The next thing I know, I’m grabbing for her. I can’t take any more of this. “You should have come to me,” I rumble into her ear. “You want to know what I was doing this morning? Awful things. I was hating myself because I was lying in bed thinking about you. I thought these images and ideas were forbidden because you’re my best friend. I can’t even repeat what we were doing in my dream. Turns out we were in sync, my love.”
I look down and see her fingers swirling, coated in her juice. Wide-eyed, I watch as she pops a wet finger into her mouth.
My animalistic growl turns to a snarl as I grab her wrist and demand that she share this with me.
I wrap my lips around her fingers and moan at the taste of her on them. My teeth nip as I savor her.
“Frenchie,” I say when I pop her fingers out of my mouth. “I can’t hold back anymore. I need to be inside you.”
She nods and looks down where my hand is wrapped around it.
“I want to be bad with you, Frenchie. I want to feel all of you. I want to be bare inside you. I know it’s a risk, but I just…just want to be that much closer to you.”
Wait a minute.
What was I thinking, blurting that out?
That is what I want, but I’m moving too fast.
Her eyes widen at me, and I know I’ve gone too far. I’m asking too much.
Chapter 7
Adalee
What he’s asking of me is out of line.
I know this in my head.
On the other hand, my body is out of line, too, because that is precisely what I want to do right now: jump the bones of my best friend and let him raw dog me. That’s what I want too.
Do I really want to risk making a baby with him?
We stare at each other for a few brief moments. I appreciate the way he waits for me to answer. Not pushing.
Yes, not only do I want to risk it, I would have ten of his babies right now. I love him so much I can’t picture my life without him.
But we’re not ready. I live in a tiny RV. He lives in a little boat. My mother isn’t ready to be a grandmother, and my dad—god, I don’t even want to think about what my dad is doing right now.
“I…I have to go.”
With that, I bolt into the living area and shove my clothes back on my body.
“Wait!” Hudson cries.
But I don’t wait. I can’t wait. I have to get off this barge before I do something incredibly dumb just because, at the moment, I would love nothing more than some bare-ass peen. And I do want that. God. It sounds amazing. But no, I have to go. Step away and think about what’s in my virtual shopping cart before I place that order.
I shove on my shoes and stumble out onto the deck, then shriek at what I see.
Nothing. Some blinking lights off in the darkness. I swivel around in circles, but it’s more of the same. The waves lapping the boat, rocking the vessel gently in the night breeze.
I shriek again. “Hudson!”
“Frenchie, are you okay?!” He bounds up to the deck, half-dressed. “Baby, what’s wrong—“
He sees all of the nothingness, and his hands grasp the sides of his head in shock. “Oh fuck. We’re at sea!”
I wave my hands in the air helplessly. “You think??”
“Where are we?”
I goggle at him. “How the fuck should I know?”
Once Hudson is over the shock, he doubles over. “Babe.”
“What?” I ask, my hand on my hips.
He’s laughing, but I don’t find anything about this funny.
“We rocked the boat so hard we floated out to sea!”
I shout, “Maybe someone forgot to tether the boat to the dock. Did you forget that, Hudson?”
He stops laughing and scratches his head. “I don’t think I forgot to do that today. Hell, I fasten so much rope on any given day, it’s automatic. It makes no sense.”
Anxiety rolls around in my stomach. “I’m going to be sick.”
Hudson approaches me, rubbing my arms. “No, you’re not going to be sick. Look at me.”
“I swear to god if you tell me it’s all in my head,” I start.
Hudson clarifies, “You know I would never say that, Frenchie. Listen. You’re not going to drown. I have an ice bucket right here. Why don’t you go sit down below deck, and I’ll steer us back to the dock?”
“I don’t see how that’s going to help,” I say, but I do as he says anyway. He is, after all, the only person who can get this vessel back to dry land.
If he can even find it.
Okay, Adalee, I tell myself. Calm down. You’re being unfair. Hudson is a professional, and you trust him. Besides, there’s no way he did this on purpose. Accidents happen.
And as for the other thing, maybe he was just caught up in the moment. You know how intense he gets when he loves something. He’s all in. He’s one hundred percent, or he’s not into it at all. And besides, Hudson has always talked about wanting kids. He loves it when kids and families charter fishing boats together, I’ve seen the way he talks about helping kids catch their first fish. The man was built to be a dad. The man was built to be a husband.
Adalee French, the man was built to be your husband. How long are you going to deny the fact that you do want kids, too?
I love my cats, and that’s about all I can handle.
I think things over as he works on radioing other boats to help guide him back to shore.
Still, he should respect your need to think about this. It’s a huge ask. And my heart wants it too much.
Chapter 8
Hudson
Fortunately, I’m a good enough navigator, and I know how to use the radio.
