Chapter Fifteen
“JUST A FEW more steps.” Rick’s heart beat wildly as he led Desiree down the dock, her eyes closed. Could she sense the anticipation of an evening sail in the wind? Recognize the feel of the dock beneath her feet? Did she hear the sea calling them, the way he did?
“I forgot what this was like.” The words came without thought, but he had forgotten. He’d been so mired down with seeing and hearing his father, fearing his father’s memories would slay him, that he’d lost touch with the reasons why his father loved sailing so much. The reasons he loved it.
“Surprising me? I feel like you surprise me all the time. It’s wonderful.” She flashed the sweet smile that melted his heart and reached for him, touching his chest with both hands. “Your heart is going crazy. Can I open my eyes?”
“Not yet.” Committing this moment to memory, he reveled in the feel of her hands, the way her anticipation settled the remaining discomfort stirring inside him. He touched his lips to hers, feeling proud, and anxious, and happy all at once. “Okay, sweetheart. Open your eyes.”
Her beautiful, meadow-green eyes swept over his face, and in the next breath, they glided over the boat. Her fingers curled into his shirt, and worry lines wrinkled her forehead. “Rick…”
He touched his lips to hers again. “It’s okay.”
“But your father, and—”
“I know. I’m okay.” He told her about going on the boat with Drake when it was docked the other night, and how they’d talked about their father for two solid hours. They’d laughed and they’d cried, and by the time he’d gone to see Desiree that night, he’d known what he needed—and more importantly, what he wanted.
“I never had a reason to stop running and face what’s kept me from doing the one thing my father loved most. Until you.”
She opened her mouth, but as had happened so often with them, no words were necessary.
“Come on, baby.” He helped her onto the boat. “Let’s make your dream come true.”
Half an hour later they were moving swiftly through the water, the land fading into the distance. Rick waited for the awful feelings to drag him under, but all that came was the soothing sounds of the sea washing against the boat, the rustling, slow swish of the sails, and his father’s voice in the wind.
Hear that, Ricky? That’s pure bliss, right there.
The sun kissed the horizon, and dozens of shades of orange, yellow, and red bloomed over the dark water. Rick gathered Desiree close, filled with a sense of peace and belonging that had been missing in his life for a very long time. He gazed into her eyes. He couldn’t imagine going a day without her, much less a week at a time once they left the Cape.
“I know how hard it was for you to even talk about what happened to your father. I can’t believe you actually did this for me,” she said.
“You did this for me, babe. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. With you, on the water. All of this.”
A while later they anchored the boat and ate dinner by moonlight. Rick pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures. She was covering her face in the first one and beaming like a princess in the next. He took a selfie of the two of them, and then another, stealing a kiss as he took it. They laughed and kissed, and he told her some of the stories his father used to make up about being a deep-sea diver and discovering treasures in far-off lands. Stories that were so outlandish, even now, as he relayed them to her, they still made him shake his head.
“There were times he’d have us in stitches, and he’d laugh so hard he couldn’t finish his story.” His gaze swept over the sea, and he realized he was no longer waiting for the demons to rise and swallow him.
“Are you okay?” Desiree caressed his cheek, and he covered her hand with his, holding it there.
“More than okay. Thanks to you.”
“And Drake,” she reminded him. It was just like her to give credit to someone else.
“Drake, this summer. Our summer.” He held her closer, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I miss him, Des. Out here, thinking about him? I thought I’d feel torn apart. I was so afraid of drowning in his memory that I couldn’t see past the pain. But being here with you has brought all the great things about him back to life. Thank you for that.”
“I think you’ll always miss him,” she said. “That’s what love is. You ache for the people you wish you had in your life, and you ache for the ones who are in your life.” A soft laugh escaped her lips. “We’re an achy clan. But I think this is a good ache, right?”
He laughed and kissed her through their smiles. “A very good ache, babe. The best ache ever. I met this woman on the docks one night when I tried to get on the boat a few months ago. She told me that life takes us where we need to be when we need to be there, and I think she was right. Life brought us both here at the right time. I couldn’t have handled this months or years ago. But now, with you, for you, I feel like I’m ready to move forward.”
“I want that for you. I think your father would be so happy to know you’ve spent all this time with your family again, and doing the thing he loved so much. Do you want to say something for him? Goodbye? Something to honor his memory?”
She was so sweet, always thinking about what he needed, taking over hours at the shop without complaint when Violet failed to show up, making the grounds of her grandparents’ property gorgeous, even though she knew her mother might let it all go in a few short weeks. How did he get so lucky to have connected with the one person who could make him see the beauty in life again and feel emotions he thought were lost forever?
“I’m sailing again, and I’m with the woman I’m falling head over heels for. The woman I know my father would adore.” He pulled her closer and kissed her tenderly. “We are honoring him.”
DESIREE KNEW NOTHING about boats, but it was clear that Rick knew everything there was to know, and watching him sail them out into the sea was like seeing poetry in motion. The wind whipped through his hair, and his eyes shone brighter than she’d ever seen. He was a happy guy, but seeing him on the water made it clear that there was even more positivity and happiness inside him waiting to come out. She hoped she would be there to catch every joyful moment of it.
Rick had lowered the table in the rear of the boat and covered it with enormous cushions that extended the bench seats into a big bed. He brought blankets and pillows up from the cabin. She had no idea how many hours had passed, and she didn’t care, as they lay kissing beneath the stars. Rick’s hands moved over her body like he owned it, and he did. All of her. This amazing, strong man had conquered his greatest fear for her. Her own mother couldn’t put her first, and Rick, after knowing her only a few short weeks, made her feel like she was his everything. She wanted him to know she felt the exact same way.
“I meant what I said,” he told her between heated kisses. “I’m falling hard for you, baby. This is no summer romance.”
“I know. I’m falling, too.”
She tugged up on his shirt, wanting—needing—to feel his skin against hers. Gone was the timid girl who had blushed at the very thought of sex toys and dirty words. Tonight she was his in every sense of the word. She was going to be his wildest fantasies come true, and she didn’t need a dare, or a reason beyond the way her heart had come to life, to give him all of herself.
As he tugged his shirt over his head, she rose to her feet and slipped out of her clothes, unashamed of her bold behavior and nudity.
His breath left his lungs in a rush. “Holy Christ, you’re beautiful.”
He rose from the cushions, standing before her, big and broad, with a predatory look in his eyes that made her wet with desire. She touched her lips to his chest as his hands slid along the contours of her waist and hips. The cool night air brought goose bumps that the heat between them quickly smothered. She loved the rough feel of his hands on her skin. She flicked her tongue over his nipple, and he sucked in a sharp breath, his hips rocking forward. Loving his reaction, she went back for more. Sucking and licking, her hands explored the hard ridges of his pecs, and when she grazed her teeth over the sensitive tip of his nipple, he grabbed her ass, hauling her against his hard frame. And Lord, was he hard.
She kissed her way down his sculpted abs and made quick work of opening his shorts and tugging them down. They puddled at his feet, and he stepped out of them. She wanted to live out her naughty fantasies, too. Fantasies she hadn’t realized she had until this very second. But she suddenly, desperately, wanted to do more. She pushed at his chest, and he sank down to the cushions, his eager erection standing at attention as he reached for her. She knelt before him and guided his hand to his cock, remembering the night he’d held it to keep from coming. Her eyes flicked nervously to his, and the dark look staring back at her bolstered her confidence. She didn’t look away as she licked around the wide head, along the shaft, over his thick fingers.
“Touch yourself,” she whispered, hardly able to believe she’d said it, but she did, and she wasn’t stopping there. Maybe it was being out on the water, with no one around for miles and miles, or maybe it was because she felt so safe with Rick. Whatever the reason, she wanted to fulfill every impulse without hesitation.
His eyes never left her, watching her every move as his hand slid along his shaft in slow, tight strokes.
“Ohmygod, that’s hot,” fell from her lips, and he chuckled.
She took him in her mouth, smiling right along with him, and followed his fist along his thick shaft, turning his smile into greedy moans. He buried his other hand in her hair, guiding their speed, their depth, as he fucked her mouth. That’s just what he was doing, fucking her mouth—and she frigging loved it.
“God, baby, you’re so hot. That’s it. Deeper. Baby, baby, baby…”
She was so wet she could feel it between her thighs, and when he yanked her head back, smothering her mouth in a fierce, demanding kiss, and buried two fingers inside her, she nearly lost it. His tongue thrust, his fingers plunged, and she wrapped her hand around his cock again, stroking to the same rampant beat. He released her hair, never breaking their kiss, continuing his magical torture down below, and squeezed her nipple just hard enough to send a bolt of pain and pleasure between her legs. Passion pounded in her veins, her chest, her head, and she cried out. Her sounds of pleasure were drowned out by his lustful, greedy groans as her body convulsed around his thick digits. And then he was lifting her, switching places, throwing her legs open wide as he knelt before her and buried his face between her legs, both hands seeking her nipples, rubbing and tweaking her into a writhing, needy mess. She lifted her hips just as he thrust his tongue in, and her world spun away.
As she came down from the peak, her mind reeling, her body vibrating, she still wanted more.
“Behind, behind, behind,” said like a mantra. “Love me from behind.” Some wild woman had taken over, and she climbed onto her knees on the wide cushions, planting her palms for balance. She’d never had sex in this position before, and some tiny part of her worried he’d think she meant something more than she was ready for, but she trusted her heart so much. She trusted him.
“Christ, baby. I want to love you every which way.” He took his sweet time, kissing her ass cheeks and running his fingers along her sex, until she was sure she’d lose her mind.
“Now, Rick. Please.”
He knelt behind her, aligned their bodies, his cock nestled against her sex, and his careful choice made her love him even more. In one hard thrust, he was buried to the hilt, igniting the air around them. She looked over her shoulder, and he leaned forward, kissing her roughly. The hair on his chest rubbed over her back as his hips slapped against her cheeks. Her neck strained, her arms shook, and she’d never been so turned on in all her life. When he wrapped one arm around her middle and teased over her most sensitive nerves, everything inside her swelled and pounded, carrying her higher and higher. Until she was so overwhelmed with tingling, pulsing heat, she couldn’t decipher one sensation from another.
“Yes! Harder. Oh, God. Rick!”
His next thrust brought a magnificent explosion as they both found their release, and she surrendered to the rise and fall of the spinning world.
They collapsed to the cushions, and he tucked her against him, kissing her even as he pulled a blanket over them.
“Who are you?” He brushed his lips over her cheek.
“Your sweet girl, just a little naughtier.”
He gazed deeply into her eyes, his emotions filling the air around them with a heartbeat all its own. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life, sweetheart. I’m not just falling for you. I’m falling in love with you.”