Undertow (22 page)

Sound carried over water, and there were the other boats nearby. Maggie? Or, her heart thudded unpleasantly, Ben and Maggie·s stunning daughter Cat?

Al she saw was a double silhouette at the rail. The exact same place on deck where just hours ago Zane had fondled her boobs. The dog!

Cat·s long hair was unmistakable, and Teal would recognize Zane from a mile away. The two were in a clinch, murmuring softly to one another. For a moment Teal thought her seasickness had returned. Then she realized her stomach was reacting to the scene in front of her. Having Zane flirt and tease and joke around with the skanks who·d come on board before was bad enough. But finding him with a woman who·d borne his child, and in a secluded place, on a dark deck «

Teal careful y backed up, then turned and quickly went inside. She took the stairs three at a time.

By the time she arrived in the companionway where the cabins wer e, she was running.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

A hard hand grabbed her upper arm and spun her around.

Ít·s not what it looked like,µ Zane said quietly, his fingers like a manacle on her arm.

Teal wanted to cry. Exhaustion and frustration made her vision blur. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted his heart to break. ´With you, everything is
exactly
what it looks like.

Subtlety isn·t in your makeup. You want, you take. Tough shit for everyone else .µ God, where were the words coming from? She wanted to take them back, but her chest hurt so bad she could barely breathe. ´You·re
just
like your father, Zane Cutter.µ

It was the worst insult she could think of right then. She tried to jerk her arm out o f his grasp, but he was mad and he wasn·t letting go.

´
What
did you say?µ Zane asked in a soft, dangerous voice that should have had Teal running for her life. Stil , Maggie and Ben·s cabin was only a few doors away. The security guys were just a few doors down. One yel and they·d come running.

She should have kept her mouth shut. She was way overtired, and her emotions were already al over the freaking place. But seeing Zane with that woman had made her head spin and her heart hurt.

Í said,µ Teal whispered. ´You·d screw anything that wasn·t nailed down. You·re
exactly
like your father.µ

He crowded her against the bulkhead. ´Take it back.µ

´What? Are you
ten
? It·s the truth. And aren·t you the guy that tel s it like it is?µ

Í·m nothing like my father.µ

´Tel that to al the women who·ve loved you and seen your back as you scurried off into the sunset.µ

´Don·t knock it ·til you·ve tried it.µ

Óh, plea³µ Suddenly he crushed his mouth on hers, cutting off every rational thought.

Hot. Wet. Hard. He tasted of coffee, and brimstone. He tasted like temptation and unfulfil ed fantasies. He tasted³like heaven. As his tongue swept between her parted lips, his hands slid down her arms, then pul ed her hands up either side of her head and held her there, imprisoned by his hard body and the punishing kiss in the middle of the companionway.

Her breath rasped through her constricted lungs as he feasted on her mouth.

She felt every luscious sweep of his tongue throughout her body. Her skin burned from the inside as if she had a high fever. Sound came distantly, as if she were underwater. She couldn·t see. Al she could do was feel.

She should do «
something,
but the thought drifted out of her lust -addled brain like fog. She wanted her hands free, but Zane held them firmly in place.

She managed to draw away just enough to give her leverage to nip his bottom lip with her teeth. His eyes flared and he closed the gap. This time, the kiss was slightly less violent as he teased her tongue out of hiding and chal enged it to a duel. Teal rose to that chal enge and, at the same time, twined one leg around his calf.

His erection pressed against the juncture of her thighs, and she felt the rapid pounding of his heart against her breasts. She twisted her hands in the manacle of his fingers.

He lifted his head slightly. ´Gonna hit me?µ

Ĺet me go and see.µ

He kissed the side of her throat, his mouth hot and hungry as he trailed his lips to her col arbone. Teal wrapped her freed arms around his neck, sliding both hands up into h is thick, silky, too-long hair.

Her nipples were so hard they hurt, and she guided his head to her breast and stood on her tiptoes to give him better access. He groaned low in his throat and closed his teeth gently on the distended nub through two layers of fabric, making her moan. The pleasure was sharp and sweet. With her leg, she drew him more tightly where she needed him.

´You·re playing with fire, Wil iams.µ

´Talk·s cheap, Cutter.µ She barely managed to get the words out through tingling lips and constricted lungs. Even the effort of whispering was out of the question; she·d never been more turned on in her life.

´Wil ing to see my back?µ

´Thanks for the consideration, but that·s assuming
you
walk away first.µ

His laugh was hoarse. ´Put your legs around me.µ He slid his hands under her arms and lifted her. Teal wrapped her legs around his waist. Somehow they maneuvered from the companionway to his cabin. A smal lamp il uminated the wide berth with rumpled white cotton sheets and pummeled pil ows. He lowered her onto the cool surface and came down into the cradle of her thighs. Her legs fel free, but she kept her arms around his neck. She ran her tongue across his shoulder to taste him. Salty male. An aphrodisiac and dangerously addictive, she knew.

Her hands roamed the crisp mat of hair on his broad chest. It was softer than she remembered. His smooth skin stretched taut across iron-hard muscles. She ran her tongue along his col arbone as he efficiently unbuttoned her shirt, brushing the sensitized tips of her breasts as he one-handedly shoved buttons through buttonholes.

She wore a plain, white cotton bra. No fril s or lace. Not what he was used to, she bet.

´You·re good at this.µ

´Years of practice with a bra and a pil ow.µ

Laughter bubbled up in her chest. God. She felt euphoric, giddy. Even her eyebal s throbbed with lust as he spread the fabric aside and leaned back, his eyes navy blue and fil ed with a kind of wonder that must be a trick of the light. He frowned. ´You·re« µ

Too skinny. Flat-chested. Lousy in bed. Too fast. Too slow.
She could take her pick of insults.

Damn it. She·d forgotten and hadn·t braced herself for his expert appraisal. And why hadn·t she? Zane Cutter was literal y God·s gift to women. He could have any woman he·d ever wanted, and had. Alternating waves of heat and ice flooded her already oversensitized body as Teal struggled to cover herself. But at the same time as she was fumbling for two sides of her shirt to draw them back over her chest, Zane was tugging the fabric free.

Heat scorched her skin and tears of fury and embarrassment burned behind her lids. Ĺet m -

me up.µ Somehow this was going to affect her far worse than anything Denny had ever said.

She felt smal and stupid and waited for the righteous anger to wel up and protect her. Like a trapped animal, Teal froze.

She felt the hard, erratic thumping of his heart against her breast. She was excruciatingly aware of the hardness of his eager penis nestled in the moist heat between her legs. Lik e a pinned butterfly, she couldn·t get away. Struggling, as she knew, was always useless. She stayed deathly stil , heart manic. Waiting « Í have to ³µ

´Perfect,µ he murmured hoarsely at the same time, talking over her.

Teal blinked him into focus with a confused frown. ´W-what?µ

He was staring reverently at her breasts, then stroked his finger along the shal ow hil s and val ey, tracing the edge of her bra. Back and forth, back and forth.

Her entire body³
yearned
.

´Your breasts are beautiful. Smal and heavy and perfectly fit my hand. See?µ

He slid the fabric aside to bare one plump mound, then cupped it in his warm palm and ran his thumb across the tip in a maddening caress that had her shifting beneath him. His hand looked shockingly dark against the milky pale skin of her breast.

He bent his head, and his cool, shaggy hair trailed an erotic path across her sensitized breasts. This time, there was nothing between the hot cavern of his mouth and the painful y hard peak. As his teeth closed over her left nipple, Teal·s body arched off the mattress. He used his tongue as wel as his teeth to drive her insane. Then skimmed her plain cotton panties off and away without her even realizing that he·d shifted off and then back on top of her. His swim trunks were gone too. The shock of feeling hot skin, too hot skin, made her heart manic.

Her pelvis jerked in response as he came back into the cradle of her legs. Í want you so bad, love.«µ

It took a moment « for « the « penny « to drop.

Teal used both hands to shove at his unyielding chest. Hard. ´Get off me, you ³you³Get
off
!µ

The second Zane levered himself up on his arms to look down at her with lust -fil ed eyes, and a bewildered expression, Teal wedged her leg between them. He was too heavy to move unless he chose to do so. She pushed at his shoulders again using both hands and a knee, putting some muscle into it. Angry tears smarting behind her eyes.

The feverish surge of blood heating her skin from nose to toes infuriated her.

She was hot al over for a completely different reason. Í changed my mind,µ she punched his shoulder, and when he remained stil , punched it harder. And again.

Ĺet me up.µ

Rol ing off her, Zane held both hands up in surrender. Like hers, his breathing was harsh and uneven. Strands of dark hair clung to the sheen of sweat on his face. Ít·s your prerogative to change your mind, but sweetheart, what³µ

Love. Sweetheart. What·shername.
Same. Same. The freaking
same
as a freaking cat in the freaking dark. Ánd I·m exercising that rig ht.µ Jaw aching from clenching her teeth so hard, Teal scrambled off the bed. Where the hel was her shirt? Ánd don·t cal me sweetheart. Or love.
Ever
.µ Damn. Zane was sitting on it.

´What happened, Ace? Did your baby·s mama tel you she changed her mind a nd wants you back? Is that why you two were so freaking touchy -feely al damned day?µ Teal snatched his T-shirt off the floor and pul ed it over her head, inside out.

It smel ed like him, clean sweat, salty air, and Zane·s own brand of sex appeal.

´What«?µ

´Here·s a news flash,
Ace
. Just because you have an itch to scratch, and I·m here, doesn·t mean I·m yours for the taking.µ

Óf course n³µ

Í work for you. That·s
it
. If you have an itch³scratch it somewhere else.µ

Ókay. I get it, but³µ

Íf you touch me again, I·l ³µ What? Tel her father? Laughable. Tel Logan or Nick?

Ridiculous, they·d care even less than Sam would. ´Make you sorry.µ As threats went it was weak, but tears were building up behind the dam of her eyelids.

If she didn·t get to her engine room, she was going to compound her mistake and bawl like a baby.

He slipped off the end of the bed, gloriously, unashamedly naked.

Magnificently naked, Teal thought bitterly. The man didn·t have a modest bone in his body.

He took a cautious step forward.

She held up a hand. ´Don·t touch me.µ

He stopped in his tracks, his expression softening. Í·m sorry if I hurt you, Teal.

I thought what we were sharing was mutual. Was I too rough? I wanted you so badly, I went a little crazy.µ

´You didn·t hurt me. I made an error in judgment. You didn·t want
me
so badly, Zane. You just
wanted
to get laid. And the next time I·m with someone, I don ·t just want to be anyone. I want to be
the
one.µ

He frowned. Í didn·t³µ

Teal slammed the door behind her and ran like the hounds of hel were on her heels to the engine room.

Énough of this bul shit,µ Zane snapped, shoving open the door a nanosecond a fter she stormed in. She discovered watertight doors didn·t slam wel . And this one didn·t lock.

With her rigid back to the open door, arms crossed, she said around the thickness in her throat, ´Get out.µ Her beautiful yel ow engines wavered in her vision . Her chest hurt. She felt like an idiot. She had no excuse for her own behavior, and she had no one to blame but herself. These were al lessons she·d already learned. Yet she·d gone and done it again. Fal en victim to his lethal charm.

Again. She
knew
better. A leopard never changed his spots.

He walked like a cat on his big bare feet. And because she didn·t hear him sneak up behind her, he manacled her wrist and tugged before she could react.

Ćome with me.µ The words were an unsympathetic snarl.

This was Zane unleashed. The charm gloves were off. She dug in her bare heels. ´Go to hel

.µ

He didn·t wrench, but he wasn·t letting go either. Í am
not
talking to you in here,µ he said savagely. Ćome wil ingly, or I swear to God, Wil iams, I·m going to thr ow you over my shoulder and
carry
you out.µ

He·d taken the time to yank on his shorts, thank God. She·d never heard him angry before.

His anger fueled her own. Her heart was going bal istic, and hot and cold prickles flooded her body. ´
You
don·t have a right to be pissed off, Zane Cutter.µ She struggled to free her wrist from the handcuff of his fingers. He wasn·t hurting her, but she couldn·t break free.

Í do when you insist on slandering me.µ

That got her attention. She swiped at her cheek with her fr ee hand before turning her head to look at him.
Ślander?µ

Á false statement that injures a person·s³that would be my³reputation.µ

´Give me a break! Injure
your
reputation?µ Teal·s laugh was mocking. ´You thrive on everyone knowing you·re a bad boy.µ Sh e used her free hand to try and pry at least one of his fingers off her wrist. But his hand was like a ring clamp firmly locked around a hose. It wasn·t going to budge without tools.