His hands came up behind my back, undid the clasp, and he slid his hands around to the front, easing them beneath the fabric to cup my breasts.
I groaned with the contact of his skin against mine, then shrugged my arms out of the straps. He tossed the bra to the side, then lifted me up so my nipple dangled in front of his mouth. He drew it in, licking it, sucking it, and the cool breeze on the wet tip made it harden even more, until it was a beacon of pleasure.
I groaned, and he slid his hands along my waist, back to cup my ass, and he pulled me over so the other breast was at his mouth. His tongue made circles around the tip, and then he gave it a soft bite.
My groan was louder, deeper.
He rolled me so my back was on the grass, and then he knelt over me, his hands back at my hips, sliding down my black panties until they were off. Then he stood over me, just in his jeans, the hardness of his cock clearly outlined. He stood there, gazing down my length, soaking in the way my naked body shone in the moonlight.
His voice was hoarse. “You are amazing, Amanda.”
He put his hands to his belt, undoing the buckle, then the zipper. He gave a tug, and then the jeans slid down his muscular thighs, revealing his black briefs. I soaked in the sight of him, the glory of his muscular body outlined against the star-studded night sky.
His hands moved to the waistband of his briefs … and stopped.
His voice was tight with desire, and his eyes were shadowed. “Amanda … Amanda, are you sure you want this? I won’t be back in Boston for –”
“I’ll wait for you,” I vowed. “If we have just this one night, and then you’re gone for three more months, I can wait.” My throat closed up. “I’ve already been waiting for you for so long …”
He groaned, his briefs slid to the ground, and he stood before me in all his naked glory. My body vibrated with desire, with need for him.
He dropped to one knee by his pants, taking out a foil pouch, slipping on the condom. Then he had rolled to straddle me, an arm on either side, and his gaze was deeper than I’d ever experienced in my life.
He rocked his hips so his head pressed, ever so gently, against my opening.
His voice was barely a whisper, it was so tight with restraint. “Amanda, you’re sure?”
I slid my legs up his, hooking them behind his ass, and squeezed, drawing him into me. I groaned at the feeling of him pressing into me, expanding me, filling me.
A ragged sigh rolled out of him, and he finished the plunge, pushing himself fully into me, deeply, his pelvis coming up against me, sensation billowing to every corner of my body.
I lifted my head to meet his, and his mouth opened on mine. Our tongues, hot, wet, mingled, and the cool island breeze brought every inch of my skin to life.
He bit at my neck, and I groaned, arching up harder into him. He brought a hand down to squeeze my nipple, twisting it, and the sensation ratcheted me up higher.
His voice was low against my ear, a growl. “Let me hear you, baby.” He drove into me again, harder, and my cry was primal, guttural.
“There you go”, he praised with deep satisfaction. “Our harmony.” He thrust deeper, my breath groaned out of me, and he let his voice join mine, echoing in my ears. My clit buzzed with sensation and I wrapped my body around his, pulling him in faster, deeper, arching into him. My voice rose high out of me, merging with his groans. Our bodies slammed harder, slick with sweat, salty, and the world was falling away, far beneath me, and I was soaring … soaring …
Silver moonlight burst around me, my body arched hard, and a wordless cry echoed across the beach as I lost all sense of self. There were just waves of soul-deep pleasure, rocking me, making every cell glow with brilliance. Evan was within me, intertwined, comingled, and I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.
Then, at long last, I floated down, like an autumn leaf shaking loose from the highest point on an oak and swirling, spinning, easing through countless thermals before finally settling to rest on a soft bed of pine needles.
His weight settled down against my chest, and I soaked it in, nestling my head against his. I could lie like this for an eternity.
At last he rolled to the side, his eyes shining in the moonlight. He reached out a hand to gently brush my hair away from my face. His voice was a low vow.
“I’ll come for you, Amanda. When this is all over and behind us, I swear I’ll come for you.”
Chapter 8
The campfire’s soft glow grew larger as we approached it, and I steeled myself to not be affected by the drug usage. Those two were living their own lives, and I was far from perfect. I shouldn’t be judging others on where they were in their own struggles.
Thank God.
My shoulders eased with relief as we approached the glowing embers. There were only a trio of older men talking quietly at one side of the remains of the fire. Apparently we’d been gone longer than I’d thought.
The men looked up as we approached. One of them scratched at his neck before speaking. “Hey, you Evan? Your friend said he’d take your guitar back to your room for you.” His eyes lit up with amusement. “Guess you and that girl of yours were … occupied.”
I blushed, but Evan just nodded to them. “Thanks, guys. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
He put his hand on my back, and we moved on. The Bermuda night was quiet around us as we made our way through the narrow alleys, wending our way back to the larger dockyard buildings.
I slipped my arm around his waist as we moved into the shadows of one of the run-down larger buildings. He drew me in close, pressing a kiss on my forehead. His voice was rough. “Amanda, you know we will need to stay distant once we get back on the ship. Starting tomorrow afternoon, we need to keep at arm’s length. Like Catholic kids at a school dance.”
“I know,” I insisted, although saying the words twisted within me. It was going to be a test of my endurance, to be near him and not able to touch him, to kiss him, to …
He slowed, and I glanced up at him in curiosity. I could feel it viscerally, how his body sharpened, how his muscles rippled into steeled readiness.
Tension shafted through me, and I turned to look ahead. My breath caught in my throat.
A trio of well-built men were striding toward us, laughing, beer bottles in hand. The swaggering motion in their strides indicated that this was probably not their first drink of the night.
Jeff was at the center, his orange polo shirt glowing out like a warning sign. Danger Ahead.
My stomach roiled with sick dread.
The men on either side of Jeff were about his height and build, dressed in dark t-shirts and jeans. I wondered if they were who Jeff had come on the cruise with.
Jeff glanced up as we drew closer, his eyes narrowed, and he staggered to a stop. His grip closed in on his bottle.
“Jesus Christ, Amanda! Do you know what time it is? And you’re out with this bastard again?” His eyes narrowed as he looked between us. “Don’t tell me you really are fucking him? Good God, Amanda, he’s gonna use you up, then move on to the next spread-legs whore in the morning! Don’t you get it?”
Evan took a step in front of me, shielding me with his body, his voice low and steady. “I’m taking her back to the ship, Jeff. You just head on wherever it is you’re going.”
Jeff took a step in front of his two friends, his face darkening. “You don’t fucking tell me what to do, you asshole. Amanda is mine.” His neck went taut. “I’m going to make sure she doesn’t forget it again.”
Evan’s fingers flexed. His voice steeled. “You’re not going to lay a hand on Amanda.”
Jeff snapped his wrist to the side, and the bottle in his hand exploded against the stone wall with a sharp burst of liquid and glass. He settled the neck firmly into his right hand, his eyes gleaming with fury.
“You just try to stop me, you Mick. We should never have let you come out of those ditches and slums. Think you’re good enough for decent women now.” He gave a barking laugh.
“We’ll see what she thinks of you when you’re groveling on the ground, mewling like a kicked puppy.”
Evan took another step forward, creating space between me and him. “Jeff, you want to stop before someone gets hurt.”
Jeff waved the bottle before him with a bright laugh. “I’ll have you know, I’ll be a black belt in Shotokan karate in a year or two. So when you’re picking your teeth up off the ground, you’ll know what excuse to give all your friends.”
He crept toward Evan, crouching, his eyes glowing.
Then he lunged.
Evan spun to the side, grabbed Jeff’s wrist, and gave it a sharp twist. Jeff screamed in agony, dropping to one knee.
His voice was high with fury. “He broke my fucking wrist! Get him!”
The other two men charged in hard. Evan grabbed the arm of the one on the right, spun with his momentum, and slammed him head-first into the stone wall of the building. He then continued turning, bringing his outside foot around in a roundhouse kick, driving it hard into the other man’s groin.
Both men groaned, collapsing to the ground.
Evan balanced on the balls of his feet, alert, watching all three.
For a long moment the only sound was the groaning wheeze of the man whose nuts were newly relocated.
Then Jeff gave himself a shake, drawing himself to standing. He cradled his hand against his body, glaring at Evan with fury. “You fucking Paddy. I’ll make you pay – and then Amanda will wish she never slummed with you. She’ll see what happens when a woman cheats on her man.”
I found my voice and stepped up beside Evan. “You broke up with me,” I reminded Jeff, my throat tight. “By text! And you cleared out your stuff!”
“That was just temporary,” he snapped back. “Now the company has laid me off. Said I didn’t fit well with their group. Fucking assholes. So I’m back in Boston, rooming with these two guys.”
“I really don’t care! You’re out of my life. You need to stay there!”
He spit on the ground. “This musician of yours probably makes pennies a day,” he continued. “You need a guy who can treat you right. Me and my friends, we’re in investment banking now. We’ve already got a number of these rich old farts on the cruise interested in signing up with us. Just like Mikey promised.” He nudged his head at the man leaning against the wall.
I gave a snort. Jeff had barely passed his classes, and I was surprised he’d graduated. I wouldn’t let the man anywhere near my bank accounts.
I raked my gaze over Jeff. “Treating me right has nothing to do with money,” I shot back. “Something you would never understand.”
Mikey staggered to his feet, blearily blinking his eyes. “Hey, man, I thought you said this girl was all over you. That she’d come crawling back to your door.”
Jeff’s eyes shot daggers. “Yeah, well, she’s stupid. She’ll just take some smartening up.”
The other man slowly righted himself, his face green. “I’m not interested in finding those whores any more. I don’t care how cheap they are. I’m going back to the ship.”
He started staggering in that direction. Mikey took one last look at Jeff, then joined his friend.
Jeff looked after the two in furious frustration, then turned back to Evan. “You haven’t heard the last of this,” he snarled. “I wonder if this ship of yours has a brig. Let’s see if you can fuck her through the bars.” Then he turned and strode off into the darkness.
I swallowed hard, my heart beating against my ribs as the enormity of what just happened sunk in. “Oh, God, Evan, I’m so sorry. I should have –”
He turned, shaking his head, reaching out a hand to me. “You’re doing it again.”
I blinked in confusion. “Doing what?”
He pulled me in against him. “Apologizing for him. For what he does.”
“But this is all my fault,” I insisted. “If only –”
“If only what?” he interrupted. “You can’t go back in time. You can’t undo your relationship with him. We were walking down a public street, and you didn’t do anything wrong.” His eyes shadowed. “I’m just glad I was here with you. If he had caught you alone, who knows what he might have done.”
I looked up at him in concern. “But what if he causes trouble for you on the ship?”
His mouth quirked up in a smile. “You let me worry about that. I have no regrets at all about tonight.” He traced my face with his fingers. “You deserve someone to watch over you.”
I twined my fingers into his hair. “You’re my knight in shining armor.”
His voice thickened. “And you’re my –”
He dropped his head and nuzzled his lips against my neck. For a long moment he just held me there, his breath coming in long draws, as if he were breathing in my scent. Then his mouth opened against the soft skin of my throat. His tongue darted out, tracing a path, and he pressed his lips harder, sucking in.
A shaft of pleasure coursed through me at the sensation, and I melted against him, groaning.
A shudder went through him, as if some internal restraint was slipped loose. He turned me in his arms, pressing my back against the stone wall, his mouth moving to my lips. His kiss deepened, lengthened, and my hands twined deeper into his thick hair.
I wanted him. He had fought for me, protected me, and I wanted …
He groaned as I pressed my breasts hard into his body, and his voice was tight with effort. “Amanda, I think –”
“Don’t think,” I urged, my heart pounding, my blood pumping. “I need you … Please, Evan …”
His groan was deeper this time, and he glanced quickly in both directions before driving his body hard against mine, his mouth pinning mine in place, his kiss wrenching me into another dimension. His hands slid my dress up to my waist, then with one quick motion stripped my panties down to the ground.
I gasped at the brisk air on my sex, the moisture sending bursts of sensation through me, aching, craving more than I’d wanted anything before in my life.
His mouth pressed me to the wall, while his hands flew to his buckle, his zipper. His jeans slid down his legs, then his briefs followed. There was the sound of foil ripping, a motion –
His shaft drove, hard and quick, deep into my core.
I gasped with pleasure and shock and desire, arching against him. I didn’t care we were on a public street. I didn’t care about anything beyond him and me and this need which was building like a volcano.
He eased out of me, his eyes glowing with dark heat. “Tell me you want me,” he murmured. “Tell me you want me to take you like this, take you now.” His cock throbbed against my opening, nearly sending me over the edge.
I groaned, deep within me, nearly beyond words. My voice was a guttural cry. “Take me,” I pleaded. “I need you … I need …”
His hands came around my ass, lifting me up higher. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he came in again, harder this time, slamming me back against the wall, and my moan was deeper, shaking me to my core.
His breath was hot and heavy in my ear, his exhales groaning with desire. “God, Amanda, I would do anything for you. I would …” He slammed in again, shuddering, and I craved him, needed him …
He pulled out, balancing right at the edge, and it was more than I could bear.
I twined my fingers into his hair. My voice was a plea. “Fuck me.”
His groan was deep, his muscles rippling, and he drove into me. “Ask me again.”
My voice grew richer, rougher. “Fuck me.”
His hip rocked again, his solid legs driving him forward, his breath coming in thick gasps. “Again.”
“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me …”
He cried out, a groan of triumph and desire and longing, and he slammed into me, and his burst blew away all thoughts, all emotions, all sensations into a blinding white light, one that stretched my skin out until I encompassed the universe. I was the sun, and he was the streaming rainbow, and we were colliding, intermingling, and
coalescing into something new and wondrous.
At long last I blinked my eyes open. His eyes held mine, shining, and it took my breath away.
A cool breeze tickled across us, and it sent shivers from the sweat glistening over every inch of my body. We separated, and I bent over to pull my panties back up. I smoothed my dress down into place.
Evan was just buckling his buckle up when there was the sound of an engine. A middle-aged cop on a scooter came casually around the corner. He slowed as he approached us.
Bermuda Nights - The Boxed Set Page 6