An Honourable Seduction

When she began kissing him back, he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the exchange by crushing his mouth to hers.

She didn’t mind his eagerness. In fact, she welcomed the pleasure of his hunger, his taste, which was getting more provocative with every stroke of his tongue. It had been a while since she’d been kissed, and certain parts of her were reminding her of just how long it had been. Not only that, those certain parts were goading her to keep up with the forceful demands of his mouth. She hadn’t been kissed so thoroughly or possessively before in her life. Or so passionately.

Swan wasn’t sure how long they stood there kissing. It wasn’t until they heard the sound of fireworks that they disengaged their mouths. She glanced up as more fireworks exploded in the sky. Instead of looking up, David trailed his tongue along her neck and collarbone with wet licks.

“Say you’ll go out with me again, Swan.”

There was no way she wouldn’t say it. She looked at him and saw deep desire in the eyes looking back at her. “Yes, I’ll go out with you again.”

“Good.”

And then he lowered his head and kissed her again.

* * *

Flipper had tried everything possible to get to sleep. He’d counted sheep, counted backward, rolled his eyes for a full thirty minutes and had even tried hypnotizing himself. None of those things helped.

He couldn’t remember ever feeling this tight with need. So here he was, close to four in the morning, and still wide awake. Nothing he did could erase the taste of Swan from his mouth and the act of kissing her from his mind.

The kiss would complicate his mission, but it hadn’t been an act. It had been the most real thing he’d done in a long time. He had wanted that kiss. Needed it. It had been inevitable.

Sitting across from her at dinner and watching the movement of her mouth had caused a throbbing need to erupt in his gut, making him rock hard. There had been no way to ignore the delicious heat of carnal attraction spiking between them.

And the patriotism he’d seen in her eyes when she’d gotten teary-eyed in support of servicemen, and then when she’d told him about her work with the city to find lodging for homeless vets, hadn’t helped. Neither had the fact that she’d looked stunning and had smelled irresistibly hot tonight.

Kissing her had made his entire body feel alive. Had revved up his passion to a degree that his libido had him tied in knots and had his pulse tripping. He could feel himself riding the fine edge of intense desire heightened by more sexual energy than he’d felt in a long time.

While kissing her, he hadn’t cared that they could have been seen in spite of the low-hanging trees. He’d been beyond the point of caring. He’d been tempted to drag her to the ground right there.

Damn. How was he going to clear her of anything when the only thing he’d wanted to clear her of was her clothes?

He had access to women whenever he needed them. There were always women who went bonkers for men in uniform and he had no problem engaging in one-night stands. Those types of relationships had always been the way to go for him. He liked being single, coming and going as he pleased, with no one to worry about but himself.

It had been a long time since any woman had kept him up at night and that wasn’t cool.

Grabbing his phone he texted the message: If anyone is awake. Call me.

Within seconds, his phone rang. It was Bane. “What’s going on, Flipper?”

“Why are you up?” Flipper asked his friend.

“Feeding time. Crystal and I rotate.”

“Oh? You’re breastfeeding now?”

“No, smart-ass. The trio are on bottles now. What are you doing up?”

Flipper stretched out across the bed. “I couldn’t sleep. I tried everything. I even tried to hypnotize myself.”

Bane chuckled. “I guess it didn’t work.”

“No, it didn’t work.”

“So why can’t you sleep, Flip?”

He wasn’t one to kiss and tell, no matter who the listener was, so he said, “I still haven’t figured out anything about the situation down here and the CO and the admiral are depending on me.”

“Maybe they’re going to have to accept naval intelligence’s report that she’s guilty.”

“I don’t think so.” Flipper paused. “She cried tonight.”

“What do you mean, she cried?”

“Today was the first day of summer and there’s an annual laser show to commemorate the change in season. One of the laser displays was a salute to New York, where they did an awesome light replica of the Statue of Liberty and American soldiers. She got emotional and cried. Dammit, Bane, a person who is betraying their country doesn’t cry for those in the service. Call me a sucker for tears but I don’t believe she has a traitorous bone in her body.”

“Then it’s up to you to prove it. What about those two people who hang around her shop?”

“The woman who works for her and the tattoo guy? Both seem clean. But I will dig further. I have to.”

“Okay, but make sure while you’re digging for answers that you’re not burrowing yourself into something you can’t handle.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you know what I mean, Flip. You were sent there to prove her innocence—not to prove she has a passionate side. Remember that. Good night.”

Flipper clicked off the phone and rubbed a hand down his face. Little did Bane know that after the kiss with Swan tonight, Flipper was driven to do more than prove her innocence, or her passion.

He wanted to possess Swan completely.

And he had a feeling the desire wasn’t one-sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes during dinner. He’d felt how her body had responded to his touch. He was certain the same sensations that rushed through him had affected her, too. Kissing her had been inevitable, something they both wanted and needed.

The genie called desire was out of the bottle and Flipper honestly didn’t know how to get it back inside.

Three (#udd39147f-c8ec-5ebd-b32d-f9910874536b)

Swan pushed away from her desk and took another huge gulp of ice-cold lemonade. It had been that way for her all day. Instead of concentrating on the online orders she needed to fill and ship out, her mind was wrapped around that kiss from last night.

All she had to do was close her eyes to remember every single detail, specifically every sensuous lick of his tongue inside her mouth. Even now, the memory sent multiple sensations coursing through her body, causing pleasure the likes of which she’d never encountered before.

She looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. “Yes?”

Jamila stuck her head in. “Mr. Make-you-have-an-instant-orgasm is back.”

Swan didn’t need to ask Jamila what she meant or who she was talking about. “Any reason you can’t wait on him?”

Jamila smiled naughtily. “I could use the pleasure but he specifically asked for you.”

Swan nodded. “I’ll be out in a minute.”