Dylan
Inviting Charles and Sandra for a multi-day cruise on the yacht the day after proposing the plan to Penny had been a risky move. It would have been too easy for one or the other of us to lose the narrative or flub an important interaction, but aside from the occasional awkward pause to search for words—easily explained away by how quick of a whirlwind romance it was—the first day went off without a hitch.
Without a hitch when it came to acting properly in front of Charles, anyway. That didn’t account for how tightly I was wound after an entire day spent giving Penny kisses and touching her body casually, the way I would if we were dating. It was sweet torture, this act. It wasn’t that I was doing anything I didn’t want to do.
It was that I wanted so much more.
Every time she looked at me with those clear brown eyes and knowing smile, I fell deeper into the fiction. Charles had been right that I’d never had an equal relationship. For the first time, I learned what it felt like to converse with a woman on equal footing.
The funny thing was that there was no way that Penny and I should be equals. I was older, wealthier, in my element on my own goddamn yacht spending the day with my peers, and somehow, Penny planted herself in the middle of it all like she belonged there.
It was entrancing.
“Penny, you are too much,” Sandra said. “I’m glad Dylan has liberated you from the doldrums of city life. You’re such a treat to talk to.”
“You’re too kind, Sandra,” Penny said. “But that means if the engagement with Dylan falls through, I’m coming to you for invitations to big fancy events. I think I could get used to this life.”
Charles chuckled. “I’m sure we could work something out.”
My eyebrows could not lift any higher. Charles and Sandra were notoriously withdrawn and maintained contact with only a few close friends. For them to even joke about including Penny in that number was monumental.
“At any rate, it’s time for us to turn in. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow,” Sandra said.
I stood to offer my hand to Charles and give Sandra a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Thank you again for coming with us, you two. It’s been a pleasure. You know the way to your stateroom?”
“Yes, yes,” Charles said, waving away any assistance. “It’s a big boat, but it’s not a maze. Goodnight, Dylan. Penny, it’s been a pleasure.”
After the goodbyes had been said and the older pair made their way inside, Penny stretched her legs out across the couch and tilted her head to the side, smiling as she looked at me.
“So? I did good, right?”
I sat on the couch by her feet. “Good doesn’t cover it. Are you sure you didn’t miss your calling as an actress? You deserve a reward.”
I lifted her feet into my lap and pressed my thumbs into the sole of her foot.
“Oh, God. Keep doing that,” Penny said, eyes sweeping shut. “I wouldn’t even say it was acting, really. It was surprisingly easy to put myself into the role.”
So it wasn’t just me.
It felt more like we’d actually been dating for a few months than the single day we’d known each other. I’d never clicked with anyone like that before—hadn’t believed it was possible until now.
I just wanted to make her feel good. The sounds she made as I worked her feet were a good start, and her flesh felt incredible underneath my hands. But it was a far cry from my ultimate goal.
I needed her, and tonight, I wouldn’t stop. She was mine.
With strong and sure hands, I moved up her ankles and onto her calves, massaging the muscles as Penny leaned back with eyes still closed to let me work her over.
Before long, I crawled up her body. Her eyelids opened slowly, as if they were heavy, her eyes dark pools as her mouth parted.
I would never tire of kissing her, of feeling the way she yielded to my lips and welcomed me in, her hands gripping my shoulders and pulling me closer. I teased her, nipping at her bottom lip before sucking it into my mouth and running my tongue along the length.
No matter how fiery Penny was in conversation, always challenging me and keeping me on my toes, as soon as my lips latched onto hers, she succumbed to my advances, opening herself up to be plundered. I took advantage, drawing her deeper as I held myself above her on the couch with one hand and ran the other up and down her body, stroking her skin and firing both of us to new heights.
Her hands wandered, tugging on my lower back, grabbing my hips and pressing my hardness into her even more urgently. I was more ready for her than I’d ever been before, so stiff that I could have shattered a glass door.
“Are you ready for bed?” I asked, coming up for air. The rasp in my voice betrayed my state of mind as if my body hadn’t already done so.
With half-lidded eyes, Penny bit her lip and nodded. The look was so sexy that I had to kiss her again, and that carried us away for another ten minutes before I could restrain myself.
“Let’s go,” I said, climbing off her and offering my hand.
Chapter Eleven
Penny
As Dylan led me through the yacht to the master stateroom, my heart pounded fiercely in my chest, like a caged animal watching a predator outside lick its lips.
I should stop this. I have to stop this. I can’t stop this.
I didn’t want to stop it. A full day of playing at fiancée with a gigantic rock on my finger had boosted my libido to a level I hadn’t known it could reach. It was like I’d gotten injections of love serum every time Dylan had leaned in for a casual kiss or squeezed my shoulder when he walked by. It was exhilarating.
Nevermind how sad it was that a single day of a fake relationship was the most fulfilled I’d ever felt by a man.
I knew that if I followed Dylan into the master stateroom, we would take it all the way. There wasn’t anywhere else I could go—sleeping in another room would be a glaring sign of something wrong if Charles or Sandra found out about it.
The making out on the couch in the lounge had been intense enough. For some reason, the walk from there to our room was even more of a turn on. Knowing that I was on my way to get fucked made me so hot, such a radical departure from how I had ever acted before.
Within moments of entering the spacious stateroom, Dylan picked me up and carried me to the bed, laying me back on the plush surface.
“I’ve been wanting to get you horizontal since I laid eyes on you,” he said.
He couldn’t have said anything more reassuring. The biggest concern over the course of the day was how much of what I was feeling from Dylan was real and how much was acting because of Charles and Sandra. It was impossible to tell—it felt real, but with Dylan Hunter, I couldn’t be sure.
For all I knew, he could still be playing the part to keep me in the appropriate frame of mind for the week. Once he had his deal, he might turn cold and callous and throw me out on my ass. We hadn’t even signed a contract or anything, I was taking it on faith that he would pay me the money.
I pushed back the uneasiness. Now was not the time. Not when Dylan stood at the foot of the bed and took his shirt off so slow and sexy and stared at me with eyes that promised things he couldn’t possibly deliver.
“Now that you have me,” I said, “I’m eager to see what you’ve got.”
Dylan’s abs rippled as he chuckled. “You’ll find out soon. Now take off your sundress. I need to see your curves again before I put my mouth all over you.”
It was unbelievable that this ripped god was eager to see me, but the hunger in his eyes left no doubt.
Once the dress was tossed aside, Dylan unbuttoned his shorts and let them drop to the ground, leaving him in a pair of boxer briefs that would have fit him perfectly—if he weren’t so hard that the head and a couple of inches of his cock poked out of the waistband. I stared, transfixed, until he crawled onto the bed and made good on his promise to use his mouth all over my body.
Dylan started at my hipbone and moved up the side of my belly until he got to my bra. When I
looked down, his shoulder muscles rippled in the dim light as he hovered over my body, using light kisses and licks to spark my nerve endings and set them on fire.
“This needs to go,” he growled, and he reached underneath me. In a second, the bra snapped loose, and I shrugged it down my shoulders to show and give him access to my breasts. They were my favorite asset, and from the lavish attention Dylan paid to them, he agreed.
I let my hands drift down to comb through his hair as he swirled his tongue around a nipple, supporting the ample flesh in his hands as he made love to my breasts. I was so wet from all the buildup that it was almost uncomfortable. He knew how to press my buttons, and he slyly pressed every one I had.
At this point, I couldn’t say no to him even if my life depended on it. I needed him too badly.
I wonder if this is payback for my stopping things after he made me come last night.
If so, he could enact revenge whenever he wanted.
Dylan crept back down my body, trailing kisses until he was level with my panties. I could feel how damp they were, and I would have been embarrassed if he hadn’t at that moment kissed me through the material.
“I love how wet you are for me,” he said. “You need me, don’t you, Penny?”
I rolled my hips, encouraging him. “Yes, Dylan. I need you so much.”
His deft hands slid my thong down my legs, leaving me bare. Before I could get too self-conscious, Dylan’s tongue pressed against my lips, and I stopped having any coherent thoughts at all.
I should have known how good he would be at giving head based off the way he kissed, but it still took me by surprise.
No, it didn’t take me by surprise. It took me by storm.
It felt like Dylan had grown seven tongues and multiple sets of lips, like he was a creature out of a sexual Book of Revelations. There was nothing I could do but lie back and try not to scream too loudly from the burst of sensation flooding my body. He expertly built me up, taking me higher until nirvana was within reach.
Then he stopped.
I heard a rustle of a wrapper, but my head was too far in the clouds to realize what was going on until a hot, firm, and thick piece of flesh pushed past my lips.
“Oh! Shit!”
Even considering the amount of warmup I’d had, it was still almost too much. My hands dropped to Dylan’s hips and pushed back a little in an instinctual reaction to an intrusion of such size.
It started as half pleasure and half pain, but the pain quickly fled and left behind only a throbbing pulse of pleasure that beat with my heart and grew steadily larger.
“Are you okay?” Dylan asked.
I nodded, taking in a deep breath. “Yes. Just go easy.”
He obeyed my request, inching inside me so slowly that it seemed to go on forever. It had been so long since I’d had anything other than my smallish vibrator inside me that I bit my finger trying to cope with the stretch in my pussy.
Finally, he was all the way inside me, his hips pressed firmly against my own.
“Fuck, yes,” I murmured, “That feels so good.”
Dylan cupped the back of my neck with his hand and kissed me softly. “You feel incredible wrapped around me. It’s like coming home.”
His voice was the sexiest growl I’d ever heard, similar but so different to his usual rich and melodic tone.
We stayed like that for a few minutes, luxuriating in each other. After a while, I felt more comfortable and needed more.
“Fuck me,” I whispered into his ear and then nibbled on his earlobe. He withdrew from my pussy, leaving me feeling impossibly empty until he slid all the way back inside.
The motion of Dylan’s hips controlled the pace of my own thoughts—there was nothing I could do except hold on and encourage my lover with hands and words and hips, showing my appreciation for the way he sent electric shocks through me.
After such a long tease—and the entire day had felt like one big, long tease—it didn’t take very long for Dylan to push me right against the edge of release. I didn’t want to go alone.
“Come with me,” I said to Dylan, putting my hands around his neck, hanging on as he sped his pace and slammed into my hips, driving his cock deep inside so furiously that it took my breath away. I couldn’t hold off any longer, shaking under the onslaught with the intensity of my climax.
With a final cry, Dylan buried himself to the hilt inside me, groaning. His cock pulsed inside me, driving my pleasure higher, rewarding me with his own release.
He covered my body with his own, supporting his torso with his elbows so he didn’t crush me. Despite the heat and sweat, he felt perfect on top of me.
As I’d already experienced once before, the sudden clarity that came with the orgasm left me holding Dylan with unanswerable questions swirling through my head.
What did this mean? And where do we go from here?
Chapter Twelve
Dylan
The next five days were a study in contrast between the polite socialization with Charles and Sandra to convince them I was a trustworthy partner to invest with and my complete inability to keep my hands off Penny.
In my defense, she initiated things even more than I did, pouncing on me to wake me in the mornings and jumping into my arms whenever we found ourselves alone for a few seconds.
The cruise continued for two days, with several more stops to dive and inspect the reefs in key areas. The damage to the coral since I’d last dived was disheartening. An upshot was that each dive made an impression on Charles, and he saw how urgently action was needed.
Since learning of Penny’s inability to swim, I made it my mission to teach her not to fear the water so much. She wasn’t as incapable as she’d made it seem, but she had a tendency to panic when it wasn’t called for. Ironically, when she had a tank and equipment strapped on her, she was much more steady. She could still breathe if she slipped beneath the waves.
Seeing her shed an old fear and explore a new world was my proudest achievement of the week, even beyond the act we were pulling off for Charles.
That act rapidly became something much more. It was so hard to remember where it had all started—our fake relationship had so many events and anecdotes and noteworthy incidents to keep track of, but it felt real. I could believe anything that came out of Penny’s mouth when she spoke with such passion and looked at me like she did.
The boundaries had been blurred, and I was becoming more and more certain of one thing. I didn’t want her to go when it was all over.
As certain as I felt, it was harder to tell what Penny’s thoughts were. My ability to read people proved unequal to the task, emotions making me second-guess every word, every piece of body language in a way I’d never experienced before. I was no longer the cold-blooded Shark of Saginaw, but a normal, warm-blooded man who had no idea what the woman in his life was thinking.
It was frustrating. Every time I wanted to come out and ask Penny if she would stay after we finished with the Wiltons, she would make an offhand remark that made me re-evaluate everything else she’d said that day.
We swam in the pool at the villa, me serving as lifeguard and coach as Penny paddled around the deep end, fighting to keep her head above water. When she dipped under and flailed around in a way that only made things worse, I dove under to put my arm around her legs and prop her above the surface long enough to regain her equilibrium.
Once we returned to the shallow end, Penny put her arm around my neck and kissed me hard. Then she said, “I’ll always appreciate the money, but the thing I’ll remember you and this week for is teaching me how to swim. Thank you so much, Dylan.”
I’d smiled and kissed her again, but her words had a sense of finality about them, as if in her mind, our relationship had an expiration date on it and she was just having fun while it lasted.
Needing more from her, I blocked off an afternoon without the Wiltons. Just me, Penny, a private beach, and a picnic basket full of snacks, towels, and a large blanket
.
“This is gorgeous,” Penny said. She lay on the brightly colored blanket, idly popping a grape into her mouth. The way her lips curved around the fruit gave me urges that I fought back. Sex with Penny was incredible, but it didn’t help me figure out where we were headed.
“It is, isn’t it?” While Penny looked over the gently swelling waters, I took in her beauty.
She flipped onto her stomach and kicked her legs up behind her, waving them in the air as she rested her chin on her hands. “What made you so intent on saving the world, anyway? It is such a complete flip from how you used to be, at least if you can believe anything in the media.”
I laughed. “Oh, the media had me pegged pretty well ten years ago. I thought I was the hottest shit ever. Self-made billionaire, bad boy, rule breaker. I had an ego the size of Hunter Tower.”
Penny tilted her head to the side. “So what changed?”
It wasn’t something I talked about often, so I took a moment to organize my thoughts. “Honestly? The biggest thing was when I came here and dove all the time. Immersed in the water and with life all around, it was so easy to feel a connection with the ocean and the planet. When the reefs started to suffer because of the ways we’ve been abusing the environment, I had to do something about it.”
“Do you think you can really do it? Turn things around?”
I asked myself that every day. “Honestly? I don’t know. Maybe we’ve gone too far down this road, and all we can do is brace ourselves for the fallout. I don’t like that line of thinking though. We might as well have hope and do what we can, because the alternative is the end of everything as we know it.”
“Let’s hope we can pull off this deal, then,” she said. “How do you think things are going with Charles? From my chats with Sandra, I think she’s just about won over.”
“I have a similar feeling about Charles,” I said. “You’ve been spectacular.”
Penny smiled. “Thank you, boss.”
Secrets Abroad: A Fake Fiancée Romance Page 5
