Resilient (2) (16 page)

“No, look at me, Katrine. Look at me when I’m touching you.” She obeyed his throaty request. To see him between her legs, rubbing her in broad daylight, the ocean air caressing her back through the netting, it was euphoric, erotic, you name it. Gently, he blew the grains of sand that dusted her legs. He stood up and slowly pulled apart the velcro of his trunks, the sound filled her ears. When they fell to the floor, he stood in front of her. She admired every ridge if his body all the way down to his smooth extension. Leaning over, he kissed her lips once, then trailed kisses until he could use his tongue on her. Her hips lifted, but he held her down. A few moments later he stood. Slowly he ran his forearm across his mouth. Ian used the gentle sway of the hammock to guide himself into her, back forth, back and forth. Katrine heard the waves in the distance, smelled the salt in the air, but the highest sense was feel. The brush of his skin against her calves. The grip of his fingers into her hips. The feel of him buried in the deepest part of her.

“Oh god,” she moaned as she clenched around him. Ian was close behind.
 

They lay beside each other. After the trembling subsided, he held her small frame tightly into his larger one. With the shade of the trees, the drinks, and the soft sway of the hammock, they drifted off to sleep.

“Why haven’t you slept with anyone in so long?” Katrine asked, still wrapped around Ian in the hammock. She was awoken by the dull ache of the cotton netting digging into her hip. The hammock, although fun when used as a tropical sex swing, was not conducive to nude napping. She was grateful for the fluffy beach towel they now had under them. “I’m sorry, that’s too personal,” she apologized. He’d surprised her with this information a few weeks ago and she’d been dying to ask him about it. But now that it was said, it felt a bit intrusive.

“Katrine, I think we’re way past the ‘it’s too personal’ part of the program, don’t you think?” She grinned at him and nodded.

“Well, if you must know, Amber and I got very close, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger for some reason… I think I was hoping you’d come around.” He kissed the top of her head and inhaled. Her hair smelled like coconut and sea water. “And besides, I hurt her enough without sex. Imagine how much worse it would have been.”

Ouch.

Katrine cringed inside. One, because the thought of him with Amber made her want to puke. And second, that sounded awfully familiar and it made her feel like an asshole.

“What? No one night stands for my handsome architect?” she teased, attempting to lighten the conversation.

“Katrine, you know I’m not like that. I’m not saying I haven’t slept with anyone without a relationship, but in this stage of my life I’d rather have feelings for the person. I did the swing dick thing in my twenties. That was enough.”

“You had feelings for Amber.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes, but my feelings for you are much stronger. When I noticed that your interest in me had changed, I couldn’t pursue anything more with her. She broke it off, but I didn’t fight it. I was relieved really,” he said, softly running his fingertips up and down her arm.

“But if it weren’t for me, you would still be with her and you would have pursued something, right?” Guilt laced her voice.

He turned his body so he was looking in her eyes. “Listen, don’t even go there. The fact that I’m lying next to you, your soft naked skin rubbing against mine—it’s worth it to me. Damn, Katrine! Don’t you get that? iIt’s all worth it. These past few days with you have been heaven. Being inside you is heaven. Okay?” He brushed his thumb across her cheek and kissed her down turned mouth.

“Okay.” She smiled and returned the kiss. And you know what happens when two naked people start kissing in a hammock.
 

It’s just one of those things.

Chapter 16

The rest of their time was spent much like the first few days, sunning, sexing, drinking, and eating. The hammock became their favorite spot for the sexing part.

“I’m so going to put a hammock in my back yard,” Ian groaned after a particularly enthusiastic session. Katrine, who was straddling him, sighed and collapsed onto his chest.

“Yes, please, although I don’t think your neighbors would appreciate it.”

“We could be quiet,” Ian said. Katrine pulled up and gave him a doubtful look.

“Okay, I would do my best not to scream your name, or moan, or yell fuck yeah!… Okay, you’re probably right. I can’t be quiet with you, it’s just not possible.” She grinned and laid back down, this time they moved long-ways so they could entwine their legs.

“I can’t believe we have to leave tomorrow,” Katrine complained, blowing out a disappointed breath. It was always hard to go back to the real world after spending time on the beach. But Teddy would be back tomorrow and she was starting to miss him.

“I know. I feel like here, you’re all mine. There, I have to share you.” It was Ian’s turn to pout.

“Hey, that may be true. But now we’re going back together. I mean, we’re going back and now we’re together. Oh hell, I’m not making any sense.”

“No, I know what you’re saying. And hearing it makes me look forward to going back to real life, if real life includes you.”

“You know it does, no matter what.”

“Yeah, but I like the real life that includes sticking my tallywacker in your vergina,”
 
he said, using a very exaggerated hick accent. She popped him on the chest and laughed.

“You’re such a geek sometimes.”

“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do.” It wasn’t a real declaration of love. It was just how it was between them. Was she in love with him? It felt like she could be. But she loved him before all of the physical stuff, when he was just a friend. Is crossing the line from friendship to “I’m in love with you” that easy? Maybe for some, but something was holding her back. Her usual steadfast nature was nowhere to be found when it came to Ian. A thought deep in her mind niggled at her subconscious, but she didn’t give it credence. Pushing it away, she snuggled into the warm chest of her handsome companion. “It’s getting late, we should get cleaned up so we can go have dinner.” She rolled off and landed with a thud.

 
She stretched her back, which was pretty stiff. Speaking of stiff, Ian was full mast when she went to help him out of the hammock. She giggled and he looked down. “Sorry, when you rolled over me just now I got excited. It doesn’t take much when it comes to you, I’ve been hard for three days.” He grinned and rolled off, standing beside her. Katrine looked into his eyes and reached down, taking him in hand. “Well, we wouldn’t want you falling and breaking that thing off now, would we?
 
So maybe I should help you inside.” She started to walk backwards. How she managed to get into their room while stroking him, had been a miracle. It came off very seductive. If she’d fallen in the pool, the stroking would have been less effective and even less seductive.

Katrine stared out at the ocean one last time. At this time of day, with the sun at its zenith, the water sparkled like diamonds. She sighed, reluctant to leave the tropical bubble they’d been enjoying. She had a few more minutes until their cab arrived, so she wanted to spend it absorbing the atmosphere. She hoped to take the zen it inspired back home with her.
 

They’d spent their last evening eating a romantic dinner and ended it with a moonlight swim. She smiled, thinking about the swimming part of the night. Two wet, naked bodies teasing and touching, what a way to end the trip.

 
Katrine was also rooting around her own emotions. What was she feeling at this point? Did she feel closer to Ian? Yes. Did she want to see anyone else? No.

What do I have to lose?
 

Um, a best friend…my heart, again…

Frustrated, she made her way back into the lobby where Ian was checking out. She tried to pay for half and he almost strangled her. She would subtly pay him back somehow.
 

He’d probably take payment in sexual favors. That’s a lot of blow jobs…

Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea, he’d certainly put his time in. She brushed her fingers over her lips as she thought about all of the fantastic sex they’d had. Chemistry they’ve always had and luckily it transferred to the bedroom. How did it compare to others? She wasn’t even going to go there.

“You have a pensive look on your face. What are you thinking about? Are you sad to leave?” Ian asked, kissing her forehead.

“Of course I’m sad to leave. I was thinking about all of the great times we’ve had on this trip. Thank you so much. It was wonderful. And consider me distracted because I didn’t think about the wedding at all. Well, maybe once or twice, but not sad thoughts. I was really only thinking about what Teddy was up to.”
 

Hand in hand, they looked at Casa Hermosa one last time, bid Javier
adiós
, and slid into their cab.

Katrine helped Teddy unpack and piled all of their vacation clothes into the laundry basket. He had more clean clothes than dirty, which made her wonder what he’d worn the whole week. “Oh Mom, you know how it is. I wore my swim suit most of the time. Plus Grams had a washer and dryer in her condo, so she would come get my clothes every day. She kept worrying I would run out of clean underwear,” he said, shaking his head.

“Well, less work for me, so thank you, Grams.” He and his father had bunked together all week up until the wedding, then he switched over to his grandparents.
 

They had a late dinner together and talked about their trips. Katrine was vague about her’s and kept the focus on his. Teddy was more than happy to monopolize the conversation. The only thing he really said about the ceremony was that he was nervous to stand in front of all of those people and the cake was awesome.
 

How did King Triton walk her down the aisle?
 

No, still not old.

The two sat at the island and downloaded all of the pictures onto Teddy’s iPad, the one Xander had sent him last summer. She’d decided to let him keep it. Teddy would’ve wondered why he had to return it and “he nailed someone else behind my back,” wouldn’t have been appropriate. Besides, it had been a very thoughtful gesture. She’d been missing Teddy desperately, so Xander wanted her to be able to see her son’s face. Teddy never really questioned who had sent him the gift. Katrine told him her boss had sent it as a bonus for her hard work. It was kind of true, in a round about way.

After looking at countless pictures of water falls, the beach, and his cool new cousins, Katrine made him get into bed. “School tomorrow, bud.” He grumbled, but obeyed. He may have been asleep before she closed the door.

 
She decided to take a warm shower and call it a day. She looked at her empty bed. It would be strange to sleep alone after sharing a bed with Ian for the past three nights. But that thought was fleeting because when she imagined herself sprawled across the bed, drooling in privacy, it was very appealing.

Once she was ready for bed, she made a cup of tea and climbed under the covers. Her phone vibrated on the nightstand.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“I was thinking how it isn’t as much fun getting into bed without a beautiful brunette sleeping beside me…I miss you already.”

She grinned. “Funny, I was just thinking how nice it would be to have the covers all to myself.”

“Are you insinuating that I’m a cover hog?”

“No, I’m not insinuating, I’m saying…you are a cover hog.” That made him laugh.
 

“Ian, did I mention how amazing the trip was?”

“Only a hundred times, but I don’t mind.”

“Well, it was. Sleep tight, Ian. Thank you again, for everything.”

“The pleasure was all mine. Goodnight, Katie-Mac.”

“Night.”

She sipped her mint tea, feeling very glad that she decided to take a chance. Whatever happened with them, she was happy to have spent those amazing few days lying on the beach and making love in a shady hammock. Those memories she would cherish forever. She knew she could love Ian, if she let herself.

Going back to class after a week off was very difficult. But Katrine was not the only one having a hard time keeping her lids on opposite sides of her pupils. Everyone looked like they’d rather be anywhere else than in a hard wooden chair hearing a lecture on case studies regarding strategic marketing.

Le snooze!

Oh and joy. After this she got to go to work.
 

WHEEEEEEEE!

Damn. She had a serious case of the “I don’t want to do shit after my vacation.” Katrine decided a trip to the coffee shop was in order. Maybe a jolt of caffeine and a sandwich would get her motivated. It helped a little and so did Hayden’s hilarious re-telling of his trip to Vail. He’d taken time off work so he could spend the week on the slopes with his new girlfriend.

“Yeah, it’s all fun and games until you get taken out by a six-year-old,” he laughed, pulling up his pant leg, revealing his ace-wrapped knee.

“Ouch, I know! Those kids go faster than the speed of light down the bunny slope.”

“But, my girl took extra good care of me. ‘I’m injured, take pity on me’ sex is awesome. I didn’t have to do a thing!”

“I’m sure you loved that.” She smirked and shook her head.

“Oh, I did. Lay back, relax and enjoy. It was heaven.” He threw his arm around her shoulders, in a brotherly way and walked her to her car.

Work proved to be just as stimulating as her lecture. Everyone wanted to hear about her trip. When she left pasty and came back bronzed, it was obvious she had been somewhere sunny. Katrine avoided the front desk like the plague. She didn’t feel like being subject to Jaimie’s twenty questions, which proved more difficult than she thought it would be. When it was time to call it a day, she made sure to wait until Jaimie was on the phone. She snuck past her and ran out the door. Katrine thought she heard Jaimie call after her, but pretended not to hear.