dibs

by Kristi Pelton

  “I prefer the word quirkiness,” he said, leaning back and winking.

  Resting my forehead against his chest, I wasn’t sure I could hold off on being with this guy much longer. Maybe he sensed what I was feeling, I don’t know. But, he released me, smacked my ass and instructed me to get my swimsuit on.

  Mac carried my bag of stuff, and we stopped off at his cabin so he could change into his suit. Once up by the water slides, we found a chair to keep our things in.

  “What’s your first question, Sam?” he asked, motioning for me to turn around so he could rub sunscreen on me. Ick! I shuddered. “What was that?” he laughed.

  “Another quirk. I hate sunscreen. It’s sticky.”

  With pursed lips, he still made me turn. “The alternative is that you are sunburned and then I can’t touch you. Endure,” he teased rubbing the white crap on my back.

  He handed me the sunscreen bottle and spun around. Double ick! Now it was going to be on my hands too. I really needed help.

  “Bacteria, here we come,” he laughed, taking my sticky hand in his and heading toward the slides. This was really testing me…

  Once at the top, I refused to go down the one that went out over the ocean. There was no way in hell.

  “Why did you divorce?” he asked out of the blue, flat out surprising me. We were about five turns away from going down.

  “Divorce was hard for me. I didn’t want it for the longest time. But he…I…I wasn’t the only woman in his life. And I’m not talking about his mother.” My eyes widened in disbelief that I was even sharing this with him.

  “Was it more than once?”

  “Yep. And want to know the real kicker? I knew it was happening. I knew that he wasn’t having sex with me, and truth is…I was busy with Jake and distracted with my job, and I guess I looked the other way until I couldn’t any longer.”

  His hand resting at the small of my back felt nice.

  “I’m sorry you were treated that way.”

  “I know you said you weren’t married, but are you divorced?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

  “No ma’am. Never said ‘I do.’”

  We were next in line, and I watched as the people in front of us were going.

  “You said you never met the right girl. If you did, would you want to marry?” I genuinely wanted to know this. All the people Bryan and I had hung out with were married.

  “Typically, I’d let you go first, but I’m going to go first to clear the bacteria out for you, and then I’ll wait for you at the bottom, deal?”

  He didn’t answer my question about marriage. Slick move, Mac. Whatever…I liked his plan. I watched as he climbed into the tube.

  “Kiss me?” he asked, looking back, and I gave him a shove with my foot. He hollered and the sound echoed back up as he disappeared. I laughed, but it was short lived.

  My turn. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. After adjusting myself in the petri dish of a tube, I clung to the side waiting for the lady to tell me to go. When she gave me the thumbs up, I closed my eyes and released the sides.

  Water sprayed in my face as I swayed from side to side. I rolled my lips inward to keep the bacteria water from going into my mouth.

  The moment I felt sunshine again, my eyes flashed open. Mac was there at the bottom of the slide and I literally slid into his arms.

  “Atta girl. You did it!” His smile was infectious, and I couldn’t help but smile just as wide.

  Truth is, I felt like a child again. Except when he touched me. Then I felt like a damn 16 year old being touched for the first time. His touch scared me. In all my time with Bryan, his touch never came close to this. It never made my insides stir. It never took my breath away. And never…ever did it make me feel like I could freaking orgasm with no stimulation. When Thor touched me, my uterus quivered.

  He pulled me in for a hug. Our wet bodies slithered together only increased my hormonal activity.

  “Let’s go again!” he chuckled near my ear, and the low timber in his voice melted me.

  I nodded, not so eagerly, but agreeing nonetheless, and he about jerked my arm out of socket as he yanked me the other way.

  “Truth is, you’re already covered in bacteria!” He winked.

  “Do you think that thought hasn’t already crossed my mind?” I shouted.

  At the top of the steps he moved to the line for the slide that looped out over the ocean.

  “Mac. No.” I resisted, pulling on his hand.

  Without hesitation, he reached up and cupped my chin. “I just want to ask them a question. I’ve got you.”

  My respirations increased tenfold when his eyes zoned in on me and he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. For that moment, I was lost in time, relishing the feeling he stirred deep inside of me—never wanting to let it go.

  With a long, slow blink, he glanced away. “My friend is very skittish about going down this slide.”

  The young girl in her bikini sat up a little straighter, sticking her boobs his way.

  “I’m not sure what skittish means, but we really only allow one at a time. Unless it’s a parent and child.”

  I laughed beneath my breath. We were close to parent/child in size.

  “You know, Shelby,” he said reading her nametag. “I’d really appreciate you letting us do it this one time. She acts like a child most of the time.” He winked at me. And I could only imagine what was going through Shelby’s mind if my forty-year-old body was exploding with just a look.

  Leaning into him and touching his shoulder, she nodded. “Ok. I guess just this once.”

  “You’re the best, Shelby,” he said, reaching for my hand and lugged me toward the hole.

  “Mac,” I resisted with no voice.

  He plopped down in the gush of water and patted between his legs. “Right here, sweetheart.”

  I swallowed and tried to find my voice. For the first time in my life, my fear took a back seat to wanting to please him. This fear had ruled my life for years…and yet staring down at his extended hand brought the strangest comfort.

  “I swear to God, Mac. If this tube breaks and careens us into the freaking shark infested ocean…” I wedged myself between his massive thighs.

  “I’ll throw myself at the sharks first,” he whispered. “But I swear to you right back, if dying was inevitable, I’d fuck you before I met death,” he growled in my ear. I felt his chest rumble with laughter up against my back.

  As he wrapped his arm around my waist, his thumb grazed over the underside of my breast. Every part of me sparked to life as I courageously laid my head back, fitting it perfectly into his chest.

  “Here we go,” he hollered as his hold on my midsection tightened, securing me next to him.

  Oh my God we were so high, it was hard to catch it all because we were spiraling super fast, and water pelted me in the face the entire way down.

  About half way down, his teeth pulled on my ear lobe. My eyes shot wide, but the rest of me relaxed fully into his arms when he sucked the lobe into his mouth. The faster we went, my death grip tightened on his thighs…his rock hard thighs. I found myself shocked to discover I never wanted this slide to end.

  Before I knew it, the sun hit me in the face, and it took me a second to recall exactly where we were. He stood behind me lifting me beneath my arms and helping me.

  “OH. MY. GOD!” Juls screeched. “Did you just ride this?”

  Kat and Cody stood there together, and that distracted me for a second as I wiped the water from my face.

  “At gun point,” I said but smiled.

  “There’s a weapon there, that’s for sure,” Cody joked staring at Mac’s…. Oh dear lord. His swimsuit was tented but he made no effort to hide it.

  I scrunched up my nose. “Oh, that’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just like a little 22 caliber thingy,” I joked as I studied his blue eyes.

  His brows shot up. “Lady,” he said pointing at his crotch and ignoring the rest of them. �
�This is like a gatlin gun. It’s a weapon of mass destruction.” As laughter shook my body, he yanked me against his chest and whispered into my ear, “I fully intend to show you how it shoots later.”

  “Well aren’t you two just the cutest. Going down water slides together and all,” Juls chimed in again as Blake flicked her with a towel.

  “You didn’t want to,” Blake added.

  “I do now. I’ll be damned if Sam’s going to do something I haven’t. Let’s go!” And off they headed to take the plunge as well.

  After renting a cabana for all of us, Mac and I sat inside out of the sun for a bit eating some lunch. We’d all done the waterslide, repeatedly. There was something about this man that freed me from worry, and though I couldn’t put my finger on it, I was thrilled for the reprieve. He held up his fork with a red grape on the end. Wow, what had happened to me? His germs were all over my mouth already, yet I hesitated with his fork.

  “You can do this, Sam,” he encouraged.

  “Mac?”

  We both turned our heads toward the voice. A pretty brunette smiled at me.

  “Hey,” she said quietly to me. “May I speak with him for a minute?”

  I smiled back at her, quickly nodding. She hesitatingly nodded as Mac stood.

  “What’s up?” Mac asked as they stepped away from the cabana.

  Trying not to watch, I only caught peeks of them as he spoke to her. Her demeanor was sad as she stared down at the deck of the ship, and I think I caught her wipe a tear. The tasteless grapes somehow made their way down my throat.

  When she strolled away, Mac glanced at his feet and released a breath.

  “Everything ok?” I asked.

  “Yes.” His expression was strained.

  “Bridesmaid?”

  He nodded.

  “Larissa’s friend?”

  “Oh, no.” Only two words but they made it clear that she and Larissa were certainly not friends.

  “What? You had sex with this girl too?” I purposefully kept my tone light and playful, but my anxiety was starting to build.

  He just stared at me with truth radiating from his eyes.

  “Wow, is there anyone on this ship you haven’t fucked, or did you just stick with the bridesmaids?”

  The feel of his arms coming together around my waist soothed my…frustration…momentarily. “You know, I’m willing to spread my good will to you if you’ll take me up on it?” he joked.

  My brows shot up. “Good will? Is that what one calls using women more than an ATM machine?”

  His head fell backward as he chuckled. “Truth is, I don’t use ATM machines much at all, but I’ll start if that makes you feel better.”

  When he said things like that…I couldn’t help but think long term and this cruise was only nine more days. He kissed my neck, and I nudged away from him.

  “How many more of them can you count as past lovers?”

  With his thumb and fingers he formed a zero.

  “I don’t have a passenger list but once I get between your legs…you will be number three…unofficially of course.” He winked with that sexy side smile. “Sam.” His tone turned serious. “Many of us in the wedding party come from the same area. These aren’t random women that just happened to come on this cruise.”

  “What area is that exactly?” I asked, suddenly curious about where he was from.

  “Western…”

  “NO!” I shouted, holding my palms up stopping him. “Specifics aren’t important, right? I mean, this…” I jetted my finger back and forth between us. “Is just a fun little fling.”

  “Call it what you want. I’d like to know where you’re from though,” he said.

  The words sputtered around in my head. “OK. Split the US up into fourths…like put a plus sign through it. Are you northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest?”

  Droplets of water flew from his hair as he shook his head laughing and tugging me into his chest. “Come here, you clown. I’m southwest.”

  Guarding my reaction, I smiled. “Weird. Me too.” The thought of residing close to this man sent an anxious tremor through my body, followed by a forbidden sense of expectation.

  “Barbados tomorrow. You want to do it solo with your friends or want a man to tag along? This cruise was for you and your friends, I don’t want to infringe on that.”

  My eyes skimmed his face and then down his massive chest, wondering why he had changed the subject. Truth is, I pathetically wanted to spend every second with this guy.

  “My guess is we will be with Cody and Blake too,” I said.

  He plopped into a lounger yanking me down and rolling on top of me.

  “Are the bridesmaids going to be angry that you’re ditching them?”

  With pursed lips, he glared down at me. “Frankly my dear, Sam, I don’t give a damn.”

  Chapter 6~ Mac

  Blake’s chainsaw snoring woke me, and it was impossible to get back to sleep. Even after I tossed a pillow at him, he repositioned and revved back up. So, I threw on some sweat shorts and a t-shirt and decided to go for a walk.

  Once on the top deck, I stood along the railing of the ship, getting lost in the blackness of the water below. Life had been dark for so many years. Day by day things had brightened over the past few years. Though nothing compared to the light that this new woman had unexpectedly brought to my life. As I watched the enormity of the ship suffer in comparison to the monstrousness of the ocean, answers evaded me as to why she impacted me so much. Maybe it was her helplessness on day one when she was sweaty and in dire need of help. My tongue deliberately traced over my lips as I thought about her pulse frantically beating—blood coursing through her veins at my mere touch. Standing there, I adjusted my cock when I thought about her kiss and the raw desire in her tongue as it searched for mine.

  A slow, faint, rumble of thunder inched its way through space. I spun around staring at the black sky on the opposite side of the boat. Lightning streaked the eastern sky in the most magnificent way. Even in the dark of the night, the storm clouds in the distance were beautiful. An older couple sat watching the lightning show that only moments before I was oblivious to. After staring at them and without thinking, I bee-lined it straight to Sam’s cabin and knocked. When she didn’t answer, I knocked again. Finally, I heard someone stir inside. The door creaked open and her squinty green eyes stared at me. Her lashes splayed beautifully around the pools of green.

  “What’s the matter?” she squeaked out.

  God, she was adorable.

  “I want you to see something. Come with me.”

  “What time is it, Mac?”

  I shrugged. I honestly didn’t have a clue.

  “Sam, do you trust me?”

  The green in her little round orbits peeked up at me as she nodded.

  “Then come with me.”

  After we hustled back to the top deck, I took her hand, silently begging her to prove that trust as I lured her near the edge where there was little light. Her cautious eyes bore into me. A reassuring smile was all I had to offer…I needed her to trust.

  Once at the railing, I tucked her body perfectly into mine—her back to my chest—and pointed at the grumbling clouds.

  With renewed enthusiasm, I watched her face as her lips formed the perfect O. She arched into me, like a cat arches its back when it’s being petted. With that motion, not only did my damn dick come alive but something funny also happened in my chest.

  “Maaac,” she drew out my name. “It’s wickedly beautiful. Thank you for waking me.”

  Just then, a flash of lightening lit half the dark sky with a blue bolt of light.

  Her body tensed as her fingers grabbed the hem of my shorts and held on. There was no fighting the smile that slid over my lips.

  For the longest time we stood, watching the pending storm, as the boat managed to skirt the danger. At one point, her body relaxed so fully against me, I realized she was dozing. Widening my stance, I accepted her body weight. Ba
ck behind me, were loungers, but if I moved I’d wake her.

  Finally, after a few minutes, I shifted my weight, easily cradling her, and slowly sat down. She lifted her head momentarily, glanced up at the storm, then to me, and her head fell against my chest. Protectively my fingers clasped together, securing her inside my arms as I rested my head back, staring up at the stars directly above us. Across the sky, murderous clouds rumbled, yet stars twinkled where we were. I wanted to wake her again to show her that.

  What the fuck was wrong with me? I swallowed, trying to squash the growing feelings inside. Don’t do this. Never once have you gotten emotionally involved…don’t start now. After a deep breath, she stirred and whimpered, and my heart did that fucking palpitation again as I pulled her deeper into me. Maybe I needed to see a doctor.

  When I saw her in the airport talking to the New Jersey douche bag, I chuckled. She was damn funny. When I saw her anxiety on the airplane, I felt bad for her. When I saw her on the same damn cruise ship with a lifejacket stuck on her head and sweaty hair plastered to her face, I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Yet, there she stood, right in front of me…suffocating herself. There was no other alternative but to touch her…to help her. Nothing could have prepared me for her feisty wit or the fact that she hated me at first sight.

  Nevertheless, at this moment, she slept in my arms. I had honestly never met a woman with more guts and more spirit than this one. Part of me, buried so deep I wasn’t sure it even existed, hoped I was up for this challenge because all those coincidences were too much to bargain against.

  ***

  Walking down the ramp, holding her hand, my heart was doing that same shit as last night, and it was starting to piss me off. We’d kind of become a six-pack—Cody, Kat, Blake, Juls, Sam and me.

  After taking a shuttle down to the market area, we came back with a butt load of souvenirs and hit the tiki bars for Kat. I had a sneaky suspicion this was going to be an every island event.

  The waitress was clearly local, exotic and hot as hell. Blake disrespectfully looked her up and down, but I noticed her eyes on me. I, respectfully, kept mine on Sam. We ordered our drinks, and thankfully, she disappeared.