In Too Deep by Cherry Adair

dark.
    She wasn't in love with the man. Didn't know him. Yet it was the best sex she'd ever had. And she'd had some pretty good sex. Okay, that had been at least five years ago. But she hadn't forgotten. Still, this had felt waaay better. Comparatively speaking.
    He began to move again, his thick shaft engorging impressively as he pumped inside her, keeping the pace maddeningly slow and even.
    "Geeezzz," she whispered on a half moan. "What kind of vitamins do you take?"
    "Strong enough for a woman, but made for a man," he said, and she heard the amusement in his voice.
    "Amen." Tally squeezed her eyes shut, stopped talking, and went with the flow. There'd be plenty of time tomorrow for self-analysis and recriminations.
     
    The sky was a clear, cerulean blue the next morning. The water calm and well-behaved. It was as though the storm had never been.
    Under normal circumstances Michael abhorred using women as pawns in his ops. But Tally Cruise had been dropped into his lap like manna from heaven.
    She was a bonus. And eventually a prisoner of war.
    Nothing, not even a soft-skinned, wary-eyed female, was going to stand between him and his objective.
    Nothing.
    Church was going to watch as Michael took away everything he held dear. Then the man was going to die.
    A surge of adrenaline supercharged him.
    He'd left nothing to chance; yet, like a good soldier, he knew how to incorporate unexpected diversions seamlessly into his plans.
    He guided the Nemesis through the deep channel in the reef and into Paradise harbor with consummate skill. Tally stood at the outside rail, shading her eyes with her hand.
    "Isn't the clarity, and color of the water amazing ?" She hung over the rail giving him a delectable view of her butt. "Oh! I can see tiny, bright yellow fish darting about down there."
    Her short hair ruffled in the breeze, and her long legs were spaced apart for balance. His orange shorts flapped about her knees, and his much-washed white T-shirt effectively hid her small breasts. Her breasts were sensitive. The nipples quick to peak when he sucked them into his mouth—
    "Did you say something?" Tally turned to glance at him over her shoulder, oblivious to the havoc she'd caused.
    He'd groaned. The sound should've been him pounding his head against the deck. "Just concentrating as I navigate the reef."
    "Okay. Just ignore me as I oooh and ahhh . No wonder my father calls his island Paradise. The name might not be original, but it's appropriate. Look at it. It's breathtaking. I wish I were an artist." She babbled on as he eased through the channel toward the small marina. "Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to capture all the blues and greens on canvas?"
    "Take a picture."
    "I don't have my—a photograph isn't the same. It doesn't have the same heart as something done with brush strokes."
    "Don't tell my brother that."
    "He's a photographer?"
    "Yeah. And a good one."
    "I bet if he came here he'd want to pick up a paintbrush."
    If Kane came here it would be to retrieve his older brother in a body bag to take home for burial.
    Michael brushed off the thought. Dead or alive, when he left Paradise, his job would be done.
    Paradise Island. Sleepy. Picturesque. Inauspicious. Home and headquarters of the Scourge of the North Pacific, Trevor Church. Island population, 132. So small, the damn thing wasn't on the map. It didn't look any different now than it had a year ago. Only this time, Lieutenant Michael Wright was no longer a Lieutenant. And this time he was upright, healthy, and ready to finish the war they'd started.
    Despite being in a protected inlet, the ire of the monsoon could be seen in downed trees, uprooted shrubs, and debris littering the beach and shell road leading into town. The small marina was a hive of activity. A dozen or more men were busily bringing various-size boats back to their slips.
    Michael eased the boat into an empty slip, then jumped onto the worn, weathered dock to tie her off.
    "Thanks for getting us