All Hands Below Read Online Free PDF Page B

in. Not crimes by any means, but she also took risks. Like traveling alone without friends or family to keep an eye on her, or to spend time with. No kids tagging along.
    Was she a woman of leisure? Did she even have family? Friends? The woman he married would need a supportive network of friends and family. How else would she manage those long months when he’d have to be at sea?
    He frowned. His mind churned. Stop this line of thinking, Rossi. She’d be gone in a week, this woman who was nothing more than a beautiful stranger. One who showed no fear of being in low-lit and isolated areas on board ship. One who showed no fear of strangers—Christ on a cracker!
    He was no better. He’d lusted after and flirted with her. With disaster. What the hell was he thinking?
    Either she was naïve—or fearless. He wasn’t sure which. One thing he did know—she knew which buttons to push to turn his motor on. All she had to do was look at him with those lustrous blue eyes, give him that rosy-lipped frown, and he’d forget himself. Forget his place. Forget who he was and all he’d worked for.
    Everything about her spelled trouble in caps, something Liam did not need on this cruise.
    So why was he having such a hard time driving her face and her taste out of his mind? He’d wanted nothing more than to whisk her back to his cabin and sink his cock into her core. To make love to her as long as he wanted and in as many ways possible.
    He’d picked a fine time to realize that taking her to bed would let her under his skin, too, as she pleaded with him to take her to his stateroom. He could have, especially with ship’s security due for deck sweeps any second. Thank God, he hadn’t.
    He’d worked too hard for the prize that lay ahead. Well aware this woman could mess with him in a major way had launched warning torpedoes straight to his conscience. He’d already thrown caution overboard by burying his face in her succulence as her thighs writhed against his jaw.
    She’d taken what he’d offered—what he’d wanted to give. It was enough.
    Her savory sweetness tingled across his tongue. Dear God, it had to be enough.
    ****
    Captain Rudolph waved absently in the direction of a pile of papers. “A purse was liberated from its owner in Key West, Liam. Staff managers have been advised and are asked to keep their eyes and ears open. We’ve also beefed up security as we’re sailing full. Let’s see if we can’t test the Sea Sapphire’s advanced security technology, eh?”
“Ah, yes. The automated security screening system, or ASSS for short.” Liam’s dry observation elicited a chuckle from the captain.Liam scanned the reports, aware that the system digitally photographed passengers as they boarded the ship, ate, swam, danced—then migrated those images to a visual database for retrieval.
    A name caught his eye. “The owner of the purse is Kerri Lorenzo?”
    “I believe so. Here, you can talk to her yourself.”
    He frowned as the older man got up, flung open an interior access door to the officers lounge, and in walked a face from his past.
    “I understand that you and Miss Lorenzo know each other?”
    Liam’s brows rose. His former fiancée was booked on the cruise? Kerri stepped through the door.
    “Surprise, Liam.” Her voice was soft, her light brown eyes searching. “I thought a week-long cruise to the Caribbean would be a great time to pop back into your life to say ‘hi.’ ”
    Liam tensed. No way in hell did her idea of a great time to pop back into his life fit into any definition of his. Not with the way they’d parted. Although he had to admit, he never thought he’d see her amber-gold hair and light brown eyes again. Not in this lifetime.
    Not one to forget his manners, he offered her a cordial smile, and hoped it didn’t look like he was having a tooth pulled as the captain watched with glee. “Kerri. This is a surprise.”
    “Go on, Liam,” said the captain. “Our business here is done. Enjoy