Swept Away (2 page)

“Now, if you’re ready, I’ll tell the crew to set
sail.” He turned to me, his hand coming to rest on my arm. “I’m so glad you
agreed to come, Aolani. I think this trip is going to be something special.”

I could feel my pulse hammering in my throat now,
the touch of his skin on mine making me light headed. Was he talking about his
campaign?
Or something else altogether?

“Me, too,” I said. “Let’s go.”

***

Gavin

I grinned as I watched Aolani leaning over the
railing, laughing as the ocean spray kicked up around her. Her hair was
whipping back in the sea air, long, black tendrils caressing her beautiful
brown skin. Her white
halter top
hugged her small
waist above the round curve of her
arse
in a way that
made my cock stir in my trousers, and I admit, I stared, drinking in the sight
of her.

The crew had us out of the harbor and sailing into
the Atlantic in no time, headed toward our first stop—the islands of Turks
and Caicos. I had a vacation home there I wanted to set up a shoot in, as well
as a private beach. It was the perfect spot for Aolani’s beauty to shine, and I
couldn’t wait to get her there.

I ran a hand through my hair, watching her from
the door of the cabin. Her eyes were bright as she looked out over the water,
the sun kissing her skin. She turned to me and smiled, her whole face lighting
up.

“I’ve never been sailing before,” she yelled.
“This is incredible!”

“Now, how is that possible? A girl from Hawaii’s
never been out on the ocean?”

She rolled her eyes and looked back out over the
waves. “I never said I hadn’t been on the ocean before. I just said I hadn’t
sailed.” She looked back at me and smiled again. “I’m actually great at hoe
he'e
nalu
.”

It was my turn to smile. “Ho he what now?”

“Oh, sorry. Stand up paddle surfing. You stand on
a long board and paddle out past the reef break to where to the waves are.
Then, you surf.”

I laughed. “So, you’re a daredevil, are you?
Surfing is something I’ve never dared try.”

Aolani beamed at me. “You seem like the kind of
man who isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Well, I’m afraid of meeting my sudden and
humiliating end beneath a wave, lass,” I said, chuckling. “I worry I’d be all
left feet and fall right off the board.”

I joined her at the railing, my body responding to
the proximity. I remembered the way she’d looked this morning wearing my
t-shirt yesterday morning--her full breasts outlined beneath the cotton... the
sight of her smooth, tan thighs when the hem crept higher--and willed myself
not to stare at her cleavage, now deliciously exposed in her halter.

The effect this woman had on me was unreal. What
was it about her that made me so crazy whenever she was around? Was it just her
body, or was there more to it than that? More that drew me to her… that kept me
thinking about her even when we were apart?

A fleeting thought of red-gold hair in the sun, of
ocean spray, of a different woman on a different day passed through my mind.
A stab of guilt bloomed, hot and ugly inside of me, before I could
shake the memory off.

Not today, Fi. Not now.

“Maybe I could teach you sometime.”

Her words broke me out of my thoughts. I forced
myself to smile, to try to push the feeling back down, deep inside where it
belonged.

“It’s a good workout, but you look like you could
handle it.” She reached up and playfully squeezed my bicep.

I flexed my arm without thinking and grinned. “I’d
like that.”

The smile fell off her face and she snatched her
hand away.

Is she blushing? Dear God.
..

The thought that I might be affecting her the way
she did me was a very interesting one indeed. Then again, after the night we
shared, should I be surprised? I remembered the way she’d reacted in my arms,
the way she’d kissed me and moaned when I ground myself against her. Lord, the
way she’d cum so easily...

My cock stirred in my pants, and I cleared my
throat, trying to think of something,
anything
,
else. At that moment, the cabin door banged open and my photographer, Thomas,
emerged, camera swinging from a strap around his neck.

“Ready to start taking shots whenever you are,” he
said.

Aolani cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I wanted to document the entire trip, in case we
got candid shots we can use. You don’t mind, do you?”


She frowned momentarily, her full lips pressed
together, then her face relaxed and she shook her head.

“Of course not. Whatever you want. Boss.”

We smiled for the camera, leaning against the
railing, and I slid an arm around her, touching the bare skin of her back. She
tensed beneath my touch as the camera clicked away. What was the problem? She’d
been fine the other day in her bikini? Surely, she wasn’t shy. Was she?

She has to know how beautiful she is
, I
thought. How could she not?

“Let’s get your luggage to your cabin, and then we
can start settling in.”

Aolani nodded, and followed.

***

Aolani

“You have a
what?
”

Gavin Fletcher smirked at me, his mouth twisting
into a half smile in a way that made my breath catch. “A hot tub, of course.
Now are you going to join us, or not?”

Three members of the crew walked by, all of them
in swimsuits, laughing and joking, beers in hand. There were five men and one
other woman on board, two to run the yacht, as well as Thomas and his two
lighting and set assistants. I couldn’t help but notice that even though the
woman was in her forties, she had a tight, toned stomach and rock-hard ass and
thighs.

I glanced down at myself and inwardly cringed.
Joining the crew for a dip in Gavin’s hot tub on the top deck was another
opportunity for me to be awkward in a bikini. Hooray!
Just
what I needed.

Oh, wait.
Only not at all.

But I knew if I said “no,” it would be even more
awkward. This was a party after all, a way to get to know one another on the
beginning of our journey. If I was the only one absent, it would definitely
send the wrong message. A message saying loud and clear that Aolani
Kahale
was a diva model who didn’t want to be seen with
them outside of a shoot. Having worked with one too many of those myself, I
couldn’t take the chance.

I needed this job, and my career required I make a
good impression, even if I had to do it while showing some skin.

“I’ll be up in a few,” I said, attempting a smile.

Gavin beamed at me and ran a hand through his wavy
hair. “Brilliant. I’ll have the champagne waiting. We’ll toast to the start of
our journey together.”

***

Five minutes later, I approached the hot tub with
caution.

You can do this, Aolani. Just take the robe off
and get in as fast as you can. No problem at all. This is normal. This is what
you do now.

Considering what I’d been hired for, I was going
to have to get used to this sooner or later. It might as well be sooner. Right?

“Here you are, lass,” Gavin said, relaxing at the
edge of the tub.

Like everything else on this yacht it was
shockingly large--it looked like it could hold fifteen people with room to
spare. The older woman waved at me, beckoning me in. I forced a smile that felt
more like a grimace and slowly lowered my cotton robe to the deck. I saw some
of the male
crew members
heads turn, but it was the
look in Gavin’s eyes that made my heart hammer in my chest.

I wore a small, coral bikini, the triangle halter
held together in the middle with a gold ring, matching the rings on the sides
of my bottoms. The woman in the store had insisted I get it, saying it showed
off all the right things, but now, all I wanted to do was cover up again to
avoid the attention.

I sunk into the water, and instantly sighed with
pleasure as the hurts-so-good heat surrounded me, coaxing away my stress. Gavin
handed me a flute of chilled champagne and gave me a wink before introducing me
to the others.

Jorge and Mike were the ones getting us where we
needed to go and had apparently been working with Gavin for years. Mike was a
grizzled older man with a twinkle in his eye
who
nodded at me politely. Jorge was about my age, in his mid-twenties, and I
couldn’t help but notice the way he said hello to my cleavage, still visible
just above the water line.

Thomas I’d been introduced to earlier, but Sandra
and her young counterpart Stephen shook my hand and grinned.

“And of course, this is Aolani
Kahale
,
our gorgeous model,” Gavin said.

“Welcome aboard, Aolani,” Sandra said.

I forced a smile and sipped my champagne, trying
not to show my discomfort at being introduced in such a way. No matter what
Gavin Fletcher said, I still felt like an impostor--a phony who would be
discovered for what I was any minute now. How could they not realize I wasn’t
exactly model material? Or were they just being polite?

The crew exchanged jokes and chatted about the
journey ahead, but I settled into my own thoughts, joining in the conversation
to nod and smile or answer a question posed directly. My thoughts were a million
miles away—wondering what I’d gotten myself into.

For the first time, glancing at my handsome boss,
I questioned if he was the kind of man who would get off on playing some kind
of cruel prank. Could this whole thing be a set up?
Some kind
of horrible reality show where I was secretly being filmed?
Or maybe
Gavin was using irony to sell his yachts to young rich people. Wasn’t that all
the rage now?
Ironic ads that relied on laughs to make the
brand memorable?

My stomach twisted into knots just thinking about
it.

Was I the butt of Gavin Fletcher’s joke? I glanced
over at him, sitting so close beside me, and was surprised to see him watching
me. He gave me a half smile and raised his glass.

“To beginnings,” he said.

I smiled, trying to push my doubts aside, at least
while those
piercing,
hazel eyes were studying me so
closely.

“Cheers,” I said.

We clinked glasses, and I downed the rest of my
champagne in one swallow. Gavin raised an eyebrow at me before reaching behind
him to the ice bucket and refilling my glass.
 

Could this gorgeous man be that cruel? Could all
of this have been a lie to get me out here?
To get me to
volunteer to be humiliated?

I remembered the way he’d fired that blonde model
like it was nothing, while she was sitting beneath him, tears in her eyes. The way
he’d hired me right then and there, while she watched. Was that decisiveness,
or a sign of how cold he could be?

After all, what did I really know about him?

Soon, the others left the tub, waving goodnight
and making their way below deck to their rooms. I stared up at the stars
overhead, my mind reeling, doubt and fear mingling until I almost couldn’t
stand it.

Why did you ever think you could be a model,
Aolani? If it’s all a joke, then shame on you.
Shame on you
for hoping.
For believing a man like this saw something different in
you.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Gavin’s deep, lilting voice startled me. I looked
over at him,
then
realized that tears were stinging my
eyes. I turned away quickly, and tried to suck them back into my skull. I had
to get it together.

“I’m fine. Just... I’m just tired.”

I set my champagne down and stood. The stars were
out, and for a moment, it looked like I was standing in the middle of the
heavens, at the top of the dark yacht, in the middle of the black water--shining,
twinkling stars all around me. The beauty was lost on me, though. I wasn’t on
top of the world. I was anything but.

I bent over and snatched my robe up from the
ground, wrapping it around myself before Gavin could get too much of an eyeful.

“Goodnight, Mr. Fletcher. Thank you for the
drink.”

“Aolani?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hurried off toward the ladder that led to down
to the main deck, and heard a splash behind me.

“Aolani, wait.”

Gavin’s voice echoed behind me, but I kept moving.
I just needed to make it back to my room, and then I could sort out my
thoughts. Maybe let the tears flow in private if I couldn’t contain them any
longer.

I opened the cabin door and moved down the hallway
toward my suite. Footsteps landed behind me, and I knew he was following me.

“Wait for a second,” he said. “Just wait!”

A large hand descended on my shoulder, stopping me
in my tracks. I stared down at my feet, not wanting to look at him. I knew if I
did, he’d see everything I felt right there in my eyes. He’d know exactly what
I was thinking.

“Hey. Look at me.”

He turned me around, but I kept my head down. His
legs were still dripping wet, chestnut hair sticking to his tanned shins.

“I’m fine. I just want to go to bed,” I lied.

“Look at me, Aolani,” he said.

Then, his hand was on my chin, tipping my face
upward toward his. I met his eyes, and felt a hot tear roll down my cheek. His
warm hand cupped my face, making my heart skip a beat, despite my trepidation.

“What’s wrong, lass? What is it?” His thumb
brushed my tear aside, his eyes burning into mine in the darkness.