Chapter Six

Dev lifted her cheek from the masculine comfort of Seth’s warm chest. He towered over her, but never had she felt more protected than here in his shadow. The universe seemed to have conspired against her, melting her resolve to be a smarter woman for a change and keep this handsome guy at bay.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, begging again for something she had no right to expect from a stranger. Knowing his name made him no more a friend than the next guy she’d pass on the street, but could she tear herself away from this haven of masculine tenderness? Did she want to? Not. Yet.

He cocked his head and looked down into her eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed—just once—before he closed the distance. One big palm shifted to the nape of her neck as he covered her mouth with an oh, so tentative kiss.

Moaning from the sensual taste of aftershave mingled with whiskey, she let her tongue dance over his sealed lips. Not once did he squeeze her too tight or mold her to do his will. Not once did he push his body or his mouth at her. If anything, Seth was too nice. Too good. Until the barest manly groan rumbled against her breasts, inciting her nipples. Then Dev was in it to win it. Narrowing the tip of her tongue, she pressed it against those sealed tight lips. Playfully. But earnestly. This man needed a good hard kiss, and she meant to give it to him.

Clutching the back of his neck with both hands, she pulled him down to her level and leapt off the dock, wrapping her legs around his hips, matching her core to his belly. Surely he couldn’t resist now. As if in answer, his palms cupped her ass, his fingers clenching both cheeks. Kneading her backside. Her libido soared.

Delirious with need, she kept up the assault on his lips until—at last—she breached his defenses. Just as she delved into the warm recesses of his mouth… Just as he groaned deliciously loud… She found her back pressed against one of the pier’s uprights, and Seth’s impressive erection against her belly. Sliding one hand over his belly to his shorts, she stroked him with the flat of her palm, impressed at the size and the heat of this man.

“Not here,” he growled and that made her smile.

“Where then?”

“Who’s watching Scottie?”

She liked that about Seth. He called her son by his given name instead of calling him ‘the kid’ or something just as impersonal. “My girlfriend’s watching him.”

“Damn,” Seth mumbled around her lips and tongue, one hand in her hair now, holding her head in place. “Guess your place won’t work then.”

Breathing hard, she mashed her mouth to his, needing his air and every last inch of his rugged male body inside hers. “Boathouse,” she mumbled. “I have a key.”

Seth took instructions well. With long strides, he cut the distance to Molly’s Boathouse. After Devereaux fumbled the lock and nearly dropped the lanyard that held both of her keys, she managed to unlock the building. Hurriedly, he toed one of the barn-style doors open and ducked inside, bumping it shut with his hip. Soft lights glowed from one end of the boathouse to the other, bathing the placidly bobbing watercraft in dim, golden light.

Shivering with anticipation, she rubbed her nose into the hollow of Seth’s neck like a cat with her very own catnip-man. The salt and the sea had never smelled so good as it did on his skin. Her senses flared, searching after every last atom of him.

He set her carefully on the padded storage bench that ran the inside wall of the boathouse, the perfect place for what Devereaux hoped happened next. Yet when Seth scooped her legs to the side instead of kneeling between them, when he sank to the bench and dragged her onto his lap instead of shoving her skirt over her hips, Devereaux’s libido calmed. He wasn’t as out of control as he needed to be. What was up with this guy?

“You taste good,” he breathed as his tongue tangled with hers.

Arching into him, Devereaux gave Seth all he was willing to take, which seemed to be nothing more than kissing and heavy petting at the moment. His right hand now palmed her breast, his thumb strumming her nipple into a tight little diamond hard knot of hurry-up-and-kiss-me-now. But even that was done over her blouse and bra, not skin to skin. Except for her lips, he had yet to touch her like other men had. There was no groping or tearing of clothes. No sweating. No grinding against her like he had something to prove.

Aching for what she knew he could do to her, Dev rubbed her body against Seth, filling his hand with her breast and urging him to get down to business. She was no child and he was definitely all male. What would a little harmless sex hurt?

“No,” hissed out around his busy lips. “I’m not what you need.”

“Yes, you are,” she told him, biting his bottom lip to prove she knew what she wanted. “You’re exactly what I need.” Right here. Right now.

“Devereaux…” he breathed.

Darn it! Seth needed to get with the program! Wiggling to face him, she lifted one knee over his lap and straddled his hips. Her skirt rolled up to her hips, offering him a look if he wanted to take it. There, now. Much better.

His dark, mercurial gaze drifted down her centerline to the dampening cleft between her legs and, ah. His throaty groan was music to her ears. Drenched and hungry for this timid guy, Dev launched a full-frontal assault, grinding her pelvic muscles up and down that fine rock-solid bone in his boat shorts. How on Earth could this big guy resist her now?

“I can’t,” he growled, his hips still telling her oh, yes he could.

“Why not?” she asked petulantly and annoyed to her toes. Obviously, he had no ED issues, and he certainly wasn’t gay. What else could there—?

“Shit,” she hissed, shoving to her feet, and fighting mad that he’d tugged her skirt off her ass. “You’re married! You’ve got a wife back home and you… you’re…” She covered her face with both hands, so damned sick of lying, cheating men.

“No!” Seth was on his feet. “It’s not like that. I’m engaged only—”

“Jesus Christ!” She punched that big broad chest she’d just been seducing and let him have it. “One step away from the altar, and you’re cheating on your future bride? You ass! How could you do this to me? To her!”

“I don’t cheat,” he said sternly, the anguish in his tone palpable. He reached for his forehead, scratching his left brow, the one with the scars running through it like a hashtag. “It’s not like that.”

Palms to her hips, Devereaux stood her ground. “You know what? I don’t care what your noble excuse for cheating with me on your girlfriend is. Stay the hell away from me. I don’t need the drama.”

“Dev,” he coaxed, his voice soft against the quiet sounds in the boathouse.

“No!” she screamed, stamping her bare feet to the dock, her eyes brimmed with tears that she refused to let fall. Not for this guy. The high and mighty Seth McCray wasn’t worth her regret. She bit her lip and turned on him with one parting shot. “Go to hell, McCray. I was wrong about you. You’re nothing like your uncle. God! Why do I always go for all the wrong men?”

Stomping to the double door, she flung it open and ran into the night. All men were bastards. They used, and they abused. They lied, and they cheated. By the time she cleared the end of the dock, she could hardly see through the torrent that her bitter reality had let loose in her foolish heart. She’d almost fallen for this guy. This creep! Worse, she’d been ready to give him everything. Like a slut, a desperate, needy slut. She sucked in a sob. How desperate am I? Well, no more! From now on, I’m celibate. Like the “Flying Nun!”

To make everything worse, she heard his footsteps on her trail. Damn it, Seth. Why couldn’t you be a good guy like your uncle? Why couldn’t you take the hint and leave me alone?

Furious and bawling her eyes out now, she curled her fingers into tight fists and whirled on the loser of all losers. Engaged! The asshat was engaged! “Leave me alone!” she yelled, blinking to see the idiot lurking in the shadows like the coward he was!

He stepped into the light. Only it wasn’t Seth. Sylvester Valentine sneered at her. “Not going to happen, Baby Doll. I get what I want, and now you’re mine.”