Free A Dangerous Leap by Sharon Calvin Page A

kind of dog if you believe I’d do something that low.” He tugged her hand, pulling her closer. “For your information we weren’t living together. And I never slept with her, either.”
    It was like Christmas—all excitement and wonder mirrored in her eyes. Then she was tunneling under the covers with laser-guided precision.
    “Hey! Watch those teeth,” he yelped and grabbed her sheet-covered head.
    She crowed with obvious delight and mumbled something about kissing it and making it better. Ian caught his breath as she did just that. God, she was going to kill him with her overnight conversion to sex-nymph.
    Kelly’s hesitant, almost shy response to their initial lovemaking screamed of inexperience. She wasn’t a virgin, but if her reactions were anything to go by, what few lovers she’d had certainly lacked imagination.
    Ian groaned again. She was a hell of a fast learner. He reached under the sheets and grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up his chest. “Enough,” he said and covered her wanton mouth with his own.
    Nothing about Kelly was simple, but hell, if he’d wanted simple, he’d have stuck with Heather. And right now, with Kelly’s giggles turning to soft moans, he realized just how fun complex could be.
    * * *
    Several hours later, her boat securely anchored in a protected cove, Kelly stretched with as much languor as Mizzen. The sun’s heat warmed without baking and a smile teased her lips.
    “What’s that smug look all about?” Ian asked, nudging her hip over as he sat on the aft bench seat where she lay in her simple one-piece swimsuit.
    She turned on her side so she could curl around him and took the cup of coffee he handed her. Touching a man had never seemed so potent, or so necessary before. Now she couldn’t get enough of him. She propped herself up on an elbow and sipped the hot coffee before answering.
    “Oh, nothing much, just feeling like a cat in the sun waiting to be petted,” she said. Obligingly, Ian ran his hand over her shoulder and down her back ending with a gentle squeeze and pat on her bottom. Silly, but she relished the swollen, achy throb that served as a reminder of their lovemaking.
    No, not
lovemaking
, she wouldn’t make the mistake of confusing sex with love again. Afraid her expression would convey her thoughts, Kelly took a hasty gulp of coffee. The last thing she needed was for Ian to think she couldn’t tell the difference between fun sex and love. A man like Ian would never love someone like her—he had
traditional
etched in his DNA. She had tried to mold herself into that role when she’d married and failed miserably. She had no intention of repeating that lesson ever again.
    “Where do you keep all your stuff?” Ian asked, gesturing toward the cabin with his coffee mug.
    He hooked his other arm around the back of her knees, drawing her closer, and leaned against her. She’d never been around anyone who touched and cuddled as much as he did—hadn’t realized how nice it was either.
    “Stuff?” Kelly looked around, not sure of what he meant. “Whatever I own is on the boat, except for some extra scuba gear in the dock box at the marina.”
    Ian laughed. “Come on. You don’t own any furniture, or books, or just…stuff?” His tone implied that was impossible to imagine.
    “Hel-lo—you’re looking at a born and raised Navy brat. I’m really good at packing light and saying goodbye.” A tiny voice in her head muttered something about being exceptionally good at that goodbye part. Her stomach did an unexpected elevator drop that set her heart fluttering. No doubt about it, when he left it would hurt. Hadn’t she avoided attachments because she knew they never lasted? She’d only been a short-term convenience to her husband. Heck, even her own brother couldn’t be bothered to stay in touch.
    “You’re serious? I’ve never met anyone outside of college that hadn’t accumulated at least an apartment worth of stuff.”
    Kelly hitched her