I crash into him, desperate to kiss him. Hot coffee slops between us, seeping through my shirt. I’ll probably regret the burn in a minute, but right now I’m operating on pure relief and instinct. He stumbles back and I go with him, holding onto him until we crash into something and he grunts.
“Sorry,” I say. “You were trying to tell me something.”
“What was that about?” He smooths his hands down the front of his shirt and adjusts his pants.
“Nothing.” I’m so giddy I’m shaking, and it’s just as well I spilled my coffee, because I’d never be able to manage to drink it now. “You seemed upset, I wanted to make you feel better.”
He grabs hold of my belt and tugs me forward so he can kiss me, just once. “Thank you.”
I grab a roll of paper towel and go about mopping up the coffee off the floor. “Do you want to talk about it? That’s a thing we do, remember?”
Jack laughs softly. “My sister is on her way to Anchorage today. Her ex-husband is flying in, and she’s supposed to be meeting him there to hammer out the last details of their divorce, but now suddenly he’s decided he’s moving to Alaska so he can convince her to try again. She hasn’t seen Graham in almost a year, and he didn’t even come back to the States when she said she was leaving him, but now suddenly he’s had a change of heart.”
“Sounds complicated,” I say.
“I said some things I shouldn’t have, and she said some things that are maybe true but weren’t easy to hear. And then I woke up this morning in this fancy place that looks nothing like what most people’s lives look like back home, and where someone like your boss has a whole staff at his beck and call and doesn’t even take them up on what we have to offer, and I was so angry that people like that can make up all the rules and we just have to play along.”
Well, shit.
I take his hand. “Jack. I need to—”
“You asked me the other day where I’d go if I could travel, and I don’t even have an answer. How sad is that?”
I’m caught between telling the truth and trying to soften the hurt on his face.
“What can I do to help?” I ask.
He looks devastated when he says, “You could kiss me again.”
We go slower this time. No schedule. No agenda. Slowly, his kisses turn hungrier, his hands surer. I feel a surge of pride that I can do this for him when he’s given me so much this week.
He’s got a hand inside my pants before I have a second to breathe.
“Jack.” I gasp as he closes around my cock.
“I want you.” He turns us so he can back me toward the door.
“Where are we going?”
“Outside.”
“What?”
“There’s no room in here. I want to take you outside. Please. I need this.”
Now. I should say it now. But I can’t hurt him more. Not when his hands and his mouth are asking for so much.
I stumble as my pants slide off my hips, but I manage to get out onto the open deck without embarrassing myself. I take a quick glance around, but we’re alone. There are a few boats dotting the horizon, but they’re a mile or more off and moving away from us, and we’ve drifted closer to shore, so we’re protected on the other side.
“Sit,” Jack says, pointing to the fish locker at the rear of the boat. I hiss when my ass hits the cool surface, but I don’t have long to suffer before Jack is on me. Kissing. Touching. When he finally takes me into his mouth, I groan, tipping my head back. He’s hot and slick, and when he uses his tongue, it’s clear he’s a master at his craft.
“Jack. Oh Jesus.”
He hums, and the vibration goes straight to my balls. I bury my fingers in his hair, and he sucks harder as I hold him down. It’s amazing. For the first time in weeks, I’m worried about nothing except that I might come too fast and ruin this for both of us.
“You’re good,” I say. “So good. Your mouth. Jesus Christ, your mouth. I want you, Jack. Wanna fuck you.”
It’s an empty stream of words, and as stocked as this boat is with everything from coffee to fresh clothes, there’s no way they’ve packed lube or condoms. Hell, I don’t even have any back in my room. That was the farthest thing from my mind when I threw a bunch of clothes into a suitcase and sulked all the way to the airstrip in LA.
