Chapter 23
Louis had missed a couple of calls on his phone when he’d been swimming. Maria had been waiting for him to return, immediately explaining that there had been a problem with a regular check of the ECDIS system, but an engineer had fixed it without issue.
Maria insisted the calls had simply been to keep him informed, but Louis couldn’t help but kick himself for missing them.
Back in uniform and on the bridge, even though he wasn’t strictly on duty until they were due to leave Philipsburg, he ran through what had happened since he’d left the ship, to satisfy himself everything was as it should be.
Louis hadn’t heard anyone approach, but he looked up to find Tim standing directly in front of him.
‘Don’t worry, we’ve got your back, Captain.’
There was something in the tone of Tim’s voice that didn’t match the words or the smile.
But there was nothing Louis could do about that – he hadn’t been on board, but the problem hadn’t been one to set alarm bells ringing.
Louis had been first officer for a fair few years before becoming captain, and there would have been no way Captain Crowther would have expected to have been bothered by something so trivial.
He would have been informed of it, nothing more.
There was no need for Tim, or anyone else for that matter, to ‘have his back’.
A captain, when not on duty, is entitled to leave a ship for some leisure time when it docks at port. Louis hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘Thank you so much, Tim.’
What else could he say?
What Louis was more annoyed about was having no firm plans with Hannah. He checked his watch; still about ninety minutes before the harbour pilot was due on board and their departure from Philipsburg could commence.
Louis used the time to book a table at one of the more romantic restaurants on board, then swung by the ship’s florist, ending up at Hannah’s cabin door with an armful of flowers and the sudden realisation that she might not even be there.
Too late for doubt, he knocked on the door and was rewarded by it swinging wide, with Hannah’s smile as she looked at him, then at the flowers, growing as wide as the door as she invited him inside.
‘I haven’t got long,’ he said, as she took the flowers from him and rested them gently on a side table. ‘We’re due to leave port in about an hour. It depends when the harbour pilot can get to us. But I was wondering if you might like to have dinner later?’
It was as though Hannah hadn’t heard most of his words.
‘You’ve got an hour?’ she said.
He checked his watch. ‘Give or take.’
Hannah ran a hand through freshly washed hair, the tips still damp and tiny dark circles of moisture evident here and there on the T-shirt she’d teamed with some simple cotton shorts. She bit at the edge of her lip as she stared at him. She looked absolutely sensational.
Louis wasn’t expecting Hannah’s next move.
She grinned at him, then shoved at the front of his chest, pushing him back with unexpected firmness until the backs of his legs connected with the bed and he folded onto it.
Hannah climbed on top of him, knees either side of his hips as she settled against him.
Instinctively, his hands wrapped around her, and his thoughts strayed back to the beach, to the feelings she’d unleashed in him as they messed around in the water, before Millie’s crampy foot had cut everything short.
‘An hour is plenty of time, don’t you think?’
Louis felt himself hardening even as the huskiness of her words landed in his ear and they began to kiss.
‘I haven’t been able to think about anything else,’ Hannah said, as she unbuttoned his shirt and Louis wriggled out of it, the crisp white and the flashes of gold on black relegated to the floor of her cabin as she ran her hands across his chest.
‘Me neither,’ he said. ‘That bikini – you have no idea of the self-control I had to exert.’
Their grins had teeth clashing as she told him to stop talking and they kissed all over again, his fingers feeling their way up and under the hem of her T-shirt, their lips parting long enough for her to get the material over her head and throw it somewhere across the room.
Hannah was working on instinct; any rulebook she had imagined there should be for such an eventuality had been thrown away the moment they’d touched. It was like being on that beach but a thousand times more intense.
Without the cooling effect of the seawater, skin touched skin with increasing heat and as Louis fumbled with the clasps on her bra, Hannah pushed his fingers away and removed it herself, rewarded by Louis circling his thumbs across her nipples, then using his tongue to even greater success.
Hannah leant back, revelling in the way his touch was turning her insides to molten lava, shifting to widen her knees so she could press herself harder against him, unsure whether it was her who was moaning, or him.
Louis scooped her up, twisting to slide her onto the bed, her legs already wide as he leant into her, hand trailing up her inner thigh and pushing fabric out of the way as he ran fingers underneath her shorts, then eased a thumb beneath the hem of her underwear.
It was as though he had asked her exactly what she liked, and how she liked it – or maybe she was so turned on he could have done anything to her, and she’d have begged for more – either way his fingers joined the party, easing inside her as she arched herself against him and they kissed.
Her heart rate spiked and her breath shallowed as she felt for him, fumbling with the button and zip on his trousers, too much fabric in the way until she found him and took the length of him in her hand and it was only then that she was sure it was Louis who was moaning.
‘I want you so much,’ she whispered. ‘I want you inside me, right now, Louis.’
The heat was building with unstoppable momentum, faster than she had expected and laced with a desperation she wasn’t sure she’d felt before.
The words she’d used weren’t ones to trip easily from her lips.
But none of that mattered, the entire ship could implode, and Hannah wouldn’t notice.
This was only ending one way. There were no questions left to answer; there was nothing else except this moment.
Once they’d tugged and slid and pushed their way free from their remaining clothing, Louis lowered her against the duvet once again, kissing her as she guided him inside.
He began to move, then, gently at first but gaining momentum as she responded, his deepening strokes threatening to tip her over an edge she hadn’t realised was there.
They moved together for a delicious while, smiling against one another’s lips and kissing and licking and nipping as the heat built in her belly.
She wanted it to last forever, but everything was happening fast. With unexpected clarity, Hannah’s smile fell away as she stretched her hands away above her head.
‘Harder,’ she said. ‘More.’
He took her hands in his, then, holding them tight above her head, against the pillows as he braced himself against his arms, the muscles of his biceps flexing and straining as he pushed inside her repeatedly, his concentration total, his body responding to hers with a precision she hadn’t thought possible.
‘I’m so close,’ she half moaned the words through her breathlessness as she felt her climax building. ‘Oh, don’t stop, Louis, I’m so close.’
In response, Louis deepened his strokes, his head dipping to kiss her moments before it happened. She exploded in a meteor shower of light and heat, her noise absorbed by his kiss and his own release, moments after her own.
He didn’t stop immediately, as she’d expected him to, didn’t roll away and look for a metaphorical cigarette to light. Instead, he stayed there, with his gaze heavy and intense on her as she fought to regain her breath.
‘Again, please,’ she said.
She grinned as Louis stifled a laugh, kissed her before moving to lie beside her, his fingers trailing lazily over her skin.
‘Might have to give me a minute or two,’ he said.
Hannah giggled, then sighed as she stared at him.
‘You are sensational, Hannah. This ranks in the top ten of my life experiences.’
‘Top ten?’ Her words were indignant as she raised herself onto an elbow and he began to laugh.
‘OK, top five…’
Hannah surprised herself by swinging herself across his body, straddling him and staring down at him as she said, ‘Did I tell you about my inner thigh strength? I could probably kill you right now if I wanted to. They asked me to become a spy, because of my special powers, but I declined. Working in the deli is just too much fun. But never underestimate my powers. Now, would you like to reassess your answer?’
She had no idea where her boldness came from, but she liked it. And so did he, if his expression was anything to go by. Then he was retaliating, rolling her over and squashing her in the most enjoyable way into the bed.
‘I can think of worse ways to die,’ he said, kisses punctuating his words as he added, ‘You top the list, Hannah. I was only joking. Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.’
‘I bet you say that to all the girls,’ she said, insecurity battering its way into her thoughts, even as she did her best to sound flippant.
‘I really don’t,’ he said.
‘Well, good,’ she said. ‘Because it’s never been like that for me before…’
Louis didn’t press for an explanation, and for that Hannah was grateful.
She didn’t mean she hadn’t had good sex with Ian – some of it had been great, although if she thought about it, generally it had been Ian who had initiated it.
She’d never considered it anything other than how it was with them, and yet, all she had to do was look at Louis and she wanted to rip his clothes off and lick him all over.
She grinned, then frowned. Was that the definition of lust? If it was, it was a new sensation for her – and now the roaring fires of desire had begun to quiet down, she wondered if she should be worried by that possibility.
‘I’m glad I could be of service,’ Louis said, cutting through her thoughts.
‘Can you be of service again, really soon?’ Hannah said, pushing the negativity away and focusing on him. ‘After all, you are the captain and it’s literally your job to make sure we all have a great cruise.’
Louis frowned, scrunching up one side of his mouth as he considered her proposal.
‘I mean, there are plenty of “extras” we offer our passengers. But perhaps don’t tell the rest of them about this aspect of customer service. I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone, and I get the feeling I’m going to have my hands full keeping you satisfied.’
His fingers slid around the backs of her thighs, drawing her against him as he explored her all over again and she responded instantly, her lips against his as she told him she’d do her best to keep quiet but wasn’t making any promises, and maybe he should show her another of his value-added cruise extras, right now, just so she could be sure to write the Ballygowan a great review.