Priceless Treasure

by Melody Anne

  “I can’t even describe how amazing that was, Savvy,” he told her as he traced his fingers along her gleaming back.

  “Ditto,” she murmured.

  Why in the world had she waited so long to experience something that amazing? She was in deep danger now of becoming a hard-core sex addict. She already wanted to do it again — heck, she was thinking of a twelve-step program, but not one of withdrawal.

  But he had worn her out with his efforts. Her eyes drifted closed and exhaustion pulled her under. Maybe it would be better to get some rest first. Sex took a lot of energy, and she wanted to be fully alert for round two. And round twelve.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ashton stretched out his arm and reached for Savannah, but encountered nothing but empty sheets beside him. Just as he was wrenching his eyes open, he heard the distinct sound of the door to his suite clicking shut.

  Though Savvy had tried to do it quietly, some actions just resonated. Yet it didn’t dampen his mood. It wasn’t as if she could get away from him. They were halfway to Skagway, but for now, they were in the middle of the sea. Unless she wanted to swim like an Olympic champion or even better, she was pretty much stuck here in his territory.

  And on the morning after the incredible night before, he had no intention of letting her get too far away from him. He’d heard the expression “best sex I’ve ever had.” But this was better, probably the best sex that anyone had ever had. Okay, he couldn’t know that. But it was definitely his best sex in all his years. And Ashton was a bit ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he’d had a lot of sex over the years.

  Throwing back the covers, he leaped from the bed and headed to the bathroom. And he soon found himself singing in his nice hot shower. Damn, he felt good. But as he stood beneath the spray, he got a visual of Savvy writhing beneath him, and instantly he was hard again — painfully hard.

  “Down, boy,” he murmured as he switched the faucet to cold and stood shivering beneath the spray.

  It took a while, but finally his body began to behave. Sure, he could have taken himself in hand, so to speak, and relieved those uncomfortable tensions, but why in the world would he want to do that? Savvy was so damn close to him on this ship, and he’d much rather do it all with her.

  After jumping from the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went back to his bedroom. As he walked to his closet, he turned toward his bed and then stopped. He’d almost missed it in his haste to find Savvy. But now that he’d spotted the evidence, there was no going back. Shock was what he was feeling.

  But was this possible? Could he really be seeing what he thought he was seeing? As he stepped up to the bed and looked down, there was no mistaking it. How in the world could he not have noticed? Was he that much of a cad, an insensitive slime?

  Blood stained the pure white sheets where he’d apparently taken Savvy’s virginity last night. It was beyond belief. But as he sank down onto the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands, he went over their lovemaking step by step. She’d been so tight, almost painfully so, but he’d been so turned on, and she hadn’t complained. He’d figured it had just been a while since she’d shared anyone’s bed.

  He’d never before had to bear the burden, the responsibility of taking a woman for the first time. What was she thinking now? Had he hurt her? If he’d known, he would have been gentler; he would have given her time to adjust.

  No. That wasn’t true. Had he known, he would have stopped. He didn’t want to be the man to take a woman’s innocence. But even as he thought this, he knew he was lying to himself. He didn’t think the boat capsizing could have stopped him last night. He’d never wanted a woman so badly as he’d wanted her.

  But why hadn’t she told him? And how in the hell did a woman get to age twenty-four without ever having sex? Especially a woman as completely sexy as Savvy Mills …

  Well, dammit, Ashton wasn’t going to wait long to find out. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. Was this a game to her? Was she trying to entrap him? What in the world was going on?

  While he threw on his captain’s uniform, he grew more and more determined to find Savvy immediately and have a showdown. She was most certainly going to explain herself.

  Of course, that wasn’t happening. As soon as he emerged from his suite, there were issues that he had to deal with. One after another of his employees bombarded him with problems. Dammit!

  The only thing keeping him from snapping at each and every one of those employees, though, was knowing that Savvy couldn’t run away. He would get a chance very soon to say whatever he needed to say to the woman who had taken his world and flipped it upside down in an incredibly short period of time.

  Hours passed and dusk began to settle before Ashton was able to get a real break. It was now time to find Savvy. Now he would get some answers. And he wasn’t going to let this woman hide from him anymore.

  As he walked down into the area of the ship where the crew slept, he stopped in his tracks. Because, just like that, another thought hit him, and this one made his legs feel a little bit weak.

  If Savvy had been a virgin until last night, and all signs pointed that way, it meant the chances of her being on birth control were slim to none. And for the first time he could remember, he hadn’t used protection.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  With the music in her headphones turned up to full volume, Savvy progressed from one room to the next. She was doing basic cleaning up after the passengers, making beds, and turning towels into cute little animals to set on top of the pillows of the privileged people who were taking this cruise. Normally, she wasn’t working nights, but one of the other new girls had developed the flu and Savvy had jumped at the chance to stay busy — and, better yet, to avoid Ashton.

  She snuck a few of the chocolates into her mouth while she was occupied with putting most of them into bowls in the passengers’ rooms. A woman had to do what a woman had to do. She was delighted to find a few notes thanking her for such a job well done in the past two days.

  The evening was ending on a more positive note than she’d expected. Sure, the prospect of seeing Ashton again made her nervous as sin. What if he hadn’t enjoyed the sex as much as she had? What if he’d had enough of her after the one night?

  That would be tragic. Sure, she was a little sore. The man had woken her up in the middle of the night and taken her on another journey — this one was even more acrobatic — and she’d used muscles that had never been used before.

  But the soreness was a price she was more than willing to pay for the amount of pleasure she’d received. If only she weren’t such a chicken. She’d been too afraid of turning to look into his eyes and seeing disappointment, so she’d run before the first rays of Alaskan sunlight could seep into his windows. So much for her decision to conquer her dang fears.

  Okay, there was more to it. She also hadn’t wanted her co-workers on the ship to see her doing the walk of shame from the captain’s room. Especially if it was only a one-night stand.

  Savvy remembered her college days only too well. Roommates of hers had stumbled into the dorm room, still drunk and sporting the same clothes as they’d had on the night before. Hook-ups seemed to be part of the culture, and the girls had always thought her strange because she had no interest in such things.

  But their idea of pleasure hadn’t looked all that pleasant, in her humble opinion. Yes, the girls would go on and on about how this man had a magic tongue, and how this one had a package that would need at least two UPS trucks. But she’d also heard stories of complete disappointment. And Savvy was convinced that with her luck, that’s how it would end up for her. She’d get the boy who jumped right on, got his jollies off, and then ran for the hills.

  Not her idea of a good time.

  But she couldn’t recall a single bad thing about her long night with Ashton. No. It had been the greatest night she could have ever imagined. And she wanted to do it over and over again.

&nb
sp; If she could work up the courage to talk to him, maybe, just maybe, she could win a repeat performance from the guy. For now, though, she was going to do her job and then maybe tomorrow she’d get a chance to go out and explore the city of Skagway. That wasn’t cutting and running, she insisted to herself.

  A tap on Savvy’s shoulder alerted her that she was no longer alone. Pulling out her ear buds, she turned and then sighed in relief.

  “Hi, Shirley. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, you’re doing a spectacular job. Thank you. I’ve seen the comments from your passengers, and they all appear delighted,” the head housekeeper said.

  “That’s so nice,” Savvy told her. “I only have this room and one more to do and then I think I’m done for the night. Did you need me for anything else?”

  “Not at all. Sara is already feeling better, so I’m sure she’ll be able to take back over her evening shift tomorrow.”

  “Thank you! When we port and I’m finished tomorrow morning, the first thing I’m going to do is look for a used-book store. I always find great treasures in them. And then I’m going to see all the sites I can before we cast off again.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Shirley said before giving her an assessing look. “There’s something different about you this evening.” Her boss’s words immediately made Savvy’s muscles tense.

  “Nope. Nothing different,” she quickly said.

  “Hmm. I’m not buying that. Is it the thought of serious shopping?” Shirley muttered. “No, it can’t be that. You have said several times how much you hate to shop, at least for clothes.”

  “I’m just way excited to be out on the ocean,” Savvy said with too much enthusiasm.

  You must really love the sea,” Shirley said. The woman’s head tilted and she began to examine Savvy closely.

  “Yes, I really do,” Savvy finally said after shifting nervously on her feet.

  “I’ve never seen such a glow on your cheeks.”

  Savvy’s face flamed at that comment. Yes, she was happy to be out to sea, but the glow on her cheeks had nothing to do with that. Not that she was going to tell anyone.

  “Yep. I’m so excited to be here,” Savvy exclaimed.

  “Hmm. Well, okay, then,” the woman said before sending Savvy a way-too-knowing smile, which made her shift again.

  “Have a good night, Shirley,” Savvy called out as the woman headed away.

  “You too, darling. But I have a feeling your night is going to go well, no matter what.”

  Savvy didn’t get a chance to respond — when she could find her voice again, the head housekeeper was gone. So she finished the room she was in and moved on to the last one, a one-bedroom suite.

  She was almost free to escape to her sleeping quarters, where she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally running into Ashton. But after she’d powered through her work in the last suite and stepped out into the hallway, her heart lodged up into her throat.

  Her luck was just never on the good side of the coin. Leaning against the wall and wearing an impressive scowl was the one man she really didn’t want to communicate with at the moment — especially with that look on his face, which she already knew too damn well.

  But she couldn’t just flee from the owner of the company, so she just stood there, resigned to the fact that she’d have to hear whatever he was about to say. The waiting stretched on for an uncomfortably long time.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Crap! She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she decided this might be one of those times to play the ditzy girl.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Savvy, don’t do that. Don’t play dumb,” he said in a stern voice.

  “I didn’t think it mattered,” she replied after an eloquent pause.

  “You didn’t think it mattered that you were a virgin?”

  Gulp. Yeah, so she’d just lied. She’d thought it would really matter. She was just hoping that he might not have noticed. Because she hadn’t wanted to have this awkward conversation.

  But her back stiffened and her eyes grew steely. It was time to go on the offensive. “Are you saying that you didn’t enjoy it?”

  He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. That was a good thing, right? It had to be. He seemed shocked that she would say something like that. If only she were better at reading men!

  “Of course I enjoyed it. Yes! I enjoyed it so much, Savannah, that I can’t get enough of you. But I could have made it better for you, been more gentle.”

  She didn’t reply for several moments, but he gave her the time she needed. Thank goodness for small miracles.

  “Would you have still wanted me if you had known I was inexperienced?” she finally asked.

  “Yes, I would have still wanted you,” he said. “But I don’t know if I would have pushed it,” he said, before his cheeks glowed a bit at that unfortunate choice of words. “I mean, I most likely wouldn’t have pursued you in the first place. I mean — a virgin!” His hands went in the air as he paced in front of her.

  She still didn’t know how she was supposed to react to this, but her temper seemed to be right there to save her.

  “Well, then, it was a good thing I didn’t tell you, because I can’t imagine how you could have possibly made it any better. I’ve heard a lot of stories of it being painful and horrible, but there was nothing horrible about that. It was spectacular,” she said. “And now you’re ruining it for me. That’s pure crap!”

  He stopped his pacing and sent her a withering look. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. She was just ticked off.

  “You are the one who chased after me, Mr. Storm. You are the one who demanded that I have dinner with the captain. You are the one who took my clothes off. Don’t you dare stand there now and act like this is all on me,” she thundered, beyond caring if anyone happened down the hallway.

  At her words, some of his anger seemed to drain away, but she didn’t care about that either. She was now pissed off all the way around.

  “And what about protection, Savvy? I’m going to assume you aren’t on any,” he said, but his tone was a lot less intimidating.

  Wow. She hadn’t even thought once about that. Stupid or what? She did some quick math in her head and blew out a relieved breath. “Don’t worry, Ashton, I don’t want kids, and believe me, I stand firm on that.”

  “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that it’s not the right time of the month for me to get pregnant,” she told him, stepping away.

  Her words seemed to deflate his anger again. What had he thought she’d meant? Better yet, she didn’t think she wanted to know what was going on in his brain.

  “You know what, Ashton?” she snapped. “I think it would be much better for all concerned if you stay on your side of the ship — the elite decks — and I stay on mine — in the steerage.”

  She didn’t give him a chance to respond. She was done for good this time with Ashton Storm and his screwed-up philosophies on sex and on what was and wasn’t considered acceptable.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The night hadn’t been good to Ashton. He’d barely slept a wink because of some feverish plan, repeated in his head every other minute, that he was going to storm down to Savvy’s room and carry her back to his. But each time he sat up to do just that, he threw himself back down again on the bed.

  She wasn’t alone in her room, and he knew the humiliation she would feel if he made it so clear to other employees that the two of them were having sex. That wouldn’t end well for him.

  So he tossed and he turned and he stewed. By the time he had to get out of bed, the ship was getting ready to port in Skagway. It was time to help ensure the safety of his passengers, his crew, and his boat. He would then finish what he and Savvy had started two days before. This time she wasn’t escaping him. If she really thought things were over between them, she wasn’t as bright as her university transcripts made her seem to be.
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br />   By late morning, the ship was pretty much empty, just crew members scattered around cleaning up plus a few passengers who weren’t feeling well and didn’t want to go out on a lengthy excursion.

  Savvy wasn’t hard to track down.

  He pushed open the door to the room she was cleaning, and any and all words he’d been about to utter froze on his tongue. Ashton was instantly transfixed by the sight before him. Obviously, this woman had him under a spell, and, dammit, he didn’t want to find an antidote.

  Her finely formed hips were swinging as she stretched high to wipe dust off a shelf, and she was belting out the lyrics to a song he didn’t know. The voice was off-tune, but who would notice? When “the hips don’t lie” came from her throat and she swung her butt in a perfect spiral, he agreed. The hips most certainly weren’t lying.

  All his anger and frustration from the day before seemed to grow smaller and smaller the longer he stood there, growing bigger and bigger, in a trance at how much he lusted after this woman.

  He didn’t make a sound as he watched her sway; he just enjoyed the moment as she danced over to the windows and sprayed some glass cleaner on them. She wiped with her hands in perfect rhythm while those hips kept on gyrating.

  He was harder than he’d been in the shower yesterday morning. Damn, he wanted to take her, and right now. Bend her over, flip up the back of that little uniform, take her panties down, and slide it right in. Into that amazing heat of hers. Tight and luscious. He took a step forward.

  When she bent over, her ass in the air, forming a perfect cushion for him to slip inside her core, he decided he’d delayed long enough. Turning quickly, he locked the deadbolt to make sure of their privacy and then stepped forward again with purpose.

  She was still unaware he was in the room, and this gave him a major advantage. She was bent down when he approached her, cupped those swaying hips with his greedy hands, and pressed against her firm behind.