In His Sails Page 3

  “Well it’s only part sailboat, part motor boat. Best of both worlds.” He held his hand for me as we walked to a seat at the end, behind the steering controls.

  The seat cushions were the colour of his eyes. Deep blue.

  “Why is it called drummer boy? Christmas carol fan?” I raised an eyebrow as I grinned at him.

  He looked serious. “I played around in a band in high school with a bunch of mates and I played the drum. Badly. It’s to remind me that you don’t always get everything you want.”

  “I thought those names were meant to be inspirational or something?”

  “You need that reminder. That not everything always works out how you think it will.”

  I shivered as he started the engine, the hull vibrating and the motor purred as he set out from the jetty.

  I had to admit that feeling the breeze and the salt spray on your face was exhilarating. It was just what I needed. My hair whipped behind me, my face smoothed from the speed. When we were out far enough to see the shore, but for no one to see us in return, he stopped the motor and put the sails up. It was quiet, the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the boat like a lovers caress. A gentle breeze cooled the sun’s stare on my skin.

  “We won’t drift far, not enough wind today,” he said. “But I love the boat with its sails out. Don’t you?”

  It did look impressive.

  “So you want to think first, or eat?”

  “Think?” He must have taken my question as a definitive answer because he led me down to a lower deck, which was like a tiny studio apartment with a bed, kitchen and bathroom. On one side wall was a small desk with a laptop on it.

  He touched the side of my arm. “Call me when you need me, I’ll be above deck.”

  I don’t know what I expected, but I was surprised that he left me alone. Where was the hot seduction on a yacht in the middle of the ocean? We seemed to have gone from potential love interests to mere friends. I wasn’t used to guys treating me like this.

  I sat on his bed, rested my arms on my knees and cupped my chin in my hands.

  Did he not feel the same rush of blood as I did when he touched me? Did his stomach not fill with tiny butterflies like mine did when he looked at me?

  Or perhaps he was being nice? I didn’t want nice. Not right now.

  I sighed and ran my hand over his bedspread, then laid down on it, staring up at the ceiling. I wanted him to kiss me, take my mind off everything.

  But I was here to think about what to do to sort out my life. I sat back up. As hard as I could to concentrate on where I might live, or what I should do with my life, all I could think about was David above deck. His footsteps above my head and me lying on his bed, alone.

  Chapter 9

  “Everything okay?” David appeared at the bottom of the stairs, holding onto the rail.

  I stood up. “Yes, fine.” My voice squeaked higher than a mouse. He must have thought I was crazy.

  He walked over to me until he stood so close we were nearly touching. I took a sharp gulp and it caught in my throat. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

  He lifted my chin with his hand so my face was looking into his. There was a deep longing in his eyes that must have matched my own.

  “I haven’t had a woman on my boat for a long time,” he said as he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around my back so I pressed into his chest. His heart was pumping as fast as mine. “You being here, it’s driving me crazy. I can’t concentrate.”

  “Me either,” I managed to squeak out.

  He breathed in my hair and groaned.

  He was about to kiss me, I knew it.

  Except he didn’t.

  He let me go, letting his fingers untangle with mine and took a step away. “I should take you back now.”

  A tiny bubble of disappointment settled in my stomach. I trembled. “Have I done something wrong?”

  “Of course not. But you, me, the ocean rocking under our feet, all I want to do is peel your clothes of, take you here and now. You don’t understand how much I want you. All I can think about is feeling you, touching you,” he paused and then whispered, “fucking you.”

  I whimpered. I wanted that too - didn’t he see that?

  “But it’s not fair. I can’t give you want you need. I’m not ready.”

  “Ready for what? Can’t you see that I’m here, on your boat? I want you too.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t talk about it.”

  “Fine.” I pushed past him, to the steps to the deck above. Coldness rippled through me, tempering the heat that was building in my tightly closed fists.

  “Mia, wait.”

  Still on the steps I turned. He sat down on the bed and buried his head in his hands. “It’s taking all of my strength not to grab you back.”

  “Whatever. I don’t care. Just take me home.”

  “A year ago my fiancé died. That’s the reason I don’t talk to women much anymore. But my friends told me it was time, and then I saw you, so gorgeous, so not like anyone I’ve ever met. You were only going to be here for a short time. I could have a holiday fling with you, use you to get my life back together. But I like you more than that. You’re strong, determined.”

  “Oh, what about, beautiful, hot, sexy as hell?”

  “Fuck, yeah.”

  I walked back to the bed and sat next to him. I couldn’t believe what I was about to say, but he needed to hear it straight. “Have a holiday fling with me. I’m not ready for a relationship either. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with my life after this is over. The truth is I don’t want to even think about it now. It’s too much all at once to deal with.”

  He looked at me, with hunger and desire in his eyes.

  “Let’s forget about our problems. Just for a few days. Let’s have some fun,” I said.

  David didn’t waste any time. He pushed me back on the bed, kissing my neck, my chin, my mouth. His lips crushed against mine and tasted like the salt air. I was hungry for more.

  His tongue assaulted me, his hands explored my body. I had unleashed his pent up desire, and I liked every bit of it. “God, Mia, you’re so fucking hot.” He kissed my neck, nibbled my ear, sucked the nape of my shoulder. I lapped up his attention.

  He straddled me, knees on either side of my body and sat up, leaning back and peeling his shirt away from his body. His chest and abs were every bit as muscular as I remembered from yesterday. The tattoo on his arm wasn’t his only one, he had another just above the hip bone, drawing my eyes lower to where I could see he was already hard.

  He leaned down and kissed my neck again sending tiny shivers through my body. His hands explored my skin, creeping under my clothes. I could feel myself becoming slick with sweat and desire as his fingers explored me.

  Feverishly I tugged at my own clothes, wanting to rip free any fabric that separated us, and have his hands touch more of me, his mouth taste every inch.

  Soon they were off, melted away, and I was naked under him. His eyes glazed over as he drank in my curves and he groaned a low guttural animal sound. Immediately his hands and mouth were back on me.

  I whimpered as he grazed his thumb over my breasts, arched my back as I felt his breath hovering over me. All I wanted was for him to take my nipple in his mouth and swirl it around like a lollipop. Instead, he trailed his tongue around my side, across my stomach and up between my breasts as if he was devouring every inch of my flesh.

  Using my feet, I hooked them over his shorts and pushed them down, taking his boxers with them, allowing his hard manhood to spring free. He kissed me hard on the mouth again, his tongue feverishly devouring me.

  I grabbed for him, wanting to feel his arousal in my hands. Throbbing intensity from my core wanted him, wanted to forget everything else and have him take me away from my life and into ecstasy.

  His hand slipped behind my neck as he whispered in my ear again. “You are so fucking hot,” he said.

  He sat back up le
aning to the side of the bed, to a drawer, pulling out a condom and unwrapping it before he rolled it on to his hardness.

  I was ready for his assault, almost salivating for it, but instead he continued to tongue and nibble my flesh, taking his time, enjoying the journey.

  He slid lower, licked the side of my thigh, just below where I was most wet, and then blew on it. The warm breath sent shivers through my legs, and I parted them further, wanting him to touch me, kiss me, hell, fuck me.

  I pulled him back up to my face and kissed him deeply. I was breathless, desperate, hungry for him.

  Wrapping my legs around his waist, I pulled him closer, right into me.

  Oh god.

  He began to thrust, slowly at first, gently. Each slide into me, my body pulsed with fire. Every rock, every thrust, every time he filled me, the troubles of my life disappeared. Everything was good again. No, everything was amazing.

  He increased his pace, going deeper, faster. He had complete control. I was his plaything. His muse to make music with.

  The intensity quickened, his hips rocking harder, his cock slamming far inside me. I became lost in the pleasure, oblivious to the fact that I was moaning, groaning, murmuring underneath him. My body shuddered with each stroke, alive with electricity.

  My whole body was alight with fire, I was close to climax, but I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to experience this deliciousness forever.

  My fingers tangled in his hair as I desperately tried to pull him closer still.

  His mouth left mine and headed for my neck, sucking, biting, devouring me.

  Heat throbbed from my core out, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  I screamed out, yes, yes, oh god, yes, as the avalanche of exquisite orgasm bucked through me. He kissed me again, as he came himself, shuddering inside me as he rode the waves of my ecstasy.

  My body was still pulsing with heat, wracked and spent, as he fell gently beside me.

  Chapter 10

  It was my last day at Nambucca Heads, the two weeks had gone by far too quickly. We were scheduled to leave early the next morning. My last day with David. I had spent every day with him since we made love on the boat. I was as giddy as a school girl every time I saw him. But today was different. I didn’t want to see him just to say goodbye. I wasn’t sure I could handle it.

  I still didn’t have a clue where I was going to live. I had thought about staying here but I didn’t know what David would think. The last thing I wanted him to think was that I was all stalkerish. It was only supposed to be a holiday fling for goodness sakes. A distraction (albeit an amazing one) from our fucked up lives. Besides, I read once that holiday romances never last. So it wasn’t like this one would. Weren’t we just using each other to get over pains from our lives? It wasn’t real and I shouldn’t treat it like it was.

  I shook my head, berating myself for being such a downer. We should celebrate the fact that we have this last day at all.

  I wandered down to the lagoon and sat on the rock I now called mine and David’s, (sorry Pete and Caitlin), waiting for him to meet me for the day.

  He saw me and gave me a quick wave before joining me.

  I could see a seriousness on his face, something that weighed heavily on his mind. He was thinking the same thing I was. That it was our last day together.

  “Know where you are going to live yet?” he asked, as we walked up the pier toward his boat.

  I shook my head. “No idea. Mum’s going to Aberdeen, so I’ll probably have to follow her there for a bit, until I get organised. I have the money from the house sale though, so that’ll help find my own place. But still. No job and no idea which direction the wind will take me.”

  “A little beach house in Nambucca would be nice.”

  I grinned. “Trying to get me to stay longer are you? I thought this was just a holiday fling. A way to make us forget our problems.”

  He pulled me close into a tight hug. “You do make me forget. The ache is still there, but it’s not intense. Your company is my panacea. At least for now.”

  “Only for now? You were just trying to get me to move here.”

  “We’ll always have the memories,” he said grinning.

  I pulled away, grabbing his hand and entwining my fingers with his as we kept walking. “Besides, I’ve already looked at real estate here, and I can’t afford anything. It’s out of my price range, even with the money I’ll be getting.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Oh you’ve already looked, have you? Now who doesn’t want this to end?”

  I grinned and punched him playfully on the arm. “It’s been fun.”

  “Agreed. But I know what will make it even more fun?”

  “Does it involve body paint and nudity?”

  “Hmm, we could incorporate those things, although I was thinking more along the lines of skinny dipping off the coast.”

  “Anything to see me naked again, huh?”

  “Absolutely. You know how my mind works by now.”

  I giggled and agreed. Skinny-dipping did sound fun, and a bit more time ogling his body, tracing my finger over that rocking tatt, and licking his luscious abs, sounded like a perfect way to spend our last day.

  He drove out to sea and anchored the boat far enough out so no one would see us.

  I dangled my feet over the side of the boat, watching down into the water. “There isn’t any sharks here is there?”

  “Probably lots of them.”

  I pulled my feet quickly back onto the boat. “And you want us to go swimming here? Isn’t it dangerous?”

  He looked down into the water. “Only if you start bleeding profusely, otherwise we should be fine.”

  I was having second thoughts about going in the water now.

  “They won’t bother us here. There’s plenty of fish to keep them fed.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Want me to go first?” He peeled off his shirt, revealing his sculpted torso, and pulled down his swimwear. He stood in front of me fully naked and even though I’d seen him without his clothes many times this past week, I couldn’t help but feel giddy.

  Without saying anything, he dived off the side.

  I watched him swim around in the water for a good few minutes, before I got the courage to dip my toes back in the water again. I nervously looked down into the ocean expecting at any moment for a set of sharp teeth to chomp down on my ankle.

  “It’s beautiful, come on in,” he yelled to me.

  I should never have watched Jaws.

  I nervously took off my shorts and shirt, followed by my bikini, still standing at the edge of the boat looking down into the dark blueness of the water.

  “Are you sure I’m not going to get eaten alive?”

  “The way you look right now - I’m not sure of that at all.”

  He swam over to me. “But it’s not a shark you need to worry about. Close your eyes.” He held out his hand and I did as he said, letting myself fall into the water, trusting that he wouldn’t let me become shark food.

  The water was cool and danced its way around my body, against my skin and through my legs. Even though wearing swimmers isn’t much fabric, it’s amazing at how different the water feels on your skin when there is nothing to stop it moving around you.

  My heart was beating fast and David pulled me further out. I kept my eyes closed.

  “Lie back and float,” he said. I could feel my body undulate with the water under me, and I let my arms and legs release the tension and just be.

  I wasn’t self conscious that he would be staring at me, I just wanted to be one with the moment, free and unrestricted from the burdens that I had placed on myself. My nerves had all but gone as the sun warmed my face and water washed every care away from me.

  “Feeling better?” he asked. I was.

  He dived underneath me and I smiled as I imagined him staring at my ass through the water. When he came up on the other side, he grabbed my hand. “Come and look.”

  I op
ened my eyes and dived down under the water with him.

  From above the water all you could see was the blue of the ocean, but under here, it was like we had been transported to a different alien world.

  Coloured coral jutted out from the ocean floor like miniature rainbow trees. Small fish of every size and shape darted through seaweed and hid under shells. I hadn’t realised we were so close to the bottom of the ocean here, we’d sailed out so far.

  When we surfaced, I took a deep breath and immediately wanted to return and see the beauty of below. I was no longer scared, but enthralled at the spectacle.

  “How did you know that was down there?” I asked.

  “The coast here is full of tiny reefs like that one. The peace of being underwater and seeing worlds you never knew existed puts your own in perspective, doesn’t it?”

  I kissed him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him hard not wanting to let go.

  I could feel his excitement grow and press against me and I wrapped my legs around his waist wanting so much for him to be inside of me, loving me right now.

  His own kisses got more urgent, and he pulled me closer still, yet not quite close enough. I wanted him so much.

  Both our feet paddled in the water, to stay afloat and I groaned as his tongue entered my mouth exploring me further. I wanted to give everything away to him, right now.

  He was panting when he pulled away. I nearly gasped.

  “Back. Back to the boat,” he said, breathlessly

  “Take me here. Let me feel you out here.” My bottom lip trembled.

  He smiled, but swam back to the deck, pulling me alongside him. “Now who can’t keep their hands off me?”

  He pulled himself up back onto the deck, the water dripping over his body. He was still hard, and he helped me up and handed me a towel. Beads of water glistening on his skin when he walked to a drawer and took out a condom. “You don’t know how hard it was for me to stop myself just then.”

  “Oh I felt how hard you were.” I grinned.

  “You like teasing me, don’t you?”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “Come here.” He grabbed my hand and circled it around his waist. He held my head in his hands looking deeply into my eyes. “What am I going to do when you leave me?”