Off the Charts Read online

  “I better check for myself.” She hooked her thumbs into his shorts and pushed down, inch by mouth-watering inch.

  No tan line the first inch. None the second. She lifted her body into the tiny space left between them and pushed the cloth away to let his cock spring free.

  No tan line there, either. Just a hell of a lot of taut, bronze skin. Jesus Christ.

  “You do sail in the buff,” she marveled, watching him kick his shorts and boxers away. Admiring. Calculating just how perfectly that hard shaft would fit where she needed it most.

  “Now, what about you?” His fingers tickled her belly, then slid her shirt up. Slowly.

  She lay back again, letting him unwrap her like the last gift under a Christmas tree. Admiring every inch of what he uncovered, enjoying guessing at the rest.

  “Mmm.” He lowered himself to her stomach and kissed her heated flesh. It tickled, it burned, it stoked her raging desire.

  She hummed along with him, trying to hold back comments like Oh, God and Oh, Seth as he meandered higher and higher, winding her tighter. The man wasn’t even in her and she was close to orgasm.

  She lifted and tugged her own shirt off in sheer, hungry need.

  “Hey, that’s my job,” he protested.

  She settled back now under him. “You can do the rest.”

  Not that there was much left. Her bra and shorts. Her skin itched for his touch in both places.

  Seth ran a coarse finger under the edge of her bra and chuckled. “Why did I know it wouldn’t be pink?”

  “You don’t like forest green?” She lifted up, ready to unhook the clasp, but he caught her hands and lowered his weight over her. His cock twitched against her thigh and she dropped a leg to the side, wanting him closer. Closer. All the way close.

  “I love forest green.” He kissed her chest. “It has that Robin Hood feel to it. Very fitting for you.”

  “How about you unfit it, sailor?”

  “Getting there, m’lady. Getting there.”

  She’d tortured him before; now, he seemed to be getting his revenge with his own version of the go-slow-and-tempt-me game. He slid a finger under the strap of the bra and worked it off her shoulder, loosening the cup. Then he worked his thumb in circles over her chest, honing in on the softer, plumper flesh of her breast. Driving her dizzy with need.

  “Seth,” she groaned as he breezed right over a nipple.

  “Getting there,” he mumbled, lowering his head.

  Her chest heaved, and the nipple peaked high, straining for more.

  “Oh,” she started, but it melted away in a cry as his lips closed over her flesh.

  His tongue laved until she was good and slick, then worked her in slippery circles that drew one cry after another from her. He worked her bra off so smoothly, she didn’t notice until it was gone and he worked both breasts like a pair of jealous twins. His tongue teased the very peak of her nipple; his teeth nipped the soft skin; his hands kneaded her eager flesh.

  A perfect stranger? Perfect, yes, but no stranger. At least, it didn’t feel that way. More like he was an old friend she’d lost track of and was getting to know again after too many years apart. She wound a leg behind his calf and stretched her arms overhead, opening herself completely to his touch.

  He came back to her mouth and dove into a plundering kiss that said, Watch out, lady, the best is yet to come.

  She jammed her hips upward against his, begging to be stripped of the last bit of clothing separating them.

  “I need you. Inside. Now.”

  He nuzzled along her chin until he reached her ear and gave it a little lick. “Inside here?”

  She gave another heave of her hips and gloried when his breath caught. The man was playing it cool but slowly losing control. Just what she wanted: this man losing it completely for her.

  His strong hand left her breast, meandered to her belly button, and pressed it like a control switch. “Here?”

  “Lower. Do you need the guided tour?”

  He chuckled and let his hand glide lower. “I think I can find the way by myself. We’ll need these out of the way, though.” He gripped the edge of her shorts.

  His eyes were all tease until the moment he popped the button of her jean shorts. When he worked the zipper down, they shone with predatory need. A slow move became a greedy rush as he stripped her shorts and panties away in one tangle of cloth. She bicycled her legs until the clothing disappeared over the edge of the bed, then settled her weight back. “You got this?”

  He moved back in, chin nearly at her chest, hand snaking down. “I’ve. Definitely. Got. This.” He spread the words apart to match the journey his hand took down her stomach, over her mound, and between her legs. “Definitely,” he repeated, guiding her legs apart. “Got,” he continued, slipping a finger over her sex. “This,” he finished, dipping between her folds.

  She cried out as her hips jolted upward.

  “And this,” he said in a tight monotone, running his finger upward and finding her clit.

  She tilted her head back into a pillow and moaned.

  “And this,” he went on, slipping a finger in.

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  One finger was nowhere near enough, not in the state she was in: wide and wet and ready. Two fingers were better, then three, then nothing would do but the real thing.

  She clawed at his upper body, urging him up so that their bodies would align. “Here…”

  He kissed her first — a taste of the gentleman between glimpses of caveman — and did a hasty search-and-retrieval operation, getting a condom out of the wallet in his discarded shorts. He ripped the package open with his teeth, and for a moment, she pictured him clambering over the side of a square-rigger with a knife between his teeth.

  He spit the foil aside and rolled the condom into place. Even though she wasn’t really helping any, he let her hand follow his over every straining inch.

  “Nice,” she sighed. Hot and hard never looked or felt so good.

  “More than nice.”

  He kneeled over her a little too carefully, a little too gently, like a man edging away from a safe shore into unknown territory.

  “Don’t you dare hold back,” she protested.

  “This is too good to go fast,” he said through clenched teeth.

  She shook her head, looped a leg around his thigh, and drew him in until the tip of his shaft nestled achingly close to home. “That’s what the second condom is for.”

  He shuddered and dipped closer, still too carefully.

  Time to push this man over the edge of the chart. Time to tip him over the edge of his world.

  “And the third,” she whispered.

  He plunged down and in. The movement set off a hot, searing jolt of pleasure, edged with just enough pain to make her cry in delight. Already, she wanted to relive that exquisite glide, that thrill.

  “Again. Again.”

  His chest heaved against hers, then his arms flexed and he drew back. Back and back until his cock played at the outer edge of her folds, and she nearly cried out. He stopped just short of breaking contact, let the crown pulse against her aching flesh, and then, with a deep breath, hammered home again.

  “Yes!” she cried, drowning out his groan.

  It was like she’d only ever licked the edge of pleasure with other men; now, she was consumed by it. She nudged her legs higher around his waist, urging him back for more.

  He withdrew, teased, then slid in again, and each dive went deeper, harder. Julie lifted her head, watching the moonlight bounce over the glistening muscles of his back as he pistoned into her again and again. The soft swish of the waves over the shore was nearly drowned now by the roar in her ears, a primal instinct screaming for more.

  “Wait,” he murmured, and for one awful moment, she thought he might withdraw.

  “Wha—” She got that far when he came to his knees and pulled her hips closer. “Oh!”

  “Okay?” He ground out the w
ord, flexing his fingers around her rear, holding her close. Angling her upward with her head on the pillow and hips elevated high. The blood rushed to her head, setting off another high.

  “Okay,” she breathed.

  He thrust and pulled at the same time, drawing her forward against him, and she let out a cry that even she couldn’t make sense of. All she could do was hang on and ride the high. High, higher, higher. Clamping hard with her inner muscles as he pushed in.

  “God, that’s good,” he muttered and went at it again and again like a man tasting ecstasy for the first time. Building a rhythm, burying himself to the hilt, bringing both of them closer and closer to the edge until they were tipping over into a wild ride.

  The roar in her ears pushed everything away. Everything but the feel of him, joining with her. Waves of pleasure gripped her body, making her shudder and moan. Her eyes were only open a crack, enough to see Seth’s chin jut as he came hard inside her, every muscle in his body going tight before slowly unwinding, one by one.

  She didn’t feel him lowering her to the bed. Didn’t feel him settle back down. The power of the aftershocks consumed her until she was spent and panting. Prone. Snuggled in the arms of a lover who seemed as blindsided by the high as she was, judging by his uneven breath.

  She swallowed hard and tried to find something to say. Something witty. Cool. Collected, as if her soul sang with this kind of satisfaction every time. But all that came out was a feeble, “Wow, Seth. Just… Wow.”

  Chapter Seven

  Somewhere in the distance, a rooster crowed. A moped sped by. Julie cracked an eye open, closed it again. Opened it a little more, just enough to see dawn rippling over the horizon in soft pink bands. Outside the open door, waves whispered over golden sand, and a palm tickled the roof.

  She shut her eyes to it all, because none of that mattered. Nothing but Seth, breathing as softly as a hibernating bear in a very cozy cave.

  Weren’t guys supposed to roll over and take off? Make a cheap excuse and lumber away? She wasn’t sure; she usually beat them to it. There’d been guys who’d tempted her back for successive nights of fun, but awkward mornings-after were best avoided, right?

  She ran a finger over the hand Seth had clasped around her waist, tracing the grooves between his knuckles. They were scraped and scarred like any working man’s hands should be, a mark of the last couple of months he’d spent at sea. All of him tanned and toned yet thoroughly at peace as he slumbered away. She smiled and immediately made a halfhearted effort to chastise herself.

  She really shouldn’t feel so good with someone, so fast. She really ought to feel shame or self-consciousness this morning — anything but the satisfaction coursing through her like a drug. But how could she feel any other way after the night they’d shared?

  They’d done it all. Doggy style on the bed; then sitting up, wrapped around each other, face-to-face. Sweet, sweaty, sensual: all her wild fantasies escaping over into reality for one hot night.

  Her mind was already racing ahead, ready to chase down an impossible future. One with a good man, a boat, and a steady tropical breeze that took her from one horizon to another. Which was stupid, of course. But Seth was the kind of guy who could make a smart woman do stupid things. Want stupid things, like a ring and a promise of forever. A couple of kids who looked like him…

  She gave herself a firm inner shake. Good thing she wasn’t that kind of girl. Good thing she wasn’t tempted.

  Much.

  Minutes ticked by. Seth’s breathing evened out; his fingers twitched over her skin. She turned in his arms and ended up so close, her breasts mashed against his chest. His honey-brown eyes opened, melting her all over again, and a pink glow came over his cheeks.

  Part of her was shy as a schoolgirl; another part wanted to prance and strut her stuff. Naked. In front of the mirror, and in front of him. A third part was terrified that they couldn’t keep up this magic spell they’d somehow managed to conjure up. He’d burp and say something stupid, or she’d start stammering and run away. In one horrifying instant, they’d uncover each other’s fatal flaws and realize their terrible mistake.

  Except none of that happened. Lying there alongside him felt good. Sinfully good. All the more when he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Morning,” he murmured. The way he said it suggested he’d gone through a thousand possible lines before settling on that one little word.

  “Good morning.”

  “Really good morning.” His smile wasn’t just on his mouth; it was in his eyes, too.

  “And a really good night,” she added, feeling bolder. “A really good birthday.”

  He ran a finger along her naked shoulder and followed it with his eyes. God, that felt nice.

  “Really good,” he agreed.

  “Do you mind me saying…” she started, then trailed off. “Never mind.”

  “What?” His eyebrows went up, hitting that sexy angle he probably wasn’t even aware of. Not the type to try out his moves in front of a mirror, her guy.

  Her guy…but he wasn’t, and never would be. He was just her one-night stand, right?

  “Nothing,” she mumbled.

  “Come on, what?” He nudged her belly, and warmth prickled through her. Another couple of touches like that and she’d be ready for round four. Or five, or whatever number they were up to.

  “I didn’t think you’d, um…have such a broad repertoire,” she finished. “Sorry. That’s a compliment, by the way.”

  He laughed and scooped her closer, threading his legs through hers. “I didn’t, until now.”

  The words stuck in her mind, and one unreasonable part of her wanted to hang on to them for a long, long time. Her sizzling sailor had hit his peak performance for her. With her.

  “With you,” he whispered, like he’d been reading her mind.

  So yeah, it wasn’t just her imagining things.

  His hand brushed her breast, and her nipples practically jumped to attention. More! More! More!

  “So, what are you doing today?” His teeth pinched down on his lower lip, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to ask. “Oh, right. A scuba dive and a ride along the coast.”

  He remembered. The warm glow in her chest spread through her body.

  “If I can find a good deal,” she added. “But the ride is free. What are you doing?”

  She knew just what she wanted him to do: a dive and a ride along the coast. But would he bite?

  And if he did bite, was she ready for that? Ready to turn this one-time performance into a repeat gig?

  All the nerve endings in her body voted unanimously. Hell, yeah!

  His eyebrows lifted just a little, and his cheek quirked with words he wasn’t quite ready to let out. “Um, some work on the boat, I guess.”

  He didn’t sound too enthusiastic about the work, and hell, she had to give herself some credit. Sweating over boat projects better not be a more enticing option than she was. That slightest hint of hope set her spinning down the path to impossible fantasies.

  “How long are you in town?” she ventured.

  “Um…” His eyes sparkled with a little bit of mischief and a whole lot of hope. “How long are you in town?”

  “A week,” she said.

  The impossible fantasy grabbed hold of that idea and worked it this way and that. A week. That sounded like a perfect amount of time. Because one night wasn’t going to quench the need he’d turned on inside her. She needed a couple of days to get over that. To get to know the gentleman pirate who’d shagged her senseless last night.

  Yeah, a week sounded just about right.

  Apparently, it sounded good to him, too, because he nodded the second she said it. “Yeah, a week would be a good amount of time. I mean,” he hastened to add, “to work on some boat projects.”

  “And how pressing are those projects?” she asked, holding her breath.

  “Not pressing,” he blurted, like he’d been hoping for that all along. �
��At all.”

  She grinned. “They have great smoothies at the place next door, you know. We could start there.”

  We. It had a nice ring to it. She could do we for a week.

  “Yeah?” His eyes were trained on her, and they weren’t thinking smoothies, that much was clear. Neither was the hand stroking its way closer and closer to her breasts.

  “Do you have a scuba license?”

  The shine in his eyes went up a notch. “I do. My cousin Mia is an instructor. She taught me and Tobin before we left.”

  “Used it much yet?”

  “No. No time.”

  “Got time today, sailor?”

  A pity she didn’t have her camera to capture the smile that spread across his face. “I think I might,” he murmured, stroking her back.

  She did a mental head count of the number of condoms left in her bag. If the day worked out the way she hoped it might, they’d have to work in a run to the pharmacy, for sure.

  “’Cause you need a dive buddy, you know.”

  “I know,” he nodded. “Very important. Never know when your air might run out.” He inched closer, as if ready to help her with a little mouth-to-mouth.

  “So, you’re up for it?” She tried to sound casual, not hopelessly eager.

  “More than for up for it.”

  “But then I’d owe you. Something like a ride along the coast.” It was her turn to bite her lip now, and to hope, because having him wrapped around her on the back of the bike, with the wind blowing her hair and the sea in her sights — that would be almost as good as having him wrapped around her in bed.

  The next smile was the kind that grew on the inside while its owner fought to hold it back, like a naughty idea he knew better than to voice out loud. “Like, me riding behind you on your bike?” His leg worked hers farther apart.

  She held back a purr, trying to stay on topic. “If you trust me.”

  Seth brushed his lips over her knuckles and looked her right in the eyes. “I trust you.”

  She wondered just how much she trusted him. No, she knew she could trust him. The question was, could she trust herself?