by Coralie Moss
“Not really, but I don’t think I have much choice.”
The door opened inward, revealing a triangle-shaped room trying to pass for a high seas bordello. Built-in seating to the left and right, as well as the thicker cushions in the oddly shaped sleeping alcove, were covered in burgundy crushed velvet, a fabric Anna hadn’t seen since the early 1990s. Throw cushions were decorated with twisted gold braid, and tarnished brass wall sconces held colorless plastic flowers.
“You have to take pictures of this.” Her eyes went wide, and her mouth gaped. She took a tentative step into the room and tested the mattress with her hand. The old foam compressed and stayed that way under the pressure of her touch.
“You know,” Liam said, awe and wonder in his voice, “with a little TLC, I think this room could be incredibly inspiring.”
He felt for her shoulders, and tugged her away from the bed. He switched places, flopped onto his back, and patted the space beside him.
“Care to join me?” He waggled both eyebrows and attempted an unsuccessful leer as puffs of dust settled around his legs.
Anna crossed her arms and appraised the man in front of her.
One week ago, she was deplaning in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, nervous and excited about spending three days with Daniel Strauss, A-list interior designer, aesthete, and former flame.
One week ago, she was more disposed toward rekindling the embers of that flame than she was toward pursuing anything long term with Liam. If the Daniel option offered a steady breeze across her embers, the Liam option guaranteed a ready conflagration that would burn hot but not for long.
One week ago, she didn’t know if she had enough fuel left in her fifty-year-old body to feed a sustained passion. In this moment, as Liam appeared to balance on the edge of hopeful and I was just teasing, she made up her mind.
“Wait right there.” She was about to suggest something she’d never considered. Ever. That morning, Liam asked her to bring along any unused drop cloths she had lying around in case they were needed to protect the boat’s interior surfaces. She pulled two old, cotton sheets from her bag. They might be threadbare, but they were clean.
Clean enough for fooling around.
“Stand up,” she ordered.
He jumped at the tone of her voice and scooted forward to come off the bed. Anna opened one sheet and spread it over the dusty burgundy covering. She turned to her long-legged boy toy, unzipped her soft jacket, and mimed undoing the top button of her jeans.
“Now, ask me that question again, the one about joining you.”
Emotions played across his face like the clouds scudding over the bay. Rain smacked at the portholes, and the boat rocked in gusts of wind. The two of them stood face to face in the cramped forequarters of the sailboat, swaying in sync with the waves.
A sunny smile overtook Liam’s face.
“Care to join me?” He held the cuff of her jacket so she could extract her arm. She lifted her other wrist for him to help with that sleeve.
“Thought you’d never ask. We’d be remiss if we didn’t make sure your clients’ boat was seaworthy.”
Liam sat on the edge of the bed, spread his knees, and drew Anna’s hips toward him. He laced his thumbs through the belt loops of her jeans and pressed the rest of his fingers into the upper part of her ass. “I didn’t bring my instruction book this time, but I don’t think we need it.”
“If I forget something, you’ll let me know?”
The wind and waves calmed, returning the boat to a gentle rocking.
“Of course,” he said. “I’m ready to pick up our studies where we left off.” His hands hadn’t moved. Anna remained between his thighs, one hand resting on the bed’s protective side rail, the other hand stroking his head. He’d left his hair untrimmed in the two months he’d been on the island, and she liked this rougher look.
“I am too,” she whispered.
Liam leaned forward until his forehead rested against the upper part of her belly. He slid one thumb out of the belt loop, undid the top button of her jeans, and splayed his fingers to lift her shirt.
“I learned some things while I was all alone in the Canadian Rockies.”
“Such as?” she asked, letting his hair slip through her fingers. She traced the shape of his eyebrow with her thumb, marveled at his eyelashes and how easy it was to step back into their flirtatious rapport.
“I learned that I love the solitude. And I love losing myself in your body.” He buried his nose in her belly, tonguing the skin around her navel, licking and biting with tenderness. “I loved watching the stars at night and in the mornings before sunrise. I felt like I was losing myself in the sky the way I can lose myself in you,” he murmured.
The zipper to Anna’s jeans was coming apart, tooth by tooth. She was coming apart, heartbeat by heartbeat, undone by Liam’s admission. She rewound her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp, eager to hear more of his confession. Eager to hear him groan.
While his mouth played on her belly and one hand lowered her zipper, his other hand rubbed her inner thighs. His thumb found the dip between her labia and pressed, sliding side to side.
“I wanted you there with me at night. I wanted to dissolve into you the way I was dissolving into that unending sky with all the stars and all the sounds that were so unfamiliar to me.” He shrugged off his jacket, brought his nose back to Anna’s belly, and felt behind her for the clasp of her bra.
“I’m not wearing one,” she whispered.
He tugged instead at the snug little undershirt she wore. Lifting it, he smoothed his work-roughened hands over each breast. Her nipples traced lines across the surface of each palm. He released away from her and unfurled himself onto the bed, inviting Anna to follow. Together, they wriggled along the mattress until their heads were near the bow of the boat, the wood-paneled ceiling directly above.
“What are we practicing today?” she asked, supporting herself on one elbow, her flesh spilling out of her jeans and undershirt. He enveloped her waist, felt for her lower back, and slid his fingers between the rough fabric of her pants and her ass.
“You have so many different textures.” He fingered her panties, slipping between the fine cotton and her skin, teasing. “And you’re wet.”
Anna sank her weight onto the front of his body and brushed his hair away from his forehead. When she brought her mouth to his, he was ready.
The boat swayed beneath them, setting a rhythm for their intimate explorations. Liam released his hands from her ass, sliding his jeans to his knees before doing the same for her. When she rested against his chest again, his cock was enveloped in the softness of her lower belly.
Liam wrapped one arm around her, one hand returning to caress her butt and the back of an upper thigh, the other keeping her head secured as they kissed themselves past curious into needy. He guided Anna onto her side while extricating one of his legs from his pants. She giggled and groaned, finally freeing her top leg enough she could wrap it over his hip.
“Leave my socks on,” she said, wiggling her toes at him from a wool-clad foot. “My feet are cold.”
He smiled, reaching to adjust himself as Anna’s fingers found the opening that would set his erection free. He placed his hand on top of hers. She listened, through touch, for his preferred pressure and rhythm. “I want you, Liam. I want you inside of me.”
His hand continued its instruction. “Then we’ll need to take this to my bed.”
Her fingers found their way to his skin, circling his erection. Before he could object, Anna folded herself until she had access to his lower belly. From there, it was only a matter of shifting a thin layer of cotton to bring her lips to the head of his cock. Her tongue found the engorged tip and began to circle, licking. Liam gave in and sprawled across the rumpled sheet and the exposed crushed velvet.
Anna explored his length, hungry for her time with an object of sexual pleasure. Her mouth was wet, her tongue strong and inquisitive, and when he gave into the contin
ued rocking of the boat, she felt his orgasm building.
Liam twined his fingers through her hair, giving a gentle signal for her to stop. “Anna. Let’s go home.”
“But you taste so good.” She continued to flick the tip of her tongue across his cock. Wrapping the base with one hand, she moved a determined lock of hair out of her eyes with the other and gave what she hoped was a convincingly lascivious grin. Finally, waving her sock-clad feet in the air, she asked, “Shall we get dressed then?”
“Yes.” He reached forward to ruffle her hair. “I even have food. For sustenance, because I think we’re going to need it.”
Anna paused to kiss his belly before wiggling off the bed. As her feet touched the floorboards, she squealed, flipped over, and crawled toward Liam like a manic crab.
“There’s water all over the floor. I think we might be sinking!”
Chapter Seventeen
“Your scuppers are clogged.”
The mechanic Anna dragged out of the warm, dry marina office made his pronouncement after twenty minutes of mucking about in the bowels of the boat. His pants were wet to his thighs, and the belly area of his navy blue work shirt was soaked.
“The boat was probably stored outside under trees and left uncovered through at least one cycle of seasons, if not more.”
His assessment rang true to Anna’s understanding of boat construction. It wasn’t unusual for boat sellers and buyers to be surprised when the vessel was put in the water or taken apart. It wasn’t unheard of for a boat to go down in its dockside slip either.
“It’s a preventable disaster,” he continued, “but if the boat wasn’t being used and serviced regularly then the owners probably weren’t paying attention, and the couplings just dried out.” He wiped his hands on a rag, pulled a ballpoint pen from his pocket and waved his clipboard between Liam and Anna. “Sign here. Just need one of your signatures sayin’ you understand what I’ve told you. Then I’ll need you to sign another paper statin’ the marina’s not to be held liable for any damage or litigation.”
“Litigation?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “Folks sink a lot of money into these boats. Sure hope this one’s insured.” He watched Liam sign the required papers. “Because where there’s one leak, there’s likely to be more.”
The noise of the pump working in the background added another layer of surreal to the scene. The mechanic left, promising he’d keep an eye on the boat. Anna’s bag had spent time floating in the galley and was soaked. Most of Liam’s drawing supplies and tools were dry. The water hadn’t risen to the countertop.
“Shall we pick up where we left off, perhaps in dryer surroundings?” he said, gesturing to the short set of stairs.
“I’m all kinds of wet, Liam Galbraith.”
“Then lead the way, Ms. Granger. I believe I know just what to do.”
Anna drove her truck away from the marina, careful to mind the speed limit. The look in Liam’s eyes as she drove away assured her he’d be on her tail the entire way, and someone had to exhibit self-control. She could keep her foot from pressing the gas pedal to the floor, but she was apparently incapable of staying away from Liam.
Wipers threw rain to the left and right, keeping the windshield relatively clear. She kept her eyes on the road and searched her heart. She’d gone giddy, playing on the boat with Liam, even a little reckless. Maybe the busted scuppers were a timely sign she should rein in her hormones and take a more measured approach to her sex life.
She navigated the two-car caravan to their respective cottages. When she overcorrected the turn into her driveway, gravel sprayed to the left, taking with it any thoughts of slowing down what they’d started on the boat. Liam’s car passed, parked, and he waved at her from the edge of his porch.
He was filling the canvas log carrier from the woodpile off the far end of the porch when Anna arrived at the steps and held the door open. He deposited the logs in the box and crouched in front of the woodstove.
“How many fires do you plan on starting today?” Anna teased. She unsnapped and unzipped her jacket, draped it over a chair, and sank onto the near corner of his bed to remove her boots.
“Whatever it takes to keep you hot. Do you see the matches?” He wadded up newspaper, set the kindling, added two of the smaller logs, and turned from his crouch as Anna stood. She had removed her socks and was starting to undo her pants. “Stop. Please. I want to undress you.”
“Bossy today, aren’t you?” She re-did the top button of her jeans and scanned the room. Liam squeezed her denim-clad ass when he passed between her and the bed on his way to the kitchen for the spare stash of matches.
“Just being clear about what I want,” he said.
“You said something about feeding me?”
Liam grabbed her again on his way to light the fire, pressing his body against hers. She had his flannel shirt unbuttoned and off his shoulders in seconds. The look on his face broadcasted his internal debate loud and clear: should he feed her or fuck her? “I’d like to return to what we were doing first. You looked like you were enjoying sucking my cock, and I can think of something I’d like to wrap my tongue around.”
And it looked like it would be sex before sustenance.
“I sure was enjoying myself,” she said. “Hurry up and finish what you’re doing. We have some catching up to do.” She watched Liam’s every move as he sped through the cottage.
He located and lit the beeswax candles, placed them on the mantle and the upended wood box he used as a bedside table, and peeled off his T-shirt. “I’m ready to play catch up.”
Anna stepped forward and splayed her hands over his pecs. She traced the outlined muscles tensing down his belly and unzipped his pants. Liam slid his thumbs between his jeans and briefs and bare skin. He tugged, and his cock came free, tumescent with arousal.
She whimpered, her knees threatening to buckle. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we really should wash up,” she said. “Now. Who knows what was in that water.”
Liam helped her out of her jeans and the rest of her clothes and let her into the tiny bathroom for a record-breaking shower. Bodies still damp, they darted to the woodstove and toweled off. Anna put one knee on the edge of the bed and tugged on the sheets and blankets.
“I missed this view of you.” Liam cupped her from behind and dipped his head, laving his tongue across her sacrum and up her spine.
Anna widened her stance and paused, every ounce of her attention focused on his tongue until the cold coming up through the floor threatened to numb her feet. She wiggled away and crawled forward.
“You can have whatever view of me you want—just let me get warmed up first.” She lifted the covers and invited him under. Chest to chest, they waited for their limbs to stop trembling.
Liam lost patience and rolled Anna onto her back. “I want the inside view.”
Tracing his cock up the smooth path of her thighs, he rounded her mons and belly, searching for a way in. When the tip of his erection teased at her lower lips, she invited him to settle between her legs, her body responding with little tremors while adjusting the angle of her pelvis. She felt his body’s need and gave it her unequivocal consent.
Liam reached over her head for lubricant. Flipping open the lid, he squeezed a few drops into his fingertips to warm before smoothing the viscous fluid around her outer labia and over his erection. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
They’d had the sexual history and condom conversation already. Her body re-issued its invitation to enter her unsheathed, her nipples hardening in anticipation. Liam’s eyes were half closed as he concentrated. She traced the tiny lines at the outer corners of his eyes and planted soft kisses to either side of his mouth.
“I’m ready for you, Liam,” she whispered, drawing her knees farther apart. He entered her, lengthened, grew harder, stroke by stroke. Anna responded, her insides softening, caressing and encouraging. “Do you want to know when I’m close to coming?”
“Anna Granger, do whatever feels good. And I’ll do the same. Especially if we can keep it this slow.”
“This feels wonderful,” she admitted, gyrating her hips in a languid circle, pressing into him and away, in and away, as his lips traced the shape of her ear and his arms held her upper body in place.
He put more weight onto one elbow and nudged the back of her left thigh, lifting and wrapping her left leg around his butt. “Hold me.”
Each shift in position brought added sensations. Anna struggled to keep track of every single one so she could replay their lovemaking. The external friction of body against body and the way they warmed and molded to each other. The layered, internal friction of Liam’s uncircumcised cock. As the pleasure of the two grew more intertwined and dependent, it took concentration and commitment to keep her movements slow and steady.
Liam shifted his forearms and interlaced his fingers with hers, drawing her arms overhead. He stared into her eyes before he pressed the backs of her hands into the mattress and brought his mouth to one ear.
“You are mine.” He stroked his tongue up the side of her neck. “All. Mine. Open your eyes, sweet Anna.”
She followed his request. Firelight washed an amber hue over his skin. Chest hairs tickled her nipples. A pulse beat strong within the hollow at the base of his throat. Corded neck muscles led her to his lightly bearded jaw line and his eyes. He smiled, brought his lips to kiss her forehead.
Anna opened more than her eyes. She let go of every clasp and constriction holding together the halves of her chest. Something akin to feelings of love spread her ribs effortlessly. She gasped.
“Relax.” His voice was liquid heat. The weight of his body meeting every curve of hers made it difficult for her to move. She didn’t want to move. She softened the residual resistance in her limbs and gave herself over. If Liam’s bed was the ocean, their bodies were one vessel. She’d go with the current pulling them closer and closer to release.