“And something to put it on.”
“Such as you?”
He could think of sexier things for her to lick off his body, but whatever turned her on.
A loud rumble sounded overhead, and Sed rose from the table to investigate.
While they’d been trying to feed themselves lunch, a bank of dark clouds had moved in from the west. He made sure that the sails were all down and tightly secured before returning below deck. The boat was starting to rock precariously, and he remembered his dad saying that the best thing to do at sea when a storm rolled in was to secure everything and go below deck to wait it out. And to pray. There had been something about praying in his instructions. The worst thing that could happen was being swept overboard. Or sinking. Or capsizing. Or being struck by lightning. Or having the mast break. Or . . . Sed took a deep breath and told himself everything would be fine. He didn’t want to worry Jess by letting on that he was concerned.
“Was that thunder?” she asked, holding the stair rail as she peered out from the cabin below. “I can’t remember the last time I heard thunder on the West Coast.”
“A rare treat.” He typically liked the sound of rumbling thunder, but not so much out on the open ocean where it boomed and echoed like cannon fire. “We’ve got a little storm heading this way,” he said. “Nothing to worry about. We’ll just keep ourselves occupied below deck until it blows over.”
He secured the hatch to make sure all the water stayed outside where it belonged.
When he turned, Jess grinned devilishly at him. “I wonder what we can do to keep ourselves occupied.”
“There’s probably a deck of cards around here somewhere,” he teased. He knew exactly what was on both their minds, and it wasn’t playing cards on their honeymoon.
“Are they in the bedroom? We could play strip poker.”
“You’re wearing three times as many clothes as I am.”
She wore a bikini top, bikini bottom, and a gauzy cover-up in contrast to his swim trunks. Yes, he was keeping tabs.
“Afraid you’ll lose?”
Three to one odds weren’t too bad; then again, he was a stickler for fairness. “I could put on a pair of socks.”
“Or . . .”
She slipped the cover-up from her body and removed her bikini bottoms, leaving her in nothing but the tiny top. She never did what he expected. He remembered when she’d bought that bikini. They’d had an incredibly good time together at a waterpark in the wave pool. She’d been full of surprises that night too, finally saying those three little words that had rocked his world.
“I love you,” he said, his throat tight at the memory of saying the sentiment aloud when it had been terrifying. It didn’t frighten him at all now. The words warmed him from the inside out.
“I, Jessica, love you, Sed.”
He smiled at her emphasis and at the echo of their vows. The words came so easily to them both; why had they fought their feelings so hard? Well, she’d been fighting and he’d been hiding, but neither of them had been willing to give an inch back then. And now she was his wife, wearing nothing but a bikini top, a wedding band, and a naughty smile.
He took a step forward; she took two back. God, he wanted her. He always wanted her. Would the heat between them ever decrease from a full boil to a slow simmer? Not in this lifetime, he thought as she turned and dashed to the back of the boat and the bedrooms. He took his time pursuing her, his eyes trained on her round bottom and long shapely legs when she stopped in the bedroom doorway. The boat pitched in the waves, and she spread out her feet and hands to brace herself in the doorframe. Thunder rumbled overhead, and he listened for sounds of the mast snapping or sails ripping. The wind roared, and waves slapped against the hull, but he heard nothing that would indicate disaster. He hoped the storm blew over quickly. Then again, a healthy rain gave him a good excuse to stay below deck and buried deep inside his wife. Not that he needed an excuse.
“Maybe we should check the forecast,” Jessica said, watching him over her shoulder as he moved closer.
Glancing down at his crotch, he said, “Stiff. With a hundred percent chance of a hard pounding.”
“Sounds like perfect weather to me.”
When he reached her, she tipped forward, her ass in the air and her pussy exposed and waiting to be filled. Unfortunately, his plan to slide right in there was hindered by his swim trunks. “I have a terrible poker hand,” he said, not patient enough to find the deck of cards and deal them. “A two-seven offsuit. I fold.”
He lowered his trunks with a quick jerk and kicked them aside.
“I also fold,” Jess said, bending her yoga-flexible body in half and peering up at him from between her splayed calves. “I wonder if I can watch you enter me from this angle.” She tucked her elbows behind her knees and curled even deeper into her stretch.
He did enjoy her flexibility, but it was a bit strange to look down into her face in that position. So he didn’t look into her eyes. He stared at her pussy, rubbing her clit and sliding a finger inside her. She felt different inside when she held this position. He had to press extra hard to get his finger to slide deep. He couldn’t wait to experience what that incredible tightness felt like on the tip of his cock. He shifted his finger into her ass—who could possibly ignore that opportunity—and stepped forward, using his other hand to rub his cockhead into her pussy. He sucked in a breath, and his lashes fluttered when she engulfed the tip of him in her heat. He struggled to press deeper and gained ground, but he’d been right; she was so incredibly tight deep inside that no amount of gentle pushing would allow him full entry. Even removing his finger from her ass didn’t allow him to claim another inch.
“Jess, you’re too tight. I can’t . . .”
She chuckled. “You’ve never complained before.” She shifted positions, raising so that her back was out straight in front of him.
He slid deep and shuddered in bliss as his cockhead hit bottom. He enjoyed several slow, deep strokes before he took her hips in his hands and ground himself inside her again. She tipped forward, catching him fully. He could scarcely thrust an inch, but he was so deep, and she was so tight, the subtle movement didn’t lesson his pleasure.
“God, Jess, don’t ever stop doing yoga.”
Her voice drifted up to him from somewhere near his ankles. “I won’t. It’s good for me and the baby.”
“And it’s really good for me,” he said, his short, deep thrusts rubbing his rim so thoroughly that he doubted he’d last another minute. Damn, she felt good. He usually had to fuck her shallow to get that level of head stimulation, but feeling it while buried to the hilt completely overwhelmed his senses. “Babe, you have to stand up, or I’m gonna come.”
“Like this?”
She straightened again, and the amount of force he’d been using to barely move within her when she was bent in half pulled him completely out of her when her back shifted to a ninety-degree angle.
“Fuck,” he muttered, using his hand to guide himself inside her again. She only let him get in a few full strokes before bending forward. Apparently she liked to make him lose control. That time she caught him halfway buried.
Her breath strangled as she gasped. “You’re right against my spot now,” she said.
He knew exactly what spot she was talking about. The spot that made her lose control.
“Oh God, fuck me there, Sed.”
He had an extra inch to work with when he wasn’t trapped so deep inside her, and he made good use of it in every stroke.
“Oh yes. Yes, Sed. Finger!”
She only had to shout that one word and he knew exactly what she wanted. He slid his finger into her ass, and her entire body jerked. He could hear and occasionally feel her hand as she rubbed her clit. When she cried out, the ripples of her orgasm squeezed his cockhead and tugged at him. Had he been prepared, he might have allowed himself to edge, but her pussy felt too good; he was too far gone. He followed her over the edge with a cry of triumph. H
is entire body tensed as he filled her. She shifted to let him slide deep, bent to trap him inside her again, and then pulled off him so slowly and perfectly that he thought he might die from the pleasure as her tightness rubbed his overstimulated head along every inch of her inner walls.
He groaned when he fell free of her body. He needed to lie down. His legs were shaking, and he hadn’t realized it while he’d been locked inside his wife’s pussy, but the boat was pitching and rolling unsteadily beneath his feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked. She was in a half squat with her elbows on her knees and sucking air into her lungs as if she’d just sprinted a mile.
“A little dizzy from being upside down,” she said. “I think I need to lie down.”
“You and me both,” he said.
They pulled the covers down and climbed into the soft queen-size bed, snuggling close as they regained their bearings. Their breathing eventually stilled, but he wasn’t sleepy. The sounds of the wind and waves outside had him listening intently and staring at the ceiling as if he could see through the deck to the storm raging around them.
“Are you sure we’re safe down here?” Jessica asked, her hand clinging to his as she snuggled even closer against his side.
He wasn’t sure at all, but he said, “Perfectly safe.”
A loud crack ruptured the repetitive howl of the wind and the slosh of the waves.
The sailboat went dark.
Chapter Nine
Jessica sat up abruptly as the cabin was plunged into darkness. “What happened?”
“I think we were struck by lightning.”
Sed sounded calm, as if being struck by lightning wasn’t a big deal. As if the lights going out unexpectedly was romantic instead of terrifying. As if they weren’t in peril. Jessica tried to cling to his calm, but her racing heart wasn’t having it.
Her hand tightened on Sed’s as she hoped his strength would seep into her. “What should we do?”
“Wait until the storm passes and then assess the damage.”
“Wait?” She wasn’t good at waiting. She needed to know what they were up against now.
“If we go out now, one of us could be washed overboard or worse.”
“Worse? What could be worse than that?”
“Being struck by lightning.”
Yes, that would be worse, but it would be quick. Drowning would be a miserable, panicky sort of death.
Sed drew her closer and kissed her head. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “I won’t let anything harm you or the baby.”
She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing and probably cutting off his air supply in her terror, but she let his words sink in, deep into her heart and soul. After several moments, she allowed herself to believe his reassurances and began to relax.
Once her death grip loosened slightly, Sed shifted away from her, and terror gripped her chest once more. His hand remained on her shoulder, even when she heard a cabinet open next to the bed. Something cool and heavy landed on top of her.
“Put this on,” he said.
“What is it?”
“A life vest.”
Another life vest? Did she need it? They were safe below deck, weren’t they? He’d told her that they didn’t have to wear the preservers when they were in the cabin. His hand left her shoulder. Gasping with fear, she reached out and found him putting on his own life vest. So they must not be safe.
“Do you need help?” he asked as he clicked buckles into place.
She scrambled to put her vest on, but couldn’t figure out which way was up or down, front or back, much less how to fasten the buckles. “I can’t see what I’m doing.”
He assisted her by feel, and when they were both securely trussed up in the bulky contraptions, he pulled her back into his arms, tucking her head under his chin and sheltering her in his embrace. Even when the life vest began to get uncomfortably hot, she didn’t move from the security of his hold.
They lay in the absolute darkness, tangled tightly in each other’s arms, for hours. Or days. It felt like days. Thunder rumbled, lightning crackled, the wind howled, the ocean roared, and the boat creaked and groaned under the strain, but as long as she could feel Sed’s warm skin beneath her palm and hear the steadiness of his breath, Jessica had hope. As the storm intensified, the boat rose higher and fell lower, rolling so severely that it threatened to tumble them from the bed onto the floor, but still they lay waiting for the calm. She’d never prayed so hard in her life.
Eventually the rocking began to still, the thunder faded, and the boat quieted as if it had fallen asleep after a trying ordeal. Only then did Sed sit up and push the covers from their legs.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I probably bruised you by holding you so tight.”
She’d been holding onto him just as tightly. “I didn’t mind,” she said. “It kept me from totally freaking out.”
“Me too,” he said, squeezing her wrist.
“You weren’t freaked out,” she said. “Not even a little.”
“Believe that if you must.”
She did believe it. She had to. “Is it over?” she asked.
“I think so. I’ll go check.”
There was no way she was letting him out of reach. He was her lifeline. Her life. “I’m coming with you.”
Something thunked, and Sed cursed in the darkness. “I thought this boat was supposed to have an emergency backup generator,” he grumbled.
“Could lightning wipe that out?”
“Only if it fried the entire electrical system.”
She had a sinking feeling that it had done exactly that. How would they get back to shore if all the electric gadgets and doodads that raised the sails and helped Sed navigate had been rendered useless? Her feet found the floor, and she shuffled in the direction she’d last seen the door, using a hand on the edge of the bed for guidance. When she ran out of mattress, she reached out and found smooth warm flesh. Sed’s arm. He took her hand, and the blind led the blind out of the bedroom and into the lounge. It was equally dark out there, but with slow steps and a few stubbed toes, they ventured forward. At the top of the steps, Sed wrestled with the hatch door until it finally released and swung open. Cool air rushed over Jessica’s face, and the light from a fading sun made her blink. It was near sunset, and the dark bank of clouds further muted the limited light. Soon it would be pitch black outside without even starlight to guide them.
“The mast looks fine.” Sed craned his neck to peer up at the tallest structure for miles, which had undoubtedly served as a lightning rod in the storm. “The antenna has seen better days, however.”
Antenna? How important could that be? It wasn’t as if they had to listen to the radio to survive.
Sed moved to the cockpit, walking gingerly on the slippery deck. Every inch of the boat was drenched, and Jessica was surprised they’d been able to stay completely dry below deck. The hatch had done an excellent job of sealing out the elements.
Sed fiddled with gadgets, but the entire instrument panel was dead.
“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” Jessica said, staring at the dark screen of the navigation device as if sheer will would fix it.
“Sailors have been navigating the seas without fancy electronics for centuries,” he said.
“So you know how to get us home?”
He licked his lips and smacked the side of the screen with his palm. It didn’t respond. “Of course. First thing we need to do is figure out which way is north. My dad showed me how to navigate by the sun and stars.”
Jessica turned her gaze skyward at the blanket of clouds that concealed the entire sky. “I don’t think stars are an option,” she said.
“Well, the sun is setting portside, so that means land is that way.” He pointed to the right side of the boat.
“But how far?” And where along the Californian coast would they end up?
“It can’t be too far. We only sailed about an hour out.”
But they’d been drif
ting at the mercy of the storm for many times that long.
“I think we should call for help,” Jessica said.
“I’ve got this,” he said, turning the ignition key. The engine didn’t respond. Not even after Sed’s pleading, “Come on, baby.”
“Can we call for help now?”
Sed released a heavy sigh, as if he didn’t think they needed assistance, and said, “If it will make you feel better, I’ll send out a distress call.” He switched on the radio knob, but like every other electronic device on the boat, the radio didn’t respond.
The nervous jitters in Jessica’s belly shifted into crippling fear, and she sank into the captain’s seat. The cold pool of water that had collected there made her shriek.
“Radio’s out. Navigation’s out. Engine’s nonresponsive. Sails are down and”—Sed flicked a switch—“the electric winches are dead.”
“We’re screwed.”
“Someone will find us.”
“No one knows where we are.”
“I called my mom before we left.”
“But you told her we were sailing out to the barrier islands. There’s no telling where we are right now.”
Sed tapped the compass on the boat’s dash. “Look at this crazy thing,” he said, as if they’d run out of gas next to the filling station pump and had nothing to worry about. “It says that way is east.” He pointed out at the orange streak of the setting sun along the horizon. “But that’s obviously west. Unless the planet suddenly shifted on its axis.”
Maybe it had. Jessica’s world certainly felt off-kilter. She blew out a breath, trying to come up with a solution to their problem.
“Cellphones,” she said, hopping to her feet and hurrying to the steps.
“Good thinking.”
She peered into the inky darkness of the cabin below. “Damn, it’s dark down there. Do you have a flashlight?”
“Dad probably stowed one around here somewhere.”
He was so cool, she was surprised fog wasn’t forming over his skin.
She didn’t know if her husband was in denial or was seconds from completely losing his mind. How could he possibly be so calm? They could die out there.
Lost in Paradise: A Sinners on Tour Honeymoon Page 7
