Below Deck

by Tara Sivec

  I knew something must have happened to make him go so quickly from wanting me to change his plans to not wanting me at all, but I never imagined it had anything to do with Allyson. I should have known, and it makes me hate her even more than I already do that she managed to fuck up my life in more ways than one.

  “All you had to do was ask. That’s all I wanted. I just wanted you to ask,” I sob, my tears falling faster and harder. “I would have told you that you were worth more than anything I had waiting for me back home. I would have told you that nothing would have made me happier than spending my life never staying in one place, on a boat in the middle of the ocean with you.”

  He groans, dropping his head until his forehead is pressed against mine.

  “Stay with me,” he whispers. “Don’t go. I love you, Mackenzie. I can’t be on that boat without you. I can’t walk around that ship without seeing you everywhere I go, without needing you there with me. I love the way you make me laugh, I love the way you make me want more out of my life. I love the way you make me happy for the first fucking time in my life. I love the way you make me feel like I could make you happy. I love that you make me feel like I’m enough for you, even though I know I’m not. I love everything I already know about you and everything I can’t wait to learn about you. I love the way you say my name and the way you look at me, and how no matter what I do, I can’t get you off my mind. I love that you’ve thrown me off course and that I never want to get back on track. I love you. Stay with me.”

  It’s everything I wanted from him. It’s all the words I wanted him to say, if only he’d said them before he let me walk away.

  “I don’t trust you, Declan. I don’t trust the words you’re saying no matter how much I want to. I needed them two days ago, not now, not after you know what’s going on with my father and think you can make everything better by telling me what I want to hear.”

  He lets go of my hands and presses his palms to either side of my face, tilting my head up so I have no other choice but to look into his eyes.

  “You can ask Ben. You can ask Zoe and Marcel. They were there when I told them I’d fucked up before I read the article. They were ready to kick my ass if I didn’t get off that boat and come find you. Yes, I felt like the biggest asshole in the world when I found out everything you’d been dealing with and keeping to yourself, but it’s not why I’m here. I know I can’t make everything better. I know I can’t fix everything, but I want to try. Please, stay with me,” he pleads.

  I shake my head in his hands and he leans down, kissing the tears off my cheeks.

  “I love you. Stay with me,” he whispers.

  The broken pieces of my heart start slowly putting themselves back together every time he says the words I needed from him.

  “Stay with me.”

  It stops mattering why he’s here or what made him get off that ship and come find me. I can hear it in his voice, and I can see it on his face that he means every word he says.

  “Stay with me.”

  He continues to kiss away the tears that continue to fall and I clutch the material of his t-shirt in my fists where my hands are still pressed against his chest, the steady beat of his heart still thumping under them.

  I’m weak and I’m pathetic, and suddenly, I don’t care. I don’t care about anything but the man standing in front of me, pouring his heart out to me. I don’t care that I’ve only known him for two weeks and in that span of time, he’s broken my heart more times than I can count. All I care about is the fact that he can put it back together.

  “Stay with me,” he whispers one last time, pulling his lips away from my cheek to look down at me.

  “How can I be sure that’s what you want? How can you be sure that’s what you want? You have a future and plans and I’m just going to mess all of that up,” I tell him softly, flatting my palms against him as he leans into me, his body pressing against mine from hip to chest.

  “I already told you. You make me want to change all of my plans. You make me want the storm throwing me off course. As long as you stay with me.”

  He dips his head and presses his mouth to mine, holding his lips there and whispering against them one last time.

  “I need you to stay with me.”

  I slide my hands up his chest and wrap my arms around his shoulders, locking them together behind his neck and pushing myself up on my toes.

  “Prove it.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Declan

  After I took a shower in Mackenzie’s bathroom, I had plenty of time to sit in a chair in a dark corner of the hotel room and think about everything I needed to say to her.

  All the words I wanted to say fled from my mind as soon as I heard her walk in and watched her walk right by me without even noticing I was there.

  All of the words I carefully thought out and planned disappeared and I couldn’t do anything but say her name when the sight of her crying on the balcony almost killed me.

  I hated myself for being the one to make her cry. I hated my insecurities and my weakness and for allowing someone to let me push her away and hurt her like this. I forgot everything I wanted to say, and all I could do was beg her to stay, over and over. All I could do was touch her and hold her and refuse to let her go and tell her I love her, hoping it would be enough.

  As soon as she wrapped her arms around me, pushed her body up on her toes so we were closer to eye-level and told me to prove it, I forgot everything but how happy she makes me and how I never want to let her out of my sight for the rest of my life.

  I crush my lips to hers, wrapping my arms tighter around her and lifting her body up against mine. Our mouths open at the same time and I groan into her when I feel the first slide of her tongue against mine. Turning her away from the railing of the balcony, I swirl my tongue deeper into her mouth, pouring everything I have into this kiss as I walk us a few steps until I’m pushing her up against the wall next to the open balcony doors.

  My hands are everywhere all at once, needing to touch every inch of her and prove to myself that this isn’t a dream. That she’s really here, in my arms, letting me love her and letting me prove to her that I meant every word I said.

  “I love you. Stay with me,” I whisper again, kissing my way down the side of her neck as my hands move up and under the edge of her shirt, sliding against the soft, smooth skin of her sides.

  My teeth gently nip at the skin where her neck meets her shoulder, and I hear her head thump back against the wall as I run my tongue over that spot. My hands quickly move up under her shirt until I’m pushing her bra up and out of the way and finally have her breasts in my hands.

  She moans my name when I knead them in my palms and rub my thumbs over her hardened nipples, the sound of my name on her lips making my dick swell and thicken in my pants. I bend my knees and then push up between her legs, lifting her off the ground as she wraps her legs around my waist. I push myself against her core, needing her to feel how much I want her.

  How much I need her, and how much I love what she does to me.

  With her legs wrapped tightly around me, I thrust my hips between her thighs, pushing her higher up the wall and rubbing my cock against her, aching for her and needing her so much I can’t think straight.

  She removes her arms from around my shoulders long enough to help me yank her shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the side before wrapping my hands around her breasts again, pushing them up as I dip my head and circle my tongue around one nipple.

  “Stay with me,” I whisper against her, before wrapping my lips around her nipple and sucking it hard, into my mouth.

  Her fingers slide through my hair, clutching the short strands into her fists and holding me in place as I suck and lick and torture her with my tongue. Her hips start moving as she moans in pleasure, sliding herself over my cock that is so fucking hard I feel like I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t get inside of her soon.

  I need her. I want her. I love her, but I won�
�t take what I want until she gives me the words.

  “Stay with me,” I demand softly, pulling my mouth away from her breast and standing up straighter so I can see her face as I slide my hands up her bare thighs.

  Her hips are still moving, rubbing against my cock, and I grab her hip in one hand to hold it still, and pull myself back just enough to slip my other hand between her thighs.

  I stare into her eyes as I tug aside the cotton material of her shorts and the tips of my fingers come in contact with her hot, wet skin.

  “Stay with me,” I beg, watching her lips part with a gasp and her eyes glaze over with lust when I plunge two fingers inside of her tight heat, hard and fast.

  I slide my hand off her hip and move it around to her lower back, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her closer as I fuck my fingers into her, bringing my thumb up to gently circle around her swollen clit.

  She rocks her hips against my hand, pulling my fingers in deeper, forcing my thumb to brush against her clit harder until she’s whimpering my name with every breath she takes.

  One of her arms flies down from around my shoulder and she wedges it between us, bending her knees and spreading her legs wider to make room for both of our hands as I continue pumping my fingers in and out of her and she quickly undoes my jeans.

  It’s my turn to moan her name loudly when I feel her hand wrap around my cock, pulling it out of my pants and squeezing it as she runs her palm up and down the length.

  When her thumb rubs over the head of my cock, spreading pre-come all around the tip, I jerk my fingers out of her and shove her hand away, replacing it with my own as I hold myself in my fist and slide my cock through her wetness.

  She moves her fingers between her legs, spreading her shorts open wider for me, tightening her thighs around my waist and bringing me closer until my cock is pressed right up against her opening.

  Her arm bands tighter around my shoulder until her breasts are pressed flat against my chest and I can feel her nipples through my shirt. She rocks her hips again and the head of my cock inches inside her. I squeeze my hand tighter around the base and refuse to push myself inside her until I hear the words.

  “Stay. With. Me,” I tell her, each word punctuated with a swipe of the head of my cock over her clit.

  “Fuck me, Declan,” she moans, her legs practically cutting off my circulation with how tightly she’s clenching her thighs around me, trying to pull me inside of her.

  My cock jumps in my hand, and I know I’m going to come all over her pussy in about two seconds instead of doing it buried deep inside of her, where I want to be. Where I need to be.

  “Just say the words, and I will, baby,” I reassure her, counting to ten in my head as I continue pushing and sliding my cock through her wetness. “Stay with me.”

  I watch her eyes fill with tears as she looks at me. I watch one of them escape and fall down her cheek. I let go of my cock, pushing my hips forward and holding myself against her to bring my hand up to her face and cup it in my hand, swiping the tear away with my thumb.

  “Mackenzie, please. Stay with me.”

  She brings her hand up from between us and presses it on top of mine against her cheek, looking into my eyes, searching between them until she finally sees the truth I needed her to.

  “Yes,” she finally whispers back.

  With a groan of relief, I pull my hips back and then push myself inside of her, slowly, until my cock is so deep I don’t know where I end and she begins. It’s cliché as fuck and I don’t care. I want her to be my beginning and I want her to be my end.

  “I love you,” I mutter against her mouth before pressing my lips to hers and sliding my tongue inside.

  Both of her arms come back around my shoulders and both of mine wrap tightly around her body as I thrust my cock in and out of her in a gentle rhythm. She gives me her body against the wall of the balcony, and I take everything she has, knowing I’ll do whatever it takes for the rest of my life to show her she isn’t making a mistake.

  Each time I pull my cock out of her and slowly ease back inside her body, I hold myself deep and grind myself against her, rubbing her clit with my groin until she’s digging her nails into my back and the heels of her bare feet into my ass.

  I pick up my pace, fucking her harder, slamming into her rougher, unable to stop my release from tightening my balls with how good she feels wrapped around me.

  She chants my name as I drive into her, telling me she’s coming, and I feel her pussy tighten and clench, squeezing my cock as a rush of wetness from her release stimulates my own and throws me over the edge. I thrust into her one last time and hold myself deep, coming inside the woman who, in just a few weeks’ time became my entire world, as I shout her name, not giving a shit that we’re outside on a balcony and anyone can hear me.

  My body slumps against hers and I continue holding her up against the wall, our foreheads pressed together as we both pant and try to catch our breaths. I refuse to pull myself out of her body.

  “I’ll stay,” Mackenzie whispers, the sound of those words making my dick jump while it’s still buried inside of her.

  I pull my head away from hers and remove one of my arms from around her waist to brush a strand of hair out of her eyes as I stare down at her and smile.

  “But not until you say what I need to hear,” she adds, her eyes sparkling and her mouth tipping up into a mischievous grin.

  I laugh softly as she raises one eyebrow and waits for me to say the words she needs.

  “You’re right. I was wrong. And I’m sorry,” I tell her with a complete look of seriousness on my face.

  I knew the moment Mackenzie Armstrong walked onto the ship that my life would change forever, but I had no idea just how much I would enjoy every minute of it and not care one bit about having to change my course.

  “You’re forgiven,” Mackenzie whispers with a smile, sliding her hands to the back of my head and pulling my mouth to hers.

  EPILOGUE

  Two years later…

  “Damn, they made the front page. Very impressive. Read it to me, wife.”

  Brooke laughs at her husband of six months as he tosses her a copy of the Miami Herald, then flops down on the couch and rests his head in her lap.

  Brooke never thought in a million years she’d meet a man-whore on vacation and wind up becoming his wife, but here they are, living in Florida. She relocated and got a job in his home town, and quickly realized married life is a piece of cake when you’re husband leaves for seventeen weeks at a time to work on a yacht and you aren’t constantly at each other’s throats.

  “Ben, don’t make me punch you,” she threatens, unfolding the paper above his head and smiling at the article that takes up the entire front page. “You only have about an hour before you need to get down on the docks and get to work on the new boat. I’d much rather spend it naked than beating the shit out of you.”

  Ben laughs, making himself more comfortable by kicking his feet up on the arm of the couch as she starts to read the interview about their friends, and the new boat Ben is leaving to work on later today.

  Miami locals came out in droves today to see the inaugural christening of the newly refurbished, 150-foot luxury yacht, named Vacation Fling, anxiously wait for it to lift anchor later today, and set out on its first charter towards the US Virgin Islands. Miami has been glued to the docks for the last few months, watching the ship get a face-lift, proud to see one of their own, Captain Declan McGillis, behind the wheel.

  Captain McGillis, who has been in charge of running charters on luxury yachts ever since he obtained his captain’s license almost two years ago, sat down with us before he and his crew set sail to answer some of our questions.

  Vacation Fling is unlike any other luxury yacht, in that the crew quarters down below offer the same beautiful opulence as the guest quarters up top.

  “I want my crew to know they’re just as important. I want them to be comfortable and not feel like they’re
any less deserving of the things offered to the guests. I want them to love their jobs, and I want them to keep coming back every charter season,” Captain McGillis told us.

  Also unlike any other luxury yacht, Captain McGillis was given cart blanche on all the changes made to the refurbished ship before its first charter, and he doesn’t shy away from shooting down the naysayers who think he was only hired as the captain because of who the owner of the yacht is.

  “I know people think I had it made considering my father-in-law owns the ship, but Mark Armstrong doesn’t let anyone walk all over him. He’s been through a lot, and he’s one of the strongest men I know. He didn’t hand me this job just because I’m married to his daughter. I had to work my ass off and prove myself, just like any other captain, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Mark Armstrong, making national news two years ago for filing bankruptcy after his wife of one year was found to have stolen the majority of the fortune he’d made in the software application industry, paid a hefty price for his error in judgment, by not only losing all of the money he’d made developing one of the world’s most popular dating apps, but by also losing the company he built from the ground up.

  Luckily, Mr. Armstrong’s talents with computer programming weren’t stolen from him as well, and he made double the amount he did selling his first app, when he sold the rights a year ago for a new app, Digging for Gold. This dating app is unlike any other on the market, in that it’s geared specifically to individuals in a certain tax bracket, who are looking for a love that will not bleed them dry and make them fall victim to financial ruin, like Mr. Armstrong.

  When asked why the ship was named Vacation Fling, Captain McGillis shared a smile with his wife, Mackenzie McGillis, and told us it was an inside joke. It’s hard not to feel like a third wheel watching the two of them sit side-by-side at the formal dining table on Vacation Fling, constantly smiling at each other, reaching for the others hand or seeing them whisper in each other’s ear and laugh together. Love is in the ocean air on Vacation Fling, and the stress of starting a new charter season doesn’t seem to be affecting either of them.