Chapter 27

River woke up with a smile. A warm butt snuggled up tight to his groin and memories of the day and night before brought him fully awake and ready for action.

Around nine last night, he and Pippa had moved down to his cabin, grabbing some crackers and cheese from the galley on their way. They’d fed each other and before long, they’d been rolling across the mattress and making love for the second time. Or was it the third?

River turned his head and watched Pippa’s shoulders rise and fall as she slept. Part of him didn’t want to wake her, but other parts of his body had already hardened at the prospect of different plans.

Finally he trailed one hand up her arm, grinning when gooseflesh covered her skin and she squirmed. He placed a hand on her lush hips, keeping her butt pressed against his front. It was automatic for his hand to slip down to her core and when he found her moist and ready for him, he couldn’t help the small groan that escaped.

 “Good morning,” he whispered in her ear as his fingers played between her legs. When she parted them for him and pushed back, he chuckled. “Someone’s awake and ready to play.”

“Quit stalling, already,” Pippa murmured.

“Yes, ma’am.” River chuckled again and with the practiced ease of someone who knew his way around a woman’s body, he pushed her top thigh toward her chest and then seated himself at her wet center. When she rolled back toward him, he slipped inside and his hand found her breast.

“I could wake up like this every morning,” Pippa moaned, earning her a coarse groan from River.

“God, I love you.”

Pippa paused for a second and he feared she would jump up and run at his unplanned confession. But her only reaction was a slight tremble, before she slid off his hard length and turned around to gaze into his eyes.

Her glance kicked him in the feels and in this very moment he knew he wouldn’t give up on her, ever. He’d fight for her until his last breath.

“It’s true,” he said, tracing a finger across her soft arm. “And I’m as surprised as you are, because I’ve never felt this way or said those words to a woman who wasn’t my sister or my mother.” River’s heart contracted at the obvious battle of emotions raging in Pippa’s eyes.

“I thought I knew what love was, and I was convinced it would be for the best to let you go…but after yesterday and last night…I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Sure about what?” River raised one eyebrow, trying to keep the rising panic at bay. She would not walk out on him, now, would she?

“About letting you go,” Pippa said and a huge sigh escaped his throat.

They both grew quiet and the throbbing in his cock reminded him of what they’d been doing before he had blurted out his love to her.

“Can we table this discussion for a moment and finish what we started?” Pippa asked and River eagerly complied. He slipped inside her again, while he took her sweet lips in a searing kiss.

“You’re gorgeous,” River groaned, using his hands to map her body, until he rolled on his back, taking her with him to lie astride him. She pushed up to a sitting position and from down below he had the most enticing view of her wonderful breasts, her nipples teetering into the air, begging his fingers to play with them.

His erection grew even bigger until he filled every single inch of her tight and wet channel. Pippa clamped her inner muscles around him while her hands roved the sculpted muscles of his chest, the broad shoulders, and the sensitive skin on his neck, drawing groan after delicious groan from his lips.

Their rhythm increased and he held onto her hips, thrusting into her hard and fast, until she collapsed onto his chest, her body convulsing around him, propelling him to his own powerful release.

They lay that way for long minutes, the sheen of sweat on their skin evaporating, before he carefully moved her off of him and she snuggled up to his side.

“I love you, too. More than I thought it was possible to love someone,” Pippa said with her dark blue eyes fixed on his. Shivers of delight racked his body as she continued to speak, “I truly believed you’re better off without me, but after last night…I cannot imagine not having you in my life.”

“So, you’re coming back to work for me?”

“Never.”

River’s heart missed a beat. “No? How come?”

“Because you have a ‘no sleeping with the employees’ policy and I would hate to see you break it.”

“I made the stupid rule, so I can dump it, you know?” River wrapped his arm tighter around her. He would not let her run away again. For a short moment he considered tying her to the bedpost and his shaft jumped with joy at the fantasy.

“I wouldn’t want to work for the man I love. Being your employee could become awkward.” Pippa’s words pushed away the delicious image of her tied to his bed, splayed out for his every whim.

“Okay, I see what you mean, but I don’t want to be out on the boat without you.”

Pippa sighed. “How about we table this discussion until after breakfast?”

“That sounds like a good plan. What about pancakes?”

“As long as you’re the one making them, they sound heavenly.” Pippa giggled and stretched her long limbs leaving him hungry for anything but pancakes.

“I’m making them.” He tossed her one of his polo shirts and she slipped it on, sans the panties, leaving his mouth gaping wide open.

“Anything wrong?” Pippa batted her eyelashes in the most innocent way possible and bent down just far enough so he could glimpse at her butt cheeks.

“Little vixen.” He crossed the distance and delved his hand between her legs, surprised at the forming wetness. “You really are insatiable.”

“You promised me hours of love making.” She pouted, calling him out on his promise from the day before.

“And we’ll continue right were we left off, but first breakfast. I wouldn’t want this luscious ass to become all bony.” He slapped her lightly and she followed him to the galley where he set out to make pancakes to slake another type of hunger.

They ate their pancakes with much teasing and laughing until they were both full. As they washed the dishes together, Pippa said, “Your next trip starts tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. They’re flying into Aruba, and have directions to come to the boat before noon. I have to lookup their names in the file you made for me.” He swallowed down a lump in his throat. If he couldn’t convince Pippa to work for him, he’d be gone the entire week without her, and that thought didn’t sit well with him. River tossed the dishtowel onto the sink and then leered at her. “I believe someone had the audacity to make fun of my pancakes. That sounds like someone who wants punishment.”

Pippa grinned at him and began to back up as he stalked her. When her heels hit the stairs, she turned and bolted up to the main salon. River caught her seconds later, toppling them both to wooden floor. He held her down while he got his revenge by tickling her until tears streamed from her eyes.

“This is what happens to naughty girls who tease and make disparaging comments about a man’s culinary efforts,” River said, before he kissed her hard and they rolled across the floor together.

Pippa’s giggles soon turned to moans as River used his hands and teeth to map her body. He made short work of their clothes, leaving them scattered across the salon.

“It seems I can’t keep my hands off of you,” he said, sitting atop of her, pushing into her wet entrance, when a horrified expression crossed her face.

Then he heard it, too. The sound of someone steps on the deck.

“Fuck. Someone’s here.” River rolled off of Pippa, frantically searching for her shirt and tossing it to her. He was just reaching for his shorts, when the salon doors opened and a man stepped inside.

“Whoa! I didn’t see that sort of greeting coming,” his brother Tyler joked. “Surprise!”

River froze in place, holding his shorts across his lap and shielding Pippa with his body as best as he could. “Damn, bro! What are you doing here? And when will you ever learn to knock?”

“Sorry, man…” Tyler put his hand across his eyes, “…may I suggest the two of you get dressed. Drake and Roxy are right behind me.”

River cursed again, pulling Pippa up and hurrying her down the stairs and into his cabin.

“What just happened?” she asked him once the door was shut.

“My family just happened. The guy you saw is Tyler, the firefighter. The one we didn’t see is Drake, my oldest brother. Roxie is his girlfriend.”

“The one who likes to climb volcanoes?” Her skin had taken on an incredibly sexy rosy blush.

“One and the same.” River cursed his family for their bad timing. Then he locked the door and stalked her across the room until her knees hit the bed. “Now, where were we?”

Her blush intensified to a deep crimson. “River! We can’t do this with your family just outside the door.”

“Why not?” he asked, tackling her and rolling until she straddled him. He pushed his hands beneath her t-shirt, moved his shorts out of the way and then settled her wet center right over his erection. He pulsed beneath her. “We’ll make it a quickie.”

“Are you serious?” Pippa’s tone changed as he tentatively pushed against her. “What if they hear us?” she moaned as his palms settled on her breasts.

“What if they do? It’s not like they haven’t already caught us red-handed.”

Pippa tossed her head back, moving in time with him now as he slid inside her and pushed them both toward that place where ecstasy and reality collided. “We…should…your family…”

“Shush. It’s only the two of us in here,” he said, pulling her down and fusing their lips together as they reached orgasm at the same time. He held her against his chest, reveling in having her in his arms these last few moments before things were bound to get a little crazy.

He didn’t know what his siblings were doing on Aruba, but Tyler and Drake he could handle. They probably had some sort of adventure or job planned nearby and would only be here for a day or two at the most. It would be tight quarters once his guests arrived tomorrow, but they’d work it all out. Pippa can even bunk with me if necessary.

That thought brought a huge smile to his face and as he and Pippa cleaned up and made themselves presentable, he reminded himself to thank Tyler at the first opportunity. Maybe the timing wasn’t that bad after all.