In Forbidden Territory (8 page)

He glanced over at Angie, her eyes closed and her face tilted up toward the morning sun. His heart swelled in his chest and the feeling of total contentment settled over him. His workday may have started out on a disagreeable note, but the rest of the day would be perfect. It seemed that things were always perfect whenever he was with Angie.

The words he and Mac had exchanged swirled through his mind. A moment of darkness invaded his sunshine.

How could he continue his relationship with Angie without jeopardizing his friendship with Mac? Exactly what was his relationship with Angie? How could he convince Mac that he would never do anything to hurt Angie? It was a perplexing problem and he didn't see an immediate solution on the horizon.

A
ngie watched as Ty expertly maneuvered the large boat from his private dock on Bainbridge Island out toward the open water of Puget Sound. Even though the weather was cool, especially on the water, he had dressed in cutoff jeans, deck shoes and a sweatshirt. He looked so at home, as if he was born to handle a sailboat. The contentment on his face clearly showed how much he loved it.

The afterglow of their lovemaking from the previous night continued to course through her veins. Everything about him was totally desirable and excited her more than she ever thought possible. She had lain awake for what seemed like hours after Ty had brought her back to Mac's house. She didn't want to leave his bed any more than he wanted her to, but they each knew it would be a disastrous decision for her to stay the night. She knew Mac would never understand the situation or
accept her adult status that easily and especially in that manner.

She also knew she had to somehow shake her inner turmoil where her big brother was concerned. It wasn't that he intimidated her. Not really. It was just that she was so in awe of Mac she sometimes had difficulty expressing her true feelings around him, especially if those feelings were in opposition to his beliefs. How did she ever expect to convince him she was able to handle a career position with his company if she couldn't stand up to his erroneous assumptions about what she wanted and what was best for her?

And Ty…what did the future hold for the two of them? A shadow momentarily clouded her thoughts. Or did they even have a future together beyond what they were sharing now? There were so many unanswered questions in a life that had suddenly been beset by an overabundance of confusion and conflict that hadn't been there as recently as a week ago.

But for right now those questions would have to wait until some other time. It was a beautiful, sunny day. She was sailing with a man who meant more to her than she thought possible especially in such a short amount of time, more than any other man ever had. Was she truly in love? She still wasn't sure, but after their night of unbridled passion she knew the answer was very close at hand. What would that do to her goals and career plans for the future? She wasn't sure of anything anymore.

The sailboat moved along gracefully through the water. Ty and Angie bonded together in an emotional encounter that equaled and perhaps passed their physical relationship. Ty explained some of the basics of sailing to her—setting the sails, running lines, securing the
boom arm, tacking. He demonstrated some of the new technological equipment that had been installed such as GPS, mechanical raising and lowering of the sails so that it didn't need to be done by hand, computer navigation system and an automatic pilot system. He also pointed out standard equipment such as depth sounder, radar reflector, wind speed and direction indicator and satellite phone.

He loved the hands-on aspects of sailing. He always felt so alive and contented when he was out on the ocean. It was the same excitement he had experienced the very first time he went sailing as a child, an enthusiasm that had increased over the years rather than diminishing.

He glanced toward Angie. A sensation of warmth and caring settled over him. And now he had found the same type of excitement and contentment with her.

Ty reached out and took her hand. “Are you hungry? It's a little past lunchtime.”

“Yes, I could use something to eat.”

He dropped anchor in a sheltered cove off one of the many small uninhabited islands in the San Juan Islands group. He went to the galley below and brought lunch up on deck. He spread it out like a picnic. They ate while enjoying the beautiful scenery and engaging in casual conversation. When they finished, he cleared away their picnic remains.

“Oh, Ty, this is marvelous.” Her face beamed with pleasure. “I can certainly see why you love sailing so much. What a sense of freedom and exhilaration.” Her gaze locked with his. Her voice grew softer. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

He pulled her into his arms and placed a loving kiss on her lips. “I'm glad you're enjoying it. If you'd like,
I'll take you out on my other sailboat as soon as possible so you can get some hands-on experience with sailing.”

“I'd like that very much.”

He reveled in the closeness, the sense of oneness he felt with her. “Maybe we could take a trip…sail down to Mexico, maybe Cabo San Lucas…just the two of us.” There had been more emotion in his voice than he intended, more than he wanted to show. The feelings coursing through him were so foreign to anything he had ever felt before that he didn't know how to handle them.

“That sounds wonderful.” Angie snuggled into his embrace.
Wonderful
hardly described the scene that flashed through her mind. Warm breezes, bright sunlight on sandy beaches, brilliant blue skies and Ty's arms wrapped around her. Long nights of passionate lovemaking under the silvery glow of the moon. The delicious fantasy continued to play on the screen of her mind.

Then his mouth was on hers and all thoughts stopped. She circled her arms around his neck and allowed the sexy magnetism of Ty to pulse through her body. Her desires burst into flame as he slowly worked his hands inside the back of her jeans and panties until he cupped the roundness of her bare bottom. He pulled her body to him until he had her hips nestled against his.

His lips nibbled at the corners of her mouth and tugged at her earlobe. His words tickled across her cheek. “Have you ever made love on a sailboat?”

Her reply was as breathless as his question. “No…never.”

“Would you like to?”

“Very much so.” She knew no one would ever be able to excite her the way he did, to fulfill her every desire. Even though she hadn't known him that long, at least not as an adult, she was now sure that she had been falling in love with him from that first day when they had lunch together.

She wished she had some clue about his feelings toward her. She knew he liked her, liked touching her, liked being with her. But did he love her? She didn't know. And a commitment? She was reluctant to even bring up the subject. If he couldn't willingly offer her one, then to push him into something he didn't want was a sure way of losing him for good.

If this was all their relationship was ever going to be she wanted as much of it as possible. She reached inside his sweatshirt and ran her hands over the hard planes of his well-defined chest. She wanted everything. She wanted it all. Was that asking for too much?

His kiss deepened, infusing her with the heated passion she had come to associate with him. His tongue twined with hers as she welcomed each intimate caress. Her breathing grew ragged. It seemed as if all the oxygen had been sucked from the air. Tremors of delight rippled through her body, driving her desires to a higher plane.

His husky voice whispered in her ear. “Let's go down to the master stateroom.” He took her hand and led her to the cabin. She watched as he pulled off his sweatshirt and kicked off his deck shoes. She reached for the snap on his cutoff jeans. He quickly pulled them off along with his briefs. There was an intense moment of eye contact, his smoldering gaze sending a wave of urgency sweeping through her.

Making love in the middle of the day—she had
never done anything that daring before. And on top of that, they were on a sailboat. It made her feel wildly uninhibited, earthy and almost decadent. Sex with her ex-fiancé had always been as structured and controlled as everything else about him. She loved the spontaneity and excitement that surrounded Ty. She loved the way it made her feel.

And she loved Ty.

He slowly pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. The delight danced through his eyes as he cupped her bare breasts in his hands. His touch elicited a soft moan from her. She wanted her bare skin next to his, their bodies twined together. She kicked off her shoes, then unfastened her jeans, shoved them down her hips and stepped out of them.

He pulled her into his embrace, then lowered her to the bed. His mouth was on hers again, tempting her with the type of pleasure she knew would soon be coursing through her body in a heated flow of ecstasy. His hardened arousal pressed against her thigh, his fingers teasing her nipples into tautly puckered peaks.

She caressed his shoulders, then ran her hands across his muscled back. His mouth left a fiery trail of kisses across her cheek, down the side of her neck, at the base of her throat and finally at the valley nestled between her breasts. Every place he touched her produced a ripple of excitement. She gasped for air, her ragged breathing matching his. Only her bikini panties prevented the heat of his manhood from penetrating her moist core.

She jerked her head back into the pillow when his mouth closed over her nipple. She arched her back, pressing her body against his. The feel of his bare skin, his tightly drawn muscles, the heat of his pas
sion…everything melted together leaving her wanting more and more. The gentle rocking of the boat added to the sensual cocoon that enveloped her.

He quickly shifted his attention to her other breast, teasing that nipple with the tip of his tongue before taking it into his mouth. A shiver of delight washed through her body. Layers of excitement built in intensity. She needed to touch him, to feel his hardened arousal. She reached for his manhood, stroking the rigid length until he shifted away from her grasp.

“Not yet—” His words came out as a barely discernable raspy whisper. “No need to rush things. I want to give you pleasure…again and again.”

He ran his tongue along the underside of each breast, then trailed it down her stomach until he reached the elastic of her bikini panties. He tugged at them with his teeth, slowly inching them down her hips until he had exposed her most private recess. His breath tickled across the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, sending a convulsive wave coursing through her body. She wanted to touch him. She had to touch him. She reached down and ran her fingers across his shoulders, reveling in the sensation of his bare skin.

He slowly placed a series of kisses, each moving closer and closer to the heated core of her womanhood. Her senses teetered on the brink. Then he placed the most intimate kiss of all. She felt the gasp leave her throat as much as she heard it, followed by the exquisite rapture that exploded inside her.

Ty felt the shudder rush through her body accompanied by a throaty moan of delight. He pulled her panties down her legs and tossed them on top of his clothes on the floor. He reached his hands up to her breasts as she thrust herself more fully against his
mouth. He had never known anyone so honestly responsive and delightfully sensual. Everything about her excited him more than any woman he had ever known. And it was far more than sexual fun and games. The entire package of personality, brains, compassion and beauty went with that sensuality to create the most complete woman he could ever hope to know and spend time with.

And plan a future with? It was a thought that invaded his mind more and more with each passing hour.

He reached for the drawer in the headboard of the bed and withdrew the condom packet. He rolled over on his back and a minute later he grasped her hips in his hands. He straddled her body across his with her knees on each side of his hips, then lifted and settled her onto his erection. Her femininity snuggly encased his hardness, sending a rush of heated intensity crashing through him. She was everything he had ever wanted, everything he had hoped for—and so much more.

They moved together in perfect unison, their lovemaking again propelling each of them to the heights of ecstasy. Their tempo increased as each neared the ultimate climax. Angie fell forward, her upper torso pressed against his body. Ty quickly rolled her over onto her back while maintaining the physical connection binding them together. He wanted the final release, yet he wanted the euphoria of their coupling to last forever.

His mouth claimed hers—devouring, demanding and giving as much as he took. His driving passions produced deeper and quicker strokes, each one met and equaled by the upward thrust of her hips.

She tightened her arms and legs around him as wave
after wave of exquisite ecstasy convulsed through her body.

A moment later the hard spasms shuddered through him. He held her close as he forced his breathing to a normal pattern. He continued to hold her body tightly against his. He didn't want to ever let go. He stroked his fingers through the silky tresses of her hair, then cradled her head against his shoulder. He didn't want to take a chance on losing her. It was a sobering thought that filled him with the type of contentment he had never before known…a contentment that left him as fearful of the implications as it did fulfilled.

 

Ty and Angie returned from their sailing day shortly after dark. They secured the boat at his private dock.

“I have a fairly busy schedule at work for the rest of this week, but the first day I can clear my calendar we'll take out the sloop and I'll give you your first sailing lesson. It will be work and you'll probably end up using muscles you didn't even know you had. So…” he shot her a teasing grin “…be prepared to be sore the next day. It's not everyone's idea of
fun.
”

“I enjoy being on the water and if today is any example, I know I'm going to love it.”

He pulled her into his arms. His voice took on a softness that spoke of the emotion coursing through him. “And I'm going to love teaching you, too.”

“I read a couple of books about sailing so that I could at least be familiar with the terminology and have a better understanding of what the company does…you know, how things work and why something needs to be there. That sort of thing. I wanted to be conversant on the subject. I was going to ask Mac to teach me when he had some free time, but judging from what
I've seen so far I could be a little old lady before that time arrives.”

His easy laugh filled the air. “You are so right.”