My eyes broke through the stickiness of my lids to crack open, seeing the darkness around me. It was easy to forget I was sleeping in a boat because the ship hardly rocked in the waves. His face slowly came into view, directly over mine, his eyes predatory. Then I felt it, his size push right into me.
I gave a jerk when I felt him hit me deep. My hands instinctively reached out and latched on to his muscular biceps as I gave an incoherent moan, my mind still partially asleep. His slender wrists hooked behind my knees, and he folded them into me, a moan so subtle issuing from his hard mouth that I wasn’t sure if I’d dreamed it.
His thrusts started slow and even, his eyes locked on mine from above. His muscles were thick and tight from holding his body over me, but he didn’t look remotely exerted. His slowness faded, his thrusts hitting me harder and deeper once he knew I was ready for it.
I was pinned to the bed, and he took me harder, his eyes looking down on me with ownership. His breathing deepened as he pounded into me, bringing our bodies closer together as he forced himself fully inside me.
My moans started off as quiet whispers, but they quickly progressed to something deeper and louder. My nails dug into his skin like anchors, and I felt the deep pull inside my core, the way everything tightened toward my center. When my breathing hitched as if the air had left my lungs, I knew it had hit me. The heat took control, pulled me into a fire that burned me from the inside out. Incoherent moans, digging nails, tight squeezes, it all happened together.
And he watched the whole thing.
My hips flexed, my back arched, my entire body writhed against him, my mind still caught in the tendrils of sleep. It was so good that it took my breath away, gave my body a wave of pleasure followed by one of numbness.
Fully inside me, he ground his hips, not wanting to pull out because he was so close to the finish. He came with a deep groan, similar to the masculine grunts he made lifting heavy things in the gym. Everything stopped when he felt his release. Our breaths, our movements, everything seized.
Then it all came back slowly. As he breathed his winded breaths, he looked down at me, that same intensity on his face as when we started. He pulled out of me and released my knees before he moved off.
Once my body relaxed, I felt the strain from being folded like an origami paper. I gave a sigh once my body came loose again, but my core was still tight from the aftershocks of pleasure. It all felt like a dream.
Without saying a word, he walked out of my cabin buck naked.
When I turned over to look at the clock on the nightstand, I saw the time.
It was 2:03 a.m.
When I stepped into my cabin, I found the black dress on the bed, along with the jewelry he wanted me to wear. Diamond earrings were in one box, and a heavy diamond necklace was in the other. I’d spent the day sunbathing on the deck while Cauldron was cooped up in his study. Now my skin had a deep glow, a beautiful tan unlike any I’d ever had in my life. I examined the dress, which had open slits across the abdomen and underneath the breasts.
I immediately knew the purpose of the business meeting.
I was on the clock.
I showered and washed off all the tanning oil then did my hair big and nice and my makeup dark, the way Cauldron preferred. Then I carefully put the necklace around my throat, feeling the weight the second I secured the clasp. The diamond in the center was like a heavy rock on the side of the road. The earrings came next, so large they hid my lobes entirely.
The dress was so scandalous that I couldn’t wear a bra, so I did what every other woman did before they went to the club—taped down my nipples. After I checked my appearance in the mirror, I stepped into the hallway and approached the deck.
It was almost sunset, the blue water growing calm with the setting sun. The sky was a mild blue, slowly transitioning into the pinks and purples. The seating area with white cushions that I had occupied early in the day had been transformed for a business meeting, booze and cigars on the table, Cauldron sitting alone in a black t-shirt and jeans. The only time he ever got dressed up was when he went to a fancy party with a dress code.
I walked across the deck and approached him.
His mind seemed to be elsewhere because his eyes were focused on the horizon, his features rigid with concentration. His body was shifted forward, elbows on his knees, the vices on the table ignored.