Going Overboard (11 page)

He tossed down the sleeping bags and looked around. “Andi?”

“I want to stroke my hands over your starlit, naked body,” she said.

“Where are you?”

“And then I want to flick my tongue over every delicious inch of you,” she said, her voice drifting up from somewhere below him.

“Then you’ll have to get the hell up on the roof, which is where I am, woman.”

“And I want your moan to echo between the rock walls when I finally put my mouth over your—”

“Andi!” His cry echoed back to him. He was going wild.

Slowly she appeared, coming up the ladder. She’d changed out of her swimsuit and put on the sexiest underwear he’d ever seen—wispy bits of black lace that barely covered her nipples and the vee between her thighs. And she was carrying an open jar of something. “Gotcha,” she whispered.

“You had to do some sneaking to get behind me like that.” But he had trouble being angry when he was so damn aroused.

“Oh, I’m very good at sneaking.” She reached between her breasts and unfastened a catch that allowed the skimpy bra to fall away. She shrugged out of it and it fell in her wake. “And I should also tell you, before we get too involved and you might forget, that I’m terrible at taking
orders, and I hate letting someone else get the upper hand.”

He gazed at her, off balance as he usually was when this woman was around. “What’s in the jar?”

“Fingerpaints.”

He peered closer. “Looks like fudge sauce to me.”

“Does it?” She dipped her fingers into the jar as she came toward him. “Does that mean we don’t get to paint? You said you liked doing that.” Her breasts swayed provocatively as she approached.

He ached for her. “We may not have time.”

“I’ll let you paint, too.” She stopped in front of him and smeared sauce around his nipple. Then she tilted her head to one side. “Nice design, but I can improve on it” She started making swirling patterns, kneading his skin with her fingers.

He couldn’t believe what the sensation did to him, how his loins began to pound as she played with her design. And then she began to lick him clean, murmuring her appreciation as if she were enjoying a piece of Godiva.

His breathing grew labored. “Andi…”

She lifted her head and held up the jar. “Sorry,” she said, her tone low and sultry as she slowly sucked the chocolate from her fingers. “Didn’t mean to hog all the fun. Your turn.”

He took the jar. He couldn’t remember ever touching fudge sauce with his fingers, and it felt creamy and sinful as he scooped some out.

She shook her hair back over her shoulders and cupped her breasts with both hands. “Your canvas.”

He set the jar at his feet Then he straightened and began painting the sauce on as if she were wearing a fudge bikini top. Her nipples tightened as he swirled and smoothed the sauce, and the visual and tactile pleasure of
smearing the fudge over her breasts drove him crazy. She’d lured him into creating the sweetest treat he could ever imagine taking into his mouth. Finally he could wait no longer. Easing her supporting hands away, he cradled one chocolate-covered breast in his hand and began to taste his handiwork.

“Good?” she murmured, arching upward.

“Mmm.” He licked and suckled and went slowly out of his mind. “Mmm-mmm.”

He wasn’t exactly clear how they got there, but somehow they’d ended up on their knees as he continued to feast on her breasts. He was so engrossed he barely noticed when she unfastened his shorts and pulled down his briefs. Then she demanded another turn, and he found himself stretched out flat, the stars above him, the roof of the houseboat under him. He had the first fudge-covered erection of his life.

And indeed, his moans did echo against the canyon walls as she enjoyed her chocolate-coated treat, comparing him favorably to every candy bar she’d ever known. Through the unbelievable bliss of her nibbling forays, he fought to keep some kind of control.

“Snack time’s over,” he said finally, gasping as he drew her away and brought her up to plunder her mouth with his lips and tongue. “You are outrageous.”

“Is that good?” she murmured, nibbling on his lower lip.

“Good doesn’t even begin to cover it.” He rolled her gently to her back. “But I don’t want to fingerpaint anymore.”

“Time for a new game?”

“The oldest game of all.” He slipped his hand beneath the black lace of her panties as he licked some lingering
smears of fudge from her breasts. “Even better than chocolate.”

“You’ll have to prove it to me.”

“Love to.” He drew in a breath as he slid two fingers deep into her moistness and felt the tremor go through her. He nuzzled her ear as he created a subtle friction with his fingers and another tremor shook her. “I don’t think it’ll take long to prove,” he whispered.

“Ha. I’m cool…as a cucumber.” Her breathing grew uneven. “If you can last forever, so can I.”

“I have a reason to last forever.” There it was again. She pulsed against his fingers. Soon. “You don’t.”

“Pride,” she whispered. “Oh, Chance, that’s…I don’t want you to think…ohhh…to think I’m a…pushover.”

“Never.” He settled his lips over her mouth and drank in her cries as he propelled her over the edge. Then, as she gradually returned to earth, he eased her panties off and reached behind him to find the shorts she’d stripped away during the fingerpainting session.

“My pride is gone,” she murmured as he sheathed himself. “I still want you.”

“I was hoping you would.” Cradling her head on his arm, he moved over her and eased between her sleek thighs. His heart hammered frantically in anticipation of burying himself within her heat at last. He gazed into her eyes, those wise, funny, passionate eyes. “I’m very glad you still want me.”

“I do.” She grasped his hips and drew him down. “Show me the universe, Chance.”

He pushed deep, and he thought his heart might stop altogether from the sweet ecstasy of the moment. He looked down at her, and she seemed as awestruck as he, but the shadows hid her expression from him. “I wish I could see your face better,” he murmured.

She swallowed and took a shaky breath. “You can’t because it’s dark.”

“Thank you, Einstein,” he said softly, leaning down to kiss her. “Oh, well. Tomorrow we’ll have sunlight.” He eased back and buried himself again, and as he did, she lifted her hips and welcomed him with an undulating motion that made him gasp with delight. It was the most sensuous joining he’d ever known.

“Tomorrow we…have to move…the boat,” she said between ragged breaths.

“Who gives a damn about the boat?” He abandoned himself to the exquisite pleasure of matching her rhythm and discovering which movements brought forth her lusty moans.

Vaguely he realized he’d just turned away from responsibility once again, and that doing so was becoming a dangerous habit. Then she tightened around him and began crooning his name, and he no longer cared. The drive for satisfaction crowded out all rational thought, until at last the sounds of their joyous completion careened off the surrounding canyon walls and floated up into the star-sprinkled night.

W
RAPPED IN
Chance’s arms, satiated by his lovemaking, Andi drifted into a light sleep beneath the glow of a million stars. A gentle rocking motion only increased her sense of well-being as the stars gradually faded and the sky lightened to the color of antique pearls.

“Oh, dammit!”

Andi came fully awake with a start. “Chance?”

He was on all fours staring around him. “Un-friggingbelievable.”

“What?”

He crawled over to where the unused sleeping bags lay in a heap, grabbed one and threw it at her. “Wrap up. We’re in the middle of the lake.”

“No!” She pulled the sleeping bag around her and sat up. Sure enough, water stretched on all sides of the boat. The shore seemed very far away, and the pattern of rocks and mountains was unfamiliar. “What happened?”

He struggled into his discarded shorts. “Maybe the helicopter setting down dislodged us.”

“Or maybe you did.” She smiled. “You were pretty enthusiastic there at the end, Romeo.”

He zipped his shorts and glanced at her. “You weren’t exactly passive yourself, Juliet.”

“I
knew
we could get the boat unstuck. See how things have a way of working out?”

“Yeah, this is just peachy.” Chance squinted in all directions.
“We just have to hope the remaining propeller works, and that we have enough gas to cruise around and figure out which little dimple in that shoreline is the cove where we left half our stuff. We’re in terrific shape.”

“You worry too much.” Andi refused to let a little glitch spoil her contentment. The lake was calm, the footing on the houseboat roof good. Deciding to celebrate her newfound joy in the fresh light of dawn, she tossed aside the sleeping bag, stood and spread her arms. “Hey, world,
qué pasa?
”

Chance gazed at her. “We also have to hope that the guys in the fishing boat coming up behind us don’t have binoculars.”

Andi dropped like a stone, scrambled for the sleeping bag and crawled completely under it. She lifted up a corner and glared out at him. “You might have warned me, Chance Jefferson.”

He grinned. “I would have, if I’d had any idea you were planning your own special salute to the sun.”

She poked her head out. “Are they coming closer?”

“Yeah, they are, as a matter of fact.”

She pulled the sleeping bag over her head with a groan. “Wave them off,” she said through the layers of the bag.

He lifted a section to peer at her. “What?”

“Wave them off! And stop talking to me! I don’t want them to know I’m under here.”

“Hell, I’m waving them in. I want to ask which way the marina is from here so I can orient myself.”

“Chance Jefferson, don’t you dare call those fishermen over here while I’m lying naked under this sleeping bag.”

He pulled the edge of the bag up again. “What did you say? I can’t hear you through all that down filling.”

“Scat! Vamoose!” She grabbed the edge of the sleeping
bag from his hand and jerked it over her head. The soft growl of the fishing boat’s motor drew nearer.

He patted her bottom. “Relax. You worry too much.”

“Oooh! Wait’ll I get my hands on you!”

“That sounds promising.” He squeezed her through the sleeping bag.

“Don’t touch me!” Grasping the sleeping bag in both hands, she crawled on her belly away from him like a paratrooper.

“Subtle, Andi,” he said. “Nobody will ever guess you’re under there dragging that thing all over the roof. They’ll just think I bought myself a motorized sleeping bag.”

The sound of the approaching boat changed from a steady drone to the putt, putt of an idling engine. “Yo, buddy!” called an unfamiliar male voice. “You got problems?”

Andi scrunched her eyes closed and prayed the conversation would be brief

It wasn’t. She lay under the increasingly hot sleeping bag for what seemed like hours as the men laughed and joked. A sneeze tortured her for several minutes before she beat down the urge. She couldn’t hear what the men were saying, and the hotter and more cramped she became, the more certain she was that they were laughing and joking about her. As time dragged on, she planned elaborate tortures for Chauncey M. Jefferson the Fourth.

After an eternity the idling motor roared to life and the fishermen left.

The edge of the sleeping bag lifted. “They’re gone,” Chance whispered.

She threw back the suffocating material and sat up, her patience frayed. “You were making fun of me hiding under here, weren’t you?”

“No, we—”

“I’ll just bet. I’ll bet you all had a good laugh about the bimbo under the blanket.”

He crouched and smiled as he tried to gather her close. “You look so cute and ruffled. Honest, I wouldn’t—”

She shoved him away. “Then why did you take so long?”

“Because.” He reached for her again. “Come here.”

“Because you didn’t care if I was under there, did you? Because you get a kick out of all these scrapes I get myself into.”

“I do, but—” He lost his balance and reached for her all in one movement, so that she toppled onto him as he rolled to his back. His arms tightened around her. “Stop struggling or we’ll both flip over this little six-inch railing into the water. Knowing you, it’s a miracle it hasn’t happened already.”

She stopped struggling. Falling into the lake from the top of the houseboat would not be a good way to start the day. “See, you think I’m a brainless klutz.”

“Not brainless.”

“But a klutz.” She supported her chin on her hand so she could look at him. His eyes were warm and full of humor, and despite her irritation, the brush of his chest hair against her bare breasts felt very good.

He smiled. “An adorable klutz. And don’t forget you’re talking to the guy who passed out when he was supposed to help deliver a baby.”

“Twice.”

“I see I won’t have to worry about you forgetting. You’ll probably blackmail me with it.”

“Thanks for the idea.” She laid her cheek over his heart and listened to its steady beat. “So you weren’t joking about me with those guys?”

“Of course not” He rolled them both over gently, so they weren’t so close to the rail and he was propped above her. “There. That makes me a little less nervous. It’s a damn good thing neither of us stumbled around in the middle of the night looking for the bathroom.”

“If you weren’t talking about me, what took you so long while those fishermen were here? I was beginning to think you’d discovered a couple of fraternity brothers.”

“Just playing the good ol’ boy game.” He stroked her hair back from her face. “I had to let them carry on about me floating in the middle of the lake all alone on a ten-person houseboat.”

“They really thought you were alone?”

“Yep.” He kissed her on the nose. “I pretended my buddies were back on the beach, clueless that the boat had drifted during the night with me on the roof. I implied there was a lot of beer involved. Yeah, they thought I was alone. I didn’t see any sign of binoculars in their boat, either.” He gazed down at her. “Looks like the dawn flasher was only seen by me.”

“Thank you for checking on the binocular situation. That makes me feel better.”

“Me, too. I’m a little proprietary about my Lady Godiva.” He stroked her breast. “You’re still sticky.”

“We need a swim or something.”

“Or something.” He leaned down to give her a few swipes of his tongue as he continued to talk, and the stubble of his beard prickled tantalizingly against her skin. “I also described the cove to them, and they gave me directions how to get back. I figured if I brushed them off too fast, they’d start wondering if I had a dead body under the sleeping bag. If anyone took the time to notice, you were a strange-looking bundle under there.”

“A strange-looking bundle. How flattering.”

He eased his hips between her thighs. “Ah, but you’re also the prettiest bundle I’ve ever found naked under a sleeping bag.” Beneath the cotton of his shorts, his arousal was evident.

“Chance, I really think we should—”

“Funny how the same thing keeps happening whenever I’m near you like this.”

“Hysterical. Shouldn’t we be testing the motors or something?”

“I’m testing yours.” He raised up enough to unzip his shorts, although he left the waistband buttoned.

“Chance! Another boat could come along, and it’s almost broad daylight.”

“I’ll listen for boats.” He pulled a condom from his pocket.

“Oh, sure you will. Let’s go below.” She found herself growing moist and ready, despite her misgivings about his latest plan.

“If we’re inside the boat I really wouldn’t see anyone coming. This way I’ll know if we’re alone out here or not.” He handed her the condom. “Open this for me.”

“You’re really serious!”

“Did you doubt it?”

“Of course I doubted it!”

“Where’s that wild spirit of yours, Andi?”

“You really plan to make love on top of a houseboat in the middle of a lake in broad daylight?” But the idea excited her tremendously.

“Yeah, if I can get some cooperation. Open the condom and help me put it on.”

She did. The open zipper of his shorts brushed against her thigh as he slipped deep inside her.

“You’re beyond crazy,” she murmured.

He eased back and thrust forward again. “That’s how you make me, fudge woman, beyond crazy.”

Her body welcomed him, rising to meet his thrust even as her mind said she should make him stop. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

As he gazed into her eyes, he settled into the insistent rhythm that had carried her away so completely the night before. “And I can’t believe you’re still talking.”

“I just think…mmm.” She quivered as he made firm contact with her most sensitive spot.

“Yes?”

“Never mind,” she whispered as he continued his deep, deliberate strokes. “Just keep doing that.”

“I thought I might.”

As the tension mounted within her, she held his gaze. The tenderness in his eyes revealed that this joining was about more than pleasure, although the pleasure was incredible. A rush of joy surged through her, heightening her response.

“Oh, Andi,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to hers.

Her name had never sounded so sweet. No kiss had ever touched her soul like this one. He slowed the pace, as if to draw out the last moments, and then, in response to one mighty thrust, she surrendered to a shattering climax. He caught her cries against his mouth and mingled them with his own as his release shuddered through him.

F
ALLING IN LOVE
with Andi wasn’t a great idea, but Chance didn’t seem to be able to stop himself. At the beginning of this trip, he’d thought he could avoid becoming involved with her sexually. Then, once that stronghold had fallen before the onslaught of her incredible appeal, he’d thought he could avoid becoming involved with her emotionally.

Yet, as he piloted the boat in the direction of the little cove and Andi busied herself clearing away the confusion from the night before, he kept catching her hand as she went past him and pulling her over for a kiss. The kisses weren’t so much for sexual stimulation, although they definitely gave him that, but for the joy of connecting with her and feeling that surge of electricity between them.

They had decided on an agenda—moor at the cove, call the hospital to check on Nicole and the baby, then load everything they’d left on the sand, assuming it was all still there. Beyond that, they’d made no plan. Logically they should take the boat into the marina and drive into Vegas to see Nicole. Logically they should end the vacation today. He’d agreed to the trip in order to fulfill Bowie’s birthday wish. Bowie wasn’t even here anymore.

But Chance didn’t want to turn the boat in. It seemed to be running fine even with one propeller pretty well chewed up. He’d hauled in the trailing mooring lines and miraculously the stakes had still been tied to them. The wind had died down, there was food in the refrigerator, and ten beds. He felt the urge to try them all.

He spied the little cove up ahead. “Land, ho!” he called out to Andi, who was putting away pillows in the back.

“Is anybody there on our beach?”

“Nope.”
Our beach.
He’d like to make it that. The cove was secluded and there certainly wasn’t room for another houseboat to moor, which meant they’d have a lot of privacy. But Andi probably wanted to go visit Nicole and the baby. Although he’d seen a soft light in her eyes this morning when they’d made love on the roof, he wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

She came up beside him. “There’s our stuff! The deck
chairs, and the fire circle, and the cooler and beach towels. Everything’s there, thank goodness.”

“I figured it would be. We haven’t been gone that long.”

“I know, but it seems like years since we sat down on that beach and read excerpts from Nicole’s book.”

“Yeah, it does.” He’d been falling in love with her then, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. Sharing the birth of the baby, knowing she accepted the vulnerability he’d shown through the crisis, and then making incredible love, twice, pretty much clinched it for him. And everything would be terrific—as long as they stayed on this houseboat for the rest of their lives. That’s where the problem lay. He couldn’t picture her in Chicago putting up with his stress-filled schedule and he sure as hell wasn’t moving to Nevada.

“Hang on,” he said. “I’m going to ram it up on the beach.”

“And I bet you love doing that, too. What a thrill, sitting at the controls of this long, massive boat, and then shoving it deep into that soft, yielding sand. What a macho power trip.”

She sure had a way with words. He lost all interest in beaching the boat in favor of the act it symbolized. But the job had to be done. He grinned at her. “Just to prove that I don’t need this macho power trip, I’m going to let you ram it up on the beach.”

“Yeah? Cool.”

“Get over here, and bring your testosterone.”

She popped into the seat the minute he vacated it. “How fast?”

“I’ll let you decide. But don’t be tentative. You don’t want us sliding back out.”

“God, no.” She chuckled. “Nothing worse than that.”