The wind was brisk today, but not extreme. The storms that had attempted to drown their wedding ceremony had been far more threatening than the gray bank of clouds currently overhead. They had an ultramodern craft, state-of-the-art communications, and each other. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Sed pulled out his cellphone and noted the strong signal. “I’m going to call my mom and let her know we’re taking the boat out.”
“Good idea. If we get lost at sea, it would be nice if someone would know to look for us.”
He hadn’t thought of that. His father had always been in charge of making float plans. Sed had been more concerned that his mother might worry that the boat had been stolen. The mast was visible from her condo if she happened to be looking for it. “You’re right. We need to tell someone we’re leaving. So we plan to check out the Channel Islands off the coast and we’ll be back before dark?”
Jessica nodded.
His mom didn’t answer, so he left a message, giving details of their plans and whereabouts. He ended with, “I figured you’d probably want to sell the boat so you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore, but maybe I’ll take it off your hands. Let me know if that would be okay. I’ll buy it from you.”
He never wanted his family to have to worry about money, and his mom was almost as bad at asking for monetary assistance as Jessica was. He’d gotten into a huge fight with his mom when he insisted he’d pay for his sisters’ college tuition. He’d won in the end. And he’d even convinced Mom to accept the nice condo he’d bought his folks as a thirty-year anniversary present. But she’d only agreed because he’d already paid cash for it and she thought he’d end up losing a bunch of money on the deal.
When he hung up, Jessica slipped her arms around his waist. “Did you just buy us a boat?’
He cringed and rubbed his forehead. “Oh, shit. I guess I should check with my wife on major purchases, shouldn’t I? Is it okay? I can call her back and tell her I changed my mind.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s your money and your dad’s boat. You don’t have to check with me.”
“It’s our money and will be our boat, so yes, I do have to check with you.”
“Sed—”
“And if you go out and buy yourself a new Maserati, I expect you to check with me first.”
“A new Maserati? Of course I’d ask first. But what if it’s a used Maserati?”
He laughed and squeezed her. “Use your best judgment in that case.”
“If I was using my best judgment, I’d buy a Honda, not a Maserati.”
“You do need a new car. Yours is a piece of junk.”
“Hey! I worked hard to buy that piece of junk.”
“And now you have to work hard putting up with me.”
She shook her head. “That’s not work. That’s pleasure.”
He smoothed back her pale strawberry-blond hair and kissed her forehead. “You’ve earned a new minivan for making me so happy.”
“Minivan? I’m not driving a fucking minivan.”
“Not even for the baby’s sake? Myrna drives one.” He considered Brian’s wife brilliant for sacrificing the driving of her vintage pink convertible to ensure that their baby rode comfortably in a safe vehicle.
“I might drive an SUV.” Jessica crinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nope. A car seat will fit in your Mercedes just fine.”
“Our Mercedes,” he corrected.
She blew out a frustrated breath. “We have to stop arguing about this mine versus yours stuff.”
“I’m not arguing. Everything I have, everything I am, is yours.”
“Well, I plan to keep a little something of myself for myself. I can’t be Sedica or Jessric. I’m me and you’re you and we’re sharing our lives, not merging into one perfect being. Marriage is work. I’m work.”
He chuckled and squeezed her tight. “Yes, you are, and that’s one of the many reasons I love you. But not on our honeymoon. On our honeymoon, there’s no work. You’re Jessric and I’m Sedica. We’ve merged. We’re perfect together.”
She cupped his face between her palms and gazed lovingly into his eyes. “But I wanted to be Sedica.”
“That won’t work. Eric has accused me of calling out my own name during sex. If you’re going by Sedica, that’s bound to happen for real, and I’d never live it down.”
“How would he find out?” Jessica glanced around. “He’s not here watching us, is he?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him, but no. I was thinking our next sex video—Honeymoon Rocks the Sailboat—might get out. With the slightest of editing by some asshole, I’m calling you Sed instead of Sedica.”
“Fine, I’ll be Jessric. Don’t ever say I haven’t made sacrifices for you.”
“So you’re fine with the sex video idea?”
“That didn’t go so well the last time.”
She no longer went into a rage when the subject came up, but she’d been inconsolable when a “fan” recorded the two of them getting it on in Vegas and posted the video on the Internet.
“This time I’ll be in charge of the camera,” he said. “I won’t post it online.”
“Uhhh . . . no. Besides, honeymooning rock star with huge dick banging his hot wife on a boat has been done.”
And yep, that well-known stolen sex tape had been distributed against the couple’s wishes.
“Maybe. But did they bang on a sailboat?”
“Couldn’t tell. It was mostly close-ups of a big dick.”
So filming was out, but he was definitely planning on quite a bit of banging while they were on the boat. They had to get out to sea first, however.
After Sed gave basic instructions to his novice first mate, they unmoored the boat and he started the engine. Maneuvering the craft away from the pier was a little tricky, but he managed to not run them ashore or hit any of the other boats. Once they were out in open water, the tasks got a lot easier. He even found the confidence to cut the engine and hoist the sails—or rather to press the proper sequence of controls to have the boat hoist the sails. It was far easier than running up sails manually, as he’d done as a boy under his father’s persistent instruction.
The mainsail was striped red, yellow, and blue; the smaller jib sail, plain white. Both billowed and flapped as they caught the wind and pulled them smoothly through the water.
“Do you want to man the wheel?” he asked Jessica, smiling so broadly that his face hurt. He’d forgotten how much he loved sailing.
“I’ll just ogle the man manning the wheel, if that’s okay with you.”
“Ogle a little closer,” he said, holding a hand out to her. When she accepted it, he tugged her into the space between his belly and the wheel.
“I can’t ogle if I’m not facing you.”
“Too bad.”
He couldn’t resist nuzzling her neck or pressing his rapidly engorging cock against her firm ass. He took one hand off the wheel to palm her lower belly, and she sighed in surrender. Everything about this felt right: the deck beneath his feet; the woman in one hand, wheel in the other; the breeze blowing her silky hair against his cheek and neck; the sounds of the rigging creaking softly and the water lapping against the hull. He’d found his paradise. It was wherever Jessica happened to be.
“Are we going the right way?” she asked.
He opened his eyes, not even realizing that he’d closed them to absorb the moment.
“I’d check the GPS, but I don’t want to move.”
“Let’s just keep sailing,” she said. “We’ll find our way back later.”
“Later.”
Sed reached for Jessica’s chest. Her breath caught, and she arched her back, pressing her soft breast securely against his palm.