Chapter One
A WARM SUNNY day, a cool breeze coming off the water, and the hottest guy in Peaceful Harbor all to myself. What more could a girl want?
Penny Wilson opened her eyes, squinting against the sun at Scott Beckley, her boyfriend of almost seven months, lying beside her on the blanket on the deck of his small cruiser yacht, and she had her answer.
More.
With Scotty.
He turned his face toward her, catching her staring, and a wolfish grin curved his lips. His dark eyes slid down her body, lingering on her yellow bikini top so long her nipples pebbled. His eyes ignited, continuing their stroll down her body, visually devouring her, slowing again when he reached her bikini bottom, the muscles in his jaw bunching. “Mm-mm. Hello there, sexy,” he said, rolling onto his side, giving her a glorious view of his six-plus feet of hard-bodied, work-with-his-hands ruggedness, naked save for his swim trunks.
His long fingers trailed down her belly, coming to rest on the edge of her bikini bottom, his palm searing her skin. He had the biggest, strongest hands she’d ever seen, and he knew just how to use them. Lust slithered through her core, coiling tight and hot beneath his touch. His eyes climbed slowly back to hers, full of wanton desire. She’d never met a more sexually potent man. From the moment they’d finally come together, they’d been combustible. His fingers curled around her hip, and he hauled her closer. He shifted over her, his hard length rubbing deliciously against her.
“You were too far away,” he said in a deep, gravelly voice. “I like you better beneath me.”
Scott was a man of few words, but he knew just how to use them to make her wet and wanting. He was a master at it, a giver and a taker. That was why Penny had gone on birth control, because she didn’t want to delay gratification any more than he did. It was also why they never anchored too close to shore or other boats. They’d learned their lesson when they’d gotten carried away and were spotted in a compromising position by a passing boat full of rowdy twentysomethings.
She wound her arms around him, her heart beating so fast, she knew he felt it. “Why, Mr. Beckley, are you trying to seduce me on your yacht?”
Scott worked at the marina. He’d bought the old cruiser yacht for a song, and he’d spent the last year fixing it up, but he refused to call it by its proper name, referring to it as his boat instead. Penny didn’t give a hoot about money or material things, but she cared about Scott. She wished he’d take credit for his hard work and how far he’d come from the teenage boy who had spent years protecting his two younger sisters from abusive parents. He had been kicked out at seventeen and had made his way in the world working on oil rigs as an underwater welder. His two younger sisters, Sarah and Josie, had later escaped on separate occasions from their parents’ home in Florida using money Scott had left them. Unbeknownst to the others, Sarah and Josie had taken on new identities when they’d fled the state, and the three had lost touch. After a decade of looking, Scott had finally tracked them down almost two years ago and was now an integral part of their lives and a loving and protective uncle to their children.
Scott arched a brow, unwinding her arms from around his neck and pinning them above her head as he said, “Are you trying to get me riled up, Penelope Anne?” He pressed his warm lips to the swell of her breast. “Because you know how I get when you rile me up.”
Oh yes, she did, and she freaking loved it. She arched beneath him as he kissed a path along her breastbone and sank his teeth into her other breast just hard enough to send spikes of pleasure rippling through her and draw a needy sound from her lungs.
“I was just calling your big-boy toy by its proper name,” she said breathily.
“Funny. I didn’t hear you say cock,” he countered, using his teeth to drag her bikini top off her breast. He lowered his mouth over it, sucking hard.
She writhed beneath him, pleasure radiating down her limbs. His dirty talk had as much of an effect as the feel of his tongue and teeth, but it wasn’t nearly enough. “If you’re going to taste my sugar, you might as well enjoy my sweetest spot.”
He ignored her suggestion, his dark eyes flicking hungrily up to hers as he lavished her other breast with the same scintillating attention. He rocked his hard length against her, bringing her every nerve to the surface. Her entire body vibrated with desire.
“Scotty,” she panted out, trying to free her hands. “I need to touch you.”
His serious eyes scanned the empty waters around them. For as much of a taker as he was, he always watched out for her, making sure she was not only on board with his actions but also safe.
In seconds he’d stripped them both naked, his eager erection reaching past his belly button. Penny’s body pulsed with the need to feel him buried deep inside her, to be enveloped in his arms, to feel their love exploding between them.
She reached for him, but he shook his head, eyes dark as night as he lowered himself to his back and said, “I want you on my mouth and me in yours.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” she teased, rising on her knees, loving the greed in his voice.
She’d never been shy about her sexuality, but she’d never been with a guy she craved in the ways she craved Scott. When they’d first gotten together, he’d been too careful with her, tethering his desire to hold her tighter, flip her over, take a nip, or tug at her hair. She’d quickly waylaid his worries about hurting her, and now she loved taunting him.
“Hell yes,” he said, like a curse.
He grabbed her hips, lifting her off the blanket and lowering her so she was straddling his face. With one yank, he had her exactly where he wanted her, and he took his fill, sending exquisite pleasure coursing through her. Her hips bucked as she rode his mouth, moans streaming from her lips. With the hot sun on her back, he worked his magic, turning her into a writhing, moaning, pleading bundle of raw nerves. She was utterly lost in him. When he put one hand on her back, gently pushing her torso down, she remembered what else he wanted and was more than happy to comply. She wrapped her hand around his length and took him into her mouth, earning a guttural moan. They drove each other wild, sucking, licking, using their teeth. She used all the tricks she’d learned he loved, like heightening his arousal by continuing to pleasure him even as her climax engulfed her. She felt his muscles go rigid seconds before he flipped her onto her back and came down over her, entering her in one hard thrust. His strong arms circled her, lifting and angling, all the while devouring her mouth and pounding into her. She fought against another orgasm, wanting to experience it with him. Everything was better with him. Her nails dug into his back as he stroked that secret spot inside her with mind-numbing precision. Prickles of heat climbed up her limbs, seared through her veins. Just as her control shattered, he gave in to his own powerful release, tearing his mouth away and gritting out her name through clenched teeth.
As they came down from their high, he cradled her in his arms, showering her with kisses, both of them breathless.
“So good, Pen. You fucking destroy me.”
You make me feel whole.
She lay cocooned in his embrace, thinking about how far they’d come. She and Scott hung out with the same group of close-knit friends. This time last year, when Penny had attended a charity bachelor auction at Whiskey Bro’s bar, that was all she and Scott had been—friends. The Whiskeys were like family to them, and Dixie Whiskey-Stone had put the auction together. It was a no-brainer that their single-guy friends would volunteer to be auctioned off, including Scott and Quincy Gritt, Penny’s closest male friend. Almost everyone they knew had thought that Penny and Quincy would end up together.