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“What you were trying to show me last night.”
She bit back ‘about bloody time’, the confidence her makeover had inspired a crumpled heap along with the dress. She couldn’t have this conversation now, not in the corridor outside her cabin. She could invite him in, a thought she contemplated for all of two seconds before discarding it as quickly as her makeup last night.
“When I told you how much I wanted you the other night, I said I’d back off. Until you showed me you wanted me as much.”
Damn him for being so clever. She didn’t want to talk about this now, but with his intense gaze fixed on her, she had nowhere to hide.
He touched her cheek, a brief, tender touch that conveyed more than words ever could. “I think you were trying to tell me something last night but I was too hung up on irrelevant things to notice.”
His eyes searched hers for confirmation and all she could do was stand there like a dummy, wracking her brain for a quick comeback, a brush-off, anything coherent, and coming up empty.
Leaning forward, his lips brushed her ear. “I’m as emotionally involved in all this as you are. Maybe more, and I want to show you how much.”
His warm breath fanning her neck sent a shiver of yearning through her, his declaration leaving her in little doubt what he meant.
Heck, she’d always thought actions spoke louder than words and if they’d made a mess of things trying to articulate how they felt, maybe she should go for broke and let him show her?
Taking a deep breath and hoping her voice wouldn’t quiver as much as her insides at that moment, she said, “Last night was a big deal for me. I was trying to make a statement, to show you I’m not just some mousy geek.”
His hand rested on her hip, caressed her, then gently tugged her closer, his molten gaze an incandescent blue like the hottest flame in a fire, riveted to her lips.
“Mousy geek? More like sex goddess.” He dipped his head, stole a kiss, tempting her, confusing her. “And you want to know what else I think?”
He cradled her chin, tipping it up so she had no option but to meet his blazing gaze head on. “I think you hide behind those old clothes of yours when inside is a passionate, exciting woman struggling to break free. A woman wanting to express herself. A woman who is driving me crazy with how much I want her.”
With her heart thundering in her chest and filling her ears with its pounding, she could pretend it had drowned out his words. But it hadn’t. She’d heard every single word, all of them true.
She did want to break free, to express the passion bubbling away beneath the surface, locked away where no man had untapped it.
Yet here was a guy who could do it, a guy who’d captured her imagination, closely followed by her heart, from the first moment she’d met him despite all protests to the contrary.
Here was a guy who could give her what she’d craved since his first scintillating kiss: fulfilment.
Mustering every ounce of courage she possessed, she stepped into his personal space. “My attempt at proving to you what I want last night didn’t work as I intended, so how’s this for a sign?”
She stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his, initiating a kiss for the first time in her life. And it felt great. Liberating. Incredible.
Zac moaned and grabbed her hand. “Come with me.”
She clung to his hand, almost tripping in her haste to keep up with his long strides as they followed several staircases marked ‘CREW ONLY’.
Wouldn’t Beth have a field day with this, her conservative cousin being dragged off to a sailor’s cabin?
She muffled a snort and he slowed. “Going too fast for you?”
“It’s taken us this long to get to this point. What do you think?”
His answering grin held wicked promises she intended on holding him to as he picked up the pace, guiding her through a host of warren-like corridors before stopping in front of D21 and inserting a key.
“I know we could’ve used your cabin, but this way, you have the option of leaving any time you like,” he said, stepping aside to let her in. “Because if it had been the other way around, I wouldn’t have left your side until you booted me out the door.”
Her heart soared and she wondered how she could’ve ever doubted him. To understand her enough to know this was a big deal, to know she might want to flee to the privacy of her cabin later if things got too much…he was incredible.
Reality hit as she entered the tiny cabin and her gaze riveted to the bed. She and Zac were about to make love; unreservedly, unashamedly, undeniably hot, sizzling, exhilarating, love.
He paced the confined space like a caged leopard, raking a hand through his hair and looking just as dangerous.
“Zac?”
