Love on the High Seas

by Yasmin Sullivan

  Her hips went taut.

  Just as she cried out, she cut off the sound, and it fell to a low whimper.

  Jeremy looked up at Safire, smiling. She was biting her lower lip. Her eyes were closed, and she was trying to catch her breath. He rubbed the outsides of her thighs to comfort her.

  When she opened her eyes, however, her hands sprang across her chest. An expression of shock came onto her face.

  She fumbled awkwardly to raise her panties, toppling him backward in front of her. Before he could right himself or say a word, she had slipped through the cabin door behind her and escaped down the hallway. When he got to the door, there was no sign of her, not even the imprint of her shoes on the carpet was left.

  Chapter 5

  Angelina didn’t take Jeremy’s calls that night. She got back to her stateroom and began pacing in a furious circle, trying to take in what had happened and how things had gotten out of her hands so quickly.

  Sensations still coursed through her body. It still throbbed from his touch, his mouth. She poured herself a glass of lukewarm water from her melted ice bucket to try to calm down, but she couldn’t.

  His touches set her body humming, and he’d been touching her all day long. She had wanted to be with him, had wanted to let herself go, but in the end, she’d been appalled by what she’d done, gyrating before him like a cat in heat. She didn’t know if she could even face him again.

  What’s more, she’d then run away without giving him...anything. That made it even worse. Why couldn’t she simply enjoy the moment? What would she do if she had to look him in the eyes again?

  The pacing wasn’t helping. Unable to figure any of it out, she checked in at home to make sure that all was well, changed out of Safire’s green dress, and got under the covers for the night. She had a fitful sleep, dreaming of warm brown eyes.

  In the morning her head was clearer, but she still didn’t know if she could face him again. She knew when the phone rang that it could only be him. She answered it not knowing what she would say.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said, as if nothing had happened last night.

  “Hello.”

  His tone was casual. “I wanted to take you to breakfast. Are you fully up yet?”

  “About last night...I’m sorry. It—” She didn’t know what else to say.

  “I guess things were moving a little quickly.”

  “Yes.”

  “It was still beautiful to me.”

  His low voice in her ear sent goose bumps down her neck and heated her center.

  “I was...silly.”

  “You were beautiful,” he said.

  She was quiet. Jeremy’s words put her a bit at ease, but the image in her mind of last night mortified her.

  He seemed unfazed. “I would love to do that again—and more. But we can go at your pace.”

  She heard sincerity in his voice and decided to believe him.

  “So, what now?” she asked.

  “I’m thinking breakfast. Then maybe some swimming at Magen’s Bay.”

  She smiled, but could she face him? Before her mind had decided, she heard herself saying yes.

  “I’ll put on my swimsuit and grab a towel. Where should we meet?”

  “I’ll be there by the time you pack your bag.”

  “Okay.”

  When she stepped into the hall, he was just turning the corner, a bag over his arm, a smile on his face and a long-stemmed rose in his hand. But she still had to actually face him after last night. She swallowed, not knowing what to expect, but he simply kissed her cheek, wrapped her in a brief hug and took her tote bag.

  She could tell that she must be blushing, but he didn’t seem to notice. She was only able to release the tension in her shoulders once they were out among people, back to getting to know one another. After breakfast they caught a safari to Magen’s Bay.

  The countryside was beautiful, and nearing the beach, trees arched down over the roadway. They bought drinks and then found a spot on the smooth, white sand. While Jeremy was stripping off his shorts and T-shirt, she spread her towel out on the sand, found her sunglasses, and lay down.

  “Aren’t you going to take things off?” he asked.

  Angelina took her shorts off and lay back down. Jeremy had gotten out his lotion.

  “I can’t get your back with your shirt on.”

  Angelina sat up and hugged her legs.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Well, I forgot to bring my bathing suit. This one is borrowed and not quite to my...specifications.”

  “We’re on St. Thomas. No one cares what your bathing suit looks like. Come. Let me give you a massage,” he suggested.

  Reluctantly, she pulled her T-shirt over her head and balled it up next to her. She was wearing Safire’s bikini, the kind of thing she never wore. And though the sisters were similar in stature, Angelina was slightly better endowed in the front and the rear. She could feel the little straps cutting into her rump, and her breasts were almost pouring from the tiny little triangles in front—or at least she felt as if they were.

  Jeremy’s jaw dropped. His eyes caressed her desirously.

  “You look great in that,” he said. “It fits you like a glove.”

  Angelina relaxed a bit, seeing the admiration in his eyes.

  After he got the lotion on her, he lifted her up.

  “What are you doing?”

  He was heading for the surf. He got her into waist-high water and then lifted her to throw her in, but she clung to his neck, and only her legs dropped. Both of them were laughing.

  “Hey,” she said after gaining her footing. “The water is warm. Let’s go in.”

  She took off under the water, and he dove in to follow. They swam out a bit, then swam the length of the rounded, heart-shaped shore and came back.

  “You’re a real swimmer,” he said as they gained their footing near the shoreline.

  “I love the water. And this is so blue. Stand up and look down at your feet. You can see the little fish swimming around them.”

  “Yeah, you can.”

  They were neck deep in crystal-blue water. He lifted her in the water and spun her around, taking her into his arms to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, laughing, until the kiss became more serious. She could feel him beginning to swell against her.

  He let her down, a wistful look in his eyes, and they started to swim again, this time to the other end of Magen’s Bay. After swimming and playing in the water for almost two hours, they padded back up to their towels.

  “You’re not from Florida,” she said. “How did you learn to swim so well?”

  “Actually, I was raised in Texas. My parents are still there. I went to Howard University, and as an undergraduate, you had to take swimming. I swam at the YMCA as a kid, but I got a C in swimming.”

  She laughed. He did, too.

  “That’s not funny. It brought my grade point average down.” That made her laugh harder. “I was then determined to master the art.”

  “You had to take swimming?”

  “At Howard, you still have to take swimming in Arts and Sciences.”

  “If I wasn’t from North Miami, it might have brought my average down as well. But you’re not a nerd.”

  Jeremy laughed. “Thank you, I guess. I played a bit in high school, though. I knew if I wanted to go on, I had to do well, so I was pretty determined in college. What about you?”

  “I wanted the A. I got a B in chemistry lab and freaked out. I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m not a doctor now. Book stuff I could do. Practical application with beakers and Bunsen burners and goggles—no.”

  They both laughed.

  “Did you ever actually aspire to medical
school?” he asked.

  “No, I was always more arts than sciences.”

  “I guess I was always more sciences than arts. I had to work in English, and I mean work.”

  They both laughed again. Angelina wanted to tell him about her writing, but something stopped her. It was personal, as personal as sex, and as usual, she held back. After last night, maybe she didn’t need to. But the moment had passed.

  After drying off in the sun, they caught the safari back to the ship. They had lunch, but after that, reason got the better of her. She hadn’t gotten much work done yet, so she begged off. He had dinner plans with his boys, so they decided to meet afterward. She could pick the activity.

  She showered, rinsed out her sister’s swimsuit and spent the afternoon at the table in her room working on the syllabus for one of her classes and making notes for her paper on World War II political activism by Black women in Harlem.

  Around six o’clock, she grabbed a sandwich and then camped out on the balcony with the Patterman book. After several chapters, though, she brought her laptop out to work on her creative writing.

  That’s what she was doing when Jeremy called at a quarter of eight.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Dress comfortably, and meet me at the elevator on my side on the ninth deck.”

  “What are we doing?”

  “You’ll see.”

  She already had on her jeans and a loose top, so she pulled on her sneakers, grabbed her room key, and headed out. She had picked the perfect activity for them.

  He stepped off the elevator in casual slacks and a shirt.

  “What are we doing?” he asked, seeing her mischievous grin.

  “Skating.”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No. They have an inline skating rink.”

  “Okay, but I don’t actually know how to Rollerblade.”

  “Neither do I.”

  They both laughed. They rented skates and had a hilarious time learning how to use them. At first, they held on to each other for support but only managed to topple each other over in the effort, giggling like kids. More than once Angelina found herself cushioned by Jeremy’s body—horizontal on the floor. And to her dismay, getting up in skates was much harder than falling down.

  Once they managed to stay upright and get themselves parallel to one another, they locked hands and took slow, tentative glides—a foot or two to begin. In an hour or so, they were becoming rather proficient.

  “I wonder,” Angelina said, “if they’d let us skate through one of the gardens.”

  “We can stand,” Jeremy said, considering it. “But we’d still be a public menace.”

  They both laughed.

  “Okay, then that has to be next,” she said. “That or window shopping.”

  “I think the stores are closed now.”

  “That’s why it’s just window shopping.”

  They laughed again.

  Next they headed to the Admiral’s Arbor, one of the gardens. Both were surprised by how big it was. They held hands and wandered between the flowerbeds and hedge work. Then they found a bench with an ocean view and rested for a bit, their legs sore from skating.

  He put an arm around her and held her hip. She pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned back under the stars.

  “Would you rather be dancing or doing something?” she asked.

  “No, my legs could stand the break.”

  “Mine too,” she admitted and chuckled.

  He followed her gaze up toward the night sky. “And it’s beautiful out here at night.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re cute in jeans and sneakers.”

  When he kissed her, Angelina knew she had to make up her mind. She would either take Safire’s advice or she needed to put the brakes on right then, and if he ran away, so be it. She put her hand up to his chest. He sat up and looked at her, drawing his free hand onto her thigh and squeezing it gently.

  “We don’t have to do anything, Safire. I just want to be here with you.”

  His statement made up her mind. She leaned toward him and kissed his lips. She took a breath and then kissed him again, opening her mouth to him and feeling his tongue slip inside and fill her with heat.

  “I know,” she said when they pulled apart.

  He didn’t let her retreat for long. His brought his face to hers and took her mouth again, moving his hand up to touch her breast through her blouse. He had no idea how that turned her on.

  Or maybe he did. When his fingers made her nipples constrict against her bra and brought a low murmur from her throat, he smiled against her lips.

  She blushed and swatted at him, pulling back and pushing him away as he laughed.

  “Don’t be mad,” he said. “I love how responsive your body is to me. You have the same effect on me.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “You tell me, my love.”

  She toyed with the fingers intertwined with hers and then sighed. Jeremy’s warm brown eyes seemed to beckon to her up close, and his thick, soft lips seemed to wait for her taste. The smooth brown skin over his rigid cheekbones seemed ready for her touch, and his angular brow seemed to crinkle in anticipation of what she would say. The cultured beauty of this man was waiting to be claimed. Her heart was skipping, and her palms were starting to sweat.

  “Come home with me,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “No. Yes. I don’t know.”

  He took her hand and pulled her up from the bench.

  “You think about it on the way.”

  The walk to her room took almost twenty minutes, and the closer they got, the more nervous Angelina felt. When Jeremy paused at her door to look into her face, she had to take a deep breath. She pressed her palm to the pit of her stomach to try to calm the butterflies. He noticed.

  “We don’t have to.”

  “I know.”

  She steadied her hand to use her keycard, let them in the door and turned on the light. For a moment, she stood there, looking at the room as if it weren’t hers, checking to make sure she hadn’t left undies thrown around or books strewn over the place.

  He didn’t let her stand there long. He drew her into the room and into his arms. His lips covered her mouth, and his hands covered her breasts, and soon she didn’t remember the room anymore. She couldn’t think of anything but the feelings coursing through her body.

  When they stopped for a breath, she let her head rest against his cheek. Since her lips were already poised to do so, she kissed his neck. In response, he groaned softly and shook his head.

  “I told you that you do the same thing to me,” he said.

  He rubbed the outside of her thighs and then put a hand between them to knead her body through the thick weave of her jeans. She felt her hips tilt forward against his palm. Her body wanted that touch.

  Startling her, he turned her around and pulled her back against his chest. He caught her breast beneath his palm and continued the undulating massage through her jeans. She felt heat flowing into her center and moisture flowing to meet his need.

  He undid her jeans and allowed her to step out of them, along with her sneakers, and he pulled her blouse over her head.

  Then he sat on the bed and looked at her body. Her hands had come up automatically, and he pulled them toward him, wrapping them around his neck as he moved his mouth over her bra, capturing one of her breasts. He released the fastener and pulled her breast into his mouth. Fire licked through her chest.

  When his fingers found her throbbing sex through her moistened panties, she sucked in her breath and then bit off the moan that wanted to pour through her throat.

  He stood and pulled her against his body, set
tling her against his rigid manhood. She moaned softly and her hips pressed forward. She wanted to feel more. He cupped her rear and ground her against him until she moaned again, against her own will, until she thrust against his swollen center, against her own will.

  He kissed her as he motioned her onto the bed, but she drew him with her, using his body to cover her near nakedness. He took her breast into his mouth and starting gently rubbing her womanhood through her thin gauze. His fingers found her center, and she whimpered in delicious agony.

  With his fingers playing over her sex and his tongue licking the hard peak of her nipple, Angelina couldn’t think, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t breathe. She thrust with need against his hand. She couldn’t believe what she was doing, but she couldn’t stop. Her hips jerked, bringing her against his palm and sending her to the edge.

  When his mouth left her breast, she winced, and without thinking, she lowered her hands from his head to clasp her own needy mounds. His tongue worked its way through her fingers, flicking at a taut crown. She gyrated against his fingers and cried out as lightning flashed through her sex and she fell over the brink.

  Angelina opened her eyes to find Jeremy looking at her. She was disconcerted by what she had just done, flailing about in front of him. She couldn’t bear the easy look on his face or the soft grin on his lips. She didn’t want him to see her.

  She started to jump from the bed, but his arm came around her waist. He literally lifted her back down, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.

  “Don’t go, Safire. That was...beautiful. I loved that. Don’t let it be over.”

  “I—I—”

  “Didn’t you like it?”

  He touched his forehead to hers and kissed her nose.

  “Yes.”

  “Then we’re not finished yet.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close against his chest.

  “Can we make love?”

  She clung to his arms, her embarrassment subsiding.