“So, that’s the way you want to play,” he said, a glint in his eyes as he came after her.
Deanna tried to evade his reach, but Sean was quicker. He had her off her feet and in the water before she could plead for mercy. Then Kevin was in the middle of things, splashing them both. When he managed to hit Sean squarely in the face with a handful of water, Deanna saw her chance. She ran for shore.
Sean caught her just before she hit the beach, carried her right back out and sank down in water to his shoulders, still holding her cradled against his chest.
“Ready to concede yet?” he inquired, his gaze locked with hers.
Deanna was aware of every single spot where their bodies were in contact. Given the temperature of the water and the heat they were generating, she was amazed that this part of the Atlantic hadn’t turned into a steam bath. She tried to respond to Sean’s taunt, but she couldn’t seem to form the words, couldn’t even think.
Suddenly Sean’s eyes darkened as if the heat had finally gotten to him, as well. His hand slipped higher, brushing against the already hard bud of her nipple. Even through her suit the sensation shot fiery heat straight through her. His knowing gaze held hers, daring her to protest or move away.
But Deanna didn’t want to move. She wanted that almost innocent caress to last forever, wanted the wild flaring of need to build and build until she was writhing beneath Sean and he was burying himself deep inside her.
Oh, no, she thought with a moan. What was happening to her? She was turning into a bundle of exposed nerves, sensitive to every brush of Sean’s fingers across her flesh. If she could react like this with her son just a few feet away and Sean doing practically nothing, what would happen if he truly set out to seduce her?
“We’re going to finish this one of these days,” he told her quietly, still holding her gaze.
She shuddered at the certainty in his voice. There was little point in denying his claim. They were destined to finish this. They had been for weeks now. Only old fears and uncertainties, which ran deep in both of them, had kept the tide of their wanting in check.
His lips curved. “No argument?”
She solemnly shook her head. “Why waste my breath?”
“Geez, Dee, why not torment me a little more?” he muttered hoarsely. “I thought you’d at least tell me I was crazy to think for one minute that you and I…” His voice trailed off and he glanced toward Kevin who was splashing nearby, safe with his colorful floating device twisted around his waist. “Well, you know.”
Deanna smiled at his attempt at discretion. “I know.” She rested her hand against his cheek, loving the way the combination of stubble, heat and icy salt water felt against her palm.
Eyes locked with hers, he lowered her slowly to her feet, letting her feel the tension in his body, his unmistakable arousal. With water swirling around them up to their waists, he held her tightly against him, rocking his hips just a little, just enough to make her wish they were out here all alone, under a moonlit sky.
She swallowed hard. “I’d better…I need…”
“What do you need?” he asked, amusement in his eyes.
“Heat,” she blurted.
He laughed. “This isn’t making you hot enough?”
“Sun,” she insisted, refusing to concede. She waved in the general direction of the beach. “I need to get back.”
“Because?”
She opted for total honesty. “Because, Sean Devaney, you scare the daylights out of me.”
He seemed genuinely shocked by that. “Me? Why?”
“Because you make me feel things, want things, I’d never expected to want again.”
He regarded her with a commiserating look. “Tell me about it. This—you and me—it was the last thing I expected.”
“Or wanted,” she guessed.
“Or wanted,” he agreed.
Somehow knowing that he didn’t want this—didn’t want to want her—hurt more than she’d anticipated it would. Of course he didn’t. How many times had he made it plain that commitment was the last thing on his mind? She remembered another man—Frankie—who’d hedged about the future, but she’d been so confident that they could defy the odds. Was she willing to take on another man with doubts?
“It doesn’t have to go any further than this,” she said stiffly, gathering her pride around her.
He touched a finger to her lips. “I think you and I both know that it’s impossible to turn back now.”
“Not impossible,” she insisted.
He shrugged. “Unlikely, then.”
Yes, she thought, refusing to waste her breath arguing. It was definitely unlikely that they could turn back now. If only she could be equally certain just what the future held.
Chapter Twelve
The rest of the week in Cape Cod was pure torment. Sean’s desire was a palpable thing—with him whenever he was in a room with Deanna, with him at night when she was in her own bed in a room upstairs. Not even the presence of Ruby and Hank or Kevin’s constant chatter could take his mind off Deanna and his insatiable need for her.
He was unable to put a name to it that he could live with. Calling it lust diminished it. Describing it as love terrified him. Better just to acknowledge its existence and not label it at all.
Adding to his level of frustration was the fact that Deanna didn’t seem the least bit unnerved by the simmering passion between them. It was as if that moment in the ocean had never happened. She was perpetually cheerful. She didn’t seek him out, but neither did she avoid him. She seemed perfectly content with the blasted status quo, while Sean was about to tear his hair out.
He wondered if his brother had gone through any of this when he’d fallen for Maggie. Had Ryan been
