By Sea (13 page)

Chapter 30

Rayna disengaged from Brody and sat down on the bench next to him as he pulled a blanket over them. She curled up under his arm. 

She’d been right: sex with Brody was like nothing she’d ever experienced. He brought out something primal in her, all of her inhibitions and insecurities about not being all that practiced disappeared.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

She nodded and glanced up at him, the glow from the instrument panel casting shadows on his sharp features.

He kissed the tip of her nose and pulled her closer.

As they sat in silence staring out the window, reality set in, and a bad feeling curled in her stomach. She barely knew Brody, and she’d had unprotected sex with him. Shutting her eyes, she silently cursed herself. She wasn’t worried about pregnancy—she had that one covered, but who knew how many women he’d been with and with all the diseases floating around out there. . . she’d let herself get carried away in the heat of the moment, her lust for Brody overriding common sense.

“Brody?” she said.

“Yeah.”

“I . . . I was thinking that . . . well, I was wondering . . .”

“What’s on your mind, Ray? Just say it.”

She smiled as she sat up, heat burning her cheeks as she looked at him. She loved that he called her Ray. Margarita drove her nuts by calling her Ray-Ray, her mother and father always stuck to Rayna. “Okay, well, I’m worried you’ve given me some disease.”

He cracked a grin, and pushed her hair out of her face. Laying his hand on the back of her neck, he pulled her to him, kissing her long and slow.

“Nope,” he whispered a moment later. “I’m sparkling clean.”

“Me, too,” she said, relief flooding through her as desire bloomed in her belly.

“What about pregnancy?” he asked.

“It’s taken care of,” she answered.

“Stay with me the rest of the night,” Brody murmured, pulling her down next to him on the bench. She nestled into his chest and wrapped an arm around his waist. The hard bench was uncomfortable, especially compared to her lush bed downstairs. However, she realized she was happy exactly where she was. As she looked over the control panel, she was surprised at all the screens.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a screen with red lines running across it, as if a child had scribbled on it.

Brody turned to see what she was looking at. “That shows our anchor movement and the swing of the boat,” he explained in a sleepy voice. “We can’t anchor the front and back of the boat because the strain would be too hard on the hull. Instead, we anchor the front, and we let it swing with the currents.”

She nodded and looked over the security camera screen, showing the Main Salon, the Sky Lounge, the top deck where the hot tub was, the bow and back of the boat, and the small downstairs hallway.

“I told you,” Brody said, following her gaze “no cameras in the bedrooms. I’m not the voyeuristic type.”

Rayna smiled. “That could get really weird with your guests if you could watch them in their bedrooms,” she noted.

“I know. There are some clients that I’d rather not see in their room.”

“I bet.”

“You aren’t one of them.”

Rayna laughed. “Yeah, there probably aren’t any surprises after this.”

He ran his finger down the side of her cheek, to her neck and down to her nipple where he made a lazy circle around it sending ripples of pleasure throughout her body.

“Oh, I think you’re full of secrets and surprises, Rayna. I just need to dig a little deeper to uncover them.”

As he kissed her again, Rayna was surprised at the truth in his words. Yes, she did have secrets, but he did as well, and she wondered if either of theirs would ever be revealed.

“We better get some sleep,” he murmured. “It’ll be dawn in just a few hours.”

Rayna nodded, exhaustion pulling at her. She didn’t think she had the energy to get up even if she wanted to.

“What if someone comes in?” she mumbled.

“Then they’ll see our naked bodies tangled together in post-coital bliss,” Brody chuckled. “No big deal.”

“I wouldn’t be comfortable with that,” Rayna said, still unable to move.

As she drifted off to sleep, she decided she would simply enjoy her time with Brody. After her sister’s stalker had been caught, she’d go back to her life, and in time, Brody would simply become a distant memory.

Chapter 31

“Wake up, Brody.”

Brody came to consciousness slowly, rolled over to his back, unsure of where he was at or what day it was as he’d been sleeping so deeply. As he opened his eyes, Jason stood above him and the previous night’s happenings flooded back. He glanced around the Bridge and Rayna was nowhere to be found. Stretching, he smiled as he recalled Rayna riding him, and he didn’t think he’d ever had such a peaceful sleep. There weren’t any nightmares to wake him, only blissful rest.

“What time is it?” Brody asked.

“Almost nine,” Jason replied. “Heidi was worried about you and came up to see where you were as you’re usually up at the crack of dawn. She sent me up to wake you as she didn’t want to deal with your bare ass.”

Brody glanced down. The blanket had fallen partially off of him, and if he had been on his side, Heidi would have gotten an eyeful of bare butt.

“She’s such a prude,” Brody mumbled, sitting up.

“So, why are you asleep on the Bridge naked?” Jason asked, turning around as Brody stood to stretch. “Get some clothes on, man. I don’t need to see your junk.”

Reaching down to pick up his shorts, he noticed Rayna’s underwear tucked under the corner of the blanket. He glanced up at Jason to make sure he was still facing away, and then grabbed her panties and shoved them under the blanket on the bench.

“Just felt like getting closer to nature, that’s all,” Brody said, sliding on his shorts and stuffing the underwear in his pocket.

“You sure you weren’t getting close to . . . oh, I don’t know, say . . . Rayna?”

While Brody could see Margarita not caring who knew who she slept with, Rayna had indicated she would like to keep her private life just that: private. He wasn’t about to kiss and tell.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, man,” Brody said, zipping his fly. He ran his fingers through his hair wishing he had a cup of coffee.

“Really? Because it seemed you were liking wrapping yourself around her on the jet ski the other day, and you were sure out there a long time on paddleboard. I’ve also noticed the way you look at her—like a wolf with a sweet little bunny in its sights, waiting to gobble it up.”

“I didn’t hear any complaints while you and Margarita were cruising around on the jet ski, either,” Brody said, ignoring what Jason said about the so-called looks and paddle boarding.

Jason turned to him and smiled. “There were no complaints. It may have well been the best hour of my life.”

“Hmmm . . . if that was the best hour of your life, my guess is that there wasn’t a whole lot going on in Margarita’s room last night,” Brody commented.

“Whatever,” Jason mumbled, his smile quickly turning to a scowl.

Brody decided it was a good time to change the subject. “What’s on the agenda for today? Has anyone checked in with our clients?”

“Yeah. Katie told them about the amazing snorkeling off of Jost Van Dyke. Margarita said she wanted to go there, and Rayna agreed.”

Brody smiled. He loved snorkeling at Jost Van Dyke. The underwater wildlife was always abundant, and there were also caves to explore. They didn’t go very deep into the island, but there were always different fish he normally didn’t see lurking in the shadows.  As far as he was concerned, there wasn’t a better place for snorkeling in the area, except maybe St. John’s. It was definitely a toss up for him.

“Sounds good,” he said, stepping up to the control panel and gazing over all the screens. On the security screen, he saw Rayna sitting in the hot tub, her head tilted up toward the sun. As the bubbles lightly kissed her breasts, he became aroused remembering his own caresses to her perfect globes. “Do you think we can be ready to go in an hour or so?”

Jason nodded. “Sure. I’ll head down to the engine room and get things ready to sail.”

“Thanks, Jason. Make sure you tell Heidi, Katie and Danny when we’re taking off so they can plan for lunch and the afternoon.”

“Got it.”

Brody turned his gaze back to the security screen. Rayna was gorgeous, but peeking in on her while no one was around brought out a whole new aspect to her beauty. Based on her smile, he could see she resided in a place of total contentment, and he wondered if their time together had anything to do with that. He wished he could ascend the fifteen steps separating them, join her in the warm water and wrap his arms around her, their slick bodies melding together as one while their tongues slowly danced.

Suddenly, as if she knew she was being watched, she looked up at the camera. Brody reminded himself that she couldn’t see him, yet his heart thudded in his chest as if he’d just been caught doing something wrong.

She stared at the camera for a few minutes and smiled. Standing, she exited the hot tub wearing the same yellow suit from the day before, water sluicing down her frame. She wrapped a brown towel around her body, glanced up at the camera again and waved. She then turned for the stairs.

Brody followed her on the cameras down to her cabin. There, she looked up at the camera again. The small hallway was empty, and she reached behind her and slowly pulled the bikini strings until the small bit of fabric hung in her fingers, her breasts on full display. She grinned and shut the door.

“Oh, Ray,” he murmured, “you little tease.”

He couldn’t wait for his next opportunity to palm those lovely breasts and hear her sighs of pleasure, and as he looked over his cruising path, he knew exactly where and when that would be.

Chapter 32

“Good morning,” Brody said, coming out to the back deck.

“Hi,” Rayna replied as she sat at the table, smiling, feeling like a schoolgirl about to be asked to the prom. She was giddy, happy, shy and content after her time with Brody the night before.

Brody glanced around and said, “You sleep okay?”

Rayna nodded. “And you? Seeing how late you got up, I assume you slept well.”

“Yeah, I did,” he said with a grin. “Very well, in fact. But you had nothing to do with that.”

Rayna laughed and ran a hand through her hair. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Jason stepped out of the Main Salon. “We’re ready to go, Brody,” he said.

“Thanks, Jason,” Brody said, his gaze never leaving Rayna. “Let’s get moving.”

Brody winked at her, and took the stairs to the upper deck two at a time heading for the Bridge.

The ride to Jost Van Dyke took about an hour. As they traveled through the islands, Rayna stayed on the back deck while Margarita claimed seasickness. The warm, ocean air whipped through Rayna’s hair as they traveled over the somewhat rough sea, and as she looked out over the beautiful green foliage of the islands and the pristine, blue water, she saw the dolphins traveling about three hundred yards off the boat.

As she watched them, she couldn’t help but think that they were traveling with the yacht, but quickly dismissed the idea as silly and the incident as coincidence. They probably hung around because one of the crewmembers fed them. However, based on her interaction with them on the paddleboard, she couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe Brody’s supernatural power from the accident had something to do with the dolphins? Maybe she should start calling him the Dolphin Whisperer and see his reaction. She laughed, thinking how ridiculous she sounded.

A short time later, the boat was anchored and Heidi and Katie scurried around to put the plants and other breakables back where they belonged. Margarita emerged from her room, her neon blue bikini showing off her tan. It looked a couple sizes too small as the triangles were far too small and covered very little of her breasts.

“Ugh! I hate traveling by boat!” she exclaimed, settling down in the chair next to Rayna. “It makes me sick!”

“Well, if you’d taken the sea sickness pills they offered at the beginning of the trip, you wouldn’t feel that way.”

“I can’t take them, Ray-Ray. What if they interfere with my diet pills?”

Rayna hid a smile. There was no diet pill in the world that would combat the chocolate truffle cake served last night. However annoying Margarita was, Rayna always found her at least mildly amusing.

“Jason said you ladies would like to do some snorkeling,” Brody said, coming down the stairs. A green t-shirt with the boat’s name,
By Sea
, stretched across his chest, his tan shorts sculpted to his thick legs.

“Yes, we do, Brody,” Margarita said. “And I’d like Jason to accompany me as you stated both Ray-Ray and I need to be babysat at all times.”

Brody smiled like a Cheshire cat at Rayna, and her gut clenched. More time alone with Brody? Yes, she was up for that, even if it was a bad idea.

“I’ll see if he’s available,” Brody chuckled as he turned for the door. “What about you, Rayna? Will you be snorkeling?”

“Yes,” she answered, standing to follow him in. “I just need to change into my suit.”

Once they were inside, Brody closed the door. “Just be careful who you’re showing the goods to,” he muttered. “I saw your little strip show, but that could have easily been Jason or one of the other crew. I don’t have a problem with everyone knowing I’m getting naked with you, but you seem like a very private person.”

“I am,” Rayna murmured, “and I appreciate you understanding that.”

“Go get your suit on, Ray,” he said, squeezing your hand. “It’s going to be an amazing day.”