The Halo Series Boxed Set

by Kimberly Knight

  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 Cassandr
a 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 reaction, 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.

  “Easton told me that he likes Brooke, but since she has a boyfriend he hasn’t tried anything which is very unlike him.”

  “Brooke hasn’t told me that she has feelings for him, but I can tell. She doesn’t look at her boyfriend the way she looks at Easton.”

  “Maybe it’s only a matter of time?”

  “I hope so. I wouldn’t mind road tripping it with her from Boston to New York on the weekends.”

  I smirked. “I wouldn’t mind that either.”

  We started kissing again and before I could control my thoughts, my dick got hard, pressing right where it wanted to be buried.

  “Feels like we’re not the only ones excited,” Nicole said, wiggling against my erection.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I teased.

  “Do what?” she asked, still rubbing on me.

  I loved when she played dumb. It was cute. She did things on purpose to get me all worked up, but if she bit her lip and rubbed against me at the same time, I had a feeling I would bust a nut on contact.

  “Keep doing it.” I wasn’t playing around. It felt good.

  “Like this?” she asked, still moving her crotch over my hard dick.

  “Yeah,” I groaned.

  People started to come in the water after they’d explored the island. It was probably for the best since I didn’t have a condom on, but fuck! I wanted to take Nicole again.

  “Let’s…um, go swim with Cassandra.” I stopped Nicole’s body from moving.

  She followed my gaze to the people getting closer. “Damn, but when we get back on the ship…” She wiggled again. “We’re gonna finish what we just started.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise,” she said and kissed my lips before swimming off towards Cassandra, leaving my dick hard as a rock.

  The more time I spent with Avery, the more I was falling for him. He made me feel good. Made me feel special. Made me feel…loved.

  I was in love with him.

  I knew it.

  I could feel it.

  He had a way about him that I was drawn to. I supposed that in every new relationship you felt on top of the world, but something about him was different. It was like we’d been dating for years instead of days. Everything felt natural. We’d spent every day and night together for the last seven nights.

  The trip was perfect.

  But tonight was the final night and in the morning Avery and I would go our separate ways. I hoped that it was just for the week, and on the weekends one of us would drive to be with the other. I was going to miss him something fierce.

  It was going to be weird sleeping alone. It was going to be weird not waking up in his arms. It was going to be weird not seeing his face every day, touching him, kissing him. It was going to be weird period.

  It was going to fucking suck.

  Not only was everything going right with Avery, but Brooke had finally admitted she liked Easton. It took her sister to make her confess, but I knew it. And the icing on the cake was that she was finally going to break up with Jared.

  The trip had turned into something I wasn’t expecting. I’d expected to meet a few guys, but I hadn’t expected to get so wrapped up in one that I wanted to move to New York to be with him. It sounded crazy. Maybe I was crazy, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the week with only phone calls and Facetime.

  “I feel like I’m eighteen again,” Brooke said, checking herself out in the mirror. She twirled in her floor-length, strapless, satin, teal evening gown with a bandage waist that wrapped around and then flowed down to the floor.

  “I know, right?” I said, watching her. I was wearing a semi-strapless floor-length, scarlet evening gown with a triangle halter that wrapped around my neck.

  Since tonight was the final night of the cruise, we were getting dressed up to attend a masquerade ball. I felt like it was prom. Brooke’s mask was made out of black plastic with round black sequins around the edge of the face. In the center of the forehead, silver round sequins and crystals came together to make a flower with twelve-inch feathers extending from the top. My mask was similar but white with gold and no feather.

  “Ready?” Brooke asked, giving a big sigh. We both knew this night was bittersweet.

  “Yep. Remember, no matter what happens, I will see you tomorrow here at nine in the morning.”

  “Got it,
” she said, opening the door.

  The ship was due to arrive in Los Angeles at seven and we were told that each cabin would be called in groups when it was time to de-board. Our flight back to Boston was leaving at one in the afternoon and we didn’t have time to goof around. Basically, I didn’t have time to spend with Avery before we left.

  We walked out into the hall and Avery and Easton were walking towards us. Even though I had just seen Avery a little over an hour before, it was like he was coming to pick me up for our date. When I saw him dressed in his black and white tux, I instantly smiled. He looked good. Insanely good.

  “Hi,” I said to Avery. Easton nodded towards me and went straight to Brooke. It would only be a matter of time before they were together. I couldn’t wait!

  “Hey, beautiful,” Avery said, kissing me lightly.

  I reached up and rubbed my lipstick from his lips. “Maybe I should have you walk around with my mark on you.” I teased.

  “Your lipstick on my lips?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How about I just never let you leave my side?”

  Forever?

  “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  I helped Avery put on his plain black mask. Apparently the guys couldn’t help each other with their masks because Brooke had to help Easton with his too. Avery grabbed my hand and the four of us walked to the ballroom.

  I watched as the disco ball flashed on people dancing on the dance floor, feeling like a bump on a log. I wasn’t enjoying myself. All I could think about was that we were going home the next day and I wouldn’t see Avery for a few days. I didn’t have any desire to be with these other people; I just wanted to be with Avery. I wanted to savor our last few hours together, and I didn’t want to do that with people grinding on the dance floor next to us.

  “Want to get out of here?” I asked, whispering in his ear.

  He looked over at me. “We haven’t even been here that long.”

  We’d been there long enough to eat, drink a glass of champagne, and dance one dance. I was over it. I didn’t care that I’d gotten dressed up, did my make-up, and did my hair. I wanted to be in my pajamas cuddling with him.