by Lane Hart
“I’ve already came twice for you, so just so you know, even though it was amazing, and I would love to take you up on that promise for tomorrow morning, I can only be with you one more time at most,” Isobel informs me. Forget confused and guilty. Now I’m filled with disappointment.
“We can only fuck one more time?” I repeat. “You mean one more time tonight or forever?” I ask since I was planning to be inside of her at least twice more before I wake her up with my tongue between her legs tomorrow.
“Forever,” Isobel responds, which is discouraging, not just because of my assignment but because I already know that three times with her could never be enough. “It’s a bucket list thing,” she adds. “No getting attached or falling in love, so no more than three orgasms with the same man. Besides, you said you only do one-night stands anyway.”
“Why exactly is three orgasms the magic number? I thought the more the merrier,” I question her, hoping that I can figure out some sort of loop hole to get around her rule.
“Well, after three orgasms, all of those happy endorphins in a woman’s brain start making her trust and bond to the guy. And in men, the dopamine released after a release causes intense pleasure, obviously, which can cause them to form an addiction to one woman. A couple may think they’re developing feelings for each other when it’s really just chemistry caused by sex.”
“And all that’s bad because…” I ask, noticing that she sounds like a nurse even if she’s pretending she’s not one.
“Because I don’t have time to get tied down to anyone,” she replies.
“Oh,” I mutter when it becomes clear that getting her to stay with me for more than a night is going to be even harder than I imagined. “If I had known about your rule before, I would’ve made your first two times even better. Can I get a do over?” I ask, only half joking.
“It would’ve been impossible to make the first two times any better,” Isobel says with a smile.
“Yeah? I sort of thought so too,” I agree. Brushing her wet hair out of her face and behind her ear, I tell her, “I wouldn’t change anything about tonight, especially meeting you. You look like you belong here with me, swimming naked in the ocean under a starry sky – a mermaid in her natural habitat.”
“A mermaid?” she scoffs and then laughs almost as lovely as she sings.
“Or I guess I should’ve said siren,” I amend.
“Wow. Never heard either of those before. I’ll give you credit for originality in your attempted pick up line compliments, even though it’s a moot point since you’ve already gotten laid.”
“Yeah, but I want to get laid by you again, at least one more time,” I tell her. “And I meant every word. You’re mesmerizing in the moonlight.”
“It is so nice being out here, away from civilization. Thank you again for bringing me.”
“Thank you for agreeing to come aboard the boat of a possible serial killer.”
“I’m all about taking chances nowadays. I blame my father for making me play it safe for so long it nearly made me go insane.”
“So I guess I have him to thank for the amazing fuck,” I say. “I’ll be sure to mention it at his birthday dinner tomorrow night.”
“Please do!” she agrees with a bark of laughter. “That would be hilarious. And, um, did I mention to you that he lives in Raleigh?”
“Ah, no, you didn’t,” I reply, even though I had an idea. “We’re driving to Raleigh tomorrow night?”
“Do you mind?” she asks while biting her bottom lip in concern.
“After skinny dipping and fucking you out here, I would gladly drive us to California tomorrow if you asked me to.”
“Thanks, even though that would be impossible,” she responds with a kiss on my lips. When she pulls away, her finger trails down my chest and below the water where Willy’s scratches are starting to heal up underneath my chain necklace. “So, ah, what exactly happened here? Wild night of sex?”
“No, definitely not,” I grumble. “You remember that cat I told you about?”
“I’ve met her.”
“Her? I thought it was a he. Anyway, Willy can be a little jumpy when he hears strange noises at night,” I explain.
“She sleeps on top of you?”
“No matter how many times I run him off,” I reply. “Or her.”
“A cat that knows what she wants. I just hope she won’t attack me when I join you in bed.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen,” I promise. “You ready to head back up?” I ask.
“I guess so. I am pretty exhausted,” Isobel replies with a sigh.
“You’re welcome,” I joke.
Chapter Seven
Isobel
“Why isn’t it that easy?” I ask Sax as we settle into his bed on our sides, facing each other under the sheets with the bedside lamp on. All I’m wearing is one of his shirts and he just has on a pair of gray boxer briefs. Before his head hits the pillow, his one-eyed cat came scampering up on his side where it wasted no time flopping down on top of its owner as if laying claim to him in case I was getting any ideas about that final round of sex. I swear her face even looks smug as her lips curl up and she closes her one good eye.
Message received, kitty, I think to myself as I reach up to scratch her behind her ears.
“What do you mean? What’s not easy?” Sax responds. His fingers slip under the hem of my shirt; but instead of touching me in a naughty way, they come to a rest on my hipbone where the pad of his thumb starts to rub circles.
“When I said you should travel the world on your boat, you said it wasn’t that easy. Why not?”
“Oh,” he mutters. “Well, the MC is basically a lifelong commitment. And since I’m an officer, I can’t just come and go when I want.”
“That sounds depressing,” I tell him.
“It’s not so bad,” Sax replies, his thumb still caressing my hip. “I knew what I was getting myself into when I earned my patch. And the guys are great. They took a chance on me, so the least I can do is help them out as much as I can.”
“You say that like you think you owe them your life.”
“In a way I do,” he says. “And the business side of things is good. I make decent money that I couldn’t make anywhere else with half a bachelor’s degree in archaeology.”
“You dropped out of school?”
“In my sophomore year, yeah,” he says.
“Why?”
“Because the girl I was hoping to one day marry died from a drug overdose.”
“Oh wow, Sax,” I gasp in surprise. “That must have been really hard on you.”
“It was,” he says. “April was seeing other people at the time, but I was young, foolish, and in love with her. I was certain she would eventually come back to me after she finished her last year of high school, so we were doing the long-distance thing,” he tells me. “I blamed myself. Hell, I still blame myself for not being there to watch out for her.”
“You shouldn’t. Everyone makes their own decisions. Even if you had been there, you probably wouldn’t have been able to help her,” I tell him.
My eyes lower to the chain hanging around his neck that I first noticed in the water when he was naked, and more specifically the dainty, white gold ring with a sapphire heart surrounded by tiny diamonds hanging from it that obviously belonged to a woman.
“Was this hers?” I ask, tapping the ring with my fingernail.
“Ah, yeah, it was,” Sax responds, removing his hand from my hip to wrap his fingers around it. “How is it that I just met you hours ago and you’re already unlocking all of my deep, dark secrets?” he jokes with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “And it’s getting late. The sun will be up soon, so we should probably get some sleep. We’ve got a long ride to Raleigh tomorrow.”
“Okay, Captain,” I agree even though I want to know more about him and his past. I get the feeling that Sax just realized he’s told me much more about himself than he wanted to. But I li
ke how he’s opening up to me, telling me things that I’m guessing not many people, if any, know about him. Talking to him is so easy and natural, like we’ve known each other for years, not just hours. I would love to spend more time with him, to get to know him better, but I have to keep moving. At least we’ll have one more day together before I get back on the road. Besides, any man who still wears another woman’s jewelry clearly isn’t over her yet.
“I’m glad I met you tonight,” Sax says, then brushes his lips over my cheek.
“Me too,” I agree. “Goodnight, Sax.”
“Night,” he replies, then reaches behind him to turn off the lamp. Kitty just hunkers down on his side as her owner moves, refusing to abandon her position. And I can’t say that I blame her.
Chapter Eight
Sax
“You failed to mention that your family was filthy rich,” I say to Isobel over my shoulder after killing the engine on my bike in front of the three-story brick mansion. The entire ride over my mind has been racing, trying to come up with a way to keep her around.
“There’s, ah, one other thing I probably should have mentioned too,” Isobel says while climbing off the back of my Harley.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I ask even though I have a pretty damn good idea.
Her fingers fidget with the strap of her crossbody purse. “This isn’t really my house. It’s actually the governor’s mansion. What I mean is my father is the, ah, current governor.”
“No shit?” I ask, removing my helmet so that I don’t have to look at her and lie right to her face about the fact I already knew that. “Lawrence Washington is your father?”
“He is,” she answers. “And he’s a major dick with more power than any one man should have.”
“Should I be worried about him tossing me in a dungeon and throwing away the key just for sleeping with his daughter?” I joke.
“No, he’s not that insane. I don’t think,” she replies. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Once I’m off the bike, I hang my helmet on the handlebar and Isobel takes my hand, leading me up the walkway to the stairs at the front of the house. The door opens before we reach it, revealing the goofy guy from the bar.
“Hey, it’s you!” I say. He starts to shut the door in our faces before I throw a hand out to stop him.
“Stu still hasn’t forgotten your knife,” Isobel whispers just as her father, dressed down in dark slacks and a white button-down, pushes his minion aside.
“Isobel!” he says in greeting, a smile lighting up his face before saying, “You actually came! And you’re wearing leather. Is your hair…blue?”
“It’s turquoise with purple highlights,” she corrects him as they stand and face each other awkwardly. “No one would ever suspect I’m the governor’s daughter in this disguise, would they?” she asks, then points a finger at the center of his chest and says, “And I told you to stop sending people to fetch me for you like I’m a child or a dog.”
“I didn’t think you would come otherwise, and I’ve missed you,” her father says before his gaze finally lands on me and he does a double take. “But I’m glad you’re here and that you brought a guest.”
“Dad, this is Sax. Sax, this is my father, Lawrence Washington.”
“’Sup?” I say, taking Isobel’s hand in my right one to avoid shaking the scumbag’s hand.
“I wish we would’ve known you were bringing your…friend to dinner,” her father says, his eyes lowered and narrowed at my hand on hers.
“Sax is my boyfriend. We’re in love and who knows, we may elope and get married one day,” she lies to him.
“I highly doubt that,” her dad mutters.
Too bad he knows she’s lying because he coerced me to lie to her before we ever met. God, I keep sinking deeper and deeper into this shit. Remembering how many people’s lives are depending on me pulling this off helps soothe my conscious for screwing over a nice girl like Isobel, at least temporarily.
“Well, come in I guess,” her father says. Once Isobel and I clear the doorway, he must spot my bike out front. “You brought my daughter here on that death trap?” he exclaims.
“My bike is one of the many things she loves about me, isn’t that right, baby?” I ask Isobel whose hand is still clasped in mine.
“Oh yeah. Harleys are so hot,” she replies. “I still can’t believe they go that fast! It felt like we were flying!”
The color drains from her father’s face as he digests that lie. I wouldn’t be racing around, driving like a maniac with Isobel on the back of my bike. But I don’t mind letting him think I’m that careless. It’s his own fault for putting her in this position with me where I could easily endanger her life.
“If anything happens to her, I’ll hunt you down,” he warns me under his breath.
“Dad, stop,” Isobel says. “That’s no way to talk to our guest and your future son-in-law.”
Sighing heavily with exasperation, he says, “Dinner is on the table in the dining room. Why don’t we head on in there? Unless you two need to clean up first?” he asks, basically implying that I’m a dirty pile of trash that’s underneath him. He knew what I was before he insisted that I meet his daughter.
“I should probably go wash up,” I agree. Winking at the governor, I say, “You don’t even want to know all the naughty places my hands have been.”
He growls an indecipherable curse before Isobel drags me down the hall and away from him. She pulls me into a fancy bathroom with lace on the hand towels and even a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. What a way to spend taxpayer dollars.
“Jeez, he hates you already,” Isobel whispers gleefully with a broad smile while she presses her back against the door. Then, her hands are grabbing at the front of my jeans, pulling me closer and fumbling with the button and zipper.
“What are you doing?” I ask her, even though it seems pretty obvious.
“I want you to fuck my mouth in this pretentious house,” she says as she jerks my undone jeans and boxer briefs down my thighs. “Besides, I still owe you an orgasm to make things even between us.”
Fuck, I want her mouth but don’t want it to be our last time. I can’t let it be the last time since amazing sex is all I have up my sleeve to convince her to stick around after dinner.
“I don’t know if now is really the time or place, Iz,” I whisper, my head so fucked up that my dick was completely flaccid until her fingers wrap around it. All the blood in my body rushes south so fast I sway from the sudden onset of dizziness.
“I’ll make it worth your while, Captain. Promise,” Isobel says, as if I had any doubts about her skills before she sinks down to her knees. Keeping her eyes lifted to my face the entire time, she guides the head of my shaft in between her parted lips.
“Oh shit, woman,” I gasp as her wet tongue licks my slit and then coats the underside of my cock. I have to slap my right palm on the door above her to catch myself when my knees go weak. Once I’ve braced myself, my hips start pumping involuntarily, thrusting my dick deeper into her mouth until her nose is finally pressed against my pelvis.
“Goddamn that’s good,” I groan as my left-hand cups the back of her head to hold her still so I can fuck her mouth like she wanted.
It feels so amazing I don’t ever want her to stop sucking my dick, especially since this could be the last time we fool around. But I can only last so long before I erupt down her throat. She takes everything I give her too, without even a grunt of complaint.
As soon as she releases my cock from her mouth to wipe the corners of her lips, I grab her shoulders to pull her to her feet. Holding her face between my hands, I cover her lips with mine, not minding tasting myself on her. “Thanks for that,” I tell her as I lower my hands down her sides and around to cup her ass cheeks under her leather dress. Hoping that she got herself worked up sucking me off, I say, “Let me take care of you too.”
“No, that’s okay,” Isobel says, taking a step back and removin
g my hands from her body. “We, um, better get back out there. If we’re gone much longer, he may break the door down to get in here.”
“Okay, but you’re going to stay with me again tonight, right?” I ask while pulling up my pants. As soon as the question leaves my mouth, I can tell by the surprised look on her face that she hadn’t planned to stay with me on my boat again. “I thought we had fun last night,” I say to try and convince her to come home with me, not just as a job for her father but because I want her back in my bed, more than any other woman since the one I lost twelve years ago.
“Yeah, last night was fun, but you know my bucket list rule.”
“We haven’t been together three times yet,” I remind her.
“Three orgasms is the limit, not the minimum requirement,” she says without meeting my eyes. Fuck, I’m already losing her, and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. There has to be something I can do to convince her to stick around.
“I know a tattoo artist,” I blurt out when I suddenly remember seeing the entry on her bucket list. “Gabriel Cross is an amazing artist who can draw anything you want, and he’s a Savage King. If I call him, he could probably squeeze you in tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll see,” she says before she turns and walks out of the bathroom. Her answer isn’t a no, but it sounds like I have my work cut out for me to make it turn into a yes.
My shoulders are already slumped when I wash up and go search for the dining room. I’m feeling disappointed even after the amazing head she gave me because Isobel’s ready to bolt on me. But seeing another dude’s arms around her sends a punch of adrenaline right through my system.
“Who the hell is he?” I ask, not missing the smirk on her father’s face from where he’s sitting at the head of a long ass table that seats around sixteen people.
“Oh, Sax, this is my friend Daniel I told you about. Daniel this is my…boyfriend Sax,” Isobel says when she slips out of his arms.
The fucker with his plaid shirt tucked into his tight white pants glances over and gives me a look that says he’s sizing me up. “Well, Izzy, that’s one way to piss off your father,” he mutters.
