Someone Else's Ocean

He pressed his lips together and took another step up the porch gripping the railing. “Friday, okay?”

“What?”

“I’m going to see my daughter, I didn’t say I was leaving for good.”

“Oh,” I felt my cheeks flame.

I pushed my unruly hair away from my lips and looked at the blanket I left on the hammock before his eyes implored mine.

“You were out here the whole time?”

“No.” Yes.

Some sort of understanding crossed his features as his eyes slowly raked over me, leaving nothing untouched. A breath passed between us and turned into two and then three until the static between us became too much to handle. I opened my mouth to speak but found myself weak with want. Ian beat me to the punch.

“I’m sorry.”

I took a step back as he caged me on my porch. “For what?”

“For what I’m about to do to you.”

In an instant his lips were covering mine, my small moan of surprise was cut short by his tongue. All too easily, I wrapped around him as he opened the door behind us carrying me in. I moaned as his lips found my neck and I clawed at his shoulders through his T-shirt.

“Are you on birth control?” His voice was pure sex.

“Yes,” I hissed as his fingers dug into my waist when he slammed me into the wall of my hallway and ground his thick cock into my center.

“Damn,” I whispered as his lips and tongue covered every inch of available skin. He ripped at the strap of my cami as if it was a nuisance to get to my nipple and once it was free, he covered it with his lips and tongue. I was dripping wet and could already feel the accelerating pulse between my thighs.

“I’ve been dreaming of fucking you for a month,” he murmured into my neck. “If you don’t want this, say it now.”

“Don’t you dare stop,” I rasped out before his lips again claimed mine. Our tongues dueled, ravenous and coaxing until he let my legs down and pinned me to the wall by my wrists, his breaths coming out heavy as he pressed his forehead to mine in an attempt at restraint. I wasn’t having it.

“Ian?” I whispered as I fought against his hold pushing out my middle to rub against the straining cock in his pants. “Don’t stop. Use me. I don’t give a damn. I can handle it. I want this and I’m damn sure going to use you right back.”

His eyes opened then, full of fire and heat and I sucked in a breath. It was as if something had awakened inside him and my fear of it matched my elation. He lifted me easily and pulled me into my bedroom ripping at my shorts until I was free of them. He sat on the edge of my bed and dragged me toward him. Palming my breasts, he watched my reaction to his every touch. My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. Everything felt heavy and I succumbed under his potent gaze. What lay beneath was hellfire and I couldn’t wait to tango with his demons.

Rattling with arousal, I gripped his hair in my fingers as he showered my navel with his lips and tongue. “I want you so much,” I confessed as he groaned when his fingers dipped into my panties finding me soaked.

“This is for me, Koti, make no mistake.”

“Then take it.”

He explored until I was drunk on him, and then pulled his soaked fingers into his mouth, tasting me and by his reaction to my taste, I could only conclude the man was starving. I’d never been so turned on in my life.

“Ian,” I implored in an urgent whisper. Typically, my fear of pain overshadowed my arousal but, in that moment, consequence be damned. “Ian, please, I don’t get turned on like this often, so—”

Before I could get another word out, I was jerked off my feet and onto the mattress before he spread me wide. Ian’s mouth covered my entire sex. Darting his tongue between my lips, he worked me over my panties and then moved the cotton out of the way and wrecked me with his fingers and tongue. Arching my back, I gasped out my surprise and he flattened me back to the bed with his palm. He devoured, his thick digits moving in and out, stretching and coaxing while filthy words poured out of him between savage licks. The whole of my body coiled as he lifted my lower half so that my knees rested on his shoulders while he drove his tongue in deep. Inside I began to come apart as he lapped me up and groaned in reward when I detonated. I’d never had an orgasm that fast. Still shaking from my release, his cock was at my entrance before I had a second to recover and then I was full, so incredibly full. I screamed at the severity of the feel of him. He stretched me wide and I moaned with every stroke. Dark, cloud-filled eyes watched my every reaction as he fucked me like it was his last time. I shrieked as he drove in deep and he rewarded me by shoving his fingers into my mouth.

“Suck,” he commanded. I did what I was told, while he drove in, again and again, his fingers muting me, his body going rigid under my touch. Picking up speed, he pumped into me at a maddening pace as I held on for dear life. Biting down on his fingers, I bucked, meeting his thrusts, before I started to unravel. “Look at me,” he demanded as I leaned up and kissed his chest.

He wrapped my hair in his fist and twisted my head, demanding my eyes. Mouth parted, I spread my legs wider knowing the hell I’d pay for it the next morning. He sank in deeper, his body shaking, while he slammed into me one last time and exploded, his mouth capturing mine in a devastating kiss that lasted long after he’d spilled his last drop. Pulling away we stared at each other, wordless, eyes searching before he collapsed on me, his weight welcome as I wrapped around him without a second thought. We spent the next minutes quietly exploring with lazy fingertips before we drifted to sleep.

When I woke up, he was gone.

FRIDAY, I RUSHED THROUGH MY workday and raced through the store picking up ingredients for a new recipe I thought Ian might like, only to find the driveway empty when I arrived home. Discouraged, I unloaded my groceries in the fridge. In my hammock surrounded by my candles and the whisper of music, I watched the cabbie struggle with Mrs. Tartar’s luggage. When she was set to leave, she spotted me, walked over and thanked me. She looked refreshed and had a slight tan brewing. Though I didn’t feel like smiling, I returned hers. My island had done wonders for her. She would be returning to wherever she came from with a clear head, if only for a little while. In bed that night, I heard the door open and fought the urge to greet Ian, even when he lightly knocked on my bedroom door. I ignored it because of the happiness I felt. I was traveling down a rocky road with him and I didn’t have a single leg to stand on. He didn’t come back for me. He came back for his reprieve. And I needed to face facts. If I hadn’t spent so much time watching him, thinking about him, I wouldn’t have found myself in that situation. Taking the amazing sex out of the equation was a given. He told me that night was just for him. Instead of hanging on to the hope it could lead to more between us, I decided to believe him. Because the truth was, at that point, I wanted more, which was ridiculous. Despite his progress, the man was still a minefield. One wrong step and I knew I would never find all my pieces. He didn’t need to feel guilty or sorry about what happened between us. I told him I could handle it and I would… just as soon as I could stop fantasizing about him.

Perspective was everything. So I was a little fascinated with him, slightly infatuated and highly attracted, big deal. I felt that way about my first crush. Ian was in a no-fly zone. I wasn’t desperate, but the feelings that brewed beneath the small friendship we’d formed already spoke volumes. And I already had far too many thoughts of him. More than ever, I needed him to stay on his side of the fence, because that’s where he wanted to be. That’s where he needed to be. I was sure he regretted that night and I didn’t want to see it on his face. So, I would ignore the lingering soreness that I still felt from the stretch of him. I would ignore the beautiful feeling of being excited for the first time in years about a man. I would ignore the threatening feelings that were trying to make themselves known. I would ignore it all.