He led me past the giant water fountain in front of the aquarium that had giant statues of stingrays coming up out of the water. “I think they close in like fifteen minutes.”
“I know,” he said secretively.
He didn’t stop to buy our tickets. He merely approached the ticket counter where one of the girls that was always working saw us and pointed at the door. It buzzed when we neared and he pulled it open and motioned for me to go ahead.
I gave him a quizzical look on my way past.
I was momentarily distracted by the large freestanding tank that greeted us on the way in. It was filled with colorful tropical-looking fish that moved around the tank—some in a hurry and some taking their time.
The building was very large, with tall ceilings and a fairly open concept. Straight ahead was a ramp that led down into the lower area where the tanks and feeding shows were. Along the way, they also had a few separate rooms dedicated to certain topics of interest. Over to the left was the gift shop, filled to the brim with stuffed animals, T-shirts, and various memorabilia. Beyond the gift shop was an area that led up from the lower level and just above that was the stingray and horseshoe crab tank where visitors could place their hands in the water for a chance to touch the fish. Also on the upper level was the snack café.
We watched the fish in the tank near the entrance for a moment. Then he took my hand and led me down the ramp toward the big tanks. It was very quiet in here at this time of night. The crowds were gone and the building was just about empty. There were a few employees bustling around, cleaning up, and doing whatever the employees did at closing time.
“Did they know we were coming?” I asked him, wondering if that was why they didn’t charge us to get in. Or maybe it was because they were closing and we were going to have to leave anyway.
He smiled slyly. “They might’ve had an idea I was bringing you by.”
“Hmmmm,” I said, pondering his sneakiness.
“You must come here a lot. I thought this would take some convincing, but the minute I said your name, they knew exactly who I meant and they didn’t hesitate to agree.”
“Agree to what, exactly?” I asked, stopping and turning, giving him my full attention.
“Just a private tour of the aquarium.”
My mouth fell open and he grinned. “We have this whole place to ourselves?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much. There are a couple employees left cleaning and doing stuff in the back. We won’t see them though.”
“You planned a private tour of the aquarium for me?” I said, awe spreading through my chest like warm waves across the sand.
“You said this was your favorite place.” He unlinked our hands to drag his knuckles down my cheek.
This was easily the nicest, most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. Ever. I didn’t even know what to say. “It is my favorite place. I—thank you so much, Cam.”
“I figured I better do something good and not screw up anymore.”
I gave him a puzzled look. “Anymore?”
He ran his thumb along the underside of my lip. “Did you know your top lip is just slightly bigger than the bottom one?”
“No,” I said, fighting the urge to suck his thumb into my mouth.
“It is. It’s so fucking sexy it drives me insane. It screams for me to suck it.”
That sent a rush of desire through me. God, the things he did to me. “You think you screwed something up?” I asked, pulling his hand away before I attacked him right here.
“I’ve done everything backward with you.”
“How?”
“I met you in a strip club—the worst place to meet girls. Then I took you to the beach, almost drowned you, then slept with you—took your virginity—before I even asked you out on a date. This is our first date, Harlow, and I’ve already spent the night with you.”
“Technically, the morning you almost drowned me was our first date.”
“Dates that end up with someone in the medical center do not count as dates.”
I laughed. “You know what I think?”
“What?” He tucked the hair behind my ear.
“You have done everything right. I can’t imagine doing this any other way.”
“I’m serious when I tell you I don’t want you to think I’m only after you for your sexy body.”
“I can see that,” I said, pulling him along toward a big tank full of jellyfish. “But I think me and sexy in the same sentence is a stretch. Adam probably gave me tonight off because he was afraid I would ruin his busiest night of the week at the club.”
“You definitely have the goods, babe. You just need a little more confidence to put it all on display.”
“The only person I really want to put everything on display for is you,” I said shyly.
He groaned. “Stop turning me on, woman, and look at the fish.”
We walked through the darkened hallways with the portal windows and larger display windows, studying the fish, the sharks, and the squid. The fish seemed more relaxed than usual and I wondered if it was because they knew the day was winding down or because the crowds were gone.
Either way, being here at this time of night was so special and incredible. The only light came from the tanks and the small lighting lining the floor. The large room with the tank where they did the dive shows had some neon lighting and a large flat screen that played photos and facts about certain kinds of fish featured in the tanks.
We walked around, slowly, whispering and pointing at all the fish, and every so often Cam would press me up against a wall and bury his tongue in my mouth.
All night there had been little touches, steamy kisses, and long lingering looks exchanged and it served as foreplay and my body began to come alive in ways that only Cam could inspire.
“Oh, this is my favorite part of the entire place!” I said excitedly when we neared the conveyor belt on the floor that you stood on and it slid around, taking you through an underwater tunnel. It was stunning. As we moved, fish swam over our heads and alongside us, making me feel like I was literally part of the undersea world.
“Every time I come here, there’s something new to see. It’s ever-changing, yet it stays the same.”
“Yeah, I can see why you like it so much. I forgot how cool it was in here.”
I pointed out one of the biggest sharks they had here as it swam above us. We stepped off the conveyor belt and into a darkened hallway leading to another tank. Instead of walking on through, he leaned against the wall and spread his knees apart, pulling me between them. His hands were in my hair instantly, running through the silky strands, and he lifted my face to his and slanted his mouth over mine. He kissed me, turning his head one way and then the other. Each time the kiss was equally assaulting to my senses but in a whole new way.
He made good on his earlier words and sucked my upper lip into his mouth, kneading it with his tongue. An involuntary moan erupted in the back of my throat and I rose up on tiptoes, trying to get even closer.
His hands slid down my body and cupped my butt, squeezing and pulling me farther into him as he grinded the unmistakable hardness in his jeans against me.
Moisture slicked my panties, my body almost demanding him. My muscles began to quiver and my knees started to turn to Jell-O as the kiss went on and on and on.
I slid my fingers beneath the hem of his white cotton polo and lifted it, ducking my head and licking up the center of his abs and pressing soft kisses all along his abdomen. He groaned and relaxed against the wall, his hands falling to his sides, my mouth moved upward and latched onto one of his nipples as I rolled my tongue around it, teasing it into a rock hard point.
“Harlow,” he murmured, gently pulling me back. “Baby, you have to stop. I’m going to go crazy.”
I made a sound and tried to get close to him again. “It isn’t my fault you make me crazy,” I told him.
He chuckled and took my hand, pulling his shirt back down. “C’mon.”
I thought he was going to lead me toward the exit. He didn’t.
Instead, he led me back through the passageways and across the center main floor where various attractions were waiting for us to explore. We didn’t stop; he just kept going, his feet quickening with every step he took.
“Where are we going?” I asked just as we rounded the corner to the largest tank in the place. It was the tank where they did the dive shows. It was completely floor to ceiling and in a room by itself with two hallways leading away from either side.
He pulled me around the corner, toward the right, and pushed me up against the wall (the giant tank was off to our right). His mouth was on mine and his kiss hinted at a crazed desperation that hadn’t been there earlier.
“How do you expect me to get through an entire date when your hot little mouth wraps around my nipple and sucks with determined pressure?” he said between kisses.
I pushed my hands through his blond locks, enjoying their thickness against my fingers. I didn’t say anything because he was kissing me again and it was so good. He tore his mouth away and then used his hands to yank down my tops, exposing my breasts as a feast for his eyes.
Using his hands, he cupped them, pushing them up and together, and began lavishing kisses on them. My vision turned blurry because the pleasure was so intense. My head fell back against the wall and I moaned, arching against him.
He brought his hips forward without lifting his mouth so his arousal grinded against me, urging me on, taunting me with its need.
“Cam,” I begged, needing more than he was giving.
He lifted his head, pressing the softest kiss to my lips, and then our eyes locked.
He bent down, picking up the hem of my skirt and sliding it up my legs, past my knees, to bunch it around my hips. His fingers delved into the edges of my panties as he caressed the moist sensitive skin of my secret place.
I whimpered.
“I love your responses,” he whispered. “I want you now, baby. Can I have you right now?”
I nodded, unable to form even a single syllable to reply.
He lifted me, sliding my back against the wall, and my legs wrapped around his waist as my ankles crossed, keeping me in place. He kissed me again, ravaging my mouth with hot, moist kisses that had me rocking against his stomach, already searching for release.
One arm held me as the other hand delved beneath my skirt, past my panties, and a single finger slid right inside me.
I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying out, and when his finger began to move, it wasn’t enough so I leaned forward and sank my teeth into his shoulder right through his shirt.
Just when I thought I might explode, he pulled his hand away and undid his shorts. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a packet and used his teeth to rip it open.
“Do you think anyone will see us?” I murmured, desire making my voice thick.
“Just the fish, sweetheart.”
“I like that name,” I said as he pulled a condom free.
“Yeah?” he whispered, reaching between us. “Help me out with this, sweetheart.”
I pulled my hands from around his neck and used them to roll the condom onto his rigid length. When I was done, he wrapped both arms around me again and used his body as leverage to keep me against the wall.
“This isn’t going to be like last time. This is going to be faster, harder. If I hurt you, even just a little, you tell me, okay? I’ll stop.”
I nodded as he pulled my underwear to the side and slid all the way in. I couldn’t help the groan that ripped from my throat as I felt him fill me completely. The sensations were so different from before because the angles were completely new. He went inside me so far that I swore I could feel him at the bottom of my belly.
His arm muscles were shaking as he looked down. “Are you okay?”
“More,” I told him. “I want more.”
He chuckled and grabbed me around the ribs, sliding my body up and down along the length of him. Everything within my body turned to liquid. I would have slid right down onto the floor if he wasn’t holding me up.
The sensation of his hardness moving along my softness as my muscles clenched around him was almost my undoing. He began to move faster, to sink himself even deeper until one of his palms slapped against the wall beside my head and I grinded my hips down on him as he began to pulse.
Shock waves of pleasure washed over me as I continued to grind against him, tiny noises escaping as the orgasm rolled through.
Cam buried his head in my neck, his body straining against me and his breath hot on my skin. The hand that had been against the wall came down, and he caressed the outside of my leg as we both calmed our racing hearts.
My vision began to clear and I stared at the still swimming fish like an earthquake hadn’t just rocked this room, as if they hadn’t even noticed the way passion literally erupted out of the both of us.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, lifting me just a little and slipping out of my body.
“No. I loved it.” My feet hit the floor and my skirt fell down around me. My top was still half pulled down and he adjusted it so nothing showed.
“Think there’s some kind of club for people who do it in the aquarium?”
I giggled.
He adjusted himself, zipping up his shorts and then taking my hand. We walked quietly through the building until we came to a bathroom. “I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing in the men’s room.
I went into the ladies’ room and cleaned up a little and washed my hands. I barely recognized the flush-faced girl in the mirror with wide, dancing eyes. I’d never looked this happy. I’d never felt this alive.
Cam was still in the men’s room when I came out so I walked up the little path where the stingrays were swimming and slipped two fingers into the cool water and held them there, waiting to see if one would come up and allow me to pet it.
I listened to the water gently lapping against the sides of the tank and watched as one of the rays began lazily making its way closer. Cam came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me, and then easily sinking two fingers into the water alongside mine. The stingray glided over, right up against us, dragging its smooth body along our outstretched hands.
When it was gone, he kissed the top of my head and handed me a towel to wipe the water off my hands.
“Let’s go in here before we leave,” he said, guiding me toward the gift shop.
“Hey,” he said softly from a few feet away. “Look at this,”
I went to his side and peered around him at a wrapped gift on the glass display counter. “What’s that?”
“It has your name on it,” he said, lifting a small white tag that definitely had my name on it.
It was a small square box wrapped simply in brown paper and tied with a white bow. I picked it up and smiled as I untied the ribbon and lifted the lid to the box.
I stared down at what was nestled inside. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, like I might disturb the beauty of the gift.
“You like it?” he asked.
I reached in and pulled out the jewelry. The bracelet itself was crafted out of leather cording, the color of a crystal-clear jade-green sea. The cording was braided all around until it stopped at a small silver clasp. In the center of the bracelet was a round circle with a white background and a hard, clear resin top. Inside the circle were the words Pura Vida in the same green color as the leather.
“Did you make this?” I asked, fingering the center and then exploring the braided leather.
“Yeah. It’s not much,”
“Are you kidding? This is everything.”
“So you like it?” he asked nervously.
I handed it to him and then held out my wrist so he could clasp it around. “I can’t think of anything I would like more. The fact that you made it only makes it even better.”
He clasped it and then I pulled my hand away, turning it over so I could stare down at the way it wr
apped around my wrist.
I threw my arms around his neck, reaching up on tiptoes and hugging him as hard as I dared. “You’re really good with your hands,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw.
He chuckled. “Yeah, my hands know how to please.”
“I still can’t believe you planned all this.”
“You’re worth it.”
“How do you know?” I asked him, tilting my head to the side.
“My gut told me. It’s never steered me wrong.”
I stared down at the bracelet again. I was never going to take it off.
Tease Page 15
