Chapter 1
Nix
Three years later.
I reached into the pocket of my shorts to make sure the small velvet box was still there. I was nervous as hell. The guy who everyone had called Heartbreak Kid in high school was nervous about a girl. But Scotlyn wasn’t just any girl. She was the girl. There was no one else but her. I’d been in love with her since I’d found her picture, keeping it tucked in my wallet in what Dray had referred to as my ugly little slide into stalkerdom. The day the object of my obsession walked into Freefall, my life turned upside down. Haunted by a horrible tragedy, she could only communicate with notes and hand gestures. And so, armed with only a pen and paper, the girl, the complete stranger, who’d captured my heart with just her picture, scrawled herself right into my soul. I was so damn nuts about Scotlyn, two years later, she was still making my head spin.
I didn’t bother to dress. I stepped into the tiny kitchen. Scotlyn stood at the sink sipping a glass of water. Her silky blonde hair cascaded over her tanned shoulders. She’d pulled back on her skimpy tank shirt but nothing else. The early summer sun had set leaving behind enough warmth that the galley on the Zany Lucy was bathed in drowsy heat. Hints of the triple digit California summer lurked just around the corner. It would be our last time on the boat. The Zany Lucy’s new owners would be hauling her up north tomorrow for refurbishing.
Scotlyn turned. Her smile lit up the shadowy kitchen. We’d been together two years, but every time I looked at her, every time I touched her, it was like the first time. She could turn me to jelly with a simple gesture like pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’m going to miss seeing you on this boat.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. The table was covered with wine glasses and snacks.
“I’m going to miss being here.” Scotlyn had planned the evening, hoping it would make me feel better about having to sell off the boat named after Nana, my grandmother. My grandparents had lived on it in the early years of their marriage, and my grandfather had left it to me. Dray and I had lived on it for a long time, but I didn’t have the money for the upkeep and the slip rental had increased so much I could no longer afford to keep her at the marina. The man who bought her happened to be married to a woman named Lucy, and so, they’d both decided it was fate and made a good offer. The money would help pay for Scotlyn’s nursing school.
Scotlyn walked around the table and stood in front of me. I gazed at her. I had every curve memorized. It was impossible for me to be this close and not touch her. I reached out and took hold of her hips. We’d spent the last two hours drinking wine and making love, but I wanted her again.
A tiny wicked glint flashed in her big blue eyes. “Will that chair hold both of us?”
“If it can hold Clutch, it can hold the two of us.”
She tapped her chin with her finger in consideration for a second. “I guess we’ll find out.” She straddled my lap. My face pressed against her breasts as she slid slowly down over my cock. I slid her shirt up and ran my tongue along the edge of the scar that stretched from her breast to her hip. The vine of flowers, the tattoo that had brought her into my life, laced erotically around the pink scar.
The chair squeaked angrily and she giggled. I slid my hands underneath her naked ass, and she rose up and down over me. I lifted my face to hers. She lowered her lips to mine, driving her small tongue into my mouth as I filled her over and over again. Her movements quickened as she rocked her hips forward and ground her sweet pussy against me. Nearing climax, she pulled her lips from mine, and her head lulled back. Soft moans fell from her mouth, and she held tightly to me as her lithe, satiny body wriggled against me. I watched her amazing face as her wet pussy clenched around my cock. Still shuddering, she slid back and forth over me, bringing me to the edge. I held her tightly and moved against her, thrusting deep inside of her. A low groan rolled up from my throat, and I held her over me as I came.
She collapsed against me. “They just don’t make chairs like this anymore,” she sighed happily.
“Let’s move this out to the couch. This well-made chair is starting to feel hard on my ass.”
She stood and led me back to the main room, which was only slightly bigger than the kitchen. We climbed under the blanket Scotlyn had packed for our little celebration. My attention flitted to my shorts that were draped over the arm of the couch. I took a deep breath and reached for the box. My phone rang right then. I abandoned my plans to grab the box and glanced down at the screen.
“It’s my sister,” I said. “I’ll call her later.” Diana’s ill-timed call had made my courage falter. I leaned back.