Free Course of the Heart by Cam Dawson

with this man would put her at ease, but she relished the thought of being near him. “Wait until the girls in Fairhope get wind of this.”
    His expression changed rapidly as he withdrew his hand. Although he attempted to conceal it with a smile, she had hit a nerve.
    “I’m sorry, Drew.” She reached her hand across the table toward his. He stood abruptly, taking his plate to the sink. She stood and moved toward him. “I didn’t mean to—”
    “Forget it.” He took another beer from the icebox. “Believe me, I deserve it. You go ahead and turn in. I’m going to study the charts for a while on deck. Give you a chance to get to sleep before I start snoring.”
    He moved into the main cabin and up the steps to the deck before she could move.
    She was such an idiot.
    She woke to pitch darkness, courtesy of a new moon. A chill passed over her, causing her to roll over and sit up in his big stateroom bed. The other side of the bed was still made up. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw him in the corner, scrunched in a chair and wrapped in a blanket. Still in her sweat suit, she got out of bed and walked over to him and gently touched his hand. He woke abruptly, jumping to his feet and hitting his head on the bulkhead.
    “Whazzit?”
    “Drew, it’s me. Everything’s fine. You look so uncomfortable. Please come to bed.”
    He yawned widely and sat back in the chair. “Are you sure?”
    Samantha took his hand and led him to the bed. He made a couple of steps, stumbled, and fell onto the other side of the bed. In a matter of a minute, his breathing changed. She took the blanket from the chair and covered him.
    Even in his T-shirt and shorts, he looked sexy. She moved around to the other side and crawled under the covers, shivering from the cool night air. As he fell deeper into sleep she edged closer. His warmth radiated, even though he was three feet away. She scooted closer, as he turned away from her onto his side. Ever so slowly, she inched her way up next to his back and broad shoulders. The heat from his body was delicious and she stopped shivering immediately.
    Despite her efforts to downplay the situation, the reality of the moment kicked in and her heart began to race. His man scent permeated her nose and she found her mind meandering to thoughts she should not be having. She drew closer to his buttocks and felt the moisture building between her legs. She was aware that if he were to turn over and touch her in any way, she might not have the strength to move away and would be his, if he so desired. Blocking thoughts of actually waking him, she backed away slightly. She had gone from a chill in her bones to a wanton heat she could hardly contain.
    For a long while she lay there, aware of his presence, before finally becoming drowsy.
    She was toasty warm, safe, and in bad need of sleep, yet her desire continued to flame out of control.
    For the first time since early the previous morning, she felt secure.
    And she wanted out of that sweat suit. But the man she wanted to remove it was within a few inches, fast asleep.

Chapter 6
    She was plastered against his back when he woke. He carefully slipped out of the bed, his back wet with sweat. How could such a small body create so much heat? He blocked thoughts of how to put that heat to work for his pleasure. Old habits are hard to break.
    He grabbed his toothbrush and hairbrush and made his way through the galley to the guest stateroom, in an effort to keep from waking her. After putting coffee on, he climbed the ladder to the deck. A warm breeze greeted him, as the sun broke through the pink and orange on the horizon. He had never been a man to capture much of anything on film or in a frame, but if that had been his thing, this would be a poster morning. Ever cognitive of the tasks that lie before him to prepare the boat for sailing the rest of the way to Andros, he stopped for a moment to savor the scenery. If one word could describe the beauty before