The One (The Halo Series Book 2)

by Kimberly Knight

  “You are?” I asked, surprised.

  “I’m trying. I really like Brooke.”

  “See, I told you that there’s always a princess for every asshole.”

  “Yeah—maybe,” he said finally cracking a smile.

  I didn’t know how to act as I walked into the restaurant for breakfast.

  When Avery was leaving to go back to his room, we kissed and everything seemed normal and not awkward at all. But the closer I got to the restaurant, the more nervous I became. What if it was a one-time thing and he wanted to look for other girls now?

  If that was the case, I was going to leave a lasting impression on him.

  When Brooke and I approached our table (the table that no matter what happened we’d have to share our meals at for the rest of the trip because of the assigned seating), I kissed Avery like I hadn’t spent the night with him. Like I hadn’t just seen him an hour before. Like I hadn’t seen him in years. I was relieved when he returned the kiss. We spent the next few minutes wrapped in each other until Brooke threatened to tie us up in separate rooms until the cruise was over.

  I felt bad for leaving Brooke the night before. I hadn’t expected to fall asleep in Avery’s arms, but she hadn’t come back to our room either. She told me she’d slept in Avery’s bed and I believed her. I was bummed, though. If Easton was anything like Avery, then Brooke needed to forget about her boyfriend and explore things with Easton. Boston wasn’t far from New York City, and if things kept going the way they were, then I was already planning on visiting the Big Apple.

  “Don’t do that,” Avery whispered.

  “Don’t do what?” I asked, but I already knew what he was talking about.

  “Don’t bite your lip. How am I supposed to eat my breakfast?”

  “What if I want you to eat something else?” I whispered into his ear and giggled.

  Avery started to choke a little on his orange juice. “Then you better hurry and eat your eggs because you’ll need your stamina.”

  After breakfast, Avery and I ditched Brooke and Easton. We didn’t beat around the bush. We flat out told them that we wanted to be alone again and they knew what we meant.

  When we arrived at my room, Avery and I pushed the beds together to give us more room.

  “I hope we don’t fall through the crack,” Avery said.

  I laughed, imaging the beds splitting apart and us falling to the ground. “Yeah, let’s hope not.”

  “I—” Avery began to speak, but then stopped himself.

  “You what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Tell me,” I prodded.

  “I just want you to know that this means more to me than just my next fuck, but if you—”

  “Me, too.” I nodded.

  Avery’s eyes lit up and he smiled, making me smile back at him. “Good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, get over here.”

  Avery grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, causing me to squeal. Our lips met and I melted. He knew how to work his tongue and was the best kisser I’d ever had. I moaned, not wanting him to stop, and he started to pull my shirt over my head. I followed his lead, reaching for his shirt. We broke our mouths apart and tore our shirts the rest of the way off, tossing them on the floor.

  “I could get used to this,” Avery said against my neck.

  “Me too,” I panted.

  I felt him smile as he trailed kisses down my neck. Cupping my breast roughly with his palm, he kneaded it over my bra until his mouth met his hand. He pulled my bra down to free my breast, licking the tip of my nipple. My hands wrapped around his neck, my pelvis pressed against his hard erection and I moaned again as I felt moisture on my panties.

  Avery led me back towards the beds, and when my knees hit one of the mattresses I sat, but Avery pulled away from me. Before I could protest, he started to undo his shorts and I suddenly didn’t mind that he’d stopped. I watched him undo the button of his shorts as I unclasped my bra.

  “Yep, definitely can get used to this.” He smiled.

  I bit my lip.

  “Nic,” he groaned.

  “Sorry, it’s a habit. But at least I’m doing it now when we can actually do something about that,” I said, nodding my head to his hard cock as the tip peaked out of the slit.

  “You’re going to be the death of me.”

  “Who? Me?” I asked, pointing to myself.

  “Yeah, you,” he said, kneeling in front of me. “Let’s take these off so I can take my time tasting you,” he said, unbuttoning my shorts.

  “I do like that we don’t have to rush this time, but I did like it hard.”

  His eyes darted up to mine. “You did, huh?” He smirked.

  “Yep,” I said, lifting my butt so he could pull my shorts and panties down.

  “I’ll remember that,” he said with a wink.

  Once I was naked, I scooted back so I could plant my feet on the edge and spread my thighs apart, the crease of the two beds only an inch from me, but it was enough to give us more room. I wasn’t nervous with Avery. Everything felt right, especially when he moved my thighs wider, both his hands spreading my pussy as his warm, wet tongue met my clit.

  He took his time licking and tasting me, bringing me closer with each swipe. It was like he was savoring his favorite meal and I wasn’t going to hurry anything. I wanted to be his favorite meal. I didn’t know much about him, but I knew he was a genuine guy. He had a charm about him, one that was real, and when he told me that I wasn’t just another fuck, I believed him.

  I moaned, on the verge of coming apart on Avery’s tongue. The moment he stuck two fingers in me, my body bucked, and he pressed his free hand and arm on my hip, stilling me. I wanted to explode.

  He removed his mouth from my clit, angling his hand so his fingertips were over the nub, rubbing hard. His fingers from his other hand pumped into me at the same pace as his fingers on my clit. My pussy had never been worked so hard or so fluidly.

  So perfect.

  Just when I thought my body couldn’t take anymore, that it wouldn’t find release, I screamed as it washed over me. I had never been a very vocal person in bed, but I’d lost all control.

  Avery picked me up, placing me in the middle of the bed, then pulled his boxers off and sheathed himself with a condom. After the mishap from the night before, and our discussion that we were both clean, I’d expected him not to want to use a condom anymore. For some reason, it made me like him that much more…like reassurance that he always used a condom.

  Not saying a word, Avery kissed me, his mouth coated with my juices. It was erotic and I sucked on his tongue, getting every drop of my arousal. My legs wrapped around his waist as he eased into my sensitive flesh. I gasped as he filled me, still sensitive from losing myself on his fingers.

  “Slow or fast?” he asked as he moved his hips gently inside of me. He’d just worked me hard and fast with his fingers that the slowness of his thrust was what I wanted.

  “Slow.”

  He kissed me again, his hips still moving as they hit the back of my pussy. It was different from before. I could feel him meeting the end of my core with each thrust like we were one. Like we were made to fit together. It felt nice, perfect.

  Exactly what I wanted.

  We were lost in the moment, and I didn’t realize I was falling through the crack of the bed until it was too late. The mattresses fell apart and our connecting bodies fell to the hard floor, Avery on top of me.

  “Shit,” he gasped. “Are you okay?” he asked, trying to get off of me, but I held him down.

  “Yeah.” I laughed. “I mean, my ass is gonna have a bruise, but this is kinda funny.”

  “Yeah, it is. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Nothing a few kisses won’t cure,” I said, biting my lip.

  “There you go again. Since you’re not hurt and I can’t stop, we aren’t finishing this on the bed now,” he groaned, moving his hips.

  My body rubbed against the carpeted floor,
little burns leaving their marks on my back. He trailed kisses down my breasts, giving each nipple attention as he sucked. My hands lightly tickled his back, and honestly, I didn’t care if we finished. I wanted to stay like that forever.

  My legs were wrapped around his waist again, pushing him to go deeper. I felt Avery start to quicken his pace and without words—without knowing him—I knew that he was close. He rocked into me, my legs clenching his ass and my back arching. I was close too.

  He kissed me feverishly, our tongues dancing together, a hint of my arousal lingering on his mouth. Avery reached between us, rubbing my clit again, and I came, my pussy clenching around his cock. With a few more pumps, he followed then collapsed on top of me, trying to catch his breath.

  After a few minutes of light kissing and Avery running his fingers through my hair, he pulled out.

  “Lookie there. The condom didn’t break this time,” he said and chuckled.

  I was really starting to fall for Nicole and it wasn’t just because we were having sex. Don’t get me wrong, the sex was epic. I felt comfortable around her, like I could tell her anything. She said things to me that took me by surprise and I wanted to be with her all day and night. It felt like I’d known her my whole life. We clicked like we were meant to be. Maybe we were. I fully believed things happened for a reason. If the girls from breakfast were right and people only came on the cruise to have a good time, then it was fate that led me to meet Nicole—the only other person taking this singles cruise seriously.

  After I’d cleaned up, we put our clothes back on. Instead of going to find Brooke and Easton on an eleven hundred foot cruise ship with multiple levels, Nicole and I decided to lay in bed and wait for them to come find us. That was where I really wanted to be anyway.

  “Want to play a game?” Nicole asked, laying her head on my shoulder as we cuddled in the center of the two beds that were pressed together. If we didn’t move much, the beds wouldn’t come apart—again.

  “What kind of game?” I asked.

  She shrugged, not raising her head. “I don’t know. Maybe like a hundred questions game.”

  “A hundred questions? We’ll be here all night.” I laughed.

  “Well, it doesn’t have to be all tonight. What if we keep it ongoing so whenever someone has a question, we ask it and the other has to answer it truthfully?”

  “All right, I like the sound of that,” I said, my fingers playing with Nicole’s blonde hair.

  “Want me to go first?” she asked, looking up at me with her cornflower blue eyes.

  “Sure.”

  “Where did you grow up?”

  “Long Beach with Easton.”

  “Oh, did you see your family while you were there before we left?”

  “Nah. My parents moved to Santa Barbara and I don’t have any brothers or sisters. We landed and boarded the ship.”

  “I don’t have any siblings either.”

  “Did you grow up in Boston?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What made you want to become a nurse?”

  She paused, taking a deep breath. “When I was ten, my grandma got sick. She had breast cancer and after her mastectomy, she went into remission for two years. We thought everything was okay, but then it came back.” She paused again and before I could tell her that it was okay if she didn’t finish her story, she continued. “The cancer metastasized and spread through her whole body. At thirteen, I watched her nurse take care of her. She was like her angel and even helped my mom get through it as well. We slowly watched my grandma die and I decided that I wanted to grow up and be someone’s angel too.”

  “Baby…” I said, kissing the top of her head.

  “I don’t work in Oncology though. I work for a family practitioner and I think it’s better because I can help people at any age.”

  “This makes me like you more,” I said, rolling over on top of her and kissing her.

  “Are you trying to distract me?” She laughed, her eyes glassy with tears.

  “Is it working?” I asked, smiling. I could tell that talking about her grandma was bringing up painful memories. I’d had no idea that that was the reason she’d become a nurse, but it showed me she had a kind heart.

  And I felt myself giving her a sliver of my heart each hour we spent together.

  After I’d distracted Nicole, we fell asleep only to be woken up by laughter filling the room.

  “What the fuck?” I shouted, throwing a pillow at Easton.

  “You both didn’t come on a cruise to sleep did you?” he asked, throwing the pillow back at me.

  “No, we came here to meet the one and now that we have, we plan to fuck and sleep.” I let the words “the one” slip before I’d realized what I was saying. I expected Nicole to tense at my words, but instead she moved closer to me, wiggling her backside into me. My dick was now awake too.

  “Fuck no, this is my birthday present, Nicole!” Brooke said, her hands on her hips.

  “She’s right,” Nicole said, looking back at me. “Fine, just give us a minute to get dressed.”

  “Fine.” Brooke turned on her heels and she and Easton left the room.

  “The one, huh?” Nicole asked, looking over her shoulder at me as soon as the door clicked closed.

  “Sorry…”

  “Don’t be sorry. You may be right.” She leaned over and kissed me.

  My chest clenched at the thought of Nicole being the one. I knew I was falling in love with her and hearing her say that she might be the one for me, made me fucking happy.

  After Nicole and I’d dressed, we met up with Brooke and Easton for a game of mini golf. We enjoyed lunch, and then watched a Dating Game live show with the passengers as contestants. We were still stuck on the cruise ship, trying to bide our time and be social with our friends. I wished they would hook-up; Easton would be in a better mood. I was tired of him moping around when I saw him and I didn’t want to be around his moody ass.

  That night, Nicole somehow talked Brooke into switching rooms with me. I stayed out of it. I’m not sure what was said, but Brooke ended up agreeing and I was a happy guy. Easton didn’t protest either.

  Brooke and Easton booked us a day on an excluded island once we ported in Puerto Vallarta. They also booked zip-lining in Mazatlán and when we ported in Cabo, we’d be having lunch with Brooke’s sister. I didn’t mind. Nicole told me that Bailee was like her sister too, and I was stoked to meet more of the people in her life.

  “You want to snorkel with Cassandra the sea lion?” I asked Nicole as a boat took us to the private island in Puerto Vallarta.

  “Yeah, that sounds like fun.” She smiled.

  My arm was around her waist, her head resting on my shoulder. Brooke and Easton were looking at us like they wanted to stab us with a fork in both eyes. They looked jealous, but I couldn’t help the situation.

  Easton had been given the green light from Brooke to go meet someone for himself. Instead, they continued to spend time together and I knew something was building. They were both fighting it. I’d put money on it.

  The boat docked at the island and we were led down a path towards where we would be having lunch.

  “Oh, fuck no!” Nicole shouted.

  “Oh my God,” Brooke said.

  “What the fuck?” Easton asked, looking at the girls.

  “Yeah, seriously. What the fuck?” I asked. Nicole and Brooke both pointed, my eyes following.

  “Holy shit,” Easton said.

  “Holy shit is right,” I said, looking at the giant yellow and white anaconda draped over a lady as she stood and took pictures with people getting off the boat.

  “I’m not taking a picture with that thing.” Nicole shivered dramatically.

  “Me either,” Brooke said, shaking her head.

  “You two are funny.” I laughed. I wasn’t going to tell any of them how I didn’t like reptiles. Who in their right mind likes scaly creatures that could kill you? Not me. My mind drifted to Fred. By Nicole’s reac
tion, she didn’t have a “dragon” at home waiting for her. I silently thanked God because if Nicole did, I was certain I would die from heartbreak.

  We walked around the people who were posing and kept walking until we ended up at a buffet that was set up for us. There was no hostess, so we just sat wherever we wanted and ate to our heart’s content.

  “Want to go see the monkeys or is that a no go, too?” I asked Nicole, laughing.

  “I just don’t do reptiles. Monkeys are cute.” She chuckled.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. No reptiles—check.

  The four of us walked down the trail until we came to an alcove where people were feeding monkeys and letting them sit on their shoulders. We each took turns, letting the monkeys crawl on us while we took pictures. The monkeys were cute, but they just wanted the food. Once we ran out, they crawled down and went to the next person.

  “Time to get more of a tan,” Nicole said, nudging Brooke’s shoulder.

  Brooke smiled and looked over at Easton. There was no reason other than she wanted to see his reaction. Yeah, they could fight it all they wanted, but it was obvious they were hot for each other.

  We walked to the beach, snagging four lounge chairs together, and ordered a round of drinks. I was in paradise. I was on a beach with all the food I could eat and the girl of my dreams next to me.

  “Want to go in the water?” Nicole asked.

  “Sure.”

  We left Brooke and Easton to go into the water. It was warm—nothing like the water on the coast of California or the Atlantic on the East Coast. Once we were all the way in, Nicole wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, holding onto me.

  “Having fun?” I asked.

  “Yep. Are you?”

  “I am.” I smiled then kissed her lightly.

  “Did you think that you’d meet someone so fast on the cruise?”

  “No. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I’m glad we bumped into you guys.”

  “Me too.” She kissed me lightly again. “What do you think is up with those two?” She nudged her head towards Brooke and Easton.