4. Day Two
CHAPTER 4
Day Two
SEA DAY
DOMINIC
I don’t know how long we’ve been lying here, but I feel the moment she relaxes into me.
It sends a swell of pride to my chest.
Katie has a beautiful laugh. I’ve heard it before, but nothing will top moments ago when she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. That pure joy on her face and the way her cheeks turned pink.
And I made her do it. I was the one who caused her to laugh like that.
I want to do it again.
Instead, I lie behind her, my eyes closed while she reads her book. I’m too wired to sleep, so instead I take her in. I listen to her breathing and every little movement she makes.
Her body vibrates as she laughs silently at something. The way she gasps a little, moving her hand to her mouth when something surprises her. I take in each little detail, filing it away for future use.
Then her breathing changes. It’s coming more rapidly. Then her legs begin to move. My hand is still on her hip, but I’ve long since stopped caressing her, letting her believe I had fallen asleep.
Opening my eyes, I glance down, finding her one finger tracing across her clavicle as her chest moves with each breath.
I smirk as I realize what’s happening. Whatever she’s reading is turning her on. So I tune into it.
I want to laugh as I read the lines. The man and woman in the book are kissing, but it’s obviously going to go further.
Unable to resist, I move my fingers on Katie’s hip. She twitches, her breath catching.
Yeah, this is going to be good, I think to myself.
Skimming the page, I find what I’m looking for. A good opening.
Leaning into her ear, I whisper, “His fingers dance along my skin, making it pebble from the sensations.”
I caress her hips as I read the words.
Katie pulls the book to her chest. “Dom, what are you doing?”
Her voice is husky, sending a jolt to my dick. I know she can feel it growing hard against her, but she doesn’t move. Instead, she turns and looks into my eyes.
“Pick the book back up. I’m reading to you.”
“T-this is ridiculous,” she hisses.
“Do it. Now.”
My tone bites a little, but the dominance must turn her on because she does what I ask.
Finding the spot I stopped, I then continue. “‘You’re so beautiful.’ His voice is like spiced rum trailing down my throat, sending warmth straight to my core.”
I watch as she swallows, her legs pressing together harder. I started this as a little joke. I thought we would laugh a bit, but watching her reactions, I want to keep going. I want to turn her on.
“‘Please,’ I whine. ‘I need you to touch me.’ His fingers inch lower.” I pause, drifting my fingers along the seam of her bathing suit bottoms to the apex of her thighs. “‘You never have to beg, but I love the way it sounds. I’ll take care of you, baby.’”
Katie is trembling now, her body anticipating my every move.
“As he presses me against the bed, I let my head fall back. The sensations of his skin on mine are almost too much. I need him like I’ve never needed anything before. If only he would touch me where I need. Almost as if he hears my internal pleas, his mouth lowers to me, sucking my clit into his mouth. I moan loudly, unable to keep quiet with his lips on me.”
She must have her eyes closed because she doesn’t immediately turn the page even though we have reached the bottom. So instead, I go off script.
Pitching my tone lower, I lean in closer, pressing my lips against her ear. “I could do what he’s doing to her to you if you wanted. I’m willing to bet I can even do it better. Make you scream my name. Would you like that, Katie?”
She doesn’t say no, so I move my hand from her legs to drift across her stomach.
“I can caress your skin and make you tingle.”
Moving my hand back and forth, I let my fingers linger as I kiss just under her ear.
“I can press kisses along every inch of your body.”
She presses back into me, making my dick throb. Fuck, I want this girl.
“Are you wet for me? Do you want me to eat you out like you’re my dessert? For you, I will. I’ll enjoy every single second of your sweet essence on my tongue.”
I press another kiss to her neck, my hand moving up to her breasts, skimming over them.
“Whoa there, bud. This is a public place. There are children around.”
Katie stiffens as I shoot a glare at my former best friend, Grant. I am going to kill him. She was putty in my hands until he spoke.
“Fuck off, Grant. This is the adults-only section and we are in the corner facing the damn ocean. You had to go out of your way to come over here.”
Katie is still tense in my arms, but she hasn’t moved away. Thank God for that. I’m hard as a rock right now.
Nessa sits down on my vacated lounger next to us while Grant leans against the railing.
“You look cozy,” Nessa teases.
I can’t see Katie’s face, but I stay silent, deciding to let her deal with her sister. Grant gives me a knowing look.
He knows I’ve always had a thing for Katie.
I barely withhold a snort when Katie replies finally. “The chair was uncomfortable. Dominic offered to be my pillow. That’s all.”
Nessa chuckles. “That’s ridiculous. Anyway, enough about your canoodling. Who even cares? What I want to know is if you are going to come to the spa with me later. Grant booked me a ninety-minute massage. I was going to see if we could turn it into a sister’s massage.”
Unable to help myself, I lean in and whisper in Katie’s ear, “Maybe I’ll call and get you that upgraded vajazzled appointment.”
She leans up, turning to smack me on the chest, but her face is bright red as she laughs.
“Asshole.”
“Your asshole,” I tell her.
Her eyes change for a moment. I tilt my head, trying to figure out what it means, but she turns away from me.
“I’m good. My man here”—she pats my knee—“is taking me to dinner, then we are getting an early night.”
“Oh yeah?” Grant snorts. “You have big plans back in the bedroom? Maybe a little more second base action?”
I chuckle but hide it behind a cough when Katie gives me a dirty look.
“If you must know, my honey snookums here booked us snorkeling tomorrow.”
Nessa shoots Katie a surprised look at her words, but Katie shakes her head no quickly.
Odd, I think to myself.
I want to ask, but before I can, Grant speaks up.
“We almost did that one, but then we saw they had this all-inclusive beach getaway with free alcohol, so we did that instead. A lot of the wedding party will be there.”
“I know, which is why I picked something else,” I retort.
“Such an antisocial man. How did we even become friends?”
“I was an idiot kid who thought you looked like a decent friend? Now I realize what a dumbass you are. Trust me, I question my decisions every day of my life because of it.”
Katie shakes her head as she pulls out of my arms and stands. I quickly adjust my legs, covering the tenting I have going on.
“I don’t understand why guys are such assholes to each other. I swear every time I hear them talk, I think they hate each other.” Katie doesn’t look at me as she gathers up her stuff.
“Right?” Nessa stands too. “Like the other day, I heard Grant tell Dom that if his dick was any smaller, it’d be a clit. Who the fuck says that to their best friend?”
Katie glances at me with a smirk. Her eyes flit to my crotch before meeting my eyes again.
“Maybe Grant’s jealous. I hear misery loves company. Maybe he’s insecure about his size, so he thinks picking on his buddy will inflate his ego.”
Nessa bursts out laughing.
“Hey. That’s uncalled for, little sis. Besides, your sister knows that’s not true.” Grant moves toward Nessa, kissing her neck, making her giggle.
“Gross. I’m going to go ahead and go.” Katie is trying to act offended, but I can see the small smile.
She loves seeing her sister in love.
“Where are you going to go?” Nessa asks.
“I think I’ll take a shower and take a nap. All this sun has me sleepy.”
Not one to miss a chance to make her blush, I stand, moving closer to her. This time, I don’t whisper my words.
“Better make it a cold shower. You know, since Javier was ravishing Anita, I’m sure you are feeling a little hot and bothered.”
Turning toward me, her eyes wide, she smacks my chest hard. I jump back, laughing while rubbing the sting.
“You are incorrigible.”
She holds her book and towel to her chest as she leaves. Grant and Nessa stand to the side, laughing.
I can’t help but yell out to her, “I hate to watch you go, baby, but fuck if I don’t love watching you walk away.”
Katie shoots me the finger, but then she glances back with a bright smile on her face.
I’m still reveling in the light feeling in my chest when Nessa speaks again.
“I’ve got my eye on you. Don’t hurt my sister. She’s been through enough.”
The humor falls from my face. I look at Grant, but he shrugs. I don’t think he’s told Nessa about how I feel about her sister. How I’ve always felt.
Looking back to Nessa, I address her, “I won’t. Trust me, if anyone is going to be hurt at the end of this, I have a feeling it will be me. I’ll do my best to take care of her, though.”
She studies me a moment before giving me a nod.
“I think you should know since she won’t tell you, but you have to promise not to act different or let her know that you know.”
Eager to know more about Katie, I nod. “I won’t say a word.”
She smiles. “Katie is afraid of open water. Have fun tomorrow.”
Dropping that bomb, she grabs Grant’s hand, pulling him away.
Then it hits me.
Katie is afraid of open water.
You’re taking her snorkeling tomorrow.
Fuck.
KATIE
It’s not that I didn’t want to go to the spa with my sister. That would have been wonderful if I thought she wouldn’t grill me about what she saw up on the deck. How can I explain it to her when I don’t really understand what happened?
One minute I was sitting there reading my book, minding my business. The next, Dominic had me laughing. Not only that, but he was laughing with me.
I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. Yesterday I boarded this ship that took me to another dimension. One where Dominic isn’t the arrogant playboy I love to hate but is an actual decent man who can make me laugh.
Not only that, but he turned me on. For a moment, I was almost disgusted with myself. How could I let his words affect me in such a way? I was so sure I hated him before this trip, so what changed?
Those are the thoughts that have been plaguing me since I left him up on the deck. It’s why I took a quick shower and hid out in the room instead of joining the others for the afternoon bartender contest. I’ve never been one to mix good drinks anyway.
When the door opens, I’m startled. My hand finds its way to my chest.
“What the hell, Dom?”
He looks up at me with wide eyes. Then they take in my body.
I didn’t dress nice for him. At least, that is what I’m telling myself.
Yet when I looked through my clothes, I ended up putting on this blouse knowing the way it molds to my breasts, making them look bigger. I paired it with my hip-hugging jeans.
Super casual for dinner, yet also something I would wear on a date.
Let’s not talk about the fact that I curled my hair, then tried to make it look like an effortless brace wave.
“Did I scare you, baby doll?” His tone is teasing.
“Don’t call me that. I hate that nickname. Why do you have to annoy me?” I grumble.
He laughs. “Oh Katie. Don’t act like you weren’t putty in my hands earlier.”
I glare even harder at him. “It had nothing to do with you. That book was spicy, is all.”
“Mmhmm. My hands on your body had nothing to do with it?” He quirks a brow.
I stand, moving toward the mirror to look at myself as if he isn’t bothering me. Yet inside, I’m seething. Not because he’s wrong. No, it’s because he’s right.
“Not at all. Anyone could have been touching me and it would have felt nice. That’s what happens when you’re turned on. You should know that.”
Dominic steps behind me, brushing my hair over my shoulder. When he leans in, ghosting his lips against my skin, I shiver.
Then he smirks. “What’s your excuse now?”
I pinch my lips. “It’s cold. Can you get out of my personal space now? We only have to pretend in public. Not behind closed doors.”
He shakes his head, smiling. “Whatever you say, snookums.”
I groan. “I think I like baby doll better.”
I say it under my breath, but the way he lets out a laugh tells me he heard it.
“That wasn’t an invitation.” I turn to him, crossing my arms.
His eyes zero in on my breasts now on full display. I want to preen at his attention. I knew this shirt made me look damn good.
He licks his lips before bringing his eyes to mine. “Maybe not yet, but soon. Are you ready for dinner?”
I give him a brief nod, not trusting myself to remain civil.
Shoving my phone in my back pocket, I follow him from the room. When we get to the end of the hall, he turns toward the stairs while I go for the elevator. Then we both stop and look at each other.
“I’ll meet you there, I guess?” I say.
He grimaces. “It’s one level up. Can’t we take the stairs? Only lazy people use the elevator for one floor.”
I cock my head. “So I’m lazy because I don’t feel like hoofing it up one set of stairs?”
I swear I hear him growl. “That’s not what I said. Listen, you already know I prefer the stairs and why. Please, will you take the stairs with me?”
It’s the please that does it. It makes me feel like a complete ass. He basically admitted to being claustrophobic, yet here I am being a dick and demanding we use the elevator. For what reason? Because I feel like I’m losing control and getting my way this once gives me a semblance of it back.
“Fine. The elevator.” He walks over, pressing the button.
I sigh and head toward the stairs. Once I climb three, I turn and look at him.
“Are you coming or not, lover boy?”
His eyes are grateful as he begins to climb the stairs behind me.
When we reach the top, his hand finds my lower back. “Thank you.”
I don’t respond. For some reason, this new, kind version of Dominic is making my stomach feel weird. Almost like he gives me butterflies, but that can’t happen.
Not with him.
Pushing the feeling away, I let him lead me across the ship to our dining room. When we arrive, thankfully they are almost ready for us. I didn’t even realize Dominic had already checked us in.
Once the hostess leads us to the table, Dominic takes the seat across from me. Then he glances at the menu quickly before giving me his full attention.
Me? I’m pretending this menu is the best literary work of art that I have ever seen.
“You can’t avoid me forever,” he whispers.
“I sure can try. That was my goal this trip. Avoid you and Barrett. Somehow my sister ended up fucking me on that.”
“Am I really that bad?”
It’s the vulnerability in his tone that has me setting down the menu and giving him my full attention. I take him in. He looks softer somehow. Not the normal macho persona he puts off any other time I’ve seen him in a crowd. I mean, I have gone out of my way to not spend any time with him without a huge group of people between us.
After a moment, I finally speak. “You aren’t as bad as I thought so far, but it’s only day two. That could change. Let’s try to stay civil and maybe by the time this trip is over, we will both come out unscathed.”
“Is that what you want?” he questions.
“Isn’t that what you want?” I throw back at him.
He shrugs. “I want you to have a good time. I’ll follow your lead on how to make that happen.”
“I can take care of myself, Dom.”
He gives me a sad smile. “I know you can, baby doll. You don’t have to always do it alone though. I’m your partner in crime this trip. Use me.”
I don’t respond, letting the conversation drop. Thankfully the server comes over then. The rest of dinner is a quiet affair, me stuck in my thoughts while Dominic looks like he’s walking on eggshells.
It’s not until I’m lying in bed later that night that I realize what he was saying.
He said he would follow my lead. So do I really want us both to be awkward all trip or do I think we can become friends?
Only tomorrow will tell.
I know one thing though. I’m willing to try and be peaceful as long as he is.