ROYAL ROCK(97)
I cast my rod out and he moved away, giving me space to breathe again. He sat down next to me in the other chair and cast his own rod.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now, we sit here and not catch any fish.”
“Why is this fun again?”
“Usually, me and the guys would make fucking bad jokes until we got yelled at by our commanding officer.” He picked up the tequila bottle. “Instead, we have tequila.”
I laughed as he took another sip from the bottle and handed it over to me. I took my own little sip, enjoying the warm bite of the alcohol.
“Do you spend a lot of time on boats?” I asked him.
“Surprisingly little, considering I’m in the Navy.”
“What’s it like? Being in the military, I mean.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, looking out over the ocean. “Tough question to answer,” he said finally.
“You don’t have to.”
“It’s good. I like fighting for my country. I like fucking fighting, period, actually. But there’s a lot of boring shit, a lot of uncertainty. Tough to put down roots and all that crap.”
“I can imagine. You’re basically on call, right?”
“Not right now. I’ll be called back up eventually, but I have some time off.”
“Why?”
“Got shot on my last mission.”
I took a sharp breath. “Shit, sorry.”
“It’s okay. Part of the gig. I’m fine now.”
We were silent again for a few minutes, just us and the boat bobbing up and down.
“Sorry about Lydie,” I said finally.
“Why are you sorry?”
“She can be obnoxious.”
“Like when she told me you’re a virgin.”
I turned red. “Yeah, like that.”
“Surprised me.”
“Why?”
“Because of the way I got you off behind that club. Didn’t seem like a virgin.”
“Yeah, well, that was a one-time thing.” I crossed my legs, hoping he couldn’t somehow sense how wet I was already at the mere mention of what had happened.
“Was it? Shame. You may be a virgin, but I’m pretty sure you’d be a freak in bed.”
“I’m not a freak!”
“You definitely are,” he said, teasing. “The way you rubbed that wet little pussy up against me? The way you moaned for it? You’re a freak, Claire, pure and simple. I know a freak when I see one.”
I felt my blush grow deeper as another thrill ran up my legs, my pussy growing soaking wet all over again. I was glad I was wearing a bathing suit underneath my clothes at least.
“You barely know me,” I said.
“That’s true.”
“So you don’t know what I’m really like.”
“I do know. I’m a good judge of people, believe it or not.”
“You seem to get along well with Lydie,” I said pointedly.
“She’s harmless. And a little stupid. But you should reconsider telling her secrets in the future.”
“She wants to fuck you, you know,” I said quickly, not really knowing why.
“No shit.”
“No, I mean, since she first saw you.”
“Not interested,” he said, like that was the end of the conversation.
I sighed and looked away, not wanting to press. I felt crazy for even bringing it up in the first place. I was acting like some dumb jealous teenager when really I had no interest in pursuing him at all.
We were quiet like that for a few minutes, enjoying the slight motion of the boat. Nate took a long drink from the tequila but otherwise kept his eyes glued out on the bay. I kept stealing little glances at him, wondering what was going on behind those strange, mysterious eyes of his, but I didn’t feel like being a pushy weirdo.
“Your dad do this a lot?” he said suddenly.
“Do what?”
“Get married.”
I laughed and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess he does.”
“My mom too.”
“Does that bother you?”
He snorted. “Couldn’t give less of a shit. Usually makes my life harder for about a month until she moves on to something else, though.”
“Yeah. My dad does the same thing. Wants us to be a new family, goes overboard pushing for it, then is all depressed when it doesn’t work out.”
He grinned at me. “I’d love for us to be family.”
“I’m sure that’s what you want.”
“I do. It’d make fucking you all that much sweeter.”
I made a face. “That’s a little gross.”
“Gross? The fact that it’s forbidden makes it that much fucking hotter.”
He had a point there, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “Yeah, well, it’s forbidden for a reason.”