The warmth of the morning sun beat down on us as my breathy moan met his tattered groan—fuelling us ever harder into something that should be so tender but was so utterly violent.
I matched his ferocity with my own. My fingers clutched at his hair, tugging for more, more.
I forgot myself. I forgot we were in open view of the staff. I forgot about the past few days and the fear of what was coming. I forgot about everything but him.
But Elder didn’t forget.
He tore himself away, backing up and rubbing his mouth as if desperate for another kiss but determined to only take one. “Pim...”
His voice bordered on a reproach. As if that kiss was my fault.
Was it my fault?
I would take responsibility for some of it, but he was too strong for me to manhandle if he didn’t want it.
Leaping off the lifeboat, I stood with my hands on my hips. “If you say something like that was a mistake, or it won’t happen again or any other stupid cliché, I’m going to...to...”
A slight smirk twisted his lips. “You’re going to what?”
“I don’t know. Throw you overboard.”
“The captain would stop.” He crossed his arms, enjoying my temper.
“Fine, I’d—I’d hit you on the head with an oar.”
His gaze went to the lifeboat oars resting neatly in their brackets. “Those weigh a ton. Even I wouldn’t be able to use it as a weapon.”
“You’re taking all the fun out of my hypothetically harming you.” I hid my smile even as one brewed. “Let a girl have some fantasies.”
He cocked his head. “You have fantasies about me?”
And just like that, we were back to the dilemma of sparking attraction, high-octane lust, and the unbearable need to touch, thrust, and consume.
Goosebumps prickled as said fantasies that included nakedness and no weapons filled my mind.
Elder’s lips parted, picking up on the way my chest rose and my fingers fluttered to touch him again. “Well?”
Stepping toward him, I nodded. “I can’t stop having fantasies about you. If you know of a cure, then please...tell me.”
Any hint of joking and games vanished as his shoulders slouched and he rubbed his face with one hand. “If I knew that cure, I’d take it myself.”
I schooled myself not to be hurt. He hadn’t meant he wanted to be cured of me, just like I hadn’t meant I wanted to be cured of him. We both just wanted to find a way through this minefield of my past and his obsession and learn how to be together without an airport of unclaimed baggage following us around.
“Ah, sir?” A staff member appeared, carrying a small tray with two coffee cups. “As you requested.”
Elder nodded respectfully as he claimed both drinks. “Thank you. Please tell the chef we’re ready for breakfast if that suits.”
“Right away.” The man bowed, gave me a smile, then returned the way he’d come with his now empty tray.
I eyed Elder’s new possessions. “Didn’t sleep last night?”
He spun to face me, suspicion written all over his face. “What makes you say that?”
For some reason, I got the distinct impression he hadn’t slept. That my blasé comment had hit a nerve. What did he get up to yesterday after I overhead his conversation? I hadn’t heard his cello, but that didn’t mean he didn’t play.
After I’d locked my door, I’d slept surprisingly well. I didn’t know what that said about my state of mind, but for the first time, I wasn’t on high alert waiting for someone—friend or foe—to come through the door uninvited.
“Double coffee.” I pointed at the two cups.
He shook his head, dispelling whatever he’d been thinking. “One of them is for you.” Coming toward me, he held out the cup.
I took it gently, careful not to spill the creamy flower design made from the milk on top. “You knew I’d be here?”
“I saw you from the bridge.” He pointed at the highest point of the yacht where the shadows of staff and captain hinted that just because we weren’t looking where we were sailing didn’t mean countless other people weren’t.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he added, “I went to see Jolfer this morning. Wanted to confirm the route to England. I spotted you sitting on the lifeboat and figured I owed you an apology.”
“Back to the apology.”
He nodded. “Back to that.” He took another sip. “I’m sorry for abandoning you the past two days, and I’m sorry if I made you feel anything but welcome. I...I love having you here with me and haven’t done a very good job of showing that.”
I didn’t want to tell him I’d been reading between the lines long enough that I understood more than I should. That he loved me being here but cursed himself for not being able to take advantage. That he loved spending time with me but didn’t trust himself to keep it purely platonic.
If that kiss was anything to go by, I’d say his worries were founded upon fact. Not that I would tell him that as I didn’t want such boundaries or fears to remain between us.
I joined him in drinking the perfectly brewed caffeine. “What way did you tell him?”
“Hmm?” He licked his lips free from frothy coffee, making my stomach twitch with a carnal hunger I’d only just begun to understand.
“With your captain? How many ways are there to sail to England from here?”
His face lit up, grateful for a neutral topic where innuendoes and sexual undercurrents couldn’t dwell. “Two technically.”
When I continued to drink, waiting for him to elaborate, he said, “Basically, we can go through the Strait of Gibraltar or down past the Cape of Good Hope.”
“Which is better?”
He shrugged. “Both are great journeys, but one is approximately six to seven days, and the other is over a month.”
“Oh, wow.”
He smiled. “I’m guessing you’d like to get home faster than a month, and we have a function to attend, so I have no choice but to go the shorter route.”
I didn’t mention that returning home wasn’t a draw card anymore. In fact, England was rather the opposite. I didn’t want to go back. My mother was locked up and untouchable while bad memories were free and rampant. If Elder hadn’t just mentioned a function, I would suggest turning around and going somewhere else.
Curiosity built inside me. “We have a function? What is it?”
He scowled. “A masquerade in a drab English estate called Hawksridge.”
Hawksridge...that name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know why.
Elder noticed my kernel of enlightenment. “The Hawk family deal in diamonds. They supply most of the jewellers in London and far beyond. You might’ve heard of them.”
“I’ve heard of Hawk diamonds. Yes.”
“There you go.” He finished his coffee with a disgusted look. “We’re to attend because their clientele are often my clientele. The rich demographic normally likes the same things. Yachts, horses, diamonds...”
“So...this is a business meeting?”
“Something like that.”
“Why do I have to attend?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re my plus one. However, if you’d rather not go...”
I held up my hand. “No, I’m honoured to accompany you.” Even as I said it, I wondered if I would be up to mingling in a crowd. The last time I’d been at a function with finely dressed gentleman and prettily gowned women, I’d been strangled and abducted.
This might be even worse because everyone would be wearing masks.
Just like the auction at the QMB.
Oh, God.
My heart kicked into a canter, but I hid my trepidation.
I wouldn’t give Elder any reason to suspect I couldn’t handle whatever it was he needed me to handle—including him.
“We’ll only be there an hour. Two at the most.” He finished his coffee. “I’m reluctant to go, but I have an oath to keep, and that oath means earning money until I reach my target.”
br />
I hid my surprised laugh. “You have a target to amass more money?”
He cringed a little as if noticing how it sounded. How the idea of Elder—who had wealth far beyond what I could conceive—admitted he had the drive for more.
What could he possibly need that he couldn’t afford with his current financial position?
I shook my head a little, trying to understand. He didn’t come across as superficial or someone who spent a great deal on things just for flash and recognition. Sure, the Phantom was beyond luxurious, and he owned helicopters and Maybachs and whatever other expensive brands the rich and famous had, but he still retained an aura of someone who wasn’t used to wealth.
Someone who had somehow stumbled into it and still wasn’t comfortable spending unless it was to lavish a lifestyle on his family.
A family who never shows up to enjoy his generosity.
“It’s hot today. Perhaps we should go inside out of the sun.” Taking my empty cup, Elder kept his voice level, but something ate at him—something relating to money and secrets and reasons why he was the way he was.
I desperately wanted to know those reasons and was finally ready to give him any part of my past for a tiny fraction of his.
“El...” I moved toward him, placing my hand on his forearm.
He jolted at my touch but didn’t jerk away. His gaze locked with mine, and everything I was about to suggest flew out of my head. I’d had envisions of inviting him to my suite. Ordering a quiet breakfast and doing something we’d never done before.
Talk.
Truly talk like two strangers who didn’t know a thing about each other but had one thing in common: a sexual attraction—a mutual fascination and hearts that’d whispered the same message the moment we’d met.
I liked Elder far too much. I loved Elder far too deep for logical reasoning. And I still knew nothing about him.
My tongue slid over my bottom lip while I did my best to coerce my thoughts into orderly sentences and not the tumbling acrobats they’d become.
Only, an excited voice rang on the warm sea breeze, breaking the heavy spell and snapping our eyes to the bow of the ship.
“What on earth is she pointing at?” I asked as a staff member with blonde pigtails bounced up and down. Her face was luminous with excitement. Her finger pointed at the water below.
Elder smiled. “Dolphins probably. I don’t know why staff continue to get so excited. It’s not like they’re a rare occurrence.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if dolphins were as common as house flies.
My eyes widened. “They surf the wake?”
“Exactly. They’re just using us for their own enjoyment.”
“Can I see?”
He chuckled as I drifted toward the girl, becoming intoxicated by her joy. I hadn’t seen a dolphin since my friend had her eighth birthday party at SeaWorld and the dolphins leapt and frolicked with big red balls. At the time, I’d been mesmerised. Now, the place had been shut down for animal welfare.
I couldn’t stop my feet moving, but I didn’t want to leave Elder. “Come with me?” I held out my hand, glancing over my shoulder as I continued to step toward the bow.
His face fell just for a moment.
My throat tightened with questions. I wanted to know what pained him. I needed to know how to fix it.
But then he smiled, shoving aside any hint of melancholy. “I have a better idea.”
I stopped, totally unconvinced. “Better than watching dolphins?”
“Better.” Crooking a finger, he murmured, “Come with me.”
Chapter Seventeen
______________________________
Elder
I DIDN’T KNOW what the fuck I was doing.
Pim would no doubt laugh in my face or, worse, roll her eyes at such a stupid extravagance, or even worse, look at me differently for spending ridiculous sums of money on something no normal person should own.
But as we stepped into the elevator and I pressed the bottom level where the storage rooms, kitchen cold stores, and a motorbike rested, I told myself this was a good decision.
I’d bought it for times like this.
Originally, I thought it would be for my family with young cousins to impress, but that would never happen, and besides...this was even better.
Pim was better.
Pim was everything.
As the elevator doors opened, Pim looked up. Instead of the expected question of ‘why did you bring me to the working part of the ship’, she seemed at ease—as if she’d been down here before.
I frowned.
She had full run of the place—nothing was out of bounds. Well, the level where I argued with Selix yesterday I’d prefer she didn’t see (or anyone else for that matter). I didn’t know how I felt having her snoop, learning pieces about me without me telling her.
“Have you been here before?” I kept my voice light when really my question was heavy. If she had explored, what had she discovered? She wouldn’t have seen what I was about to show her as it was behind a locked door and only I had the key, but still...my privacy had been tiptoed through.
She rubbed her arm, her gaze lighting on the wooden grates with a multitude of languages spray-painted on the front to the strapped and chocked motorbike. “Um, I might’ve explored a little.”
“When?” My nostrils flared trying to taste her truth.
“Yesterday.”
“Did you go anywhere else yesterday?” My back prickled. “Any other levels?”
She shrugged, laughing awkwardly with a guilty ring. “Only a couple. I got hungry and went to the kitchen for lunch then back to my room.” Flashing me a look, she strode ahead, weaving around the strapping holding everything secure. “What did you want to show me down here?” Tossing over her shoulder, deliberately changing the subject, she pouted. “I can’t believe I’m missing dolphins for this.”
I had a good mind to force her back to my interrogation, but after being at odds for days, I wanted to find that happy place again.
I needed it.
The kiss on the deck had been the only good thing in my life, and the craving to continue had blended with the addiction for sex and the comfort of connection.
I wanted to touch her.
I just didn’t want it getting out of control.
“You won’t be missing out for long.” Guiding her around a row of heavy-duty freezers and a huge walk-in fridge, I fumbled for the key chain in my pocket. “You’ll see.”
Pim followed, her face bright and quizzical. “You know...this isn’t the prettiest level, but I find it fascinating.” She trailed her fingers over a crate labelled fragile.
I had no idea what was inside, but I paid my staff enough to figure it out. They had carte blanche to order more, purchase whatever, and stay on top of usage versus expenditure.
“This way.”
She nodded with a soft smile as I marched ahead down the long corridor made up of stacked parcels, boxes, and containers. This level had no individual rooms apart from the area I was about to show her.
In my profession—the career of making toys for the mega rich and constantly having to come up with new and unique additions to best some other wealthy bastard’s plaything—I experimented on the Phantom.
This yacht was the first to have it. It had been the showpiece to earn more business than I could handle. And a luxury I hadn’t seen since I built the fucking thing.
“Oh, cool.” Pim pointed at a jet ski that I’d completely forgotten, resting beneath a clear tarpaulin.
Unwanted millionaire toys all gathering dust.
What if this other toy didn’t start? What if dragging her down here was an utter mistake and she missed out on the dolphins while I screwed around with something I should never have purchased in the first place?
My heart sped up with worry as we reached the end of the long yacht and paused. My hand landed on the doorknob of a special airlock. The large circular dial operated hundreds of little seals
and locking mechanisms, completely unneeded unless someone tried to creep aboard this way or we sprung a leak.
“Ready?”
Pim joined me, her body so small beside mine. “What’s in there?”
“You’re about to find out.”
She crossed her arms as if hugging herself would offer some form of protection. “Okay...”
Forcing myself to look away and ignore my own self-consciousness, I unwound the dial, unlocked the final seal with my key, and pushed the thick barricade open.
The sound of air rushing into the sealed chamber made a noise like a thundering tornado, only to end a fraction of a second later.
Pim shook her head in awe. “My ears just popped.”
“That’s because this place has its own circulation. It’s completely cut off from the rest of the ship.”
“Why?”
“For safety.”
She pursed her lips as I stepped aside, letting her pass.
The room we stood in was cylindrical and held hooks and shelves for fresh towels, dressing gowns, and an array of bright swimming gear. Snorkels and masks, dive equipment, bikinis and shorts.
No expense was spared.
And nothing had been touched.
I hoped she wouldn’t notice the child-size swimming gear or the still-in-their boxes inflatable lilos and rubber rings.
The silver walls held no windows or portals. The only way in and out were two doors—the one we came through and another at the end of the tube-like room.
“What is this place?” Pim moved forward in awe.
I turned and closed the door, wincing a little as the seals clicked into place, cutting us off from the rest of the yacht.
The new air pressure pushed down on us—warm and muggy, inviting us to explore the world where such a breeze came from.
“It’s a changing room.”
“If it’s just a changing room why the bombproof door?” She turned to face me, eyebrows high.
“The room we’re about to enter is special. It’s secure, but in the case of an emergency, it could flood. The door is to prevent us from sinking if that happens.”