by Amy Andrews
She’d been excruciatingly aware of his hot gaze as it had tracked her around the busy lounge. Had felt it on her back and her ass and her tits. He hadn’t openly ogled, it had been discrete, but she’d known.
She’d been aware, too, of the number of women who had approached him, who had smiled and flirted and asked him to dance. Aware of how unsettled it had made her when they did and how damn horny it had made her when he rebuffed every single one.
It shouldn’t be a turn on. Who Ari did or did not dance with meant nothing to her but she’d felt every polite shake of his head in her goddamn ovaries.
He’d sat on one whiskey for the duration and she’d found herself wondering about whiskey kisses. She’d stared at his mouth so often she’d committed it to memory. He’d caught her mid-stare more than once and their gazes had fused and melted and her nipples had tingled and her breath had caught and how she hadn’t dropped trays she had no idea.
God...What was it with this guy?
She’d sworn after Eric she wasn’t going to be distracted by a guy ever again. She had plans and commitments on the other side of the world. Very soon her mother’s health was going to command all her attention - in Australia.
She didn’t need this kind of distraction. They were supposed to be one and done, damn it.
But there was a hum in her blood and a buzz low in her belly that was hard to ignore and despite how tired she was, Kelsey didn’t hold out much hope for a restful sleep.
Deciding to go for a turn around the ship to try and blow away some of the sexual frustration, Kelsey stepped out onto the top deck, the cocktail umbrella still in hand. It was deserted out here at after midnight, nothing but the light breeze and the moon playing across the Med.
She walked for a bit following the running track that circled the top deck before pocketing the umbrella and stopping to lean on the railing, staring out over the dark expanse of water disappearing into the inky night.
Kelsey loved working on cruise ships. She loved that every day – as she’d told Ari when they’d first met - she had a view of the ocean which was as essential to her as breathing. She loved chatting with passengers and she adored the friendships and the sense of community amongst the staff.
But she needed to go home every now and then. Get her land legs. See her mother. And, after seven years in the industry, she was looking forward to the day she could call it quits. She certainly couldn’t go for three years without a break as Ari had confessed to this afternoon.
Who even did that? Surely no one loved spreadsheets that much?
In fact Ari didn’t look like the kind of guy who was into spreadsheets at all. He looked like he sailed yachts and played polo and was the face of some expensive male cologne.
“A penny for them.”
Kelsey’s breath cut out just above her vocal chords as the dark, rich voice so achingly familiar, reached her in the night. As if she’d conjured him, Ari slid in beside her, leaning on the rail, also looking out to sea. His arm brushed hers, his hip was mere inches away and he smelled like whiskey and maple syrup and forbidden freaking fruit.
Her pulse tripped. The nerve endings buried deep between her hips quivered.
“Santorini’s out there somewhere,” Kelsey said, her voice husky because no way in hell was she admitting to thinking about him.
“Sea day tomorrow.”
“Yep.” Kelsey didn’t look at him, too aware of his closeness and his heat and the way his voice wrapped around her. “All hands on deck, tomorrow.”
Even the thought of it made her weary. Sea days were crazy busy for the crew. Passengers loved the idea of relaxing all day but that didn’t mean they didn’t want to be constantly fed and watered and entertained. If she thought she was exhausted now that would go double this time tomorrow night.
“You sound tired,” he said.
Kelsey swore he leaned into her a little more, the sweet intoxication of his scent filling her nostrils and going straight to her head. “It’s been a long day.”
“It has.”
“My feet are aching, I need a shower and I have to be up in five hours. I should be in my bed.”
She should not be out here with Ari George - with a passenger. Her heart fluttering like crazy, her fingers gripping the railing for fear she might shove them though his hair and yank him into a kiss.
“I have a shower.” His voice was a low rumble, just a touch louder than the muffled rumble of the ship engines.
Kelsey’s breath hitched and she braved a glance at him. His profile was strongly etched despite the night, the waves of his dark hair ruffling in the breeze. “Ari.”
She didn’t know if it was warning or encouragement. She didn’t know jack anymore.
“I’ve also been known to give excellent foot rubs.” His head turned, their gazes met, his as inky and deep as the Med at night. “With or without a happy ending.”
“Ari...” Damn it, why must he be so damn irresistible? Why must he even be here at all? “Were you waiting for me out here, for this?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I came out here to cool my heels. Trying to ignore this...compulsion I seem to have around you.”
Kelsey’s ovaries jettisoned a surge of oestrogen at the ragged admission. He didn’t seem to be particularly happy about it, his mouth a tight line but it curled Kelsey’s toes nonetheless.
“And then...here you were.”
Yeah. Here she was. Here they were. The universe seemed determined to put Ari in her path. Kelsey swallowed. “We’re supposed to be a one-time thing, remember?” Her voice felt high and tight in her throat but sounded like lead as it hit the air.
“I know.” He nodded and, for a moment, he looked as lost and bewildered by this thing as she did. “But I can’t seem to stop wanting you.”
His words squeezed big handfuls of her gut even though he clearly wasn’t happy about them either, his inner conflict palpable. But his body turned toward her and she mirrored the action before she could stop herself. He was close - so close - his heat everywhere as his hand lifted slowly from the railing.
Kelsey shivered as his fingertips touched down on her jaw, tracing along it, her scalp prickling with sensation. His gaze followed the path of his fingers as they trailed down her throat, stopping at the hollow at the base, his eyes lifting, seeking hers.
Her breath stuttered to a halt, her nipples tightened. He was going to kiss her and she should pull back, she should walk away but her body, already revelling in his touch, was now clamouring for his taste.
She moaned when his lips touched down, firm and good, hot and seeking. She couldn’t help it or stop it, it came from a place of longing buried so deep she’d forgotten it had even existed. Whiskey infused her senses and Kelsey gave into the madness, licked into his mouth, chased the flavour on his tongue and the deep resonance of his groan for long heady seconds.
Her pulse tripped and skipped and jumped all over, her breathing was reduced to wild breathless pants until sanity intruded and she wrenched away. They should not be kissing out here where anyone could stumble across them. They stared at each other for long moments, a charge between them, their breathing ragged.
“One more night,” he whispered.
God...it was so tempting. He was so tempting. Did Kelsey follow the rules or the wild beat of her heart? And the threats of mutiny coming from her vagina?
Her vagina won.
“Go to your room,” she said, her voice a husky pant. “I’ll be there in ten.”
It wasn’t like she hadn’t already committed an indiscretion, right? Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb...
CHAPTER SIX
Skulking along the passageways, Kelsey arrived at Ari’s door exactly ten minutes later. She’d lifted her hand to knock but noticed it has been chocked open so she pushed. Stepping inside she was aware of two things instantly, the soft warm glow of the room and Ari standing at the end of the bed.
He was still fully dressed in the dark suit pants
and graphite dress shirt he’d warn to dinner. The tie and jacket had come off, his sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows but that was as far as his disrobing had gone.
“I thought you might change your mind,” he said, his eyes roving hot and rough over her body picking up where they’d left off at the Aphrodite Lounge.
Kelsey shook her head, cleared her throat of the huskiness she could feel building. This whole thing might be crazy but, like Ari, she was having problems resisting. “You promised me a shower.”
“I did.”
“I’d like to get wet now.”
He gestured in the direction of the bathroom. “Wet is good.” A slight smile added to the intense obsidian of his gaze and Kelsey felt it right between her legs.
Yeah...she didn’t need a shower for that.
Kelsey contemplated crossing the distance and kissing him but she didn’t need a degree in human sexual interaction to know where that would lead.
And she really needed a shower. She stank of booze and bar nuts.
Without another word she turned and, kicking off her pumps as she went, disappeared into the bathroom. Quickly divesting herself of her clothes she glanced at the mirror. Her green eyes glittered with what looked very much like anticipation.
“You are going to hell,” she mouthed to her reflection. It didn’t reply just stared back at very decidedly smug.
Kelsey leaned into the shower recess and flicked on the taps, adjusting them to the perfect degree of lukewarm. She looked over her shoulder. No Ari...
She frowned. She’d expected him to follow.
Kelsey took a step to the doorway to find him pouring himself a whiskey. She placed her hands high on the door jamb as she caught his eye.
“Is there a reason you’re still out here?”
His gaze took a slow tour of her body, lingering on all her good bits and causing quite the ruckus. The flare of his nostrils was intensely gratifying.
His gaze travelled back to her face. “Not a lot of room in that shower.”
He made a good point. The cubicles weren’t huge and Ari was a big guy but she was willing to test the boundaries of the restricted space. “I think we could manage it. Why don’t you come wash my back and we’ll see?”
He placed his glass on the table. “Your wish is my command.”
She watched as he shucked his clothes in record time and fuck if he didn’t look like a genie. Her own personal back washing, foot rubbing, well-endowed genie. All six plus feet of him, gloriously naked, his cock out and proud in front. The ruckus in her good bits became a meltdown.
“I’ll get the soap,” she said, a tad breathless as she turned away and stepped into the cubicle.
Warm water sluiced over her neck and shoulders as she reached for the bottle of liquid soap on the shelf attached to the wall. But then Ari’s hand was sliding over top of hers and his other hand was sliding onto her hip and his lips were sliding onto her neck and Kelsey’s pulse doubled.
His front pressed into her back - hot and hard - and the granite of his cock pressed into the cleft of her buttocks as he pumped soap into his hand. Kelsey arched against him, one hand moving to anchor around his neck, the other dipping behind to grab a buttock.
“This is a great view,” he muttered near her ear, as he angled her away from the direct spray, his soapy hand gliding onto her stomach.
Kelsey’s abs clenched at the touch. “That’s not my back.”
“Patience,” he whispered, his hand circling her belly button. “I’ll get there.”
Kelsey moaned and arched some more as the muscles behind her navel undulated in wanton bliss. He was right. It was a fucking fantastic view.
Mesmerising.
His big hand looked even more bronzed on her pale flesh as it moved in slow circles, making bubbles and lighting fires in its wake. She watched as it moved slowly north and moaned as his other hand joined the action, both of them sliding onto her breasts, spreading bubbles in tandem.
She cried out as long fingers worked her slippery nipples into two taut peaks, giving a twist at each end for an added zing.
“You want me to stop and do your back?” he asked, his breathing heavy in her ear.
Kelsey gave a half laugh. “If you stop I’ll kill you.”
His low chuckle slid down her spine and undulated through the muscles deep inside her belly. She never wanted this to stop. She never wanted to get out of this shower. She wanted to say in here with him forever giving and taking pleasure until the day she died.
No work, no money issues, no mother facing an ever darkening world. No outside problems. Just him and her in this shower. In this cabin.
It was all the crazy but, right here, right now, nothing mattered other than Ari and what he was doing to her body.
“I think you’re going to want some of this too,” he muttered, one hand heading south.
Kelsey protested the loss of nipple action for the two seconds it took for Ari’s fingers to find her clitoris and then her objections were lost in a tsunami of sensation and the deep, sonorous moan that slipped unchecked from her lips.
“Oh you really like that,” he said, licking down her neck.
“Stop and I’ll really kill you.”
He didn’t stop. He just stroked her clit over and over - firmly and deftly. His mouth was hot on her neck and his whiskers rasped like sandpaper as the fingers on her breast continued to tease with similar precision.
It was as if he knew her body. Or was, at least, attuned to its rhythms - sensitive to every moan, every wriggle, every back arch. Responsive to every nuance.
She’d been with men who were good in bed – knew the bases and were just as keen to give as they were to take. Guys who were more than happy to follow instructions when they weren’t quite hitting the mark.
But Ari?
This shit seemed intuitive. He anticipated better than any man she’d ever known. It was like he was two paces ahead, giving her exactly what she needed, before she even knew she needed it.
Like sliding one finger, then two, inside her and pinching her nipple taking her slow simmer to an instant boil, everything coiling tight for long seconds then flying loose.
Kelsey cried out, clamping down hard on his ass as she drowned in a hot wave of pleasure. Every nerve, every muscle, every cell lit up with it as she was sucked into the undertow gasping for air and drenched down to her bones.
She slumped against him as the climax dissipated and he eased his fingers from between her legs. Her hand slid from his ass and her arm around his neck went limp and she was thankful for the powerful support of his quads as her knees threatened to buckle.
“Time to rinse,” he whispered in her ear, easing them around a little.
The hard spray from the shower hit her front and she gasped, her eyelids flying open. It wasn’t cold but her skin was excruciatingly sensitive. The spray stung her nipples in a good way and even the bubbles sliding off her body felt like tiny tongues lapping at her skin. For the love of all that was holy, how was she still so aroused?
When she could barely stand?
She must have whimpered because he shushed her and whispered. “It’s okay, shhh, I know. I’m not done yet.”
Then he slid from behind her, his cock still a rod of honed steel, the head flushed with arousal. He eased her back until her shoulder blades hit the tiles and dropped to his knees, his mouth pressing hot kisses to her belly, along the crease where abdomen met leg, and over the tops of her thighs.
Kelsey glanced down, the sight of him kneeling before her made her legs even weaker. As did the proximity of his mouth to her pussy. She ploughed her hand through his hair and gave a tug and those black eyes locked on hers.
“I’m not sure I can handle any more, just now.” Her clit was always extraordinarily sensitive post orgasm.
“You can’t handle a foot rub?” he asked with faux innocence?
Kelsey quirked an eyebrow. “My feet are a lot lower than that.”
He
grinned. “Nothing wrong with spreading a little joy on the way down is there?” He pressed a kiss to her belly button. “You can stop me if it’s too much.”
And then his hand was sliding onto the back of a thigh and lifting her leg, placing it over his shoulder until her heel grazed the centre of his back, opening her right up to him.
“Theé,” he muttered, his gaze fixed on her pussy as his other hand slid onto her ass.
He leaned in then, putting his mouth over her, the flat of his tongue finding her clit in one long slow lick that had her gasping. More long slow licks followed, a technique that was somehow both a balm to the poor tortured nub and a hot, throbbing stimulus even more potent than his finger.
Kelsey moaned, her ass cheeks clenching at the first pull of her approaching orgasm. Her pulse, barely recovered from last time, kicked into overdrive. What the hell?
She was going again? This never happened. But she was, going again. And she was going fast.
How could she be building so damn quickly when his tongue was moving so maddeningly slow? The rapid approach of her orgasm was so out of step with the unhurried pace of his tongue it was a turn on all on its own, a delicious kind of confusion.
The man was a freak.
He lifted his head, grinning up at her. “How are you handling it? You need me to stop, yet?”
Kelsey was in no state to humour him she just grabbed the back of his head and jammed his face back into her pussy. His muffled laughter gave way to the hot stroke of his tongue and the almost instantaneous firing of a thousand tiny pulses, darting straight from her clit.
They travelled to her inner thighs then her outer thighs. To her pelvis and on to her belly button. Gathering speed and strength and momentum until the climax fired off in one long contraction, rolling from her clit to her nipples.
“Ari!”
It was shorter than the last orgasm but more intense as Kelsey’s hand twisted hard in his hair and her heel dug into his flesh. He was probably going to end up with a bruise in the centre of his back and a massive bald patch, but if she was inflicting any pain, he didn’t complain. He just kept swiping the flat of his tongue against her clit until the climax spun away.