Everything the woman did turned him on. She made even the most innocuous activities look dirty. Folding laundry, sweeping the kitchen floor—didn’t matter what she did, he wanted her. Tonight it was watching her eat pizza that got his blood going. His gaze was glued to her mouth, so focused on it, in fact, that one of the rugrats finally decided to comment. No surprise as to which one, either.
“Why are you staring at my mom?” Sophie demanded.
Seth blinked out of his lust-filled stupor. “Ah, because she had tomato sauce on her cheek.”
“I did?” Miranda’s dubious look said she saw right through him.
“Yeah, but it’s gone now. You wiped it away.”
Sophie pursed her lips in disapproval. “It’s rude to stare.”
“You’re right. It is.” He met Miranda’s hazel eyes. “I’m sorry for staring, Miranda.”
“It’s quite all right, Seth.”
She held his gaze for another second before turning to scold Jason, who was making a huge mess as he dipped his slice into a plastic container of barbecue sauce. Which kinda floored him, because Seth had never met anyone who slathered BBQ sauce on pizza the way he himself did. Neither he nor Miranda’s son had remarked on it, but there’d been unmistakable pleasure in Jason’s eyes when Seth had called dibs on one of the barbecue sauces. It was obvious the kid liked having something in common with him.
“Anyway, thanks for dinner,” Seth said, standing up. “I was dying of hunger when you got home and I couldn’t decide what to eat.”
Their gazes locked again. Miranda’s cheeks turned pink.
You, he told her with his eyes. I wanted to eat you.
Still did, too. He wanted to latch his mouth on that sweet pussy of hers and eat her until she screamed his name.
Her tone was nonchalant as she answered, “Well, if you’re hungry again later, let me know. I could always stop and grab you something to eat on my way back from the club tonight.” Later being the operative word in that sentence.
“Actually, I won’t be here later. I’ve gotta be at the base at one a.m. We’re doing night dives.”
More eye contact. Another unspoken message.
“Whath nithe difes?” Jason demanded through a mouthful of pizza.
“Jase,” Miranda chided. “Chew, swallow, talk.”
The little boy did as asked, then repeated himself. “What’s night dives?”
“It means we’re diving in the ocean in the middle of the night,” Seth explained brusquely.
“You go in the water in the dark?” Jason’s eyes widened. “But Mom says it’s dangerous to go swimming when it’s not sunny.”
Miranda smiled at her son. “Dangerous for you,” she corrected. “But see how big and strong Seth is?”
Jason nodded, slightly awed.
“Well, that means he’s allowed to do dangerous things every now and then. He underwent a lot of training, years and years of training, to be able to do what he does.”
Seth shifted in discomfort. Each word she said only succeeded in giving Jason a bigger case of hero worship, and he didn’t want to be the kid’s hero.
“Okay, uh, I’m gonna catch some shut-eye until I have to go,” Seth said before she could continue. He gave the rugrats a quick nod, Miranda one final look, and then left the living room.
After he shut and locked his bedroom door, he stripped off his T-shirt, cargo pants and boxer briefs, and made his way to the bed. He hadn’t lied—sleep was definitely on the docket. Except he wouldn’t get a wink of it unless he remedied the problem down below.
He stretched out on the bed and fisted his erection, disappointed that he and Miranda wouldn’t be able to find any private time tonight. But she’d be busy with her kids until the babysitter showed up, and by the time she got home from work, he’d be deep beneath the ocean’s surface, engaged in mock amphibious landings.
Closing his eyes, he pumped his cock in quick, even strokes and envisioned Miranda’s perky tits. Her dusky nipples, so responsive to his touch. The sexy curve of her ass and baby-soft skin of her inner thighs. It didn’t escape him that he was jerking off to the thought of a woman who was by no means out of his reach. She was right beyond that door, and it drove him nuts that he couldn’t just take her whenever it tickled his fancy. But Miranda was a mom first—she’d made that abundantly clear—which meant that the twins claimed first priority on her time.
His cock, unfortunately, was of lesser importance.
No sooner had he accepted that grim assessment of his position on the totem pole than a soft knock sounded on the door.
When Miranda quietly said “can I come in” his cock twitched with excitement, a drop of fluid seeping from its slit.
He was off the bed in an instant, unlocking the door and tugging her into the room.
“Eleven minutes,” she whispered.
He shot her a questioning look.
“There’s eleven minutes left in the movie. It’s the final battle scene between the aliens and those weird purple monsters. The kids are hypnotized.” She was sliding out of her leggings as she spoke. “So we’ve got eleven minutes to make this happen.” Her gaze swept over his naked body. “I see you’ve already gotten started.”