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Mine Until Moonrise

Lost Harbor, Alaska ~ Book 1

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

(Lucas has just rescued Megan during a storm, and they’re on his boat, the Jack Hammer.)

His tea kettle whistled, so he clicked off the radio and went back to the galley. He jumped at the sight of Megan framed by the hatch that led to the captain’s berth. She leaned against the fiberglass frame, blinking sleepily, enveloped in the clean t-shirt he’d given her. Her hair was a tangled mess, her face blotchy from her tears, the flesh around her blue-gray eyes swollen—but still, he found her beautiful.  

The shirt read, “I Got Hammered on the Jack Hammer” and it covered her only to mid-thigh. The sight of her bare legs emerging beneath his shirt made him harden. Trouble.

“You couldn’t sleep?” 

“Not really, I was too worried about Ruby. Did you reach Zoe?” 

“I did.” He poured boiling water over a tea bag in an insulated mug. “Zoe says she and the twins will spoil her rotten until you get back. Want some tea or do you want to try again with the nap?” He offered her the mug. 

She wrapped her hands around it gratefully and took a sip. “I think there’s too much adrenaline in my veins to sleep much. Also, I—” 

“What?” 

“I—” She paused, then put down the mug next to the little sink. And threw herself into his arms.He caught her against his chest. Under the soft t-shirt, her bare breasts pressed against him. 

“I just wanted to say ‘thank you,’” she sobbed. “You saved my life. I know you’ll pretend like you didn’t and that you were just doing your job or something. But I was so scared and alone, and then your voice came on the radio and I knew I’d be okay.” 

He wrapped his arms around her. This wasn’t sexual, then, even though every bone in his body reacted as if it was. This was gratitude. Emotional release. “You’re all right. You’re safe. It’s okay.” He stroked soothing circles across her back, feeling the delicate knobs of her spine under his palm. He kept his lower half tilted away from her. He didn’t need her to know how turned-on she got him. 

“I know I’m safe. You don’t understand.” She drew back, and now he saw something different in her eyes. Heat. “I’m alive.” 

“Yes.” A drumbeat of anticipation came to life in the back of his mind. Something was happening here. He wasn’t sure exactly what, but he could hope. “I can see that.” 

“Can you feel it?” She picked up his hand and placed it over her heart. He felt its rapid thudding beat. He also felt the curve of her breast. He fought to keep his voice neutral. 

“I feel it, yes.” He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly bone dry. 

“I’m alive and I want—I want—oh for Pete’s sake.” She grabbed the hem of the t-shirt and ripped it over her head. She tossed it into a corner—onto his best titanium halibut rod, but he didn’t complain. There was only one rod that mattered right now. 

And it was harder than ever as he took in her naked body. Naked. Body. As he ate up every curve and patch of silky skin, he knew he’d been imagining exactly this for quite a while now. “You sure about this? You might just be looking for a way to release tension right now.” 

“Who the fuck cares?” 

Shit. He’d never heard Megan swear before. He found it—hot. 

“I’m a grown fucking woman and right now, I want you. I want to fuck you in that incredibly comfortable bed back there and I don’t want to think about anything else.” 

Electric energy vibrated through every word. Her eyes were wild flashes of blue light. Then she froze. “Unless you don’t want to.” Her suddenly tentative tone made him snort. 

“You can put that out of your mind. I want to.” He bent his head so his lips hovered over hers. “I think I’ve wanted to for a while,” he murmured. He set his hands on her hips, her skin soft and pliant under his palms. The feel of her flesh sent the last of his misgivings flying off with the storm wind.

The first touch of her lips made the world shift around him. She tasted of salt and chamomile from the tea he’d given her. Beyond that, something else—something wild and rich and entirely new. She opened her mouth eagerly, urging his kiss deeper and sending her tongue to twine with his. The way she moved, her urgency, her heat—the message ricocheted through his system. 

She didn’t want hesitation or barriers. She wanted everything all at once. 

Her leg slid up his side and curled around him. He pressed his erection into her nakedness. He was wearing a spare pair of fleece workout pants since everything else had gotten drenched. The fabric offered exactly zero way to hide his fierce arousal. 

“I know this seems crazy.” She pulled away long enough to murmur that statement, then descended on him again with a flurry of kisses on his chin, mouth, cheeks, stubble. “I know I might kick myself later. Can we just do this and not think about it ever again? Kind of a ‘people do unpredictable things during a crisis’ thing?”

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