Chapter 6 #2
“Well, yes.” I clear my throat. “I’ve had something of a history with women changing their minds on that front.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s still chuckling. “Because you’re a billionaire god in bed?” She bumps me with her elbow. “Please. You’re fantastic, don’t get me wrong. Or maybe the chemistry means we’re fantastic together.”
“Certainly.” I’m not sure she’s grasping the weight of the problem. “I just don’t want anyone getting attached. Because I don’t. Ever .”
“Not ever?” Her tone suggests she’s teasing me. “Never ever never ever with sugar on top?” She plucks a perfect ripe strawberry from the pile on the platter, holding it up to my lips. “Relax, Ash Hole. We’re good. We’re on the same page.”
I open my mouth to argue but she pops the berry between my lips. It’s juicy and sweet and I get lost for a moment in the flavor explosion on my tongue.
“Take it easy, big guy.” She watches me chew with kindness in her eyes. “You don’t do commitment. I want a relationship like I want a nipple in the middle of my forehead. Which is not at all, in case your obsession with breasts clouds your judgement on that one. Seriously, Ash—we’re okay.”
She walks away with the platter, leaving me staring after her. Not for the first time, I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
“Wow, Ash Hole.” Camille grips the rail of the bow and turns back to face me with wind whipping her hair. “When you promised a boat ride, I pictured one of those little rubber rafts with an outboard motor.”
“Perish the thought.” I’m at the controls of my Arcona 50 luxury racing yacht with a steel frame, mahogany trim, and push-button sailing capacity.
In other words, one of the nicest luxury yachts money can buy.
I point to a stark white sliver of sand ahead on our starboard side. “That’s where we’re headed.”
“Woah.”
I attempt to view it through her eyes. Lush jungle crawls from the pale, sandy shore to the center of the crescent-shaped island.
There’s only one structure, a sizeable estate with a kidney-shaped pool and floor-to-ceiling windows spanning all three floors.
From the back of the property, a tangle of chartreuse vines twists up the side of a dormant volcano.
Deep in the jungle, a howler monkey beckons for a booty call.
Feathering the throttle of the yacht, I glance off the portside to where a pod of dolphins leaps alongside us, riding our wake through the froth.
Camille laughs and points. “Oh my God, look at them. That’s amazing.”
“Certainly is.” Her joy is infectious, not unlike the Legionnaires’ disease I work meticulously to prevent at all my resort properties. We’ve never had a case, not anywhere.
Still watching the dolphins, Camille gathers her hair in a fist. Light, copper strands slide through her fingers like droplets of liquid metal. In her bright-blue bikini, she peers down at the water with her plush lips parted. “So beautiful.”
“Yes.” I clear my throat. “Indeed.”
I focus on threading the needle between sandbars. There’s a mooring ball fixed to a spot between two beds of coral, and I connect us as Camille keeps an eye on the water.
“You really know what you’re doing.”
“You weren’t certain of that before boarding?”
“I trust you.” She shrugs as I tug at the ropes attaching the small tender to the side of the ship. “You’re amazing so far at all forms of sex. Figured you must be good at this too.”
“Your thought process eludes me.”
“Good.” Laughing, she re-ties the sarong at her waist. “Gotta keep you on your toes, Ash Hole.”
I hate how much I love that nickname. Since when does it turn me on to have a woman mocking me, even in a good-natured way? It’s not like I’m into degradation, but that’s not what she’s doing. Camille’s playful teasing makes me feel like less of an asshole, oddly enough.
I like that feeling a lot.
Clearing my throat, I finish securing the boat. “I have something you should see.”
“Your penis?” Tipping her sunglasses, she pretends to peer at my crotch. “It’s been twelve hours since I’ve seen it, so whip that bad boy out.”
“Hilarious.” And nice for my ego, but that’s beside the point. Slipping a hand into a cubby by the controls, I pull out a thin white envelope. “For you.”
“What is it?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, just tears open the seal and squints at the page. Her forehead furrows as she reads. “Your test results for sexually transmitted infections and diseases.” She looks up from reading and smiles. “Is this another one of your attempts at foreplay?”
I choose to ignore that question. “Obviously, you were required to upload your test results to the portal. It seemed unfair not to share mine.” We’ve already had unprotected sex. The last thing she needs is to be concerned I may have been lying.
“Thank you.” She folds the paper back into the envelope, then tucks it into her beach bag. “This makes me a little less freaked out about throwing caution to the wind yesterday.”
“Glad to hear it.” And I rather hoped she’d throw said caution just a little bit farther. “Are you ready for your skinny-dipping fantasy? There’s a ladder off stern, or I’ll have the tender unhooked in just a moment.”
A mischievous smile plays over her mouth. “We’re discussing your dinghy again?”
“Are you actually a pre-teen boy?”
“You’d better hope not. Otherwise, yesterday might raise some legal concerns.”
“You’re quite the comedienne.” It’s a battle to keep a straight face.
“I have a question.” Camille’s smile quirks. “You said you read through all my fantasies?”
“I did. Are you speaking, perhaps, of number two in section six?”
“Oh my God.” She takes a step closer, filling my senses with Shalimar and coconut sunblock. “You’re such an incredible geek.”
“I thought I was an Ash Hole.” I love how she says both like they’re compliments. “Boat sex, hmm?” Because of course I made note of that when planning this excursion.
“Always wanted to get railed on a boat.” Cocking a hip, she regards me with interest. “Such a cool fantasy.”
“A common one. It’s why we have a whole section devoted to it on the Crystal Bliss menu.”
“Smart.” One more step closer and she’s officially entered my personal space.
She trails a hand down my chest like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“Once, I convinced my friend Brooke to take me on her fiancé’s brother’s boat.
He’s a commercial fisherman in Oregon, and I thought there might be an opportunity to tick that box. ”
Once again, I’m not following the story. “You wanted to sleep with her brother?”
“Absolutely not. He’s engaged .” Her wide hazel eyes hold mine with something that looks like fury. “I might be impulsive and reckless, but I am never, ever, ever a cheater. Given what I do for a living, I’ve seen infidelity destroy too many lives.”
My face feels hot, so I nod. “Of course. My apologies.”
“It’s okay, I’m not telling this well.” Her hand remains on my chest, and it’s startling how much I enjoy it.
“Hayden joined us for the boat ride and I got him hyped up for the possibility. I mean, as hyped as Hayden gets for anything not work-related.” She makes a face and continues.
“But he agreed to give boat sex a shot if the opportunity arose.”
“It didn’t happen?” The tease of her fingers at the opening of my shirt makes me dizzy.
“Nope. Half of Brooke’s family joined us. Her fiancé’s family, I mean. Even his sister’s thirteen-year-old daughter and her friends. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t a setup for maritime sex.”
“What a pity.” I’m nearing my breaking point. All this casual touching and talk of boat sex.
Time to take action.
Sliding my hands to her back, I cup the delicate wings of her shoulder blades. The tips of my fingers graze the knot securing her top in place and I quickly untie it. “So it turns out you’re not aroused by live bait?”
“Nope.” She gasps as I tug at the neck of her top, letting it fall to the ground.
A gentle sea breeze stirs her nipples to peaks, and she presses them into my chest. Waves rock the boat, tipping us into each other. God, she feels good.
Caressing her shoulders and collarbones, my hands make their way to her beautiful breasts. I cup them gently, stroking her nipples with my thumbs. “Your tits are fucking amazing.”
“Your mouth is fucking filthy.” She grins. “Only when you’re turned on, though.”
“And you think I’m turned on?” I grind my erection into her belly, erasing all doubt.
“Definitely.” She grins. “Know what we haven’t done yet?”
“Considering we met less than twenty-four hours ago, it’s a rather substantial list.”
She laughs and steps back, giving me a full-frontal view of her breasts. She takes hold of my hand, tugging me toward the built-in mahogany bench near the cockpit. “Face to face sex.” She peels off her sarong and those skimpy bikini bottoms, tossing them off to the side near her top.
Gloriously naked, she grabs a thick towel from her bag. “I know it’s nothing kinky, and not technically on my bucket list, but I’d really like to ride your cock in a reclined position.”
“I think that can be arranged.” I’m already rock-hard from watching her strip. From seeing the sunlight spill through her hair and over the slope of her breasts.
She’s so fucking pretty it hurts.
“Glad you agree.” Dropping the towel, she goes to work unbuttoning my shirt, kissing her way between my pecs. Her lips pause over the heart-shaped scar just below my left collarbone. “What happened here?”
“An unfortunate but very minor accident in my twenties. I’d been drinking.” That’s all she needs to know.
“We’ve all been there.” She kisses the white-puckered scar. “Painful?”
“It was at the time.”
I pray she won’t press for more, and she doesn’t, thank God. She just sinks to her knees on the towel, undoing my pants as she slides down my body. “Somebody’s ready to play.”
“Guh.” That’s all I manage as she swallows the head of my cock. “I thought this was supposed to be your fantasy.”