"These are the scuppers. They let out any water that may accumulate on deck. Sometimes – during the rush – you'll have to come over here and kick fish out of the way so that the water can drain properly." For the past two hours, Brent had been introducing Claire to the ins-and-outs of sea life. He would be senior deckhand on the fishing vessel Carrie Anne: this meant that Claire not only had to answer to his father but be responsible to any order that he gave. At the same time, he would be working closely with her and able to answer any questions she may have. "We'll go down into the cabin now and ready that for the next opening."
Claire followed Brent closely, admiring the grace with which he shifted his weight in response to the slightest rocking of the boat. In time, she too would develop sea legs, she'd been assured; personally Claire was not so confident. The way he stood on the balls of his feet made her picture how he must be flexing his knees in order to carry most of his weight with his thigh muscles. This made her, in turn, picture the strength of said thigh muscles, then what these must feel like wrapped around her waist…
With a gasp, Claire ran directly into Brent where he'd stopped and turned to address her. She'd been so involved in her fantasies of his body that she'd stopped paying attention by the time his actual body ceased to lead her. His strong, seasoned hands caught her forearms as he steadied her still-clumsy recovery. The firm touch sent a thrill through her body although she tried to repress her instinctive reaction. For a moment, when she was caught within the net of his arms, Claire felt his breath and thought he might kiss her, but he soon released her with a smile.
He turned away, and she was confused by this sudden rejection. It had seemed as though he too had felt some jolt when they'd touched, and he now did not meet her eyes. An instinctive and hurried glance at his jeans revealed a slight swell, the sight of which caused a warm tingle to begin within Claire's panties. His self-assured voice began, "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind a rum and Coke. You game?"
"Uh, yeah, sure. I'd love one."
Brent turned from the cooler that functioned as their refrigerator. "I forgot, you're just eighteen, aren't you?" He shook his head, seemingly amused. He muttered to himself, loud enough for Claire to barely hear, "Robbin' the cradle…"
When he handed her the drink, they slid into the benches at the small, attached table. He asked her about her life; she asked him about his. Although it appeared that they shared similar outlooks on many things, they both seemed to be taking part in a charade. The questions asked and the answers given were not those that needed to be asked, and the heaviness of unspoken conversation triggered pheromones. When Brent asked if Claire wanted a refill, she did not waffle.
Soon her cheeks felt as flushed as his looked and their glasses were empty.
"Hell, you haven't even seen the rest of the cabin, have you? Here, I'll show you our little 'home away from home.'"
He stepped smoothly down into the dark cavern that (she assumed) held the remainder of their amenities. He held out his hand to stabilize her as she followed him into the darkness, and continued flesh-on-flesh contact for a moment longer than necessary. Once the brief tour of the head and storage was completed, all that was left was their bunks. The space was cramped; as such she could smell his alcohol-sweet breath in her hair and feel the heat that radiated from his body.
"You'll bunk up here. I know it seems way too small, but you'll get used to sleeping curled up. My dad's bunk is down here, and mine is underneath yours."
Brent seemed quite amused by her reactions, and his playfulness was contagious. Claire teased him, "Oh, I see. Yours is a lot bigger than mine. You need that space for entertaining ladies at sea?"
She was rewarded with a chuckle. "Well, rank doth have its privileges. Here, do you want to feel what it's like?" There was a moment of charged silence before he added, "To sleep on the big bunk, I mean."