Oh hell…had he gotten a little too blunt with that statement? He’d just blurted it out, despite every speck of better judgment.

Cassie whipped her head around, her hair swirling through the water like a mermaid’s. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry. Shouldn’t have said that.”

“No no. I don’t mind. That’s fine. But—” She paddled closer and straightened, and he felt one of her legs twine with his. “You’re immersed in cold water. That’s not usually a turn-on.”

“It is when you’re with a nearly naked woman who you’re wildly attracted to and she’s talking about sex.”

“About bad sex.”

“No, about making sex good for yourself. That’s a fucking turn-on, lady.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened and she got that devilish look he was beginning to recognize. “You don’t say?” She floated her hips near his, sending water flowing over his pounding cock.

Yeah, it definitely wasn’t a common occurrence to get this turned on while submerged in chilly water. That just proved how attractive she was, or how strong their chemistry was, or something. Right now, the heat between them could boil the sea water in this little cove.

He groaned as she brushed against his cock. He wanted her with such pure, fierce lust that he was surprised he hadn’t spontaneously combusted.

“You know,” she said softly. “There may be another loophole.”

“What?”

“We’re in the ocean. We could avoid all land-based sex, but make an exception if we’re in the ocean.”

He snorted, though his erection got even harder. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it, though? How often will we be alone in the water? It’ll probably never happen again. Loophole.”

God, she was hard to resist, all sassy and teasing and wet and delicious.

He shook his head, knowing this was a bad idea. “There’s a problem with that plan. I can’t guarantee good sex under these conditions. And the last thing I want is to inflict more bad sex on you. When we make love, I want you to be totally satisfied, not chalking it up to one more disappointment. I’m not sure we can pull it off here.”

“You said when.” She smiled at him cheekily, one leg sliding between his.

“Excuse me?”

“You said when we have sex. You could have said if. But you didn’t. You said when, and that tells me you’re thinking about it just as much as I am.”

“I guarantee you I’m thinking about it more than you are. I am a man, after all, and I see you in those coveralls every day, and now I’m going to remember you almost naked like this, and—” He broke off with another deep groan. Because she was peeling her slip off her wet body.

She balled it up and tossed it onto the beach. Her breasts gleamed pale in the moonlight, the darkened peaks of her nipples just visible above the lapping of the waves.

He swore, at length, deploying all sorts of creative language he’d picked up in the Air Force. “Now that’s just mean, Cassie Knight.”

“Fair’s fair. I don’t see a shirt on your body.”

He didn’t have an answer for that. His palms itched to fill themselves with her soft flesh, surprisingly heavy on her lithe, long-waisted frame. How would those taut nipples taste against his tongue? Slippery, salty, erect and hard from the chill of the water…

But he couldn’t…they couldn’t. It was a bad idea. He was already in too deep with her. He knew it, knew himself. Casual wasn’t in the cards for him and Cassie—not even in the ocean.

Okay, maybe in the ocean.

Maybe just this once, as a way to let off steam.

He’d promised her that, after all.

Besides, everything about her tugged at his heart, and she was beautiful and hurt and he wanted to help her forget her troubles. And he wanted to be close to her.

He wanted all kinds of things he wasn’t ready to name, but for now…he wanted to make her come.

“About that loophole,” he murmured. He wrapped one hand around her right hip and pulled her closer, until he could cradle her against him as she floated just under the surface. She wasn’t completely naked; she still wore panties, he could see a glimmer of fabric under the dark water. “I have thoughts.”

“Just thoughts?” She shivered, gazing up at him with eyes filled with moonlight and stars. He realized that the air against her skin was chilling her down, and held her even closer to share his body heat.

“Very, very good thoughts. Like how beautiful you are, and how much I want to watch you come. Hopefully as you scream my name.”

Her eyes widened and she ran her tongue between her lips. Oh yes, this was happening, no matter how much of a mistake it might be.

“That would be pretty amazing, because I don’t really do that sort of thing.” A smile played at the corners of her mouth. “You know me, I’m practical. And I’ve learned not to get my expectations up too much.”

“Sorry, but I’m not okay with that. Your expectations should be right the hell up there, higher than our fricking planes.” He ran his hand along her inner thigh, her legs parting at his touch.

“That’s just not realistic.” Her tone might have been teasing and skeptical, but her heavy-lidded expression told another story. A dark flush swept her cheeks.

“It can be realistic, with one condition.” He tugged her panties aside and lightly brushed his thumb against the hot nest of curls at the juncture of her thighs. It was hard to tell if her wetness was due to arousal or to being, well, wet. But he liked the way she shifted and reached for his touch.

“There’s always a catch,” she sighed.

“But it’s nothing we can’t do, babe. You have to let me know what’s working for you. Communication. I’m a big believer. For instance, how does this feel?” He found her clit, a hard little kernel of heat, and deepened the pressure of his thumb.

“Oh my God. Amazing.” She arched her back and nestled against him, her body warming his, or his warming her, or both.

“Good.” His cock was hard as steel, but he blocked out the sensations screaming from that area of his body. This was about her. For her. Although the sight of her floating in his arms, pale flesh gleaming through the moonlit water, was so sexy he could probably come right this minute, if he allowed himself. “You’re so gorgeous like this. You aren’t too cold, are you?”

“No, I’m surprised the water isn’t boiling by now.”

He laughed, because of course Cassie would bring her usual dry sense of humor into lovemaking. She was always herself, that was one thing he loved about her.

Not that he loved her. It wasn’t like that. They’d agreed, after all. Love wasn’t part of this. Cassie had made it perfectly clear she wasn’t looking for anything like that, and his commitment to Holly was firm. This was just sexy ocean-based fun, nothing more or less.

He fisted his hand in her panties and tugged the material so it scraped against her mound.

She whimpered and opened her legs wider. “I can take them off.”

“No way. I want to play with them. I want to see how you react when I drag that wet silk against your hot little clit.”

Her eyes flew open on a quick inhale.

Oh ho. So she liked a little dirty talk.

“I want to see your nipples get hard…I bet they’d feel like candy on my tongue.” He bent down and experimented, drawing the flat of his tongue across the closest nipple. It hardened immediately, swelling from the size of a Red Hot to the size of a gum ball. And it did taste like candy, sweet and melting and head-spinning. He teased her nipple with avid little strokes of his tongue. He learned the shape of her breast with his mouth and lips, memorizing its contours, the soft curves, the swell, the firmness, the tightly puckered areola.

He lost himself in her to such an extent that he barely heard her whimpers and moans, except as a feverish background soundtrack. When he finally drew his mouth from her, the nipple giving a slippery pop as it came free, the frenzied look on her face made him stagger slightly.

“Holy shit, Kevin. You’re driving me crazy.”

“Crazy? You haven’t seen crazy yet.” Thick and intense, his voice barely sounded like his own. He took command of her pussy, opened the folds to find her entrance. With his thumb still circling her clit, he slid his index finger inside her slick heat. She arched, her legs tightening convulsively around his hand.

“Oh. God. Please, Kevin. Please.”

Well, it wasn’t quite screaming, but she was calling his name. He’d take it.

“Tell me what you want, Cassie. Talk to me.”

“A little harder, please. Just a little more. Again, harder. Oh yes. Oh my God!”

A hidden grin spread inside him. That was his Cassie, making it good for herself. She wasn’t shy, all she needed was someone to hear her. He followed each one of her instructions—or were they pleas?—until she rocked against his hand, bucking hard. She panted, squirmed, pushed against his hand, nearly dislodging it. But he was a mechanic, after all, and what better way to use his hand strength than to coax Cassie to an earth-shaking orgasm—or an ocean-shaking one.

So he held on tight, kept the pressure on that hot, throbbing clit of hers, rubbing and teasing until she erupted with a low wail. “Oh God, oh God,” she chanted as he kept stroking her through one spasm after another. “Kevin, Jesus, yes, oh my God!”

Finally, the shaking slowed and her moans turned into a rueful laugh. “Holy shit, I did scream your name. You were right, you bastard.”

He laughed. His hand vibrated with the energy the two of them had generated. “That was more of a moan, not a scream. Not that I’m complaining in any way. It just gives me something to aspire to.”

“There’s more?” She flopped in his arms, spent and limp and stunning. “I’m not sure I can handle more.” She paused, then quickly added, “Maybe I can.”

He chuckled. “Of course you can. I have total faith in you.”

“Faith in me? I think you’re the one who gets all the credit here. And this was in the ocean. I can only imagine what we could do in a bed.” She shifted in his arms so she could reach one hand between their bodies. He jolted when her hand closed hot around his cock.

“What are you doing?”

“Playing fair. I can’t be the only one getting the top of my head blown off here.”

“You don’t have to…” But she was. “Really, this was about you letting off steam. I don’t need any steam let off.”

“Are you sure about that?” She squeezed lightly and his penis surged against her hand. “Have you consulted with all interested parties?”

He laughed painfully. “If I let that guy make the decisions, my life would be an out-of-control mess. For one thing, we would have been having a steamy affair ever since Barstow’s. You can’t trust him.”

“I trust you, and that’s all that matters.” God, her hand felt good, its warmth contrasting with the chill of the water, her touch both light and firm. He pushed farther into her grip, seeking the heat and pressure she offered. He closed his eyes to block out the intoxicating sight of her aroused breasts, and the way the ends of her hair floated behind her in the water, and her moon-silvered eyes watching him, and her parted lips that made him think of how it would feel when she wrapped them around his cock.

But with his eyes closed, he saw even more provocative images. Cassie on her knees, taking him into her mouth. Cassie unzipping her coveralls to reveal her bare breasts. Cassie bent over the workbench, giving him a come-hither look over her sexy freckled shoulder. Cassie pulling her slip over her head, holding her breasts, thumbing her own nipples…

Oh God.

With a harsh groan, he erupted into a fierce orgasm. It shook him to his soul, each powerful convulsion ripping through his body. Her hand around his shaft coaxed every last drop and twitch from his organ.

Good Lord. Where had all that come from? How much pent-up Cassie lust had he been carrying around all this time?

His thighs trembled from the release, and from the fact that he’d been carrying Cassie in his arms this entire time, juggling waves and currents as he did so.

“Okay then,” he managed as soon as he could relocate his vocabulary. “I honestly didn’t intend for that to happen. I wanted this to be all about you.”

“No,” she answered softly. “I have a say in it too. This is exactly what I wanted. Well, not exactly. Thousand-count sheets might be nice. Maybe a fluffy blanket.”

“Land-based sex.” He grinned as he released her and she found her feet. “It has its benefits.”

He wrapped his arm around her and they waded toward the shore. Now that their passion was subsiding back into a general buzz of lust, he became aware of other sights and sounds. The occasional whoosh of a car driving down the road, out of sight above the embankment. The whispering of the wind through a crack in the rocks. The indignant cry of a seagull disturbed in its sleep. Ocean noises, which from now on would forever make him think of Cassie.

They stepped onto the little tongue of sand that formed the beach of the cove. Cassie was shivering as she bent to retrieve her dress. “That little scrap isn’t going to do much,” he told her. “Why don’t you stay here and I’ll run up and get a blanket from my car.”

“You have a blanket in your car?”

“It’s Holly’s. She likes to curl up in the backseat during road trips. I also have a jacket, an extra set of coveralls, and a tarp. I might even have some food. It’s a single-dad kind of thing. Always have food on hand. You wouldn’t believe the difference blood sugar makes.”

“Oh, I’m familiar with that phenomenon. ‘Hangry,’ it’s called. Been there.” Standing mostly naked on the sand, her panties so drenched they hid nothing, she was divinely beautiful to him. She pulled the dress on, even though it didn’t stop her shivering at all. “I’m decent. Let’s get in your car and blast the heat.”

She picked up her abandoned slip and headed for the path up the embankment. Was she acting weird? He couldn’t really tell.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he followed behind her. “Please tell me you aren’t adding that to your bad sex list. I mean, if you are, please do tell me so I can fix it.”

“Of course not. First of all, technically it wasn’t sex. And it wasn’t bad.” She turned to look at him, and he definitely wasn’t imagining the troubled look in her eyes. “It was good. Very good. Too good. Damn you.”

And that was all she’d say, even once they were safely in his car with the heater on full blast and Holly’s purple fleece blanket tucked around her.

“Good sex” was good, right? But “too good”—maybe that wasn’t good.

In that case, it was a good thing they weren’t going to do it again. They were back on land, and rules were rules.