Eve ordered a pizza and they ate it in ravenous silence. Afterward, Sam cleared the dishes and sat down in his armchair, staring out at the rainy night sky. Eve had never seen him run down like this.
“Do I look as shitty as I feel?” he asked.
She sat by him on the floor. “Who could possibly do this to you, Sam?”
“No one did this to me. I did it to myself.” He gave her a sad smile. “Get your violin ready. It’s going to be a sob story.”
“I’m ready.”
He took a deep breath and sighed. “The Bravado was an old boat even before I bought her from Charlie three years ago. Engine repairs were starting to add up. Two lean seasons and a failed outdrive were all it took. My savings were decimated. My credit was wrecked. Eight months ago, Lamont Seafood was on the edge of bankruptcy. I was desperate. Kyle and Mark Madrigal partied together all the time up at Madrigal’s beach house. Later—much later, when it was too late—I learned that Madrigal was Kyle’s dealer. He used to get all of Kyle’s pot before California laws changed and pot became available to anyone who flashed a medical marijuana card. I never trusted the guy. But I trusted Kyle.”
“What happened?”
“Kyle and I visited Madrigal up at his beach house, this huge glass-and-metal aquarium-looking thing. We were waved through to his game room. I didn’t know what I was expecting when I met Madrigal, but it sure wasn’t what I saw. He was this little guy, maybe a few years older than me. He was wearing board shorts and a Lakers jersey and flip-flops. Could’ve been any tourist at Stearns Wharf. But if you looked closer, you would’ve noticed little details.”
Eve leaned back on her arms. “Like what?”
“He was meticulously groomed. Perfectly shaped goatee. I was pretty sure he got his eyebrows waxed. He also had this stillness to him. He was in no hurry to answer questions. There were two big men there, just watching ESPN and drinking Cokes.” Sam snorted. “Bodyguards.”
“Jesus.”
“Against my better judgment, I let Kyle do all the talking. Our initial loan was ten grand at twenty-five percent interest. Enough to get a new outdrive. Enough to get back out on the water. It was the answer to our prayers. Madrigal gave us the money in cash. Right there. A stack of hundreds.”
“Besides twenty-five percent loan shark interest, what was the catch?”
“We had six months to pay it off, not twelve. Then the fucker put the screws to us. He cut it to four. Then threats. Intimidation. I agreed to hand over the pink slip to my boat just to get us an extension.”
Eve did a double take. “Wait. Madrigal owns your boat?”
“Technically. Until I pay him the full amount. If not, he’ll take her. And I won’t be able to do anything about it.”
“Holy shit, Sam.”
“Word on the street is he’s a lieutenant for the Salinas drug cartel in Baja California. He’s involved in some bad shit. If I go to the cops about Madrigal, the rest of his network will know. And Kyle and me are in witness protection or tied to a cinderblock off the coast of Tijuana.”
They were quiet for a long time. Eve sat back and hugged her legs. “Do you know what yakuza are?”
“Japanese gangsters, right? The mob?”
“Yup. After the tsunami, yakuza would go to evacuation centers and hand out envelopes stuffed with cash. They weren’t trying to provide relief. They were trying to buy people’s loyalty at a time when everyone was vulnerable. Then the gangs tried to take over all the big reconstruction projects. The yakuza-backed companies would get the bids because gangsters would intimidate all the other contractors. In Tokyo, the problem was even worse. The restaurant I worked for there was tied up with yakuza so tight, it could never break free.” She looked up at him. “You can’t let Madrigal take your boat, Sam. What can I do to help you?”
A gust of wind blew sheets of rain against the side of the building.
“I’d like to make a push in the next few weeks,” said Sam. “Instead of three days a week, we’ll be doing four. It’s going to be nasty work. Do you think you’ll be up to it?”
“No problem. Whatever you need.”
Without thinking, Sam ran his fingers through her ponytail.
Her hair was silky, heavy, and slightly damp from her shower. He stroked her hair for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing. At once, he withdrew his hand.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice rough. “My mind was somewhere else.”
Her smile was gentle. “Don’t worry about it.” She stood up and stretched. “I’m gonna change and get out of here so you can get some sleep.”
“Hell no,” he said. “It’s pissing rain.” “It’s not that bad—”
“No way. No how.”
“But—”
“Don’t make me use my captain voice on you,” he said. When she looked at him, something flashed in her eyes. Did she like it when he told her what to do?
“Fine,” she said with mock indignation. She went over to the closet where he kept the spare pillow and blanket.
He got to his feet and put his hand on the closet door, preventing her from opening it. “We’re past this. It’s cold downstairs. Just take the bed.”
“What about you?” Her eyes were wide.
“Oh, I’m taking the bed, too.” He bent down and kissed her forehead, a light peck on her cool skin. “We deserve a good night’s sleep after what we’ve been through today.” He paused. “Would your boyfriend mind?”
She looked up at him. “If you were my boyfriend, would you mind?”
“If you were my girlfriend, I’d rearrange the face of any guy who so much as looked at you.”
Eve flashed him a half smile. “Then good thing you’re not my boyfriend. You’d be in jail.”
Sam turned on the light on his nightstand and Eve climbed into his bed. She wiggled under the covers, curled up on her side, and yawned. “Thanks, Sam,” she said, closing her eyes.
She tucked her hands between her knees when she slept, squeezing her round, plump tits together. Sam wanted to dive into her cleavage and drown there, never coming up for air. Her cheeks were pink. The iron-hard erection thickened in his pants. How red could he make her cheeks in bed? His hands tingled. How red could he make her other cheeks?
He groaned deep in his chest.
Double-checking the lock on the bathroom door, he ran the shower and got undressed. The heavy tip of his cock smacked his abs as he yanked down his jeans. He looked down at his giant boner and shook his head.
There was a time not too long ago when it would be inconceivable that he’d be this worked up over someone. As a roguish boat captain, all he ever had to do was play up the Jack Sparrow aspect of his personality and panties dropped automatically. He’d never had to work that hard.
But then, when it became evident that his hold on his business was slipping and that he might actually lose the Bravado, he put sex aside completely. To his surprise, he lost all interest in recreational fucking. He tried relationships a couple of times, but his ex- girlfriends were always disappointed by who he was outside of bed.
“That’s your boat?”
“This is where you live?”
“That’s your credit score?”
So he stopped partying. He got to know his right
hand a little more. He went to bed early, took his vitamins, and worked like a madman to resuscitate his business.
When the water was hot, Sam stepped into the shower, pulled the curtain shut, and grabbed the soap. As he washed the slime and salt water from his body, he finally gave his mind free reign to think about what he had been wanting to think about all day.
Eve.
He grabbed his rigid shaft in his right hand and ran his left hand up and under his balls, stroking them as they tightened up. He gave himself a couple of firm pulls from the root, sliding his thumb up and over the sensitive tip.
What would he do to her?
He’d undress her, layer by layer, peeling back all of those clothes until she stood before him, naked and lovely, all of her pale, smooth skin on display for him alone. He’d undo her sleek ponytail. He’d gather handfuls of her hair and pull her head back gently, exposing her white throat to his lips.
He wanted to cover her with kisses, to taste every square inch of her body.
But now wasn’t the time. He blinked. The hot water wouldn’t last long.
Fast forward.
He closed his eyes. Now he and Eve were standing on the deck just outside his bedroom. It was noon. Light from the blazing summer sun above made Eve glow like an alabaster statue, his goddess come to life. Her little nipples were taut. Between her legs, a small patch of dark, silken hair hid the sweet pussy every cell in his body wanted to touch and taste. But instead she got on
her knees in front of him.
“I want you,” she whispered, smiling. She closed her eyes, took his cock in her hands, and slid him into her lush mouth.