Between the Sheets

by P. J. Mellor

  He grinned down at her, eyes twinkling. “Nope, not me. I’m a firm believer in playing with you.” He slid his finger into her wetness, causing her hips to buck in an involuntary response.

  She arched again, plucking at her nipples, feeling especially hedonistic for so early in the morning.

  When her breath caught, she realized he had brought her to the edge of a promising climax. She opened her eyes to find him in the same place, his busy hands now still. “Why did you stop?”

  “I want you to come while I’m inside you.”

  Gazes locked, she spread her legs wider and pulled him into her embrace as he slid into her welcoming body.

  She honored his request.

  Limp from being thoroughly satisfied, Beth lolled against the side of the whirlpool tub, letting the hot water soothe muscles that she hadn’t used in a while. The all-over body wash Will was lovingly performing barely registered. Was there such a thing as sexual exhaustion?

  While her personal vibrator helped take the edge off her sexual frustration, she couldn’t honestly remember being so sated until she’d slept with Will.

  “Much better than a vibrator,” she mumbled.

  “Excuse me?”

  She lifted heavy lids. Did she say that out loud? She licked her lips, suddenly aware of the sexy way his soapy hands were moving on and in her body. “Um, I said you were much better than a vibrator. Much, much—aah!—better!” His fingers wiggled deep within her, setting off renewed sexual interest.

  He revolved his hand, his thumb flicking her nub to screaming awareness. “Can your vibrator do this?” He leaned close, his hand still embedded, and nipped at her breast with the tips of his teeth.

  Her climax took her by surprise, nearly drowning her in its delicious sensations. She sagged on the edge of the tub as residual aftershocks made her shiver.

  The jets fired up, jostling her relaxed body.

  “Or this?” Will pulled her from the side of the tub, arranging her like a rag doll with one leg hitched along the back side of the tub, the force of the jets vibrating her labia and clitoris in a very interesting way.

  Hello. Suddenly alert, sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

  Within seconds, her hips were undulating. She tried to stay still, casting a guilty and somewhat embarrassed glance at Will.

  He smiled and winked. “It’s okay, baby, let it go. I love watching you come.” He reached to tilt her hips a little more.

  The action must have tripped an internal switch, because she came to instant screaming awareness as her whole body responded.

  He patted her still-throbbing folds. “That was hot. But I think you could still manage at least a couple more.” Switching her position to a jet on the other side of the tub, he massaged her clit to life before he directed the jet at her from a slightly different angle.

  The results were remarkably similar, with her screaming her release within seconds.

  Slumped against the side of the tub, one leg still hitched on the side, Beth sat with her eyes closed while she waited for her breathing to slow to normal, her heart to stop trying to break through her ribs.

  She was dimly aware of the jets quieting, the gentle slosh and splash of water as Will climbed from the tub. Content, she would willingly stay until her skin shriveled.

  “Here we go.” Will’s disgustingly cheerful voice almost startled her as he gently lowered her leg, then lifted her from the tub.

  When did he drain the water?

  “Look what I found!” He held up a bottle of the now-hated gardenia oil. She knew she should have thrown the rest of the bottle away.

  She wanted to tell him not to come near her with that stuff but lacked the strength. Instead, she hung on his arm while he dried her off, then allowed him to carry her into the attached massage room and stretch her out on the draped table like a sacrificial virgin.

  The thought brought a smile to her lips. After what she and Will had done last night and again this morning, the term certainly did not apply to her.

  The cloying scent of gardenia filled the room. Before she could voice an objection, his hands smoothed the junk over her abdomen and over and around her breasts with sure, smooth strokes.

  “Okay, sweet thing, roll over before I’m overcome with lust. I don’t think that table will hold us both.”

  She rolled over and tried not to gag at the smell wafting around her. After all, he meant well. Not to mention the fact that he was sexy as all get-out, standing buck naked beside the massage table.

  “Ah-ah,” he said, “I saw that look.” He gave a playful slap to her behind. “No more massage for you. Well, not right now, anyway. Besides, we’re burning daylight.” He waggled his eyebrows at her when she sat up, gripping the sheet around her nudity. “Even in paradise, there are schedules to maintain.”

  “What schedules? I’m on vacation.” She hopped down and walked to the wardrobe where she’d hung her robe.

  “I took zee lib-erty of planning mademoiselle’s day.”

  She snickered. “Cut out the fake French accent; it’s creeping me out.”

  “Okay. Here’s the plan.” He stepped into his wrinkled boxers. “How about you make us some breakfast while I finish getting dressed? Then, while you make yourself even more gorgeous, I’ll run back home and pack us a lunch. And why, you may ask, am I packing our lunch?”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. Why are you packing a lunch?”

  “I’m glad you asked!” He winked. “Because we are going for a picnic and snorkeling. I know the perfect spot. Gorgeous and deserted.” He lowered his voice. “You could even snorkel in the nude if you wanted.”

  “What about you?”

  “Oh, yeah, I want you to snorkel nude. Ow!” He made a big production of rubbing his arm. “You’re a dangerous woman.” He turned her toward the door and patted her butt. “Now go get breakfast going. I’m starving!”

  She took two wrong turns but finally found the galley. The thing she’d thought was the galley was sort of a pantry-microwave area. With a start, she realized she’d never been in several of the rooms. Including the kitchen, er, galley.

  Too soon, Will came whistling down the hall. “Hey, hot stuff,” he called, “talk me in! I’m lost!”

  She knew the feeling. “In here. Follow the sound of my voice.” Frantically, she glanced around the kitchen. It could easily be a professional chef’s dream.

  It was more like her nightmare.

  She couldn’t even find the refrigerator, she realized after opening several wrong doors. Whose bright idea was it to blend all the appliances in with the cabinetry?

  “Aha!” Relief washed through her when she opened another cabinet, and a light came on as cold air wafted out.

  She picked up as many eggs as she could fit in her hand. She never ate eggs. How many should she cook?

  “Aha what?” Will’s voice, directly behind her, startled her.

  With a shriek, she jumped and the eggs made their escape.

  In slow motion, she watched as five eggs went up above her head and came down with a cracking splat, cool egg guts splashing her bare feet and ankles.

  Will hopped back. “Is this some kind of weird culinary skill I don’t know about, where you throw stuff on the floor?”

  She forced a returning smile. “Yeah, all the great chefs do it, I hear.” She glanced down at her feet. “That was your breakfast.”

  “Thanks. Good job, but I prefer mine a tad more done.” He started opening and closing drawers and cupboards. “Where is the bread? Let’s just grab a piece of toast and get going.”

  Beth looked around, trying to remember if she’d seen a loaf of bread. Stalling, she reached into the refrigerator and pulled out some whipped butter for their toast. Assuming there was a toaster.

  Will watched Beth and realized she had no better idea of where things were than he did. Poor little rich girl. She’d probably had servants taking care of her throughout her entire life and was lost without them.

&nb
sp; The thought was sobering. How could he compete with that? Although he’d done well and was doing better every day, he was far from being flush enough to have servants. After Beth had fallen asleep in the early morning hours, he’d lain awake, scared spitless because he had a sneaking suspicion he’d just become a statistic: he’d fallen in love at first sight.

  What he was going to do about it, he hadn’t a clue. He just knew he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible and hope things worked out the way he wanted.

  He wanted his own happily ever after.

  And he was pretty sure he wanted it with Beth.

  7

  Beth was ready and waiting on deck when Will came roaring up in his sleek boat.

  He cut the engine and threw the bowline loop over the docking post. After securing it, he hopped out and glanced up. “Ready?”

  Nodding, she grabbed her gear bag and stepped onto the ladder, acutely aware of Will’s eyes on her hot-pink-bikini-clad rear as she backed down.

  “Nice suit.” He winked as he helped her aboard.

  “Thanks.” She took in his ripped T-shirt and cutoffs. “Wish I could say the same.”

  “What?” He held his arms out to his sides. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  “Nothing.” She slid her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. “If you’re planning to do yard work.” Stashing her bag behind the seat, she sat down and propped her bare feet on the dash. “What are you waiting for?” She grinned up at him. “Oh, I get it, you planned for me to take the helm?”

  Biting her lip to hide her laughter, she watched him untie and then scramble to the captain’s chair to fire up the engine.

  When their takeoff roar had subsided, she shouted, “How far out are we going?”

  “Not far,” he yelled back, glancing over. “There’s a great little island not far from here. The lee side has a protected bay for sweet snorkeling.”

  Within minutes, they roared up to the tip of a barrier island and banked port. White sand sparkled along the azure water. Their wake caught up to them, gently rocking the boat.

  Will stood and handed her an oar. “I retracted the motor. We’ll have to paddle the rest of the way, then anchor about twenty meters from shore.”

  Nodding, she took the oar and dipped it in the water, waiting for him to be seated. A diver, a skilled lover, and a protector of the ocean’s ecosystem. What a guy.

  They dropped anchor and prepared to disembark.

  Beth slung her bag over her shoulder. “Do I need my water socks?” She peered over the starboard side and smiled at the antics of a knot of monkfish.

  “No, just kind of watch where you’re stepping. There’s a sharp drop-off about five meters port, but if we walk straight toward the beach, it’s not much above our knees.”

  “Do you need me to carry anything?”

  Picking up his gear bag, he hefted a huge cooler and smiled. “No, thanks, I got it.” He waited until she had her feet under her in the warm water, then jumped out, holding the cooler high above his head.

  Beth blinked away the saltwater spray from his jump and licked her lips. “This is deeper than just above the knee,” she pointed out as they trudged toward shore, her shirt floating out around her armpits. “Good thing I wore a bathing suit.” She looked pointedly at his attire.

  “My suit’s under my clothes.”

  “Smooth move.”

  His chuckle followed her as she slipped beneath the shallow surf and swam until her knees scraped sand. Much faster and more efficient than walking against the resistance of the water.

  Slogging to shore, she turned and saw Will trudging into the shallow water, holding the cooler balanced on his head.

  For the next few minutes, she admired the play of muscle with each sure step he took, his long stride eating up the distance.

  She glanced around as he approached and dropped the cooler to the sand. “Boy, you weren’t kidding when you said this beach was secluded. It’s as though we’re the only ones here.”

  He paused from opening the lid of the giant cooler. “We probably are.”

  “Where is everyone? I can’t believe no one knows about this place. It’s gorgeous!”

  “They know about it. But for some reason, no one comes here. Hungry?” He started handing her containers.

  “Starving!” Sex always made her hungry. After last night’s marathon session, it was amazing she hadn’t passed out from malnutrition. “What’s for lunch?”

  “I packed a little of everything, since I didn’t know what you’d like,” he hedged. Actually, he hadn’t packed the cooler; one of his staff had done it. He opened a square container and sniffed. “Seafood salad. There are crackers and utensils in the compartment under the lid. Grab some for me, too. Please.” He opened a large insulated square. “All right! Fried chicken.”

  “You sound surprised. I thought you packed it.”

  Damn. “All right, you caught me. I had it packed at Nick’s. They have great deals on boxed lunches.” Like free, when you own the place.

  “I’m not complaining.” She grabbed a chicken leg. “Hurry up, I’m starving!”

  “Eat.” Digging around in the bottom, he brought out two cans of iced tea. “Sweet or unsweet with lemon?”

  “Sweet, please.” Accepting the can, she popped the top and took a long swallow. “Ah! That’s good. Did you ever wonder why everything tastes better at the beach?”

  He grinned and handed her a plate and utensils, then passed the various containers. “I hate to break it to you, but we may be in the minority for feeling that way. Not everyone has an affinity for water. Me, I’d sleep in it if I could.”

  Her laugh startled some seagulls. “I have.”

  “Get out. Where?” Swallowing the rest of his piece of chicken, he spooned a small mountain of seafood salad onto his plate.

  “I kid you not.” She nodded when he held up the serving spoon, and he shoveled a pile of seafood salad onto her plate. “I spent so much time in our pool as a kid, my parents used to try to scare me and say they thought they saw gills forming.”

  “How cool would that have been?”

  She nodded. “I know! I used to watch Aquaman on TV and prayed I could have gills and be able to live underwater.”

  “Me too!” He drained his tea and reached for another can. “But how did you sleep in the water?”

  “Well, I guess technically I didn’t. But every summer, the day before school started, my folks allowed me to spend the night in the pool. We had a huge float, about the width of a king-size bed. My sister and I slept on it. Sort of like camping.”

  “Is she a diver now, too?”

  Her smile faded. “No.” She scraped her plate off by the edge of the water and watched the hungry seagulls swoop down and gobble it up. “Sarah doesn’t have much use for the water these days.” She looked out across the water and took a deep breath of sea air. “She lost her husband and kids in a boating accident a few years ago.”

  “God. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what that would be like.”

  “I came as close as I ever would want to be to knowing, living through it with her.” Sniffing, she wiped her eyes and smiled. “So, what’s the name of this island, and where are all the people?”

  “It’s uninhabited. It’s just a small barrier island. This is the only decent stretch of beach.”

  “Does it have a name?”

  “Bear Island.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Her gaze swept the dense vegetation edging the beach. “Is it because there are, ah, bears?”

  He shrugged and popped a black olive into his mouth and chewed. “Used to be, I guess.” His voice was low as he bent over the cooler, pushing containers around. “I’ve never seen any, though.”

  “How often have you been here?”

  “Will you stop looking like that? I’ve been to this beach more times than I can count, ever since I was a kid.” He tugged her to sit next to him on the blanket he’d spread over the hot sa
nd. “If there were bears, I’d have seen them. Here. Have some cheesecake and put the bears out of your mind.”

  She took a begrudging bite, her gaze darting back and forth along the trees while she chewed.

  “Want some strawberries on—oh, here, take another piece of cheesecake.”

  “Don’t laugh at me,” she said around a plump strawberry, swiping at the juice escaping from her mouth. “I always eat when I’m scared.” She swallowed. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking off my clothes so they can dry out. If you want, you can hang your shirt on the other end of the cooler so it can dry, too.”

  Bending to the task, he stepped out of his cutoffs, flipping them up with his foot and catching them midair, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

  Why do guys think dorky stuff like that is cool? She shook her head and bit back a smile.

  “Go ahead,” he said, shaking out his shirt and draping it over the cooler. “Strip.”

  “That could have a different connotation than what you meant.”

  “I wouldn’t mind.”

  Neither would she. But, for now, she just hung her T-shirt on the cooler.

  “Okay, ready to show me this great snorkeling site?” After shaking sand from her gear bag, she turned as she reached for her fins.

  Will lay stretched out on the blanket, as naked as the day he was born, only with sunglasses on.

  And a lot sexier.

  8

  Mouth suddenly dry, she swallowed, her pulse pounding. “I thought we were going snorkeling.”

  One side of his mouth quirked. He slowly shook his head, sunlight flashing from the lenses of his Oakleys. “We need to wait a while after we eat. You should know that.”

  “Oh, what a crock. We’ll be snorkeling, for goodness sake, barely under the water most of the time. It’s not like we’re going to get the bends. Snorkeling isn’t that rigorous.”

  He lay back on the blanket. “Well, I’m going to take a little siesta, so you’re out of luck, because I won’t be showing you around until later.”