by Wood, Vivian
But that same energy that Luna and I somehow created is still surrounding me, even lingering into the wee hours.
In the dark I lay in my bed and think about her, despite knowing full well that she is not for me.
Chapter Sixteen
Luna
“There you go,” I say, finishing wrapping Sofia’s ankle. “You should stay off of it as much as you can for the next few days, okay?”
“Thank you,” she replies tearfully. “I cannot believe that this happened while we were on vacation.”
I stand up in the master bedroom, gathering up my supplies and putting them into my leather medical bag. “It’ll feel like a new ankle in no time. But for today I would like you to have a few ibuprofen, just to take the swelling down and manage the pain.”
I raise a small pill bottle, shaking the contents. She looks at me gratefully.
“Thank you again, doctor.”
My smile tightens a hair. I’ve tried to explain to the clients that I’m not a doctor yet, but obviously my protests haven’t been heard.
“No problem. I’ll send Emma in to fetch you something to drink.”
She bobs her head, dismissing me without another thought. As I turn, I’m a little taken aback.
Gabe’s words come back to me. I bet they’ll treat you like the rest of us sooner or later.
He was wiser than I gave him credit for, apparently. Though Sofia didn’t exactly snub me, she definitely forgot I was even in the room there at the end.
Which makes me wonder… have I ever treated anyone like that? Surely not… right?
A sigh breaking on my lips, I head to find Emma and let her know that Sofia needs something to drink.
Then I head back down the hall, lugging my medical bag.
“Luna.”
I pause, my brow knitting. “Gabe?”
He ducks out of an invisible-to-me doorway. He lifts his chin in greeting. “Come here.”
Curious, I follow the place I just saw him disappear into. To my surprise his doorway is built into the hallway’s sleek wood finish. If I wasn’t looking at it, I wouldn’t even know it was there.
He stands in a tiny bedroom, ducking a little because the ceiling is too low for someone his height.
“Is this where you sleep?” I ask, feeling dumb. I hadn’t really thought much about it, other than noticing that he has a hammock strung up in the pilothouse. I guess I just thought he sleeps there.
Gabe shrugs. “Yeah, for this trip. Sometimes this bunk belongs to a client, but not this voyage.”
I step inside, my eyes scanning the tight quarters. He has a small port hole that is currently letting a little light in. And to the right side of the bed is a small nightstand, with a couple of silver framed photographs, a tiny white lamp, and a pile of books.
“It’s nice,” I say, my eyes still roving. “Cozy.”
Gabe sits down on the bed, his eyes narrowing slightly. “What, does is not meet with your approval, Lady Leone?”
I flush. “Did you call me in here just to antagonize me, Gabe?”
He rolls his eyes. “No. Tonight Mal is in charge of piloting the boat, so I thought…” He turns to the nightstand, opening the single drawer. Producing a bottle of amber liquid and two glasses, he raises a brow. “Want to share a glass of whiskey?”
My surprise shows on my face, I think. “Oh! Uhh… sure.”
Stepping inside the room fully, I put my heavy medical bag down with a thud. Gabe stands up and closes the door partially with his shoulder.
I arch my brow and he just shrugs. “The clients don’t know that this room even exists. I’d rather keep it that way, if that’s all right with you.”
Butterflies start flapping their wings somewhere below my ribcage. I nod nervously, taking a seat on the silky black comforter that covers the bed.
He presses the door closed all the way, then finds his seat again. It’s a queen sized bed so at least we aren’t sitting all over each other… but my stomach won’t stop flip flopping at his closeness.
He pours us both a dram of whiskey, handing me my glass. I accept it, biting my lip.
Gabe puts the bottle on the floor with a clank, then lifts his glass in the air. “To having a night off.”
Smiling softly at his toast, I clink my glass against his. “Cheers.”
We each take sips of the whiskey. It burns on the way down but it isn’t too harsh. He seems interested in my reaction more than anything.
“Did I already tell you that my brother owns a bar?” I ask.
He smirks. “You did. I remember, you like a French 75.”
I grin at him. “Well, my brother really really loves whiskey. Thus, I have learned to like it.” I wrinkle my nose. “Well, sort of.”
He nods, taking another sip. Then he stretches out on the bed, his back resting against the wall. “I see. What’s your brother’s name?”
I set my glass of whiskey on the bed. “Luca. He’s married to my best friend Cate… and there is also my other best friend, Harper.” I think for a second. “Actually, Harper was the one who invited me to the yachting gala.”
He looks thoughtful. “Oh. A little taller than you, with dark hair and a pink dress?”
I nod. “That’s the one.”
“I see.” He takes a sip of his whiskey and then sets his glass aside onto the nightstand. “You’ve already met my sister. And she’s pretty much my only confidante, so…”
He spreads his hands. Smiling at that, I nod.
“Yeah. It must be nice, having a sister that’s so close.”
He shrugs. “Mal is pretty awesome. I wanted to have a brother, but I guess my parents were done with having kids.”
Chewing on my lower lip, I take my time in responding to that.
“Maybe it wasn’t a choice. Maybe your parents struggled to conceive.”
His eyebrows fly up. “I guess? It’s possible. I don’t like to think about it. Not that I could ask now anyway…”
That makes me look up. “Why not?”
A tense look crosses his face. “I’m not really talking to my mom. And my dad… well, you met him. He is not the kind of dad you ask about… you know… women’s stuff.”
“Did you and your mother have a falling out?” I ask.
Gabe stretches his neck, making his answer seem more cavalier. “We disagreed over the course my life was taking a few years ago. I told her to butt out, she wouldn’t do it…” He shrugs a shoulder. “It was a stupid fight, but now it just seems too hard to talk to her.”
Sucking in a breath, I decide to tell him a little more of my story. “Luca and I were raised almost entirely by people who weren’t our mother. My mother was very young when she had us. And… it was easier for her, I think. To just leave us in the care of that year’s nanny and telephone on holidays.”
He nods very slowly. “I see. That was probably hard to understand as a kid.”
Now it’s my turn to shrug. “I guess. I don’t remember it being on my mind a lot.”
Grabbing his whiskey, he has another sip. I do too, to fill the spaces in our conversation.
“Do you want a family?” he asks.
I look up, a little surprised. “Why do you ask?”
He looks down at the glass of whiskey in his hands. “I just… I don’t know. I wonder if I could do it better than my parents did.”
His mouth twists to the side and he sloshes the last bit of whiskey around in the glass.
“I think I could, sometimes. But other times I’m just like… I don’t know. My parents were years younger than me and they had so much responsibility…”
He trails off, seeming absorbed in thought.
I take a deep breath. “Well, to answer your question… yes, I do. At least, I think so.” I pick up my glass, taking a sip. “I would at least let my children know that they were wanted, if I have them.”
When I look up at him again, he’s drinking me in with that eerie gaze of his. If I had a choice in the matter, he wo
uld only look at me just that way from now on. “You think that’s the only thing you’d do differently?”
I give him a little smile and shake my head. “No. It just sounds like the best place to start.”
“Ah.” He nods. “That makes sense.”
My eyes wander to the stack of books on his bedside table. I jerk my chin at them. “What does Captain Gabe read in his downtime?”
He glances over at the bedside table and then sets his glass down. “I like science fiction, usually. So I’ve got some Haruki Murakami here… and some old Neal Stephenson…” He fishes a book out of the pile. “And then this is a book of maps.”
I lift my eyebrows curiously. “What for?”
He puffs out his cheeks, flipping open to a page that’s been dog eared. “The yacht race that the gala was a fundraiser for? I’m in it.”
My cheeks redden. I know this, but to keep him talking, I will ask some questions. “Is this the course?”
I trace my finger along the sharpie marked there on the map.
Gabe nods. “Yeah. It’s actually more than just a race… it’s a treasure hunt. At the beginning of the summer, they mail out a list of clues to all the contestants. And we are supposed to chart our course based on that.” He glances up at me, spearing me with his blue-green eyes. “This is all very hush-hush. There are a ton of people who would kill for a leg up in this race.”
Oh god. Dr. Montgomery didn’t say why he would need Gabe’s chartered course, but it is all sliding into place.
“Umm…” I stare down at the map, trying not to look too guilty. “Why? Why cheat?”
“Money.” He flips the map book closed. “There is a huge cash prize for the winner. Plus the winner gets first pick of yacht charters. Essentially there are like ten teams that are blue collar workers just like me… and every single one of us want to win the regatta.”
My eyes slide away into the corner. My mouth clamps shut. “Mm! Mm-hmm…”
Gabe puts the book of maps back on top of the stack of books, a smile on his face. “You don’t have to look so interested.”
My cheeks redden. I mumble into my glass. “Sorry. I… I got distracted.”
“By what?” he asks, casually flinging his hands around. “There is nothing here.”
My heart pounds. I look at him, biting my lip. Would it be so wrong to mislead him about this?
It would only be the tiniest white lie…
“I was thinking of how your lips felt on mine,” I say, turning red as a beet.
Gabe’s eyebrows rise. “Were you?”
I nod, keeping eye contact with him. His blue-green gaze pins me in place. When his eyes drop down to my lips, I can’t help but wet them.
It might not have been true before, but it’s definitely true now. I want him to kiss me again.
I want to feel the way his big hands span my waist, pushing me into his heavy frame. I want him to make me feel the way I felt that night in Vegas.
I want him to pull those sounds and sighed pleas from my lips again.
He moves forward, his gaze alight with carnal intent. Before he even touches me, I swear I can feel it; maybe those are the echoes of our night together, come alive in my imagination.
Gabe reaches for me, one hand slipping to my back, one to cup my jaw. He tilts my head up, his movements slow and decided. He bites his lip, looking at me.
Then he kisses me, so slowly that it’s torturous, so hot that I can barely breathe. At first, he merely brushes his lips against mine, leaving me wanting. I clutch his t-shirt, pulling him closer, seeking what I know is there.
My skin feels alive suddenly, buzzing with the sensation of power. Power that builds with every second his lips are on mine.
He presses his lips against mine, only to pull away again.
Making me hungry for him.
Making me ache deep down.
“Gabe,” I whisper, fluttering my eyes closed. “Please… just kiss me.”
He smirks for a second, then tilts my head just so. Reminding me that he is so much bigger than me, that he is the one with all the power here.
Then his firm lips find mine, slanting across them, so unbelievably warm and honeyed that I can only sigh against him. He deepens the kiss, only now letting his hunger show. He moves over me, his mouth traveling along my jaw, down the pale column of my neck, teasingly skimming my collarbone.
I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
All I know how to do is work one of my hands underneath his simple t-shirt, feeling the hot skin of his side, the very beginnings of the vee of muscle that makes up his Adonis belt.
He growls low in his chest. Then I can hear a faint clattering of feet coming down the stairs.
I freeze. Gabe pulls away, his eyes aflame with out-and-out lust. He looks at me for several seconds, his breathing ragged. For a moment, I’m not sure whether he plans to kiss me, kill me, or kick me out of his cramped little bedroom.
“Dr. Luna!” someone cries. “Has anyone seen her?”
I shoot straight up off the bed, my face going ten shades of red. “Shit,” I mutter, grabbing my medical case.
“Luna?” the voice calls again, further away this time.
Running my hand over my hair, I push on Gabe’s door. It lets me out into the main hall without any fuss; someone oiled that door so it wouldn’t squeak, I’m sure of it.
Without so much as a backward glance I call out. “I’m here!”
Gabe’s door slides closed behind me, obscuring where I came from.
“Luna?” Carlos calls. I see his face down the hallway. “Oh, there you are. Can you come to look at Emma? I think she ate something bad…”
I smile stiffly. “Of course.”
Rushing down the hallway, my heart still pounding, I force myself to think of the task at hand.
Chapter Seventeen
Gabe
I’m sailing our yacht through what I consider the most beautiful part of the whole journey. Remote narrow passages, deep fjords, and cascading waterfalls. Ancient pine trees, breathtaking gray sand beaches, random fields of little purple wildflowers.
And the sea itself… nowhere else that I’ve ever been is it just this shade cold, dark, pristine blue. White caps can be seen here and there. It seems endless, though I know logically that it isn’t.
Everything here is just saturated with color. The air smells different as we reach the upper point of British Columbia, as if it is purer somehow. My senses are just a fraction sharper.
And despite all of the beauty and majesty surrounding us, I can’t stop thinking about Luna.
I went temporarily insane two nights ago and kissed her. To be fair, she did give me that look. The one where she bites her lip, where her eyes shine with a promise that is unfulfilled… The one that tells me all the erotic things she has in mind…
The one I don’t know how to resist.
I swear, it was the same look that lured me in back in Vegas. And I couldn’t say no this time any more than the last. It was all animal instinct when I took her lips, all gut compulsion.
When the door behind me slides open, I actually start. The clients are just behind the pilothouse, chatting and laughing. The sudden increase of volume throws me for a loop.
“I’m here to relieve you,” Mal says, crunching a bite of a potato chip. She wags the bag at me. “Sorry, do you want some?”
I frown at my sister, then grab a handful of chip out of the bag. “I’m glad you are here. My brain needs a rest, I think.”
She shrugs and makes a motion with her free hand. “Go, then. Get out of my chair.”
I rise from my seat with a sigh. Mal takes over, putting the bag of chips on the floor. She starts double checking all the settings and bearings. I pop a chip in my mouth.
“See you later,” I say vaguely.
“I’ll be here until about midnight,” she affirms, not bothering to look up from the instrument panel.
Nodding, I slide the pilothouse door open and let myself
out. After stopping to exchange pleasantries with the clients, I am ready to vanish from view.
After heading down to the main deck, I start toward the stairs. I see a flash of blonde hair disappearing around the side of the pilothouse.
I stop, sighing.
“Luna?” I call.
Above the hum of the motors and the constant rushing of water, I hear what I think is a distressed sound. Hesitating, I step around to the yacht’s side.
Next to a pile of ropes is Luna, sitting on the deck. She’s looking at me with reddened eyes, wiping at her tear stained face.
Fuck. I wandered into a private moment.
Squinting uncomfortably, I clear my throat. “Do you want to be alone?”
There’s a pause. Then she shakes her head, pushing herself to her feet. “No.”
I nod toward the stairwell. “Let’s go downstairs. There are people listening here.”
Luna looks down, her throat working. She nods. I head to the stairs, clattering down the steps. There is a moment when I have to decide between taking her to the presumably empty dining nook or taking her into my bedroom.
Opting for as much privacy as anyone gets on a yacht, I head down the hall and press on the panel to my room.
I step back and let Luna go in first, looking both ways down the hall as I enter after her. For some reason I can’t quite put my finger on, I don’t want anybody to know that I let Luna into my private quarters.
When I step inside and close the door behind me, the room seems tinier than usual with her in it.
She sniffles, wiping at her eyes again. I take a few steps away and lean against the wall, crossing my arms.
“What’s going on?”
She sighs, looking up at me carefully. “Nothing.”
My brows furrow. “Really? I’m pretty sure that you’re not crying just because you feel like it, Luna.”
She looks away from me, exhaling a long breath. “It’s silly. I was helping Sofia with her sprained ankle. She asked when I plan to get married and have kids.” She ducks her head. “Like it’s just that easy for everyone. You just decide to settle down and have a bunch of babies…”
