14
Juliet
I met him at the marina an hour later.
“Dress casual. Bathing suit, cover up. All clothing optional,” he laughed with a shrug. I smiled at his playfulness, but I still didn’t know what to bring so I overpacked. My flip-flops flapped down the dock as I found the slip after directions from the harbormaster.
Tack stepped out from the underbelly of a large catamaran, and I paused when he saw me. He wore another T-shirt and a different pair of board shorts. The baseball cap was gone.
“Hello beautiful,” he said, jumping off the boat deck onto the dock.
“Wow, this is something,” I said, eyeing the ocean-ready catamaran. This was much larger than our double-outrigger carved from a fallen tree.
“Welcome aboard,” Tack said, a smile in his voice as he stepped forward and kissed my cheek. I blushed like a schoolgirl at his sweetness. He stepped back and swept a hand to the gangplank, following me up the ramp.
“Carlos, this is Juliet,” he said, introducing me to someone dressed like an authority, with a sailor-type shirt and white shorts. Carlos was very island-looking, with chocolate skin and dark eyes. He saluted me before reaching for my hand to shake. His smile was friendly as he greeted me. “She’s precious cargo,” Tack added.
“All set?” Carlos asked Tack, and I was pointed toward a seat as another man pulled up the gangplank and caught the ropes anchoring us to the dock. We puttered steadily out of the holding slip, but picked up speed quickly as we cleared the short bay.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve prepared a stop for us before we reach our final destination. The first one is not far from here, so just get comfortable. You have a suit, right?” I tugged at the strings hanging out of my tank to confirm that I followed his orders. The motion was noted and a crooked smile formed on his lips.
“What?” I snipped without harshness.
“I’m happy you’re here,” he said. My heart pattered faster in my chest. I was excited to be with him, too. I’d let Miller know where I was going, as far as the information I had—I was spending the day with Tack. He didn’t seem to mind after all, having made his own plans for snorkeling with Tom and Mike.
Tack directed me to a cabin below deck, where I placed my bag. He stopped me before I could climb the steps again and kissed me. Both hands placed on my jaw.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?” I giggled.
“For today.” His thumbs caressed my cheeks.
“We haven’t done anything,” I laughed.
“Yet,” he amended before kissing me again.
Returning above board, he led me to netting between the two large outriggers slicing through the sea. Directing me to sit, I stared out at the open water as we rounded the island. The crystal-clear liquid gave off a turquoise cast. The beach, reflected with white sand, was peppered with people. Tack sat next to me and spoke.
“We’re headed to Turtle Beach, a place to swim with the sea turtles. I don’t know how many we will see because it’s almost breeding season, but I thought it would be a cool experience.”
I sat up straighter and clapped like I was a little kid. “I’ve never swam with sea turtles before.”
His hand rubbed up my back and cupped the nape of my neck. He kissed my shoulder. “I’m pleased to do this with you, then.”
Reaching the bay, we jumped from the catamaran to the cove to snorkel. Tack was attentive, as I had reminded him I wasn’t a great swimmer. “I remember,” he said and my heart skipped a beat again. We’d snorkeled together in his own little bay by the island, but we couldn’t go deep with only one snorkel unit.
The sea turtles were incredible, floating gracefully beneath the surface. I didn’t want to get too close, disturbing their natural habitat, but their splendor and beauty astonished me.
“This is incredible,” I said to Tack, and my reward was his full smile. Face glistening with water, eyes alight with pleasure, his mouth opened and exposed white teeth.
“So are you.” We returned to the boat, where lunch was produced. Spicy fish tacos topped with crunchy coleslaw was the most delicious meal, complimented with the island specialty—rum punch.
“You know, it really is a sin to look that good,” I said eying him across from me as we ate. He’d removed the T-shirt and the board shorts, revealing a pair of black European swim shorts. He looked like a tropics model.
“You’re pretty gorgeous yourself,” he said, his green eyes the brightest I’d ever seen as they roamed over my body in my yellow bikini.
“Abby’s pretty,” I said, my voice falling a little. Tack set his taco on his plate as his expression faltered.
“Yes, she is,” he replied, reaching for his rum punch. “She’s also a friend.” His eyes narrowed pointedly at me. “It’s why I’ve never fucked her, touched her, kissed her.” He took a sip of his drink.
“She sure is friendly,” I added, twirling my finger around the rim of my glass.
“She is and I don’t like it.” He glared at me. “She’s also not here, you are.”
Point made. I smiled weakly and took a hardy drink of my punch. I didn’t like the tension I’d put between us.
“Our next stop isn’t for a while. Want to sit in the sun?” Lunch finished, Tack led me to the bow of the boat where we returned to sit in the netting between the outrigging. Water sprayed up at us from underneath, cooling our skin from the heat of the tropical sun.
“What made you start your own company?” I asked, knowing he’d said a few things at dinner, but I wanted to know more.
“I made a promise to build instead of destroy,” he replied with a wink. I smiled and waited for the details.
“When I returned home, I broke off from my father. Forcing me to the island might have been his greatest gift. I realized how unhappy I was, and I wanted to do more with my life. I wanted to build. I told him my idea. He wasn’t happy about it, he definitely did not approve, but he backed me. I worked my ass off to return his money in the first year and prove it hadn’t been a waste. I wanted to do something more.
The company works in finding sustainable resources and helping third world countries with clean water sources. It’s a constant struggle with governments and geographic cultures, but I love it. We’ve done a lot in a short amount of time.”
Listening to Tack, I thought of the sea turtles, awed by something with a hard shell that looked so poised in the water. Tack had a hard shell, protecting the interior of himself. He wanted what he wanted, he once told me, and he took it. But he was full of beauty and good deeds with his new company. He amazed me.
The conversation shifted to his relationship with his father.
“He didn’t raise his hand often, but it was more his words. He was tough to please, and the more I couldn’t please him, the more I tried to anger him. I’m a little old to still play these games with him, but once I became an executive in his company, the stakes were raised. To prove myself to him, I wanted to prove I could do what I wanted. Now, I own my own company and none of it matters.” He shrugged a shoulder and looked off at the sea.
“Sounds like he loved you, in his own way.” My voice lowered, as I’d lost both my parents before high school. Living with my uncle had proved to be a great challenge and torment.
“Whatever happened to the evil uncle?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, but concern filled his eyes.
“He went to Lillian for money while we were still on the island. He was another reason I changed my name and disappeared when I returned. Once he learned I hadn’t died on the island and there was no recompense to be claimed, he disappeared as well. Good riddance,” I said, taking a long sip of my rum punch. I didn’t have anyone who loved me enough that I wanted to prove myself to them.
Tack didn’t speak, and I was thankful. Instead, he rubbed up my back again and squeezed the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and lowered to rest on the netting, the lull of the ocean rocking me to sleep.
+ +
“Juliet, we’re almost there,” Tack whispered in my ear. My mouth felt thick from too much drink, and my body was struggling to recognize I slept on netting.
“Come sit back here with me,” he asked, helping me to stand and work the footing over the nets to the edge of the catamaran. He sat further back on the deck, in a position that hid us from the captain sailing overhead. He patted the space between his legs, and I sat between his knees.
“Lean back. Feel rested?” he asked.
“Mmmm…” I purred, still sleepy and slack from a lazy afternoon in the sun. His hands came to warm skin at my ribs and began massaging me with tender finger tips.
“That skirt is just a strip of material, right? Take it off and place it over your lap.” Something in the deepness of his command made me do as he said. I slipped the sheer yellow panel over my lap, covering the lower half of my bikini. His hands still worked on my middle before one dipped below my draped material.
“Tack,” I whispered as his fingers reached the waistband of my bikini. “Carlos will see.”
“He can’t see us down here. Relax. I want to make you feel good.” Two fingers entered me without foreplay, and I sat forward at the intrusion. Harsh and quick, it took my breath and felt delicious. “So wet already, Mouse. I like that.” His fingers moved in and out with a steady pace, and my hips squirmed, my backside rubbing against the hard length of him behind me.
“There it is, baby,” he said softly over my shoulder, and I thought he meant the sweet pressure building within me, but up ahead was land, the outline growing more visible.
His fingers increased their invasion at my core, and I wiggled with delight. My palms gripped just above his knees. My eyes reassured me that the thin material of my coverup covered my lap. In broad daylight, he was going to make me come.
“That’s it, baby. You’re getting closer. And look at her.” My eyes flashed up to the developing landform.
“Is that…” My voice drifted off as he twisted his fingers, touching something deep within me. I gasped.
“Look at the outline of her. A woman waiting, at rest. See the curve of her hip.” My eyes took in the subtle spike of a hill marking the top of the island and the dip to the right. Tack’s fingers continued to spread me open, his other hand pressing my knee wider.
“The hint of her breast is there to the right and her head is almost level with the water.” He explained as my eyes traveled the image he’d conjured of the island as a female—lying in wait. His free hand massaged up my inner thigh, almost meeting with the one that worked my core.
“She even has a hole in her, where I can make love to her.” His wrist twisted, forcing his fingers deeper, rougher, and I sat forward with the pressure. Juices trickled from my core, and the slick sound of him entering me increased. My backside pressed against the thick length of him, rigid between the crack of my ass.
“Is that…” I gasped again. It couldn’t be, but as we drew near, it became even clearer.
We were returning to the island. Our island.
“She wants to hear you. Tell her,” he demanded, his thumb flicking over the pearl outside my entrance, that precious, sensitive fold of skin. He circled with his thumb as his fingers slipped inside me.
“The captain will hear,” I whispered, my fingernails digging into the skin above his kneecaps, my hips working over his length, and my center fucking his fingers.
“Tell her,” he snapped.
“I’m coming,” I gasped, my voice catching in the wind as I felt the orgasm barreling up my legs, racing for my thighs.
“Louder,” he demanded. “So close, baby. Let her know.”
With that, the orgasm detonated at my center. Spots danced before my eyes and more fluid seeped from me. I clamped my thighs to hold his fingers inside me as I screamed, “I’m coming!” My fingertips pressed into his thighs. I leaned forward a bit, raising my hips so I sat firmly over his lap. I rocked on his fingers, clenching my ass cheeks over him.
“We,” he snarled, and he moved my hand to squeeze him over his swim shorts. “Like that,” he growled.
“We’re coming,” I yelled as he bit my shoulder and stilled under me.
We’re coming together, I whispered to the wind.