Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) (6 page)

    “Har-har,” he replied.  “This will fade and become a nice shade of brown.”

    “Brown spots you mean,” Zach said.  “I have never seen someone as freckled as you.  You’re going to peel and you know it, buddy.”

     Pumpkin just gave him a dirty look and turned his attention to the blonde in his lap.  I still didn’t know her name as all the guys had just taken to referring to her as Bambi—even Pumpkin.  She didn’t seem to mind because she just giggled whenever anyone did and didn’t correct them.  Zach still didn’t think it mattered as he was convinced she would be gone in the morning.

     I turned to James who was sitting next to me on the side of one of the lounge chairs.  I quietly asked what Zach meant when he called her a nag.  I had been in her company all day and hadn’t heard much out of her other than giggles.  He chuckled and said, “Not nag, N.-A.-G.  It’s an acronym.  It means ‘Naval Aviator Groupie’.  They follow the pilots around trying to snare them as husbands because they think it gives them some kind of status.”

     “Oh, I see,” I said.  “Kind of like the rock star’s wife.”

     “Exactly that,” he replied.  “Pumpkin knows what she is and that she won’t stick around long if he isn’t giving her the signals she wants.  He has no intentions of settling down, and if he did, it wouldn’t be with her.  So, while I don’t know that she’ll be gone in the morning, I expect we won’t see her again after this weekend.” 

     I nodded thoughtfully and wondered how any woman could want a man simply for what he did for a living.  These women must be completely transparent to the pilots.  I said as much to James.

     “Not always.  In fact, the younger guys don’t see it at all.  The guys in aviation school have their own groupies who are called S-N-A-Gs.  They’re the younger girls who go for the guys in training or fresh out of it.  My ex-wife was a SNAG.  She wanted to hitch her wagon to me and settle down with babies immediately.  I was young and not interested in any of that, yet I didn’t catch on until I found her in bed with another pilot.  We divorced, and she managed to get knocked up by that guy.  She has three of his kids now, and they’re also divorced.”

      I just shook my head in response.  Obviously I’d known shallow and insecure people in my lifetime, but it didn’t mean I understood it. 

     “Have you ever been married, Mimi?” he asked.

     Another question I was never prepared for.  It never failed to take my breath away for a moment.  Even after all this time, it was still a bit of a punch in the gut.

     “I was, yes,” I responded simply.

     “For how long and how long ago?”

     “It’s been almost three years, and we were married for almost two,” I said, feeling that familiar stab in my heart.  I had moved on, but it didn’t mean I didn’t miss him every single day.  I knew the assumption would be that we had split up.  I never knew how to handle that either so I just blurted out, “He died.”

     James reared back in shock slightly, then shook his head.  “I’m so sorry, Mimi.  Did he die in an accident?”

     “No.  He had brain cancer,” I replied.  I always wanted to soothe the person asking because they never knew how to respond, and it made things awkward.   “Don’t feel sorry for me.  He made me the person I am today, and I’d go through the pain all over again because I was loved by one of the most wonderful people on the planet.”

     He leaned against my shoulder in a show of comfort, and I leaned back into him as well.  It wasn’t a hug, but still a nice comforting gesture between two people making each other’s acquaintance, nonetheless.

     We switched to benign conversation after that bit of heaviness, neither one of us wanting to dwell on something so dark.  After all, the weekend was all about partying and having a good time.  We discussed the usual getting-to-know-you stuff.  I had to laugh when he admitted he was originally from Walnut Grove, Minnesota. 

     “Oh, my God, you’re straight out of this book I’m reading.  You’re from Little House on the Prairie.  I am so going to start calling you Almonzo!  No, no.  I’m going to take a page from               Mrs. Oleson’s book and call you Zaldomo!” I said with an impish grin.

     “I thought I’d heard all the jokes by now, but Zaldomo is definitely new,” he replied, “but if you do, there will be consequences.” 

     “Oh no.  If you continue to call me Kitten, I’m definitely calling you Zaldomo.”

     He just grinned at me, and we moved on.  We returned to the group conversation where they were discussing the next day’s plans.  It was pretty much a repeat of the day, except they were tossing around the idea of renting jet skis.  Ultimately, it was decided that was how we were going to spend the morning while everyone was still sober and called it a day. 

     The next day, we proceeded with our plan and rented three jet skis.  Grace had clearly decided James was hers for the day because she monopolized him, suggestively asking him to give her ‘rides.’  I wasn’t sure what had gotten into her.  Sure, she was flirty on a normal day, but she seemed to be almost desperate for attention.  Maybe since we hadn’t had the opportunity to meet people the night before, she was determined to use all the condoms she had brought with one of the guys we were with.

     I took a few rides with Zach and Pumpkin.  I did get one ride from James where he proceeded to flip the jet ski and dump us both into the water.  Fortunately, I was wearing the one-piece bathing suit I had brought along so I didn’t lose any clothing this time around.  We spent the day otherwise the same, drinking and chomping on snacks while bullshitting around on the upper deck.

     Later another much smaller boat anchored not far from us.  We ended up socializing with its occupants.  Not surprisingly, Bambi ended up grabbing her stuff and jumped ship to their boat.  What was surprising was that Grace did too, assuring us she’d be back in the morning well before the time we needed to get on the road back to L.A.

     The rest of us decided to repeat the night before and find a restaurant for dinner.  This time around, we found a small mom-and-pop sort of place that served burgers and the like.  We eventually went back to the bar we visited the night before and partied until it closed.  James and I seemed to gravitate to each other again while we were there.  As we joined the mass exodus when the bar closed, he shocked me by grabbing my hand.  As he swung our joined hands between us, he just smiled devilishly at me. 

     “So, tomorrow we’re going home,” he began.

     “Yes,” I said.  “As they say, all good things must come to an end.  Where is home for you?”

     “The guys and I are stationed at Lemoore, so we’re not too far from you.”

     “Yeah, that’s in Central California, right?”

     “Yes, right out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but farmland and the occasional cow,” he joked.

     I just grinned.  I wanted to suggest that we exchange numbers since I really enjoyed his company (and let’s face it, he was hot), but he beat me to it.

     “Why don’t you give me your contact information?  Maybe we can go rob a liquor store or something sometime.”

     I laughed and agreed.  We stopped for a moment as he pulled out his smartphone.  After entering my number, we resumed our walk.  The stop had put us far behind the others, but we continued to just stroll along, hand-in-hand, not trying to catch up with them.  Everyone had already boarded the boat by the time we got back to it.  He stopped me before we went up the ramp and pulled me into his arms.  I went willingly.  I hadn’t had my mind too much on my attraction to him, but it was definitely there as he leaned in and nuzzled my neck.

     “So, Mimi.  What do you know?” he asked.

     “Well, I know that I like this a whole lot.” I giggled as his hands caressed my back, and he started placing small kisses on my shoulder.  He leaned back looking down at me, and I tipped my face up to look back at him.  Our eyes met and for the second time in my life, my world was reduced to the connection between us.  Time stopped as he lowered his lips to mine.  Initially he kissed me softly, but slowly.  He pulled me in tighter as he parted my lips with his tongue.  The kiss quickly caught fire, and then the next thing I knew, we were clutching at each other’s clothes, and he was devouring my mouth.  I was no less passionate about the whole thing as my hands wandered down to his ass and took a big squeeze of those hard muscles.  I blamed the alcohol for my boldness.   

     I had the feeling he was looking for a little ‘company’ for the night and while my body was igniting in the most pleasant way, I was not sold on the idea of getting a little freaky when there were so many people on board.  As James continued to ravish my mouth and his own hands traveled the length of my body, I slowly forgot any concerns I had. 

     “Why don’t we go up to the boat and see if the bedrooms have been claimed yet,” he suggested.

     For a moment I stopped to think about the wisdom in going with him.  It had been a long time since I’d gotten laid, and while I had no objections to casual sex, it was a little early in our acquaintance to be hitting the sheets.  I suspected he sensed my hesitation and leaned in and kissed me again.  It was no less passionate than the one before.  One of his hands squeezed in between us and cupped my breast as he ground his hips against mine for emphasis.  I moaned softly against his lips and knew that though I didn’t normally sleep around, this was going to happen.  I was on vacation in another state.  Everyone knows the standard rules don’t apply under the circumstances.  Plus, we had condoms in abundance.  It was time I lived a little and threw caution to the wind.

     I leaned back, looking up at him again and nodded.  A slow, sexy grin spread across his face.  Then he leisurely backed me up the ramp as our lips met again.  We kissed more and more frenziedly as we boarded, the hormones taking over my body and brain.

     He backed me up to the chaise that I had been lounging on the day before while I was reading, then lowered me down.

     “Fuck it,” he said.  “Everyone is inside, and I’m sure the bedrooms are already taken.”  He laid me back before climbing on top of me and settling his hips between my thighs.  I arched against him, which pressed my chest to his to relieve the pressure on my swollen breasts.  I had no more thought to the others on board.  My world was reduced to him and me.  I needed him inside me, and I needed it right then.

     “Are you prepared?” I whispered urgently against his lips as he lifted off me and stripped off his t-shirt.  My greedy hands were instantly on that hard, muscular chest, wandering and squeezing. 

     Our lips met again for a very long, wild moment before he whispered back to me, “Kitten, I am always prepared.”

     I whispered back, “Don’t call me Kitten,” but the rest was all I needed to hear.  I reached between us and found the button to his shorts and undid it.  I unzipped them part way and reached inside to find him rock hard and throbbing.  If I was going to do this, I was going to seize the day.  I didn’t worry about being too aggressive or forward.  This was no-strings sex.   I was going to make the most of it and let my body take control.

     He groaned as my soft hand connected with his velvety hard erection, and he pushed himself into my palm with a thrust of his hips.  I pushed his shorts down his hips to free his penis, leaving them bunched around his thighs.  He quickly stripped my shorts off of me and began to stroke my already dripping sex.  He slid two fingers inside me and pumped them in and out quickly.  This wasn’t going to be anything but a quick fuck.  I knew it and was just fine with it.  I didn’t need to be anymore warmed up or coaxed into submission with pretty words and gentle caresses.  Hell, I didn’t even need to get all the way undressed. 

     He pushed my tank top and bra up to expose my breasts to him.  He wasted no time devouring them both with his hungry lips and tongue.  When his teeth scraped over one of my nipples, I couldn’t wait any longer.

    I pressed myself tighter to him and ground my hips hard against his rapidly-pumping fingers, whispering, “Fuck me already, James.  I need you inside me right now.”

     He moaned and withdrew his fingers from me.  “Pull my wallet out of my back pocket, Mimi.”  My name on his lips made me ache even more, but I did as I was told and slid his wallet out.  He grabbed it from me and pulled out a foil packet.  He tossed his wallet to the side and tore open the condom wrapper with his teeth.  I hurriedly took it from him and rolled it down over his long thick erection marveling at how blessed he was.  This was going to feel so, so good. 

     Positioning himself at my entrance, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Get ready, Kitten.  I’m going to fuck you so hard and fast you’ll think I hate you.”

     I shivered at his words then pushed my hips up hard so he slid into me with one quick motion.  I put my lips to his ear as he bottomed out within in me and said, “You’d better get ready too, James.  I’m going to meet you stroke for stroke.”

     He paused for a few seconds before grabbing my hips and rising up on his knees.  He immediately set up a hard, pounding rhythm as if he were a warrior and my body was the enemy he needed to conquer.  I was just as furious with him, turning into a wild animal beneath him.  He slammed into me, and I slashed my nails down his chest.  He pulled back as I grabbed his hands and lifted my legs over his shoulders.  Together, we were out of control just fucking rough and dirty, both of us seeking our release without much regard to each other.  It was selfish and punishing and so, so hot.  I felt my temperature soaring out of control as the sweat began to collect at the back of my neck and over my chest.  I was still tipsy on alcohol, and it removed any inhibitions I had whatsoever. 

     I felt the slow building deep inside me, my pussy growing hotter and wetter.  The lounge was scraping over the deck each time he punched into me.  If anyone was still awake, they had to hear the commotion we were making outside.  I didn’t give a fuck at that moment.  They could have been watching us, and I wouldn’t have cared.  My only thought was of that stiff, thick cock filling me over and over again.  As the warmth between my thighs began to rage into an inferno and the tightness inside me squeezed harder around him, I slipped my legs off his shoulders and pulled him down to me.  I kissed him wildly, biting at his lips and thrusting my tongue in and out of his mouth with each forceful stroke into me.  I wrapped my legs around his hips as he thrust forward and ground against my pelvis.  He stopped his brutal assault to remain deep inside as he rotated his hips against mine.  I gripped his shoulders, digging my nails into his skin hard enough to break it.  I arched my back, bowing me off the lounge so hard as he pulled out and slammed into me again.  This time he set a slower, but more forceful rhythm, each stroke a punch to my spasming insides.  I felt the wave crash over me, and I pulled his hips to mine with my legs.  I held him to me as I raised my hips to drive him deeper inside me as the shudders racked my body.  I heard him groan low in his throat as his cock swelled larger inside me.  He stilled, his eyes tightly squeezed shut as the sweat dripped off his brow and onto my neck.  We were both drenched in perspiration as he emptied himself into me. 

    He collapsed on top of me with another low groan and squeezed me to his chest.  I was out of breath and panting hard as my orgasm subsided, my whole body a mass of tingling nerves.  I ran my hands up the slick skin of his back and over his damp head.  I would have loved to tangle my fingers into his hair and pull him to my mouth, but it was too short in back for that.  Instead, I gripped the sides of his face and moved him to my still-hungry lips.  I gave him another devouring kiss, savoring the last bit of connection between our bodies as he slowly slid out of me.

    As he rose up to remove the condom, he moved his body over mine causing my skin to tingle once more.  I straightened my legs, pressing them tight together to eke out the last bit of sensation to my throbbing clitoris.  Damn, that had been intense and positively mind blowing even though there was nothing between us but the pure lust of the moment, not expecting nor wanting any post-coital cuddling.  I wiped my hand over the back of my neck feeling how damp my hair had become.  I was going to sleep well that night.  I had every intention of playing this encounter over again in my mind, so I hoped I would dream of it too.

    I leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before walking to the door to the cabin.  I didn’t think any words needed to be said between us, and I wasn’t really capable of speech yet, so I left him to redress and dispose of the condom somehow.  He made no move to stop me, though I felt his eyes watching me as I went inside.  Everyone seemed to be passed out and blissfully unaware of what had transpired just on the other side of the wall of the room.  I made a beeline for my stuff, grabbing a pair of soft shorts and an old t-shirt out of my bag, and then hurried to the restroom to clean myself up and change.  As I looked into the mirror to tie my hair back, I could see the bright flush of color on my cheeks.  My chin was slightly abraded and tender from the rasp of stubble against it as James and I had kissed so furiously.  My nipples were still tight points under my t-shirt, and it felt as if my whole body was throbbing.  I grinned at myself and shook my head in amazement.  It may not have been a marathon of sex, but I still felt thoroughly taken and used up.

     It was still out in the cabin with no sounds of movement inside, so I hurried out of the small bathroom and slid into the open space on the pull-out bed next to Liz.  I heard the door to the cabin open and shut as I closed my eyelids.  James also went straight for the bathroom.  I wiggled in my bed finding a comfortable position.  Then I quickly drifted off into a sweet, exhausted sleep before he ever left the restroom. 

     The next morning I awoke to a flurry of activity within the cabin.  It seemed everyone was rushing to get their stuff together.  I didn’t understand what the hurry was but I slowly sat up to investigate.

     “Mimi,” Jessica said.  “You need to hurry and get ready to leave.  We all overslept.  It’s already noon!”

     I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed my bag.  “I’ll be dressed and ready to go in just a few minutes,” I responded.  “Did Grace ever make it back?”