“Well, I did just realize that my siblings are finally fully functioning adults.” She slid her hands along his jaw, loving the feel of his several-day-old beard beneath her fingers. “And that I’m not needed right now.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Maybe I need you.”

She smiled. “How can I help you?”

“I was thinking a few drinks, maybe some food. And”—he put his mouth to her ear—“me licking either one of those things off your body.”

She actually quivered. “So what’s stopping you?”

He picked her up and she locked her legs around his waist. Grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the counter, he handed it to her before walking them out the back door.

She held on tight, laughing. “The party—”

“No one will even notice we’re gone.” He was moving with her at a good pace. A man on a mission. “Besides,” he added, “you just agreed to my favorite meal.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“You.” They were moving down the dock toward his boat now.

With another laugh, she forgot to be afraid of the water as he boarded with her. He took them below deck, setting her on the narrow galley counter.

“Hey,” she said. “Do I look like the sort of girl who lets a guy lick whiskey off of her—” She gasped when he gently tipped the bottle a little, letting a few drops of the amber liquid hit her collarbone and throat. Then he lifted her up and licked it off, trailing his tongue up her neck to her ear, before taking the lobe between his teeth, making her moan.

He smiled against her. “I’m going to take that as a hard yes.”

PIPER WOKE AT what appeared to be dawn, which meant she’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep after she and Cam had ravished each other. And speaking of Cam, she found him with his head propped up by his hand, watching her sleep. “Oh, crap,” she said. “Was I snoring?”

He smiled. “No.”

“Drooling?”

“Only a little.”

He was kidding. Probably. Just in case, she swiped a hand over her mouth. “Why are you watching me sleep?”

“When I’m stressed, you center me. I told you once before, you’re better than swimming the lake.”

She took that for the compliment it was. “You don’t usually seem to give in to stress like the rest of us mere mortals.”

“It’s not a productive emotion.”

She felt her heart start to pound funny and sat up. “Why am I suddenly the one feeling stressed?”

“These past few weeks have been incredibly important to me,” he said, sitting up too. “You’ve become incredibly important to me.”

Yep, that was definitely stress making her heart thump in her ears. Stress, and something else. Something that curled through her in a terrifyingly good way. “Maybe it’s the orgasms.”