Cami found him just before breakfast. He was sipping a cup of hot coffee at the back deck where they had spent their time together the night before.
"I thought I might find you here!" she said with a grin, reaching for him to hug him tightly. He hugged her back, holding her close and enjoying every moment of it with no guilt at all. After a long while, he let her go.
He looked at her and saw that she was dressed in a light peach sundress with white swirls throughout it. He grinned. "Peaches and cream. You look beautiful."
She turned in a circle and her wavy loose hair flew out around her, falling to her elbows when she stopped twirling before him. "Thank you. You look good too." She took in his white button up shirt, snug shorts and tanned sculpted legs with a smile.
"There's a buffet breakfast, would you like to get something to eat?" he asked, hoping she'd say yes. She nodded and took his arm as they headed into the dining room. They ate together at a small table on the deck, looking at the sea and the land as they sailed past it in a parallel line. They saw whales and dolphins playing in the water, and when they looked overboard later, they were thrilled to see schools of huge jellyfish as they passed by.
They spent the morning walking around the boat and talking. She showed him her stateroom, which was an identical match to Allen's, although hers was on the other side of the boat, and then he showed her his room, and she gushed at the incredible beauty of it. They walked out on his private deck and talked about many different aspects of their lives, enjoying each other's company, humor, wit, and kindness, as they sailed along in the sunshine.
Before they knew it, the boat had reached Cabo San Lucas, and they decided to go ashore and spend the afternoon shopping in the little seaside town, talking with the Mexican people, admiring their wares, tasting their food and beer, and loving their music. It was magic for them both.
They swam in the waves and walked in the sand. Both Roman and Cami felt that their friendship had deepened considerably in no time at all. He bought each of them a silver bracelet, placing hers on her wrist and then she placed his on him, and they smiled at the old tradition of friends sharing matching tokens.
After a long day in the sun, sand, and sea, they went back to the boat and headed in separate directions, showering and napping, and agreeing to meet for dinner. Roman found her on the deck in their spot, just before dinner was served, and this night, when they sat beside each other, they were sharing stories of their day together in Cabo, and listening to everyone else tell their own tales. It was a night full of regalement and happiness.
Neither of them really wanted to spend any more time at the dining table than was necessary, and so they both skipped out early, and headed to the back deck of the boat. They were talking and laughing when they heard some of the others coming their direction, and not wanting to lose their time together, Roman led Cami quietly through his private door down the stairs into his room and they went out to his deck where they could have privacy in peace.
"I hope that's okay,” he said. "I just didn't want to visit with everyone else tonight. We'll be back in Carmel tomorrow, and then I'll go my way, and you'll go your way, and who knows when we will see each other again."
She shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure we'll run into each other at some point." She smiled and they both knew it was a long shot, and neither of them wanted to think about it, so they both looked at the sunset. Roman hated the feeling that he was going to lose the ability to see her after they returned.
He'd made a close friend, and it was going to slip away. The current between them pulled hard at him and he rose up off his chair and went to railing at the edge of the deck.
She stood up and went to stand beside him, pointing at the dolphins that were jumping in the brilliantly colored water of sunset as the sun sank into the ocean. "Don't hold on to the sadness. Just let it go,” she said sweetly. "We had a great time, didn't we? I know I'm never going to forget it." She nudged him with her shoulder and turned her head to look up at him, but his expression was serious and he pursed his lips.
"I don't want to let it go,” Roman said softly. "You're a great woman, Cami. I'm so damn lucky to call you my friend. You can't even begin to imagine what you gave back to me in the brief time we've been out here." He shook his head as his breath and his heart caught in his throat.
She turned him toward her and looked up at him. "Hey..." she said softly, taking his hands in hers, "it's alright. This was a powerful time for me, too. I was all broken up about some idiot and you and I found a way to heal together. That's huge."
He looked down into her lovely face and could not look away. "It is huge, and it should be enough. We should be able to walk away from this and not feel like we're losing. It just doesn't feel fair. It's like you woke me up, and I didn't even know I was asleep."
Cami shook her head. "You weren't asleep, you were just left alone for far too long."
"I don't want to be alone again," he said quietly, reaching his hand up to her cheek and running his finger along her cheekbone. Her eyes darkened and her mouth turned down in sadness.
"Please don't look like that..." he whispered, feeling the current suck him down into powerful depths. She lowered her eyes and he saw a tear roll down her cheek. He knew it was for both of them, and he brushed it away with his fingertips. Then he brushed the next tear away with the barest touch of his lips on her cheek, and then he succumbed to the current and let himself go. Their mouths met in a tentative kiss that began to catch fire almost immediately, burning away all the air in their lungs and the resistance in their bodies as they wrapped themselves around one another in a tight embrace.
She slid her arms around his neck, holding him to her, and he picked her up around the waist, hugging her to his body, their lips and tongues moving swiftly together. "I want you so much it hurts me..." he whispered. "I know this shouldn't happen..." He felt twinges of guilt in his heart, but she kissed them away and clung to him, feeling heat engulf them both.
"It's my choice too, and I want it as much as you do. I want to give you the love you've lived without for so long," she said, in between his kisses. He opened the sliding glass door and walked into his room with her wrapped around him, and closed the door behind him, then walked toward his bed.
“I know I've never known anything like this before." He stood her on her feet and slowly peeled her dress from her, staring at the swells of her breasts and the curves of her waist and hips. He ran his fingers over her lightly, tracing the lines of her, touching softly as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, breathing in the electric feel of it.
He pulled his own clothes off and lowered her to the king sized bed beneath them, touching her softly, tasting her, exploring every inch of her with his lips and tongue, with his hands and his body as she sighed sweetly in happiness, kissing him in return and curling herself around him.
Ramon could not get enough of the taste of her mouth or the feel of her body against his, and as she wrapped her legs around him, it took everything in him to pause and look at her in all seriousness.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked hoarsely. She nodded and pulled him to her breasts, "More than anything I have ever wanted.” She kissed his face, and then his lips. "Make love with me, Roman, please make love with me."
He closed his eyes and pushed himself inside her, feeling her tighten around him as he began to pump himself into her depths, and a rush of pleasure and passion such as he had never known, swept through him, and overwhelmed him so much that he had no thought in the whole world but here, right there, right then. They moved together, twisting and grasping, kissing, biting, clinging and moaning as their bodies locked together, and their orgasms made them hold desperately to each other, as she trembled in his arms and he flooded her with all that was in him. The energy in them dissipated and they laid back against the pillows, holding hands, kissing softly, and smiling in amazement at one another.
They were silent awhile, gazing at one another, neither one wa
nting to break the spell. Their soft, intermittent kisses became warm again, and then hot, and before long they were tangled in impassioned love again. It was three times that they lost themselves in each other before the sun came up, three times that they clung to one another and felt their worlds turn inside out. Then they fell asleep in the light of the new dawn, and when they went to shower together, they made love again, wishing they could hold on to every precious moment they had as the boat drew nearer their destination.
They dressed, and found their way back upstairs, trying to act like the friends that they had been before they found their way into each other's arms, and hoping that no one else noticed.
She left him for a short time, heading to her room to change her clothes and pack her bags. He packed his bags in his room and he heard a knock at the door. He knew it was her; he knew she needed him one more time, but when he opened the door, he saw Allen standing there looking like hell.
Roman blinked and stepped back. "What happened to you?" he asked, astounded at the state his friend was in.
"She didn't let me out of her room all weekend. I don't think I can even move." He walked over and sat on the edge of Roman's bed. "I should have stayed in here with you. I'd have gotten some sleep."
"Well, we'll be back in Carmel soon, so go shower and pack, and maybe you'll have time for a nap. Just lock your door and don't answer it." Roman chuckled a little at Allen, and sent him on his way down the hall. He looked past Allen to see if Cami was there, but she wasn't, so he closed the door and finished packing.
He was thinking of the transition. He was thinking that he would have to go home to Denise and he knew that he may never be the same again. There was a sharp knock at his door and he knew it must be Allen.
"Come in," he hollered.
The door opened and Cami came in. She was wearing a slip of a dress and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the curves of her body that pressed against the material. He knew those curves, and it was all that he could do to raise his eyes to meet hers.
"This is goodbye, isn't it?" she asked, looking at him miserably. "You're going to go back to your wife, and your world, and I'm going to go back to mine, and that will be the end of it, won't it?" she whispered.
He shook his head. "No... we can... we can talk... we can..."
She shook her head back at him. "No, we can't. We live far enough apart that we won't run into each other. We won't be near each other. We won't be close enough to... do this again, and even if we were close, I don't want to be your mistress. I don't want to be an aside to your marriage. The best way to do this is to end it, and call it the best dream we ever had."
He frowned and furrowed his brow. "That's not enough!" he spoke adamantly. "You brought me back to life again... you gave yourself to me... you... you touched me...." He reached for her and pulled her close to him, holding her tightly and kissing her hard on her mouth.
His hands moved over her thin dress and cupped her breasts, and he felt her nipples harden beneath his palms and fingertips and he groaned in need. He moved her to the bed and slid his hands up underneath her dress, moving his fingers between her thighs to touch her, to feel the moistness between her legs. She cried out softly as he massaged his fingertips over her and slid them into her while his mouth moved over her neck and lips, and she came in moments at his touch.
"Once more. I have to have you one more time," he insisted, pulling her dress from her body and pushing his clothes off him to the floor. He laid her back on the bed and made no pretenses, no flirtatious foreplay, he only spread her thighs apart swiftly and thrust himself into her. She clung to his shoulders and buried her face in his neck, kissing his chest. Then she threw her head back as he took over the deepest parts of her, driving her to ecstasy again and again, while his mouth sucked hungrily at her breasts and her tongue.
He took all of her that he could take until he was spent, and everything in him flowed into her, warming her, connecting them, making them one, one more time, before he kissed her softly and pulled himself from her, rising up above her to dress himself again. He lifted her carefully to her feet and kissed her sweetly on her mouth.
'There has never, ever, been anyone like you in my life, and I know we didn't have much time together, but I am so glad that we shared what we did have. You have given me more than you will ever know," he whispered, and she kissed him again, unable to speak. She pulled on her dress and he turned away from her, unwilling to watch her cover her body and get ready to leave him.
She hugged him from the back, circling her hands around his waist, and he turned in her arms and kissed her hungrily once more, drinking in her kiss like it was oxygen, and then he let her go. They wandered to the landing in their own separate ways when they docked, and they looked at each other and waved goodbye amidst the other guests who were oblivious to them, all waving and chattering as Cami and Roman stood watching each other silently.
Their eternal moment was broken by Allen, who came rushing up to Roman and begged in a hoarse whisper, "Get in the car, get in the car, get in the car!" He pushed Roman toward their limo. "Hurrry! Go faster! Go!" Just as they were climbing in, he heard Colette calling for her poopsie, almost yodeling up the hill to him, waving her arms and dashing after him.
The driver closed the door and Allen sank down to the floor and looked up miserably at Roman, whispering, "Is she gone? Are we going yet?"
Roman shook his head and looked out the window. "Just another minute."
The car pulled away and he watched Cami climb inside her limo. She turned just then, and looked toward his car. He didn't think she could see him through the dark glass, but he felt as if their eyes had met one last time, and he wished her every good thing in the world, for the rest of her life, and then she was out of sight, and the limo was rolling down the road.
"You can get up now,” he said, looking down at Allen.
Allen slowly clambered up onto his seat and slouched into the deep cushion.
"You would not believe what I went through this weekend." he sighed loudly.
"Oh, do tell." Roman laughed at him. "Wait... on second thought, I don't think I want to know." He reached over and clapped his hand down on Allen's knee. "At least you made it out alive, buddy. That's saying something. Most of her ex-husbands fall off the edge of the earth and no one ever hears from them again."
"Lucky bastards," groaned Allen.
Roman poured them both a drink and as Allen nursed his carefully, Roman stared out the window and watched his life come back into focus. By the time they reached San Francisco, he was almost sure that it had been a dream, and he would have been positive about that, had it not been for the thin silver bracelet around his wrist.
Chapter 2
Roman sat at his desk, reviewing the specs on a new yacht that a German manufacturer wanted him to buy, when the phone rang.
Janine's voice came over the intercom. "Roman, it's that cute little sales Captain from the Netherlands; you know, the one in Europe."
"Yes, thank you, Janine. Put him through." Roman smiled. Janine was from the Bronx. She dressed like it, she spoke like it, she looked and acted like it, and it was one of the reasons he hired her. No one got to him unless they got through her first, and that was a chore.
"This is Roman," he answered his phone when it rang.
"Hello Roman! This is Jonathon Heatherwick. How are you doing?" he asked in his jovial voice.
Roman grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Well hello, Captain! How are you doing this fine day?"
"I'm wonderful, thank you, but my, it's been so long since I saw you, when was the last visit we had?" the old captain asked, reminiscing.
Roman knew right away when the last visit was. He touched his wrist where the silver bracelet used to rest, until he took it off six months after the day he'd bought it. It hurt his heart too much to wear it, and Denise hated it. She constantly made ugly remarks about it to him, and he couldn't bear to listen to her any longer, so he took it off and hid it
in a special box in his closet.
"It was a year ago, good Captain,” he said solemnly. His mind flashed back to memories of her in his head. Memories that he only let filter through his thoughts once in a while, like sunlight on a foggy cloudy day, but those days were very few and far between. He focused on his business all of the time, and tried to keep up with his wife, and that was all.
"A year? Well that's too long. Listen, I have a new boat, and I want you to get the first crack at it. I'm going to bring it to you in San Francisco." Jonathon bubbled through the phone and Roman could hear the smile he knew the Captain was wearing.
"Well, if you're coming over here, please stay with me, I have tons of room in my house, and you're more than welcome to be my guest. I'd love to have you." Roman was glad to think of his old friend coming to the city.
Jonathon paused. "You still married to that woman?"
Roman blinked. "Denise? Yes." Jonathon had met her twice, and both times she had treated him like a barnacle on the bottom of a boat.
"Oh, well, uh.... I think I'll stay on the yacht. Thanks though, but it's a real dandy of a boat and I wouldn't want to trouble you at home." Jonathon stumbled through a declination.
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