Chapter Twenty-Seven
Linc
The elevator stops, and I tear my lips from Elora’s, drop her hands, and step back as the doors open and two couples walk in. Elora shrinks back against the carriage wall, chest heaving, trying to compose herself as one of them touches the button for a few floors up and the doors close.
Jesus, what the fuck am I doing, restraining her like that? I look at her, cursing myself, wondering if she’s angry with me or frightened. But she doesn’t look either of those things. Her eyes dart to the doors, and I suddenly remember that she doesn’t like elevators. Presumably at the beginning she didn’t think about it, but suddenly, enclosed in a room she can’t get out of with strangers, her eyes are wide with panic.
The elevator slows again, and the doors open, and another three people enter the carriage. Everyone jokes about squeezing up, shuffling together to make room for the newcomers.
I should take her out—I grab her hand and go to move, but the doors are already closing, and I’m too late. She’s trembling, clearly terrified, which I’m sure wasn’t helped by me restraining her.
“Hey.” I turn my back to the others in the elevator and move up close to her. Taking her face in my hands, I lift it, so she has to look into my eyes. “Hello, baby girl,” I murmur, smiling. “You okay?”
She swallows hard, her chest heaving. “Linc,” she says, her bottom lip trembling.
“I know.” I’m half-conscious of the others in the carriage, talking quietly, but I ignore them. bend my head, and press my lips to hers. I hold the kiss, and gradually, she stops trembling. It’s enough to distract her until the elevator finally stops and the doors open.
I move back and take her hand. “Come on.” Smiling at the others, who all give us curious looks, I lead her out and along the corridor toward our suite.
I glance at her as we walk, relieved to see her breathing deeply, the color returning to her cheeks. “All right, sweetheart?” I ask.
She nods. “Better, thank you. I’m sorry about that.”
“You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” We arrive at our door, but I hesitate. “I’m so sorry.”
Her eyebrows lift. “What for?”
“For taking you into the elevator, for a start—I completely forgot that you don’t like that. And for… restraining you.” I frown. “I keep forgetting, and I’m so sorry.”
To my surprise, she smiles and reaches up a hand to cup my face. “I’m glad. I want you to forget, and I want to forget. You holding me like that…” Her cheeks flush. “It wasn’t a problem. I asked for fifty percent today, didn’t I? That’s exactly what I meant. It was hot. I liked it. I’m beginning to realize that you doing things like that isn’t a problem for me. You and I… we’re so far removed from before that it doesn’t even enter my head. You’ve cleansed me, Linc, washed all the darkness away. Whatever happens between us, I hope you realize what a wonderful thing it is that you’ve done.”
I’m so touched that I can only stare at her, speechless. Her smile spreads, and she takes the key card out of my hand, touches it to the panel, and opens the door. “Come on, gorgeous,” she says, and she leads the way inside.
It’s dark outside, and the only light comes from the lamp we left on beside the bed. The room is pleasantly warm, the blues, greens, and purples of the decor glowing like a sea cave.
She drops the key card onto the table. Toes off her sandals, and I remove my shoes.
She goes over to the lamp and turns it off, plunging the room into darkness. My eyes adjust quickly, as the moon is half full and the sky is full of stars, coating the ship with its silvery light. Then she collects my hand again and leads me across to the sliding doors. She undoes them and pulls them apart, takes me outside, and closes the doors behind us.
It’s cooler out here, the sea breeze blowing across the Pacific and bringing with it the fresh smell of salt and adventure. There are barriers either side of us and a roof above us, so it’s private, although I can hear the music from the party a few decks below us, and voices and clinking glasses around us as people enjoy the evening view from their balconies.
Elora puts a finger to her lips, indicating that we can’t make too much noise. Then she puts her hands on my chest, pushes me up against the side wall, and rises up onto her tiptoes so she can kiss me.
First, she undoes my shirt buttons and pushes aside the two parts of the shirt to bare my skin to the breeze. Then she lifts her arms around my neck, and I slide mine around her waist, pulling her close so our bodies are flush while we kiss. Tonight she’s wearing a long summer dress, and she’s already admitted to me that she’s going commando, thoughts of which tortured me throughout the entire panel. I slide my hands down her back, enjoying the sensation of my fingers passing over her smooth body through the cotton dress. She shivers, and my lips curve up against her as I begin to gather the material in my hands, lifting the bottom of her skirt up her legs.
She sighs but doesn’t stop me. Slowly, I bare her thighs to the sea breeze, and then I slip my hands beneath the material and cup her bare bottom. Oh man, her skin is silky soft, and as I caress her, she moves her hips, pressing her soft mound against my rapidly growing erection.
There’s something incredibly erotic about this, making love outside, in the darkness, the only light from the moon and stars. She obviously wants to have sex out here or she wouldn’t have brought me here, and my pulse speeds up as I consider where would be the best place to take her. She asked me to take my control up to fifty percent—how can I do that and make it exciting for her, taking her out of her comfort zone again, without pushing her too far?
I shouldn’t have restrained her in the elevator, but when I apologized, she said I asked for fifty percent today, didn’t I? That’s exactly what I meant. It was hot. I liked it.
I feel a tad emotional again as I remember her beautiful words: You’ve cleansed me, Linc, washed all the darkness away. Whatever happens between us, I hope you realize what a wonderful thing it is that you’ve done.
That’s what I wanted for her. I wanted her to understand how amazing sex can be. And I wanted to set her free from her past. Liber sum . Maybe we should both get tattoos.
I wouldn’t consider myself an alpha male—I’ve never been in a fight in my life. I abhor violence, and I’ll usually back away from confrontation, using humor to extract myself from a difficult situation. I’m not into BDSM, and certainly wouldn’t call myself a Dom.
But, in Elora’s terms, I’m not a spotted hyena, either. I like taking charge in the bedroom. And so I decide I’m going to stop worrying about what I should do and concentrate on what I want to do.
Holding her hips, I turn her so she’s up against the sliding doors, and she gasps, her eyes lighting up. Then I kiss her again, this time covering her body with mine, so a soft moan escapes her lips.
“Quietly,” I murmur, kissing around to her ear, and she bites her lip, trying to keep in her exclamation as I slip my hands up her dress again. I rest my hands on her bottom and squeeze the plump muscles, then begin to slide my hands further up, until they cup her bare breasts.
She shivers, and I lift my head, teasing her nipples as I say, “Are you cold?”
She shakes her head, but shivers again, and I chuckle and kiss her while I tug her nipples lightly. “Do you like that, Elora-Rose?”
“Mmm.” She slides her tongue against mine, arching her back and pushing her breasts into my hands. “You’re driving me crazy,” she whispers, letting her head drop back onto the glass.
“That’s the plan.” I kiss her mouth, her jaw, down her neck, and lift the dress so I can take one of her nipples in my mouth and suck. She sighs, struggling to keep her moans in, as I swap from one to the other, teasing each nipple until they turn a darker shade of pink and stand out like tiny beads.
I straighten so I can kiss her lips again but continue to tug her now-wet nipples with my fingers, until she’s moaning softly and writhing with need. Only then do I slide a hand down to her thighs and slip my fingers into the heart of her.
Ah, fuck, she’s swollen and wet, and my fingers move easily through her folds. I slide them down to gather some moisture, then bring them back up so I can caress her clit. She widens her stance a little, giving me better access, and, pleased, I continue to arouse her, until her breathing begins to turn uneven, and she’s shivering with need.
I could bend her over the table, but I haven’t taken her from behind yet, and I know it feels deeper and more passive for girls. I decide to save that for seventy-five percent. This time, I take out my wallet and extract a condom, undo my trousers and release my erection, and roll the condom on.
Elora’s eyes are wide with excitement—this is obviously the first time she’s had sex outdoors. There’s no way anyone can see us, but we could be heard, and the wicked thought of being discovered obviously appeals to her as well as me.
I push her dress up her thighs to her waist, then bend and lift her, wrapping her legs around me, the same way I did during the bungee jump. She gasps, clamping around me and stifling a squeal, and I chuckle as I press her up against the glass. She lowers her head until our lips are almost touching, but doesn’t kiss me, waiting as I slowly lower her down onto me. I feel the tip of my erection slide through her folds, then stop at her entrance; I penetrate her, just a little; and then, as I carefully lower her, she slides all the way down my shaft, impaling herself on me.
“Oh my God.” She drops her head back on the glass, her jaw dropping in a soundless gasp.
I rest my forehead on her shoulder, not moving for a moment as I revel in the feel of being fully inside her. She’s hot and wet and swollen, and so fucking amazing I could easily come with just a few thrusts.
I grit my teeth, though, determined to last more than a couple of seconds, and start to move. With the window for support and my hands tucked beneath her, it’s easy to hold her there, and although I can’t withdraw fully and tease her entrance the way I’ve done before, I’m grinding against her with each thrust, and that seems to be doing the job to arouse her.
“Linc,” she whispers, crushing her lips to mine as I thrust hard inside her. She speaks in a whisper between our kisses. “You feel amazing…” and, “Ahhh… I can feel you all the way up…” and, “Oh my God, Linc… don’t stop… you’re driving me crazy…”
I have no intention of stopping until I’ve driven us both over the edge, and I hold on as best as I can, watching for the signs of her orgasm, which are only seconds away. She frowns, bites her lip, holds her breath for a moment, and then her lips part with a silent fuck and I feel her begin to tense around me.
I increase my pace, allowing my body to let go, and thrust her all the way through her orgasm, while my own climax gradually hits me. Heat rushes up from my balls, and I feel my muscles propelling the fluid up my shaft and out with lots of strong, hard spurts.
I think of it filling the condom—man, there’s a lot of it—is it possible to overfill one? It feels as if it goes on forever, and in my feverishness I imagine it spilling over, coating us both. That would be bad… wouldn’t it? As the fever dies down and the world gradually rights itself, I feel surprised that the notion of filling a girl with my seed and maybe making a baby isn’t as scary as it once was. In fact… I quite like the idea of trying to get her pregnant. There’s something erotic about that, the thought of coming inside her without barriers, as many times as I can…
I blink then and the red mist fades. Wow, that was some orgasm if it prompted thoughts of having kids.
Elora lets her head fall back and moistens her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Mmm, that was nice,” she whispers. “I didn’t make a noise, did I?”
I chuckle, lifting her off the glass. “No, you were silent as a mouse. You did squeak a couple of times, though.”
She giggles, then gasps as I open the sliding doors. “Don’t fall over!”
“Hold my trousers up, then.”
We both laugh as she tightens her legs around my waist, keeping my trousers from falling to my knees, and I carry her in, close and lock the door behind us, and take her through to the bedroom. Still inside her, I climb onto the bed and lower her onto her back, then lie on top of her and thrust a few times, enjoying being inside her.
“How are you still hard?” she asks, half-complaining, half with admiration.
“Skill.” I grin and kiss her again, but finally I have to withdraw. I dispose of the condom, then fall onto my back beside her with a groan. I lift my hand, and she slips hers into it. I widen my fingers, and she laces hers with mine.
“That was fun,” she says. “I like fifty percent.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Seventy-five percent next time.”
“Right. Already planned that.”
She pushes up onto an elbow, eyebrows rising. “Seriously?”
I look up at her. Her blonde hair is a tad wild from the breeze and the lovemaking. Her face and neck still bear the flush that appears when we have sex. Her eyes look dark tonight, a midnight blue, the color of the night sky, and they hold a reflection of the stars from the window. I’ve just had her. How can I want her all over again?
“Yeah,” I say. “So you don’t have to worry.”
“What’s the plan?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“You’re a fibber. You haven’t planned anything. You always make it up as you go along.”
I tuck an arm under my head and give her an amused look. “I’m not telling you.”
She leans on my chest and kisses me. “Go on.”
I laugh. “No. you’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Aw, Linc…”
I just smile, and she sighs. “I suppose we should get into bed.”
“Yeah. Come on, let’s get ready.”
We brush our teeth while standing next to each other in the small bathroom, and then while she finishes up in there I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and drink a third of it. When she comes out, I tell her to have a good drink, and I have a last visit to the bathroom before going back into the bedroom. We slide under the covers and cuddle up as we look out through the window at the stars. The ship’s engine is audible as a low hum, and I can just hear the sound of the ship plowing through the waves.
“It’s funny to think that we’re moving,” she says. “Will we be in Dunedin when we wake up?”
“Yes, it arrives at 7:30 a.m., I believe.”
“How strange.”
“Mm.” I skim my hands down her back, then up her ribcage, a continuous loop as I enjoy the feel of her soft skin.
“You do that a lot,” she murmurs sleepily.
“What?”
“Touch me. You’re always brushing your fingers across my neck or face or shoulders or back.”
“You’ve got the softest skin I’ve ever felt.” I trace a pattern on her back. “I like touching, and being touched. I was hardly ever touched as a kid. My father—I mean Don—never hugged or kissed me.”
“Your mother must have, surely?”
“Not that I remember.”
She’s quiet for a moment. Then she says, “That surprises me. She obviously had feelings for Edmund or she wouldn’t have had an affair, plus you said when she told you about him that she looked wistful. I’d have thought that she would’ve treasured having his child.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I was a reminder of an indiscretion she wanted to forget. Or she could’ve been afraid to show me affection in case Don saw it.”
“Were they both affectionate with Sean?”
“Yeah. I mean, Dad was never the hugging sort, but he did ruffle his hair and speak gently to him. Mum often gave him hugs.”
“What about other family members? Grandparents, aunts, uncles?”
“I never saw any. Mum was Australian. She’s got a sister, but she wasn’t close to her family. My grandparents visited once, when I was six or seven, but I don’t remember much about them, and we never went to Australia to see them. Dad had relatives up in the North Island, I think, but he never spoke about them, and we never saw them.”
She strokes my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
I sigh. “It was a long time ago.”
“I know, but that kind of thing never goes away. It’s insidious. It’s like mistletoe.”
“Sorry, what?”
“It’s a hemiparasitic plant. It survives by attaching itself to a host tree and sucking out its water and nutrients like a vampire.”
“I never knew that.”
“The host tree can become stunted and sometimes it even dies.”
I look out at the stars. I don’t think about my childhood much now, but for once I let my mind wander back to those days when I felt so resentful and angry because I didn’t understand why my parents seemed to hate me so much.
“You were the first real person who ever gave me a hug,” I tell her.
She pushes herself up onto an elbow. “Really?”
“Yeah. Not long after I arrived at the school. I was having trouble adjusting. I was playing up in class, being rude to all the teachers, and causing trouble after school. I was sent to your father’s office. I hadn’t been there since the day I arrived and hadn’t seen much of him. I was sitting outside, sulking, and you came around the corner. You ran up to me and said, ‘Linc! I found the skull of a kiwi!”
She laughs. “That sounds like me.”
“You sat beside me and showed me, pointing out the eye socket and the great long bill. Then you asked me what I was doing there. I said I’d been naughty, and your dad was probably going to expel me. I was being a drama queen. But you just laughed and said, ‘Dad doesn’t expel people, silly,’ and then you flung your arms around my neck and gave me a big hug and said, ‘Just say sorry and you’ll be fine.’”
She smiles. “I don’t remember that.”
“I just sat there, stunned. You were only a kid, but I’d never been hugged by anyone, let alone a girl, and I didn’t know whether to hug you back or not. You didn’t seem to mind, though, you jumped down and said you were going to draw the skull in your book and ran off.”
“I was right, though,” she says, “you weren’t expelled.”
“I took your advice and said I was sorry. Your Dad gave me a peanut-butter cookie and a glass of milk and told me not to worry about it. Things started to come right for me after that.”
“I’m glad,” she says. “I like thinking I was your first hug.”
“Me too,” I say.
She settles down, cuddling up to me, and I draw the duvet over us both and tuck it around her. “You don’t mind that I like to touch you?” I ask, stroking her back.
She shakes her head, so I continue to do it, even after her breathing levels out, and I know she’s asleep.