The Arrangement 24

by H. M. Ward

  “It’s sunrise...” I murmur, longingly glancing at Sean and then the house. “I don’t feel sexy rolling around in the sand like an overinflated beach ball. I want to be with you—”

  “I understand.” Sean reaches out, tugs my hand, and pulls me to my feet. “We can do anything you want.”

  Fingers tangled together, we wade into the beautiful blue water. The sand is pale gold and powder soft. A few paces in, there’s a ledge, a drop to deeper water. My heel slides down the little sand cliff, as Sean steadies me, holding a hand on my upper arm for stability. When my belly slips into the water, all the pressure on my back and hips lessens. It feels amazing.

  Sean wades us into the water until we are in a spot without a ton of coral. The sand moves through my toes as I bob a little bit. The waves are just above my belly, licking the bottom of my breasts. Sean reaches for the tie around my neck. His hands travel up my sides, feeling my curves, until his thumbs hook under the edge of my bikini top. There’s a twist in my stomach, a soft swirl of butterflies when he touches me. They’re still there. At some point they’ll fly away, but so far his touch is intense. It’s always like that no matter how we play—super sexy fucking or really soft and sweet love-making.

  Sean flicks the top, slingshotting it across the top of the water. It lands on the sand at the edge of the surf.

  A giggle rips out of me and I pull back. I’m topless, and looking over my shoulder toward the house. Dunes block us for the most part, but we can be spotted from the upper landing. “They’ll be up soon.”

  “Then we’d better hurry.” He squeezes my hand again, and tips his head to the side. “Not an exhibitionist?”

  “No!” I laugh as I dip lower into the water to cover my breasts.

  Sean reaches for both hands, eyes me greedily, and pulls me further into the water. “I can take you on the shore, right here, where anyone could see.”

  My face is on fire. I try to pull away from him, shyness is consuming me. “I can’t!”

  “Really?” His grin is so wide, so beseechingly beautiful. It ensnares me and forces an equal smile on my lips. “It’s your favorite part in the book.”

  “It’s a book!” I contest, still laughing. Still not giving him a firm no, and he knows it.

  Sean breathes deeply, steps toward me. He hooks this thumbs on the sides of my bottoms and pulls them down, then tosses them but they don’t make it to shore.

  I’m standing naked in crystal waters. The only thing offering any level of modesty is the movement of the waves and reflection of sunlight as the wind ripples the water. My hair is a tangled mess, blowing in the breeze, sticking to my shoulders.

  Sean dips his gaze, lazily sweeping his eyes over me before moving nearer, closing the gap between us. “Are you cold?”

  I shake my head. “No, I’m fine.”

  “It’s not nippy out here?” he smirks, those cobalt eyes dipping to my chest.

  I raise a brow and try not to smirk, but I can’t help it. “Anywhere with you is nippy.”

  He laughs. It’s a low, deep, rumble that sounds like joy and sex melting together. “Is that so?”

  “Maybe.” I’m grinning now. I can’t hide it. The dark, heavy thoughts from earlier are gone. “You seem a little excited.” Glancing at his slim fit swimming trunks, the fabric is strained at the spot between his legs.

  “Nothing about me is little.” Sean removes his swimsuit and tosses it. The patch of fabric lands on the sand next to my top. When he moves closer, Sean presses his hard length against my side as he dips his head and nibbles the spot below my ear.

  I gasp, and flick my eyes over my shoulder, looking for people—waiting to be interrupted. Sean growls, his breath hot against my ear, “I don’t like sharing your attention with the staff.”

  “But he’s really hot, and I—” I’m teasing, laughing, and that’s when Sean does it.

  His arms are suddenly under my bottom and he swings me around fast, making my heart race, as I cry out with laughter. Then I’m seated on his hips, legs wrapped around his waist. In a few more weeks this won’t be possible. Sean’s lips are on mine, pressing hard as his tongue slips between the seam in my mouth. His hands grip my hips and tilt my bottom toward him, shifting us into place, so he can press inside of me. But he doesn’t. Instead, he teases me, pressing hard kisses to my mouth, while gripping my ass and rubbing against that spot at the top of my legs. I arch into him and suddenly feel less shy about the whole thing. Golden light spills across the water as the sun rises higher in the sky.

  We remain tangled, kissing until breathless. My fingers grip his muscular back, pulling him tighter, as my hips buck against him. Water helps me move in a way more graceful than I’ve been lately. It’s easier to hold onto him, to feel him against me. The V at the top of my legs throbs, demanding his attention. Sean remains where he is, teasing me, kissing me. Lost in emotions, my thoughts swirl. The sky is so blue and the water is so warm. It’s all around us. My heart races as my breathing becomes ragged. The thought of it lights me on fire and scares me. I’m not one to do things like this, in daylight. Sean’s always so careful about paparazzi. This is unlike him. It’s dizzying. Freeing. And I want him inside me so badly that I demand it, purring the words in his ear.

  Sean inhales sharply as my lips slip against his skin, telling him what I want. His hands move along my body, stopping at my breast, rubbing my nipple with his thumb, as he holds me tight with his other arm around my waist. He trails his fingers up the inside of my thigh and to the apex of my legs. I shift slightly, unmashing our bodies, so he can touch me. My eyes are locked on his face, caught between wanting his touch and wanting his hard length. Then his fingers touch me in the perfect place and I moan his name.

  My eyes close as my head dips back. Sean’s other arm supports me, keeping me from falling beneath the surface of the water. Curving my back, I let my tangled curls sweep across the water. My eyes have closed and I force them open, wanting to remember every little detail of this moment from the way the sunlight sparkles on the water to the fluffy white clouds floating across the sky. I drink him in, everything. The way he feels, the touch of his hand, the scent of sweat and salt mingling with his body wash—it’s a distinct scent—one that makes me want more of him. All of him. I lift my hips, wanting more, craving him. Wanting him to take me, to move inside of me, hard and strong—filling me until I cry out with pleasure.

  Sean teases, stroking the delicate flesh as he watches me writhe. I’m lost, floating, saying dirty things to him, begging him to fuck me.

  Those fingers work me into a frantic mess, bucking and begging. That’s when he pulls his hand away, and presses his fingers to my lips. “Lick and watch me as you do it.”

  I love him when he’s like this. It’s cross between the lost soul he was and the man he’s become. I do as he says, licking my taste off each pad of his fingertips, sucking his thick fingers in my mouth as he watches me closely. Sean whispers dirty things in my ear as I do it, telling me all the ways he wants me, and how he plans to take me—whether anyone is around or not.

  My heart races faster as heat pools between my legs. I’m panting, begging him. The water surrounding us doesn’t cool me off. My body aches for his touch, for his lips. The sounds I make while sucking his fingers has him mesmerized.

  When I finish, he grins down at me. “What dirty things do you want me to do to you the most, Miss Smith?” Sean makes a sound in the back of his throat and shifts us toward the shore. When we are at the little drop off, he sits me down in the sand. The surf rolls past my hips as my feet dangle off the dip in the sand to deeper water.

  We’re naked and in plain sight. Nothing covers my breasts and they’re out for anyone to see. Sean watches a droplet of water, beading as it rolls from my neck and down my breast, pooling at my nipple. Dipping his head, he licks the droplet. I suck in sharply and arch my back into him, tangling my fingers in his hair. Sean glances up at me hungrily, wanting me—but he’s waiting to make sure I do
n’t ask to move back into the water.

  “Tell me what you want.” His voice is a growl. His head nips my breast again, tugging at my nipple, peaking it.

  Gasping, I answer, “You. Now.” My voice is caught in my throat and I barely make sense. The surf washes over us, removing sand, and that’s when I spread my legs wide.

  Sean grins, looking down at me. “That was the end of the tide.” He places a finger on my inner thigh, close to the V in my legs, and traces it upward, slowly. “You’re completely exposed, Miss Smith. Should we stop?”

  Suddenly, his hand is gone and he’s pulled away. Sean is sitting up on one hip, looking down at me, at my face as if I weren’t naked, legs spread wide, waiting for him.

  It’s easy to see how much he wants me. He’s hard and ready, his length so close to my eyes. He’s sitting on one leg to keep the sand away in case I say yes. We got to this point once before, and then I heard a leaf blower and freaked out. He pulled me into the water then, and we didn’t even finish. We just swam.

  Now, I don’t want to swim. I don’t care who’s around. Life is about to change again. I want this memory—caught or not. I press my lips together into a thin line and shake my head.

  Sean remains perched above me. He trails a finger along my neck, down to my breast, swirling it around my nipple. He watches me respond to his touch, the way my body tenses and lifts toward his hand.

  That’s when I hear it—the mower. That’s what he was waiting for. Sean must have noticed them before me. “Come on, I’ll take you out for breakfast and we can—”

  Before Sean can pull away and stand, I push his shoulders hard. He falls back against the wet sand as I loop a leg over his hips and climb on top of him. The wind whips through my hair as I settle into place, moving so he can slip inside of me.

  We both moan in unison as I take him all the way in. Perched like this on top of him, I can feel him deep inside of me, hard and ready. It’s fucking perfect. I moan something to that extent, how much I love him, how much I absolutely adore his dick.

  Sean swallows hard, his adam’s apple bobbing in his neck as he swears. His hands find my hips as he looks up at me. His body is covered in droplets of water. Sweat lines his brow, dampening his dark hair. “You’re a fucking goddess, Avery. A beautiful siren of the sea.” Those cobalt eyes linger on my breasts before flicking up to my hair caught in the breeze.

  The sounds grow closer as the men move into the pool area with their machines, cleaning the lawn, the cement, and the swimming pool. Those reeds are too thin to completely obscure us. Actually, the person on top is the one who will be seen. Sean is laying down, which means my bare breasts and the look on my face when I climax—I can’t think about someone else seeing that. That’s my problem with it. Those things are for Sean. I voice my concerns and he laughs.

  “I love you. I do not want to share you. Ever. But that’s not sharing. It’ll make every man and woman who sees us envious. They’ll want you, what you have—but your mine. I’ll do whatever you want, but your concerns about that aren’t mine. I want to show off what we have, so maybe I am a little bit of a—”

  His words turn to a garbled moan as I start to rock on his hips. I always felt like I’d want this to be private, but the way he just said it—the way he made me feel—I can’t stop. I don’t want to. And I’m not lost to lust, not yet. The fear of discovery fades and I only think of him.

  Sean beneath me, letting me have him any way I want, laying on the wet sand just for me. I slide my hips up and then slam down hard. His lips form a perfect O and he’s conflicted between tipping his head back in the sand and watching me. Those blue eyes snap open as I do it again. Then again. Every time I do it, I move up, nearly off of him so that I can feel the tip of his length before slamming down, deeper and harder. Each time he moans and tightens his grip my waist, pulling me down to intensify the feeling.

  The rocking starts out slow, methodical, and hard. Water splashes as I move. I don’t take my eyes off his as I take him in, deeper and deeper. His gaze drops to my breasts as they bounce with each movement. A rhythm forms, like a slow deliberate dance. The control I feel is insatiable. I want to be here, I want to watch him writhe beneath me, beg me for release. Screw the tantra chair. This is so much better.

  When Sean tries to force my hips to move faster, I clutch his wrists and pin them over his head. My breasts press against his chest, bobbing along his chin, as I continue the slow seductive movements. I slip a hand behind his neck and pull his head toward my breast. His mouth is on me, devouring me, as I ride him. The evenly paced movements begin to lose their steadiness a few moments later.

  He begs me, “Fuck me, baby, hard. Please. Please, Avery.” He whispers my name, saying the same thing over and over again.

  I push him back into the sand and sit on his lap, riding him hard and fast until it becomes frantic. His hands hold onto my hips as we rock, as I ride him over the edge. I feel his heat rush into me as his fingers press into my thighs, holding me in place. Lust is still holding me in place, driving me to finish. He knows and begins to move my hips slowly, deeply like before. That’s all it takes to push me so high, that I can’t think, can’t do anything but fuck him. I need him. I need to feel that release.

  I’m clutching my breasts as I feel a finger touch the sensitive, swollen spot between my legs. When I slide down one last time on his long, hard shaft, I shatter. With a loud cry, I buck into him until I’m sated. Sweating, and still on top of him, I look down into his eyes.

  He’s smiling up at me, his body beautiful, perfect under me. “You amaze me.” His voice is rough, husky.

  “I love you.” I remain like that, upright, glistening in the sun, letting him watch me for as long as he wants.

  CHAPTER 4

  SUNDAY AFTERNOON

  FERRO PENTHOUSE, NEW YORK

  We arrive at Constance’s Manhattan penthouse mid-afternoon. She’s not there anymore. Neither is Mom. The construction on the Ferro mansion was completed while we were away. Both women moved out onto Long Island, residing at the estate.

  Constance welcomed us to stay here as long as we wish. While Sean promised me a little house with a white picket fence, that sounds like a chore for another day. Going house hunting doesn’t appeal to me at all right now. We can do that after the baby comes. When summer ends. When I’m not the size of a manatee.

  The car ride from Teterboro Airport to Manhattan is short. It’s Sunday and there’s minimal traffic. The flurry of noise that will be present in the morning is a little overwhelming. For the past few weeks, I’ve had nothing but the ocean and Sean’s voice to fill my ears. The constant car horns and engines rumbling will take a little adjustment. Hell, everything will take adjustment. Buildings block the sky and cast long shadows on the city. I once thought it looked like lace made of shadows. Now it just annoys me.

  Everything annoys me. My patience is worn out. I barely sleep anymore. Partly because of pregnancy. The other part is all crazy. The nightmares resurfaced and they’re not pleasant. I’d be downing cappuccinos like crazy right now, but spare the baby from the caffeine.

  So I’m tired and grumpy. I’m hungry and have an insane craving for little golden conch fritters. Yeah. It’s the same food that made me hurl a few weeks back. I feel completely nuts and am close to tears.

  Sean can tell. He takes my hand in his, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of my palm. “Here,” he offers and helps me get into his favorite chair. It feels so good to sit down. Sean takes my foot, removes my cherry red shoe, and rubs my feet until I’m moaning.

  A few moments later, a driver arrives with plain noodles from my favorite Chinese place. All sauces on the side. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss his cheek while he’s still holding the bags of food.

  Pulling back, I ask, “How’d you know?”

  “Just lucky, that’s all.” Sean grins at me, proud of himself, translating the craving into something I could have that could arrive quickly. I have no doubt that
the fridge will have conch fritters on a shelf tomorrow. Sean listens and acts, trying to make things as easy as possible.

  I open a box of noodles and grab the chopsticks, pinching the food, ready to toss it into my mouth. “That was a weird leap. Conch to Chinese.” I lift a brow at him. “Seriously? How’d you know?”

  Sean smirks, flashing that crooked grin my way, dips his head and confesses, “You were talking about Chinese food and these noodles a few days ago. By the time they would have arrived at the island, we were leaving. I was hoping your cravings didn’t shift yet.” He shrugs. “I got lucky.”

  Leaning, forward, I put the box of food on my lap and kiss his cheek. Our eyes meet when I pull back. “Seriously. You’re a god. I’d think that without pregnant brains. A god in the bedroom and the kitchen. You’re the total package.”

  He winks at me and opens his own box of food. “No talk about my package until after dinner, Miss Smith. Eat up.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Tomorrow is doctor day. We can learn the gender of the baby if we want to know. I’ve been torn. Something inside of me wants it to remain a secret, but if I found out now I could daydream about holding my son or daughter. Something about knowing makes it more real and even though I know I’m going to have a baby, it still feels surreal. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away?

  Rolling over, I groan, hand on my huge belly, forcing it to roll with me. Sean’s blue eyes are open, and there’s a smirk on those sexy lips. “Evening.” I breathe out the word and it reeks of exhaustion.

  Sean props up on an elbow, his eyes lock with mine. “Good evening, my beautiful goddess.”

  I laugh half-heartedly and sigh too loudly. “I feel like a beached whale. I can barely move. My stomach looks like a road map, and—”