She didn’t want to think.
She only wanted Chase. Like this, with her—the moment frozen in time.
His weight shifted lower, trailing kisses down her belly. He pulled her panties over her hips, throwing them aside, before burying his face between her thighs. She bucked underneath him, unsure and moving to get away, suddenly embarrassed yet craving more.
More heat,
more Chase.
His hands held firm to her hips, keeping her imprisoned so that she had no choice but to enjoy the ride. She abandoned her hold on his hair, not wanting to hurt him, instead clutching her fingers into the thick comforter, bunching the fabric in her fists as his tongue waged an insistent assault, stroking, probing, sucking, and driving her even further out of her mind. The pressure built inside her unlike anything she’d ever felt, making her twist and arch into his mouth, and then it all exploded, her body jerking, her legs trembling, sobs wracking her throat with her release.
He kissed his way back up her body until he found her mouth. She wrapped her legs around him and realized he still wore his jeans. “Take these off,” she whispered, still shuddering with aftershocks, reaching down to tug at the button on his waistband. “I want you inside me.”
“Wait. I want you too, but wait.” His mouth was hot on hers but his body warmth moved away as he pulled a condom from the pocket before shucking the jeans. He fumbled with the wrapper for only a moment before sliding it on and plunging into her heat. She writhed on the bed underneath him, feeling him fill her, finally, crashing into her, rocking their bodies together in a steady, pounding rhythm. The pressure built quickly from way down deep as he plunged again and again, the tightening of her body sending her to the very edge of the precipice. His mouth hard on hers, his tongue plundering, she felt everything in her body rise and rise and rise and then explode, falling over the edge and crashing, shattering into a million glittering pieces until he gave a strangled cry and finally fell sated onto her chest.
They lay there on top of the bed, trying to breathe, trying to make sense of a moment for which she had no comparison, no precedent. Yes, she’d had sex before, but this was an entirely new experience. A different category entirely, and she had no words to describe the exquisite feeling running through her veins, simmering just below the surface of her skin. She caught herself smiling as Chase kissed her forehead before rolling off her. She savored the feeling of completeness, marveling at how utterly boneless she felt right that minute.
The last thing she felt was Chase spooning his body against her back and pulling the sheet over them both before she drifted off to sleep, a smile still on her face.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chase heard the text alert on his cell phone sound, groaning in protest as he rolled away from Emma’s soft, warm body and grabbed his jeans from the floor. Digging into the pocket, he found the phone and checked the screen. Starting with the word “dude” and ending with “boss,” Todd texted to say the boat would dock at MacMillan Wharf in about an hour. Chase wondered what kind of day at sea the pair of men had to make Todd take the time to type extra snark into his message.
The clock on the bedside table read 5:30 p.m. The day had practically evaporated—where did the time go? Emma stirred next to him, trailing her fingers down the length of his spine, sending a shudder through him and reminding him the last few hours had been anything but wasted.
“Something important?”
He smiled, loving the way her elbow poked haphazardly into the downy pillow as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Her blonde hair looked mussed, her face thoroughly kissed and the smile genuinely happy, which seemed nothing short of a miracle considering the events of the last twenty-four hours.
The thin white motel sheet only partially covered her, leaving those beautiful breasts exposed, distracting him from further thought. He licked his lips, feeling his groin reawaken to the possibilities lying before him. He rolled back to face her, pushing the sheet lower as his hand skimmed along the curve of her waist, down one luscious hip.
“Captain Wilbur’s returning to the harbor.” His hand cupped her rear and tugged her closer. “They won’t dock at the wharf for at least an hour.” He leaned in to kiss her softly on the mouth, letting his hand trail up her lower back and around to stroke her breast. She stretched, all that glorious bare skin sliding against him, tantalizing every nerve ending and feeding his growing need.
They moved slowly, rediscovering in intricate detail what they’d found earlier in fevered haste. Where their desire crashed and practically exploded before, this time it rolled through them like waves at low tides, slowly, deliberately, building, moving higher, filling those empty places inside. When he finally plunged into her and she enclosed him, they stopped for a moment, staring deep into each other’s eyes, feeling like the entire world held its breath. The beat of her heart pounded out a rhythm in sync with his own and he knew his life would never be the same. He never wanted to spend another day apart from her, for any reason. Not ever.
Chase suggested showering together to save time, nothing if not practical in theory, but the sight of Emma’s soapy breasts was more than he could pretend to ignore. He reached for her, his hand sliding smoothly along soaped-up skin, reigniting his desire. Her turquoise eyes darkened with pleasure and her firm hand reached between his legs.
It ended up a long shower. Not a time saver at all.
“You know, we’ll never get to the wharf at this rate,” Emma said, one towel wrapped around her body while scrubbing a second over her head. Chase stood behind her, a towel wrapped around his waist, running his tongue along her shoulder to catch the stray droplets from her hair, reveling in the clean, soapy smell that would now forever remind him of Emma. “I thought this project was the most important thing to you.”
Chase blinked. “Not anymore.” He heard Todd’s annoying voice in his head and realized the kid had been onto something with his sage advice. There
are
more important things in life than work.
“And?” She caught his eye in the bathroom mirror.
He shrugged. “A man has to have priorities.” He’d never been this happy in his entire life, like he’d found the part of him that’d been missing all these years.
This must be what love feels like
.
He blinked hard, catching his breath, still holding her gaze in the mirror.
Where did that thought come from?
He’d only met her a few days ago. Way too soon to be using the L word. Sure, Emma was gorgeous, and smart, and made him laugh out loud like he hadn’t since…when had he ever relaxed and enjoyed himself like this? Okay, so too soon to be saying certain 3-word phrases, but he definitely could see himself saying the words to her sometime. In the future.
He slid his arms around Emma’s waist, reveling in the realization. He wanted a future with her, and all the happily ever afters that went with that sort of thing.
She grinned at his reflection and twisted out of his embrace, turning to face him. She brushed a kiss on his lips before heading into the bedroom. He followed, watching her dig through her overnight bag for fresh clothes. A plain black T-shirt soon covered her creamy skin, and he resisted the urge to tug it back over her head. A mental image of her soapy breasts sent a surge to his groin, and he smiled, thinking how lucky he was.
“Wear the skirt again.” He picked it up from the floor. “I love the way it catches the light with those little mirrors.”
She laughed, her eyes sparkling at him. “I thought you told me it was too distracting.”
“Maybe I like being distracted.” He pulled fresh boxers from his bag and dropped his towel. “Or maybe it’s actually work that’s the real distraction, and it took me this long to figure it out.”
“This from the man who is out at sea forty weeks of every fifty two.” Emma shook her head, not meeting his eyes as she shimmied into the skirt.
“Wait, what?” He paused, shirt in hand.
“You. Mr. Superhero Scientist, racing to save the planet.” She flashed a smile at him and dragged a brush through her hair. “You said it yourself, how much time you spend on the water, working one project or another. And Jim confirmed it earlier, how most researchers spend the majority of their time on the ocean, not at home.” She took a deep breath, moving past him into the bathroom. “Which is fine, you know. Someone has to save the planet.”
He followed her to the bathroom, standing in the doorway watching her in the mirror while she finished brushing her hair. Technically, she was right. Last year he’d spent forty-five weeks away from home for various projects and conferences, including a long stint in the Antarctic. He saw her point.
But work didn’t need to define his life, a little voice in his head argued. He never had a compelling reason to stay in any one place for very long. Bouncing from project to project never posed an issue before. Emma caught him watching her and smiled. He swallowed, feeling the lump rising in his throat.
He’d found his compelling reason.
He wanted to spend every night from now on curled against this remarkable, luscious blonde, laughing at her bad jokes, laughing with her, making love to her. Loving her.
Wait, what? There’s that pesky L word again.
That’s not possible after only a week, he told himself, resurrecting that rational scientific part of his brain that seemed to have gone dormant in the last few hours.
Lust I would believe. A strong case of like. But love? Not possible
.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Standing on the familiar dock, Emma leaned against the railing and watched Chase help Todd pack the remaining scientific gear into duffle bags. He’d refused her offer of help, insisting she take a few minutes to relax and regroup.
She needed these moments alone. Hopping into bed with a guy she’d met four days earlier wasn’t her usual style. Her summer “hookups” stayed firmly in make-out-only territory, and she’d scored very few notches on her bedpost even post-college. After Daniel died, she didn’t want to get emotionally involved with anyone. Loving someone meant you could lose them. And it hurt.
Except.
In the last four days, amidst all the other things going on, Emma had let Chase knock down her walls, plunder her defenses, and have absolutely mind-blowing sex.
Now, granted, those defenses were probably weakened by circumstances beyond her control…murder, mobsters, arson…but Oh. My. God.
Somewhere along the way, between the flirting and telling silly jokes, things changed. She’d developed feelings for him. Whatever this was between Chase and her felt…different. Intense. Real. And more than a little bit scary.
Maybe it was the mind-blowing sex?
Oh, right. That.
She tried to keep the goofy grin from spreading across her face, to no avail. The thought of his hands on her body made her dizzy with the memory, and with anticipation of more.
The sky held on to the light, although the sun dipped below the clouds gathering over the western horizon. Tonight promised a less-than-spectacular sunset, and Emma wondered whether those clouds boded rain. The windows at home all stood wide open, airing the last of the noxious smoke fumes. She wondered if Officer McKeevey would think to shut them before leaving his post. She doubted it. Would Chase have time to help her do that tonight? Or would he need to head straight to the lab again?
Chase handed a check to Captain Wilbur and shook his hand before jumping onto the dock. He turned to grab the duffle bag from Todd, talking to Emma while he worked. “So I discussed the options with Todd just now, especially since this is the last leg of his summer internship. He’s starting classes in another few weeks, and will need to get back to the university to get himself situated, but agreed to stay on another day or two to work with me at the CCS facility.”
“But I thought you didn’t have everything you needed here in town.”
Chase grinned. “Todd reminded me of the ever-efficient Christine, and her ability to overnight the old samples for comparison, as well as any other supplies we may need. A quick call will fix it all.” He took the last cooler from Todd’s hands, letting it drop onto the dock with a resounding thud.
“Great news, right?” His intern hopped from the deck of the boat onto the wooden pier. “And we finally get a chance to actually meet. I’m Todd, by the way. Do you have a name besides klutzy phone girl?”
She grinned. “Emma. Good to meet you, too.” She shook his offered hand, but addressed her next question to Chase. “Is there time to swing by the house? I need to make sure the windows get closed before that storm blows into town.”
“We should run these new samples to CCS first, then we can do that…then over to the police station to check if there’re any new developments.” He glanced at Todd. “Take my rental car back to the motel to shower and change. We’ll use Emma’s car and meet you somewhere for drinks and dinner.”
“Sounds good to me.” Todd turned and called up to where the captain stood at the bridge. “It was a pleasure, Cap’n Wilbur. You stay gold, you hear?” Emma heard several curses strung together in an incoherent sentence and bit her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. Todd winked at her. “We had an
excellent
day at sea. Just excellent.”
Emma turned to Chase. “Is he always like this? Quoting obscure lines from books and teasing old men?”
“You get used to it after a while.” Chase shook his head, an amused twinkle in his eye. “The kid has a warped sense of humor.”
“Kid?” Todd’s hand flew to his chest as if wounded. “May I remind you? This
kid
handled a surly captain and a full day’s sampling on his own, thank you very much. I’m ready to drink very un-childlike adult beverages. Especially if the boss man is buying.”
****
After securing the samples in the walk-in cooler at the Center for Coastal Studies, Emma and Chase drove to her family home. As she suspected, all the windows remained wide open, although the burnt trash barrel had been removed from the front yard. An X of yellow caution tape remained fixed over the front entrance.