by J. P. Comeau
I decided to put a pin in my issues and go be with the only two people important to me right now. After all, we had a date with the open waters to keep.
16
Eva
I stood behind Asia while Gavin commanded the wheel up at the top of the yacht. As we eased away from the shoreline, with the entirety of the ocean stretched out before us, I knew I’d never experience anything more powerful or more peaceful than being in that moment. The ocean breeze kicked up, wafting my hair behind my shoulders as Asia leaned against me. And with her head tucked just below my bosom, her tiny little hands settled on top of mine.
As we watched, the island came into view.
“I see it! I see it! Look!” she exclaimed.
I smiled. “I see it, too. Our own little island, just for us.”
“Daddy!” she shrieked.
“I’m pulling closer, princess!” Gavin yelled down.
I stroked my fingers through her delicate, soft tendrils as the ocean parted for us. Waves sloshed against the boat as we pulled up to the island, stopping less than thirty feet away from the shoreline. Asia and I peered over the edge, taking in the clearer waters. We watched all of the little rainbow-colored fish swim beneath the surface. And as Gavin dropped the anchor, I breathed in the salted scent of calm and peace, a feeling that surrounded me as the boat finally stilled.
“So,” Gavin said as he leaped down the stairs, “who’s up for a bonfire and roasting marshmallows.”
Asia’s eyes bulged, and she pulled away from me. “I am, Daddy! I am! Can we do it now? Please?”
I turned. “Yeah, Daddy. Can we do it now?”
The second the sentence flew out of my mouth, Gavin’s eyes whipped over to mine. And the darkness that shrouded his gaze stopped my heart in my chest. His gaze wafted down my body, drinking me in as he held his daughter close.
But, when his stare found my gaze once more, I knew I was in for a hell of a night.
A hell of a beautiful night.
“Of course, we can do it now. But, we have to swim to shore. Think you can swim that far?” Gavin asked.
Asia jumped with joy. “Yes, I can! I’ve been practicing. I’m gonna go put on my floaties and bathing suit. I’ll be right back!”
And with that, she dashed off, leaving Gavin and me alone on the deck as he slowly sauntered toward me. His shadow swallowed me whole, and then he had my back pinned against the railing of the boat.
“Daddy, huh?” he asked.
I blinked. “It just—kind of came rushing out.”
His lips dipped down to my ear. “Plenty more will come rushing out tonight if you play your cards right.”
The bones evaporated from my knees. “I look forward to it, then.”
His eyes came back to mine one last time before he backed up, leaving me panting softly and wanting more of him. He winked at me then turned his back, making his way for the stairs so he could get changed. And after he came back up in nothing but his bathing suit, I had to keep myself from staring at the solid lines disappearing beyond the waist of his pants—lines that led to something I wanted to taste between my lips.
Keep it together. You two aren’t alone this weekend.
The voice in my head spoke of reason, but my thighs spoke of something much more salacious. Still, I managed to get into my two-piece bathing suit before I slathered on a bit of sunscreen. I couldn’t be too careful with my complexion, and by the time I made my way back up to the front of the yacht, I heard splashing in the water.
I peered over the edge to see Gavin and Asia already swimming to shore, with Asia splashing him every chance she got.
So, I dove in and headed after them.
Feeling the water rushing over my body cleansed me in a way I didn’t realize I had needed. Pulling myself through the oceanic expanse before I came up for air made me feel alive. Rejuvenated. As if I were getting a fresh start on my life. I swam my way to shore, riding on the backs of the rolling waves that eventually tumbled me onto the sand.
And when Gavin took my hand, he pulled me up to my feet with ease. “Come on. I pulled the cooler behind me, so we’ve got drinks and snacks along with marshmallows.”
I almost got lost in his mesmerizing stare. “I’ll go find sticks for us to put the marshmallows on.”
He grinned. “Guess I’ll start gathering firewood. Asia?”
She called out to him. “Yeah, Daddy?”
“Don’t go in beyond your knees. Eva and I have to go find stuff for the fire, okay?”
“Okay!”
I furrowed my brow with worry. “Should we take turns so someone stays with her?”
He chuckled. “Trust me, Asia won’t venture out past her ankles. She doesn’t like being in the water by herself. We’ll probably come back to a massive sandcastle. Plus, the tree line is riddled with downed trees. I don’t think we’ll have to venture that far to get what we need.”
With a nod of my head, we were off. And thirty minutes later, we had a fire going, and our first round of marshmallows were divvied out. The sun had barely begun to set as we roasted up our dessert first. And after the marshmallows were depleted, Gavin pulled out hot dogs and buns from the cooler.
Hot dogs we roasted on sticks and the buns were crisped up at the corner of the fire pit.
We ate until we could hardly move, then we started the slow journey back to the boat. Colors splashed across the sky, drawing in the nighttime as the moon soared above our heads in a foggy, almost reflective outline. Gavin helped us both back onto the boat since we were all stuffed to the brim, and after we got changed out of our wet clothes, it was time to tuck Asia in.
I swear, she was asleep before I even pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
But, once I got back to the bow of the ship where Gavin stood, he turned around and handed me a very colorful drink.
“For you, courtesy of our bartender,” he said.
I smiled. “Thank you. This looks delicious.”
“I went ahead and dismissed them for the night since I figured we wouldn’t be hungry after everything we ate.”
“Well, what about drinks? I might want another one of these.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist. “Which is why I had the bartender set out everything I’d need to make you as many as you want.”
“My hero,” I sighed playfully.
But, he only pulled me closer. “Maybe one day, you’ll let me be just that.”
Gavin swayed my body side to side softly as we gazed into each other’s eyes. We sipped on our drinks as we slowly twirled around, our bodies ushering in the heavy night sky. Stars twinkled by the millions just above our heads. The water stretched out as far as our eyes could see, and the world was dead silent. I finished my drink and set it on a random table. Gavin danced us next to where he set his empty glass down as well.
Then, he took my hand in his, and away we went, dancing from one end of the ship to the other.
I had no words for how romantic it all felt. I had no comments to rebut the flagrant admission Gavin had just given me. He wanted to be my hero? What did that even mean? Did it mean he wanted to be my everything? That he wanted to save me from a life less lived?
Either way, I felt myself melting against him as I laid my head against his chest. The moonlight played wonderfully off his eyes, and I knew that if I gazed into them any longer, they’d suck me in and I’d never want to return.
But, it seemed as if we had similar thoughts because out of nowhere, we stopped dancing. Out of nowhere, I felt his finger crook beneath my chin. And out of nowhere, he dragged my gaze to meet his before he uttered the words I’d been longing to hear from him since the first day I’d met him.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Eva. I want you to know that.”
I drew in a sharp breath to tell him that I felt the same way. About him, that was. I’d been wanting to tell him for a while now exactly how sexy he was to me. I wanted to proclaim how much I enjoyed our time t
ogether. How much I appreciated him making me feel the way he did. But, before I could part my lips to utter even one word, his mouth crashed against mine.
His tongue parted my lips.
His arms cloaked my back, pulling me closer as my knees gave way.
And as we sank to the floor of the deck of the ship, I decided to lose myself in him. To accept whatever came my way, no matter the possible heartache attached. Gavin would always be worth it, even if we ended up only being a temporary thing.
17
Gavin
She was too much for me. Her presence was too much for me. And watching her parade around in that little bikini she had on earlier kept me at a constant state of attention all fucking day. Watching the stars swirl in her eyes kicked up a feeling within me that I’d never felt toward another woman before. Having her in my arms made me feel more powerful and stronger than I’d ever felt in my entire life. And when her legs parted to accommodate me, it felt like coming home.
Eva felt like home to me, and I never wanted it to end.
“Gavin, oh fuck,” she panted.
I kissed down her neck, allowing my tongue to explore her. I pulled her bikini top down with my teeth, feeling her naked breasts pop out against my face. I nuzzled against them. I lapped at her puckered peaks until they were tightened mounds against her creamy skin. Her hands running through my hair sent me onward toward my goal while my mouth salivated for the meal to come.
And after sliding her legs over my shoulders, I pulled her bikini bottoms off to the side before parting her folds with my tongue.
“Shit,” she hissed.
Her nails raked softly against my scalp, and it only spurred me onward. I shoved my bathing suit down my legs until I kicked it off with my feet, my body bared to a watery world around us. I lapped at her swollen clit, feeling her buck against me as I undid all of the bows that kept her bikini against her body. I wanted to see the moonlight illuminate her curves. I wanted to feel all of her against me as my body proclaimed my love for her.
I loved this fucking woman.
And I’d be damned if I let her go without a fight.
“Gavin, I need to feel you. Please.”
I sucked her clit between my teeth and growled. “I want to feel you come for me.”
Her hands ripped me up by my hair, tugging me all the way up her body. She crashed our lips together, licking her juices off my skin before her eyes met mine. Her pupils were blown wide open, swallowing her gorgeous stare and leaving nothing but a pleasure-hungry monster for me to devour.
And fucking hell, I’d never seen anything sexier than that.
“Now,” she demanded.
I grinned. “As you wish, beautiful.”
I lined my cock up and shoved myself inside of her, not once letting her catch her breath. Her eyes bulged, and her back arched as she choked out her sounds while my hips pounded against her. I folded her body in half. I tossed her legs over my shoulders and held her down until she was helpless beneath me. My cock was drenched with her arousal. My balls filled with her heat. My skin, seated against hers as her juices splashed against my abs.
With every thrust, I fell deeper into her.
With every roll of my hips, my tight curls caressed her clit.
And as her hands raked up and down my arms, I felt her body quivering for me. Quaking for me. Aching for release as I lost myself in the way she smelled and looked and sounded.
“Holy fuck, I’m so close,” I growled.
She whimpered with a need for release. “Please, please, please, please. Gavin, I can’t—it’s all—oh, shit.”
I felt her pussy clamp down around me, sending me spiraling into the open waters of my mind. I collapsed against her, my muscles contracting and releasing as my cock filled her to the brim. She milked my dick, taking everything she could before her body relaxed against the deck of the boat.
And as I pressed lazy kisses against her shoulder, I let my dick stay sheathed inside of her.
I wasn’t ready to give up the feeling of home just yet.
“The stars are beautiful,” she whispered.
I groaned as I rolled over, taking her with me as her head fell against my chest. Her leg slipped between mine as I wrapped my arms around her, holding her closely at my side. And she was right; the millions of stars twinkling above our heads clapped for our performance amidst a pitch-black sky.
I’d never seen anything like it in all my life. “Wow,” I murmured, “you weren’t kidding.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a drink. You want something?”
I kissed her forehead. “I’d love something. Want me to make it?”
She stood to her feet, even though she looked wobbly. “I’ve got it. You lay there and rest. You do so much for me, so let me do something for you.”
I let my eyes linger on her nakedness. “Fine by me.”
She flushed a deep shade of pink that made me love her even more as she quickly made her way over to the bar. She started pulling things out and stared at them blankly before settling on Jack and Coke for us to sip. I smiled as she brought it to me. I pressed myself up as she headed for the two lounge chairs at the back of the ship that gazed out over the watery horizon. Small waves whitecapped and died down as I rummaged around for a blanket to throw over our naked bodies.
And after we settled on the lounge chairs, I placed my hand on Eva’s bare thigh while we sipped our drinks.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
I peered over at her. “About what?”
“Whatever it is that’s on your mind.”
I snickered as I gazed back out toward the water. “That easy to read, huh?”
She placed her hand on top of mine beneath the blanket and squeezed. “Maybe just a tad.”
I chuckled mindlessly. “I suppose I can if you want me to.”
“I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. But, I’m here if you want someone to listen.”
And her sentiment was enough to get my lips moving. “I had a conversation with Marissa before we set sail.”
“Your ex-wife, right?”
I looked over at her and nodded. “Right.”
“I take it the conversation didn’t go well?”
My eyes found the water again as I threw back the rest of my drink. “Not in the slightest.”
“What happened? I mean, what did you two talk about?”
She should stay up to date with everything that affects Asia. She’s her nanny, after all.
I cleared my throat. “Marissa called to tell me that she’d taken a job in Paris that would take her away for six months.”
“Oh. That doesn’t sound too bad, especially now that I’m helping out. Right?”
My gaze gravitated slowly back to her. “She asked Asia and me to come with her.”
She clicked her tongue. “Ah. That would be the hang-up.”
I chuckled. “It’s not the only hang-up. Marissa’s done many things I don’t agree with. For starters, she can apparently take any overseas contract she wants, but I have to tell her whenever I’m offered that kind of gig. And ever since our divorce, I haven’t been able to take a single one of them because of the hell she raises over it. She calls it ‘sticking her with her daughter without help.’ I call it ‘being the single parent she proclaims to be.’”
“Wow, that’s very unfair.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Oh, it gets better. The last time Asia was in the hospital because of her asthma, my ex blurted out the fact that our daughter was an ‘accident.’”
“What? Don’t tell me she heard.”
And when I didn’t respond, Eva’s face grew red with anger. “I can’t believe she said something like that. Maybe you didn’t plan her, sure. But Asia is no fucking accident, Gavin.”
It warmed my heart to hear how much it angered Eva because it showed me how much she already cared about my little girl. “I know. And then on the phone, when I threw that in her face
—which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I can’t take it back now—she said that if I hadn’t forced her to have Asia, we wouldn’t even be having the argument we were having in the first place.”
Her jaw dropped open. “I’m sorry, but did you marry Satan?”
I barked with laughter and turned my attention back out to the water. “Some days, I feel like I did. And my head popped off so quickly that I told her the next time she heard from me, it would be through my lawyer after I submitted paperwork to get sole custody of Asia.”
“I think that’s a fantastic idea.”
My head whipped back over to her. “You do?”
She nodded. “I do. If that’s really the kind of atmosphere Asia’s around with her mother, and if her mother really says shit like that in front of her, then it’s what you have to do. Asia doesn’t deserve that, and it sounds like Marissa doesn’t even want to be a parent. She just wants all of the accolades that come with being one.”
“Thank you! Finally, someone that gets it.”
She squeezed my hand. “Either way, I support you one hundred percent.”
And with those words, I felt myself fall just a little bit more in love with this wonderful woman who had come soaring into my life. I only hoped that I didn’t find a way to fuck it up for good.
Eva yawned. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some sleep.”
I stood to my feet. “Want to wake up with me in the morning and watch the sunrise? We could have breakfast together before Asia gets up.”
She stood and giggled. “I’d love nothing more. But I’ll need help finding my room. I wasn’t sure which one I was supposed to be in, so I got changed in your room instead.”
“Why can’t you just sleep in there with me, then? It’s got a king-sized bed.”
