Chapter 15

One leg was draped over his hip. Her hands were pinned against the wall of the tiny shower that barely fit one and was now "accommodating" two.

Harm didn't think she'd want him again, not so soon. He didn't know Mac would make him this hard, this quickly. But then he pushed into her and the welcoming heat of her womanhood made him swell even farther. She was made for him.

When they got to the shower, Harm stepped in first to turn on the water and test the temperature. He knew Mac was behind him probably contemplating how or if they'd even fit. Then her arms wrapped around his middle, her pillowy breasts pressing into his back.

He hitched at the contact of her nipples teasing his flesh and signed from the ministrations of Mac's fingertips. She traced each square of his abs and with a feathery touch followed the peppered trail of hair to the vee of his hip.

Her hand teased him and when Harm least expected, deft fingers wrapped around his growing erection. It was impossible not to call her name and as he braced himself against the shower wall, his body moved of its own volition.

Most of the women he'd been with were rarely confident enough to take what they wanted. Mac cooed soft words, kissed his shoulder and delicately followed every curve, every inch of his length. She slowed when his hips jutted forward, needing her to increase the pace. Long, firm strokes that were threatening to make him beg for release.

This was Heaven, one that Harm thought couldn't get better until the water shut off and he was asked to turn around. He imagined she wanted him inside her just as badly as he wanted to take her up against the shower stall. Instead, Mac licked her lips and eyed his manhood - she had her own fantasies in mind.

He'd dreamt of it, of course. What straight man didn't dream of Sarah MacKenzie's plump lips wrapped around their cock? But even when she dropped to her haunches and took him in her mouth, Harm could have sworn that he was dreaming.

It was an explosive sensation he never believed possible. This was real. She was real; loving him with the tip of her tongue. She was tasting him just because she wanted to.

"Mac…" Her name was a strangled cry. The sight of his growing erection between her lips was almost too much. "Sarah...Ah." Gently he cupped her cheek, lovingly staring into wide, amber eyes as his fingers traced the contours of her face.

She was beautiful, his siren. And for the second time that evening Harm wondered why they hadn't ever been like this before. He was close, so close and as much as having her milk every last drop of him was alluring the need to be inside her again overrode other senses. "I don't want to come in your mouth."

Mac released him with a 'pop.' Her hand continued to stroke and she grinned when he pressed into her palm again. "I want you to."

"I want something else." Without warning he had her up and pressed against the cool wall of the shower. It wasn't meant for two people. As it was, Harm's body took up most of the stall and he needed to bend a little if not his head would clip the ceiling.

He took one of her legs and pulled it over his hip while Mac's hand guided him into her. One hard thrust had him touching her womb and she barely had a chance to accommodate his size when he pulled out and pushed again. "Yes, Harm…Yes."

Her hands were pinned against the shower wall, his hips ground into hers and every well intended desire he had to take it slow their second time around evaporated when Mac urged him to take her harder.

It was over way too soon but he really couldn't help himself. The way her body fit around his, the way she begged him not to stop…there was only so much a man could take. He came first, exploding into her unable to stop the throbbing convulsions that filled his lions.

Harm slipped one hand between them and with expert ministrations made her shutter around him with an orgasm far more intense than the last. Her head dropped to his shoulder. Her teeth bit into his skin. When his softening erection pushed into her several times as his fingers massaged her most sensitive bud, she came again and nearly passed out.

The bed shifted and a crisp breeze crept under the comforter that covered them. Mac sat up when she heard odd noises like a creek in the living quarters. More specifically it was the sound of the stern's hatch being opened and closed.

A quick pass of her hand over the spot Harm had occupied confirmed her suspicions; he was gone. The boat shifted and moved abruptly as if it were skipping above the water. There was a shift of someone either stepping off or coming aboard and she pondered what could have made him go out in the rain.

Yes, it still rained. Even hours after they nearly killed themselves stepping onto the boat, the precipitation came down in heavy sheets. Large droplets tapped against the window pane but when Mac pulled back the curtain to look out, there was nothing but darkness.

It worried her when Harm took far too long to come inside and as her want to follow became paramount, there was yet another shifting feeling.

She heard him descend back into the cabin, lock the hatch and mutter a slew of curses that made her grin. Squids. "Harm? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Mac. Everything is fine." Although it didn't seem that way when he rushed past the bed, en route to the bathroom. He was shivering when he came back and happily slid under the covers where Mac's warm body waited.

"You're freezing."

"It's a little cold outside. It's still raining." He'd used one of the raincoats from the tiny coat closet tucked by the hatch that all rental companies provided. She actually hissed when his body touched hers and simply threw a leg over his hip to draw Harm closer and offer body heat.

Mac didn't have to ask why he'd left or why he'd stepped off the boat. Ever since the mooring lines had slipped early in their trip, he'd been obsessed with them. Harm would tighten and triple check his knots. He tried several methods until he discovered a way to tie down the boat that would prevent much shifting but was easy to pull apart when they were ready to set sail.

"You went to check on the lines, didn't you?"

"Yep." He could practically see Mac's eyes rolling despite the darkness of the room.

"Those lines aren't gonna come loose. You can't keep worrying."

Only he would out of an abundance of caution. And thank God he noted the slight list aft and a sway which felt abnormal. "It did come loose. Only it wasn't my fault this time." One of the anchors that held the boat in place had ripped out of its hold. "The bow was in the middle of the canal. I had to pull her back and hammer in a new anchor point."

"Oh. You should have come get me."

"There was no time. Besides, a man's got to protect the precious cargo on board." Harm's voice was low and his lips found a spot on her neck he learned could make Mac sigh a certain way. It was the softest sound, wispy almost and nothing he'd ever thought to hear from the tough Marine.

She sighed again or maybe it was a gasp, Mac couldn't tell. It was a delight to feel his touch on her. Loving if not a little possessive. As much as she disliked the macho man crap, she loved this side of him. "Me? I'm your 'precious cargo'?"

"Mmm hmm." He was kissing lower now, nipping his way down the natural contour of her body until he reached the swell of her breast. "There's another fantasy I didn't tell you about." He said, purposely missing all of her erogenous zones.

"Oh?"

"Oh yeah." The lower Harm moved the more skin he exposed by pushing the comforter out of his way.

Mac was urged onto her back so that Harm's rough hands dragged over her rib cage, her hips, her belly. They moved over one leg and then the other, stopping to trace a circle on her right thigh. It was a dark cicatrice over otherwise flawless skin, an infinite reminder of their past and an experience that bonded them for life.

He kissed the spot and then took his time letting his palms follow every curve from hip to toe. Harm could feel the way her skin became fevered and could hear the soft mews and whimpers as he again mapped her body with his hands and then parted her thighs.

"I want to go down on you, Sarah…I want to taste you." His voice was rough and thick with need as if the very act could feed something primal inside him.

"Oh God, yes." She buckled the second his mouth touched her. The sensation of his warm, wet tongue felt extraordinarily amazing. He licked her slowly, parted her folds and pressed his face into the center of her sex.

One hand gingerly caressed her hip and the other held hers as he tasted her sweet juices. "Oh Harm."

Damn if she didn't taste good. He loved this, loved feeling her mound press against his tongue, loved how wet she got the more he dipped and tasted. She was once up on one elbow watching him but when he pulled her closer and one long finger entered the lock of her body, Mac dropped onto the mattress.

He made her moan, scream and beg for him not to stop. Fingers threaded through his hair, holding his head right where she needed him. And need him she did when the pressure increased and pulling sensation of a growing release made Mac a wanton woman.

She loved the feel of him, the scent of sex that hung in the air. She loved how he didn't stop until a thunderous orgasm carried her over the edge. Moaning the loss of him was involuntary when he pulled his finger out of her.

Eyes were half mast when they propped open in the darkness that made it impossible to see what was happening. She heard more than saw him stroking himself and not a moment later felt his full length sliding between her folds.

Harm didn't enter her immediately, simply let her ride out the aftershocks as he slid against her sex. He was rock hard, needing his own release and the feel of her warmth wrapped around him. Never had he been this insatiable with anyone.

Mac brought out something wild in him that he knew wouldn't ever abate.

Mac pulled him down to her, licked the seam of his lips where she could taste herself. She kissed him passionately, held him even closer and when her body was ready, it was Mac's hand which guided him into her. "Make love to me."

"Yes, Mac." When he pressed into her it felt different from before, a little more loving wity Mac's legs wrapped high around his waist and his body lowered over hers.

It was deliberately slow how they moved together trading sighs for kisses and moans for heavy breaths until it ended in a dizzying spell that pushed them both over the edge.

Mac was asleep. At least, she thought she was until her flyboy decided to confess a little something that had been gnawing at him for two days. "What did you say?"

"I said," Harm's head turned from the spot on her pillow which muffled his voice. "I hate John Farrow."

She chuckled at his confession but when Harm shifted in bed, Mac realized it wasn't a joke. He was being sincere. "Why? What'd he ever do to you?"

There were few things that really bothered Harn in his life and some of those he'd learned to live with. John Farrow was something of a mystery - a seasoned and well respected Marie officer with more medals pinned to his chest and an impressive story behind each one. He was honorable and fearless enough to take on a loan shark just to protect a woman he cared for.

Yeah, Harm hated him and with good reason; Farrow was there for Mac when he should have been. "He's seen you naked."

"So have several other men. What's your point?"

"They're not him."

Mac practically crawled over Harm to reach a bedside lamp. "Hey!" He complained and squinted his eyes at the sudden intrusion.

"Could've warned me there, Marine." Harm rubbed his eyes to adjust him to the light and for the life of him he didn't understand what made him blurt out such a comment.

"Harmon Rabb, Jr, why this thing with John all of a sudden?" She propped up on an elbow to watch him and was surprised when Harm winced as she mentioned another man's name. "John's done nothing to hurt you."

John. He absolutely hated the way Mac said her former lover's name. It held a timbre of intimacy that made his blood boil. "He loves you and writes you love letters."

"And I already told you that I don't love him, not that way."

"Have you written back to him?"

"Yes."

"Oh." He felt his heart slam into the pit of his stomach. As irrational as it probably was given their current situation, Harm was jealous. He was jealous as hell. They walked away from one another and for two years there was nothing. No emails, no phone calls and if it hadn't been for his postcard and Mac being sent to cover his command…He dreaded to think of the alternative and why he wasn't man enough to even visit the two times he'd been to San Diego.

"Harm, my responses to his letters are often a quick blurb on my career without any romantic overtures or hints that I may feel the same. Because I don't feel the same." She bit her lower lip and wondered whatever possessed her to admit that John still kept in touch. While a jealous Harmon Rabb Jr. may have been sought after and amusing at one point, she despised it now. "He's a good man, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Harm rolled his eyes. Farrow was practically a legend in the Corps despite the few hits his career had taken. He was a hero, the real deal and although Harm had his own triumphs in the military, he felt inadequate. "He's worthy of you, Mac. I'm the jackass that let you slip away a hundred times too many…He loves you."

As much as Mac knew they still needed to dig deep into many of their issues, she hoped that conversation would hit the snooze button until they were off the boat. The past several hours had been spent in coital bliss and that she hoped nothing could ruin. "He does love me. But, I left him and he knows I don't want to be with him. I can't wind back that clock nor do I want to."

"Why?"

"Because."

"That's not an answer."

She scooted closer so that her head could rest on his chest just above his heart. It was beating thunderous staccato that eased when Mac touched him. "Our time passed and I fell for you. Not him…I'm in love with you."

"Yeah, okay…okay. I have feelings for you too…Had 'em for a while."

Mac knew it would take time for Harm to verbally express his love. That notion stung a little but she accepted his timeline and would patiently wait for the time to be right. "Is that why you push my buttons?"

"In a way." One arm wrapped around her and the other stretched above his head to shut off the light It bathed the narrowboat in darkness and Harm was glad the stupid glare was no longer making his eyes sting. "You know how little boys can be jerks around little girls? Rather than admit they like them they act like-"

"Jerks?"

"Yeah, jerks." He shrugged, "Best explination I got without opening up a whole can of 'what ifs.' I don't like knowing that I've hurt you."

"And I don't like knowing that I've hurt you."

Harm kissed the crown of her head and let himself relax some. "I really didn't know what I had until you were gone. Really gone. To the other side of the World gone."

She knew the feeling. Only her regret began when he left to fly without knowing her true feelings for him. "When you left JAG and went back to a squadron, I felt that way - like my whole World was turned upside down. I wasn't happy for you. I felt…abandoned."

"I didn't abandon you, Mac. If something had happened, if you'd called I would have come running."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do. Even after Paraguay when I was madder than hell at you, I would have been there. I've missed the hell out of you."

"I've missed you, too." She wiped away a tear and snuggled closer into him. The warmth of Harm's body was a calming presence. "You're damned near impossible to get over."

"Back at you MacKenzie."

Mac sighed heavily and shifted up so that her head lay next to his on the same pillow. "John asks about you from time to time."

"Ugh, does he? Probably wants to kill me."

She laughed. Lord if Harm ever saw the slew of curses Farrow used to describe the sailor, he'd really see red. "Oh, he does but only because he knows I have feelings for you and he knows we weren't together…Thinks it's your fault."

"You know-" Harm snorted loudly and was a breath away from insulting the man when her hand over his heart stopped him. "He's right. Could have fixed things with you sooner…We're..uh… together now, aren't we? This isn't a fling."

"No. This isn't a fling. We're together." For now, Mac thought, because the future was still quite uncertain.

"Good." He gave her a soft kiss and then pulled the covers over them. "I still hate John Farrow…just a little less than before."

"I'll be sure to let him know." She giggled when he tickled her and finally settled in for some much needed sleep after Harm kissed her goodnight.