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Griffin dropped his chin to his chest and swore quietly. “You know what I mean, Marin. I’ll sleep when this is over. And it will be over shortly, I promise. Right now, I need to figure out how all the pieces fit together in this case.” His expression became shuttered. “Sleep well.”
With that, he pulled the double doors closed. Apparently, she was safe from her attackers, but not from her pirate bodyguard. Marin sighed heavily and tried to relax. The sound of Griffin’s footsteps as he paced the salon didn’t help. Returning the picture frame to the ledge, she let her fingers wander over the other few objects Ben kept by his bedside. She picked up a Rubik’s Cube, intending to play with it for a while, but it wasn’t a puzzle. Instead it was a hollow box; one filled with condoms.
The foil packets fell out over the bed. Marin scrambled to retrieve them all and put them back into the box.
“Well, we know what Ben uses his sailboat for.” She began to giggle.
It was only a matter of seconds before she was laughing hysterically. The doors flew open and Marin shoved the condoms behind her back.
Griffin glared at her. “What the hell is so funny?”
A snort escaped her throat and Marin doubled over, falling back onto the bed as her body shook with laughter. Griffin crawled over her trying to see what she was hiding. When his hand accidently skimmed her thigh, they froze. His body hovered over hers, its heat warming her. His breath fanning her cheek grew ragged. He wanted her as much as she wanted him; the evidence of his desire lay hard against her stomach.
Marin had entrusted Griffin with her life—several times. Trusting him with her heart was a whole different story, however. But her body wouldn’t settle down. Maybe it was the trauma of the past several days. Or perhaps it was that “something” that continued to hum between them. Either way, she was restless and punchy and she wasn’t going to get any sleep. Not alone, that was for sure. Tonight, she was going to take what she wanted. She lifted her chin and pressed her mouth to his.
“Marin.” Her name left his mouth as a groan.
She took advantage of his parted lips to make her own desires known. Griffin lowered his body into hers, pressing them deeper into the mattress. One of his hands fisted in her braid while the other one skimmed the side of her breast.
“You shouldn’t be distracting me,” he murmured against her neck. “I’m supposed to be your protection detail tonight.”
Marin giggled again, finally showing him the contents of her hand. “I have all the protection we need.”
Griffin buried his face into the mattress beside her head. His body trembled on top of hers. When his gaze met hers again, he was struggling to keep his face serious.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked.
“Oh, no, I still am,” she replied solemnly. “Very mad at you. But I may be dead tomorrow; so I might as well take advantage of you while I have the chance.”
He cupped her face between both his hands. “You’re not going to die tomorrow or any day after that. I won’t let anything happen to you, Marin.”
“Anything could happen, Griffin. All we have is right here and right now. And I want you. Right now.”
His face relaxed into a resigned smile. Marin reached up to brush his hair back.
“Two rules,” he stated.
Her hand stilled. “Rules? You have rules?”
“Rule one. At no point during the night may you refer to me as ‘sweet cheeks.’”
She stifled the giggle that bubbled up. “And rule number two?”
“I can’t do this if you’re wearing Ben’s T-shirt.” He looked so serious. “I’ll just keep imagining his ugly mug in the cabin watching us.”
“I thought it was implied that I’d be naked,” she teased. “But given that I’m already well acquainted with your performance issues, I’ll happily comply with both your rules.”
Griffin stalked off the bed and Marin worried she might have pushed him too far. But then he was stripping out of his sweat pants and she swallowed a moan at the sight of him flaunting his arousal.
“I told you this once, I don’t have performance issues. But I guess you won’t be happy without a demonstration, will you?” He gestured to the T-shirt. “Rule number two.”
Marin quickly shimmied out of Ben’s shirt and tossed it out the door. She shivered at the wicked grin on Griffin’s face. He grabbed her ankles and dragged her body to the end of the bed so her feet dangled off. Spreading her knees wide, he stepped between them.
Marin’s body quivered. “Griffin, I—”
“Hush,” he commanded as he knelt down between her legs. “Or there will be a rule number three.”
She lifted her head to argue with him, but he was studying her body with such undisguised hunger she flopped back down in embarrassment.
