by Tia Louise
“It’s the law of attraction.”
“You’ve heard of it?” She smiles, and I trace my finger across her prominent collarbone as I continue. “I liked the idea that it’s necessary to feel out of control sometimes. Feeling uncertain is something we all share, but you have to take that step anyway. Otherwise, you stop moving, and you stagnate.”
“If you’re a shark and you stop moving you die.” Her green eyes sparkle, and I know what she’s referencing.
“I see you’ve heard the old lawyer-shark analogy.”
“Someone reminded me.” She glances down at the silicone champagne flute in her hand then takes another sip. “This is good,” she says.
“Tell me what you want most in life.”
A small line pierces her brow, and she’s quiet. After what I’ve just shared with her, I hope she’ll open to me. I know how she withdraws, and all I can do is hold on, hope. I have to see if she’ll take a chance with me, and when she answers, warm satisfaction floods my stomach.
“Freedom.” Her expression is serious.
I’m so fucking pleased, I want to kiss her, but I keep my face steady. Tracing my finger along the line of her lips, I watch as her breath slowly swirls in and out.
“Me, too,” I answer gently.
“Yes, but I want it all my life, as long as I live.” She rolls to the side and places her glass on the sideboard before returning to face me. “In life it seems you always arrive at the point where one person has to give up their freedom, has to sacrifice what they want for the other. It’s always the woman.”
I slide my hand over her cheek, smoothing back the tiny strands of hair that came loose with the blindfold. She’s opening to me, and I have to be careful how I answer her.
“You’re right,” I say. Her full lips press together, and I lean forward to kiss them lightly before continuing. “What can we do about it?”
“You can’t do anything about it. I’ve decided never to get to that point.”
Sliding my hand up, I press the pad of my thumb to her bottom lip and pull slightly. Her teeth are so white and straight. I remember her sucking my thumb, and heat stirs my cock. “What about children?”
She lifts her chin. “If I decide that’s something I need, I’ll figure out what to do about it.”
“Amy.” It’s a hushed statement. My arms move back around her, gathering her to me. “Being in a relationship doesn’t have to be that way. What if I promise not to let it?”
Her fingers trace the line of my jaw. “In the beginning it’s easy to say that. Every man I’ve been with has said something like that, but after a while, six months or a year, it’s forgotten.” She’s not fighting me; she’s only stating her experience.
Dipping my chin, I pull a fingertip between my lips and give it a suck. I love the way her breathing changes when I touch her. It tells me so much more than her words will allow.
“How do they forget?” I ask.
“A million different ways. From deciding where we’ll live to accepting job offers without discussing it with me to buying my clothes or cars.”
“Sounds like you’ve been with a string of assholes.”
She stretches up and kisses me. “It’s the way we’re wired, darling. We can’t help thinking of ourselves first. The problem is when you’re tied to someone she goes where you go. Or in my case, she doesn’t, and it ends.”
The words twist anger in my stomach. She will go wherever I go—or vice versa if that’s what she wants. This woman can have everything she wants. As long as I can have her.
“Maybe it will, but maybe it won’t.” I keep my voice controlled, steady. “What’s stopping us from giving it a try?”
“Marcus.” Pushing against me, she sits forward in the bed, her smooth back curving as she leans her breasts against her thighs.
I sit up next to her, running my lips along the top of her shoulder. “Why are you afraid?”
Her shoulder rises, and she places her chin on it. I kiss that mouth again, but I want her to tell me. “Why won’t you let me show you I’m different?”
Blinking rapidly, she doesn’t answer right away. When she does, it’s not exactly what I want to hear, but I’ll take it.
“I want you to fuck me like you did in your office.” Her arms loosen over her legs, and she straightens beside me.
“I don’t feel like I did in my office.” I reach for her, leaning down to kiss the top of her breast. “I’ll make love to you.”
“No,” she whispers. “I want to fuck.”
My dick twitches, growing harder, but I want to take my time. I want to love her like I did when she was blindfolded, only this time I want her to see who is making her fall apart. I want to kiss every inch of her body and run my tongue along the places I know make her scream—her nipples, her stomach, her clit.
“I’m going to take my time.”
Her body stiffens and she tries to struggle out of my embrace. I only tighten my hold. Catching my cheeks, she looks straight into my eyes. “See? It’s already starting.”
God dammit. She struggles more, but now I’m pissed. “Fine. You want fucking? I’ll fuck you.”
Lifting her, I toss her back against the mattress.
“I’m not in the mood anymore.” She’s on her knees attempting to crawl out of the bed, but I catch her ankle and pull her right back. “Stop!” She shouts, trying to kick, but she’s on her stomach exposing her cute little ass. I give it a sharp slap.
“Marcus!” She squeals, trying to turn over. I hold her a moment, rubbing my palm over the red mark appearing on her skin. I’m feeling it again. My erection starts to ache, and I loosen my hold. She flips onto her back, but I’m on her just as fast.
“I said I’m not in the mood,” she pushes against me, but it’s less forceful.
Her arms are at my chest, so I catch her wrists. “Then I’ll have to get you back in the mood.”
“You can’t control me!”
Both hands are pinned over her head now, and she’s breathing rapidly, her breasts rising and falling against my bare chest. I lean down and look straight into her gorgeous eyes. “Yes, I can.”
Our mouths crash together, and she twists in my arms. My leg goes between her thighs, and she moans. I don’t need my hands for this. Making my way to my knees, I release her mouth and move lower pulling a tight nipple between my lips, nipping it with my teeth.
“Oh... stop it!” She gasps, twisting her arms, trying to get her wrists free.
“No.” My mouth moves lower, to that birthmark, and I pull it in a hard kiss, sucking and biting, marking her. “No fucking angels. You’re mine.”
“I’m not anybody’s!”
The spot flames red, and my stomach fills with hot satisfaction. I release her wrists and grab the back of her thighs, so I can dip down to do the same to her lower stomach.
“Oh, god! Stop!” Her hands are in my hair, but she’s not fighting me. She’s pulling my face closer, moaning as I suck and bite her soft skin. I pull back, and another red mark blooms right at her hipbone.
She sits up, and our faces are close. Her eyes flash, and I reach for her cheeks, pulling her mouth firmly against mine. A little whimper comes from her throat, and she scoots onto my thighs, straddling me. My erection points straight up between us, and I feel her frantically grasping me, pumping my shaft. I groan in her mouth, and she moves higher positioning me to be inside her.
She lowers, plunging my dick into her hot wetness, and we both groan loudly. She’s on her knees straddling me, rising and falling fast as she rides my cock. I reach down and grab her ass cheeks in both my hands, kneading them before I give one another hard slap. It makes her jump higher against my chest, moaning as she wraps her arms around my neck, bucking faster against my hips.
Her eyes close, and I slide a hand up her back taking a firm hold of her hair. I give it a sharp pull. “Marcus...” Her voice is a low gasp, and with one more firm pull, her insides break into convulsions around my dick.<
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Dropping us back on the bed, I lift her knee and drive deeper into her clenching core. She’s moaning, and I’m rocking into her harder, harder, deeper, fucking her.
Her arms go out to the sides before rising over her head and pushing against the headboard. Our skin slaps together, and I’m losing the ability to focus. Pressure burns so tight in my pelvis, I know this is going to be huge.
Three more rock hard thrusts, and I’m gone, exploding and groaning, filling her as she moans in the sheets. I have to reach out and hold the wall to steady myself. I’m shuddering and pretty sure I’ve left my body.
“Fuck, Amy. Fuck.” My forehead drops onto my arm as I hold still, buried inside her, pulsing as the aftershocks shimmer through my hips.
I’m not sure I can move, but she unwinds herself from my embrace, rising onto her knees and cupping my cheeks with both hands. Her kisses are feather-light against my mouth, and I gather her in my arms. Lowering us both onto the mattress, I hold her tight in my embrace.
“That was...” I don’t have words for how this woman makes me feel. “Something.”
Her body moves in response, and I hold her tighter. We only breathe into each other for a few quiet moments.
Finally, she whispers. “You should give me what I want.”
Lifting my chin, I kiss her jawline into her hair, savoring our ability to come together so spectacularly. “Baby, I’ll give you everything you want.”
Reaching for my hands, she laces our fingers and inhales deeply. Then she turns in so her back is against my chest. I spoon her, holding her tightly around the waist. Her hands are firm against my arms, and we drift.
* * *
We’ve been naked for almost twenty-four hours. Yesterday was a haze of lovemaking, drinking more wine, talking, feeding each other chicken salad for dinner, more fucking, more wine, cold pizza, skinny-dipping once the sun set, more fucking... finally we collapsed to sleep all night, only to wake up and start all over.
Now Amy’s lying on her back in the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I’m watching her from where I’m cooking us eggs for breakfast, wondering if it’s possible for us to never leave this boat.
“Some people sell all their belongings and just sail full time,” I say absently. It’s not something I’d do, but the idea has always fascinated me, even more so now.
“What do they do for food?” She rolls onto her side, head on her hand watching me, morning light shimmering in her hair. It takes me a moment to remember what I said.
“Oh, I suppose they keep some money in the bank.”
Slipping out of the bed, she picks up my blue shirt and pulls it over her naked body, buttoning the two center buttons. Then she takes a band and ties her hair up in a high ponytail. I’m trying to figure out how everything she does is so supremely sexy.
“But eventually that would run out.” She drops a pod into the coffee machine and slides a mug in place. “So they must work somewhere.”
The eggs are cooked, toast popped. I prepare two plates and hand her one. “You’re right.” I smile, watching as she blinks up at me. “But I bet finding jobs around the islands is pretty easy.”
Going to the table, she picks up the napkin that yesterday served as a blindfold. I’ll never look at it the same way again.
“The ultimate freedom. I bet...” She slips into the booth and takes a bite of egg. “Mm—this is good!”
“Thanks,” I grin at her surprise. “I’ve been cooking for years.”
“Oh, right. Because of your mom.”
Guilt flashes across her face, and I quickly squash it. “I actually enjoy cooking, so win-win. Now finish what you were saying. You bet...?”
She leans back and sips her coffee. “I was just thinking I bet you start to know people, build a network.”
“Always thinking like a marketer.” She blinks at me over the rim of her cup, and it’s too much. I look around the cabin. “Where’s that camera?”
“You want to see your pictures?”
“No.” Standing slightly, I lean over and pick it up, turning the lens on her. “I want to photograph you.”
“Marcus!” She holds a palm out in front of her face. “I look terrible. I’m all... mussed.”
“You’re fucking sexy. I want to preserve this image.”
Slapping her hand on the side of her seat, she leans forward and makes a cross-eyed face. Click-click! The camera goes off fast. Her eyes narrow, and she sits back. “It’s my camera. You’re not preserving anything for you.”
“Maybe I want to watch you through the peep hole.”
“It’s called a view finder.”
“Don’t be so technical.” Leaning to the side, I glance down at her breasts. “Give us a little something for the boys at home.”
Her eyes narrow back at me. “What boys at home?”
“This boy at home. Don’t be a prude.”
A loud laugh. “You know damn well I’m not a prude.”
“Show me what you’ve got, sexy.”
She grins, setting her cup on the table. “You asked for it.”
“I most certainly did.”
Straightening again, she moves a finger to the button on her shirt, circling it.
“Yes,” I murmur, pressing the button. Click-click! “What else?”
She slowly unbuttons one, then the next until the fabric hangs loose over her naked body. My morning wood is raging back, and watching her body sway through the viewfinder feels like a true peep show. Her slim hands slide up to her breasts, fingers parting, allowing her nipples to peek through.
“Shit, Amy.” My cock is straining in my pants, and I watch her eyes move to my lap. They darken, but she doesn’t say a word.
She drops her head back and arches her chest up so her tight nipples point straight ahead. Fuck me. Straightening again, she puts a finger in her mouth then glides it down her chin, down the center of her chest, past her small navel, all the way between her legs.
“Hell.” I almost drop the camera as she circles her clit right in front of me. Somehow I remember to press the button Click-click! before I reach down to stroke my aching cock. “You’re killing me,” I groan.
A little sigh, and her hips rotate in time with her fingers. She’s moving it faster, massaging herself more and more. A bead of wetness coats my palm, and I’m about to blow. Putting the camera down, I scoop her up by her arms and quickly lay her back on the bed. Her thighs fall open, and it only takes a moment for me to get into position. I’m standing, ramming deep into her dripping pussy.
I’m thrusting so hard, I have to lean forward, bracing myself while her hand continues circling her clit faster. “Oh, yes!” she sighs. The deep clenching starts, and she moans and bucks against me.
“Jesus,” I hiss, finding her mouth and kissing her deeply as we rock together. One more hard push, and I blow with a loud groan. Her slim hand moves around my waist to squeeze my ass, and I thrust again.
“Ohh,” she moans, thighs trembling. “Give me a little more, Marcus.”
I thrust into her a few more times, feeling the deep satisfaction of my second come of the day.
“Mmm,” she sighs as her movements slow.
My shirt is open around her, and her body is spread out in front of me, blonde hair rippling over the sheets. She’s a fucking goddess, and I’m thinking crazy shit like proposing marriage, then kidnapping her when she says no.
I pull out slowly then climb onto the bed, pulling her with me. “What the fuck are you doing to me?”
A lazy laugh moves through her gorgeous body. “You started it.”
Lifting a lock of her hair, I thread the golden strands through my fingers. Her leg is over my waist, and she’s lying on her side facing me. “And you fucking finished it. Damn.”
Tracing a finger down my chest, she follows the lines across my stomach. It’s so familiar. God, I love lying here beside her, holding her, having her touch me. I don’t want to talk about the future or how she feels about relations
hips or anything serious. I just want to preserve this moment of us lying in bed together after the most fantastic weekend on record.
“What are you thinking?” Her voice is soft, and her finger is still lightly touching my skin.
“Hmm,” I rumble, teasing her. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“That would be precisely why I asked.”
With a chuckle, I place my hand on her thigh, stroking her soft skin. “Shall I tell you?”
“Yes.”
“Flying or invisibility?”
“Flying.”
Another laugh. “That didn’t take any thought.”
Her palm is flat on my stomach, and she spreads her fingers wide. “I’ve thought about it before, and actually, it’s a pretty easy decision. You?”
Wrapping my fingers around her slim arm, I slide my palm up her skin as I think. “Invisibility would be better for my job.” Her fingers curl and her nails bite against my skin. “Still, I’d really love to jump up and just... fly.”
I feel her cheek rise against my skin. “Where would you go?”
Wherever you are. I don’t say that, of course. “Everywhere—Paris, Bora Bora...”
“I’d visit the desert then Australia...”
“The Tahj Mahal...”
“Dubai.”
My arms tighten around her. “You think living on a boat is ultimate freedom. Try flying.”
Chapter 11: The Signal
Amy
Fear ripples through my chest like pebbles in a rain stick. I’m lying on the couch with my head in Sylvia’s lap pretending to watch her favorite Victorian-era mini-series with her, but the events of the last twenty-four hours keep spinning through my mind like a tornado.
Marcus blindfolding me, Marcus holding me down, Marcus making me scream, Marcus taking my pictures, holding me in his arms... stroking my hair... asking me about my dreams... talking about flying.
When we parted this afternoon, he kissed me long and slow, and my knees turned to jelly. We only said a quiet goodbye. We hadn’t made promises about the future, there was no going back on our deal, yet I couldn’t make eye contact.
