I head downstairs and put the stove on, waiting for the water boil and arranging the French press. The wait gives me some time to think about what happened.
If Richard hadn’t knocked on the door…
I don’t know. Tai was looking at me like he was not only going to kiss me, but that he was going to take both my arms and pin them above my head and fuck the life out of me.
God, it would have been so easy too.
So needed.
Just to have someone touch me.
And not just anyone.
His touch. With those hands.
All over.
I gulp, feeling sexually frustrated again, wondering if there’ll be another opportunity before we get to Fiji.
I have to say, as much as I am dying to get off this boat, I don’t think I’m ready to say good-bye to him.
Which is funny, because days ago I couldn’t wait.
As long as he doesn’t turn into an ass again, I think. It’s a big if.
When the coffee is ready, I pour it into the thermos, grab the mugs and head up top.
The wind is even stronger now, the cable that runs up the side of the mast making an incessant clanking sound.
He’s busy figuring stuff out on the touch screen, so I pour him a mug and put it in the holder beside the wheel.
“Thank you,” he says, giving me an appreciative glance before going back to whatever he’s trying to do.
“You’re welcome,” I say. Then I hesitate, because I feel like something needs to be said about earlier. “I’m sorry I touched your dick.”
He chuckles. “I’m not. It’s my one redeeming quality.”
I take a sip of my coffee and smile. “I wouldn’t say that. I’d list them all but I wouldn’t want to give you an ego. And yet something tells me it might be too late.”
The smile he gives me is a little more rushed. He’s frowning.
My heart sinks. I hope it’s not me.
Then again, I hope it’s nothing related to the boat, either.
Suddenly, BAM!
The wind slams into us from behind and I’m nearly knocked over.
It didn’t seem possible, but the sky behind Tai has turned even darker, the waves even choppier. The wind is relentless all of a sudden.
“She’s here,” Tai says warily.
My heart thuds and I have to sit down to keep my balance. “Who?”
“The storm.”
Ten
Tai
Fuck.
I knew I should have woken up earlier this morning. That was the plan. I had even set my alarm an hour earlier because I didn’t want to leave Richard at the wheel for too long, not in this weather with the front coming in, especially as the southern reaches of the Lau Islands were showing up on the radar. They weren’t our stop, but I wanted to stay clear of them just in case.
Last night was fucking torture having Daisy in bed next to me.
I was asleep for maybe an hour before the show began.
I shouldn’t have stayed awake.
I should have ignored it, and believe me, at first I tried. Jammed those earplugs so deep inside my ears I thought they’d meld with my brain.
But they didn’t hide the shaking. Her quivering limbs.
And even the breathiest moans began to slide into my ears.
So I did what anyone would do.
Or maybe what any pervert would do.
It was pitch dark in the cabin, so I just listened.
Listened to the wet sounds her fingers were making as she stroked herself, listened to her moans and the gasps and the way she’d cry out, “Oh yes.”
I listened and imagined and I got off myself.
Couldn’t fucking help it.
It was impossible to not touch myself, to not come alongside her, aiming up on to my belly in a thick stream. I was terrified that she’d wake up and find myself jerking off beside her, but it didn’t stop me.
It’s what I needed after all this time spent with her, all those times I wanted to kiss her when I didn’t feel like arguing with her.
That’s when I fell asleep again.
Maybe for ten minutes.
Must have turned off the alarm.
Then I woke up again.
She was still going at it.
A fucking machine.
This time I turned on the light hoping to wake her.
And in that time she was going at it again, in full glorious view of me.
Her top was bunched up above her tits and she was squeezing one nipple in such a way that it took every ounce of control not to lean over and take her other nipple between my teeth, pinching first before licking, then pulling it into my mouth.
Her other hand was down in her underwear. Pink satin knickers that were drenched with her own enjoyment.
I could have watched that all night. I started taking mental notes, thinking if I’d ever get my chance with her, I’d know all the right moves. She likes it soft at first, her fingertips just teasing her clit, teasing her length, then she slowly increased the pressure, the speed. When she seems like she’s about to come from that alone, she nearly puts her whole fist inside herself.
My little gingersnap is greedy.
And needy.
I could fulfill all her needs.
Then…she woke up.
Flushed and embarrassed and bold all at once and, fuck, I would have been up for anything. The feeling of her hand on my dick was incredible, and I knew there and then how much she wanted me too.
And then Richard started banging on the door, bringing with him reality, and I realized what a colossal mistake I made. I let Daisy distract me from my job, the job I have in keeping everyone on this ship safe.
I’m still mad at myself for it, though I have to be careful so that Daisy doesn’t mistake that for me being mad at her. I don’t want to damage whatever trust we have between us, especially since I caught her (over and over again) in such a vulnerable position.
That said, I don’t have any time to dwell on it.
We’re in a situation.
Thankfully it’s not the worst, but it’s still something I need to stay on top of.
When I first got on deck the wind was just starting to whip up and I could feel the front coming from behind us, the way the sails changed and the boat started objecting to the direction. There was enough time for Daisy to make us some coffee, but I only had a few sips before things got gnarly. There was a lot of running around as we put on foul weather gear. I had to give Daisy the wheel for a bit so I could put mine on, plus life jackets.
It was a risk since the sails were up and the wind was coming from the southwest. We have to stay as north as possible, especially with the Lau Islands to the right of us, which means fighting the wind a little.
Luckily Daisy was great behind the wheel, holding course.
That gave me enough time to start taking in sails and clipping us onto the lifeline. The wind kicked to forty knots, accelerating the boat to nine knots, and sending us skipping over waves. With each rise and fall over the waves, the whole boat shudders and shakes, like a bronco trying to buck us from its back.
“You’re doing good,” I tell Daisy, coming back to relieve her of the steering.
In the faint cockpit lights, she practically has to pry her white-knuckled grip off the wheel.
“Are we going to be okay?” she asks, before a wave whips over the side, skirting us both.
“We’ll be fine, just a squall,” I tell her. “A pain in the ass, that’s it.”