An Honourable Seduction

The waiter handed him another beer and gave them both menus. “What would like to drink, miss?” the waiter asked her.

“A glass of Moscato please.”

When the waiter left, she glanced over at Flipper before picking up her menu. “You’re not working so hard that you’re not enjoying the Keys, are you?”

“I’m doing a bit of both. I admit the ocean is beautiful tonight.”

She smiled. “I think it’s beautiful every night.”

He nodded as he took another sip of his beer, straight from the bottle. “So are you a native or a transplant?”

“A native. I was born and raised right here on the island in the same house I live in now. My mother never made it to the hospital before I was born.”

He raised a brow. “She didn’t?”

“No. Mom came from a part of Jamaica where the belief was that when it comes to delivering a baby, a midwife is better than a medical doctor. My father promised to find her a midwife here. Otherwise she would have insisted that I be born in Jamaica and he didn’t want that. He wanted me born in America.”

“So he was able to find a midwife?”

“Yes, but I was born a few weeks early and the midwife wasn’t here.”

“So who delivered you?”

“My dad, with the help of three of his closest military friends. They were stationed at the base here and were visiting, watching a football game at the time. Needless to say, over the years I’ve gotten four different versions of what happened that night. My mother didn’t remember a thing other than it took four men to deliver me. Although Godpop 1 claims my father passed out trying to cut the umbilical cord.”

Flipper laughed. He then asked, “Godpop 1?”

“Yes, my father’s three closest friends, the ones who assisted that night, became my godfathers. That’s how I distinguish them. Godpop 1, Godpop 2 and Godpop 3.”

Flipper nodded. No wonder the three men felt such strong ties to her. “You’re lucky to have three godfathers. I don’t have a one.”

“Yes, I’m lucky,” she said, after the waiter set the glass of wine in front of her. “They were my and Mom’s rocks after we lost Dad, especially when my grandparents showed up at the funeral trying to cause problems.”

Then, as if she realized she might have shared too much, she asked, “So what do you plan to order?”

Swan thought David had picked the right place for them to have dinner. When he asked for recommendations on what to order, she suggested Summer Moon’s crab cakes and, as usual, they were delicious. The mango salad was superb, and after dinner they enjoyed listening to the live band.

When the band played their last song, she glanced over at David to discover him staring at her. The intensity in his gaze nearly scorched her and she took a sip of her wine. “Thanks for dinner, David.”

“Thank you for accepting my invitation. The place is about to close. Are you ready to go?” he asked her.

“Yes.” Because she knew he would suggest that he walk her home, she added, “If you still have a little bit of energy, I’d like to treat you to something.”

He lifted a brow. “What?”

“A laser show that officially kicks off the summer season. It’s a short walk from here.” Since it was in the opposite direction from where she lived, she would have no problem catching a cab back later—alone.

He smiled as he beckoned for the waiter to bring their check. “Then by all means, let’s go.”

Once the show began, it didn’t take Swan long to decide that David was wonderful company. She could tell he was enjoying the laser lights as much as she was.

She attended the event every year and it seemed the displays only got better and better. Each year, they honored a different state and tonight that state was New York. The New Yorkers in the crowd showed their happiness with whistles and shouting. And when a huge display of the Statue of Liberty flashed across the sky in a brilliant variety of colors, Swan caught her breath.

After that, the showrunners took the time to honor the servicemen in attendance with a flag salute. She couldn’t hold back her tears as she remembered how much her father had loved his country and how, in the end, he’d given his life for it and for her.

David must have detected her weepy state. He pulled her closer to his side.

“Sorry,” she said. “I get all emotional about our servicemen and servicewomen, especially those who sacrifice their lives.”

“You sound very patriotic.”

She pulled back and looked up at him. “Of course I’m patriotic. Aren’t you? You did say you used to be in the military, right?”

“Yes, I’m very patriotic,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She wished she didn’t think the arms around her felt so strong and powerful.

“I thought you would be, but you said I sounded patriotic as if you thought that perhaps I wasn’t.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m glad you’re so patriotic.”

She nodded, accepting his apology. Scanning the area around them, she said, “They are serving complimentary wine coolers over there. Let’s go grab a couple.”

“Sure thing.” He placed his hand on the small of her back.

The contact sent a rush of desire through her that was so strong she had to force herself to breathe. Swan quickly glanced up at him and noticed he’d been affected by the feeling as well. However, he hadn’t removed his hand.

Instead, he pressed his hand more firmly into her back and she felt him urging her away from the crowd and toward a cluster of low-hanging palm trees. Once they stood in the shadows, he turned her in his arms, stared down at her for a long moment and then lowered his mouth to hers.

The moment their lips touched, he slid his tongue inside her mouth, and she recalled her thoughts from earlier that day. He was delicious—and dangerous—with a capital D. And it wasn’t just because he tasted of the beer he’d consumed at Summer Moon, but because he tasted like a hot-blooded man. All the sexiness she’d seen in him was reflected in his kiss.

When she began kissing him back, he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the exchange by crushing his mouth to hers.

She didn’t mind his eagerness. In fact, she welcomed the pleasure of his hunger, his taste, which was getting more provocative with every stroke of his tongue. It had been a while since she’d been kissed, and certain parts of her were reminding her of just how long it had been. Not only that, those certain parts were goading her to keep up with the forceful demands of his mouth. She hadn’t been kissed so thoroughly or possessively before in her life. Or so passionately.

Swan wasn’t sure how long they stood there kissing. It wasn’t until they heard the sound of fireworks that they disengaged their mouths. She glanced up as more fireworks exploded in the sky. Instead of looking up, David trailed his tongue along her neck and collarbone with wet licks.

“Say you’ll go out with me again, Swan.”

There was no way she wouldn’t say it. She looked at him and saw deep desire in the eyes looking back at her. “Yes, I’ll go out with you again.”

“Good.”

And then he lowered his head and kissed her again.

Flipper had tried everything possible to get to sleep. He’d counted sheep, counted backward, rolled his eyes for a full thirty minutes and had even tried hypnotizing himself. None of those things helped.

He couldn’t remember ever feeling this tight with need. So here he was, close to four in the morning, and still wide awake. Nothing he did could erase the taste of Swan from his mouth and the act of kissing her from his mind.

The kiss would complicate his mission, but it hadn’t been an act. It had been the most real thing he’d done in a long time. He had wanted that kiss. Needed it. It had been inevitable.

Sitting across from her at dinner and watching the movement of her mouth had caused a throbbing need to erupt in his gut, making him rock hard. There had been no way to ignore the delicious heat of carnal attraction spiking between them.

And the patriotism he’d seen in her eyes when she’d gotten teary-eyed in support of servicemen, and then when she’d told him about her work with the city to find lodging for homeless vets, hadn’t helped. Neither had the fact that she’d looked stunning and had smelled irresistibly hot tonight.

Kissing her had made his entire body feel alive. Had revved up his passion to a degree that his libido had him tied in knots and had his pulse tripping. He could feel himself riding the fine edge of intense desire heightened by more sexual energy than he’d felt in a long time.

While kissing her, he hadn’t cared that they could have been seen in spite of the low-hanging trees. He’d been beyond the point of caring. He’d been tempted to drag her to the ground right there.

Damn. How was he going to clear her of anything when the only thing he’d wanted to clear her of was her clothes?

He had access to women whenever he needed them. There were always women who went bonkers for men in uniform and he had no problem engaging in one-night stands. Those types of relationships had always been the way to go for him. He liked being single, coming and going as he pleased, with no one to worry about but himself.

It had been a long time since any woman had kept him up at night and that wasn’t cool.

Grabbing his phone he texted the message: If anyone is awake. Call me.

Within seconds, his phone rang. It was Bane. “What’s going on, Flipper?”

“Why are you up?” Flipper asked his friend.

“Feeding time. Crystal and I rotate.”

“Oh? You’re breastfeeding now?”

“No, smart-ass. The trio are on bottles now. What are you doing up?”

Flipper stretched out across the bed. “I couldn’t sleep. I tried everything. I even tried to hypnotize myself.”

Bane chuckled. “I guess it didn’t work.”

“No, it didn’t work.”

“So why can’t you sleep, Flip?”

He wasn’t one to kiss and tell, no matter who the listener was, so he said, “I still haven’t figured out anything about the situation down here and the CO and the admiral are depending on me.”

“Maybe they’re going to have to accept naval intelligence’s report that she’s guilty.”

“I don’t think so.” Flipper paused. “She cried tonight.”

“What do you mean, she cried?”

“Today was the first day of summer and there’s an annual laser show to commemorate the change in season. One of the laser displays was a salute to New York, where they did an awesome light replica of the Statue of Liberty and American soldiers. She got emotional and cried. Dammit, Bane, a person who is betraying their country doesn’t cry for those in the service. Call me a sucker for tears but I don’t believe she has a traitorous bone in her body.”

“Then it’s up to you to prove it. What about those two people who hang around her shop?”

“The woman who works for her and the tattoo guy? Both seem clean. But I will dig further. I have to.”

“Okay, but make sure while you’re digging for answers that you’re not burrowing yourself into something you can’t handle.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you know what I mean, Flip. You were sent there to prove her innocence—not to prove she has a passionate side. Remember that. Good night.”

Flipper clicked off the phone and rubbed a hand down his face. Little did Bane know that after the kiss with Swan tonight, Flipper was driven to do more than prove her innocence, or her passion.

He wanted to possess Swan completely.

And he had a feeling the desire wasn’t one-sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes during dinner. He’d felt how her body had responded to his touch. He was certain the same sensations that rushed through him had affected her, too. Kissing her had been inevitable, something they both wanted and needed.

The genie called desire was out of the bottle and Flipper honestly didn’t know how to get it back inside.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.