by Sloan Storm
“Gabe, wait.”
I paused and pivoted until I faced her. “What?”
Fiona drew her hands together in front of her body and started to walk in my direction. The entire time, she kept her head down and clutched her charm bracelet until she stopped about a foot away.
After she did, she reached up and pulled her hair behind her ears. In the distance, the whistles of a dozen forest-dwelling birds filled the air with a symphony of chirps. The energetic tone of their sounds stood in sharp contrast to the somber look on Fiona’s face as she looked into my eyes.
“I… I’ve never told anyone this before.”
I nodded, but didn’t respond.
She groaned, seeming as if a sudden jolt of doubt hit her.
“Okay, okay,” she began, as she raised her hands, showing me her palms. “I’m just going to tell you.”
“All right.”
“The reason I’m terrified of the water… It has nothing to do with being afraid to drown, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Um, see… When I was ten years old, we went on a family vacation. My mom, Dad, two brothers, my grandmother and me. We always went to the beach on vacations. Believe it or not, I used to love the water. But I don’t anymore, not since that vacation.”
I felt a hollowness hit my gut. There was no question in my mind as to how this story would end. I interrupted her.
“Fiona, you don’t have to do this. It’s okay. Really. If you don’t want to go with me, it’s fine.”
“No, Gabe,” she replied right away. As she spoke, I noticed her demeanor change once again. Still sad, she seemed stoic and determined. “I want to tell you. I trust you.”
“All right, Fiona.”
Fiona then proceeded to recount the horror of the summer vacation that took the lives of her entire family. They’d apparently gone sailing when the vessel capsized at the whim of what investigators expected was a rogue wave. The life jackets were still on board. It was more than eight hours before the first rescue team arrived, and by then, it was too late.
They’d all drowned.
Apparently Fiona had fractured her arm a couple of days before and had been unable to go and had instead, stayed behind, cared for by her grandmother. Through gulps of grief and swaths of tears, she concluded the story by lifting the arm with the charm bracelet on it.
“M-My grandmother gave this to me not long after,” she said. Fiona gestured towards the stones, telling me the lost family member each represented. “I-I’ve had to get a larger bracelet as the years have gone on, of course, but remember when you asked me at the bar about it?”
I smiled at her. “Of course.”
Fiona paused for a moment to collect herself. With a succession of wipes across her cheeks, she exhaled and continued.
“Well, I lied to you, obviously, when I said it didn’t mean anything to me. It means everything. I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful.”
“Fiona, don’t even worry about it,” I said, as I stepped towards her. “Look, I… I feel like shit. Hell, if I’d known about this, I never would have suggested we go sailing in the first place.”
“It’s okay, Gabe. There’s no way you could have known. You don’t have to apologize. I’m grateful for the offer, though.”
It was one thing to know about their deaths ahead of time but I hadn’t meant to hurt her in the process. Maybe that was a bit of karma coming back at me for checking on her in the first place. Even so, that’s a risk I had to take at the time. The simple fact was, I wouldn’t have done anything different.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.
“Look, Fiona,” I began, nodding in the direction of the bay. “I’m gonna skip sailing. We’ll do something else.”
Fiona’s eyes widened. “No, no, Gabe. Please don’t do that. I want you to go sailing if you want to. Just…”
I tented my eyebrows with an expectant look. “Just… what?”
“Promise me you’ll stay close to the bay.”
I chuckled. “Fiona, I happen to be an expert swimmer. I was captain of my college swim team. Not only that, but I’ve been a certified diver since I was a teenager, and I’ve also done my fair share of free diving.”
Still not swayed, Fiona blinked. “What’s free diving?”
“The same thing as scuba, except with no oxygen tanks,” I replied. For emphasis, I tapped against my chest. “It’s all about the lungs, and I’ve got some of the best.”
“Oh.”
I turned towards the bay and gestured up towards the clear skies overhead. “Besides, there’s not a cloud in the sky. Look at the water, Fiona. There’s hardly any wave action. Nothing is going to go wrong.”
“Hmm,” she grumbled. “Well, okay. But, please be careful.”
“Come with me,” I said, with a hint of a challenge in my tone.
Fiona’s eyes widened once again. “No. Oh no, Gabe. I-I couldn’t.”
I stepped close to Fiona. Reaching down, I cradled her upper arms. “Fiona. You’re a rational person. You have to know that what happened to your family… It’s not going to happen out in that bay. There’s not going to be any rogue waves. You’ve made so many strides in recent months. What better time than right now to confront your fear?”
Fiona turned her head and swallowed hard as she glanced in the direction of the aquamarine water. But almost as soon, she snapped her head in my direction again.
“Gabe, I can’t,” she said. Lifting her arms, Fiona held her hands up in front of her face. “I mean, look at me. I’m trembling just thinking about it.”
I released my grip from her shoulders and swallowed her shaky hands with my fingers. I held her there for a moment, until she calmed down and looked me in the eye.
“Fiona, I’m not going to make you do it. All right? But, I think you should. For yourself.”
She remained silent and looked up at me as I paused.
“I promise. Nothing will go wrong. At its deepest, the water in the bay is not more than twenty feet. We’ll put two life jackets on you and cover the lengths of both your arms and legs with water wings. You’ll be unsinkable.”
Fiona arched an eyebrow at me. “Hah, hah. I can swim, Gabe. That’s not the point.”
“Okay then, so whatd’ya say? Let’s give it a shot.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Fiona sucked in her lower lip and began to chew on it. While she did, I extended my hand in her direction, offering it to her.
“Come on.”
FIONA
I followed Gabe back inside the suite. As I entered, he made his way across the room towards the kitchen.
“We need to get some food in you, Fiona.” He paused and looked at me for a moment. “And I think a mimosa might be in order as well.”
Exhausted from what had just transpired on the veranda, I dragged myself towards the kitchen.
“I don’t want anything to drink, Gabe. It’s not even ten o’clock in the morning yet.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gabe said, as he came around the corner and slid his hand against my lower back. He leaned in and placed a tender kiss on my cheek. “You’re on vacation today, Fiona, remember? There are no clocks.”
As he spoke, I plopped down on one of the nearby stools lining the opposite side of the kitchen countertop. Semi-slumped, I exhaled and dropped my hands in my lap. Gabe nodded as I turned and looked at him.
“I’ll make it a double,” he said.
For a half a second, I almost protested, but before I could, Gabe headed towards the refrigerator. I watched as he pulled out a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of orange juice. With a kick from his heel, Gabe closed the door and walked back towards me. Less than a minute later, he’d poured us a couple of glasses.
Passing one to me, he raised his.
“How about a toast?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t exactly in the toasting mood.
“Ah, come on now, Fiona. Cheer up. Look where you are! A beautiful island, hidden awa
y from everyone, with the world’s most handsome bartender at your service.”
I looked up at him. A small grin came to my lips.
“Now see!” he exclaimed. “That’s more like it. How about that toast?”
“Okay. Well, what do you want to toast to?”
Without hesitating, Gabe continued. “I’d like to toast to you, Fiona. To your beauty, your strength and your courage.”
“Oh,” I muttered as he spoke. “I really don’t think…”
Gabe interrupted me. “Just shut up and drink the damn drink, woman.”
With that, he angled the long, slender flute in my direction. I smiled once more and did the same, clinking my glass into his. After a healthy swig, I closed my eyes as the alcohol-filled citrus rolled across my taste buds and slid down my throat.
It tasted so good—so good I took another sip right away. The cold of the cocktail stood in perfect contrast to the air inside the suite, made warm by the ever-present ocean breeze circulating about. Nearly half gone after only two sips, the drink sloshed a bit as I placed the glass on the countertop.
“Wow,” Gabe began. “For someone who doesn’t like to drink first thing in the morning that sure went down quick.”
Just then, he lifted the champagne bottle and offered to pour some more for me. Shaking my head, I slid my hand over the top of the glass.
“No thank you. If I drink any more than that, you’ll have to carry me to the boat.”
Gabe nodded. “Yeah, come to think of it, that’s probably a good idea. Let’s get you something to eat.”
“Okay,” I replied. “But not too much.”
Over the next several minutes I looked on in disbelief as Gabe made his way around the kitchen as easily as he did the boardroom. Without missing a beat, he cracked eggs, fried bacon and toasted bread to perfection. All the while he continued to sell me on the idea of the sailboat.
Even with the alcohol kicking in, I still had huge reservations about the excursion. But watching him at work soothed me in a way I couldn’t explain. It was as if nothing was beyond his capacity to accomplish… even something as simple as bacon and eggs.
“Here ya go,” he said, as he slid the plate across the counter.
It came to a spinning stop, directly beneath my face. I looked down at the perfectly round, sunny-side up eggs, crispy bacon and lightly buttered toast, arranged as if it were prepared at a five-star restaurant. I took another pull of my near-empty mimosa.
“I am… wow.”
Gabe flung the kitchen towel over his shoulder. “What? What’s wrong?”
I looked up at him. “Wrong? No, nothing’s wrong. Where did you learn to cook like this? As breakfasts go, this is about the most appetizing I’ve ever seen.”
Gabe nodded. “Wait ‘til you taste it.”
“Really?”
Gabe frowned. “No, Fiona, I made you breakfast so you could admire it. You want me to get your phone so you can take pictures of it also?”
“What?”
“Oh Jesus, nothing,” Gabe said, as he pointed at the plate. “Just eat, would ya?”
After a few bites, I had to admit he’d blown me away. The eggs were a delight, the bacon salty, with just the right amount of crisp… and the way he prepared the toast… Adding anything to it besides butter would have been a crime.
“Well?” he said, as I swallowed a bite.
“Gabe, it’s… delicious. Where did you learn to cook?”
Gabe leaned against the counter. “When I was in college, all four years of undergrad, I worked the night shift as the short-order cook at a greasy spoon downtown. It’s good, right?”
In all the long hours I’d worked on the Link Protocol with Gabe, I don’t think I’d ever seen him beam with the kind of pride he displayed in that moment. As much as I hated to admit it, it had been easy for me to forget Gabe hadn’t always been the man who stood before me today. He’d come up the hard way, fighting for his success every step along the way.
I had the distinct feeling that as he smiled at me, he was every bit as proud of the breakfast he’d made, if not more so, than the hundreds of billions he stood to make on the Link Protocol. Just then, I realized I’d sat there in admiration of him for a few moments too long.
“What’s wrong?” he said, as he leaned away from me. Disappointment creased his brow.
I sat forward in a hurry, snapping myself out of it.
“N-No,” I stammered, as I searched my mind for an appropriate lie. “I was just thinking about the sailing trip again. I’m sorry, Gabe. It is… well, it’s the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten. What more can I say?”
Gabe nodded his head and smiled. “Good. I’m glad you like it.”
FIONA
Just as he finished speaking, Gabe leaned in and kissed me, sliding his hand behind my head as he did. Although I probably should have expected it and resisted, the simple fact was he’d caught me by surprise and I didn’t.
It was such a beautiful place and the truth was that I was tired. In reality, nothing would have felt better than the satin-like feel of his lips against mine just then. I relented and leaned into Gabe, giving in to his strength and my need for it. Without a word, he separated his lips from mine.
“Give me your hand,” he said.
Still in a daze from our kiss, I did as he asked. “Why?”
“Well, Fiona, we have to shower,” he began, as he tugged at me, pulling me off the stool. “You can’t get in the ocean dirty. That just wouldn’t be polite.”
“Oh, I see.”
Within minutes, Gabe stripped away what resistance I pretended to still have, and, after starting the shower, he reached down and grabbed hold of the door handle, tugging it open. Trailing Gabe’s chiseled backside into the heated mist, I watched as he walked under one of two large showerheads.
I closed on him just as the rain from overhead slid down his magnificent torso. Rivulets of wet heat rippled along his hard frame as I drew near, rubbing my body against his like a forlorn kitten.
I looked up into Gabe’s eyes, and as I did he leaned down and kissed me with a single, soft press against my cheek. Chills raced along my spine as he moved closer and trailed his slick lips down the side of my neck.
I trembled as Gabe’s tongue and lips suckled my wet flesh. Just then, he reached up and pulled my hair out of his way. With a tender slap, it clung to my back as Gabe’s mouth moved around behind me to the center of my neck, just above my shoulder blades.
My head listed and rocked like a wayward sea vessel in the midst of a storm. As the shower rained heat upon me, I leaned my curves against him. Gabe’s hands raced towards my hips, where he grabbed them and squeezed firmly. My lips parted, and as they did, a few droplets made their way inside. I tasted the water, laced with Gabe’s essence. A heady mix of musk and sweat rolled across my tongue like a subtle wave laps against a dock.
Gabe’s hands made their way around from my hips to my belly, just above the waist, where he held them still for a moment. I stretched my arms up as he moved ever closer. My hands traveled along the outside of his thick forearms, rounded biceps and all the way up to his broad, dripping wet shoulders. Turning away from him for an instant, my head fell into his chest, my back pressed against his torso and my ass into his engorged cock.
Breath hitched in my throat when I bumped against it, but as I did, Gabe held me firm. He groaned as I brushed the curve of my rear along his long, hard dick. Just then, I tilted my head back and invited him towards my mouth. A split second later, Gabe’s tongue slipped inside, and as it did, I reached down with my hand and wrapped it around base of his cock.
I began to roll my hand and make long, slow pulls up the length of his shaft. Our kisses intensified as Gabe’s hands made their way along the midline of my torso until my tits fell into them. He groped and squeezed at them while I continued to stroke him, my grip lubricated by the hot water as it rained down from overhead.
I moaned as Gabe rolled my nipples between the tips
of his fingers. As the seconds ticked by, my lower back started to arch, and my breasts heaved upward, eager for more of his touch. By now, my nipples were hardened under the firmness of his grasp and the incessant flow of water across them. At last, our lips broke apart and a gap in the water flow provided me a wisp of cool air.
Whether from the heat of the shower or Gabe’s body pressed into mine, I started to feel light headed. As if he sensed it, Gabe dropped his hands away from my breasts and swept me into his arms. Now face-to-face, I felt the hot tease of his breath upon my lips once again. My hands wrapped around his broad upper body as he moved with ease across the tile floor. Moments later, he sank down to his knees and placed me down upon a long marble ledge.
A second shower head poured down on the stone as I positioned myself. The heat from the wet marble felt good against my backside. My limbs went limp as I relaxed into the warmth and the power of Gabe’s affection. It was all I could do to prop myself up on my elbows, just in time to see him kneel in front of me. Slack-jawed, I gazed down between my legs as Gabe spread them apart. Heated liquid poured down over me and ran like an overwhelmed stream bank towards my pussy.
Gabe flipped his head back and as he did, his hair flashed a wave of spray in every direction. Half-dazed, I watched as he opened his mouth. Water from above rained into it until at last, he leaned forward and lowered his head towards my exposed, pink flesh. A mischievous grin crept to the edges of his lips as he reached up and placed his hands in the center of my thighs.
Water ricocheted off my hardened nipples as he broke eye contact with me and started to descend. My breath came in rapid gulps, in fits of anticipation and need. And then, he revealed the purpose to his actions from moments before when he drove straight into the center of my thighs. Without warning, his mouth pressed hard into it and as it did, he released a heated flood of water along my folds.
I cried out in pleasure as his tongue moved along the center of my slit. Gabe continued to pulse a steady stream of water as my hips shook in his hands. My head bobbed up and down as he consumed me, when just a few seconds later, the suction from his lips broke free.
I glanced up to see that once more he held his head back as water poured inside. His knees squeaked on the tile and echoed along the walls of the steamed-up space as he filled up his mouth. With almost no time for me to recover, Gabe’s head descended between my thighs yet again. His lips pressed into me as before and the water he concealed within his mouth spilled out. Gabe’s tongue delved within me and then curled back towards him, beckoning my climax with each hot, fluid-filled, flick.
