We idled through the swamp, and Lord pointed at something and his lips moved, but I couldn’t hear him through my ear muff thingies.
“What?” I yelled.
His smile widened. He pointed to his ears, and yelled, “You can take them off for a minute. You really only need them when we get cruising.”
I looked at him in confusion as I pulled them down around my neck. “Then why did you put them on me right away?”
“Because I knew you’d look too fucking cute with them on.”
I laughed, still slightly confused. “You’re a weird one, you know that, right?”
He shrugged and pointed to the bank. “See the gator tucked up near that log?”
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “I’ve never seen one so close.”
“Then you’re in for an experience.”
Lord maneuvered even closer to the bank and shut off the engine.
We floated toward the log, and I expected the gator to sink beneath the surface, but it didn’t. It clearly didn’t care that we were encroaching on its space.
“He ain’t real old. Maybe three or four years, at most.”
I shook my head. “How do you know that?”
“Spent a lot of time in the swamp in my day.”
“When?”
“When I needed a break from watching my back twenty-four/seven or I was just plain sick of living on the streets. This was where I came to get my shit straight and lay low when things got too hot.”
By too hot I assumed he meant the cops or gangs. I didn’t ask for clarification, and Lord continued, “If I’d only had me to worry about, I would’ve stayed out here for good, but I wasn’t about to give up keeping tabs on Con. So it was only a week or so at a time, but I’d hitch a ride from the city, steal a pirogue, and just explore. Once I got lost for three days. Luckily it was during gator season, so a couple guys found me. By that time, I’d figured out how to catch rabbits and roast ’em over a campfire. It was some of the best eatin’ I’d had in years—that I didn’t have to steal. I’d snatched a book from the library—My Side of the Mountain—and that kid made all sorts of cool shit while he was living in a tree. I didn’t make acorn pancakes, because I didn’t have the right stuff, but I sure as shit appreciated the fact that I wasn’t up in the Catskills where it was cold.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. True story.”
The gator finally disappeared beneath the surface, and Lord grinned at me as he pushed off the log and turned the boat in the direction we’d previously been heading. “You ready to fly?”
I was still absorbing what he’d told me, but I nodded anyway.
“Ear muffs on,” he ordered.
I complied, and he fired up the boat again. This time, we didn’t go slow—we flew.
Lord handled the boat expertly, but I still squealed and grabbed his arm as we skidded around turn after turn. He treated the swamp like his own personal racecourse. It was amazing.
My squeals turned into laughter, and even though I was no longer freaked out, I still held on. Lord’s thick bicep flexed beneath my hands, and I guessed that he liked being my anchor. I’d not had one of those in my life in a long time.
A glance up at him revealed his small smile, and he manipulated the controls to turn us sharply again so I was squished even closer against his side. I knew in that moment that he was doing it deliberately. And I didn’t care. I loved it.
I lost track of time as we coasted through the bayou and out into open water. Ahead of us, a gorgeous sunset was just beginning to paint the sky with pinks and oranges. Lord finally slowed and killed the engine. He lifted his ear protection, and I did the same.
I was laughing when I asked, “Is this where I need to start worrying?”
His smile grew from a small one into the grin I was becoming familiar with. “Only if you’re worried about how bad you’re gonna want me after I kiss the hell out of you while the sun goes down.”
I stopped laughing.
“I’ve been watching that perfect mouth of yours smile for the last half hour—which means we’re damn lucky I didn’t run us straight into a tree—and I’m gettin’ a taste of it.”
I bit my lip. “When you put it like that…”
He reached out and tucked some of my windblown hair behind my ear. “You look good like this,” he murmured.
“Like what?”
“Happy.”
I stilled. Happy? I didn’t think of my life in terms of happy or unhappy. I just was. But he was right. Right now, this moment, I had no cares. I was living in the now and enjoying it—because of him.
“Kiss me,” he said.
I didn’t balk at the order. I reached out and trailed a finger over his lips. The bottom one was fuller than the top, and he caught my fingertip between his teeth and nipped. I pulled my hand back, dropping it to his thigh. The muscle tightened under my touch, and I reveled in the power of being able to affect him. This man was wild, untamed—seemingly fearless—and yet his body jumped when I touched him. That was insanely seductive.
I half-stood and twisted, planting one knee between his legs on the bench seat and settling myself on top of his thigh.
Lord’s groan unleashed something in me. Yes, he’d given the order, but he’d handed control to me. I was in charge—and I wanted to make him burn. I rested one hand on his shoulder, and wrapped the other around the base of his neck.
“You sure you can handle me?” I asked.