Hooked (15 page)

Love ya, L.

Chapter 16--Morgan

Being at sea, there wasn't much I could
get
in the way of a present for Lara's twenty-first birthday, but I sure had a package ready for her. I felt like a teenager again. There was an innocence and newness about sex with her that was like nothing I'd experienced before. I'd never really had a 'first time' with a 'first love'.

Not that I was anywhere near ready to put the 'L' label on what I had with Lara. No, it was still about screwing around, but this time it was a way different kind of screwing around.

My sex life had pretty much been about boinking anything that looked good and was willing. Lara hit the nail on the head when she accused me of fucking anything with a skirt on. That was as accurate a description of my
modus operandi
as any.

I had a lot to sort through in my head. Excitement, for one. I couldn't recall when I had had this much enthusiasm about any girl. Women had lost their uniqueness to me almost from the beginning of my experiences.

Lara was one of a kind. And the knowledge that I had done what no man had done before made me feel like a super hero. That and the realization that she actually seemed to
like
the fact that I wasn't made of money. What a damn weight off my shoulders. To be around someone other than Richard (who I suspect didn't completely buy my story) who knew that simple thing about me was liberating.

If I could just keep the devils from nipping at my heels, I'd be able to arrive in London a happier man than I had been in years. It would be great to face the old dog with a bit more confidence and a little less shame than the last time we saw each other.

With any luck, I'd also be able to hook a fish or two in the Canaries when we steamed through the islands. El Lobo was making good time and we'd soon be across the Atlantic and on our way north. But before we made the turn, I intended to do a little hunting. I had my eye on the man in the blue suit who plied the waters off Africa's west coast--the great blue marlin.

"Good morning, Mrs. D," I said as I opened the monkey's stateroom door. She hopped onto my shoulder and we went down to the salon level for what had become our morning routine.

We went into the kitchen and Lara greeted me with the smile I had promised myself I would earn that first time she blessed Mrs. D with it. It was a gift to treasure.

"Happy Birthday!" I kissed her lightly and Mrs. D. transferred herself to her all-time favorite female person ever. It was amazing the way the little monkey had taken to Lara after all of her standoffishness and hostility to any other women, including my cousin. Of course Phoebe was terrified of her so that didn't help. Animals, especially mischievous ones like a capuchin, sense that kind of fear and exploit it.

"Thanks. And good morning to you, Mrs. D. How 'bout a big monkey smile?" Lara bared her teeth in an exaggerated grin and Mrs. D gave it right back. Lara giggled. "I don't think that would ever not get a laugh out of me. She's the cutest little thing."

I came up behind her and cupped her tight little ass in one hand. "No, I think she might be the
second
cutest little thing."

"Good morning all." I hadn't heard Richard come through the door. I pulled my hand away from Lara's behind. There was no reason to be embarrassed but the look on Richard's face made me feel like I'd just been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. Not that I needed his approval. What was between Lara and I was none of his business.

"Mornin', Richard. Seems like I haven't seen you in days." Lara poured two cups of coffee and handed one to each of us. "Breakfast okay downstairs?"

"Perfect as usual, Lara. You're spoiling us." He sipped his coffee and looked at me. "I've been keeping pretty busy. Crossings don't leave me a lot of time for socializing."

"Morgan, what can I get you this morning?"

"Whatever the crew ate is fine, babe." That earned another raised eyebrow from my captain.

"Scoot then, and I'll rustle it on up. Take her with you, please." I patted my shoulder and surprisingly Mrs. D obeyed me. It had become more difficult every day to persuade her to leave Lara's side.

"It's Lara's twenty first birthday today," I told Richard. I chose to ignore his not so subtle looks in the kitchen and carry on as if nothing had changed.

"What are you up to, Morgan?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what are you up to with Lara?"

"We're getting to know one another. I like her."

"Morgan you haven't
liked
a girl since you were eleven years old. And then it was your sister."

"Well I like one now. What of it?"

"I thought we agreed on some bullshit no-fraternization rule."

"That was only to keep you from hound-dogging her."

"And just what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Who died and left you in charge of my life?"

"Somebody should be."

"What's it to you, Richard? Have you got something going on with Lara that I should know about?"

"Naw, man. I just think she's a sweet kid. I'd hate to see her get hurt."

"Let me clue you in, Captain. I've learned a bit about our sweet kid. There's a steel core in her. She has a mind of her own."

"She's very smart, too."

"What makes you think I don't appreciate that? And what makes you think I'd hurt her? Since when was your opinion of me so low?"

"Oh for fucksake, Morgan. We both know exactly what I'm talking about. I've known you since you were a kid. The deepest relationship you have in this world is with me. And dude, it ain't all that."

"There has to be a first time, doesn't there?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you're in love with Lara?"

"Hardly. Love is a long way off for me, bro." I didn't need to share the fact that the very thought of 'love' translated into the kind of pain that scared the shit out of me. "But like I said, there's something different. I think I'd be foolish not to pursue it. Who knows?"

Lara came out with my breakfast and set it down on the table. "Aren't you going to sit with me?" I asked her.

"Not just yet Morgan. I want to hustle in the kitchen so I can enjoy my birthday afternoon to the fullest." She gave me a look that told me all I needed to know. She wanted more of me. She wanted all of me. And that was exactly what I was going to give her.

Now that I’d had a sample of what that responsive little body could do, I watched her sweet sway as she went back into the kitchen with an even more appreciative eye. She was pure candy.

"Hey Captain, if you'll lose the lecture mode, I'll co-pilot for a while."

"Sure, Boss. I've said all I have to say." Richard didn't look too terribly pleased. But he was smart enough not to push it any further.

"How 'bout it, Mrs. D? Cockpit time?" The monkey bobbed up and down on my shoulder in agreement.

The Atlantic had favored us with great conditions. We were making excellent time and that meant we'd reach the Canaries sooner than we thought. Anxious as I was to have a pow-wow with the old man, I really needed a couple of days fishing before I faced land again. I figured we'd start trolling just for the hell of it. We'd have to slow her down to about ten knots, but I was willing to sacrifice a little bit of distance a couple hours a day.

Richard and I came up with a game plan that started the next day with two or three lines running in the early morning. We'd bring the lines in around nine if we didn't catch anything and kick the engines up after that.

By the time we reached Tenerife we'd have sea trialed all the gear and be ready to use the tender for some serious action. I was anxious to show Lara what big game fishing was all about. It was something important to me that I'd never even attempted to share with a woman. It was odd. I wanted her to know me.
Really
know me.

Eventually she'd have to know about the darker side. I wondered when I'd be ready to tell her about it. I was just her age when I finally had a name for my mother's madness.
Facetious disorder by proxy.
What a mouthful. I often wished the AMA would just call it 'making a kid think he's sicker than sick crazy'. Not that that was any easier, it just said it better. Or maybe child abuse by thermometer.

After Clari was gone and my father finally came around to accepting the fact that his wife was mad as a hatter, I did get some help. A little kid thinks he's sick when the people around him tell him he's sick. Any moments of doubt I had were quickly squashed by my mother's inventive imagination. If I wasn't actively battling one of my many 'illnesses' then I was avoiding the next one. It took most of my adolescence for the shrinks to help me understand that
I
wasn't actually the sick one.

When it finally sunk in, I hit the world at a full run and never stopped. I stayed inside as little as I could get away with. I took risks and if something brought me down--the flu, a sprain, a blistered back--I fuckin' toughed it out until it went away. Pills never made it past my throat. Not an aspirin, a vitamin or a tab of X. Even the thought of recreation drugs gave me cold chills. I avoided some trouble that way as a bonus.

She never hit me. She never even scolded me. To anyone observing our family, my mom was an angel of patience with two unfortunately puny and sickly children. She thrived on the sympathy of doctors, the kindness of nurses and the guilty gratitude my father gave her for taking the burden of my sister and me all on herself.

No one ever saw those pale blue eyes frost over when Clari and I would laugh too loud for a couple of sick kids. No one else felt the vice-grip of her hand when one of us tried to tell a doctor that it really didn't hurt/itch/burn as bad as our mother said it did.

I'm sure she poisoned us frequently. No kid has that many stomach aches. She was good at it, too. She knew how to deliver just enough to make us puke or double up in pain but never enough to raise a red flag in the emergency room.
"Just another case of stomach flu, Mrs. Wolf. Your children are so vulnerable." "Maybe you should see an allergist, Mrs. Wolf. This could be a food reaction." "Some children react to stress this way. Perhaps a quieter environment will help."

I shook myself out of my terror world. There would be time for true confessions later. Much later. I knew if I really wanted to know someone I had to let that someone know me. But at that moment I wanted to share another kind of knowledge. I wanted to build on what I'd learned about the glory of her willing body.

Her twenty first birthday. It was an appropriate day to show her the magic of what I knew our bodies could do together.

Chapter 17--Lara

I was shaking with excitement. I had to get my hands on auto-pilot just to make it through lunch. Morgan snatched a sandwich from the platter I had ready to dumb-waiter down to the crew. I threw him a questioning look.

"A little poison sandwich isn't going to kill me today." He leaned into my ear so that Angelo couldn't hear. "No pool today. Come to my stateroom. Leave Angelo to finish." The vibration of his words and the warmth of his breath brought goose bumps to my flesh. "I can't wait, Lara. Hurry."

He'd been patient, I'll give him that. For a guy like Morgan, waiting almost a week must have been a new experience. I had to admit I was flattered. It wasn't that I had tried to be coy, I was just being cautious. The man was more than I'd ever known. The knowledge was powerful and frightening.

I showered quickly, but thoroughly. I considered shaving my pussy like the babes he'd had on the pool deck but then I changed my mind. If being different was one of the things that drew him to me, then different I would be.

The clothes I chose were meaningless. I knew he'd have them off of me without ever noticing I'd worn anything at all. I was right. As soon as he locked the door behind us, he began to unbutton my blouse as he kissed me over and over again.

I couldn't do anything but yield, happily, to his mouth. His kisses were soft and commanding at the same time. He ran his tongue into the corners of my lips and over my teeth. He teased at the tip of my tongue. Then he possessed my mouth in earnest making me shudder at the intensity of my reaction. I was all his.

He slid my shorts and panties down to my feet and I stepped off of the pile as he ripped his shorts down his powerful legs. Then he held me at arm's length.

"You're too beautiful for description." We stumbled toward the bed, pawing and kissing and touching everything and everywhere. He laid me back against the bed and stood towering at the foot, all muscle and manhood and all for me.

I was holding nothing back.   He could have me, take me, do what he wanted to with whatever I had to offer. He started his journey at my feet. He must have filed away my admission that they were a responsive part of me.

When he ran his tongue along my instep I arched and moaned. He kissed the tips of my toes and shifted his attention to the other foot where he performed the same sexy ritual. He was the first man to ever pay such lavish attention to my feet. Fuck it felt so, so hot. I had the feeling that Morgan was going to teach me more than one thing about my body.

He continued his journey up my leg stopping to tickle the back of my knee with his tongue. His mouth caressed the sweet sensitive flesh and made me want to grab him by the ears and pull his face up between my thighs. But I was wiser than that. He had already shown me how well he knew my body. It was far better to trust his instincts.

He reached the juncture of my thighs and his lips passed over my folds almost without touching them. The warm air of his breathing was a soft reminder of the nearness of his mouth. His lips were only hinting at what he could do to me there. He slowly moved down my other leg and worshiped the back of my other knee.

At last he brought his head back between my legs. I ached for the contact of his mouth on my pussy and I could feel the flood of my desire wetting me, dripping down my folds to the sheets below my ass. I groaned with need when his lips met the petals of my sex.