And then he dropped to his knees.
Oh.
She let out a rush of air at the thought of what he was about to do.
Before she could figure out if she should protest, he had his head between her legs — and all she could think about was the fact that he was about to touch her there. With his tongue. And it had been four freaking long years since anyone had touched her there with anything!
There was no way in the world she was going to put a stop to that.
He nipped a thigh, teasing her, his mouth hot, his stubble scratching against her skin, and she forgot to hold in the whimper.
“Shhhh,” he reminded her. He gripped both thighs and pushed them farther apart, and her clit twitched.
Her nipples hardened to the point of being painful.
She dropped her head to the small mirror behind her.
And he nipped her other thigh.
“Please, Mark,” she begged. Her body was shaking in his hands. She wanted him to touch her.
Now.
And then his tongue stroked slowly over her and she came up off the counter.
“Ooohhh …” She breathed out the sound as stars burst behind her eyes.
Her thighs were tense, and her arms stiff where they now gripped the sides of the sink. Her upper body was at a diagonal as she pushed herself against Mark’s mouth.
“You taste good,” he murmured.
She whimpered at the words. He was killing her, sending shock waves through her body and flutters low in her gut.
And it was going to be over way too fast.
He stroked his tongue over her again, and she once again thrust herself closer. She groaned and bent her knees, wrapping her legs around his shoulders.
His low chuckle echoed against her parts.
“Oh God, Mark.” She couldn’t help the words. She bit down on her lip to keep from making another noise, but some things couldn’t be helped. She wanted this. She
loved
this.
A thump sounded on the door and she froze in shock, her eyes going wide. They needed to stop.
Laughter followed the noise. Then someone said Mark’s name.
Oh God, they
had
to stop! They were doing
things
right in the middle of everyone.
A
ND THEY ALL KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON
!
Andie tried to pull back, away from Mark’s seeking mouth, but his hands slid under her rear and crushed her to him. And then his mouth went on a wild journey.
And her entire body went hot.
“Crap,” she whispered. She was not going to be able to do this without noise.
He nipped gently on her clit, and she almost bit through her bottom lip.
He sucked. She gasped.
He pulled, he nudged, he ground his mouth into her.
And she began to tremble.
She was going to come, right there on the boat, with fifteen other men — and her best friend — knowing exactly what was going on inside that room.
One last time, she had the thought that they should stop. She couldn’t just walk out there with orgasm written all over her.
But then Mark lifted his head, and she let out an uncontrolled moan at the sudden loss. Her hips lifted up off the sink as if seeking his mouth.
She caught his eyes, burning as he looked at her, and it occurred to her that everyone was going to think naughty things had been done even if she stopped him right that very moment. The damage was done. She was free to continue.
“Get ready, babe,” Mark warned. His gaze dipped, taking in her body spread wide before him. “I’m about to make you lose your mind.”
And then he did.
He returned to her, plucking and pulling and sucking at her sensitive, swollen flesh. Spreading her wider with his thumbs, being relentless in his mission. And she could do nothing but hold on for the ride — and silently plead for him to never, ever stop.
She whimpered again, desperate to put her hands to her mouth to muffle the noise. But if she removed her grip from the sink, the action might change the angle between her hips and his mouth. And she wanted
nothing
to change about what was going on down there.
With one last motion, Mark closed his mouth around her, holding her tight against him, and then every square inch of her clenched from the inside out.
There was no going back. She only hoped she could hold in the scream.
The orgasm hit her like the boat had hit the waves earlier that morning — slamming into her and tilting her on her side. She crested, held suspended for a brief second, and then everything was out of her hands. She was crashing, rolling over and over, free-falling through the air. She was finding nirvana through the touch of Mark’s mouth.
Arching up farther, she groaned and her thighs clamped around Mark’s head, holding him tight to her. She bit down on her lip every time she made a noise, but even that wasn’t enough to stop her.
She simply had no control.
So she let the feelings inflame her. Screw whoever was listening from the other side. She needed this.
And she needed Mark.
When her body was spent, she sagged against the mirror and gazed down to watch Mark. He lifted his head, a satisfied smile on his face, and she felt raw fear.
Was this only physical?
She wanted to say “yes” — to scream
“yes!”
— but deep inside she feared it wasn’t.
She was falling for him again. And it had nothing at all to do with a perfect orgasm in the middle of the Atlantic.
Her chest tightened at the thought of opening her heart, only to lose him again. It had hurt four years ago, but Aunt Ginny had been right — she hadn’t been ready to get married. They’d moved too fast, missed too many important steps in their relationship.
That’s why she’d failed to feel the full bridal excitement she saw in the women she worked with each day. She and Mark hadn’t been ready. They hadn’t known nearly enough about each other.
But things were different now.
She wasn’t blinded by love. But then, she feared she wouldn’t be able to keep it at bay, either. Especially if they ended up spending the next week together.
“I think I’m going to take full credit for that.” Mark finally spoke as he rose to his feet. His mouth and the area around it wore her sheen like a prize.
And he was right. He got full credit for that.
“I suppose now you’ll want the favor returned?” She hoped the teasing would keep things light. Because she didn’t need him to know that he had the power to break her.
He chuckled softly as he retrieved her panties and capris, then tugged them up her legs. “I wouldn’t say no to that idea.”
She lifted her hips so he could slide the material over them, then jumped from the counter to tuck in and zip up in an attempt to make herself presentable. As she began inching to the other side of him so he could wash his face, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She noticed a dribble of blood on her lip and leaned in to stare more closely at her reflection.
“I’m bleeding,” she gasped. “How did I cut my lip?”
Warm eyes met hers in the glass and caressed over her face. Then they landed on her mouth. “You were trying hard not to be noisy, babe.”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks as she remembered biting down on her lip in an attempt to keep the sounds in. “Did I succeed, at least?”
The slow smile he gave her was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “Didn’t even come close.”
“Oh fuck,” she murmured. Mark simply laughed.
They switched places, and he splashed water on his face, catching her eye as he did. “Think I could take a rain check?” he asked.
“For?”
Oh. Her returning the favor. She blushed more deeply. He chuckled again.
“Not that I wouldn’t love it now, but I suspect we should get back out there.”
“I suspect you’re right,” she agreed wryly. It was going to be embarrassing enough to go out now, but if they stayed in there long enough to—
She lowered her gaze to his crotch, where she could see the firm outline where he was still hard, and thought about taking him in her mouth. The idea was almost enough to have her saying forget about everyone else. But he was right. Plus, how much more guilty would she feel standing in the midst of everyone, knowing she’d had him in her mouth?
“Quit looking at me like that or I’ll change my mind about that rain check.” The deep growl of his words set her on fire again, making her want to drop to her knees and see if
he
could keep quiet while she sent him over the edge.
“Oh, geez,” she murmured. She peered back up at him. “I shouldn’t even ask, especially since I suspect you’re trying to get into Wendy’s panties, too, but will you come to my room tonight?”
If they were going to do this, she didn’t want to miss a moment. She also wanted to make sure he didn’t spend any of those moments with Wendy. Andie wanted him. And she wanted an exclusive.
Mark finished washing his face, then leaned down to press a soft kiss to her cheek. The mood in the room suddenly went from sexy and hot to deep and intense. “I’ll come to your room every night if you’ll let me, sunshine. And I haven’t done a thing more than put my arm around Wendy. In a platonic fashion.”
When Andie started to suggest he was stretching the truth, he gripped her chin and lifted her face to his. “
Nothing
. Nor have I wanted to. She’s a flirt. She was flirting with Rob that night at the bar. I was trying to keep Penelope from kicking a bridesmaid out of the wedding at the last minute. That’s all.”
What kind of bridesmaid flirted with the groom?
One like Wendy, apparently.
Andie believed Mark when he said he wasn’t after Wendy. He watched out for his friends. He would have tried to keep the peace that night.
She reached up and stroked the stubble on his cheeks, appreciating the rawness of the man along with the protectiveness that he couldn’t put on the back burner.
“I’ve got to spend some time with Ginny tonight,” Andie said. She wanted to have that conversation her mother had suggested. And possibly she should hunt up her mother and spend some time with her, too. “Come over after everyone is settled. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Mark put his mouth to hers and left her breathless in under ten seconds. And left her wanting more.
A lot more.
“You couldn’t keep me away,” Mark promised.
T
he sound of seagulls filled a hole in Andie she hadn’t even known was there, comforting her and making her wish the rest of the world would disappear for a while. What a day.
It was Saturday evening and she was exhausted after the fishing trip, both emotionally and physically. It had been bad enough worrying about the wedding being canceled over the past few days, but then there was her and Mark. In the bathroom. On the boat.
And tonight he would be in her bedroom.
Was she crazy? She was pretty sure she was barreling toward caring for him again. Actually, she’d pretty much accepted that she’d passed that corner a while back. Which did not bode well for a happy ending.
Definitely not if he was still hung up on whatever had happened in his past.
He’d killed — caused to be killed? — an old girlfriend? What the hell?
She’d been unable to find out more details from him, or to get Mark to talk about what she’d accused him of — that he had issues about getting married — throughout the remainder of the fishing trip. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t seek answers later.
Then there was the question of what next. Was there a next? She had accused him of
leaving
her rather than risk getting involved with her again.
Sheesh!
That had come out of nowhere.
But it posed a crucial question: Did she want more than just something physical with him?
She honestly had no idea.
And she really didn’t want to think about it right now. The subject tended to bring on a headache.
Andie stepped quietly from the dark kitchen onto the wraparound deck, and inhaled the night air and the breeze from the ocean. No matter what went on in the rest of her life, this was her home. She was so glad she’d ended up here.
She pushed the many unanswered questions from her mind as she found Ginny curled up on the wicker love seat out back. She was engrossed in a hardback romance novel with a small reading light attached, a peaceful aura surrounding her as she sat there in the breeze. The material of Ginny’s long blue-and-green gypsy skirt lay twisted around her legs, and her red curls danced lightly at her shoulders with each whisper of the wind. Andie took a moment to look from her aunt’s attire down to her own.
She’d changed when she’d gotten back to the house. After a quick shower, she’d pulled out a spaghetti-strap maxi dress with a skirt that flowed free. The cream-and-light-blue material billowed in the wind, just as she knew Ginny’s would when she stood. Andie couldn’t help but smile. One look at the two of them side by side, and anyone could tell that they were related.
They both even had a handful of bracelets on their left wrists. Andie’s climbed higher up her arm, almost snakelike in the way they wrapped around her forearm. And she had on a couple of large rings. It was all costume jewelry, but she loved the oversized pieces.
She also wore the ankle bracelet that had been her mother’s. It was clear from the conversation she’d had with her mother the night before that there was a story behind the jewelry, but she didn’t know how to go about getting it out of her.
If Cassie was going to stick around for a while as she’d implied, though, Andie hoped the opportunity would arise. There were many things about her mother she’d like to know and understand. With any luck, the missing pieces would start falling into place with her aunt tonight.
“Want to go for a walk?” Andie asked, catching her aunt’s attention.
Ginny looked up from the page she was reading and studied Andie for a long moment, her gaze flickering over her niece just as Andie’s had flashed over her aunt only seconds before, then she flipped off the light and put her book down on the cushioned seat. Aunt Ginny nodded solemnly, as if she knew what they needed to talk about. Andie only wished
she
knew what they needed to talk about.