by Katee Robert
Her lips curved. “That’s one hell of a line.”
“Is it a line if it’s the truth?” He tugged on her hand, and she allowed him to urge her up to straddle him.
Kendall laughed, the lingering tension dissipating as she settled against him, “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
Kendall never would have considered herself sex-crazed, but after spending the day in Alex’s bed, she feared the term fit. Every time she started to feel awkward about staying so long, or wonder if she should leave, he’d slide a hand between her thighs or move down her body, trailing kisses in his wake, and she’d put off going back to her room for a little while longer.
Now, she wasn’t sure she was physically capable of walking away.
Alex kissed the back of her neck as he pumped slowly into her. “You hungry, sweetheart?” He cupped her breast with one hand and pressed his other to her clit. Not circling. She was far too sensitive for that kind of stimulation at this point. But the light pressure as he fucked her slowly has her rising in a steady wave of pleasure.
She leaned back against him, letting him control this fully. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that right now.”
“Mmm.” He pressed another kiss to her neck. “Once more and we can go find food.”
Kendall gave a desperate laugh. “You’re bargaining orgasms for food right now.”
“Yeah.” Totally unrepentant, and she adored that about him. He didn’t pick up his pace, though. He just kept that low, languid movement as if he was enjoying drawing this out as much as she was.
She never wanted it to end.
Her body hadn’t gotten the memo, though. Her orgasm rolled through her in a soft wave that had her writhing against him. Alex flipped her onto her stomach and drove into her, desire turning them into desperate creatures. More, more, always more.
If this fling didn’t have a built-in expiration date, it might scare the hell out of her.
It took long minutes before their breathing settled back into something resembling normal. Kendall rolled to face him, and Alex immediately pulled her close. “So, about that food.”
She laughed against his chest. “I really don’t know if my legs will hold me after today.”
“That’s fine. I’ll hold both of us.”
How could he say things like that with a straight face? As if he wasn’t shaking her world right down to the very bedrock of her existence. She cuddled closer and pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. “In that case, food would be most welcome.”
They parted just long enough to shower and change. Through it all, Kendall kept wondering if she’d imagined the whole night in some kind of fever dream. Surely this wasn’t real. Surely she hadn’t thrown caution to the wind in the most dramatic way possible and fallen into bed with the sexiest man she’d ever met.
Surely she hadn’t had semi-public sex and a very public orgasm.
But when she opened her door, there Alex was. He grinned at the sight of her, as if she’d just delivered the best present and he couldn’t wait to open it. “I like the dress.”
She looked down at the dress in question. Floral, again. She hadn’t realized how much floral she owned until this trip. Too much, probably. Kendall smoothed down the fabric and returned his smile. “Thanks.”
His blue eyes went intense for a moment. “I’m not going to ask what you’re wearing under it.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“Because if I find out you’re pulling a repeat of last night, we’re not going to make it far enough from your room to get that food I promised you.” He caught her hips and pulled her a step into the hallway, waiting for the door to shut completely before he tucked her under his arm and pointed them in the direction of the dining room. They walked together as if they’d done this a thousand times before.
As if they fit.
No, she couldn’t think about that. Even if they somehow thought to extend this past the end of the trip, she lived in a completely different state. He obviously had deep roots in his town. She had a job that needed her, even if it frustrated her on a daily basis. Moving across the country for a man she just met…
What was she even thinking? Alex hadn’t promised her anything but right now. Stressing about a what-if scenario that would never happen was what she did when she wasn’t on vacation. What her sisters had teased her for ever since she was a kid. She wasn’t that woman right now. She refused to be.
They stopped just inside the room and she froze. All her friends except Aubrey sat around a table. Was she supposed to walk over there with Alex? It would invite questions she didn’t know how to answer, and put both of them on the spot. She glanced up to ask him… she wasn’t sure what, but she stopped when she noticed him looking at something intensely. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He gave himself a shake and smiled down at her. “I was just thinking I’m not in the mood for my friend to give me shit.”
Relief crashed over her, almost swallowing the pinprick of guilt. “Me, too.”
“Want to just grab a table over here?”
The coward’s way out, maybe, but she still wasn’t ready to face her friends on multiple different levels. “Please.” She clung to his hand as he led her to a table with a few free seats in the opposite direction of their friends. The guilt wouldn’t quite leave, though. Kendall cleared her throat. “I’m not ashamed of you. That’s not why I didn’t want to go over there.”
Alex held out her chair and waited for her to sit before he sank into the chair next to her. “I know.”
She started to change the subject, but stopped “I don’t even think they’d pepper us with a bunch of questions or anything. Maybe back in college, but I’d like to think we’re beyond that now.” She hesitated, but he just watched her with those serious blue eyes and she found herself talking freely. “Though maybe that’s because we’re not as close as we used to be.”
“Am I keeping you from them?”
She shook her head. “No. Honestly, you’re probably saving them from me. All everyone wanted to do on this vacation is relax, and if left to my own devices, I’ll have us planned down to the last minute.” She waved a vague hand. “It makes me feel more in control to have a plan.”
“Aw, sweetheart.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You seem to be doing just fine without a plan.”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” She managed a smile. “Honestly, I probably should have dragged my sisters on this cruise, too. Well, not Gretchen. She’s living in happily married bliss, and I doubt my brother-in-law would appreciate my taking her on a singles’ cruise.”
“What are you sisters like?”
“Totally different from me.” She laughed, thinking of them. Grams always called them three peas in a pod, and she might seem them that way, but no one else did. “Gretchen is about as perfect as a person can be. She’s strong and stubborn and always knows exactly where she’s headed. Marley is the exact opposite. Anything resembling long-term commitment makes her break out in hives. I don’t think she’s stayed in one place longer than a year since she graduated high school.”
Alex grinned. “They sound cool, but I definitely prefer you.”
His easy words warmed her right down to her soul, even as a little voice in the back of her mind whispered not to make this into something it wasn’t. They were indulging in a vacation fling. End of story.
Right?
Chapter 9
Kendall didn’t mean to stay the night in Alex’s room. She really didn’t. But somehow dawn came and she was naked and wrapped up with him. Again. She blinked into the low light of the room, an unfamiliar panic squeezing her chest. It was too easy being with him. Too perfect. He respected her boundaries, didn’t think she was uptight and a bore, and was beyond amazing in bed. Rationally, she knew this was what a vacation fling could be. No drama. No complications. Just pure fun and bliss.
It didn’t change the fact that she could only turn off her brain for so long. It felt lik
e every single doubt and insecurity and worry she should have had over the last couple days decided in that moment to create an avalanche designed to bury her.
What was she doing?
She’d dragged her friends on this cruise, ended up providing them with the opposite experience she’d promised, and then promptly abandoned them to ride the cock of a near-stranger. Oh, Alex didn’t feel like a stranger any longer, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d only known him a few days and she’d known her friends over a decade at this point. It shouldn’t have been a tough decision on who she spent her time with.
She had to get out of here now, while Alex still slept, or she’d forget all about her duty to her friends and spend the rest of the day in bed with him. Again.
God, she was the worst friend ever.
Kendall carefully slipped out from beneath Alex’s arm and then climbed off the bed. She hesitated and, even though she knew better, she looked back. The sight of him caused something in her chest to clang uncomfortably. He was so attractive even while asleep, all lean strength and a surprising vulnerability. Without those blue eyes seeming to read her thoughts, he looked younger, less world-weary. It made her want to climb back into bed, to tease the covers down past his hips, to take him in her mouth and…
No.
No.
She spun around and closed her eyes. She could do this. She just had to walk away. They’d probably see each other again—Kendall didn’t think she could keep from seeking him out—but she had other priorities to see to right now. She yanked on her dress and slipped into her sandals. At last moment, she doubled back and scrawled him a quick note on a pad of paper next to the bed. There. That would help, right? She hoped so.
As she stepped out into the hallway, she froze at the sight of a familiar person edging into the hallway with the same furtive movements Kendall currently enacted. Benjamin. Their eyes met over the short distance between Alex’s room and the one he’d just left… the next door down. Is that Alex’s friend’s room? No way to know without asking, and the deer-in-headlights look on Benjamin’s face discouraged any kind of questioning. So she tried for a neutral expression and gave a little wave.
They walked side by side back to their cabins and it wasn’t until Kendall had her hand on her doorknob that Benjamin spoke. “Thanks for this trip, Kendall. I know it’s not what you planned, but I think it’s good for us. All of us.”
“Me, too.” She didn’t know what else to say. She and Benjamin had been friends for a long time, but it wasn’t the kind of friendship where they shared dirty details about sexual exploits. Part of that was because Kendall never had dirty details to share before now. She tried for a smile. “See you on the excursion today?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Easy enough to read between the lines there. Yeah, he’d be there, if his hookup didn’t entail doing something else the same way hers had yesterday. Her skin went hot and she pushed through the door and shut it softly behind her. There were hours yet before they needed to report to the deck for the excursion into Cocoa Bay, so she’d be smart to get some sleep.
Except when she laid down, her brain refused to settle. Instead, it kept flashing memories from the last two days with Alex. His voice in her ear, encouraging her to tell him exactly what she wanted so he could give it to her. His hands and mouth on her, driving her pleasure to new heights. The way he watched her when she rode his cock, as if he couldn’t believe this was happening any more than she could.
As if he wanted to memorize every moment.
Maybe she should have stayed in his bed a little longer before she rushed off. Now that she had a little distance from him, she felt silly for bolting. It wasn’t like he planned on chaining her to his bed. She shivered. Though that wasn’t an entirely unpleasant thought.
To distract herself, she showered and took her time getting ready. Kendall hesitated in front of her suitcase. She’d bought the bright pink bikini on a whim, but it covered far less than the others she owned, and she’d never worked up the courage to wear it. She wasn’t even sure why she’d packed it at all.
She picked up the suit and pressed her lips together. If ever there was a time to wear this suit, it was now, while she still rode the high from Alex’s presence. Imagining his reaction to seeing her in it was enough to have her pulling the suit on and adjusting it as much as she could. She pulled her wrap around herself, still feeling downright decadent, and opened her door.
Grace stood there, her hands on her hips. “Oh good. You’re not dead.”
“Um, what?”
“Kendall, you’ve been missing in action for twenty-four hours. If I hadn’t seen you leaving dinner last night, I would have organized a search party.” She cast a critical glance over Kendall. “You look good. Glowy.”
Now that she mentioned it, Grace did, too. Kendall frowned. “Is that a hickey?”
“What? No. Of course not.” Grace pulled at her top as if that would make a difference. “We’re not talking about me right now.”
“Um, maybe we should be.” Kendall propped her hands on her hips. “You found a vacation hook-up!”
“No, it’s not like that.” But Grace was blushing. “I’m just playing a game.”
“Whatever you want to call it.”
“Kendall!”
She held up her hands. “Sure, sure, I’m supportive. This is me being supportive of your ‘game.’” She grinned. “Are you doing the day trip today?”
“That’s what I came to ask you. The others are around.” She waved a hand vaguely at the other cabins. “They all seem to be enjoying themselves.”
“Some more than others,” Kendall murmured. She wasn’t about to gossip about Benjamin, but the questions about him and Alex’s friend burned the inside of her lips. Not her business. It so wasn’t her business. She’d just keep the whole thing to herself.
“You never answered my question. Where have you been?”
“There’s a guy,” she started, but stalled out almost as soon as she’d begun. How could she explain to Grace what being with Alex felt like? She and Grace had always been really similar in how they approached certain things; it was part of the reason they’d stayed close over the years. Kendall lifted her hands and let them fall.
“The bathroom guy?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “He makes me feel like I don’t have any responsibilities. Like that’s okay.”
“I think I understand.” A strange expression flickered over Grace’s face before she gave a tight smile. “How about breakfast?”
“That would be great.” Even though she hadn’t really planned to seek Alex out, not yet, she couldn’t help the thread of disappointment that twined through her as she fell into step next to her friend. It was only day four. There were still four days left to spend however she chose. She’d be an idiot if she spent the entire cruise locked in a bedroom with a man, no matter how sexy he was.
But as she and Grace sat down and ate, she couldn’t help looking for him. It was crazy, simply unhinged. He was just a man who, while being a whole cut above the rest, really was only a vacation fling. That was it. That’s all it could be.
Right?
“Grace?”
Her friend stopped mid-bite, her attention narrowing on Kendall. “Yes?”
She spoke before she could stop herself, her words tumbling over themselves to escape her lips. “Do you think it’s possible for a long-distance relationship that started as a fling to work?”
There it was again, that strange look on her friend’s face that she’d never seen before. “There’s a lot of technological options that can close the distance these days. And plane trips aren’t that expensive. So… Yes, I think a long-distance relationship could work.”
“That sounds very logical and I don’t feel very logical right now.” Kendall sat back. She didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse. All Alex had promised her was good sex that she asked for. Yes, they’d spent quite a bit of time talking in bet
ween rounds of orgasms, but that just meant he wasn’t a monster. It didn’t mean he was interested.
Surely she wasn’t thinking about asking Alex to give this a go…right?
Alex woke up alone. He should have known it would happen. Things were going too good with Kendall. Hell, he should thank her for putting the brakes on and creating some distance between them. Except he didn’t feel like thanking her. He wanted to search the ship until he found her and demand to know why she hadn’t woken him up to say goodbye.
He sat up and got distracted by a crinkle. Alex frowned at the piece of paper neatly folded on the pillow Kendall hadn’t managed to use last night. She’d been too busy wrapping around him like a friendly octopus. Not that he minded. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d literally slept with someone. His partners were usually too busy bending over backward to tell him that they knew this was no strings attached and they didn’t expect anything of him.
It had never bothered Alex before.
Now, he looked at the note Kendall left like it was a bomb just waiting to go off. It could be anything. A compilation of words meant to let him down easy. A fucking thank you for the sex. With Kendall, he couldn’t be sure. Honestly, he should be relieved. After the last couple days, he was already entangled in her. Getting more so was a mistake. He’d learned that lesson too many times before. First with his parents, then later on in the relationships he’d naively thought were going to go the distance. They never did.
Eventually, everyone left.
Even as he told himself to just toss the note in the trash, he carefully picked it up and unfolded it. Even her fucking scrawl was cute. He blinked, waiting for the words to conform to expectations. Instead, what he read veered in the opposite direction.
I have to run before my friends think I totally abandoned them… See you tonight?