Slippery When Wet

by Kristin Hardy

  Dev watched her gasp with the intensity of what she felt. How was it that watching her quake with it was more exciting to him than even what his own body felt? Holding himself on the thin edge of reason, he drank in the feeling, the texture, the scents, savoring the flavor of her still on his lips. He pulled her back up toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck, capturing her mouth to lay claim, devour.

  They moved together urgently, climbing higher and higher with each stroke. Suddenly every sensation intensified as she felt him thicken, grow harder still as he approached his peak.

  “Look at the beach, look at the people.” His voice was taut and mesmerizing.

  Taylor’s eyes widened as she rubbed against him one last time, then in the next stroke she was shuddering, crying out as the climax gripped her, tightening down to a pinpoint then flaring throughout her body like a shower of sparks.

  Driven past control by the smoothness, the heat, her contractions clenching around him, Dev followed her over the edge, swaying to and fro. Then a wave came along, bigger than the rest, and they toppled into the salty water.

  6

  “WAKE UP, GORGEOUS.”

  Taylor opened her eyes in the morning dimness of the room to see Dev lying next to her, already in a T-shirt and swim trunks. “Forget it,” she mumbled, burrowing into her pillow. “I’m on vacation.”“Come on,” he coaxed, pressing kisses on her neck. “It’s our last day, I don’t want to waste it.”

  She rolled over to look up at him. “Come back to bed and get naked. I guarantee we won’t waste it.”

  “That’s a tempting offer.” He leaned in and kissed her until her head was spinning.

  What a person would do for this rush of desire, she thought, curving a hand around the back of his neck.

  Then he straightened up, taking the pillow and sheet with him.

  She yelped at the sudden theft. “Savage,” she muttered.

  “Come and get it,” he invited, backing toward the bathroom with her pillow in his hands.

  “You’re an evil man, Dev Carson.” She shot him a sulky look. Finally, though, she gave into the inevitable and got up.

  “I’ve got your best interests at heart.”

  She stood at the bathroom counter groping for her toothbrush. “My best interests involve sleeping in.”

  “You just don’t know what’s good for you. Too much sleeping in just makes you tired. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this later.”

  “Hah,” she sputtered through a mouth of toothpaste. When he stepped behind her and filled his hands with her breasts, she swatted at him.

  “Sorry. You just looked like you were losing your balance and I wanted to help.”

  She dried her face and put the toothbrush away. “You can help me back to bed,” she suggested silkily.

  “How about if I inspect your dental hygiene, instead,” he offered, scooping her in close and closing his mouth on hers.

  Okay, so there were some things worth getting up for, Taylor thought driftingly, as the dart and stroke and heat of his tongue sent shivers through her. It amazed her afresh every time, the way he could sweep her into single-minded desire, the way it was never enough, even though they’d been together virtually every minute since her first day on the island.

  “Back to bed,” she murmured.

  “Oh, no,” Dev countered, turning her around and urging her toward the shower with a little slap on her behind. “I’ve got something special planned.”

  “It would be even more special if it involved bed.”

  He considered. “Maybe a nap, later.”

  “Is that the best you can do?”

  He fought a grin. “’Fraid so.”

  Breakfast improved her outlook enough that she felt almost human as they walked out to the beach. “You haven’t signed us up for some all-day dive, have you?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Nothing that’s nearly such hard work,” he assured her, ducking under the nodding fronds of a palm tree. Instead of heading to their usual palapa, though, he turned toward the end of the beach where the sports equipment lay.

  The sand was golden, the sky was clear, and the water stretched away in a hundred shades of aqua-marine. What more did they need than this, Taylor thought.

  “Hola, Miguel,” Dev said, waving to the lithe teenager who signed out the sea kayaks and jet skis to guests.

  “Hola, señor. Como estas?”

  “Bien. Et tu?”

  “Bien, tambien. Your accent, it is much better, Señor Dev.”

  “I’ve had a good teacher, Miguel.”

  They did a complicated handshake, the teenager grinning delightedly when it was through. “Your handshaking is much better, señor, also.”

  “All due to you, Señor Miguel. So is the boat ready?”

  “Si.”

  Dev turned to Taylor. “This is Miguel. He handles all the sailboats and board surfers here. He knows the water around the island like no one else. Miguel, this is Señorita Taylor. Taylor, this is my buddy Miguel.”

  They shook hands, the boy glancing at her with liquid, dark eyes, then looking down bashfully. “And the señorita, amigo, she is going to sail with you also?”

  “I can’t leave her here with you, Miguel. You’d smile at her and steal her away.”

  The boy blushed.

  “Any foul weather coming today?”

  “The weather, she is fine, señor. Maybe little rain later.” He led the way past the surfing boards and rack of life vests to an orange-sailed catamaran that sat beyond the other craft.

  It was a bit bigger than the usual Hobie Cats that hotel guests sailed off the beach, its sail striped in a sunburst of red and orange. She’d never seen it out on the water that she recalled. Taylor watched, bemused, as her shoes, shorts, towel and beach bag disappeared into waterproof compartments in the hulls. Then Dev and Miguel pushed it down the sand to the water, pushing it in until it was bobbing gently.

  “Okay, hop on,” Dev said, patting the blue webbing trampoline that stretched between the twin hulls.

  “Hasta la vista, amigos,” Miguel called and gave a push.

  Taylor felt the moment the breeze caught the sail. Suddenly, instead of skimming slowly over the water, the boat was alive under them and they were heading out toward the open water.

  The sea spread out around them smooth and blue, so vivid that it hurt the eyes. Dev sent them along the coast at a slight angle, adjusted the tiller almost absently as they rose and fell with the swells. From their vantage point, Cozumel was a paradise lined with palm trees and palapas, and the occasional neon-sailed board surfer.

  Surprisingly quickly, the tame landscape of the resort gave way to rough coastline, and the weather-worn structures of an abandoned beach club.

  “Okay, I give. Where are we going?” Even with the light breeze, it was easy to hear.

  Dev smiled. “I thought I’d show you the other side of the island, get away from the Iberonova for a while. There are some Mayan ruins over there you might like.”

  It did feel good to get away from the hermetically sealed environment of the resort, Taylor realized. There was a freedom to being out on the water with the wind in her face that she’d never expected. Out on the water, a person could breath.

  In the distance, a trio of cruisers clustered together. She tapped Dev’s shoulder and pointed. “What’s over there?”

  Dev glanced over. “Dive boats at Palancar Reef. A little farther south is Columbia Reef, where we went snorkeling.”

  “Is that where we’re going now?”

  He shook his head. “Southeast. We’ll head around the bottom of the island and come up the other side for a bit. Right now, though, we’re going to need to tack or we’re going to be heading to the mainland,” he said, adjusting the sail. “When I say go, move to the other side of the trampoline. Be careful of the sail. I’ll hand you the lines and you just pull until the sail anchors come across to you. Ready?”

  Taylor nodded, getting up on her hands a
nd feet.

  “Go.”

  Like a spider, she scuttled across the trampoline to a spot on the other hull of the cat. The assembly slid smoothly across to her with just a tug even as Dev shifted across with the tiller. Exultant laughter bubbled to her lips as she felt the wind bring the boat around to point toward Cozumel again.

  “Good job,” Dev said, grinning at her.

  “This is great. I’ve never been sailing before,” she said, turning her face into the breeze. “Have you done it long?”

  “Oh, Miguel gave me a couple of pointers last week,” he said blandly, then laughed when she gave a startled glance to the coastline, which suddenly seemed very far away. “Relax, I’ve been sailing for years.”

  “Just as long as you can get us back,” she said, giving him a suspicious look.

  “You know how to swim, don’t you?”

  She gave his shoulder a push. “I thought you said this was a no work day, although you had to be lying through your pearly white teeth. I’ve seen photos, aren’t you supposed to hang off the side of these things or something to keep them from tipping over?”

  “That’s mostly when you’re in rough weather or trying to really fill your sails,” he said easily. “I’ll show you. Hold on,” he said and shifted the tiller a bit.

  The hull that they sat on jumped out of the water. Taylor gave an involuntary yelp and grabbed a handhold before Dev turned the boat and brought her back in contact with the water.

  “Relax.”

  “I am relaxed. I was just surprised.”

  His teeth gleamed. “Don’t worry, I’ll warn you next time. Anyway, it’s so calm around here you hardly need to worry about it unless you’re trying to go fast.”

  “Maybe I want to go fast.”

  Dev gave her a speculative look. “Who knows, maybe we’ll strap you on and hang you over the side when we go around the bottom of the island. The winds might get tricky down there.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she said, squinting across to the tiny knot of buildings on the mainland that was the town of Playa del Carmen. “So how’d you get into sailing? Did you learn it as a kid?”

  “I lived in Newport for a while. A buddy of mine was into sailing and dragged me out on the water until I got hooked.”

  Taylor watched his sure hand on the tiller. “Were you a hard sell?”

  “Not very,” he admitted.

  “I suspected as much. So do you have a boat?”

  He nodded. “Not very big. Just enough to take out on the Chesapeake on a nice day. I’ll take you out some time when we get home, if you like,” he said idly, watching the water ahead of them.

  She almost agreed without thinking, then froze. Where was her head at? Keep it safe, keep it loose. The last thing she needed to do was get involved with a man on the rebound, however appealing that man might be. “The deal is, it’s over when we leave here, remember?”

  He hesitated, his eyes masked behind his dark glasses. “Right. Time to tack again,” he said briskly.

  By the time they’d switched sides and shifted the sail, the moment had passed.

  They headed south along a Cozumel coastline very different than it had been earlier. Gone were the resorts, or indeed, nearly all signs of humans. Now it was rugged and wild. Coconut palms, mangrove and palmetto edged the island shore. It felt intimate, somehow, to be seeing these places with Dev alone, as though they were castaways with only each other to turn to.

  She watched a pelican fly low along the water, as graceful in flight as it was ungainly on the ground. It dove into the ocean with a splash, only to emerge with a wriggling fish in its bill. She leaned in to kiss Dev.

  He glanced at her. “What was that for?”

  “Thank you for doing this,” she said simply. “It’s really lovely.”

  “I thought you might like it.” He ran his hand up and down her back.

  “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a knob of white that had appeared farther down the coast.

  “A lighthouse. Built at the turn of the century. It’s a museum now.”

  “Did you come here with Raoul?”

  Dev nodded. “He took me around the island a couple of weeks ago. Showed me a good place for lunch. Time to tack.”

  They shifted sides again, this time smoothly.

  “You and Raoul have become buddies.”

  “He’s a good guy. You know he’s lived here most of his life, except when he was in school on the mainland? He knows this island inside out. When we were sailing around, he was pointing out trees that he’s watched grow from when he was a kid.” There was a trace of envy in Dev’s voice.

  “You sound like you want that.”

  “I think it would make you a different kind of person, to be that close to the place you lived. It would make you rooted, you know? I feel like I’ve always been on the move.”

  “Why don’t you stop, then?” she asked curiously.

  He shrugged. “It’s never seemed like the right time before. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. My fiancée wanted to move to Florida and I hated the idea.”

  “Doesn’t sound too practical if you’re a business owner.”

  He gave a quick grimace. “Melissa was never much on practical. One of the many ways we didn’t mix. But that’s a story I won’t bore you with.”

  They sailed past the lighthouse, which stood tall and white. The wind freshened. There was a rumble in the distance.

  “Okay, we’re going to come about. Grab that harness there and buckle it on,” he directed, following suit. “That’ll let you swing out over the side without coming off. It’s time to have a little fun with the trapeze.”

  Even as Taylor was buckling on the harness, the hull was bouncing on the surface of the water, then rising up.

  “First we tack so that we can come about.”

  Abruptly the motion of the boat turned even more active. “Okay,” Dev said, “let’s take advantage of this wind and see what this baby can really do.”

  An unholy buzz of excitement rose in her.

  “Now sit on the edge,” he directed, fastening on his own harness. “When you start to feel the hull come up, lean back until you feel it stabilize.”

  Taylor slid back and leaned out, only open space behind her. Gradually the rising motion stopped until they were skidding along on one hull, the other hovering a foot off the water. Taylor whooped exuberantly.

  “Having fun?” Dev asked with a grin.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think we should step it up a bit.” He adjusted the tiller and suddenly they were skimming over the waves, sitting four or five feet above the water, the wind raking through their hair.

  The landscape had become steadily more wild, rocky in places, overgrown with vegetation in others. In contrast to the calm of the other coast, the sea had become choppy with little whitecaps, waves that had traveled all the way across the Atlantic ocean from Africa.

  “Is it always so rough along here?”

  Dev shook his head. “It’s never as quiet as the other coast, but it wasn’t this bad the other day when I was out with Raoul. I think we have a squall coming in.” Indeed, now that they were tacking back toward the island, she saw the threatening clouds massed up in the sky, surging over from the mainland. It was the daily cloudburst, something that she normally ignored. Now, though, out on the open water and unprotected, she found herself flooded with adrenaline.

  Lightning forked down.

  “Dev,” she shouted.

  “I know. We need to get on shore and wait this out.”

  “Can we? It looks rocky.”

  “There’s a little cove up here that Raoul pointed out to me. We should have time to get to it and beat the clouds.”

  By the time they reached the cove, the rain had begun, heavy drops thumping down around them. Taylor felt it sluicing through her hair as they dragged the boat onto the beach, out of reach of the waves. No shy pitter-pattering here in the tropics. When the sun
shone, it did so with a vengeance, and when it rained, likewise. None of the palms that dotted the beach was going to be much help to them.

  With a crack like a gunshot, lightning arced down ahead of them, making her jump. “Get down,” Dev roared, yanking her onto the sand. She felt him pressed against her, wet and warm, and she was tempted to laugh until the hairs on her arms started to tingle and raise up. Static charge, she realized with thudding heart, and she opened her mouth to warn Dev.

  With a blinding flash and an earsplitting crack, a yellow bolt shot down to hit the top of a palm no more than twenty feet away from them. Alarm lunged through her. Though she knew that staying flat was the best thing she could do, every instinct in her body told her to run for cover. Instead she trembled.

  ANOTHER BOLT OF LIGHTNING cracked down in the jungle behind them and Dev pressed himself harder against Taylor, as though his body could somehow protect her from the millions of volts of electricity that might flood down from the sky at any instant. He cursed himself for getting so preoccupied with her and the sheer joy of sailing that he hadn’t kept an eye out for the squall. If he’d timed it better, they might have gotten under cover. As it was, all they could do was wait it out.

  Wind rattled the palm fronds nearby. Behind them the sea boiled and seethed. He wanted them out on an open beach. They shouldn’t be near anything tall like a palm in a lightning storm, but raising up at this point was a bigger risk.The hairs on his arms prickled again and he said a silent prayer. This time, the bolt exploded so close it sounded like it was on top of them. With a crack, most of the top of the palm closest to them split off, thudding down on the sand nearby. The sharpness of ozone filled the air.

  And in sudden shock, he felt himself getting hard.

  Now that was sick. Here they were stranded in a lightning storm where they could be hit any minute, and he was thinking about that soft, springy body under his, thinking about the way she was shifting herself against him. She was probably terrified and all he could think about was how good it would feel to drive himself into her tight heat. Her eyes weren’t closed, he realized as he stared down into her face. They were staring at him, bright with…not fear, he realized, nor alarm, but…excitement?