“Yum. Then where?”
“Your choice. There’s always a couple of good shows in town?”
“Could we go dancing?”
“Sure, name your poison.”
“Slow, and somewhere there would be some good jazz.”
“Jazz? Let’s see … “
Amanda smiled and turned to the portable CD system on the corner of her desk. As Arkady considered, she slipped a mellow jazz instrumental into the player.
“Okay,” he said after a moment. “For good jazz in Seattle, our best bet would be to do some club-hopping around Pioneer Square. They’ve got some neat little hole-in the-wall clubs down there, if you know where to look.”
“That’ll be fun, like our first night in Honolulu.”
“Yeah, we can dance some and do a little brandy and get mellow.”
“Okay. I’d like that. And I think that about twelve-thirty would be right.”
“Right for what?”
“For surprising you.” Amanda lowered her voice seductively.
“I’ll be just a little bit tight after my third drink, and while you’re holding me close out in a dark corner of the dance floor, I’ll whisper in your ear that I’ve got nothing on under my dress.”
“Oh … kay.” Arkady swallowed a couple of times to get a suddenly dry throat working again. “After that, maybe a little walk to watch the city lights and to get our heads clear. And then, a moonlight drive.”
“Where to?”
“I thought maybe up to Deception Pass.”
“Isn’t that quite a drive?”
“The freeway’ll be clear that time of night. We can get out there before you know it. We’ll park at the observation point at the head of that big old bridge over the Passage. We can talk and listen to a little music till the sun comes up.”
“Sounds good, but you have a painful propensity for bucket seats, Mr. Arkady. Last time we did something like that, I ended up with the outline of a parking-brake lever imprinted on the back of my left thigh.”
“So, we’ll take a pillow for you to sit on. Don’t interrupt, this is getting good. Now, just as it’s getting to be dawn, we’ll walk out to the middle of the bridge and watch the sun rise while the tide turns through the passage.”
“Yes … ” Amanda said dreamily. “That would work. But remember? No underwear. That could get a little cold.”
“Hey, we’re having a fantasy here. Flow with it.”
“Good point. What’s next?”
Arkady reached across the narrow desk and took up her free hand. Lifting it to his lips, he gently kissed her palm. “What’s next is a little beach resort a ways farther west toward Oak Harbor. It’s quiet and old-fashioned, but the cabins are nice and they have a room service that can do a pretty good breakfast in bed.”
The sensual shiver rippling down her spine brought her out of her reverie. “I think it’s just about time we broke this off,” she said, reclaiming her hand.
“We’re just getting to the good stuff.”
Amanda smiled wryly. “I know. I’m well aware of your creative imagination, love. I consider it one of your more alluring features. However, I think we’ve teased the animals about enough for one night.”
“Chicken.”
“Not likely!” she replied, slipping out from behind her desk. “However, we are both going to be sane and sensible adult human beings. We’re going to call it quits before we start gnawing the paint off the bulkheads.”
“So be it,” Arkady sighed. His chair thumped back onto all four legs. “Can I use your phone for a second? I want to get the word out to CIC and to Zero Two about securing the sonobuoy drops.”
“Be my guest. In the meantime, I’m for a shower and some sleep.” She paused at the door of her sleeping cabin.
“Good night, Arkady, and thank you for a very nice night on the town.”
“My pleasure, babe. Sweet dreams.”
Amanda didn’t bother to switch on the cabin light. The soft blue glow from the night-illumination panels in the overhead provided light enough to undress by. Beyond the door curtain, she could hear her Air Division Leader still on the interphone.
It was a good voice to listen to, intelligent, steady, and strong. Like its owner. As her soft cotton panties slipped down around her ankles, Amanda experienced another of those pleasurable frissons. Just for a moment, she was very tempted to abandon her good intentions.
Get thee behind me, Satan, she told herself firmly. And you, too, Vincent Arkady.
She went into the tiny adjoining head and stepped into the shower stall. Flipping the taps open, she nuzzled into the spray of warm water, letting herself laze under the steaming full-force flow.
Amanda rarely took advantage of the Captain’s privilege of Hollywood showers and unlimited freshwater. She felt that she should set a good example by sticking to the same three minute, wet-down-lather-and-rinse mandated by water-use restrictions. There were nights, however, when she was willing to stretch the limits. This was one of them.
After a time, the tensions of the day rinsed off of her along with the water. Amanda’s head sank forward, her eyes closing against the dim lighting.
Suddenly, the shower curtain was whipped aside and another unclothed body stepped into the stall with her and covered her mouth with his.
To say that she was startled was an understatement. Then she recognized the hard-muscled body and the special texture of that kiss and it was all right. Her surprise was replaced by a strong surge of desire.
“Damn it, Arkady!” she sputtered. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Personal hygiene.” He grinned back at her, standing nose-to-nose, dark hair trailing across his forehead.
“We agreed that we’d keep hands off when we were onboard ship!”
“Yeah, and I think that about now we’re ready to agree that was a dumb idea.” He began to nibble his way down the curve of her neck to her collarbone.
“Arkady!”
She tried to wriggle past him, but that only made things worse. Their skin grew seal slick and sweet under the water spray, and almost without conscious intent, she began to return his caresses with her fingertips and her tongue. Soon the trembling in Amanda’s knees grew to the point that they threatened to buckle beneath her.
“Okay, I give, I give, you big idiot!” she gasped. “Now, let me turn this shower off before everything in here gets soaked. Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”
There was a tantalizing air of the illicit about what they were doing. As they toweled off and made their preparations, they found themselves whispering and giggling like a couple of teenagers undressing in a backseat. Arkady double checked the lock on the door and doused the office lights while Amanda prepared their bed.
Her bunk in its normal form was totally impossible. However, if she flipped its foam mattress out onto the deck of the sleeping cabin and tucked her spare bedding in around it, there might just be enough room.
This was stupid, she thought. This was incredibly stupid and risky and detrimental to good discipline and outside all common sense. But as she lay down with her damp hair spread out beneath her on the pillow and the soft sultry music from her disc player filling the cabin, she also knew that this was something that she needed very badly.
Then Arkady was beside her. There would be no subtlety this night. No jesting or small talk. They had been denied each other too long.
Sometime later, they drifted down from the peak together.
Their breathing and heartbeats slowed and the delicious afterglow warmed them. They eased over to rest on their sides, neither of them willing to give up their last and deepest intimacy.