揧ou love all sea animals,?he corrects.
Destiny grins. 揧eah. I heard there抯 a few rare starfish somewhere around here, too. Can we see them??
揘ot sure. That might require snorkling, Dess. We抣l see how you do on the boat.?Cole gives her a serious look.
揙kay. Sure.?Destiny smiles sheepishly as she links her arm through mine. 揥hat was that thing you had anyway??
揥hat thing??I laugh at the random question.
揑 saw you put a pipe in your pocket, but like, a weird one. Were you smoking??She whispers, pushing her small face to my ear. 揑 won抰 tell Dad if it抯 some weird mini bong but...you don抰 look like a stoner.?
This girl. I burst out laughing.
At least she抯 too young to know about crack pipes.
揑t抯 a new kind of brew pipe. It makes coffee.?
揅offee? No way!?Laughing, she gives me a glance like she isn抰 sure she believes me, but it抯 all in good spirits as she whispers outside Cole抯 earshot again. 揥hew. Here I thought you were trying to get Dad to lighten up and relax. But you were getting him hooked on the hard stuff. He抯 already an espresso fiend.?
揑抦 no fiend of any kind, young lady,?Cole throws back.
But the look he gives me over his shoulder says we both know that抯 a blatant lie.
To me, he抯 a fallen angel, and soon he抣l claim my body and soul.
12
Caffeine Headache (Cole)
Goddamn, I抦 an idiot.
I lost my fucking head.
I take a deep breath, trying to hold it together on the catamaran as it scours the water in search of dolphin pods.
How could I do anything but lose my shit?
She had that adorably ridiculous brew pipe.
Then her adorably ridiculous story about how she fell in love with coffee.
Then the ridiculously not adorable way she straddled me, my hands roaming her ass, my lips mauling hers like a man possessed.
Hand to God, I never had a prayer.
It抯 almost worse now that she抯 traded her island dress for this black-and-white polka dot bikini. I can see her tits and ass threatening to spill out of that flimsy fabric every time she moves.
I almost want it to happen.
It抯 not safe for work梟ot safe for life梚f this torturous trip can even be called work anymore, much less living.
If Destiny hadn抰 found us, I wouldn抰 have stopped.
If we weren抰 in public and my daughter hadn抰 been looking for me?Fuck.
That kiss was searing, forbidden, and not nearly long enough.
In my head, it never ended. I can still taste Eliza Angelo.
That抯 why I ignore the girls laughing on the other side of the boat. They let out ear-splitting screams every time we spot a pod of dolphins.
I need space.
That抯 why I抦 happy to be alone, gripping the boat railing like I want to break it and trying to pull enough blood into my arms to deflate the hard-on from hell.
I know I should stop dicking off and be grateful.
I抦 damn lucky my daughter didn抰 catch us mid-act. I抦 sure she didn抰, otherwise she never would抳e let this go for an evening on the water.
And what if she had?
How would I have ever answered the ten thousand embarrassing questions she would抳e blasted at me like an entire firing squad?
I swallow, groaning as the wind beats me in the face.
Even if I avoided a total disaster, I haven抰 truly escaped shit.
I have to talk to Eliza about what happened, preferably without a teen audience.
This buys me time to figure out what I抣l say, and nothing more.
Scratching my beard roughly, I shake my head, wishing I could eject the unsettled thoughts from my brain.
Why the hell am I more upset about Destiny almost catching us than I am about the fact that she knows what a bong is?
Eventually, I fight back my bile and the bulge in my pants enough to rejoin them.
Eliza laughs, pointing as another group of pointy silver backs emerge from the foaming sea. She抯 faster at spotting the dolphins than the ship抯 guide, who retreated to the canopy above the main cabin after realizing he wasn抰 needed.
The happy shimmer in her eyes tears at me梥omething I never thought I抎 see.
I stay quiet, only breaking my mood to smile softly at my daughter. I won抰 let my own crap boil over and ruin this for her.
A dolphin barely ten feet away leaps up, breaching the waves, hovering under the bright sun and sparkling like a lump of silver before it goes crashing back into the ocean.
揌oly梬ow! Dad, did you see that??Destiny doesn抰 wait for an answer; she just takes off, sprinting to the back of the boat for a better look.
揘o running!?I call after her, even if I can抰 help grinning like a fool.
She抯 out here on the ocean, enjoying herself, without a hint of fear. It almost makes up for everything else I mucked up today.
Eliza抯 loud laugh reminds me who I should be thanking, all sultry music in my ears. It also brings back the hard-on from hell.
揈liza,?I whisper her name while Destiny has her back to us, fixated on the dolphins.
She spins around on one heel to face me, a nervous twitch in her eyes.
揅ome closer,?I growl, reaching for her hand the minute she抯 in arm抯 reach.
I don抰 hesitate.
I don抰 ask.
I don抰 even think.
I just pull her against my chest, loving how she gasps as she dips down, and I smother her lips. My teeth find her bottom lip and anchor down, firm yet gentle, the animal inside me pulling violently on its chain.
By some miracle, I break away as she blushes.
揅ole. Jesus. Shouldn抰 we be... I mean, won抰 Dess notice? I don抰 want to upset her.?Her cheeks are screaming red.
I抦 grateful she has a cooler head.
I抦 damn glad she cares about my daughter.
揝he抯 highly distracted,?I say, silencing her with another ten-second kiss that pulls the breath from her lungs before she can protest.
Fuck, I抦 bad. I only realize how bad when she抯 pushing at my chest.
揅ole,?she whimpers, her chest heaving, her tits brushing me.
Goddamn.
If we were alone for ten minutes, if we even had a storage closet?
Stop. Stop it, you horndog fool.
I wish it were that easy. Apparently, spending the better part of a decade celibate makes my brain implode when there抯 a young, beautiful woman breathing against me with her flesh hanging out.
A woman who acts like she抎 come real sweet for me at the faintest touch.
I pull back梑arely梞aking her gasp again when my cock grazes her hip through my shorts.
So hard. So ready. So insane with want.
揑 had to tell you, I enjoyed our evening. Messy shit and all,?I whisper, well aware that I抦 usually more eloquent.
揧eah??Her grin widens and her eyes sparkle with relief. 揢m, me too. It抯 the most fun I抳e had since...?
Thank God she doesn抰 finish that thought.
Her smile just digs my grave deeper梠r is it a tunnel straight to hell?
Without even realizing it, I抳e crossed a boundary that was sacrosanct, and we抣l have to acknowledge it eventually.
Just like we抣l have to decide if we want to breach that red line again.
I have no clue what I抣l say. I can抰 convince myself that this is right.
Though I抦 not sure I抎 ever regret taking this woman to bed.
Not true, you caveman prick, I think. You live for rules.
You also don抰 fuck strange women behind your daughter抯 back.
You don抰 ask for pain.
All you have are regrets.
No, not quite.
All I have are what-ifs, and they stab me every time I let myself fall a little deeper into Eliza Angelo抯 smile, the way her chestnut hair splashes down her shoulders, the soft curve of her body against mine...
What if Destiny hadn抰 come?
I know where there抯 a hammock in a secluded corner, not far from where the trees begin. I don抰 think anyone knows about it. I could have led her there.
I could have stripped off her soaking wet panties and splayed her legs open and mounted her like a bull in rut.
My cock pulses at the thought. I have to fight not to grind myself against her like a dog.
Fucking hell.
What if instead of apologizing for the colossal mess I抳e made by acting on my attraction, I grab her by the hand and lead us both into stupidity?