Key West by Lacey Alexander (top android ebook reader .TXT) 📕

inside her, pushed some secret unknown button that activated her sensuality in ways she’d never experienced?

The answers, though, didn’t really matter. All that mattered was the ache of temptation growing inside her, the sense that she was slowly beginning to do just what Chris had asked of her last night—misbehave, cut loose, play. She was beginning to let go of everything she’d ever known before, everything she’d been taught about right and wrong, good and bad, propriety, morals.

That still wouldn’t make anything she did here any more real, or lasting, as she longed for it to be, but even that was beginning not to matter.

It was scary as hell.

And more exciting than anything she’d ever experienced.

* * * * *

Chris stood at the helm, leisurely guiding the boat in the right direction, although it took little work, given the good winds today. He inhaled the scent of the sea and basked in the sun that warmed his face even as the breeze whipped through his hair and clothes. Damn, this was the life.

Of course, this was the life every day in Key West, but today, he was feeling particularly good. Because she was here. She’d come back, even if unwittingly, not knowing he’d be on board.

He still wasn’t quite clear about exactly what had driven his hot little angel away last night, but he had a feeling he could relate to it better than she knew. He hadn’t been a Key Wester all his life—not by a long shot. He knew about suburban American values and expectations. And he didn’t think there was a damn thing wrong with those values and expectations. But they weren’t for everybody, and he knew from personal experience they had a way of molding you into whatever your little segment of society found acceptable. If there was something else inside you, well, sometimes it just stayed trapped. He had a feeling Carrie had just started releasing the other stuff inside her—and that it had scared the shit out of her. He needed to make her understand it was okay—more than okay. He needed to show her just how good it was to follow your instincts, to be who you really were.

“Jake!” he called, and the youngest member of his crew headed over. “Set the auto-pilot for me and keep an eye on the GPS,” he instructed, abandoning the wheel.

At that moment, Shay appeared by his side, grabbing tight to his arm. “Which one?”

Fortunately, Carrie’s back was to them. “There.” He pointed. “The leopard bikini.”

Shay raised her eyebrows. “Cute.”

He grinned. “I think so, too.”

Shay had been an occasional lover but was now a friend—a close friend—and he’d told her about Carrie over breakfast. Shay had immediately pointed out that while he’d accepted the advances of more than one girl while on Party Barge detail, he didn’t usually find himself thinking about them the next day, waiting and hoping to see them again.

“She’s different,” he’d tried to explain. “In one sense, really shy and prim. But there’s a total animal beneath the surface and I got to see it.”

His friend had grinned. “And you want to see more.”

“Oh yeah.”

Now Shay was looking at Carrie the same way he was. “A shame she’s so shy,” she said, without needing to expound. Shay was the wildest girl he knew, as into girls as she was guys, and always on the lookout for a new playmate.

He couldn’t help chuckling. “I’d say I’ll be damn lucky to get anywhere with her again. You, sweetheart, don’t stand a chance.”

She gave a teasing, affronted look.

“Not that you’re not hot—you know you are. But trust me when I say this girl will not be into other girls.”

Shay lowered her chin and pinned him with a look of challenge. “Care to make a little wager on that?”

He laughed. “Tempting…but I can’t. It would be a shitty thing to do, because I really like her.”

She tilted her head. “Just from one lap dance, huh?” She looked amused and intrigued.

“Yeah,” he said, not quite understanding it himself.

“Well, good luck, Romeo. And if she blows you off, send her my way.” She grinned widely before sashaying away, her ass swaying nicely in her sunny-colored bikini.

Taking a deep breath, Chris headed over toward Carrie and sat next to her, glad the woman seated there before had gotten up to keep an eye on her wandering kids.

Carrie looked up and blinked. “Shouldn’t you be steering the boat or something?”

He flashed a grin. “Don’t worry, angel. It’s taken care of.” He nudged the fins sitting in front of her with one bare toe. “Have you snorkeled before?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“When we reach our snorkel site, I’ll show you the ropes. I know where all the best fish hang out.” He ended with a wink.

“You don’t have to stay here? On the boat?”

“Nope.” Just then, Scott walked past, so Chris spoke a little louder. “I have underlings for that.”

Scott cast a faux look of warning. “Watch it, dude.”

Chris only chuckled. Ever since Scott had joined his crew, he couldn’t resist giving him a hard time, especially since Scott was every bit as good a sailor as he was.

Drawing his eyes back to Carrie, he noticed her skin turning pink already. “Did you bring sunscreen, angel?”

She nodded and reached in her bag to pull out a bottle of SPF 15.

He flashed a skeptical look. “Nothing higher? The sun’s pretty damn hot here.”

“I tan well, so this should do.”

He grinned and removed the lid. “Okay, I’ll take your word for it. Turn your back to me.”

He started by massaging the lotion into her shoulders and down her arms, slowly easing his hands across her soft skin. She tensed slightly beneath his touch, but that only meant she really felt it, exactly as he wanted her to. He rubbed more of the coconut-scented lotion down her back, not hesitating to slide his fingers beneath the tie of her bikini top to make sure he didn’t miss any spots. When he reached