Sin at Sea (6 page)

As a final touch I sprayed on J’adore perfume in the cleavage, behind the neck, around the throat and in the bend of my arms and behind my knees. Carefully, I applied my smoky eyes, finished with a thick coat of mascara, and completed the look with a rich lush lipstick. I couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

Throwing my shoulders back confidently, I walked out of the room in scarlet-strapped heels. Though I tried to behave as if the entire quality of our evening was not based on his first words, to me…they kind of were. I grabbed my clutch, made sure to pack a lip gloss, and my cards, then went to stand near the door. “Ready?” I asked, striking a pose that I hoped would look natural.

He smiled. “Nope. You’re not. Not yet.” He stood and walked over to me. Then he handed me a jewelry box. I just stared at it in my hands. “Open it,” he suggested in a low voice.

After another slight hesitation, I pushed back the lid and discovered a pair of diamond earrings. “So, are these on loan?” I asked, always practical.

“Nope, they are yours. I told you. I want you to always remember this.” Then he reached out and affixed one earring to each ear. “I have to admit, it gives me a lot of pleasure to see them on you.”

“Know what else can give you a lot of pleasure?” I asked playfully.

He smirked as he looked at me and responded simply, “What?”

Leaning in, I kissed his lips. Growing bolder, I kissed a trail up his jawline until I reached his ear. After nipping at the lobe, I murmured, “Me.” Then I broke contact and headed for the door. Always, and I can’t stress this enough,
always
leave them wanting more. I turned as I reached for the handle. “Coming?” I asked.

That snapped him out of his reverie. Soon he was trailing after me, which was precisely the effect I had hoped for. We walked to the elevator, punched the button, and as we waited, his hand found the small of my back. I loved that. So few men still do that, lay a hand on a woman’s lower back, but they totally should. It is such a protective and loving gesture. So why was Mr. BE doing it?

I glanced up at him quizzically. He smiled and responded, “What? You don’t want your husband to touch you? That would break our agreement.” He winked at me. Just then the doors opened and we headed down to dinner.

Clearly he knew. He knew what so few men had figured out. I was definitely pulling out all the stops at dinner. As soon as we were seated, my hand found his upper thigh. He jumped the first time I squeezed it and started massaging it. His eyebrows rose, then he calmed down, relaxed into and upped the ante. Soon, he had one hand knotted in my hair, playing with it, massaging my neck, and rubbing my scalp. If I wasn’t careful, I’d have my face in his lap before dessert. Damn, this man was simply not playing fair.

As the meal wore on, I could tell we were both affected by the other’s actions. We excused ourselves before coffee. He claimed he had the ulcer. I claimed I didn’t want to be up half the night. His eyebrows rose and I knew what he was thinking. More than anything, I hoped he meant what he suggested. I really wouldn’t mind being kept up half the night for this. After all, tomorrow was a full day at sea before we even reached Grand Turk. I didn’t mind missing breakfast, especially when there was 24-hour room service. Hell, at the moment, I wouldn’t mind if we never left the cabin.

We walked to the elevator and Mr. BE looked at me seriously. “So, did you want to get a drink, or take a walk?”

Oh, he was good. Well, I wasn’t going to be the one to break first. “You know what? I think I’d like to do both,” I responded calmly as I hooked my arm through his.
That’s right, Alysin,
I thought
, play it cool. You’ve got this, girl.
Only, I didn’t. I was jelly and hot and quivery inside. I tingled in places that had never tingled before. Worse, there was this strange stirring like something in me long dormant had been awakened.
Keep it together.

We walked to the piano bar where he ordered us a bottle of wine. Not a glass. Not a carafe. No, we were having an entire bottle. It was some Pinot Noir that he claimed I would really enjoy. “I don’t know about that,” I joked. “I like my wine sweet.”

He reached over grabbed my left hand that bore his ring and kissed it. “Just like you like your men?” He asked with a smile.

“Oh, no. Past experience tells me I like my men dry and nutty.” I slowly pulled my hand back as I smiled happily at him. “How do you like your women?”

“Hmmm,” he said while scrunching his face up into what was apparently his thinking look. “I haven’t found any women that I’ve liked in a long time. No attraction. No compatibility. They sounded perfect for your men…very nutty.”

I laughed, but I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take for me to regret that Mr. BE was my rebound. Every minute that I knew him, I liked him more. In relationships, that seemed to be half the battle. Shoot, I didn’t even want Kyle around half the time. No wonder I kept turning him down when he asked about us living together. It’s good that we’re not together. It’s simply lousy the way it ended. In my mind, Kyle will forever be branded a coward.

Somehow, when I was finally present once more, done with the reminiscing about the state of my life, I realized that he had his arm around me. Moments later he was whispering in my ear, “Dance with me.”

I glanced about the room. “No one is dancing,” I said. “I don’t even think the room is big enough to dance.”

“Ha,” he said seriously. “Just follow my lead.”

Raising an eyebrow I responded in the sexiest voice I could manage, “Don’t I always?”

He chuckled. “It’s a little early on in the relationship for me to comment on that, but if you’re keeping track…so far, so good.” Then he yanked me off my seat and into his arms. Next thing I knew, we’re swaying to the music, our bodies pressed together so tightly that I couldn’t figure out where one of us began and the other one ended.

The entire seduction scene was taking a toll on me. There was entirely too much touching, too much closeness. There were entirely too many clothes and people. It made me feel things I neither wanted nor had any business feeling. Yet…I couldn’t stop. The whole time, there was also this underlying need to find out what would happen next. I had to ride this out, let it run its course. So what if I lost myself for a week? That was all I was capable of at the moment. I had no idea where I was going to move. Starting something was not an option.

As we spun around together, I was so lost in the moment that I never realized how many people were actually paying attention to us, watching our every move, until the song ended. Then…he dipped me. I’ve seen it in movies. It always looked so fun, so effortless, and with Mr. BE…it was. Damn, that man and his amazing upper body strength. My hair brushed the floor. I threw my head back like I had seen on screen, and then he pulled me up and against him.

“You look flushed,” he said as he nuzzled my neck and walked me back to our wine.

By now we had each had a glass of the wine to drink. Add to that the drink with dinner, the dancing, and the non-stop foreplay…yeah, I’m sure I was flushed. “I am hot…and bothered,” I said, while watching him for a reaction.

His face was buried in my hair at the moment. “Not bothered, too,” he murmured against my ear. I didn’t have to speak; I merely nodded. “Well, let’s go then.” He pulled away long enough for me to feel the absence.

It surprised me, but not as much as his next move. Picking up both wine glasses, he passed one to me. Then, doing that hand on my lower back thing that I was already craving, we headed out of the piano bar and up to the lido deck. All I could think was…
wrong direction!
I wanted to be naked, in his arms, in our cabin. Crap! I was using words like ‘ours’ already. His. His cabin. Mr. BE’s cabin. Dammit.

We headed through the automatic doors and that ridiculous blower as we exited onto the top open-air deck of the boat. It was dark, the kind of dark it should be out in the middle of the ocean. The only lighting was the ship’s party lights strung around the top. He walked me to the back of the boat, through the buffet, pausing briefly to pick up a few things…some strawberries in a bowl…some whipped cream, a bit of chocolate sauce. I loved the way he thought, as long as he was thinking what I was thinking. Damn, I hope he was thinking what I was thinking.

His little snack screamed ‘fun with food.’ It was something I had always enjoyed, with the right guy. With the wrong guy, it really wasn’t worth the mess. Oh, but something about Mr. BE told me that I was going to enjoy every moment with him.

When we reached the back of the ship, I realized that we were alone. It had to be later than I thought. That’s what happens when I’m having fun. Time flies. Suddenly, my chest tightened. This week…would fly and then it would be over. I closed my eyes. Just enjoy this. Just make some memories. Fuck. I was turning into a regular girl after one day with my mystery man.

“Would you like to sit down?” He asked.

Really. I didn’t. Sitting suggested a need for comfort because we were going to be there for a while. I wanted to be alone with him while struggling to play it cool. Suddenly, this had turned into a power struggle. And I played to win. “Sure,” I said as I sat down in a seat that was far away from the door, right up against the railing. If we couldn’t actually be alone, I was at least going to feel like we were.

Once seated, I propped my feet up on the railing. I knew that it would make the dress fall just right, exposing my legs. I had always been told that they had been one of my best features. I tone up with regular yoga, eat right, and have never been pregnant. I have plenty of good features. I’m not perfect, but I like me. I’m comfortable naked. I’m especially comfortable naked with him.

A smile spread across his face as he glanced at my legs. Pushing the dish toward me, he asked, “Care for a snack?

“Do I get to be dessert?” I asked leaning my upper body on the table. It has always served me well to plant ideas in men’s minds. If I knew men, he would be imagining sex with me…right now.

To up the ante, I picked up the reddest, lushest strawberry I set eyes on then dipped it in whipped cream. Slowly, I guided it to my open waiting mouth, taking a moment to lick the whipped cream first. I closed my eyes as I bit into it and pretended to be savoring that bite way more than I actually was. When I opened my eyes once more, he was smiling.

On his extended finger, a healthy dollop of whipped cream. “Oops,” he said.

“Funny, you don’t look like you made a mistake,” I murmured as I reached out, wrapped my hand around his, and drew it to my mouth. In seconds, I had licked the cream off his phalange with a combination of short flicks and long lingering licks. “Well, it looks clean,” I began, “but just to be sure…” Then I took his finger in my mouth, his whole finger, while staring into his eyes. I sucked on it a moment, letting it slide out then back in as I relished the feel of his fingerprint on my tongue. I swear I felt him shiver. Finally, I took it out and said, “All better.”

Now he was clean, but, if I had done it right, his mind was dirty. With any luck, filthy dirty. How I wanted this man. I loved it and hated it. Still, I wanted this man.

Gazing up at him from under my eyelashes, he surprised me by suddenly cupping my face and drawing me nearer. His kisses were no longer a surprise. I knew his tells. I was definitely about to be kissed.

Mr. BE does not disappoint. Or, rather, he hadn’t yet. He has this amazing ability to keep me interested. That was quite the skill in and of itself. He was the perfect combination of attractive and intelligent. He was…dangerous. He was mine…for the week.

Day two of the cruise dawned sunny and bright. Still, I woke long before Mr. BE. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Knowing nothing about his habits, I decided to order some room service and shower while I waited. It was pretty perfect. Really it was. I felt so…relaxed as I sat on the balcony in my bathrobe, sipping my Earl Grey, snacking on my fruit salad, looking out over blue water as far as the eye could see, while reminiscing about the night before. No wonder the poor guy was tired out.

Let’s face it our hormones were working overtime all night. Somehow, I finally wore him down. I managed to convince him to come back to the cabin. After the whipped cream, our evening only grew steamier and that’s why we ended up continuing our night of fun with food on our own balcony.