In His Sails (5 page)

I didn’t leave right away. Couldn’t. My mind was too topsy-turvy to think about sailing away in my state, I’d probably crash, sink and drown.

I took a deep breath and told myself to get a grip.
I’d gotten my answer. That was what I came here for, after all.

It was nearly two a.m. when I finally finished his book. I had been in it after all.
Just one paragraph at the end. Nothing I could consider my fifteen minutes of fame. Even though this wasn’t about notoriety, I simply wanted to see if I meant something to him. Something enough to mention me. I shook my head. I was being needy and selfish.

It was a half thrown away paragraph, simply mentioning a brighter future made possible by a
blonde-haired woman who gave him hope that he’d be able to find someone new. At least I’d given him that I suppose.

This was crazy. I was crazy. I
didn’t understand why I even cared. It was just two weeks. A fling to help us both forget. Except I hadn’t forgotten. Couldn’t get him out of my mind.

I slept late the next morning, dragging myself out of bed at around ten.

Lucy would give me advice.
She’d know what to do. I picked up my phone and dialled.

“It’s natural, Mia, considering your situation,” she said.

“What situation? There’s nothing wrong with me. Except that I’m fixated on some guy I met six months ago.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because I’m crazy?”

I heard her cluck her tongue. “You’re not crazy.”

“He must think I am.”

“Remember back when you met him. You were all upset.”

“No I wasn’t.”

“You were upset. Your father had left you all, and so you sought the first male attention that you came across and grabbed it with both hands.”

My lip trembled. “You know it wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it? You needed some fun. It was good for you.
But that’s all it was. Enjoy what you had. He sounds like an asshole, you deserve much better. You said he wasn’t your type anyway.”

“I guess.”

“Don’t make more out of this than it needs to be. You had a two-week stand. A holiday fling. Which can be awesome. And it was. But you can’t make it more than that.”

I frowned. I knew she was right.
“Yeah. I should leave here. It was a mistake.”

“Come back and visit me. I miss you.
We’ll go out and find some new fun. Meet some new people.”

I shifted in my chair. Meet new people.
That’s exactly what I didn’t want to do. But if it helped to get the crazy out of my head, then so be it.

“Okay, I’ll leave this afternoon. See you soon.”

I’d
already packed the boat up and was ready to leave. My mouth was dry and I was craving my regular caffeine fix. I was positive that David wouldn’t return to the same coffee shop, and they did have good coffee there. Fine - I’d grab a cup to go, and be back at my boat in less than twenty minutes.

As I was standing at the counter waiting for my order, someone behind me cleared his throat. “You’re Mia,
aren’t you?”

I looked around to see a tall, broad shouldered
guy standing to my side. He looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t immediately place him. “Yes. I am.” I blinked at him, waiting for him to say something more, so I could remember where I knew him.

“Thought so.
The chick Dave was with over the summer. What are you doing here in Nambucca in the Winter?” He told the shop girl his own coffee order and turned back to me. “Not many tourists here when it’s cold.”

Realisation
struck. Of course. He was David’s friend, Ben. One of the other lifeguards. “Just passing through. I’ll be on my way in the next half hour or so.”

“You should catch up with Dave while you are here. He’d like to see you.”

I scoffed. “I saw him yesterday. Didn’t seem as if he was pleased to see me at all. He was quite rude actually.” My coffee order was ready. I opened my purse and handed over a note, getting coin change in return. “But it’s fine. Like you said, it was a summer thing.”

He grabbed his coffee order at the same time I did,
determined to follow me out of the shop. “He doesn’t know what he wants. He thinks the only reason he’s attracted to you is because of Jen.”

I snorted and shook my head. Another reason I
shouldn’t have come here. He was obviously still in love with his ex. “Good for him, but if you’ll excuse me.”

“No wait.” He grabbed my arm as I stepped past him. I glared at him and shook my arm out of his grip.
“Ah, sorry. I just meant, you should wait. Talk to him.”

“And why would I do that?” I began to feel a bubble of annoyance and perhaps even anger rise in my stomach.

“Because if he’s wrong. And you aren’t Jen’s half sister then …”

I shook my head. “Jen’s half sister? What are you talking about?”

“Shit, I just told you. He thinks you’re Jen’s half sister. That you and her have the same father or something like that.”

“I’ve never met the girl. I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

“Exactly. We all told him he was nuts. But he insisted it was true.”

“Why would he think a ludicrous thing like that?”

“Dunno. Said when he was researching his book, that he found out her father and yours were the same.”

“Well he’s not a very good researcher then, is
he. My father never had any other children, or any other families.”

“Sorry. Anyway, you should still talk to him.” He touched me on the shoulder again before nodding. He held my gaze for a few seconds longer than necessary and then turned and walked away. I
stared after him, wondering what ridiculousness he was talking about.

“Mum, I need to ask you questions about Dad.”

I could feel her hesitate on the other side of the phone. “What is it?”

“Did he have another family?
When he was with us. Is that why you never married?”

She laughed.
“Oh hardly. No of course not. I would have known about that.”

“But he was away a lot. Could he have had children with anyone
else? Could I have a half sister? Is that possible?”

“Mia, your father, as much as he had his faults, was never unfaithful to me. No. You do not have any secret siblings running
around; I can assure you of that.”

“But would you have known? He might have kept that from you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I knew him. He wasn’t like that. I don’t know where you got such a crazy idea from, but there is no way it’s possible.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay.
But I need to ask him myself. Just to be sure.”

“If you must.
But you’ll find that this idea of yours is unfounded.”

After I hung up from mum, I scrolled through my contacts,
hovering my finger over Dad’s. I hadn’t spoken to him for months. The last time I did, we’d had a huge argument over his new girlfriend. I took a deep breath and dialled.

“Mia, where did you get such a crazy idea?” he asked.

“Someone I know did research and said he found out that me and another girl, named Jennifer, had the same father - and that father was you.”

“Ridiculous,” he said. “I never ever cheated on your mother.”

“Then why would he think that?”

“I don’t know, love, you’ll have to ask him that yourself.
But I swear that I would never hurt your mother that way. I swear to you.”

I hung up and my hands
were shaking. I knew David was wrong. And I was going to tell him that, right to his face. I was furious that he would make up such stories about me. The more and more I found out about him, the less I wanted him now. He could go to hell for all I cared.

I stalked out onto the pier, looking for his boat, hoping he was on it so I could give him a piece of my mind, then I could leave this place forever and never return.

He was on his boat. Standing on deck looking right at me.

I threw my shoulders back and headed in his direction.

“You’re completely wrong,” I yelled when I was close enough for him to hear me. I didn’t care who heard. “I don’t care what you do with your life, but telling people I’m the half sister of your dead girlfriend is flat out wrong and you need to stop.”

His teeth
ground together and he looked away from me. “You don’t understand.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I had made my way onto his boat, and was standing in front of him. “Of course I don’t understand. Why would you think that? Why are you making up stories about me? What is wrong with you?”

He looked back at me, his eyes had a darkness about them. “You have to be her sister. It’s the only logical explanation.”

I snorted again.
“Logical explanation? Explanation for what?”

“For the fact that whenever I look at you, whenever I’m around you.
I don’t think of her anymore. I can only think of you. Of how much I want to kiss you, touch you, feel you, be with you. I thought she was the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with, that I’d love her forever. But it’s you I think about constantly. You I want to be with. Now my feelings for her seem so … insignificant.” He struggled to get out the last word. “So you have to be part of her, you can’t be someone new. Because that meant I never really loved her, that my feelings weren’t as strong with her, as they are with you.”

I
couldn’t stay on his boat a minute longer. I ran as fast as I could back to my own. Panting to catch my breath.  What was he saying? That he loved me? That wasn’t possible. It was just a holiday fling, that’s all it was for both of us. I should do what I was going to do before I saw him, and get out of this crazy beach town.

I slammed the door to my
houseboat to shut out the sounds. Held my hands over my ears, I didn’t want to hear those words from him. I had just started to get over him. No. No, not like this.

The revelation that he had feelings for me,
didn’t lesson the fact that he’d been rude and he’d made up some crazy story. I didn’t care for his explanation. He was obviously far too damaged, and far too obsessed with his ex to get involved with. I didn’t need that. My life was still screwed up. I still didn’t have a job, I had no stability in my life.

I rubbed my face in my hands. They were damp. I was sweating.

I could make it back to Sydney in a day if the conditions were right. Do what Lucy suggested, have some fun, meet new people. Anything to get away from here, away from the screwed up mess I felt just being here.

There was a knock on my door.

Please don’t be David. I didn’t want to face him.

“Mia, we need to talk.”

I yelled through the door. “About what? About the fact that you think you can only be attracted to me if I’m half Jennifer? I can’t compete with a dead girlfriend. I don’t want to.”

“I know. I was wrong. I convinced myself that you had to be.
It was the only way I could explain how I was feeling. I’m so sorry.”

I opened the door. My fingers were trembling. “Why are you here?  I thought you didn’t want to see me again?”

He was breathing heavily. “You can’t leave. Not like this.”

“We had a holiday romance. That’s all it was.”

He moved closer, and I could feel my heart beat quicken. “Is that really all it was?”

“Of course.”

He stepped closer again, and my heart felt like it was going to thump out of my chest. “Because if that were true, then I could get you out of my head. But I can’t. You’re all I think about.”

He was too close. Close enough to touch, close enough that if I lifted my head and looked into his eyes, I could lean forward and kiss him. I kept my head down.

“Do you think about me, too, Mia? Is that why you are here, in Nambucca?”

I would not admit that was the exact reason I was here.
Not to him. Not now. “You are still hung up on your ex.” It was all I could think to squeak out.

“No. That is the whole point.
I’m not. I’m over her. I didn’t want to be, because I thought it was tarnishing her memory. But I can’t be. Because I’m hung up on you.” He lifted my chin, and stared deep into my eyes. I knew my lip was trembling, so I bit down onto it, to stop myself from wanting him. It didn’t help. I wanted him to kiss me so bad right now.

“Mia.” He closed his eyes as he said my name, smelling my hair as he did so. I could feel his breath against my forehead. It was ragged and
laboured. He was having a hard time composing himself. Hell, I was having a hard time composing myself.

My mind was racing. All I wanted him to do was kiss me, take me into the bedroom and pleasure me like there was no tomorrow. The other side of me wanted to struggle out of his grip and run. Run away from
this man who was going to break my heart, who already had more of a grip on it than I wanted him too. It was only supposed to be a holiday fling. I kept repeating that thought over and over in my head, as if trying to convince myself that it was true.

I looked up at him.

“I want you Mia. I want you so much.”

He leaned down and crushed his lips on mine. I
couldn’t hold back anymore, and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He pulled me closer still, his heart beating through his clothing against my chest. Primal emotion had taken over both of us, and tongues and hands began to explore each
other’s bodies - I was unable to stop myself. I glided my fingertips over his muscled shoulders, down his back as far as I could reach and then down around his waist, tugging at his shorts.

His tongue invaded my mouth and I groaned. He grabbed my ass and lifted me off the ground as I wrapped my legs around his waist. I had pulled his shorts down enough that his erection sprang free. In furious
passion, I wanted it inside me. Filling me up again. I wanted him to fuck me.

He was strong enough to hold me up with one arm around my hips, my legs around his waist for support. He used his other hand, to caress up under my top, his rough hands kneading my breasts, tweaking on my hardened nipples. I lifted my top above my head and threw it to the ground. My bra followed closely behind and he moaned as he kissed my neck and trailed down to take one nipple in his mouth, squeezing it between his lips and sucking on one and then the other. I threw my head back, holding onto his neck as I arched my back, thrusting my breasts closer to his hungry devouring mouth.

My hips began to move of their own accord rubbing against his exposed erection. I could feel him through my panties, the wetness and desire begging him to enter me. Right here, right now.

My legs were still around his waist and he moved me forward so I was leaning up against the wall of my houseboat for support. My skirt hiked up and he yanked my underwear to the side, ripping them.
His finger, caressing my wetness and using that to lubricate my clit as he circled it with his thumb.

His tongue
returned to my mouth, almost thrusting into me. I wanted his cock inside me doing the same thing and wiggled my hips to try to get closer to it. I reached down, letting its hardness glide through my fingers, rubbing the tiny bit of wetness on the tip to make it slippery. As I touched him, he moaned again into my mouth, and thrust one, then two, fingers inside me, fucking me with them. I gasped, my hips bucking wildly to the timing of his hands.

Heat rushed through me, and he continued to fuck me with his fingers and his tongue. I wanted more.

Evidently, so did he as he took one hand away from my breast and reached around into this back pocket to bring out a condom. I was only staying in place by pressing my back on the wall of the boat, my legs around his waist, and my hands around his neck, because he wasn’t holding me at all now.

He ripped the wrapper open with his teeth, glanced down at his cock as he rolled it down his shaft. His fingers were still slick with my juices, and he rubbed it onto the condom until it glistened with my desire.

I whimpered and wiggled my hips again, trying to spread my legs wider, so he’d enter me.

He placed the tip of his cock against my already throbbing sex and slowly slid into me, filling me deeply. I held my breath the entire movement, gasping at every exquisite inch of him. He stopped when he
couldn’t go any further. Stopped still. I tried to move my hips but was impaled on him against the wall, unable to move.

I pulled his mouth back to mine, moving my own tongue in his mouth, in and out, so
he’d get the hint and do the same to me below. It worked. He slammed into me, fast and furiously. We both couldn’t get enough of each other.

A continuous moan escaped my lips as he bucked into me, his cock filling me so completely, making me feel so satiated. I never wanted it to stop. I never wanted him to stop. I never wanted him to leave me again. Any thoughts of him not wanting me, or confusing me with his ex had now been shattered. I could feel how much he wanted me as he continued to push and grind his hips to mine. Every so
often he would moan my name into my mouth and then return his tongue there.

I grabbed his hair, still groaning as he thrust
thrust thrust.

His hand fluttered down and began to circle my clit at the same time. He rubbed it softly at first, and then harder.

The warmth of climax was beginning to bubble up inside of me. Then he tweaked my hardened nub between his fingers as he continued to ride me. I came with such intensity that I fell limp as I bucked onto him. My body was still pulsing as he pushed one last deep thrust into me and climaxed himself.

He held me up for a moment longer kissing me hard as my back pressed into the wall, and then he helped me off him, my feet finally touching the floor. I
wasn’t sure I could stand at first, I was still numb with pleasure, but my legs held out.

I turned to him, ready to say something, but he placed his finger over my lips. 

He kissed me gently. “You are so beautiful,” he said as he nibbled my bottom lip.

He moved me gently back toward my bedroom.

I fell backward onto the bed, expecting him to lie next to me, but instead he began to pull my skirt off so I was finally completely naked.

“Again?”
I asked.

He smiled, winked and bent down at the edge of the bed. My feet were dangling over the edge and he pulled my knees apart and blew a gentle breeze over my ravished pussy. The heat from our lovemaking combined with the coolness of his breath sent hungry shivers through me.

He traced a finger over me, dipping it into my wetness. He rubbed on the wall inside me, and immediately heat and desire spread through me again. Breathing was fast and ragged and he leaned closer to take my clit in his mouth, sucking on it. It was sensitive from my prior orgasm, and I tried to wiggle away, but he held my hips fast, continuing to move his finger inside me and suck on my hardened nub like it was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

Another finger inside me, and then another. His rough tongue lapped at my clit as he moved his fingers inside me pleasuring me with them. He
didn’t stop devouring me, until I came. I shuddered, not sure if I could move. I’d never been able to orgasm twice before, not so close together.

But
he still wasn’t done with me. He reached and placed another condom on. I bit my lip again, unable and too exhausted to move, but still wanting him.

I was almost dripping when he entered me. He was slower this time, the gentle rocking of the water under the boat almost doing the moving for us. I could stay like this for hours, him above me, inside me, tasting me, loving me.

“You’re incredible,” he said, still moving inside me. “Don’t go. Don’t leave. Stay. Stay here. With me.”