Page 11 of Carnal Desire

“That it is, Miss Fernandez.”

His eyes moved to Sadie, who was standing a little behind me. I gently grabbed her arm and brought her up to stand next to me.

“This is my friend Sadie. Sadie, meet Ricky.”

After learning that Sadie had never been on a boat before, Ricky reviewed the safety instructions and at my insistence, Sadie put on a life jacket. We ambled up to the deck, scoped out some chairs, and settled in for the beginning of our sail.

I glanced over at Sadie, dressed in a new pair of black shorts and a flowy white tank top that Theo had brought, and gave her a big smile.

“It’s sail time!”

Sadie

My head swiveled from side to side as the boat started moving away from the dock. It was a beautiful early summer day, the temperatures in the low eighties, and as we started to move a breeze kicked up, cooling us off a bit.

When Ariel suggested a ride on her sailboat, I thought it would be one of those little two people boats. I imagined us working together to operate the sail and hoped I wouldn’t mess anything up. But this was a huge boat, with an entire bedroom downstairs as well as a large deck. I wasn’t sure if it qualified as a yacht, but it was definitely much larger than the average boat. Plus most people didn’t have their own captain on standby.

We moved smoothly along the lakefront, the Chicago skyline to our right as we headed south. I leaned back on my elbows, more relaxed than I’d been in a long, long time. That solid twelvehours of sleep hadn’t hurt either. Sleeping in Ariel’s guest room was like sleeping on a cloud or something. Everything was soft and comfortable and apparently well insulated, because I hadn’t heard anything when Ariel got up.

“This is fun,” I said. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Ariel looked at me over the top of her sunglasses. Like me, she was wearing shorts and a tank top, but somehow she still managed to look sophisticated.

“I’m glad you came. We’d better put on some sunscreen though,” she said, rooting around in the tote bag she’d brought along. “My skin’s a little darker than yours but I’m still prone to burning.”

I pretended like I wasn’t watching as she slathered sunscreen on her arms, cleavage, and on both sides of her long legs.

“Can you get my back please?” she asked, lifting her dark brown hair and tucking it underneath the hat she was wearing.

That’s when I realized that her shirt was low cut in the back, the edge of the neckline just above her bra line.

“Sure,” I said, my voice rough as I moved behind her.

I spread some cream on my hand and tentatively moved my fingers along her back and the top of her shoulders. Her skin was soft, the lightest of brown, like coffee that was mostly milk, and already turning the tiniest bit pink. She sighed softly as Ispread the cream over her back. Meanwhile my mind was going off in weird directions, wondering how she’d react if I lowered my head and kissed my way along the long column of her neck.

“There you go,” I said huskily, stepping back.

“Now you,” she said, pointing to the chair. “Stand up. I’ll help.”

I strangled a groan. The more time I spent with Ariel, the more attracted to her I felt. Having her hands on me was a very bad idea. Nevertheless, I stood up, remaining still as Ariel slathered cream along my shoulders, upper back, and the back of my arms and legs. Her touch was gentle and assured, yet somehow it felt arousing.

When she moved around to my front and started to crouch in front of me, I stepped back, afraid she’d be able to tell that my panties were damp with arousal. God help me, if she knelt in front of me there was no way I was going to be able to resist the urge to rub against her.

“I can get the front. Thank you.”

Avoiding Ariel’s gaze, I quickly applied sunscreen to the front of my body. Then I walked over to the railing and stared out at the water as the cream dried on my skin.

We chatted idly, punctuated by long periods of silence, until one thirty when Ricky came down with a large basket.

“Are you ready for lunch, Miss Fernandez?” he asked.

“Yes Ricky, thank you.”

Ricky walked over to a table with two chairs at the corner of what I thought they’d called the ‘bow’, the very front of the boat. We watched as he spread out a tablecloth, then took out several containers of food.

“I’ll be right back with the plates and drinks,” he promised.

“Are you hungry, Goldilocks?” Ariel asked me.

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