Archer thought for a change of pace he would try drawing things out instead of pouncing on Waverly immediately. Each time they’d fucked the night before he’d had intentions of going slowly, taking her impossibly gently, but never seemed to make it past a few kisses before he lost every shred of restraint he possessed. Just like he had in the hotel in Caracas. Or hell, even the night she’d come to him the first time.

She didn’t help his cause, though, when she asked, “We’re alone here, right?”

“Completely,” he confirmed.

It was only a three syllable word, but by the time he got to the end of it, she’d grabbed the hem of her dress and whisked it over her head. Her bra and panties followed soon after as she made a beeline for the shore.

He started to jog toward her, leaving his own clothes in a trail on the sand as he ran to catch up with her. When he did, he growled, “Damn, you are something.”

“Something good, I hope.” She peeked up at him, still a tiny bit shy at her very core, giving him a glimpse of the girl he used to know.

“Magnificent.” He wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders and drew her to him for a kiss that felt more sensual to him than fucking had with other partners in the past. He savored the coconut and lime flavor of her lip gloss as he attempted to seduce her mouth with his own.

Her hands ran down his sides to his ass, kneading the muscles there even as she attempted to yank him closer to her. He resisted, not wanting to get carried away too soon.

Breaking their kiss, he said, “Come on.”

Their fingers automatically found their way to each other again, knitting together as they headed for the surf. It broke gently on the pristine white beach. When they reached it, Waverly kicked, splashing and laughing as if neither of them had a care in the world.

Did they have worries anymore? It didn’t seem like it when they were together.

Right now the only thing on his mind was making this a perfect afternoon and evening for her.

For them both.

He led her deeper, first up to their knees and then a little more. His hips were below the surge. Taller than her by a half a foot or so, he was steadier at that depth. So he braced her by putting his arms around her in another tender embrace.

The guys would never let him hear the end of it if he admitted that this—staring into her eyes, laughing together, and simply enjoying life—would be enough to satisfy him. Even if he didn’t know they were about to rival the intensity of the sun with their lovemaking, he would have been content just to hold her.

“You know, before you came back into my life, I’d sworn off meaningless affairs,” he told her then.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “I saw that woman leaving your cabin less than an hour before we were reintroduced, remember?”

“Yeah, that was a moment of weakness. One that made it clear I was over that kind of hook up.” He grinned. “But thanks for making my vow of celibacy a short-lived one.”

She laughed.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear even though it only blew loose again immediately, wild and free, just like her. “I knew as soon as I saw you again that it hadn’t felt right because I wasn’t with the right person. I’ve only barely gotten you back, so this probably sounds crazy, but you’ve always been the one for me, Waverly. I know that now. It doesn’t feel like this with anyone else.”

“For me either.” She burrowed into his chest before continuing, “I dated. Slept with a handful of guys who were nice enough. Polite enough. Successful enough. But none of them ever made me desperate to be with them, like you do.”

“Does it scare you?” he asked.

“A little. After I left home, I swore I’d never depend on anyone again. But I’m starting to feel like if I don’t have you, I can’t be happy now that I see what it’s like already and the potential for what we could become to each other. It’s hard to give up control of my own destiny like that. And I have a feeling it’s only going to get more intense.”

He nodded, understanding perfectly. “Then at least I have company. I’m terrified, Waverly. Of fucking this up, of not deserving you, of not being able to be what you need.”

Silently, he thought of the clubroom on the Divemaster and what it would be like to tuck that facet of his sexuality away for good. It wasn’t as if Waverly was a submissive woman. He would miss it, but he thought he could make compromises, if it meant keeping her in his bed.

And his life.

“Don’t worry, Archer. You tick all my boxes. Everything I’ve ever wanted—everything I looked for in a man—was someone like you.” As she said it, she hopped, wrapping her legs around his hips.

He caught her, groaning as the heat of her pussy seared his bobbing erection, which had been chilled by the sea a moment earlier. “I’m falling for you, Waverly. All over again. Twice as hard, for this new and improved version of you.”

Her tight little nipples scored his chest as she rubbed against him.

“I’ve been obsessed with you since I was sixteen. I don’t see that changing any time soon. Especially not if you keep rocking my world in bed…or on the beach. It’s better every time. More than I could have imagined possible.”

Neither one of them dropped the L-word. He was okay with that. It was too quick for her to really mean it, considering how wary they’d both been forced to become about their surroundings and the people closest to them. When she said it to him, he wanted to believe it completely.

He’d work on earning it. Forever if he had to.

Starting right then.

When she was ready to hear it from him, he was prepared to say it.

“I can’t give you back your first time—our first time. But I can try to make every time even more special than the last.” Archer palmed her ass, making her squirm. The motion only aligned them better, his cock nudging her pussy. He kissed her again then, spending an inordinate amount of time exploring the textures and tastes of her mouth with his tongue, teeth, and lips.

When neither of them could stand to be teased any longer—by the warm water washing over them, the heat they generated, or the intimacy of the moment—he carried her up onto the beach.

He didn’t go far.

Couldn’t, honestly.

So he sank to his knees right where the waves kissed the shore and laid her out before him. Her spread hair floated and moved each time the water came up to swirl lightly around them, making her look like a siren. Especially as she beckoned him nearer by spreading her legs.

When she cupped her own breasts as she stared up at him stroking himself a few times to the sight of her, he buckled.

Archer leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth, lapping and tugging until she cried out his name. He left it with a kiss then did the same to her other side, balancing his attentions. Meanwhile, his hand traveled along her softly rounded stomach to her mound and began to rub gentle circles around her clit as he devoured her breasts.

“Please, Archer. Fuck me,” she begged when she finally cracked.

His cock pulsed at the thought of her welcoming heat and slickness. But no, not yet.

“Not until you’ve come on my face a few times. Feed me your pleasure, Waverly. I want to learn what it tastes like. Get my fill so I can never forget.” He slithered down her body until he could blow lightly over her pussy.

She moaned and arched as if she might come from that alone.

He sank a couple fingers into her, loving the way she hugged him tight, just before he applied his open mouth to her outer lips. He let her adjust before easing closer to her center. When his tongue licked her clit for the first time, she shattered, surprising them both.

Waverly’s orgasms were sweet.

To watch, and to taste. He wanted more of them.

To be the cause of them.

Archer eased up until she’d recovered, then started the process over again, bringing her up and letting her crest a few times. His cock leaked, dripping pearly fluid into the water where it swirled before disappearing into the ocean.

But he still didn’t take her or the release her body would so easily grant him. Not yet.

He gathered Waverly into his arms and stood when he noticed she shivered slightly. In the sun, blanketed by his full form, she’d warm right up.

She curled into him, utterly relaxed, trusting, and docile as he transported her to their makeshift cabana. Her complete surrender transfixed him. The strongest woman he had ever known was putting herself in his hands. It made him wonder if someday she might be up for testing deeper waters with him after all.

Was this her true self? The one at the core of the tough-talking, fiercely independent warrior he adored? If so, he knew he had to be delicate with her now because she wouldn’t often expose this vulnerable part of herself.

Archer deposited her as gently as possible on the soft blanket and propped her hips up with a pillow. He wanted this to be perfect for her.

“Please, Archer.” She drew his attention to her wide eyes, which blinked slowly up at him despite the sunshine illuminating the world around them. “I need you.”

“I need you, too.” He’d never spoken a truer vow than that.

Except he wasn’t only talking about her body.

He needed all of her. For keeps.

It seemed only a fair exchange since he’d given her all of himself and never wanted it back.

Surrendering to primal desire, Archer gathered her wrists in one hand and pinned them to the blanket. The force of his hold made a divot in the sand below, helping him keep her securely in place. With the other, he strangled the bottom of his shaft, certain he’d never been this hard in his entire life before.

There was nothing left to say. Instead, he stared into her eyes, which were a reflection of the bluest skies and the deepest oceans, as he fed her his cock inch by inch.

Agonizingly slowly, he penetrated her, giving her everything he had.

And when they’d locked together, as tightly fused as possible, he began to move.

With subtle rocks of his hips, he pressed into her again and again, never retreating very far. It was a whole new kind of fucking for him but it felt right, so he kept doing it. Slow, steady, rhythmic pressure. Whatever it was, it seemed to be working.

Waverly’s eyes had turned glassy and dazed as she took what he gave her and loved every second. Her channel clenched around him, threatening to milk him dry far too soon.

He bent down to kiss her, craving connection at every possible pleasure point.

And when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, she screamed, vocalizing her climax. How he didn’t break then and pour himself inside her, he didn’t know.

He could tell she had more left in her.

Stopping before she was fully satisfied wasn’t an option.

Archer sat up a little, kneeling between her legs to gain leverage so he could fuck the old-fashioned way.

They both groaned as he took those first ultra-deep lunges within her.

Soon he was sliding his cock in her as far as he could reach, then withdrawing until he would have slipped free if it wasn’t for the perfectly timed flex of her muscles, which locked around the head of his cock and held him within her. His balls got in on the action, slapping up against her ass when he really dug in.

The soft impact was another stimulant. There were too many to resist now. It wasn’t a matter of if he was going to come, but when.

Waverly made the decision for him when, on a particularly vigorous thrust, she rose up. Strung tight, she shattered. She yelled out his name over and over, begging him to join her in rapture.

It was an unnecessary request. A blaze of pleasure at the base of his cock was followed by the pumping of every bit of his come directly from his balls into her pussy. He came so hard and so long that he overflowed her.

Waverly levered up onto her elbows to watch the spot where they were joined. Both of them witnessed his seed spilling out of her and trickling toward her ass.

The sight had him mesmerized.

He hoped she realized that with this act, he’d staked a claim, one he never intended to forgo.

Waverly crashed then, a slave to her ecstasy and the endorphins pumping through her bloodstream. So he tended to her, using some of the washcloths and supplies the guys had left on the sidelines to clean her up and make her comfortable.

He adjusted the material covering their shelter to make sure she was shaded properly, got her a bottle of ice water to sip, and brought her a few chocolate-covered strawberries to snack on.

Only then did he settle in beside her, giving her the last thing she required.

Him.

It amazed Archer that he could be part of that equation.

Neither of them interrupted the rush of the waves in the background or the call of the birds in the trees behind them with unnecessary words. They’d said everything before they’d come together.

Archer couldn’t believe how satisfied he was. All this time, he’d been doing it wrong.

As he’d suspected, sex with someone who meant more than a good time or simple relief was next level shit. Nothing else would do ever again.

Eventually, he dozed, still wrapped around Waverly, protecting her as best he could even while unconscious.

When he woke, the sun rode low on the horizon. Waverly had already gotten up and was putting the finishing touches on their picnic dinner. Okay, so that was the understatement of the century. It was a fancy-ass meal that he was sure to enjoy because it had been prepared for them by people who cared, and would be shared with the love of his life.

Shhh, he thought, afraid to even think it in case she could read his mind. She wasn’t ready to hear it yet, but that didn’t make it any less true. He stretched, then realized the sand looked like it was moving.

He scrubbed his eyes and looked again.

She’d been busy, lighting the candles. The flames danced all over the beach.

When the sun fell below the horizon, it was going to be gorgeous.

A little while later, they were humming and sighing over the delicacies they devoured when Waverly said, “So that whole indigenous people aid story…”

“Actually, that was true.” He smiled. “But we didn’t want to freak them out by sending the chopper the first time we made contact. Tosin and Miguel brought the stuff over by boat. When we saw them earlier, they were coming back from the run. They also gave the locals a head’s up that we would be dropping by the neighborhood so that they didn’t think we were stranded over here. Wouldn’t want anyone to barge in looking for survivors in need of help.”

“Good thinking.” She winked at him. “Because I wasn’t about to stop, no matter who came wandering by.”

“Seriously?” His cock perked up at the thought, surprising even him. Damn, he thought he’d be good until they climbed into their bed tonight at least. But riding a woman while his friends watched, witnessing what he was capable of doing for his partner, was actually one of his favorite lecherous activities.

“Hell yeah.” She laughed. “For a show like that, we could probably have charged admission.”

He knew she was teasing. Still, he found himself adoring her just a tiny bit more. He held his hand out to her and she took it.

Archer kissed the back of her fingers.

“You’ve still got it, you know,” she said breathily. “That Prince Charming thing. It’s in there somewhere, way down deep.”

“Do you like that?” he wondered. “I enjoyed life as a simple man, but maybe there’s a middle ground.”

“I do. I like all the parts of you, Archer.”

“Good, because I’m thinking I’d like to eat my dessert off of you before showing you just how much my parts like you back.” So much for waiting until later.

He grabbed their chocolate cake and barked, “Strip.”

“Yes, sir.”

He shuddered.

They didn’t have a lot of time left here, and when she artlessly said things like that, she mashed his buttons. While she obliged his command, he did the same.

“Well, hello. There’s my sexy swordfish,” she sing-songed as she blatantly stared at his erection.

Archer choked. “Never let Miguel and Tosin hear you say that. Please.”

She flopped to her back in their nest of cushions and laughed as loud as she pleased, knowing he was the only one around to witness her amusement and total abandon. It didn’t take long, though, before neither of them was giggling.

Grunts and moans filled the evening when he placed her on her hands and knees in front of him. She lowered her face to the blanket and put her ass up, with her arms folded above her head. She was the picture of perfection.

Archer fucked her then, more savagely than he intended.

Her breasts swayed as he clamped his hands on her hips and used his grip to impale her on his stiff shaft. She didn’t seem to mind, coming all over his cock just before he pulled out and decorated her ass with shot after shot of his seed.

After a quick dip to clean off, they finished feeding each other their dessert with fingers coated in chocolate.

As daylight faded into night, and the candles illuminated their sanctuary, he leaned over to his pile of clothes to check his watch again. Only a few more minutes to go…

“Got a hot date or something?” Waverly asked when she caught him, though she flashed him a wicked grin when she said it.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” He tugged her into his lap, spellbound by how perfect she felt in his arms, curled against his body. Like it was where she belonged. Because it was.

And then, there in the brilliant sunset, a familiar ship was silhouetted.

“It’s the Divemaster!” Waverly actually clapped.

“Yeah, Miguel and Tosin have one more surprise for you.”

She buried her face in his neck for a second, though he wished she would have stayed that way longer. “Oh, man. I feel really bad about my stunts this morning.”

“I wouldn’t. It’s not going to be long before they’re pulling some prank on you. They’re just giving you a head start.”

“I’m glad we’ll have a really short flight back.” Waverly kissed him then.

“Yeah, I didn’t want you to have to fly in the dark after a whole day of exhausting ourselves on this excursion.”

“I meant because I might not make it through another flight where you’re sporting wood within reach. Two of my favorite things at once. It’s overload.” She sighed. “You’re not the only one who gets riled up on those trips.”

“I would normally say it’s not going to be a problem, after a day like this, but with you…I can’t help myself.” He grinned.

“Only fair since it seems like the more I have of you, the more I want,” she whispered.

“I’m not going to complain about that.”

She sighed. “Thank you for today, Archer. For everything.”

They kissed then, with heat and promise. His hand cupped the side of her neck.

In the background, the sky turned gold and red as fireworks exploded then trickled down toward the ocean. Waverly paused and glanced out to sea without breaking their connection.

They made out as the show continued, the explosions of light and sound complementing the impact they had on each other.