gripped my hips to put me exactly where he wanted me. Again and again, he filled me until I was a mindless vessel for him.
The roar of the orgasm blindsided me, and I yelled out his name. The boat rocked as he reared up over me and locked one hand between mine on the railing. My nails wrapped around his wrist so I could feel him. So I could hold on to something.
God, he was going to rip me apart.
“Again,” he growled into my mouth as he tried to kiss me through the unrelenting thrusts of his hips. I tipped my pelvis up to get that bit of friction I needed, and my whole body shuddered around him.
The flood of him inside me as he groaned out my name had me wishing I could wrap myself around him. I wanted to climb inside him. I just couldn’t get close enough.
His arm slid up my back to cup me closer to his chest. Then the cuffs were free, and I vined around him.
The plunk of something hitting the water made me laugh.
He peeked over the railing. “Shit.”
“Lose something, Sheriff?”
“A bit of my dignity when I have to order a new pair of cuffs.” He laughed into my neck. “Worth it.”
He was relaxed enough that I took the chance and flipped him over onto his back and straddled him. His eyes were soft from a very thorough orgasm. It was nice to know I could wreck him as truly as he destroyed me. His eyes crinkled at the corners and shone with humor when I braceleted his wrists with my fingers to press him into the cushions.
“My turn to be at your mercy?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
He lifted his head to nuzzle along my breast, swaying from my position over him. I let out a breath and tried to concentrate. Something out of the corner of my eye distracted me.
I glanced up and gasped, flattening myself onto Jared.
“What?” He tried to get up, but I held him down. “Is there someone out there?”
I giggled. “A lot of someones.”
He tried to crane his neck and cover me at the same time. “Fuck.”
I couldn’t stop the giggles as the boat floated into the shallows right in front of The Mason Jar. We weren’t exactly on the shoreline, but…
“Would you stop laughing?”
His horror only made me laugh harder.
He quickly pulled the ends of my dress closed over me.
I rose enough to peek at how bad it was and saw the dozen customers on the deck waving at us. Mason saluted us before going back into the restaurant with a shake of his head.
A quack from the side of the boat was the last straw. I collapsed into a fit.
Jared was on his back, his hips arched up as he hiked up his jeans. “I can’t believe this.”
“I can.”
He rolled onto his knees and kept trying to tie my dress. “Would you help me?”
A duck flew up onto the railing. Startled, Jared threw up an arm. The duck bobbed his green head in greeting.
Finally, Jared shook his head and sat back on his feet. “Only in the Cove, man.”
And then I was off in giggle-land again.
We’d led the ducks back to the restaurant once more.
Twenty-One
A week out from the boat incident, and I still was getting knowing looks from people in town. Add in the lookout point, the night of the tree lighting, the betting pool, ducks, and…well, if we wanted to keep our relationship a secret—which I did not—we wouldn’t have been able to.
We were officially the town’s favorite topic of discussion.
I’d convinced Bee to donate most of the money from the betting pool to the food pantry. The rest went to a staggering amount of Christmas decorations. I hadn’t thought there was room in my house for any more.
I’d been very wrong.
I sat back in my chair as I waited for my report to print.
There was a knock on my open door. I spun around. The instinctive kick of fear would go away eventually, I was pretty sure. Gina’s mother was a force, both as an employee and a mama bear. “Hey, Bonnie. What can I do for you?”
“I’m just checking to make sure everything is ready for my time off.”
I frowned, and then my memory kicked in. I’d been so scattered with my actual office duties that I’d forgotten. “Oh, right, Erica is damn close, huh?”
She nodded and closed the door before sitting in the chair in front of my desk. “My first—well, Dios, I