“Dance with me.” He said it low and close.
Her skin prickled with electricity. It was as if he was magnetic and she could not resist his pull. She floated out from behind the table and took his hand as he led the way to the floor. As if on command, the music changed to an Eric Clapton ballad.
Kyle’s hand slid around her waist. One of his legs pressed between hers and he moved them round the floor expertly. Her pussy throbbed from the pressure of his thigh. Her breath caught in her throat. His hard cock was wedged between them and his mouth just barely touched her ear.
Neither one of them spoke as they made their way around the floor. Kyle led her skillfully, never letting her bump into any of the other couples on the crowded dance floor. The heat from his body and the sway of the music had her soaking wet and her breath coming in short gasps before the halfway point in the song.
“I want you,” she heard herself saying.
He instantly stopped moving. Pushing her so that he could look down into her eyes, he smiled. “You say the damnedest things.”
“Do I?”
He squeezed her hand and danced them over to the other side of the room. “You never say what I expect.”
“I like that.” Being unpredictable was something new to Charley. She had always been the good girl, the perfect daughter and the perfect wife. When Pete walked out, she had even been the perfect ex, asking for nothing.
“Let’s go for a walk. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hot.”
She nodded against his cheek. He maneuvered her from the dance floor, out of the club on the opposite side from where Jules and the men were sitting.
They climbed up a few flights and went outside to walk along the railing. The cold air hit Charley as if she jumped into an ice bath. They had left port a few hours earlier and the wind, sea and pitch of the night were in stark contrast to the warmth of the club.
He removed his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders before walking them several hundred yards toward the back of the ship. The jacket retained his body heat but the wind was still cold against her legs and face.
“Where are we going?”
A moment later, he pulled her into a small alcove with no windows facing in. Her back was pressed against the cold steel of the ship. She expected him to ravage her immediately but his kiss was soft and sweet as he nibbled her bottom lip.
“Tell me about your marriage.”
“What do you want to know?” She could hear the surprise in her voice.
He must have heard it too. His smile made her want to hike up her skirts and let him fuck her right there in plain sight. “How long were you together?”
“Two years before we got married and four years of marriage.” She wanted to feel indifference, but the failure of her marriage was still a sore spot.
He brushed the hair out of her face. His fingers tickled the skin on her cheek. “What happened?”
“Pete decided being married wasn’t for him.” She answered quickly. False nonchalance laced her words.
“You said he’d had affairs. How did the marriage end?”
“Pete’s affairs started right after the wedding, maybe even before. I’m not sure. I ignored his activities. I thought of my marriage as a safety net, a talisman against being hurt and being alone. It’s not that I was happy, but I felt secure. It seems crazy to me now, but I would have stayed married to Pete indefinitely. Part of me thought that since I was not good in bed, he had a right to go elsewhere. I know that sounds nuts.”
Kyle was frowning but he waited for her to finish.
“One day he woke up and said, he didn’t love me and maybe he never had. No drama, just, ‘I want a divorce’.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but telling him about her failed marriage exposed her in a very uncomfortable way. It also made her think about the way she’d acted that morning to achieve the same goals. She didn’t know why Kyle wanted to know about her past or why she had told him anything. Her eyes darted around looking at anything but him.
He ran his fingers along her jaw. His body pressed against hers spreading heat to every nerve ending. “That sounds pretty dramatic to me. Though, if you don’t mind me saying, I think he did you a favor.”
“That’s what Jules says.”
His smile melted away all of Pete’s transgressions and made them seem a million years ago.
“The strange thing was, once we sold the house in the divorce and I got my own place, I felt less alone than I had in my marriage.”
“Being alone and being lonely are two totally different things,” Kyle said.
“Have you ever been married?” She asked.
“No. It never seemed fair. I lead an unconventional life.”
“What about serious relationships?”
His eyes dimmed and shifted away from her face. “I was engaged for a year. She couldn’t deal with me being away for six months at a time. I can’t say that I blame her.” In spite of his claim of understanding, she could hear the pain in his voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
She reached up and touched his jaw, cupping his cheek in her palm. “And since then?”
His mouth quirked up in a sexy half smile. “Since then, I’ve kept it pretty simple.”
Her heart was pounding. She had to look away from his assessing eyes to gather the courage for her next question. “So then, why try to get to know me better? Why not let me walk away this morning and leave it at that? Why not ‘keep it simple’?”
Her hair fell forward veiling her face. He tucked it behind her ear, and she watched his face when he answered.
“You’re not that kind of girl. I knew that the moment I first saw you.”
She didn’t understand him. How was she different? What kind of girl did he think she was? His hard cock pressing against her pelvis made her doubt his words.
“So, I’m a challenge.” Her voice was laced with bitter sarcasm that no one could have missed.
He moved still closer. His entire body pressed against the length of hers. His arms slid around her holding her tighter than was comfortable. She saw the flash of anger in his eyes but she didn’t turn away. Instinctively, her hands went to his chest ready to push him back if need be. His shaft still stood at full attention pressed between their bodies.
“You are the only one who is cheapening this, Charley. When you say those kinds of things, it makes me so furious with you. I don’t know if any woman has ever made me as angry as I was this morning.”
She could barely breathe. The feel of him excited her more than she would ever admit. His anger was laced with passion, and her pussy wept with desire to be naked beneath him. The cravings he elicited from her were like a drug addiction. She couldn’t get enough. “Why pursue me then? You could have anyone.”
All the fury left his eyes and only the passion remain. Her clit ached and she had to fight to keep from pressing her thighs tighter to him.
He ran his knuckles along her jaw and threaded his fingers through her hair. “Why is it so unbelievable to you that I could be interested in you, and not just sex?”
“Your cock tells a different story.”
He took a half a step back. The cold air whipped between them making her shiver. She pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders. She wished she could pull her words back and pretend she’d never said them.
“If we took sex off the table, would that convince you?”
He didn’t know what he wanted her to say. The part of him that couldn’t stop thinking about this woman, wanted to take sex out of the equation and see what would come of it. His lower half craved being buried deep inside her tight pussy for the remainder of the cruise and maybe beyond that. There was no right answer for her. He had set her up to fail. Why had he done it? Fear was the only logical answer.
“Would you do that?”
“I would.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” She was freezing. Her body quaked now tha
t he’d separated himself from her. In spite of the warmer weather they’d had during the day it was still Alaska and they were at sea at night. With the wind-chill, it felt near freezing outside. The cold was the only reason he was able to use the out of the way nook for some privacy. If it had been a Caribbean cruise, the decks would be swarming with guests enjoying the night air.
“What do you want?” He expected her to say they would not have sex again. He was cringing on the inside, waiting for her to say it. Though, if that’s what it would take to get to know her, he was more than willing.
“Right now, I want to pull my dress up and let you fuck me right here on the deck.”
“Jesus, Charley.” He had to close his eyes against the wave of pure lust that washed over him. “Why don’t you ever say what I expect?”
She giggled and all he wanted to do was comply with her desires. Of course, he would probably lose his job and never get work on another cruise ship again. He’d end up on some freighter somewhere either too hot or too cold. He held his position just inches from her.
“I have a problem with saying exactly what I’m thinking. It gets me into trouble sometimes,” she said. “It used to really upset my ex. We’d go to business parties and he’d expect me to keep my mouth shut and look pretty. Of course, I couldn’t do it. Though, I’ve never said the kinds of things I say to you to anyone else. You seem to bring out the devil in me.”
He loved the idea that she’d only talked dirty to him and no other man. Ignoring the mention of her ex-husband, he bit the inside of his cheek and thought about the captain reaming him out for some transgression. His cock fell to half-mast. “If I ask you to come back to my cabin for the night, are you going to assume that all I want from you is sex and run out in the morning with that ashamed look on your face?”
“You left out the part where I insult you so that you’ll leave me alone.”
Her smile was shy or possibly embarrassed. Whatever the cause, she was frigging adorable. Dammit, how had he gotten so bowled over by this woman? You’re in big trouble, pal. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Are you saying that you want to pursue a relationship with me? How would that even work?” Her eyes were wide and she shivered and tried to get deeper into his jacket.
“I don’t know what I’m saying. I have no idea how it could possibly work out. Believe me, it rarely can work in the long-term. All I know is I can’t get you out of my head. I’m sure it’s not just the sex, though that was unbelievable. I want you and I’m willing to risk getting hurt to see if we have something special here.”
She just kept staring up at him without saying a word, and he was beginning to feel like an ass. What on earth made him say all of that out loud?
“Let’s get out of the cold before you freeze to death.” He tugged her hand and led her in the nearest door. They arrived near the elevator banks by the fitness center.
He kept her small fingers entwined with his as they rejected the elevators and started down the steps. When they reached the landing on deck nine, he said, “What do you want to do, Charley? Should I walk you down one more deck to your cabin?”
She turned into him and pressed her cheek to his chest. He wondered if she could hear how fast and hard his heart was pounding as he wrapped his arms round her. He kissed the top of her head, ready to let her go and walk her to her cabin. It was going to be a long uncomfortable night alone in his room. He would definitely have to take a cold shower.
“I want you to make me come so hard I scream your name and then I want you to do it again.”
His cock was instantly rock hard again. When he looked down at her upturned face, she was smiling wickedly.
“You are going to drive me crazy. You know that, don’t you?”
She shrugged, still smiling.
He took her hand and led the way down the corridor to his stateroom. He opened the door but stopped at the threshold. “Promise me that even if you freak out at some point tonight or in the morning, you will talk to me and not run.”
She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. “I promise.”
He stepped back, and she followed him through the door letting it swing closed and click into place.
Charley took off his jacket and draped it over the chair. “So, no sex on the deck.”
She said it very matter-of-factly.
He sat on the edge of the bed and tugged at his tie until it loosened. “I’ll lose my job and I like my job. Is public sex something that you are into?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” One of his uniforms hung on the outside of the closet. It had been cleaned and pressed and returned to his room while he was on duty earlier. She ran her hand down the sleeve.
He watched her step out of her sexy stiletto heels. She wasn’t wearing any stockings, and he admired her pink polished toenails as they curled into the carpet. “But you’re not opposed to the idea.”
She cocked her head to one side. “I think that I’ve played it safe my entire life and all I have to show for it is a broken heart.”
“I don’t think he broke your heart. I think he tried to break your spirit.”
“You’re probably right.”
He pulled the tie over his head and unbuttoned his shirt. “Did he really tell you that you were no good at oral sex?”
She nodded. Her blush started at the part in her hair and made its way down to where it disappeared beneath her dress. “He told me I was not good in bed period but particularly bad at blowjobs.”
“You must realize, he was totally insane.”
She reached behind her back, and he heard the slide of her zipper. The dress gapped in the front. Charley pushed the spaghetti straps down her shoulders and let the fabric fall to the floor.
Kyle’s mouth hung open. Never in his wildest imagination had he thought she’d be commando under her dress. Her curvy body and slightly embarrassed expression had him painfully hard and filled with tenderness.
“The surprises never stop with you, Ms. Ballantine.” He stood up and removed his pants, shoes and socks before dropping his boxer-briefs.
She took two steps, bringing her within inches of him but she didn’t touch him. He wanted to tug her into his arms and take control, but knew this time had to be on her terms.
“Pete said that I was inhibited and he was probably right. I don’t know what’s gotten into me since I met you.”
“What do you mean?” He ran the backs of his knuckles over the taut peaks of her upturned breasts.
“He never…I mean…I never.” Her face turned bright red.
“Charley are you telling me that you never had an orgasm before last night?” He could hear the shock in his voice. She was so responsive, it was unimaginable that she’d never felt that kind of pleasure before.
“No, no. But only when I…” Her fingers inadvertently touched her pussy.
“Your only orgasms were from masturbation?”
She nodded and her blush deepened. “You must think I’m a complete idiot.”
Reaching across the gap that separated them, he took her hands and tugged her toward the bed. He sat down and coaxed her to sit beside him. “I want you to listen to me very carefully, Charlene Ballantine. First of all, your ex is a complete and total asshole. He obviously has no clue about pleasuring a woman. You are the most sensual and responsive woman I’ve ever met. The idea that you feel uninhibited with me is extremely flattering. You’re mouth around my cock was one of the best things I’ve ever felt in my life, second only to being buried deep in your amazing pussy. I am not against trying anything you might like, as long as it doesn’t threaten my employment. And if you would let me, I would love to watch you masturbate. Though, I don’t know how long I could only watch.”
He watched her expression change from shy to embarrassed to pleased. And then, when he mentioned watching her touch herself, he saw intrigue in her green eyes.
“Really?” she asked.
He knew what she meant,
but he wanted to hear her say it. “Which part?”
“You want to watch me?’
He leaned down and pressed his lips to the side of her neck. “Say it, Charley.”
“Masturbate. Touch my pussy. You want to watch me make myself come?”
His cock jumped with each word. He ran his tongue along her pulse. “Does the idea excite you?”
“Yes.” The word came out breathy.
“Why does that surprise you?”
“I’ve always thought of it as a private activity.”
He took her hand and raised it to his mouth. He slowly sucked her index finger in. Her mouth opened and a soft gasp escaped. He used his tongue to push the digit out again. “You are welcome to keep it a private activity if you wish.”
He sucked both her index and middle fingers into his mouth and let them slide back out wet. Then he took her hand and guided it to the apex of her thighs.
Her eyes were wide and he was certain she was going to take her hand away and he would gladly take over the job. Once again, she surprised him. Scooting back on the bed, she leaned against the headboard. He saw another flash of fear cross her face and then desire overturned her trepidation. Everything about her, clutched at his heart. He yearned to see every emotion in those emerald eyes.
Kyle adjusted himself so that he was lying across the end of the bed in full view of her. His cock was already painfully hard but the idea that she would expose herself totally thrilled him more than any sex act.
His head rested on his palm, watching but not saying a word. If she wanted to back out, he wanted her to feel no pressure. And he was still sure she was going to blush and turn away at any moment.
She lifted her left knee and slid her right leg out, opening herself to his view. Her folds glistened with moisture as her fingers slid down tentatively. Her eyes closed for a moment as the tips of her fingers slid over her clit and her mouth opened but no sound escaped.
Kyle’s mouth watered at the erotic sight of her fondling her pussy ever so gently. Her fingers dipped down, one slid inside her slit and came out shining with her juices. She rubbed the moisture over her clit and gave a soft cry. Her eyes popped open and she looked slightly surprised to find him still avidly watching.
Alaskan Exposure Page 9