Sunset Sail

by Shannyn Leah

  Emma would promise anything at this moment.

  She nodded.

  “Promise?” he insisted.

  He was serious. She lifted out of his reach and gave him her serious face. “I promise.”

  “It’s only sex.”

  They were going to do this. They were going to do this!

  A naughty smile crossed her lips. “Stop teasing when I have a whole afternoon planned for us.”

  A wicked grin found his lips, too, and she couldn’t wait to get him behind closed doors.

  “Lead the way, darlin’.”

  GRAYSON FOLLOWED EMMA and a short, older lady to the spa’s mud room. He’d reluctantly stripped down to his boxers and donned terrycloth robe, the same one Emma now wore, over an hour ago. He sighed inwardly as the trio came to a room marked with a little white sign that read, “Relaxation Room” and the women signaled for them to enter.

  Beyond the door, a private room awaited them. The room was heated and had an in-ground mud tub and glass-surround shower. The room was dim with beige and gold speckled marble installed across the floor and up the walls.

  Grayson stopped in the doorframe, wondering what the hell they were doing in the spa area. When Emma had suggested friends with benefits, the only place he’d expected them to end up was in the bedroom...or whatever room was close enough to get the deed done.

  He hadn’t expected Emma to drag him to her favorite experience on the cruise. The fact he’d already let some lady deep condition his face and dunk his feet into a water bath made him wonder how on earth this was Emma’s favorite thing to do. His body felt violated and his masculinity ripped away. Now she wanted to go mud swimming?

  The woman gave Emma a quick tour while he contemplated reversing to the change room and hitting the gym to pump his endorphins back up to speed.

  He might have been more open on the whole spa day had he not spent the entire night craving Emma’s touch. Then seeing her on the kid’s platform in a dress he could easily hike up her legs and the thin straps he could drag down her shoulders, had made him hard before he had even reached her.

  The woman left, giving him a forceful shove into the room with her hip, before waddling through the door. Pushy old lady. She winked at him before shutting off his escape route. He almost reached out, opened it and ran.

  He supposed the bonus of this room was its privacy, without an employee breaching any boundaries.

  Grayson turned and almost jumped as Emma had snuck up right behind him.

  “It’s a mud bath,” she said.

  Grayson’s lips drew tight. “I see that.”

  Emma hit his arm and laughed. He noticed she enjoyed hitting him. A playful slap here and there, portraying her feelings, turned him on.

  “You’re dragging me to bingo with your family tonight and you’re against a mud pool?”

  He held his hand up. “I would like to clarify that you agreed to bingo with my family. I don’t like bingo either.”

  “And you call me the boring one. Come on. You’re a guy. Guys like mud and dirt.”

  “I don’t like mud traveling up places on my body that it doesn’t belong.”

  Emma shrugged. “Your loss.”

  She walked to the edge of the tub, untied her robe and slowly let if falloff her silky shoulders to bunch up around her elbows. She had secured her hair high on top of her head in a mass of waves. She glanced over her shoulders and bit her lower lip. “Are you sure you want to miss this?”

  His blood rushed south.

  Emma let the robe fall to the ground. Underneath was nothing like the one piece bathing swimsuit she’d been wearing by the pool. Yesterday’s white piece wasn’t exactly modest, with cut-outs along the side, but it in no way compared to the black string bikini she sported today, showing off her mouth-watering derrière.

  She stepped into the mud slowly, descending the stairs until she was thigh deep, and then she turned to him.

  Her eyes closed briefly and she inhaled slowly, sending a soft moan from her body and a warm tingle to the area hidden under his robe. Again, she oozed seduction without even knowing it. Hot. Sexy. Damn hot and sexy.

  Emma opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Your body will love you after this,” she promised.

  He wasn’t convinced. “My body would rather do five hundred push ups.”

  Would it? Would you really rather have missed this half-naked, seductive side of her? He wanted to pick her up, take her straight under the shower and have his way with her.

  “Pumping and thrusting...bulging and sweaty muscles...grunting and heavy-breathing...” Emma sent him a mischievous smile. “You’re making me want to watch that too. Drop the robe and give me five-hundred.” Her body disappeared into the mud, as she moved forward to lean her arms on the edge, watching, waiting.

  Grayson smirked as he dropped his robe.

  Emma’s eyes hungrily raked over him. Her tongue wet her lips before her teeth caught them.

  “Move over,” he said.

  Emma smiled and Grayson stepped beyond his comfort zone, into the cold, wet mud. It was thinner than he’d expected, but it still made its way everywhere.

  They sat with a good foot between them. Emma’s shy eyes watched him.

  “Emma, if you’ve changed your mind about the friends with benefits...”

  She shook her head. “I haven’t.”

  That was a relief. Going back seemed impossible now. But what would happen when the cruise ended? He was surprised to find thinking that far ahead disappointed him, wanting, greedily, to have as much time with her as he could.

  The thought scared the hell out of him.

  Maybe he wanted her to change her mind. Once he touched her, kissed her, made love to her, he knew it would never be the same, as much as they both thought it would. The fact Grayson was wanting more time with her was a huge factor. He never wanted more time with a woman. One-time fling. It was named for its accuracy, yet today, looking at Emma, the term didn’t git.

  Get out of this zone.

  He cleared his throat. “I thought maybe you were avoiding our alone time with the spa.”

  “Nope. You said you wanted to do my favorite thing and a day at the spa is precisely that.”

  Grayson’s face dropped. “Are you serious?”

  Emma giggled. “Yes. Why?”

  He glanced around. There were a million reasons why. “You really want me to point out the obvious?”

  “You’re not having fun?”

  He glowered at her. “I feel violated.”

  Emma laughed then. “Violated?” Another fit of laughter ended with a sigh. “Women touch you all the time.”

  “Not. Like. That.”

  Emma tried to hide her amusement, but her face told a long tale of how much she was enjoying his discomfort. “You didn’t think I was going to just jump into bed with you, did you? That I was that easy?”

  Grayson sobered. “I didn’t mean it like that−”

  “Relax.” Another giggle. “I’m teasing. Boy, you’ve become very sensitive and tense since we agreed to friends with benefits.”

  Had he? What did that mean? When did the benefits begin?

  “Here...” Emma moved to his side. “Let me rub some of that tension from your shoulders.”

  Her hand touched his shoulder and jerked a bit, then rested on it again...no rubbing.

  “Wow, that’s um...some serious muscle there...like...” She cleared her throat and sat back folding her arms across her front which boosted her breasts behind the tiny triangles hiding barely any of her skin.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to hold back another bashful smile. “I’m making this weird. I was trying to be seductive, you know, rub your back, and then your front and then...” She let the words trail off as her eyes dropped down his chest and into the mud. “You probably don’t need an explanation, you’ve had lots of seductive women and I’m likely doing it wrong, because I’m not seductive. If you were looking for that sort of thing, I
think Izzy might be better at this. I’m plain. I’m boring. I’m so out-of-my-mind friggin’ nervous.” She let out a loud exasperated breath. “I’m just going to go over there...” She pointed across the tub and moved as far away from him as she could get.

  This was a whole new bundle of adorableness making him forget they were sitting in a germ infested mud pool.

  “Do you always make the women do all the work?” she asked.

  “You haven’t given me a chance to seduce you.”

  “I don’t want you to seduce me.”

  “I don’t want you to seduce me,” he said back.

  Emma frowned. “So we’re not doing this?”

  He moved across the tub. Her stiff body made it clear she wasn’t ready for him to touch her so he stopped beside her, resting one arm on the edge of the tub, angling for a better view of her.

  “Looking at you, being with you, is the only seduction I need. Don’t worry about all the other stuff, just be you.”

  Emma took a deep breath. “If I was being just me, I wouldn’t be here, with you, with the intention of having sex.”

  “If you’re having reservations...”

  “I’m not. Well, maybe I am, but not because I don’t want to. It’s just...”

  “What is it, darlin’?”

  “That.”

  “What?”

  “Darlin’,” she mocked.

  Grayson held back a smile.

  “I have one question. I know I’m probably not supposed to ask and no doubt there’s some secret friends with benefits code hanging out with the Grayson instruction manual.”

  Grayson touched her throat and rubbed her jaw line. “You’re rambling.”

  She sighed. “One question.”

  “Ask away.”

  “How many friends with benefits do you have? Don’t lie. I can handle it.”

  He was pretty sure she couldn’t handle it if he had any to share with her. “One,” he said.

  The pouty, pissed off look across her face was proof she didn’t like his answer.

  Grayson leaned over and kissed her pouty lips. “You,” he clarified.

  Emma slapped his chest and pushed him away. “You’re lying.”

  He chuckled.

  “It’s not funny. You don’t even have the balls to admit to the friends with benefits you likely have lined up in every country. Is there one aboard this cruise?”

  Grayson sat back. “I’m not one to kiss and tell, but if you are so insistent on knowing about my sex life−”

  “I am not.” She acted insulted.

  “Clearly.”

  Emma wrinkled her nose at him.

  “And, when I’m finished you’re going to reward me with the details of your past affairs, more specifically those three men you spoke of earlier.”

  “What three men?”

  “The three men you slept with and didn’t ask anything from.”

  She smiled. “I wasn’t entirely honest about that. I was trying to prove a point without having the proper backup, so I may have stretched the truth. I was in a relationship with all of them. Your turn.”

  That made him rethink what they were about to do. He supposed his following blunt answer would clarify any qualms about his status.

  “How can I put this in terms you can’t mix up, twist around, and find ways to warp into something you envision and not the reality of my life....” He paused, sucking in a lungful of the warm air, and letting his eyes wander around the room, making her squirm impatiently. He breathed out and found her eyes. “I screw,” he said. “Two simple words that describe what I do. A woman shows interest and we find the closest privacy and−”

  “Screw.”

  “I don’t do friends with benefits. Likely because I don’t have friends and even to start something like, let’s say, acquaintances with benefits, leaves the possibility of confusion. I don’t mix them up.”

  “What do you think we’re doing?”

  “Stirring up a tornado.”

  “Oh. Are you having second thoughts?”

  He shook his head.

  “Oh.”

  Grayson opened his mouth to call her darlin’, but then settled for her name. “Emma, there is no pressure here.” He moved closer, placing his hand on the side of her face. “I don’t exactly know how you think we are having sex in mud, but...”

  A tiny smile found her lips. “Why is everything a joke to you?”

  “Right now?” He brushed his lips gently across hers. They were warm, soft, delicious, and left him craving more. “Because I’m a little friggin’ nervous, too,” he admitted.

  A bubble of her laughter escaped her lips and he caught it with his mouth. Her worry seemed to vanish as her mouth opened up to him, offering him more of her. Grayson greedily accepted, pulling her over to straddle his lap.

  Emma moaned as her warmth pressed against his throbbing for her. There was all the proof she needed that he was hot and ready for her. He could guarantee her it wasn’t her seduction that had turned him on, it was her.

  Grayson was thankful he’d left his hands out of the mud, so he could touch her face, her throat, and run his fingers into her scalp. He couldn’t be certain her fingers were clean as they pressed against his chest, found their way over his shoulders and down his back.

  Each kiss was better than the next, deeper, sweeter. Each stroke of her tongue felt more intimate and personal. He couldn’t help but feel the difference between her tender, caring touch, compared to the greed he was used to.

  He wanted to screw. He’d planned to screw. Screwing was what he did, and this didn’t feel anything like what he normally did.

  What felt like hours of kissing, making out, touching, caressing...all the things that he didn’t do...he stood and brought her up with him.

  “What are you doing?” Emma asked.

  He was going to take her to the shower, rinse this mud off and have sex with her, that’s what he was doing. Enough of this touchy, feely crap he was getting lost in.

  EMMA WRAPPED HER LEGS around Grayson’s middle, his hands went under her arms, lifting her up.

  Her tongue traced the stubble along his jaw line, enjoying the tickle, the thrill, the man. As he carried her to the shower, her mouth licked the salty flavor of his throat, feeling the shudder her touch sent through him. Each lick, each nibble, each kiss against him sent a tremble through this thick, solid body. She was making him tremble.

  Grayson set her down to adjust the temperature of the water. His whole body was covered in mud, and as hot as he looked she wanted it all washed off so she could touch and kiss every last inch of him. He walked across the room, scooping up his robe and pulling protection out of the pocket. He seemed oblivious to her as he moved around and, when he stepped under the pulsing water, Emma paused to watch the simplicity of the water rinsing away the mud, revealing his thick, wet muscles.

  Her mouth watered. Her hands itched to touch him, but her eyes were enjoying the sight, keeping her feet grounded.

  Grayson shed his briefs and her eyes traveled down his body, taking him all in, from top to bottom, lingering a bit, then back up to find him grinning.

  “Are you going to stand there all day?” he asked.

  Emma pulled the elastic out of her hair before stepping under the shower with him. He was so much man, he took up so much space in the area, and suddenly, she was nervous again. Her stomach twisted in knots.

  As she focused on rinsing off her body, he turned her around and moved her hair off her shoulder to kiss her wet skin. Her eyes fell shut as his lips made hot patches across her skin. His hands moved down her sides and she felt him untie her bikini while his tongue continued patterns on her skin.

  His touch took away her anxiety, stirring a more primal part of her, a part she’d never felt. She wanted him.

  Her bikini top fell to the floor in front of her and his hands travelled around her front, cupping her breasts for only a moment, before moving to her bottom. Emma stepped out of her pa
nties and Grayson pushed her front against the shower wall, out of the water’s reach. She felt him part her legs, and press against her.

  Emma turned around, finding a dark look on his face. “Hey.” She cupped his face, reached up and kissed him. “Are you in a hurry?” she asked, against his lips. “I’ve barely had a chance to touch you.”

  He pulled his head away. “All we’ve been doing for the last...” he shook his head. “...however long, was touching.”

  Emma pushed him back under the shower head, and loved how the water dampened his hair across his forehead.

  Running her hands up his chest, she watched his eyes fall shut. Her lips followed her fingers, licking, sucking and nibbling his skin. She gave special attention to his nipples, and all the places he moaned. Familiarizing herself with his body was like heaven. Every groove, every muscle, every reaction was like an aphrodisiac.

  Grayson lifted her up and her legs automatically darted around him again. “No more,” he said gruffly, taking them back out of the water and against the wall. This time her back touched the cold marble, while her front pressed against him.

  Even if she’d wanted to object, when his mouth crashed down against hers again, she would have done anything he wanted.

  Chapter Eighteen

  THIS WAS NOT the average brightly lit bingo hall with folding tables and plastic chairs although it did smell like fresh nachos and cheese. The cruise bingo hall was designed like a theater with red velvet theater chairs and small tables spaced out for the two people to share. The big screen on the wall in front of them displayed the bingo screen.

  Grayson and Emma ended up smack dab in the middle seats with Brock and Linda on one side and Tom on the other side with his recent blonde bombshell, Ellen.

  Emma hadn’t anticipated what would happen after they’d had sex. Friends with benefits. Were they spending the remainder of the cruise sneaking away for private benefits time? Was it a onetime fling? She hadn’t even known how they would act with each other, how Grayson would act with her. But, he’d been sweet, walking her to her cabin to get ready for evening bingo and then walking her to the bingo room.