Alaskan Exposure

by A. S. Fenichel

  “I want to go dancing,” she said.

  He smiled and leaned down. “Bob was right about one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That is some dress.” He pulled her tightly against his side.

  “Does that mean you like it?”

  He frowned. “It means that you are trying to get me to give up on my goal of taking you out dancing by enticing me with a dress that begs to be taken off.”

  Heat simmered in her belly. She felt the tug of a wicked smile at the corners of her mouth. “I would never try to divert you from your goals, Mr. Macintyre.”

  “What happened to that cautious woman who arrived aboard four days ago?”

  She liked the way his eyes lingered on hers and then panned down to the swell of her breasts. She didn’t know how to answer his question without offending him. Charley’s cautious side was just below the surface, watching for the first sign that she was in trouble. She already accepted that she might have her heart broken. So far, the last few days had been worth the risk.

  Shoving her doubt aside, she squeezed his arm and smiled.

  He looked down at her. Strains of The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men” were making their way out into the vestibule. “I’ve changed my mind.”

  Surprise must have shown on her face. He was laughing, but she was thinking about what he could have changed his mind about. Her? Dancing? What?”

  “This is a very big ship and this is not the only place to dance tonight.” He tugged her toward the elevator and pushed the up arrow.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Constellation Lounge.”

  She had not forgotten the location of their first date. Something about that location felt forbidden. She didn’t know why the dark-blue hues and dim lighting excited her. Her pulse already tripped when they arrived on deck ten. Smooth jazz notes trilled together to set a sultry mood.

  They didn’t look for a place to sit, but walked directly onto the wooden dance floor. The room rang with jazz and the low din of whispered voices. It was crowded, with most of the low chairs filled and grouped around the scattered coffee tables.

  Kyle pulled her into his arms. Her body fit against his perfectly. Charley’s heart was in her throat. She felt safe. There was no such thing as safe. Her marriage had taught her that. Still, she loved the feel of his arms around her, especially the one at her back guiding her around the floor with ease. Many other couples packed the dance floor. She barely noticed them. Everyone and everything faded into nothing and it was just the two of them on the dance floor.

  His cheek touched hers and his breath tickled her ear. “I wonder what is going on in that pretty head of yours.”

  “Do you?”

  “Are you thinking about the band and how good the music is?”

  She giggled. “No.”

  “Are you wondering how the ship turned so smoothly in the fjord the other day?”

  “It’s a good question, but no.”

  His lips touched the sensitive skin just in front of her ear. “What then?”

  “I was thinking about how nice it is to dance with you.”

  “Mmm. It is very nice. Where did you learn to dance?” His arm tightened around her and they moved sharply to the left to avoid another couple who were not paying attention.

  He’d avoided the collision with ease.

  The false feeling of safety returned. “My mother insisted on dance lessons. I took them until I was seventeen.”

  “Wow. I’m impressed. Most kids give up on those things at ten or eleven.”

  “Along with the photography, it was a good escape from what was happening at home.”

  Kyle moved them toward the side of the floor. “You mean your parents fighting?”

  She was impressed that he’d remembered. “They liked to use me as a pawn in their miserable marriage.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She smiled against his cheek. “Don’t be. I’ve moved far enough away that it’s not too bad anymore.”

  He pulled away suddenly and looked down at her. “You mean they’re still married and behaving the same way?”

  She felt the need to laugh and cry at the same time. His expression was comical but the situation with her parents was terribly sad. “Oh yes, they will likely be making each other miserable for the rest of their lives.”

  “That’s insane. Sorry. I know they’re your parents, but staying in a bad marriage for countless years seems nuts to me.”

  “It is nuts.” Her stomach clutched the way it always did when she thought of her parents.

  “Have you told them so?”

  The music changed to a very low sultry tune. The lights dimmed further. “Only about a hundred times. I live on one side of Florida and they live on the other side. It’s far enough that I don’t have to deal with them daily but close enough to get to them if I need to. So far they have been healthy and I just see them on holidays.”

  “That’s sad. I enjoy my parents. They’re wonderful and my sister too. I long for the time we spend together.”

  “Yet you have a job that keeps you away most of the time.”

  He laughed. “We are quite a pair, you and I.”

  “Maybe we should just dance, Kyle.”

  “Good idea.” He drew her slightly tighter and tucked her hand inside his, before pulling it close to his chest.

  Charley’s other hand toyed with the hair at the back of his neck. His leg fit nicely between hers as they moved slowly, rhythmically. The music felt as if it was poured rather than played. The guitar player sang in a low, bluesy voice. Kyle’s breathing and hers flowed in synchrony. They moved as one, smooth as silk on skin.

  His leg pressed to her pussy with each forward move and she in turn stepped back. Moisture pooled between her legs. Her heart raced. They may as well have been naked in the crowded Constellation Lounge. The entire dance was foreplay.

  When Kyle stepped back and she moved forward, his cock was evident against her hip.

  The music stopped and they were forced to stand still while the musicians made some change in instrument and tuning.

  She looked up and his desire was clearly evident within those bright-blue eyes. “Where did you learn to dance?”

  A wicked smile curled one side of his mouth.

  She couldn’t help smiling in return. “Uh oh.”

  “On one of my early cruises, I dated the dance instructor onboard the ship. She was an excellent teacher.”

  Charley didn’t know whether to be jealous or amused. She couldn’t help laughing. “She certainly was.”

  The music started again. Couples packed the dance floor that Charley and Kyle had never left. Immediately his arms came around her, pulling her close. They moved around the floor with the sultry strains of jazz. His shaft was rigid between them and she was dripping with desire.

  “Charley?”

  “Yes.”

  “If we keep this up, I’m afraid I may embarrass myself on the dance floor.”

  She burst out laughing. “We can’t have that.”

  He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Would you mind if we went back to my stateroom sooner rather than later?”

  “I’ve noticed that our attempts at dancing never seem to last very long.”

  He leaned down until his lips were next to her ear. “It’s because you are so hot, I can’t resist you. I want to be inside you making you come over and over.”

  She gasped. Her clit pulsed at his words and the tickle of his breath on her ear. “Let’s go.”

  They exited the lounge the same way they had entered, never having spoken to another person in the room. If anyone he knew had been in there, he’d ignored them as far as she could tell. His only interest seemed to be her.

  They practically ran to the elevator bank. Then they waited. Kyle tapped his foot.

  “Do you think you can manage a few steps down in those shoes?”

  She didn’t even bother to answe
r before turning and heading down the steps toward deck nine and Kyle’s room.

  Neither one of them said anything on the mad dash down the steps and then a short hallway. Luckily, both the Constellation Lounge and Kyle’s quarters were at the forward end of the ship. Within minutes, he was sliding his keycard in the door and she heard the click of the lock releasing with relief.

  She practically pushed him inside and began tugging his jacket off his shoulders. His lips devoured hers and his fingers made quick work of the zipper clasping her dress in the back. It slid down to the floor leaving her standing in strappy gold sandals and black thong panties.

  It was warm in the room but a shiver ran down her spine. Her entire body drummed with excitement. “I want you inside me.”

  He looked down at her nearly naked body. “Charley, dear god, you are going to be the end of me.”

  His mouth covered hers again. His tongue pressed inside her mouth, warring with hers and leaving her gasping for air.

  He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pressed her against the mirrored wall with more force than she would have thought she’d like. She was wrong. His inability to control his passion fueled hers, and her pussy soaked the tiny triangle of satin that still covered it.

  His mouth moved to her neck sending shock waves to her nipples and clit. She was gasping and calling his name. The woman in Kyle’s arms was a stranger to her.

  With her pressed tightly between his hard body and the wall, he held her with only one arm. She heard the unzipping of his fly. His fingers pulled her thong to one side, lingering in her wet folds. He concentrated on her clit making her scream and tighten her grip with her legs. She needed more of him. An instant later, he was inside her with one smooth thrust. They both moaned loudly and he didn’t move for a moment as her pussy adjusted to fit him.

  She was close to coming before he’d even entered her. The dancing had made her pussy hum with desire. His desperation for her and the way he looked at her nearly sent her over the edge. She relaxed her legs only enough so that he could move back a few inches and drive into her again and again. Every thrust caused sensations to crash around her. Her body pulsed and throbbed.

  Kyle held her ass in place. His fingers slid closer to her anus. When one reached the sensitive puckered hole and traced a path around it, she erupted. Her body quaked and her sheath convulsed around his thick cock.

  He moaned and thrust quickly several times. “No condom,” he mumbled and then cursed.

  She felt hollow when he pulled out of her and pressed his cock between their bodies while he spilled his seed against her abdomen.

  Her feet slid to the floor but only for an instant before Kyle lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. “You make me lose my mind,” he said.

  He placed her carefully on the bed, and she scurried under the covers. “Is that good or bad?”

  He slipped under the covers next to her and laughed. “Yes to both, but if you’re on birth control, even better.”

  Charley let him pull her close. “I’m on the Pill. I haven’t had much sex since discovering Pete’s extramarital activities. After that, I got tested.”

  He hugged her. “I’ve been tested too, but I still should have taken the time to keep you safe. I’m sorry.”

  She liked the sound of that. “I think we were equally to blame.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  She shrugged. How could she deny him after everything they’d shared?

  “Have you ever had a positive relationship?”

  The familiar feeling of her heart lodging in her throat returned. “What do you mean?”

  She tried to pull away but he held her close and kissed the top of her head. Somehow, the pressure of his lips on her hair had a very calming effect on her. Once again, the sense of being part of something flooded her.

  “You told me a little about your marriage and your parents. I just wondered if you have ever had a positive relationship with someone you love.”

  It sounded pretty pathetic when he said it that way. When she gave it some thought though, she answered, “Jules.”

  She could feel him smiling. “Thank god for Jules.”

  She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words. “I know Jules seems as if she’s just a party girl, but there’s a lot more to her. She’s been through a lot. She deserves to party.”

  “Does she still think I’m bad for you?”

  Charley thought about it. “She’s just protective. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t come into my life and forced me to get back to photography. She’s the one who talked me into opening my studio. If it wasn’t for Jules, I would never have gotten this job.”

  He adjusted in the bed until she could see his face. His blue eyes sparkled in the dim lighting. “I’m glad you have a friend like her. She’s probably right to try to protect you from me.”

  Thoughts about what would happen on Friday when she left the ship caused her chest to tighten. She was in love with Kyle Macintyre, a man who was completely unavailable. Maybe there was a way to make it work, but she couldn’t see it. “Stop it,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Whatever you’re thinking about me and my life, stop it. I have never felt this way, Charley. I know you think this is something I do every cruise, but you’re wrong.”

  In spite of her efforts to be optimistic, she knew her face betrayed her skepticism.

  “I’m not saying that I don’t fool around. I would never insult your intelligence by lying to you. I’m in a unique position on this ship. I get my fair share of room keycards passed to me during the average cruise. While I didn’t always use them, I often did. I enjoyed my life and I love women. I’m not going to apologize for that. This is different.”

  Her heart was beating so loudly, it was a wonder she could hear him at all. When she managed to speak, it came out just louder than a whisper. “How? How is this different?”

  His eyes shifted from side to side and he sat up. She wished she’d kept her mouth shut and just enjoyed an affair with a gorgeous sailor and let it go at that. She could walk off this ship and back to her own life and never look back. Unfortunately, that was not the kind of woman Charley was, and it was even more regrettable that she had fallen for this particular sailor.

  She expected him to clam up and walk away or find some excuse to leave his own cabin. She even imagined herself making her way back to her own stateroom and hoping that Jules was out for the night so that she could cry herself to sleep in peace. The tears were already trying to make their way to her eyes. She swallowed hard and pushed them away as best she could.

  Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to think about where her dress had landed. She tried to stand when suddenly a strong arm banded around her middle. Kyle was behind her with his legs flanking hers on both sides and his chin resting on her shoulder as he pulled her back against his chest.

  “Don’t leave, Charley. I don’t want you to leave. I want you to stay with me.” He kissed her shoulder where it curved into her neck.

  One tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. She swiped it away, determined not to cry over a man she knew from the start would never be hers.

  When he spoke again, his voice was just above a whisper and his lips touched her ear. “I don’t know how it happened and I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve never felt this way before. I thought you were different from the moment I saw you, but I had no idea that I would fall in love with you, Charley.”

  Her body physically jerked from the impact of his words. She turned her head so fast that her nose smacked into his.

  He snapped his head back and laughed. Rubbing his nose, he said, “Not exactly the reaction I was expecting.”

  “You’re in love with me?”

  “I am.”

  The painful tears of disappointment that she had been so carefully holding back transformed into tears of shock and joy and spilled from he
r wide eyes.

  “I hope those are happy tears.” He said the words with a hint of amusement but something in his eyes told her that he was vulnerable. He’d splayed his heart out in front of her knowing that she could crush it with a word.

  More tears followed the first, her chest ached with emotion and her heart pounded. In a strange twist, another part of her body also reacted to Kyle’s declaration. Her pussy pulsed and flushed with fresh fluid. A few moments earlier, she’d thought she was sated and now her clit throbbed with need.

  In an instant her lips were on his, stopping whatever else he was about to say. She didn’t know if she really believed that he loved her and she didn’t want anything he said to sway her from what she wanted at that moment. She wanted to make love. Nothing else than to make love and believe, if only for a while, that the man she was with loved her above all others. It was a fantasy. She wanted it.

  Kyle grabbed her, pulling her around. When he lay back, he dragged her on top of his chest. His tongue swirled and danced with hers. The smattering of hair on his broad chest tickled her breasts and made her nipples tighten to hard pearls.

  She cried out against his open mouth. His tongue lashed out and licked her lip tracing a path. She closed her mouth, and he nibbled her full bottom lip tugging it between his teeth. His hands slid from the arch where her ass and back met, up her spine to her shoulders. Each caress fueled the fire stirring inside Charley. Her skin was hot and sensitive to his talented fingers.

  Gripping his shoulders, she pulled herself along his body rubbing his hard cock between them. The sound of him groaning out his pleasure caused her clit to tighten further. Her hips rocked along his shaft and her mouth covered his.

  Desperate. It was the only way to describe her need for him. She was desperate to have every bit of Kyle before the night was out. She kissed his cheek, chin, neck and up to his ear, before rolling to the side and getting up on her hands and knees so that she was perched perpendicular to his outstretched body. From here, she had a wonderful view of his perfect cock standing out in relief against his beautiful six-pack abs. She let her fingers trace a light path along the bumpy plane until they reached the thick head of his rod and tickled the very tip.