him toward the guest stateroom, a cabin rich with red woods and burgundy linens. “Painting is a lot cheaper than sculpting at least. Clay is reasonable, but if you want to work in stone, you can go into debt in no time. Especially if you mess up and need to start over again.”

Drifting toward the stairs, Mia seemed to be finished with the tour. And she hadn’t even tried to talk him into a torrid coupling on the double bed.

Well, damn.

Before he could consider the consequence of the action, he reached out to grip one arm, lightly holding her still. “Wait, Mia.”

She pivoted to face him, her straight brown hair blowing in the breeze wafting down from the deck. “Hmm?”

Now that he had her attention, he had to scavenge for his thoughts. His mind kept flashing back to that moment on the helm seat when she’d lost herself in a world of sensation. The moment her head had tipped back and…

“Seth?”

Her eyes were sharply focused now as she stared into his, waiting for him to speak.

“We never got a chance to talk more after what happened on deck….”

She closed her eyes, and for a moment, Seth thought perhaps he’d embarrassed her by bringing it up. But then, she opened her eyes again and blurted, “The orgasm incident?”

“That’s the one.” The woman didn’t mince words. “But I thought maybe you’d be willing to talk to me now, maybe tell me why you won’t go back for the press interview tonight.”

“Why? Are you going to try to coerce me into going anyway?”

She not only didn’t mince words, she obviously didn’t pull punches either.

He shrugged. “I hear the bank shells out a lot of money to sponsor Gasparilla. Part of my job is to create good P.R., and to make sure you have a good time today. But it seems like I can’t possibly do both. You’re not going to have a good time if you have to give the bank any more publicity, right?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to give back to the bank.” She sighed, leaned a shoulder against the doorframe around the stairs. “I just have a family with very old-fashioned values who will promptly go into cardiac arrest if they see me on TV with a half-dressed pirate talking about my day in captivity.”

A wave rocked the boat, reminding Seth of undulating and other things he shouldn’t be thinking about right now. He tugged her by the hand toward the salon, hoping if they took a seat they wouldn’t feel the rocking of the damn boat quite so much.

“That probably sounds like the hang-up of some college kid,” she continued as she followed him, dutifully sinking into the curved, green leather sofa. “But honestly, my grandparents are getting up there in years and I swear my granddad’s ulcers get worse with every guy I date.”

Seth nodded, understanding all too well the need to put family first. He flicked the lights on the lowest setting and slid into the seat next to her, careful to leave a few feet between them. No sense tempting fate. “You’re close to your grandparents?”

“They pretty much raised me. My mom is single and she’s never really gotten it through her head that having a child requires some stability. I adore my mom, but we’re more like sisters than mother and daughter.” She toyed with the fringe on her skirt for a moment, lost in thought. Then, as if remembering he was there, she crossed her legs and flipped her hair over one shoulder. “But I did not jump into your arms today so we could discuss my family. I thought maybe you called me back here because you were ready to try out the bed now.”

“You’re concerned about your grandfather’s ulcers, yet you would sacrifice yourself to a pirate’s lust for the sake of adventure?” Sounded damn good to him, even if he didn’t want to admit it. He had to give her credit for openness and honesty. The woman didn’t know the meaning of the word coy. “Have you considered that maybe your granddad worries himself sick for a good reason?”

“Not a chance. Face it, Chandler. You’d be sacrificing yourself to my lust, and no one but us has to know.” She kicked her sandaled foot in a slow, circular rhythm. “So what do you say? Are you game?”

Was he game? Hell, maybe he should tear a page from her book and take things a little less seriously. He knew he couldn’t afford to try out the bed for real. But if he viewed this more in terms of a three-strikes-and-you’re-out sort of game, he ought to be able to kiss her one more time without losing control completely.

And he deserved that kiss after the day he’d been having. He’d had to fend off a costumer who’d tried to talk him into wearing a hook on his hand, and ended up submitting to a tricorn hat he later tossed overboard. He suffered an eye patch for half a day and had paraded into town bare-chested and yo-ho-hoing.

No wonder pirates demanded a little booty for their trouble.

“I don’t trust either of us near that bed, Mia, and with good reason.” He settled his hand on her knee, allowing the heat of his palm to penetrate the cool silk of her skin. “But I know another game you might enjoy.”

MIA WONDERED if it was possible to melt at a man’s touch. If so, she stood a very good chance of pooling at Seth’s feet any moment because his hand on her knee made her whole body turn warm and liquid.

She’d been so hell-bent determined to attract his attention, to make him waver from his honorable, “hands-off” course, that she had no idea what to do once her plan started working.

And judging by the heated challenge in his eyes, it was working very well.

“Another game?” she managed to push past dry lips.

He walked his fingers up the outside of her thigh until his hand landed on her hip. Then he scooted her closer to him in the dimly lit salon. “It’s called ‘let’s see if we can make lightning strike twice.’”

She was still processing what exactly that meant when he angled his lips over hers. Realization hit at the same time he cupped her cheek in his palm and tilted her mouth for a deeper taste.

The man planned to drug her with his aphrodisiac kisses and then coax her right into orgasmic heaven.

All of which sounded delightful, except…

“That’s not fair to you.” Mia broke off their kiss, much to her lips’ regret. Heat simmered between them, fogging the porthole windowpane behind them.

Seth flexed his fingers on her hip, caressed the curve of her waist with the broad expanse of his palm. “It’s perfectly fair,” he whispered, leaning forward to reclaim her mouth.

She shook her head, refusing him in spite of the persuasive press of his chest against hers. “No, I think you’d better let me pay you back first.”

He stared at her through lazy brown eyes. “Honey, I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to watch those waves roll right over you again, to see your mouth fall open and your head tip back when you—”

“No.” Sensing the need to take action before he had her talked into becoming erotically dependent on him, Mia walked her fingers down his chest to the waistband of his khaki shorts. “I can think of something you would definitely like more.”

His abs flexed under her touch. He tensed, his whole body going still as she continued a relentless path down his shorts toward the ridge she spied very clearly.

She didn’t know where she found the nerve. Maybe too many nights of longing for adventure, of promising herself she’d take advantage of this trip away from home, had conspired to mold her into this wild woman.

Gathering her courage, she smoothed her hand over that ridge and looked him in the eye.

“I bet I send you into orbit without ever hitting the sheets.”

4

A MAN COULD PASS OUT over that kind of invitation.

Seth knew this firsthand, because Mia’s erotic proposal sent every drop of his blood on a heated southbound tidal wave, leaving him damn near light-headed and too turned-on to think straight.

All he had to do was nod.

Instead, some dying part of his conscience rasped out a gravelly, “What?”

Mia’s hand curled around him, assuring him he’d understood the message. “Payback can be very satisfying.”

There could be no mistaking how much he wanted to. She couldn’t help but realize the full extent of his hunger for her.

Unfortunately, something about the word “payback” on her lips niggled his numbed brain cells, reminding him that he expected more from his relationships than just an even exchange of pleasure.

Cursed principles.

He edged away from her, prying himself up off the couch. Was it his imagination, or was there a hint of disappointment in her eyes that went beyond sexual frustration? “I’d give my eyeteeth to take you up on that offer, Mia, but I made a promise to myself a long time ago not to indulge in this kind of thing lightly.”

She bit her lip, broadcasting an uncertainty he hadn’t expected from her. “I guess I misinterpreted your kiss. I thought you wanted this, too.”

The flash of self-doubt in her eyes lashed at his stupid conscience, making him feel like a total heel.

“I do want this, Mia. I want it so much it’s damned well about to kill me.” Still, he backed up a step as he said it, knowing if he let himself get too close to her again, any promises from his past would be incinerated to ashes. “I just didn’t plan for this and I don’t have any way to protect you….” He’d be lying if he let her think that was the only reason why. She didn’t even know his true identity. “But mostly I just don’t let myself get involved with any woman I’m not fully committed to.”

Assuming a live-in relationship constituted a full commitment, anyway. He wasn’t his father, damn it. At least he offered something beyond sex to the women he slept with.

Her mouth curved into a perfectly round O though no sound came forth. Her cheeks tinged pink for a few seconds, confirming his fear that he’d embarrassed her.

“You’ve got to know it’s not you,” he rushed to assure her, guilt nipping at his heels. “Hell, look at me. I’m a walking advertisement for how much I’d like to take you up on that offer.”

Her green eyes slid downward to linger just below his waist.

His temperature spiked a few more degrees, making him wonder why he found it necessary to reassure a woman who was leading him around by the…nose.

A slow smile curled her lips, her feminine pride apparently soothed by his obvious arousal. “Then I suppose the polite thing for me to do would be to leave you alone so I don’t tempt you any further.”

His wayward libido already protested the move. “That would be helpful, yes.”

“Okay.” Her green cat eyes met his again, alight with mischief. “I’ll let you go about your business and I’ll go about mine as if you weren’t even here.”

He nodded, half-hating that plan, but knowing his promise not to get involved with any woman on a casual basis wouldn’t survive the rest of the trip without her cooperation.

“Okay, then.” He backed himself right into the staircase, his heel colliding with the first step. “I’d better start up the boat and get us underway again. It’s too dark to see much of anything on the island now, but we can at least circle the key before we head back to Gasparilla.”

She nodded a bit too agreeably. How could she be taking this so well when his body cursed volumes at him?

“Okay. If you don’t mind, I’ll go up on deck too, but I promise to sit on the other side of the boat.”

He was about to tell her that wasn’t necessary, but judging from the way his pulse kicked into overdrive at her approach, she was probably better off out of reach.

“Of course.” He turned to take the stairs two at a time. “It’s a great night to see the stars,” he called to her as he hit the deck. Maybe a little sky gazing would keep them both distracted.

“Don’t worry about me,” she replied, heading for the bow while he slid into the helm seat. “I don’t even know you’re here.”

Seth frowned, his ego taking another hit that she could write him off with such ease. He should be patting himself on the back that he’d averted a crisis, but instead, he could only think about how much he’d cost himself by rejecting Mia’s tantalizing offer.

With an oath, he turned the key in the boat’s ignition, dragging his gaze from her curvy silhouette outlined in moonlight.

Lost in the contemplation of those curves, it took Seth a minute to realize that noting had happened when he’d turned the key. No throaty growl of twin engines greeted his ears. The only sound he could hear was the incessant undulation of waves against the boat.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

He clicked off the ignition and tried again.

Nothing.

Recognition slid over him. This had happened to him once before, his first year with the boat. After keeping a vessel in storage, sometimes condensation could flood the fuel cell and corrupt both engines. No doubt, that accounted for the silence, the darkness on the water.

A silence broken only by the smooth lap of the waves. A darkness interrupted only by the outline of sexy Mia Quentin slowly peeling off her skirt.

NO SELF-RESPECTING Floridian would ever dream of jumping into the middle of the Gulf in February. Spring Breakers and snowbirds didn’t mind, but she wouldn’t normally venture so much as a toe in the surf until at least April.

Thing is, she was smarting just a little from Seth’s continued rejection. She’d put so much effort into today’s pirate seduction that she couldn’t imagine returning to endless days of hawking seashell necklaces in Twin Palms without at least making it to second base with her quarry.

What more could she do to capture the man’s attention, other than rip off her clothes? As a final resort she was willing to fake the urge for an evening swim. In truth, she didn’t want to get anywhere near that water. Not only because of the cold, but because she knew better than to swim in strange waters at night.

But he didn’t have to know that.

She had the feeling she’d succeeded in catching his eye when a strangled expletive shot across the deck.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Seth stormed right across the bow right behind his words.

Mia’s skirt already lay pooled at her feet. Her silk blouse just barely covered the red lace bikini bottoms that looked more like panties than swimwear.

“I thought I’d go for a dip to clear my head once we get to the shallow waters around Egmont Key.” She hoped he wouldn’t notice the goose bumps populating both her bare legs.

“A dip?” He reached for her sarong and held it in between them like a shield. “Jesus, woman, are you crazy? There could be sharks in there for all you know.”

She hoped the dark would hide the blood blanching right out of her face. She hadn’t even thought of the sharks. But did he have to stare at her like she’d just lost her mind along with half her outfit?

Reaching for the hem of her shirt, she flashed him what she hoped was a nonchalant smile. “Then maybe I’ll settle for letting the back spray of the water cool me off once we get underway again.”

With a quick prayer for a little more nerve to carry her through, Mia whipped the silk blouse over her head and flung it into the night breeze.

Seth didn’t look turned on so much as he looked like he’d just swallowed a frog or something equally uncomfortable. She wondered if she’d overestimated her appeal in this high-octane, red lace swimsuit and cursed herself for dropping three figures on a getup she’d most likely never wear again.

She could have had an all-out spree at the art supply store for what she’d spent.

By now, Mia only wished she could crawl back into her clothes and forget her stupid wish for adventure. Seth’s expression remained as horrified as if she’d told him he had to walk the plank. His lips moved, but so far, no sound issued forth from his mouth.

“Put. This. On.” Finally, he eked out that much, handing her the sarong.

Defeated, she yanked the gauzy floral fabric out of his hand and shook out the wrinkles. “Fine. I will. But you were supposed to pretend I wasn’t even here, remember?”

“I could scarcely function when you had your clothes on. I’m supposed to ignore you when you’re almost naked?”

Despite the fact that he was practically yelling at her, Mia’s mood improved considerably. Maybe her efforts hadn’t been wasted after all.

“Sorry.” She wrapped the sarong around her waist and tied the knot with slow deliberation. “I thought you were going to be concentrating on driving the boat and you wouldn’t even notice me.”

His gaze narrowed, communicating his suspicion quite effectively. Still, he didn’t comment on her blatant lie. “That’s where we have a little problem.”

“We do?”

“The boat won’t start.” The grimace on his face made him look dangerous enough to sport the eye patch and dagger he’d long ago ditched.

Mia realized she didn’t experience the slightest qualm at the thought of being stuck out here alone with Seth, however. After seeing him play noble with her one too many times tonight, she figured he must be a pretty upstanding, trustworthy guy.

“The boat won’t start? It sounds like a tried and true ploy to fool around with your date.” She sidled closer, just in case Seth had changed his mind about testing out the bed below deck. “Remember on Happy Days when Richie would conveniently run out of gas so he could score with his girlfriend?”

“Do you think that’s what I’m doing? Not starting up my boat to angle for more time with you when I’ve just admitted you’ve got me tied up in so many damned knots I can’t think straight?” The rippling water below them cast constantly moving shadows over Seth’s face. The moonlight that would have seemed pale on dry land now lit their whole world.

“Spoilsport.” Mia shivered and tried to hide it. If ever she’d been worried she’d inherited her mother’s wild ways with men, Seth’s reaction to her tonight had put that fear to rest in a hurry. “Care to at least tell me how we’re going to get home then?”

Seth’s jaw clenched as he bent to pick up her blouse off the deck. “I’m sure we could signal someone for a tow, but if you don’t mind waiting a little longer to be rescued, I’d prefer to have my uncle come get us. He’ll be able to fix the boat tomorrow if I can get it to him tonight.” He handed her the shirt, keeping his eyes trained on her face.

“I’m in no hurry.” She shrugged into the halter top, disappointed to see Seth pulling a cell phone out of his pants pocket rather than watching her. “Even though you’re determined to thwart all my adventures, at least I’m getting to spend some time out on the water tonight. That’s sort of fun.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a boat. She didn’t own one, and she would never rent one given her run-ins with Frankie the marina guy.