One month later.

Becca woke to the sound of running water. She twisted under the thick softness of the comforter, her hand skimming the other side of the bed. Ethan wasn’t there, but the sheet was still warm. She let her hand rest in the empty space, soaking up the last of his body heat. She smiled and stretched, her body remembering his touch from last night. All of it.

He was in the shower, whistling off-key, his voice penetrating even the thick covers.

A phone chimed.

Becca stuck her head out. Her phone flashed insistently on the bedside table. She sighed and grabbed it. It was warm from the bands of morning light filling the room. There had been moments when she’d thought she’d never see the sun again. The novelty of bright sunshine still hadn’t worn off.

She blinked sleep from her eyes. The message was from Em. She would be at the Triton labs later this afternoon and wanted to catch up. The company’s Deep Sea research arm was still running, but under the direction of the British government as the CEO and entire Board of Directors had been suspended pending investigations. Dropping depth charges on civilians could do that.

Becca was assisting with the inquiry, helping them to piece together the catastrophic chain of events. She was under no illusion that Triton had wanted to secure the cyanobacteria for weaponization purposes, despite what they claimed to the contrary. A team of epidemiologists had confirmed the bacteria and the toxin it produced was extremely powerful, a completely new genus, with silicon-based biology unknown on Earth. Becca was still working on processing her emotions on that one. Redd’s wish for a ‘discovery’ had happened, he just hadn’t survived to take the credit.

Becca typed a reply on her phone. As the only two survivors of the research team, she and Em were relying heavily on each other to process their losses. Besides, coffee and chocolate cake sounded like the perfect antidote to a day spent staring at rogue cells under a microscope.

She nudged herself up on her elbow, allowing her attention to be drawn elsewhere. Steam billowed out from the bathroom. Ethan’s tall silhouette was visible through the opaque glass of the shower stall. He was standing, head down, hot water sluicing over his broad shoulders. His team was still on R & R while the British government held Triton to task. Ethan wasn’t good at doing nothing, and he planned to visit Chief’s son later today with Nik.

Becca slid out of bed, her feet hitting the chilled wooden floor. Even after last night, just watching him under the water made her nipples harden as her body remembered his caress. Her stomach flipped in a long, lazy loop of anticipation.

She headed for the bathroom, tugging her tank over her head and stepping out of her underwear. She threw them in the laundry basket then paused on the threshold of the bathroom, drinking in his strong outline behind the glass.

Never in a million years had she expected to be with Ethan again. She’d been alone for so long, and now she wasn’t. They’d survived, and she was here with him. Where she belonged.

Always.

And she wanted him.

She opened the shower stall. The whistling stopped. His head whipped around, his midnight eyes darkening with heat in an instant. His gaze dipped low, pursuing her body with slow, smoky intent, scorching her skin just with his look. Her breath hitched in her throat with needy anticipation as she stepped into the clouds of steam and drew the door closed behind her.

Hot spray needled her skin as she closed the gap between them.

He bent and kissed her full on the mouth, snaring her in his arms. “Morning, sleepy. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Becca ran her fingers across the sharp, defined ridges of his abdomen, down across his lean hips. Between his legs, his thick erection already bumped against her belly, jutting between muscular thighs, one still marked by the pink scar she’d stitched.

“Your terrible whistling woke me,” she said, suddenly breathless.

He kissed her neck, grazing the sensitive skin with his teeth. Molten desire loosened within her. She whimpered as Ethan shifted, pressing one thigh between hers, opening her for him, his cock hot against her skin.

“Becca,” he muttered.

She cupped his jaw, tracing the line of his unshaven beard with her fingernail. His eyes closed under her touch then opened again as he twisted to kiss the inside of her palm. Fireworks raced up her arm exploding as wanton need in her belly.

His gaze searched her face, a smile on the crook of his mouth, dimples in his cheek. This was the Ethan she remembered.

“I thought I’d lost you. But then I found you at the bottom of the ocean,” he said. “Crazy.”

His lips found hers again, capturing her mouth in a slow sweet dance that left her breathless while he ground his erection against her. There was no mistaking his blatant want. Every inch of him was hard and hungry for her. She curved her pelvis up to meet his rhythm, matching his desire.

Her shaking hand slid from his chest to his waist, clasping him close, so she could breathe him in. She had so much lost time to make up. So much time that she wanted to share with him.

Pleasure ripped through her as his calloused hands coveted her breasts, arms, and thighs. Becca bit her lip, her head tipping back in a hot wash of submission. Her mind scattered to the four corners of the compass, oblivious to everything but the progression of his caress.

He stopped suddenly, surprising her, then he grabbed her wrists and his slick body walked her backward through steaming water to hit the wet tiles. Her shoulders and backside registered cool ceramic while her breasts and belly burned against masculine muscle. He circled first one nipple with the rough pad of his thumb and then the other, watching her the whole time, his eyes bright and intense. He stroked her cheek. “I won’t let you go this time. You know that, don’t you? You’re mine.” He smoothed a wet strand of hair from her cheek.

She nodded. “Promise me.”

Sweet darkness filled his eyes. “I promise.”

He smiled, his expression softening the twist of his scar into something beautiful. Becca traced the edge of damaged skin. Kissed the scar that marked the man she loved.

Ethan broke contact. “I need to taste you,” he growled.

Without warning, he dropped between her legs, one hand flattened against her belly, restraining her against the tiles while the other found her soft folds. Thick fingers pressed deep inside her, stretching her as his mouth found her clit.

Becca gasped, her hands flying to his shoulders to stop herself from falling. His touch was merciless, his tongue working the sensitive bud till hot pleasure left her panting. His fingers curved deeper inside as his mouth lapped at her, driving her higher and higher. She dug her nails into the hard muscle of his shoulders, powerless as Ethan’s wicked mouth filled every space of her mind. Helpless, her head tipped back against the wall, water streaming across the tender skin of her breasts, adding to the building tension in her core.

Her inner muscles tightened as the friction of his fingers lodged inside her swollen flesh hit a tender spot, sending fiery pangs of sensation to every nerve ending. There was skill and confidence in Ethan’s touch and her breathing stuttered at the force of the sensations, the exquisite tension coiled inside her gathering and intensifying until the sweet torment splintered between her legs under one last stroke of his tongue. With a low moan, she climaxed around his fingers, her muscles turning rigid as she rode the wave of electrifying pulsations that obliterated all her thoughts and the world around her.