“And I don’t regret it one bit. No man has the right to touch a woman when she’s saying no.”

Her heart stopped. She had trouble taking another breath. Jay had defended her honor. Nobody had ever done anything even remotely as sweet.

“You beat him up. For me?”

Jay clenched his jaw. “Are you trying to tell me I was wrong? Did I just beat up an innocent man?”

Tara shook her head slowly. “No. You didn’t. Quentin did make a pass at me. And his attention wasn’t welcome. I told him so, but he didn’t want to listen.”

She stepped closer and brought her hand toward his face. He eased back, but she placed her hand on his cheek nevertheless.

“Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me.” She lifted herself on her tiptoes and brought her lips close to his. “Do you think it’s crazy that I suddenly feel utterly turned on?”

“Do you think it’s crazy that I’d like to bend you over the kitchen island right now and fuck you senseless?” Jay asked in response.

She felt her lips curve into a smile. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”

13

Jay had never had sex with anybody in the galley of his boat. And not only because the boat was new. He’d never had sex in the galley of any of his boats before, now that he thought of it. But apparently there was a first time for everything.

Tara still wore the sarong she’d wrapped around her bikini, and Jay was glad for it now, because it meant he didn’t have to waste time undressing her. While he captured her lips and kissed her, ignoring his throbbing chin, his hands were already busy untying her bikini top. It fell to the floor, exposing her beautiful breasts.

He was hungry for her now. Having to watch Zach shamelessly flirt with her all day had caused his need for her to grow. And making it clear to Quentin that the bastard couldn’t touch her had fueled his desire even more.

Tara’s hands were already sliding under his shirt, roaming over his chest, while her hips ground against him. She moaned into his mouth, her tongue dancing with his, her lips demanding his full attention. When she tugged on his T-shirt, sliding it higher, he released her lips and let her pull it over his head.

She looked at him with open desire, and that look made him groan. Groan, because she looked at him like she wanted to eat him alive. Him, the man she thought to be some poor waiter. She saw only him, not his money or status.

Impatiently, he slipped his hand underneath her sarong and captured the strings that held her bikini bottom up. He pulled, releasing the bow. A moment later, the tiny panties fell to the floor.

Tara hooked her thumbs underneath the waistband of his shorts and pushed them down. He helped her and stepped out of them quickly. Like he often did, he didn’t wear anything underneath.

His cock was already hard and hung heavy between his legs. When he saw her look at it and pull her lower lip between her teeth, he stifled a moan.

“Fuck, Tara, you’re gonna make me spill if you do that.”

Innocently, she met his eyes. “Do what?”

“Look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“As if you didn’t know,” he growled and spun her around, bending her over the kitchen island. Luckily there was enough space that he didn’t have to toss the pizza to the floor.

“Now be a good girl and let me fuck you,” he demanded, and pulled the sarong up to her waist, exposing her creamy bottom.

“You mean be a bad girl and let you fuck me,” Tara corrected him.

Jay chuckled. “Yes, be as bad as you want to.”

He noticed that her ass cheeks were almost the same tan color as the rest of her body, and although he’d seen her naked the night before, his brain only now registered what this meant.

He bent over her, suggestively caressing her soft flesh. “You like to sunbathe naked, don’t you?”

“Occasionally.”

“That doesn’t look like an occasional suntan, darlin’. It’s a shame we had a guest on the boat today, otherwise I might have had the pleasure of rubbing suntan lotion over your pretty ass and your gorgeous breasts.”

He palmed her ass and slid his hand to the juncture of her thighs, bathing his fingers in her dew.

Her breath hitched. “Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, next time.” He slipped a finger into her channel and felt her muscles contract around him. “And then maybe next time I’ll fuck you out there on the deck. Would you like that?”

Fuck, she was getting him so hot. He’d never been much into dirty talk, but when he was with Tara, he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted to draw her out of her shell and get her to the point where she was begging him to take her.