Sex on the Beach (Southern Comfort Book 2) Read online

  I wasn’t going to live my life letting them dictate my actions, or worrying about garnering other people’s good opinion. Somehow, after learning about my condition, I had the overwhelming sense I was living on borrowed time, and I planned on making the most of it.

  I opened my eyes and once again, they were, of course, drawn to Jimmy. The way he moved was mesmerizing.

  We’d barely spoken to one another in our time out on the ocean. He’d asked me a few questions at the beginning of the cruise, but I’d been so nervous that my answers had been short and clipped.

  He must’ve assumed I hadn’t wanted to continue the conversation because he’d left me to myself since then. The truth was, I was just socially awkward. I’d never quite learned to interact with people. I’d observed how it was done, but there was a disconnect when I tried to put it into practice.

  For other people, it just seemed to come naturally. Not for me. I wasn’t sure if my social faux pas were a result of my insolated upbringing or if I was predisposed to my awkwardness.

  I did know that I tended to live in my head. I was always thinking about the next thing I should or shouldn’t say. I was desperate to never do or say the wrong thing…yet that was always what seemed to happen, despite my best efforts.

  I was convinced the reason my interactions with Jimmy had been so limited thus far was due to my verbal insecurities. If it were any other person aside from me on the boat with Jimmy, I was sure he’d be talking up a storm with them. He seemed so friendly and easygoing. I couldn’t imagine him ever not knowing the right thing to say or do. It was a very attractive quality. And I wanted to observe more of it.

  I knew that our time on the water was coming to an end. He’d said that he could take me out for three hours and we’d already been on the water for two hours and forty-five minutes.

  If I couldn’t even muster the courage to speak to him—one of the friendliest most open people I’d ever met—what chance did I have of actually following through with my plan for a new life?

  This was a test. One that I planned on passing.

  Nerves rioted through me as I lifted my arm in the air. “Excuse me.”

  “Yes.” Jimmy pointed at me and shouted from the bow. “Girl in the front row.”

  I smiled, feeling silly for raising my hand. “Um, I was just wondering how I would be taking care of the payment?”

  The payment? That was my big conversation starter? I really did suck at this.

  “One sec.” He crossed the ten feet or so that separated us and the closer he got the more potent his smile was. And when he took off his sunglasses and I saw his light brown stare, every thought I had in my head evaporated.

  I’d thought his smile alone was potent but adding in those large brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes was a dangerous combination.

  He stopped in front of me and lifted his arms so that he was grasping the overhang above my head. He leaned in beneath it to where I was seated. “I couldn’t hear you with the wind.”

  “I…” Speak, Isabella! I commanded myself. I lifted my hand and twisted my earring, suddenly feeling shy. Having Jimmy’s full attention focused on me in such a small space was a lot to take in. “I was just wondering how I would take care of the payment for the charter? Venmo, PayPal?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I was headin’ out anyway. And I’m honored to be the captain of your maiden voyage.”

  Oh, boy. If he only knew how badly I wanted him to be the captain of my maiden voyage…and I wasn’t talking about the cruise.

  He gave me a wink and started to turn around.

  “No, I can’t let you do that.” I stood and reached out to grab his arm just as the boat hit a wave, knocking me off balance. I stumbled back and then to the side, unable to get my sea legs to steady. I felt like Bambi on the ice.

  Jimmy turned back and caught me before I fell forward. He twisted his body, holding me in his arms, and ended up tumbling onto the bench in a seated position. The momentum of my swaying caused me to fall onto my knees and face-plant right into his lap.

  It all happened in the span of a few seconds, max, but while it was happening, it seemed as if everything was going in slow motion, and I was still unable to stop any of it.

  As soon as I realized the position I’d landed in, I tried to move away. I started to lift my head and realized that my hand was on something very hard—and very big. Instinctively, my fingers squeezed around it as I used the leverage to push myself up and I heard a deep moan vibrate from his chest.

  Once my brain caught up to what was happening, I jerked my hand away from his lap like I’d touched a hot stove. And to be fair, my palm tingled as if I had.

  “I’m so sorry!” My eyes flew to his.

  Horrified didn’t even come close to describing how I felt. Strangely, though, it didn’t seem that Jimmy was even the slightest bit bothered by my inappropriate groping.

  He possessed a calm confidence that equally put me on edge and at ease.

  “Darlin’, you have nothin’ to apologize for.” His voice held something that it hadn’t when we’d spoken earlier. A rough quality that had my entire body breaking out in goosebumps.

  “I didn’t mean to…I touched you…your…there…” I looked back down at where my hand had just been and my mouth watered at the sight.

  “Like I said, you have nothin’ to apologize for. I’m not complainin’.”

  “You’re not?”

  I couldn’t tell if he was flirting or just being nice to make me feel better about this uncomfortable situation. My heart was racing so fast I was sure that it was putting the tear to the test, but honestly, if this was how I went out, so be it. I felt more excited, more alive, on this boat with Jimmy than I’d felt in my entire life.

  “You can touch my there anytime you like.”

  Was he serious? Was that an invitation? I honestly wished I had some clue. I knew that these circumstances weren’t likely to fall in my lap, like I had in his, again. I figured a follow-up question wouldn’t hurt. “Really? I can?”

  His grin widened and I could see that my response wasn’t what he was expecting. “You sound surprised.”

  “I am,” I answered honestly. I’d spent the past few hours lusting after him, wondering what his powerful body would feel like beneath his shirt, his shorts…but simply getting permission to touch him had never crossed my mind.

  But since I had it now, I didn’t want to waste it.

  This was an opportunity I didn’t want to squander. I would’ve assumed in this situation I would be nervous, but somehow, with Jimmy I wasn’t. My pulse fluttered faster than a butterfly on speed, and I was trembling from head to toe, but it was from anticipation, not anxiety.

  “Well, I’m glad I could surprise you, because you’ve been surprising the hell out of me since I saw you standing on that dock.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but honestly, in that moment, I didn’t care. If I was being granted access to touch Jimmy I didn’t want to squander it worrying about what he meant by the comment.

  “Are you sure it’s okay if I…touch you?”

  “In the immortal words of John Mayer, my body is your wonderland.”

  I grinned. Those weren’t the lyrics, but I appreciated the reference. It made me feel a lot less awkward, and anytime I could feel less awkward was a good time, for sure.

  My eyes locked with his again, and the look he was giving me encouraged me more than his verbal permission had.

  I lifted my hand and noticed it was trembling as I moved it back to where it had landed. His thighs twitched as I ran my hand over his zipper, and I could feel his erection jump beneath it. My fingers cupped him, and my palms tingled as I moved my hand up and down his length.

  He exhaled audibly through his nose and his hands gripped the seat beside him.

  From the look on his face, I assumed that was a good thing, that what I was doing felt good. I hoped I wasn’t hurting him, but I assumed he’d tell
me if I was. The more I touched, the faster his breaths came.

  Seeing him so affected by my attention caused something to rise up inside me. An impulse. An urge. A compulsion, maybe.

  I’d never acted on any of my crazy, impulsive ideas before. Well, today was going to be a new day.

  “Can I…take it out?” The question came out as a whisper, not as powerful as I’d wanted it to be. But hey, I’d asked. That was something I’d never dreamed of doing a week ago.

  “You can do whatever you want.” His voice was low and raspy and held a dangerous edge, one that caused a tingling sensation to shoot straight between my legs.

  My fingers continued to tremble as I first unbuckled and then unzipped his shorts. In the recesses of my brain I wondered what he must be thinking of me, but each time that thought would come up, I’d look at him and the only thing I saw in his amber stare was desire. No judgment. Just pure need.

  As soon as the zipper was down, I moved the flap on his boxer briefs to the side and his dick sprang out like a jack-in-the-box. I jumped a little, startled.

  “Sorry. He’s a little excited you want to play with him.”

  I smiled, feeling more at ease with Jimmy than I’d ever felt with another person in my life. Which was strange because, well, he was a stranger. But somehow he didn’t feel like that. And I was definitely getting to know him more intimately than I’d ever gotten to know another person in my life.

  My slender fingers wrapped around his thick girth and I gripped him tightly. When I squeezed, his head fell back and another moan ripped from his chest. A surge of power, control, and arousal rushed through me. I moved my hand up and down and felt him grow larger.

  His skin was silky smooth and his penis was rock hard. It felt like satin-covered steel. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected a penis to feel like, but this wasn’t it. I loved the sensation of my palm sliding along his taut skin.

  I felt pulsing in my hand and I wasn’t sure if it was mine or his. But I liked it. With each pass of my hand, his breathing grew more and more shallow. When I saw a tiny bead of arousal appear on the tip of his head, I had the urge to taste it. So like everything in my life these days, I did. With a boldness I hadn’t even known I possessed, I leaned down and pressed my lips to him in an open-mouthed kiss.

  He hissed in response as I slowly licked across his engorged crown and lapped up his seed. He tasted sweet. When the flavor hit my tongue, it set off a thunderstorm of sensation deep in my core.

  My inner walls clenched and I could feel pleasure begin to swirl low in my belly. I’d always heard women complain about oral sex, like it was a chore. But I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

  Acting purely on instinct, I sucked him deeper into my mouth, my hand still wrapped around the base of his manhood.

  “Oh, fuck,” he grunted.

  I repeated the motion several times, keeping my lips suctioned tight around his shaft as I moved my mouth up and down his rock-hard erection.

  The next thing I knew, Jimmy’s fingers wrapped around my ponytail as my mouth slid up and down his shaft. Sucking him, taking him in my mouth, felt so different than I thought it would. I’d never expected to feel pleasure from giving rather than receiving oral sex. Sure, I’d read romance novels and some heroines described a feeling of power and control while pleasuring the hero, but I thought that was just the fantasy, not reality. And in my reality, I felt like my own release was building with his.

  I’d just gotten into a rhythm when Jimmy’s hands tightened around my hair. The stinging sensation sent tingles racing straight to my core.

  “Bella,” I could hear the warning in his tone. “I’m gonna…”

  The next thing I knew, he jerked my head back and turned his body to the side, grabbing something off the ledge beside the bench. I dropped back on my heels and the reality of what I’d just done hit me like a ton of bricks. Before he turned back to me, I scrambled to stand and excused myself to go use the bathroom.

  As I rushed below deck my heart wasn’t just racing, I felt like it was flying. My entire body was shaking from all the different emotions and sensations that were rioting through me. Relief washed over me as I stepped inside the small enclosed space and pushed the accordion door shut behind me. I needed a moment to gather myself.

  I lowered down onto the toilet lid and pressed my hand to my chest. Had I really just done that? Part of my brain was still in denial.

  It was strange that, when I looked into the mirror, the woman staring back at me appeared so different than the one on the elevator at the doctor’s office. My face was flushed with color, my lips were swollen, and my eyes were wide with excitement.

  This was the person that I wanted to be. Not that I planned on repeating what I’d just done, but I was glad I had. I could mark it off the list of things to do that I’d started after leaving Dr. Pine’s office, my bucket list of things I wanted to do before my time was up. I’d just knocked two items off the list: going on a boat and giving oral sex.

  So as awkward as this goodbye was going to be, I was proud of myself. I’d wanted something, and I’d asked for it. And now, I knew what a penis felt like, tasted like, looked like in real life. I’d seen some in movies, but there was no substitute for the real thing. Even if Jimmy had a low opinion of me after my forward behavior, I refused to feel any sort of regret about the way things had unfolded.

  At least, that’s what I was telling myself as I walked up the steps to the upper deck. But when I made it to the top I saw that we had docked. Somehow being tethered to dry land caused every ounce of shyness and embarrassment I’d ever possessed to return. I’d been so bold on the sea, but now, now I wished we’d pulled directly onto the beach so I could bury my head in the sand.

  And for all the self-talk, I had zero clues as to what the protocol for an encounter like this was since I’d never actually been intimate with anyone before.

  Panic began to take hold of my throat. Jimmy’s back was turned to me and I knew that if I didn’t make my escape now, I’d have to fumble my way through an awkward goodbye. But if I made my escape, I could avoid the whole thing entirely. The only thing I worried about was being caught. That would actually be more embarrassing than having to face Jimmy would be.

  After a few seconds of waffling, I made my decision. Reaching down, I slid my high heeled sandals off my ankles and slipped them off my feet. I knew there was no way that I could make it off the boat undetected with these clunkers on.

  Fear built in me with each step I took.

  How was it that I was more nervous about sneaking off this boat than I was about propositioning a stranger for oral sex?

  It made no sense.

  The knuckles on my right hand went white as I gripped the railing and with ninja-like stealth disembarked from the boat. When I felt the wood planks of the dock beneath my feet I started walking as fast as I could and didn’t dare turn back. With each step I took, my certainty grew that I’d hear my name being shouted out when Jimmy discovered me making a break for it. But it never happened. I made it to my car, got in, closed the door, and looked in the rearview mirror without being caught.

  My hands were still shaking as I searched my purse for my notebook. I opened it and scanned down my list until I got to number twenty-four. Go on a boat. I pressed the tip of my pen onto the paper and wrote a checkmark next to it. Then I continued scanning until I got to number forty-one. Give oral sex. I grinned as I placed another check beside it.

  When I’d set out on my adventure, I hadn’t been sure that I would actually be able to go through with all the things I’d written out. There’d been a small voice in the back of my head that said that I would chicken out when it came to follow-through. But now that I’d completed number forty-one, with a stranger no less, I was pretty sure the rest would be a cakewalk.

  CHAPTER 3

  Jimmy

  She was gone. She must have snuck off the ship when I’d been distracted docking. I’d checked and she wasn’t in the bathroom, o
r in the galley, or the cabin. After my third search of the premises, I was beginning to wonder if the entire morning had just been a figment of my imagination.

  Had Bella even existed?

  I checked the towel that I’d shot my load in, and that was definitely real. But was any of the rest of it?

  In what world does a beautiful woman show up out of the blue, ask to go out on the water without any sort of reservation, basically not speak the entire cruise, then fall into your lap, literally, and proceed to give you one of the hottest blowjobs in the world?

  That wasn’t real life, that was a porno. It had to have been a fantasy. Maybe I needed to get my head checked out. I’d been a little more tired than normal lately. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with me.

  Although, if the side effect of whatever was ailing me was to have some sort of virtual reality X-rated encounter with the woman of my dreams, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be cured.

  I might’ve continued thinking that me getting head had just been in my head when something sparkled and caught my attention in between the cushions. I lifted it up and saw that it was a diamond stud. I’d noticed Bella wearing it, she’d fidgeted with it several times during the trip. As I held it up, the sun caught its reflection in the stone, shining a rainbow light over the deck of the boat.

  I wasn’t someone who believed in signs, but I couldn’t help but feel that this was a good one. This earring was like Cinderella’s slipper and it meant that I’d see Bella again. Sure, in this fairytale the princess left the ball after blowing the prince, but hell, that didn’t make it any less romantic in my book.

  I finished securing the boat and jumped onto the pier with the earring in my pocket.

  “Hey, Jimmy Boy! Was it nice out there?” Earl called out from his houseboat, The Dirty Oar, which docked two stalls away from the Vitamin Sea.

  “It was, Earl! The best!”

  As I walked up the dock, I noticed I had an extra pep in my step. And during the drive out to the house, my mind kept playing the past few hours over and over again. And not just the naughty part.