Veritas

by Duncan, MJ

  The sound of laughter filtering through the open galley window reminded Grey that they were not alone, and she lifted her hands to cup Lauren’s face as she gentled her kisses until they were nothing more than a lazy string of tender pecks. “I missed that,” she whispered as she leaned her forehead against Lauren’s.

  “Me too.” Lauren lifted her chin and kissed Grey softly. After a day spent apart, filled with hours that seemed to fly by in mere seconds, this connection that made her breath light and her heart beat heavily in her throat was all that she wanted. She threaded the fingers of her right hand through the short hairs at the back of Grey’s neck, scratching lightly as she brushed their lips together, drawing the moment out for a few seconds longer.

  Grey smoothed her thumbs over Lauren’s cheeks and smiled at the soft sigh the gentle touch coaxed from her lips. “Did today seem to go way too fast?”

  “Yes.” Lauren nodded. “Way too fast.” She blinked her eyes open and sighed. “I need to make dinner.”

  “Yeah.” Grey leaned in and kissed Lauren softly. “Do you need any help?”

  “Nah, that’s all right. I got it. You can stay and keep me company, though.”

  “You don’t trust me with the rice, do you?”

  “Not at all.” Lauren laughed and stole one last kiss before patting Grey on the shoulders. She smiled at the way Grey huffed dramatically as she took a step back, and shook her head as she turned to open the fridge.

  “So, what are you going to make?” Grey made her way to the barstools on the other side of the counter so that Lauren had the room she needed to work.

  Lauren pulled a Ziploc bag full of scallops that she had picked up that morning from the fridge, along with an onion and another baggie filled with an assortment of mushrooms, and set it all on the counter in front of Grey. “Scallops and mushroom risotto.”

  “So…fancy rice.”

  “It’s really not,” Lauren said, shaking her head as she pulled out a cutting board. “Actually, could you grab me two large boxes of beef broth and the Arborio rice from the pantry?”

  Grey nodded and slipped off her stool to retrieve the requested items. “Why beef?” she asked as she set it all onto the counter beside Lauren.

  Lauren nodded her thanks and began dicing the onion. “I could use vegetable broth, but the beef broth pairs well with the mushrooms and adds a better flavor to the dish. If anyone was vegetarian, I would go with the other, but since I’m not working around that restriction, I just like this way better.”

  “Okay.” Grey retook her seat opposite Lauren and watched with open interest at how quickly she was able to cut up the onion. “That’s impressive.”

  Lauren looked up at Grey through her lashes and smiled as she pushed the pile of onion she had just diced into a pile at the corner of the cutting board. “Thank you.” She dumped the bag of mushrooms onto the cutting board and gave them a rough chop into large, bite-sized pieces. “You want to help with the risotto?”

  “You don’t trust me with regular rice, but you’re going to trust me with risotto?”

  “I am offering to teach you how to make risotto.”

  “Will you be pressed up against my back helping me stir?” Grey asked with a sultry smile.

  “I could be,” Lauren chuckled. “Would you like that?”

  Grey laughed and nodded. “Probably way too much,” she admitted. “But I’m game if you are.”

  “Okay.” Lauren set a large saucepan and a medium-sized stockpot onto the stove. “You can pour the broth into the saucepan,” she instructed as she pulled a knob of butter from the fridge and dumped it into the stockpot. She drizzled a two-count of oil on top of the butter and turned on the flame.

  “Now what?” Grey asked once she had finished with the stock.

  Lauren handed Grey a wooden spoon and reached in front of her to turn the flame on under the stock. She moved behind Grey and whispered in her ear, “Start by sautéing the onions.”

  “Oh, I’m gonna like this,” Grey murmured as a shiver rolled down her spine.

  “Me too.”

  “Ooh, what are you making?” a new voice called out.

  Lauren’s stomach dropped as she turned and found Lily standing on the other side of the peninsula with the now-empty appetizer platter in her hands. “Mushroom risotto.”

  “Is it hard?” Lily asked, clearly intrigued.

  “Not at all.” Lauren looked at Grey and sighed. “You want to watch? I was just going to teach Grey how to make it.”

  Lily grinned and nodded. “Yes, please. That would be great.”

  “And here we go again with the cockblocks,” Grey muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Lauren to hear.

  “We weren’t going there right now anyways.” Lauren laughed and gave Grey’s hip a light squeeze. “Besides, you have to admit that this is better than puke-a-palooza.”

  Grey shuddered and nodded in agreement. “Anything is better than that.”

  “So what do you do first?” Lily asked as she sidled up beside Lauren and Grey at the range and peered into the two pots.

  “Well—” Lauren took a discreet step away from Grey so that she was no longer pressed against her back, “—you start by sautéing an onion, which is what Grey’s doing now.”

  Forty minutes later, Lauren looked over the eight perfectly-plated dishes of risotto and scallops and smiled as she gave Lily a high five. “It looks awesome.”

  “Thank you for teaching me how to make it,” Lily said with a small tip of her head. She looked at Grey, who was on the other side of the counter, preparing to take the dishes outside, and added, “I’m sorry I took over your lesson.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Grey waved her off with a smile. “I was glad to hand over the whole stirring thing…it was kind of warm standing over the stove like that.”

  Lauren laughed. “There’s a reason risotto always falls to one of the line chefs.”

  “And the truth comes out at last,” Grey chuckled.

  Lily laughed and picked up two bowls to take outside. “It was worth it. Thanks again for letting me help.”

  Lauren smiled and tipped her head in a small bow. “It was my pleasure.” She watched Lily triumphantly carry the bowls she was carrying outside to her friends, and sidled up beside Grey to drop a chaste kiss to her cheek. “I’m sorry your cooking lesson got hijacked.”

  “It’s okay.” Grey sighed and reached out to give Lauren’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I honestly didn’t care too much about the lesson. I just wanted to spend the time with you”

  “Me too.” Lauren stole a quick kiss and glanced out the doors to the deck as she pulled back. “Later? You, me, no interruptions?”

  Grey nodded and picked up a couple of bowls to take outside. She smiled at Lauren as she passed by her, and murmured, “I’m looking forward to it.”

  Chapter 43

  Grey smiled to herself as she looked over the group piled into the dinghy with her, pleased to see that they were enjoying themselves. They had left Saint Frances right after breakfast and headed over to Jost Van Dyke to clear-in with British customs. The group spent the middle part of the day enjoying a lazy lunch and drinks at Foxy’s, and had ended up sleeping off their midday cocktails on the quick jump from Jost to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola. As a general rule, there was not a lot of ‘nightlife’ to be found in the islands, where a fun night out usually meant drinking the night away at one of the many beachside bars that dotted the shores. But Quito’s Gazebo on Tortola was one of the few exceptions to that particular rule, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when he played with his reggae band, Quito and The Edge.

  She angled the dinghy toward the strip of beach in front of the restaurant and tapped Harrison, who was sitting closest to her, on the shoulder. “That’s Quito’s.”

  Harrison looked at the bright yellow two-story building on the beach that Grey was pointing at, and then back at her with a wide grin. “Cool.”

  “Yeah.” Grey bu
mped the engine into neutral and let the dinghy coast toward the sand. Once she felt the bottom of the bow scrape against the bottom, she killed the engine and let the boat’s momentum carry it forward until it stopped. “All ashore that’s going ashore.”

  Julie, who had been seated in the bow, gathered her sandals in her hand and leapt from the boat to the sand with a dancer’s grace. Grey waited until the rest of the group had made the jump before she followed, and she looked at Julie as she ran a hand through her hair. “You have that cell I gave you?”

  “Right here,” Julie said, patting her purse.

  “Excellent.” Grey nodded. The walkie worked well enough in areas where cell service was sometimes sketchy, but Tortola had towers everywhere and the small cell phone was much easier for guests to manage on trips ashore like this one. “So, if I don’t hear from you, I’ll be back here at midnight to pick you up.” She ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. “Otherwise, just give me a call and I’ll come when you need me. Sound good?”

  “Perfect.” David said. “Do you need help pushing off?”

  Grey smiled her thanks and shook her head. “I got it. There’s no reason for any of you guys to get wet before dinner.”

  “You’re sure?” Harrison asked. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Positive.” Grey waved him off. “I got this.”

  She waited by the bow until they had started toward the restaurant, and then turned and gave the dinghy a good shove to work it free. Once it finally began sliding from its temporary berth, she hopped back in and quickly turned the engine over, revving it in reverse until she was sure it was safe to whip the dinghy around without the outboard’s prop digging into the bottom.

  As she skipped across the bay toward the Veritas, Grey’s thoughts turned to Lauren and the fact that, once again, their time together seemed to be passing far too quickly. Despite the fact that they never talked about Lauren leaving at the end of the cruise, she was keenly aware that the few precious moments they had left together were slipping through their fingers. She knew that Lauren was feeling it too, because every hug they shared lasted a little too long, and every kiss simmered with an unmistakable desperation to not think too hard about the future.

  It blew her mind to think that, just fourteen days ago, she had longed for the end of Lauren’s term aboard the Veritas. She remembered how she had struggled those first few days to come to terms with Lauren’s uncanny resemblance to Emily. How she had run from her time and again, terrified of her attraction to the beautiful redhead and what it meant. She remembered how she had fought to hang on to the pain of Emily’s loss that she had grown to cherish, only to find that, once she did let go, she was left with even sweeter memories, free of the shadow of death that had haunted her for so long.

  Lauren was like a beautiful ray of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds that hung low over storm-tossed seas. She was everything that had been missing in Grey’s life over the last three years. Hope. Happiness. A warm smile and a gentle hug that Grey felt safe enough to break down in. Every moment Grey spent with Lauren made her feel alive.

  She just wished there were more moments left available to them.

  The sight of Lauren standing at the stern of the Veritas waiting for her as she approached drew Grey’s thoughts back to the present, and her heart leapt into her throat at the view. Lauren’s hair was blowing lightly in the breeze, tickling her face and shoulders and glowing like fire in the evening sun. Her smile was soft and warm and just a little bit sad, and Grey found herself mirroring the expression as she killed the engine and hurried to the bow to grab onto the railing beside the dive platform. She tied the dinghy off quickly and hopped onto the platform with a practiced ease honed by years of repetition, and hurried up the stairs to where Lauren was waiting for her.

  Grey was aware of nothing but Lauren’s golden-hued eyes watching her as she closed those final steps separating them, and her heart, which had begun racing for some reason as she climbed the stairs, beat once, heavily, as she pulled Lauren into her arms, and then skipped what felt like the next six beats. She buried her face in the crook of Lauren’s neck as she held her tight, and she let out a shuddering breath when Lauren’s arms wrapped around her just as fiercely. They lingered in the embrace, drawing strength from the other’s presence, until Grey pulled back just far enough to press a soft kiss to Lauren’s lips. “Hi.”

  Lauren smiled and kissed Grey again. “Hi.”

  “That was quite the welcome,” Grey murmured as she nuzzled Lauren’s cheek with her nose.

  “I’ll say.” Lauren huffed a quiet laugh and leaned her foreheads against Grey’s. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the sadness in Grey’s gaze, and she sighed as she closed her eyes to block out the sight. “Grey…”

  “I know,” Grey whispered. She reached up to tuck Lauren’s hair behind her ears as she kissed her again. Her eyes fluttered shut as she lost herself in the sweet taste of Lauren’s lips and the feeling of Lauren’s hands fisting her shirt at her waist, tugging her closer as the futility of their situation threatened to overwhelm them both. She kissed Lauren harder, pouring herself into the caress as her eyes stung with tears she refused to shed. “What do you need, sweetie?”

  “You.” Lauren used her hold on Grey’s shirt to tug her toward the salon.

  “You have me,” Grey whispered. She fused their mouths together again as they stumbled backward step-by-step, the promise of physical contact a balm to their slowly breaking hearts. The irony of the situation did not escape Grey as they stripped each other down in her cabin, fingers skimming over soft skin in a desperate bid to forget. To pretend that everything was okay. She had lost herself in this particular dance too many times to not recognize it.

  “God, Grey, please,” Lauren breathed as Grey settled on top of her.

  “I know,” Grey whispered. She nipped at Lauren’s throat as their hands moved in concert down each other’s bodies in a blind search for the softness and heat that would chase away their demons, if only for a little while.

  Chapter 44

  Grey dropped onto one of the banquettes on the back deck, and groaned when the movement made the beer in her hand bubble over. She set the bottle onto the table as she flicked her hand twice to shake most of the spilled beer off before wiping it dry on her shorts. “Perfect.”

  At this point, she was not even surprised that something else had gone wrong. The day had been a mess from the moment she and Lauren had slept through their alarm. Once they scrambled out of bed, the morning passed in a blur of blueberry pancakes and choppy seas on the sail from Cane Garden Bay to Sandy Spit. What should have been an easy sail was anything but, and instead of enjoying a few hours alone while their guests frolicked on the islet, Grey and Lauren ended up playing hostess to Mia and Harrison, who had stayed back on the boat, looking more than a little green-in-the-gills from the rough ride. Things had thankfully gotten better after the group returned to the boat for a late lunch. The sail back over to Soper’s Hole had been much calmer, and by the time she and Lauren finished securing the last mooring line at their reserved slip in the marina, Mia and Harrison had recovered enough to join their friends for their already planned night out. Grey had never been so relieved to see her guests off as she had been when she pointed the group in the direction of Pusser’s Landing and bid them goodnight.

  “Everything okay?” Lauren asked as she wandered out of the salon with a bottle of Blackbeard Ale hanging limply from her fingers.

  Just the sight of Lauren made Grey smile, and she slid further into the banquette and patted the seat beside her. “It is now.”

  Lauren made a small sound of understanding as she sat beside Grey. She glanced at Grey out of the corner of her eye as their legs brushed together, and smiled when Grey’s right hand dropped to her thigh. Lauren sipped at her beer as Grey’s fingers began stroking lightly over her leg, and looked out over the boardwalk that was already teeming with tourists, despite the fact that twilight had not yet f
allen. Reggae music from the band at Pusser’s drifted over the water, faint and indistinct, though Lauren imagined she could hear the rattle of the snare drum and the heavy beats laid down by the bass guitar.

  Grey stroked her fingers over Lauren’s thigh as she sipped her beer, down around the curve of her knee, up to the hem of her shorts, and back again, grateful that Lauren seemed content to just sit with her for a while. She tried to focus on the feeling of Lauren’s skin beneath her fingertips as she drew lazy spirals and swirls on her leg, but her thoughts nevertheless drifted to the fact that this was Lauren’s next-to-last night on the boat.

  A lump lodged itself in Grey’s throat, and she took long swallow of her beer to try and force it down. She was determined to take what time they had left together and cherish every moment. Grey blinked hard and let out a quiet, shuddering breath as she valiantly tried to control herself. She and Lauren had talked earlier about going into town and grabbing dinner at Pusser’s, but she did not want to share Lauren with anyone else. She wanted to be selfish. To keep Lauren to herself. To lose herself in the taste of her kiss, and hopefully forget, if only for a little while, how much it was going to hurt to watch her walk away. “You wanna just stay-in tonight?”

  Lauren looked over at Grey, who looked as haunted, unable to even force a fake smile, and nodded. “Sure.”

  “Good.” Grey finished her beer and set the empty bottle onto the table. Her fingers pressed into the soft skin of Lauren’s inner thigh as she brushed a kiss over the corner of Lauren’s mouth, and she sighed when Lauren’s lips turned to meet her own. They kissed slowly, heads inclining together as mouths opened and tongues stroked against each other in a familiar, graceful dance that was about so much more than simple desire.

  It did not take long for their kisses to become deeper as they turned toward each other, fingers digging into flesh and fabric in a desperate attempt to find a level of closeness that just did not physically exist. The sweet promise of blissful escape laced every clash of lips, and Lauren whimpered when Grey’s hand on her thigh moved higher, long fingers dipping beneath her shorts to tease her through her panties. She gasped when Grey’s touch slid high enough to make her hips twitch, and pulled back just far enough to whisper, “Take me to bed,” before reclaiming Grey’s lips with her own.