Love on the High Seas

by Yasmin Sullivan

  “Yes.”

  The world slanted, and Angelina found herself toppled gently onto the couch with the lace of her skirt thrown up onto her midriff and the bottom hem of the dress scrunched up under her open thighs. Then Jeremy’s hot mouth was upon her, scorching circles through her panties and suckling her through the slick mesh.

  She moaned as the heat of his mouth licked the flames already built up inside her and pushed her to the edge. He tugged at her panties, but she stopped him; she couldn’t bear the separation of his mouth from her body. She was already pulsing heavily, already beginning to tighten. She held his head pressed against her center and called out his name. Her thighs began to tremble as waves of euphoria contracted through her.

  When she opened her eyes, he was leaning toward her and smiling a silly, triumphant grin that she hated and loved.

  She reached for his arms and pulled herself upright, determined to remove the smirk from his face. She stood and reached up under her dress, pulling her panties down and stepping out of them. She had some Safire in her yet.

  Angelina straddled Jeremy on the couch and saw his eyes fly open and his expression turn into a look of pure desire. She reached into his back pocket for his wallet and found a condom, unzipped his pants and handed it to him, a look of daring in her eyes. She felt daring tonight.

  When she lifted herself over his thighs and settled down onto him, a deep growl started in his chest and poured through his mouth.

  He winced, and his thighs thrust him upward to meet her.

  “I’ve wanted this all night,” he said.

  She began to rock over his thighs, and he moaned again, thrusting with her.

  Filled with his hard member, Angelina felt herself growing hotter and wetter, felt flooded with joy. She closed her eyes, held his shoulders and lunged, latching on to his lips to stop herself from breaking apart.

  “Wait, wait.”

  Her eyes flew open. “What?”

  He lifted her onto his body and stood.

  “I want this to last, and I won’t last this way. You’re too beautiful.”

  He smiled at her and kissed her and then strode into the master bedroom. Still inside of her, he laid her gently on the bed.

  “It’s going to be late when I get you home.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 22

  Jeremy moved his sunglasses onto the crown of his head and patted Phillip’s shoulder. “It’s all right. She won’t bite.”

  Phillip edged toward the pool and bent down to pet the dolphin that had come up to them.

  He turned to Jeremy with a smile of triumph. “It’s smooth and wet.”

  The trainer standing nearby whistled, and the dolphin dove upward and flipped back into the water. Phillip squealed as the fine mist from the splash hit them.

  They were at the Miami Seaquarium on Virginia Key on a Saturday.

  “Okay,” said Alex, “enough of the touchy-feely thing. Now it’s time for the shark feeding.”

  “You ready, Phillip?” Jeremy asked.

  “Okay.”

  “Call Safire,” he said to Alex, “and we can go to see the sharks. You can collect data for a video game where someone gets eaten.”

  “Exactly!” said Alex, waving for Safire to come down from the stands.

  Safire hadn’t worn practical shoes, and while she was tottering down the steps toward them, Jeremy lingered with Phillip and Alex, watching the dolphins at play.

  “I’ve thought more about school,” said Alex.

  “Good,” Jeremy said. “Have you found one that teaches programming for video games?”

  “I found an online art school that offers a bachelor of science in game art and design. It also has media arts and animation.”

  “Nothing you can actually go to?”

  “Yeah, there are a few kind of close—mainly in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.”

  “You’re not limited to Florida. We’ll go with you to get you settled if you move to another state. But Fort Lauderdale isn’t too far. You’ll need a car so you can bring your laundry home on the weekends. Anywhere you want to go that you can get in, we’ll pay. So look for the best school, the best program, not just the closest ones.”

  “I was thinking I could start out online—get a feel for some of it—then transfer.”

  “That’s fine too.”

  Safire approached them, her heels ticking against the poolside tiles. Alex quieted, as he always did when Safire or Angelina was at hand.

  Safire stopped with her hands on her hips, looking impish in her miniskirt. “Where to next?”

  “Sharks!” said Philly and Alex together.

  Safire laughed, flung her arms open, and headed down the walk. “Then let’s go.”

  “Are you up to it in those heels?” Jeremy asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I was mainly resting from the sun. It feels like ninety degrees.”

  It was in the low to mid-eighties, so Jeremy wasn’t sure whether she was telling the truth or hiding chafed feet. They’d been at it for several hours, though, so he decided that they would call it day after the sharks, just in case.

  At the shark feeding, both Phillip and Alex were awestruck and animated. Safire lifted Phillip onto her hip for a better view, but Jeremy offered to take him, and they switched. Phillip didn’t seem to mind or much notice.

  Safire looked up at him and smiled. “They’re used to you.”

  “I guess so.”

  “That’s a good thing.”

  After the shark feeding, they strolled back to the parking area. On the way, Jeremy thought to call Angelina to see about dinner.

  “Hello, beautiful...No, we’re just heading to the car. We were wondering if we should pick up dinner...No, we’ll get something...Sure. See you in a little while...Bye.”

  “What should we get for dinner?” Safire asked.

  “McDonald’s,” Phillip said.

  “Chinese,” Alex said.

  “Let’s order out at Dwight’s,” Jeremy said, opting for a real sit-down restaurant.

  * * *

  Angelina hung up the phone and turned back to her last two papers of the semester. Finals were objective questions, so grading those would be easy. She was feeling lighter already, and she didn’t even have to cook dinner that night.

  She put a score on the last paper in time to freshen up and set the table before the door opened. In poured Philly, Alex, Safire and Jeremy.

  Before she could say hello, Philly launched in, giving her a rundown of the sights at the Seaquarium and all that they had done that day.

  “What were the things we petted?” He turned to Alex.

  “The dolphins.”

  “No, no, before that.”

  “Sea lions.”

  “Yes, we petted the sea lions, and then...”

  Jeremy bent toward her and gave her a brief hug and a hello kiss that made her smile. She was well aware that Safire was taking in the scene and speculating on the extent of their relationship, but she ignored her sister and enjoyed the warmth. She was starting to get used to his affection around her family.

  “...have huge throats and just gulp down the meat.”

  “Bloody fish chunks,” Alex said. “It was great.”

  “Inspiration for the future artist,” Jeremy said.

  “I’m glad you both enjoyed it. What about you?” Angelina turned to her sister and tugged at her camisole.

  Safire was pulling containers of food out of bags and putting them on the place settings. “I had a great time. It was a bit hot, but other than that, I enjoyed it.”

  “Don’t tell me you met someone.”

  Both of th
e sisters laughed.

  “That’s not the only way I enjoy my time.”

  “Could’ve fooled me.”

  The sisters laughed again but then straightened and curbed their mirth. Alex might understand, or rather, surely he had. And Jeremy was there with a silent smirk on his face. Angelina didn’t know what had gotten into her—other than the joy of the last paper turned down on the pile, complete.

  But it wasn’t just that. Jeremy had convinced her to teach only one class that summer, so she didn’t have a panic coming up. Philly hadn’t had another seizure in a while, and Alex was even looking into schools and programs. Safire and Alex had been great about helping out more with Philly, and all three seemed to like Jeremy. She still missed her great-aunt, but things were going well. She felt a little like celebrating.

  “Hey, Jeremy, I only have one more week of classes left, then finals. Do you want to do something next weekend?”

  Jeremy kissed her temple as he took the seat next to her. “Do we have to wait?”

  “No time like the present,” Safire added.

  “I can watch Philly,” offered Alex.

  “And I can stay over so that you don’t have to worry.” Safire winked at her, and she understood.

  Jeremy looked at her seriously. “Only if you got enough done today so that you’re not stressed tomorrow.”

  She nodded.

  Jeremy reached over her head, and Safire high-fived him. All three of them laughed.

  “Where should we go?” Jeremy asked. “Where haven’t you been in Miami?”

  “Almost anywhere,” Safire replied.

  Angelina opened her mouth to protest but then conceded, “Almost anywhere.”

  After dinner, Angelina changed and packed an overnight bag. She hugged Alex, Safire and Philly, and then she and Jeremy walked hand in hand to his car. It felt like an adventure. She was feeling freer than she ever had—at least on land.

  * * *

  Jeremy got into the driver’s seat and leaned over to kiss Angelina the way he had wanted to since he first saw her that day at noon. They had decided to go to Little Havana to listen to some Cuban music and have dessert.

  They found a restaurant with live music and ordered pastelitos and a quesillo, sharing both of them. He watched as Angelina plopped one of the bite-sized pastries into her mouth and found himself captivated by her full, soft lips.

  She went after the desserts without restraint, touching his arm in a way that was making his body begin to respond. She leaned toward him, and he caught the scent of her perfume. Something about her tonight was tending toward abandon.

  When she realized that her hand was on his arm, she smiled and pulled it back.

  “I don’t mind.”

  In response, she placed her hand in his and let her body begin to sway to the bolero that the band was playing. Her torso drifted in the turquoise cocktail dress she had changed into. He could see the swell of her breasts shift under the sheer fabric of the top she wore over the gown, and his mouth began to water—not for the sweets in front of them but for the taste of her skin. She had no idea what her mood was doing to him.

  He was about to ask her something when she stood, circled her chair, and with a mischievous grin on her face, held out her hand to him.

  “Dance with me, Jeremy.”

  He was surprised not by her request but by the hint of seduction in her eyes. He smiled, stood, cupped her waist with his hand and drew her onto the dance floor. She spread her palms over his shoulders and slipped them around his neck before bringing her chest against his. For a moment, she rubbed against him ever so slightly. Then she settled into his embrace and began to sway.

  He had never seen her this way—this unconstrained, this frisky. It sent a fire through his groin. Of course, it didn’t help that he could feel his body pressing against hers in all the right places. He had to stop himself from grasping her behind and bringing her into full contact, at least in public.

  The music swung into an upbeat salsa, and she seemed disturbed, not by the music but by the imminent loss of physical contact with him.

  “Are you up for this?” he asked.

  She held his hand, pushed back from his chest, and did a few salsa steps. “I know a little. You game?”

  “Hell, yes.” He matched his steps to hers, and she flung her head back and laughed.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she almost squealed.

  “It looks good on you.”

  And it did. As her hips oscillated to the music, the hem of her dress caressed her thighs, and when she lifted her arm in a spin, her breasts thrust upward. Her whole body was beckoning him, but not as much as the buoyant smile on her face and the sheer spontaneity of her movement.

  When the set ended, she was breathless, and so was he. She was taken by the music and the moment. He was taken by her frame of mind and her beauty.

  “Let’s go home,” she said.

  It was how she said it and the way she looked him in the eyes that made him hold his breath and count to ten so that he wouldn’t tear out of the club without first stopping to pay their tab.

  “I have something for you,” he said, releasing her hand, as he closed his door behind them.

  “Something for me?”

  “Yes. It just came, and I can’t wait to give it to you.” He drew her to the sofa. “Here, sit down.”

  Jeremy set the large package down in front of her and leaned it against the coffee table, watching the puzzled expression on her face.

  “What’s this?”

  “Open it, love.”

  As she tore off the first strip of brown paper, recognition spread over her face. Then tears came into her eyes.

  “Oh, I love it. Thank you.”

  He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “You seemed to love it when we first saw it. Tell me why.”

  * * *

  Angelina felt her heart filling up and spilling over, like her eyes were about to do. It was the painting she’d kept going back to when they were sightseeing in Puerto Rico, the one of the old local couple with a basket of orchids.

  “Why do you like it so much?” Jeremy asked again.

  Having to say it made her feel even more as though she was about to cry. She took a breath.

  “It reminds me of my parents. I don’t know why. It makes me think of them growing older together, or what it might have been like if they could have.”

  She pawed at the tears running down her face. Some seductress she turned out to be. She placed her head on Jeremy’s shoulder and stared at the painting.

  She’d been in high spirits all night. School was almost over, and she was feeling liberated already. In fact, she was out on a Saturday night. She had a life. She had set out to pull a Safire tonight, was even wearing one of Safire’s dresses that she’d kept from the cruise.

  And she’d been wanting Jeremy all evening. The way it felt to move against his body, the way she felt when he turned her in his arms—it had made her randy and even more determined to have a little Safire in her life.

  Now, sitting in front of the painting, she was reduced to a sentimental, sniveling idiot. She had already fallen for this man, and now, as if to enchain her heart forever, he had touched her soul. But these feelings didn’t dampen the fire that had been lit earlier. She still wanted this man, now even more than before. She turned toward Jeremy and pulled his face down to hers.

  Her kiss, first tender, soon became heated. She pulled his tongue into her mouth and opened herself to its onslaught. Soon, her hands were tugging apart the buttons of his shirt and moving across his chest. She moved her lips to his neck, letting his masculine scent fill her head.

  When she dipped her head down to the hard wall of his chest, Jeremy winced and shifted on th
e couch. She felt his fingers caressing her through the thin lace weave of her panties. She couldn’t help cupping her fingers over his and pressing them harder against her. She couldn’t help reaching toward him and gripping him through the obtrusive layering of his pants. She couldn’t help loving this man.

  Jeremy stirred between them to undo his buckle, and the distraction brought Angelina back to her senses. With the sanity that she had left, she rose and took his hand and led him to the bedroom, where she finished what he had started. She drew him onto the bed and backed him up against the headboard. Then she watched him gaze upon her as she took off her clothes, his eyes painting her with his desire.

  She straddled his thighs, and they kissed. But she needed him inside of her, and from the looks of him, that was where he wanted and needed to be, too. She gripped him and lowered herself onto him and felt a thrill flood her.

  His hands found her breasts, and Angelina had to grasp the headboard to steady herself. Then she rode against him, filling herself over and over with him. The pressure built inside of her and the heat of his body rose through her to claim her body. Lost in passion, she blurted out his name. Then out tumbled a confession she hadn’t known she would make.

  “I love you.”

  Had she said that? Her eyes flew open.

  Jeremy’s eyes were closed, and his lips reclaimed hers. Perhaps he hadn’t heard. He sucked in his breath and pulled her roughly against his chest.

  “Angelina,” he said, but nothing more.

  His arms were around her, anchoring her to the movement of his body, filling her with him until she was lost again in the throbbing within her body.

  “Angelina,” he called, rocking faster.

  He began to shiver just as she felt spasms tearing her from her senses, just as she lost all control and thrust and clutched and whimpered.

  His moan joined hers, and his body went taut against hers as he erupted.

  * * *

  Angelina giggled, and Jeremy drew his fingers across her stomach, making her giggle more.

  “What?” Jeremy asked.

  He cupped her face, drawing tiny circles along her cheek with his thumb, lost in the beauty of her features.