by Hamel, B. B.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“Seriously, Claire. Any issues, you find me. I’ll handle it.”
I nodded quickly, my heart skipping a beat. “Okay. I will.”
He leaned back against the railing. “So, interested in that guy?”
“No, not at all,” I said quickly.
Too quickly, clearly, because Nate’s face lit up in a huge grin.
“Defensive?”
“No,” I muttered.
“Seems like you’re a little embarrassed to be caught getting hit on.”
“Its not my fault my dad wants me to marry some proper investment banker just like him.”
“It’s weird he’s doing that. Isn’t that usually a mom’s job?”
“Yeah, well, ever since my mom died, my dad took up the slack.”
“Shit. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s okay.”
“If it helps, my mom gave up trying to set me up a long time ago.”
“Why’s that?”
“Apparently proper ladies are intimidated by me.” He stood up and moved close to me. “Truth is, though, they usually ended up throwing their panties at me and begging for it. But Mom doesn’t know that.”
“I’m sure you obliged.”
“I’m a gentleman, after all.”
The day went like that for another few hours. Nate and I went around helping people and serving lunch while Tommy answered questions about the area. Finally, our time was up, and we helped everyone pack away their rods and their catches, though nobody got much of anything.
Back up in the pilot’s room, Nate began to sail the boat back toward the harbor. I felt relieved to be hidden up away from everyone. Joshua and his associate, Al, kept giving me looks all afternoon, but whenever Nate got too close they would instantly look away.
Part of me was thrilled to see that. Part of me loved that Nate could scare other men away simply by being near me. I loved that he was powerful and masculine enough that he didn’t even have to try. And yet part of me was afraid of him and how easily he could posses me.
I knew I was skating on thin ice. There was a razor-thin margin between us, and one tiny slip up would leave me reeling and in the palm of his hands.
Once there, I knew I’d never get away.
“Almost back,” Nate grunted.
“Yeah.” I looked out the window and down at Tommy giving the customers his last little speech. “Listen, Nate.” I bit my lower lip, not sure what I wanted to say. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“Drive the boat back?”
“No. I mean, you shouldn’t scare guys away.”
“Scare who away?”
“Those guys. Joshua and Al.”
“Seems to me they needed scaring.”
“We’re stepsiblings now. My dad is going to be throwing guys at me all the time.”
“And you’re going to want to date one of them.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Not at all, not even slightly. But whatever I needed to say to make that tiny margin wider would be good.
“Whatever you want to do is fine with me, princess,” he grunted at me, “but don’t act like that pussy doesn’t ache every time I’m around you.”
“Nothing aches,” I snapped back.
“Whatever you say.”
We lapsed into silence, and I inwardly kicked myself for opening my stupid mouth. He didn’t seem to mind, but I felt like a total idiot.
I quickly got up and went down to help Tommy finish up packing everything away. I decided chores were better than sitting up with Nate, where the tension between us was thick as hell and ready to snap at any moment. I couldn’t promise myself that I wasn’t going to let myself get swept up into Nate’s powerful gaze.
Once we were docked, I tied the boat off and got out of there as fast as I could. I needed to get home and think about things.
As I walked up the driveway, I could have sworn I heard Nate laughing. I looked back but didn’t see a thing.
Chapter Eight: Nathan
Storm clouds were gathering in the south as Claire and I pulled into the marina parking lot.
“Not promising,” I said to her.
“It’s just rain. My weather app says it won’t be bad.”
“Still,” I grunted. “Not the best idea to take tourists out on the water in a rain storm.”
“Scared?” she asked teasingly.
I gave her a look. “I’m never scared.”
We parked and I climbed out, walking down toward the dock. Claire followed, hurrying to catch up. It was our second day of work and I was already bored of the job, but the money was fine, and, plus, I had nothing else to do.
“You don’t have to be such a hard ass all the time,” she said.
“I’m not a hard ass.”
“Sure you are. You pretend to be this badass Navy SEAL, but you’re really just a lazy jerk.”
“It’s not pretend, babe. It’s who I am.” I smirked at her.
“Yeah, see, exactly. That’s what I’m talking about.”
I laughed at her, genuinely amused. She really had no clue who she was talking to or what I had done in my life, but I didn’t need to correct her. She could think my attitude was just some act or whatever she wanted.
Truth was, once you were a SEAL, you were always a SEAL. The shit you did for your country, the amount of training, it all made you into the person you were. There was no getting rid of it, not ever, no matter how hard you tried. I was just embracing my identity.
We walked down the dock and saw Tommy leaning against a wooden pole up ahead. He had all of his stuff still out on the dock, not packed on the boat like it had been the day before.
I liked Tommy. He was a no-bullshit kind of guy, a local his whole life. He probably disliked working for men like Jonathan as much as I did, but I wasn’t going to make any assumptions about him. Tommy was in his mid-forties and affable, basically a decent guy so long as you didn’t have high expectations for him.
“Morning, kids,” he said as we approached.
“Morning,” I grunted in return.
“Looks like an ugly day,” Claire said.
Tommy nodded. “Actually, looks like we have this afternoon off.”
“Why’s that?”
“Had a bunch of cancellations this morning, so I decided to call it entirely.”
Claire frowned. “Really?”
“Yep. Sorry about making you guys come all the way down here. I’m going to make the calls; you two can head on back.”
Claire looked out across the water while I was already planning my day in my head.
“Hey, Nate,” she said, “let’s go out anyway.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s going to rain and we have no customers. No, thanks.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun. You can show me how to fish some more.”
“No, thanks, babe. I have a long run calling my name right about now.”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid to go out in the rain?”
“You know I’m not.”
“So what’s stopping you?” she pouted, clearly trying to play it up. I shouldn’t have fallen for her shit, but I was having a hard time saying no.
“Mostly just that I don’t feel like it.”
“Fine. I’ll go out alone if you’re so scared.”
I sighed and looked at Tommy, who just shrugged. “You two do whatever you want,” he said. “I’m heading home.”
He stood up, gathered his stuff, and walked back toward the parking lot.
I turned back toward Claire. “You really set on this?”
“I am.”
“Fine. Let’s do it.” I hopped on board. “You untie the lines.”
She did as told, which brought a nice little smile to my face as I climbed up into the pilot’s room. There was nothing better than a hot as fuck woman that obeyed commands. I briefly wondered what else she’d do.
I started the engines and enjoyed their hum as
I sat back and waited for her to finish. I didn’t know what she was playing at trying to get us out on the bay alone in the rain, but I couldn’t exactly back down. I wasn’t a coward, but I just didn’t see how it was going to be fun. Then again, seeing Claire get soaking wet might be worth it.
“Let’s do it,” she said, appearing in the cabin door.
“Full speed ahead.” I hit the throttle and we were off, pulling out into the bay.
She sat down next to me and put her feet up on the dash.
“Nothing better than the open sea,” she said.
“Didn’t know you were into it.”
“I wasn’t, I guess, but it’s really growing on me.”
“All you needed was a SEAL to show you the ropes.”
“Yeah, right,” she mumbled.
The clouds began to grow darker in the sky, and I frowned down at the little radar screen. We clearly had a storm coming, but Claire was probably right. It was going to be mostly rain, which meant the water shouldn’t be too choppy. We’d be fine out in the bay.
“Where to, then, captain?” I asked her.
“I’m the captain now?”
“Honorary. We both know who’s really in charge.”
She laughed. “I don’t know. Let’s go to the same spot as yesterday and do some fishing.”
“Roger that.” I tapped a few buttons and set the course. The ship could probably navigate by itself if I let it, but I liked having control over the steering. As we began to get farther out away from land, the rain started, a little drizzle at first that quickly turned into a real, steady rain.
“Looks like I was right,” Claire said.
“Seems that way.” I peered out at the clouds. There hadn’t been any lightning yet, which was good.
“Think we should go back?”
“We’ll be fine so long as you don’t mind getting wet.”
“Oh, I don’t mind.”
“I figured that out already.”
We motored along, making idle small talk, until eventually we made it to the same spot as yesterday. It was far enough that we could barely see the land, but close enough that I didn’t feel like we were in any real danger from the storm.
The boat was rocking from side to side, the water a bit more aggressive than I had expected, but it wasn’t too bad. I was used to being out on a ship in stormy seas, though I was worried Claire might get seasick and upchuck or some shit. I didn’t want to have to deal with that at all.
“Ready to do this?” I asked her, dropping the anchor.
“Ready as ever.”
We stood up and looked out at the wet deck. “Be careful and don’t slip.”
“What if I fall overboard?”
“I’ll get you. Don’t you worry.”
We stepped out into the rain and Claire laughed. We were drenched immediately, and fortunately it was a hot day. The rain was comfortable and cool against my skin as we moved out onto the main deck and started to set up our fishing rods.
I couldn’t help but stare at Claire’s sweet ass in her soaked shorts. Her hair was pulled back in a soaking ponytail, and her white shirt was totally see-through, revealing a navy blue bikini top that barely concealed her amazing tits. My cock was hard almost as soon as we were out there, and I wanted her more than ever. She was soaked and practically begging for it.
“What are you looking at?” she asked.
“Your perfect fucking tits,” I said.
She blushed. “Don’t be so crude.”
“Just stating the truth. You look fucking incredible all dripping wet.”
“Let’s just start fishing.”
I helped her cast out, not at all hiding the fact that my dick was rock hard, but she didn’t seem to mind at all. Once she was set up, I cast my own rod.
“I like the way you handle that thing,” I said to her.
“I’m still new at this.”
“I know. You’re practically untouched. But you handle a rod like you were born to do it.”
She looked at me, making a face. “Thanks, I guess.”
“You’re welcome. A girl like you should know that she’s good with her hands, especially soaking wet.”
“Okay, you’re definitely not talking about fishing.”
“Nope. I never was.”
“Do you ever think about anything else?”
“Not when you’re around.”
“Must get exhausting.”
“Only because you pretend like you don’t want it.”
“Not pretending.”
“I don’t have time to fuck around, Claire. I live on the razor’s edge all the time. It’s my job and my fucking pleasure to risk my life day in and day out so people can be safe.”
“I know that.”
I stood back away from the deck and slipped off my soaking pants. She gaped for a second before realizing I was wearing a bathing suit underneath and quickly looked away.
“A little warning next time,” she said.
“I’d rather you watched. I know you like to look.”
She peeked back over at me as I stripped my shirt off.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“You think I don’t notice you staring? You’re like a starving animal.”
“What’s that?” she asked suddenly, pointing at the scar on my leg.
“That’s a scar, babe. I have a lot of them.”
“But it looks fresh.”
I was silent for a second. “I was wounded on my last mission. That’s why I’m even home, actually. Command mandated that I take some R&R, and so I did.”
She reached out but pulled her hand back. I laughed at her. “Go ahead,” I said, “touch it.”
She reached out again and her fingers gently touched the rough flesh of the scar. “Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes. Not as much anymore.”
She looked at me quietly for a second, and then her eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”
I followed her gaze and saw it immediately: a boat, gray against the gray ocean, slowly coming toward us. It was small and fast, the kind of boat that was built for taking other ships by surprise. I wasn’t sure I would have spotted it if she hadn’t noticed it first, which was impressive in itself, but I didn’t have time to think much about her eyesight.
“That’s a boat,” I said softly, mostly to myself.
“What’s it doing out here?”
“I’m not totally sure.”
She moved away, watching the boat coming slowly closer. Suddenly, a bad feeling hit me right in the gut; it was the same feeling I used to get before combat missions. I knew what it meant.
Danger was coming.
“I think you should get below deck,” I said to her.
“Why?” she asked, still watching.
“It’s not safe up here.”
She laughed. “What are you talking about? Because of that boat?” She looked at me like I was crazy.
“Yes,” I said softly, coming up behind her. “We don’t know who they are.”
“This is the Outer Banks, not Somalia. They’re not pirates.”
“They might be. The coast guard can’t patrol every inch of water all the time. Plus, we’re sitting ducks.”
She looked at me, her surprised good humor turning into worry. “You’re serious.”
“I am. Go below deck until they’re gone.”
The boat was coming up faster now, and I got a better look at them. The two men were nondescript but young looking. I couldn’t see if they were carrying any weapons, but they’d keep them hidden as long as possible. Their clothes suggested they were prepared to move quickly, but they weren’t wearing ski masks and camo gear, either.
“No. You’re just being overprotective.”
“Claire,” I growled at her, “get below deck or I’ll throw you down there.”
“Come on, cut it out—”
I didn’t let her finish. I grabbed her and tossed her over my shoulder like she weighed nothing.
I walked over toward the stairs leading below deck. “For your own good,” I said as she began to smack my arms and back.
“Put me down, you asshole!”
“Nope.”
I carried her down the steps, grinning softly to myself. I stopped in front of the storage room and placed her down on her feet. She huffed and blew the hair from her face.
“Go in and stay there.”
“No way.”
I gave her a long look. “Do it or I’ll make you.”
She sighed and opened the door. “Five minutes.”
“Until I get you.”
“Ten. See you soon.” She shut the door behind her.
Relieved, I moved fast. I didn’t have a gun, but I did have my knife strapped to my pants. I went back on deck and noticed how much closer the men were. I quickly grabbed my jeans and slipped the knife from the sheath. Then I gripped it against my thigh, crouching down next to the railing.
The boat was coming fast, and the closer they got, the more positive I was that they were definitely pirates. They were headed right for our boat, and neither of them were talking into the radio or trying to signal us at all. They had grim looks on their faces, as if they were about to do something horrible. Those were looks I knew very, very well.
But there were only two of them, which was good.
I waited until they got within shouting distance. My heart went calm in my chest as my battle instincts took over.
“What do you want?” I yelled out.
“We’re lost,” one man yelled back. “We need help.”
“Land is due west.”
“We need help. Can we board?”
“Negative. Do not board.”
They didn’t slow down. They were headed right for us.
“Do not board,” I yelled again.
Suddenly, the man I had been talking to pulled out a rifle from beneath his bench and aimed it at me. My training kicked in as I dove away from the bullet spray, the scream of the weapon cutting through over the rain and the engines.
I rolled off and quickly moved toward the stairs, getting under cover behind the metal door. I didn’t have a gun to return fire, or else this would be much easier. Instead, I needed to let them board. I needed them to get close, nice and personal.