Going Nowhere (A Romantic Comedy Novella) (15 page)

“You’ll never be able to sleep like that.” He sighed. “Would it bother you if I undressed you? As long as you’re wearing underwear, which is like being in a bikini, and I’ve seen you in a bikini many times this week.”

I nodded. His rationalization sounded pretty good to me. And now that he’d mentioned it, I did feel pretty restrained in all this leather. Leather pajamas were unpopular for a very good reason.

Besides, I didn’t want him to leave.

The light hit Max from behind, reflecting through strands of his dark hair. “What do you think?”

God, he looked good. “Let’s lose the clothing.”

Max bent over me, giving me another pleasing whiff of his cologne. He gingerly touched my waist, not realizing that a light touch from him had more of an effect on me than a rough slap would from anyone else. He stared down at me, moving his hands up the sides of my body. He exhaled loudly. “Doesn’t this thing have a zipper?”

Secretly amused, I shook my head. “Nope. It has hook and eye closures all down here,” I said, using my finger to draw a line between my breasts.

He gulped. “And you’re wearing a... something under there, right?”

Duh. I wasn’t Pamela Andersen. “Yes, Max.”

His gaze locked with mine for an indeterminate amount of time before it returned to my chest. “You sure this is okay?”

I squirmed about uncomfortably. “I could never fall asleep in this stuff.”

“You seem to be getting better. Maybe you could do it‌—‌”

“If I move again, it will be toward the bathroom.”

He nodded. He touched me with his large hands, tucking his fingers underneath the top of the corset. Then he unhooked the first row.

I exhaled happily. “I feel better already.”

Max smiled and went for the next one. Slowly, his thick fingers trailing across my skin, he undid the hooks on the top. He was so careful not to touch me anywhere vital.

I shivered a couple of times, in spite of my best efforts to remain calm. I remembered the way his hands had felt on my back. I’d thought they were magic hands then, not knowing that they’d belonged to him. My workplace had always been the home of the mundane, not anything magical.

When he got to my belly button, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the tickling, pleasurable touch of his hands. Then I felt the leather fall away, and the cool air in the stateroom caused goosebumps to spring up on my stomach.

“All done,” he whispered.

I opened my eyes and raised my head a little to look at myself. I didn’t realize until then that I was still teetering on the edge of consciousness and a dizzy spell made me immediately drop my head back onto the pillow. “What about the pants?”

He chuckled, his tone so deep that it resonated through my entire body. “I’ll take care of it. Do they have a zipper or do they button all the way down the back?”

I laughed languorously. “They have a zipper, but they’re a little bit of a tight fit. You might have to fight my thighs for them.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll win.”

I had no doubt that he would. This time, when I felt his hands touch my waist, I didn’t suppress the reflexes that threatened to consume me. I arched my back, delighting in the feel of him trying to hold me down.

Without a word, he unzipped the pants and started to shift them down my hips. Every new inch that he exposed tingled with the pride of discovery. I moaned softly behind closed lips, begging him to slow down and hurry up at the same time.

“You have a beautiful body, Kate.” His thumb pressed into my lower thigh and I trembled, making me decide that any place Max touched me became an erogenous zone.

“Maybe you’d like to show me yours.”

He made that sexy, rumbling sound again, originating from the back of his throat. “Is that what you want?”

“I’ve been thinking about it all night.”

He finished slipping off my leather pants and I heard them drop to the floor with a heavy
clunk
. He sat on the edge of the bed, his weight causing me to roll toward his hard body. “Kate,” he said, caressing the hollow between my jaw and neck, “I should probably go.”

“I don’t want you to go,” I gushed in an exhalation of breath. I started to sit up again, to touch him, to wrap my arms around his body. My head ached with each broken movement.

“I don’t know,” he said, turning to gaze at me. He took in my black lace thong and matching bra, probably not as close to a bikini as he’d expected. “You might have a different answer in the morning.”

I pulled him down onto the bed beside me and cuddled into his muscular arms. “I need you. I’m sorry if I talked about my family problems too much, but I really do want to be with you regardless of all that.”

He pulled me harder against his chest, so that I could feel every breath. “The last thing you are is messed up.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I wouldn’t want to make love to you if you were.” His eyes burned with conviction.

If anyone else had spoken those words, I would have considered it a line and either shoved them away or ignored it as meaningless pillow talk. Max was different. Every word he’d ever spoken to me had been honest. I kissed the scraggly stubble growing on his square jaw. “How do you see right through me?”

“It’s easier than you think.” He returned my kiss, rubbing his lips lightly against my skin, starting from my cheek and ending at my mouth. Once there, he quickly deepened it, urgency in his every move, as though I might suddenly change my mind.

I reached down for the waistband of his pants, wanting him to feel as unfettered as me‌—‌in body and in soul. I struggled with the loops and buttons and zippers while he nibbled at my neck. When my hand brushed against the evidence of his arousal, he groaned in my ear.

He maneuvered out of the black Dockers as soon as I’d unlatched them. Raising up on one elbow, he took off his shirt, as well. The silhouette of his toned physique was illuminated by the warm light of the lamp, and I let my mouth trace the curve of his bicep, wondering if I could kiss every inch of his torso.

My lips brushed against his chest, then back up to his mouth after a shy glance at his lower body. He was straining against his black briefs, and when he pressed himself into my lower stomach, I begged for release. With eager hands, I slid his underwear down his thighs.

Max wasted no time in ridding me of my own undergarments. First the bra, then he removed my thong, his tongue making breathtaking circles around my hardened nipples. Then I could feel his hot tip between my legs.

He pushed inside me without much effort, my arousal warm and wet. “Kate,” he groaned, “you’re amazing.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist and he drove in deeper. I gasped. “Shut up and fuck me.”

Max began a relentless onslaught, one that I’d been wanting for months. He gave me all that I desired and more. Lips pressed against mine, he made me feel like a bomb about to explode. I rode higher and higher, each of his thrusts convincing enough to make me sign my life away. I could have told him I loved him. I would have married him on the spot.

My release came when he slid his hands underneath me and pulled me hard against his groin. “Max!” I cried, spinning out of control.

“Can I pull out?” he asked breathlessly.

I nodded and he finished on top of me. I touched him as he trembled, amazed by his animalistic energy. Even after it was done, I still didn’t want to see him go. His very presence made me feel capable. Goddess-like.

Max caught his breath for a moment then hopped out of bed. He came back after a moment with a warm wash cloth and wiped my stomach. Then he laid back down and pulled me onto his chest.

I snuggled close, nuzzling my face into his neck. I didn’t want to think about the future, about what tomorrow would bring. It felt good right then, and that was all I could ask for. I didn’t want to challenge fate.

Max managed to kick off the top bed cover and, by lifting me slightly, got us underneath it without much effort. He pulled the sheet up to my chin and held me close. “Goodnight, Kate. You’re amazing.”

I was already falling asleep, my unexpected bed partner not delaying my long-awaited escape.

C
ONSCIOUSNESS KNOCKED ON
my closed eyelids, invading my sleep and making the lovely dream I’d been having disappear in a cloud of smoke. I stretched my arms above my head, but the usual feeling of feline delight wasn’t there. My head felt like an overweight giant was stuck inside and trying to climb out of my ear.

I tried stretching my legs then, and felt an unmistakable hairy man-leg. My eyes popped open.

I felt movement beside me. Maybe it was April. Maybe she’d been lonely last night and had decided to double up with me. Sure, it had clearly been a while since her last shave, but who was I to judge?

No, that wasn’t it. I knew exactly who was lying beside me.

I tried to roll away gently without disturbing him. I turned my body so slowly that I felt like a chicken in a rotisserie. That wasn’t the only way in which I felt like a chicken.

With a loud
thump
, I hit the floor.

I heard Max stirring on the bed. He turned on the light. “Kate? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” I cried, reaching for a pair of sweat pants that had been kicked under the bed. I tried to stumble into them, missing the right pant leg and trying to force both legs into one hole. I fell towards the bed, catching myself with outstretched hands.

He tried to help me up. “Come sit down.”

“No, I have to go.”

“Where?”

“I, uh... have an appointment to get my nails done.” I struggled into a tank top, keeping my back to him.

“Why are you freaking out?”

“I’m not freaking out.” I crawled away from the bed, head pounding with every move. “It’s just that I signed up for an early-morning yoga class.”

“It’s five a.m.”

“My body is a temple. I take exercise very seriously.”

“Listen, we can slow down if you want,” he said, then grinned. “Although last night you kept telling me to go faster.”

“Stop it,” I said, remembering all too clearly how I’d wanted it. “I was under the influence.”

He started to get out of bed, naked as the day he was born. “I’m sorry‌—‌”

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I held my hands up to my face and ran into the bathroom.

The bright lights made me feel as though I were at a late night football game. I caught a glance of myself in the mirror and winced. I couldn’t believe Max had seen me like this: mascara smeared across my face, imprints of the sheets on my cheek. At least I had a tan.

He knocked on the door. “Let’s discuss this like adults, Kate.”

“Not until you put some clothing on.”

I could hear his sigh through three inches of flame-retardant wood. “Why in the world would you need me to cover up after what we did?”

“That’s different,” I said, but even as I spoke, I knew I was being childish. I couldn’t help it.

I made sure the door was firmly locked, then sat on the toilet seat and rested my head in my hands. This was exactly what I’d been afraid of before. The morning after. It’s easy when you’re in the heat of the moment and will do anything to ease the desperate ache in your gut for intimacy. I wasn’t good at the part that followed.

“Kate, open the door.”

The tile felt cool on my feet. I wanted to lie on the floor and press my forehead against the tiles. I ran my fingers through my messy hair. “I’m fixing myself up.”

I heard his body thump against the door, as though he’d had to press his ear against the wood to hear me. “Fine. Why don’t you take a shower?”

Seemed like a good enough idea. If he wasn’t going to walk away from the bathroom door, I would never be able to escape. The shower would give me time to think things through. “I’ll do that. Thanks.”

Judging from the moving shadows beneath the door, he walked away. I took off the clothing I’d just put on and got into the shower. I made the water as hot as I could stand it and let the water drench me. I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the falling water.

I soaped up a washcloth and smoothed it over every inch of my body. Every spot Max had kissed, fondled, or licked. It was a lengthy process.

I wanted to be angry with Max, but I knew what I was feeling was fear. I hadn’t been the only one drinking last night, so to hold him responsible for what had happened would be ridiculous. His judgment had been similarly impaired.

And besides, we’d both wanted it. I guess that was the thing that I was having the most difficultly admitting.

I’m not sure how long I was in the shower, but when I finally came out, Max was gone.

I was beginning to feel like there wasn’t anything to do on the ship besides walk around and eat. Since it was breakfast time, I made a tour of every place you could get eggs until I found April in the main dining room.

I pulled out the chair next to her. “We have to talk.”

She took a bite of scrambled eggs and said, “You slept with Max.”

It was said in such obvious way, as though the whole ship knew about my boudoir activities. “How do you know that? Did you come back to the room and see us?”