by Alexa Davis
I chuckle. “So, what are you saying?” I ask again.
“I guess what I’m saying,” she tells me, dumping the bottles in the trash, “is that I’m ready to start thinking long term. I’ve been half in and half out of this relationship because I just assumed it was going to end, but I think from the outset, you’ve been trying to show me that I had it wrong. It just took me until now to see it.”
Nothing could chisel the grin off my face.
Chapter Nine
The Rising Tide
Ellie
The morning breeze is the perfect accent to the morning as I lay myself down on the soft beach towel I’ve set out on the deck. Last night, I convinced Nick to go in late to work, but I just heard his alarm.
He’s done so much for me over the short time I’ve known him; I decided to prepare a little surprise for him this morning. I’m still waiting for Troy to follow through with the bonus I’m owed, but there are other ways I can surprise Nick.
Besides, what do you buy a man who can buy anything?
The breeze is starting to feel cold against my skin, but as the French doors open behind me, my body heats up fast enough.
“Hey,” Nick says. “Getting some sun?”
“Waiting for you, actually,” I tell him, shielding my eyes from the sun to look at him. He’s in a white bathrobe. “I thought I’d surprise you.”
“Yeah?” he asks and sits on the deck next to me. “Does the surprise have anything to do with you being naked?” he asks.
I just grin.
Nick bends down to kiss me on the lips, and I wrap my arms around him and pull his upper body closer to me. My tongue greets his in a swirling dance, and by the time I loosen my grip, we’re both breathing heavily.
“You remember last night how I told you I was half in, half out before?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he breathes.
“I thought I’d start making up for that this morning,” I say. “So here I am,” I tell him, sitting up. “I’m all-in. No more holding back, no more closing off and I want you to have me any way you want me.”
It’s an incredible boost to the ego, making a man like Nick blush, but he’s not timid. He runs his fingers through my hair and pulls me to him, kissing me with a kind of urgency I’ve never felt.
He sets his other hand on my knee and slowly glides it up the inside of my leg, toward my eager heat, but he stops just short, teasing my inner thigh with his feathery touch. Just when it feels like he’s about to go that last inch or two, he pulls his hand away and slowly rises to his feet.
“Well, well,” I say, making quite the show of staring at the front of his robe.
He extends an open hand to me, and I take it, using his aid to rise to my feet.
Even though I checked before I lost the bathing suit, I take a quick look up and down the beach, making sure we’re well out of view of any neighbors. The coast is clear, and Nick is kissing the bend of my neck, gently sucking the skin.
I set my hands side-by-side on his chest and slowly move them downward, parting the front of the robe as I go. The robe tie around his waist comes apart without difficulty.
Nick kisses me on the lips, and I slither my arms around the bare skin of his upper body, the flaps of his robe cocooning much of my body as I press myself against him.
His erection is firm and throbbing, resting against the skin of my abdomen, and I can’t wait to find out what he has in mind.
Nick slips the robe from his shoulders, leaving us bare, embracing. He looks down at me, saying, “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I say, blushing. “It’s just a little something I threw together.”
His hands move down my back. He leaves one hand to rest just above my ass, but the other keeps going until he’s leaning to one side, encouraging me to raise my right leg with the motion of his hand.
I do, and he guides my leg upward and around his body before returning the hand to meet the other at the small of my back.
He slides his hands up my sides and sucks on my earlobe while I angle my lower body just enough to get my hand in between us, and I’m stroking him.
Nick slides his hands down my sides once more and bends his knees a little. In a moment, I go from caressing his magnificent cock to guiding it into me.
A wave of affection flows through me as he penetrates my center, and I’m so wet he doesn’t need to be slow about it.
I rest my arms on his neck, bringing my hands around to hold the back of his head as he gently sucks my bottom lip.
Nick’s hands move from my hips to my ass, and in the next second, he’s lifting me off the ground. He’s still inside me as he turns, so I’m facing the ocean and positions himself on the towel.
He holds me there a moment, and I watch the ocean waves rolling to shore as a different type of movement raises and lowers me, quivering over him.
Slowly, deliberately, he lowers us both down until we’re sitting, my legs behind him, his behind me.
He slips one hand between us, his palm against my skin, and he nestles his hand between my breasts before delicately encouraging me back, back until I’m supporting myself, my hands on the deck.
He leans back, mimicking my position and as I come down on him again, his hardness fills me until I don’t know if I can breathe with him so deep inside me.
“Hoy shit,” I moan as we almost separate before coming back together again.
He suppresses a smile, and guides one of his hands up my leg as before, only this time, he doesn’t stop until the pad of his thumb is massaging my clit in tiny, rapid circles.
I gasp and moan, because I’ve lost the ability to breathe otherwise, and I swirl my hips, feeling him press against every inch inside of me. His hand moves with me.
The sound of the waves is growing louder, and I can feel the first beads of sweat trickling over my bare skin. Nick lies back all the way, making sure to let me get my feet out from under him as he does.
Riding him now, I gaze at his muscular chest as it heaves before me.
I lean forward, my hands on his shoulders now, and our lips meet in an electrical spark that starts my body quaking.
He keeps the rhythm under his control, his hands on my hips.
That same wave of affection I felt when we started floods back over me as that final sliver of tension breaks, and I come so hard I can hardly see the beach in front of me.
Nick’s abs tense beneath me, and I smother him with long, soft kisses as he’s moving so fast now.
His hands leave my hips, and he pulls out of me. Grabbing himself with one hand, he gasps as I feel his hot seed fall in ropes on my back.
I lay my head on his chest as our bodies raise and lower with heavy breath.
I’m so relaxed, so comfortable and safe in his arms, that I drift off for a moment. When I come back to full consciousness, Nick has worked the towel most of the way from under him, and he’s running it over my back, cleaning me, drying me.
“I honestly think you sent me into a different dimension there for a minute,” I tell him.
His body jerks beneath me, and he starts laughing. “You startled the hell out of me,” he says. “I thought you were still out—fantastic compliment, by the way.”
I chortle and pat him on the chest as I rise to my knees.
Inside, I can hear the phone ringing. I groan.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’ll just be a minute.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “Do what you need to do. I’m probably going to need a few before I’m able to walk again properly anyway.”
We share a smile as I lift myself the rest of the way to my feet. He collects the towel and heads for the door while I walk over to stand at the railing above the beach to look over the ocean.
Nick goes inside, but I still feel the memory of his body so warm against mine. After a minute watching the rise and fall of the seemingly endless Atlantic, I head in after him.
I’m on my way to the nearest bathroom fo
r a shower when Nick calls my name from another room.
I follow the sound of his voice to the kitchen, and he holds up his phone to me, saying, “It’s for you.”
“For me?” I ask. “Who is it?”
“It’s your sister,” he says.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
I take the phone and put it to my ear. “Hey, Na—”
“Where the hell are you?” she asks. “You haven’t been home in like three weeks, and your cat is tearing up the house.”
“Yeah, Sammie’s kind of an asshole if you don’t give him attention when he wants it,” I say.
“And is there any way to keep your dog from getting in the trash?” she asks. “Seriously, I’ve tried everything, but as soon as I turn my back, I hear that damn rustling again.”
“Have you been taking him for walks?” I ask.
She groans. “You need to get home,” she says. “I know I’m supposed to give you some leeway because you’re paying the rent and all, but how long are you going to drag out your rich-guy fantasy, anyway? You know you’re all over the news, right?” she asks.
“I’m aware,” I sigh.
“Don’t let your Bohemian sex trip become the only thing people ever know about you,” she says. “Besides, how much longer do you think it’s going to last anyway? Just come home. You’ve had your fun. Now it’s time to get back to the real world.”
Always a ray of sunshine, my sister.
“If you need me, of course, I’ll come home,” I tell her. “As for the rest of it, though, I’d say Nick and I are probably going to be together a while, so you might want to get used to seeing my face next to embarrassing captions at the checkout stands across the country.”
“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Naomi says with a lilt in her voice that almost sounds like surprise.
“I just told you. Nick and I made things official,” I tell her. “We’re a couple. Seriously, though, I’ll talk to him and see when I can get back there to take care of Max and Sammie.”
“Whoa, let’s not rush into anything,” she says.
“What?”
“I didn’t know the two of you were like a real thing; I thought he was just using you for sex while you used him for money,” she says.
If only she could see the one-sided smile creep up my face. The only real perk I’ve gotten out of her studies into facial expressions is it’s a lot easier now to show her my contempt. Of course, it doesn’t do much good over the phone.
“I think that’s the nicest way anyone’s ever called me a prostitute,” I tell her.
She breaks into a loud, overdone laugh. “Oh, that’s not what I was saying, and besides, you two are in a relationship,” she coos. “This is such incredible news!”
“Seriously?” I ask. “You’re going to try doing a one-eighty and just hope I don’t notice?”
“No, not at all,” she says. “I was just trying to protect you because I misunderstood the kind of relationship the two of you have. You set me straight, though. Ouch.”
She never kisses my ass like this.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“Me?” she asks. “Why would I want anything?”
“Because you’re treating me like I’m that extra particular type of stupid,” I tell her.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she says. “You know, I never really got to meet Nick. The two of you left that night so quickly I hardly got to introduce myself even.”
“And here it comes,” I narrate.
“What?” she asks. “You’re my only sister. If I don’t look out for you, who will?”
“I’ve been doing all right looking after myself,” I tell her.
She scoffs. “Yeah, I can tell from all the gossip columns with you in the leading role,” she says.
She does have a bit of a point.
“I take it you’re angling for a flight out here?” I ask.
“Why, Ellie,” she starts.
I interrupt, “Oh, will you stop with that?”
“Yeah,” she says. “When can you get me out here?”
“Hold on,” I tell her. “You can’t just leave Sammie and Max in the apartment all alone.”
“I can’t carry a golden retriever,” she says. “Isn’t there anyone else who can watch them?”
“Hold on a sec,” I tell her. Covering the phone, I call, “Hey, Nick?”
“Yeah?” he returns from the main room.
It’s funny how I only remember I’m naked when I start walking toward Nick.
“Naomi’s lobbying for us to fly her out here,” I tell him. “I say it’s up to you, but if she does come out here, we’re going to have to figure out a way to bring Sammie and Max, too.”
“That won’t be a problem,” he says. “Most of the people who went out to the Mulholland office are still there. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll make a couple of calls.”
“All right,” I say into the phone, “we’re going to send someone to get the three of you.”
Naomi gasps. She says, “Oh my god, thank you so much. You have no idea how much I …”
She’s still going, but I’m standing here watching Nick look at me. He has that look in his eyes, and I’m ready for more.
“Yeah, Nan, I’m gonna have to let you go,” I say into the phone and hang up.
* * *
Nick’s still at work when there’s a knock on the door. I still don’t know why he got her out here so quick. I would say I didn’t know how, but I’m starting to see how money can change things.
I open the door and Naomi’s standing there with her oversized sunglasses and her best Jackie O. outfit. “Oh my god, it is so great to be here finally. You wouldn’t believe the flight I had,” she says, pushing her way past me and into the house. “This place is fantastic!”
Behind her, Trevor is unloading Max’s crate from the back of the car, and I go to help him while Naomi makes herself too much at home.
Trevor and I get Max’s carrier set down on the ground, and he’s whining and wagging his tail.
“Oh, I’m so happy to see you too, buddy,” I tell him. “We’ll let you out in just a second.”
“The gate to the property is closed,” Trevor says. “We can let him out now if you wish.”
I follow Trevor’s gaze up the long walk to the front door.
“Did she bring his leash?” I ask. “I just don’t want him getting around back and running off down the shore.”
Trevor ducks his top half back into the car and comes back out with Max’s leash in one hand and Sammie’s crate in the other.
“Hey there, Sammie!” I say to my tabby, but he couldn’t be less interested.
I get Max on his leash and Trevor’s kind enough to bring Sammie in, but once we’re inside the house, Naomi is nowhere to be found.
“I hope you don’t mind me saying, ma’am,” Trevor says, closing the front door, “but your sister’s a real firecracker.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry to inflict her on you like that,” I tell him.
Trevor smiles, “Oh no, it was a pleasure.” He gives the main room a quick once-over and, with a very red face, he says, “If there isn’t anything else, I should get over to Stingray so Mr. Scipio doesn’t have to wait on me.”
“Thanks again, Trevor,” I tell him. “You’re the best.”
He glances around one last time and then shows himself out.
I bend down and let Max off his leash, giving him a good, long round of attention. I’d do the same with Sammie, but he took off once his crate was open.
“Come on,” I tell Max. “Let’s find Naomi.”
Max takes off like a shot down the hallway, and I just start laughing. Even with all the hassle Max gives Naomi, he adores her.
I follow him down the hallway, but a moment later, he’s running back toward me to make sure I’m on my way. The next instant, he’s running back down the long hall.
This is the furthest I’ve been into the beach house s
o far, but Max just keeps taking me down more hallways until he comes to stop at an open door. He sits and I could swear he’s smiling as he watches me.
I get to the doorway and Naomi’s inside, looking through papers.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Come here,” she whispers.
I shake my head. “You should put those down,” I tell her. “Those are Nick’s.”
“Duh,” she says. “I told you I wanted to come out here to protect you. I can’t do that very well unless I have all the information.”
“What exactly do you think you’re going to find going through his business papers?” I ask.
“They’re not business papers,” she says. “They’re mostly receipts from what I can tell, but it’s still super exciting.”
“Naomi, I’m not joking. Put that stuff down,” I command.
She rolls her eyes at me, but sets the papers back on the desk, saying, “Fine.”
I run over to the desk and straighten the papers. In the next breath, I realize two things: First, I have no idea where these documents are supposed to go or how he arranged them. Second, Naomi’s not in the room anymore.
Closing the door behind me, I leave the room.
Max wags his tail and then runs off, so I follow him. I expect him to lead me to where Naomi is again, but once we get back to the main room, he picks a spot on the floor and lies down.
“Naomi!” I call out, but there’s no answer.
This is the downside of houses like this. She could be anywhere, and as long as she hears me coming and relocates, it could take hours for me to find her.
“Nan!” I shout.
Still no answer.
Finally, I stop playing nice, “Nan, if you don’t tell me where you are I’m going to have Nick send over some of his guys to take you back to the airport!”
“I’m in here!” Naomi calls, and I follow the sound to a room just off the main hall.
She’s standing in front of a large painting. If I knew anything about art, I’d probably be able to tell you which of the masters painted it, but to me, it just looks like an incoherent blob of color.
“Check this out,” Naomi says and grabs one corner of the painting’s frame.
