Free Breeze off the Ocean by Joan Hohl Page A

soft tone brooked no argument. “Every soft, satiny inch of you. There’s no reason for embarrassment.” He paused, slanted another, harder look at her. “Do you feel shame?”
    “No!” Micki’s denial was fast, emphatic. “Or embarrassment either.” Rising on tiptoe, she placed her lips on the strong column of his throat. “I’m—I’m pleased that you find me attractive.”
    “Attractive?” Micki could feel the tension ease out of him. “I don’t think that adjective quite makes it.” Leaning forward, he peered, narrow-eyed, through the moisture-beaded window. “If I ever get this damn boat docked I’ll try to come up with the right one. Now be still and let me get on with it.”
    Barely breathing, Micki watched as he inched the craft along through the mist-shrouded water, and sighed with relief when he murmured, ‘There’s the marina.” When he removed his arm, she stepped back ready to follow any order he might issue.
    “Have you ever driven a boat?” Wolf asked tersely as he backed the vessel into the slip.
    “Yes,” Micki answered quietly, then qualified, “But never one this large.”
    “Good enough.” Their voyage through the mist completed safely, all his intent tenseness fled. His silvery eyes glittered teasingly. “You hold her down and I’ll tie her up.”
    Suiting action to words, he drew her to the wheel, gave a few brief instructions, and then he was gone, swallowed up in the gray-white mist. A moment later she heard the dull thud as the securing line landed on the pier, and then another as he followed it.
    When the craft was secured, its engine silent, Wolf slid his arms around the bulky slicker at her waist and held her loosely.
    “You hungry, baby?” His low tone, the way his eyes caressed her face, drove all thoughts but one from her mind. “Do you want some breakfast?”
    Micki was shaking her head before he finished speaking. Not even trying to mask her feelings, she gazed up at him, her eyes honest and direct.
    “I want to go back to bed.”
    “Good Lord,” he breathed huskily, his arms drawing her closer. “What did I ever do to earn you as a reward?”
    Pleasure radiated through her entire body at the warmth of his tone, the emotion-darkened gray of his eyes. Her arms, made clumsy by the too-large raincoat, encircled his neck to draw his head closer to hers. A shiver of anticipation skipped down her spine as his hands slid slowly over the smooth, stiff material of the garment.
    “Are you wearing anything at all under that slicker?” His face was so near, his cool breath fanned her lips.
    Mesmerized by the shiny, tautened skin of his mist-dampened cheeks and the motion of his mouth, Micki whispered a bemused, “No.”
    His parted lips touched hers in a brief kiss before she felt her lower lip caught inside his mouth, felt his teeth nibble gently on the tender, sensitive skin. Moaning softly, she flicked his teeth with her tongue. Instantly his arms tightened, crushing her against his hard body, and his lips pushed hers apart to receive his hungry, demanding mouth.
    Awareness of him sang through every particle of her being. Squirming inside the stiff, confining coat, she strained her body to his, thrilled to the feeling of his body straining to hers.
    “Wolf, Wolf.” The words filled her mind, whispered past her lips to fill his mouth.
    Lifting his head, he stared deeply into her eyes, his own eyes now nearly black with desire. His gaze dropped to her mouth.
    “Why are we standing here?” His murmured groan held near pain. One arm clasped firmly around her waist, he led her along the slippery deck, down the steps, and into his cabin. Releasing her, his hands moved to the buckles on the coat.
    “I swear, if I don’t soon feel the silkiness of you against my skin, I think I’ll burst into flames.”
    And in a sense he did, engulfing her in the conflagration.
    * * * *
    They didn’t leave the boat all that day or night. In fact they hardly set foot out of his