Matchmaker 03: March

The price had almost reached our trigger point, the point where I said we were to start buying the stock back, but I'd put a hold on that. For every half-point the stock dropped, we made another eight hundred thousand, and I was rolling the dice it was going to continue down. After consulting with my team, I set a new trigger point, down two more points from where it was and left orders for the team to buy every share they could get their hands on once it hit the trigger.

I was betting between five and seven hundred million dollars that Nikki would be right and Disney's next entry into another of their tent-pole movie franchises was going to be a monster hit that would drive their stock back up. If Nikki was wrong, we would take it in the ass, and hard, but if she was right... I smiled at the thought. We could net almost a half-billion dollars if the swing was at the outer limit of our projections.

I hung up the phone, almost tingling with excitement. If Mallard Investments grossed a billion dollars from this deal, that would put another hundred million in my pocket for my management fees, along with another three hundred million from my own investments in Mallard. And that was from only one deal. Even if we didn't realize the full potential gain, we'd more than recover our investment and make a handsome return for our investors.

I swiveled away from the desk and stood. If I were back in Miami, when I left the office today, I'd find some fresh pussy and be balls deep and dripping sweat by nine o'clock. Nothing made me harder or hornier than making a shitload of money, and today I was staring at a potential fuck-ton, which was even more.

I took a moment to compose myself. Brooklyn had made it clear that Chloe wasn't a whore and whether she slept with me or not was entirely up to her. I'd never forced a woman in my life, and I wasn't about to start now, but if she was willing, I'd ride her tonight until she couldn't walk. I used the restroom to try to take care of the rogue boner threatening to burgeon. Finished, I washed my hands, cleared my throat, and made my way to abovedeck.

I froze halfway up the ladder. After we'd tidied up from lunch, I thought Chloe had gone to abovedeck. She had, but she'd obviously made a stop in her berth first. She'd changed. Gone were the shorts and knotted shirt, replaced by a bathing suit. The suit, a one piece, caressed her figure like a lover, the vibrant blue side panels of the deep black suit highlighting her athletic build. Her breasts weren't as large as some women I'd fucked, though there was no mistaking her for all woman, but her legs were outstanding.

She hadn't realized I was watching. She was lying on her back on a towel stretched across the teak decking at the rear of the boat, her sunglasses over her eyes, one leg up to form an 'A' as she smiled dreamily at the sky. Her skin was pale and glistening slightly, probably from sunscreen. She was a doctor. She knew the risks of exposure to the blazing southern sun.

The boner was coming back, but it wasn't a rogue this time. I knew exactly what was causing it... the fucking goddess on my boat. I dropped down a couple of steps until I could no longer see her.

"Chloe? You up here?" I called before I started up the steps again.

"Right here," she said. She didn't seem the least embarrassed or shy, and why should she? She was stunningly beautiful. "Are you ready to get underway again? Do I need to move?"

"Yes. We need to get moving if we're going to make Bimini today, but no, you don't have to move."

"Do we have to?" she asked, not moving.

"Have to what?"

"Make Bimini today."

"No, I guess not. I thought I'd take you to dinner at the best restaurant in Alice Town."

She remained completely still. "If you want. To be honest, I'm pretty content right here."

I watched her. I was pretty content doing what I was doing as well. "How about I get us underway, and you keep doing what you're doing. Just don't get too much sun."

"SPF 50, baby," she said, a smile tickling her lips. She sighed and then rolled over. "I'll move, but before I do, can you do my back?"

She wasn't making it easy on me and my cock was trying to tent my shorts. "Sure."

She stretched like a cat in the sun, and I sat down on the swimming platform beside her, squirted some of the lotion from her bottle into my hand, and slowly smeared it on her back. I kept my hands in the center of her back, where her suit was open, and then moved to her legs. I did one leg, but as I worked my way up on the second one, I became a little more daring, reaching deeper between her legs and running my fingers under the edge of her suit. She didn't protest, so I became a little bolder still.

"Hands," she warned softly, but made no move to stop me.

I smiled as I pulled back on my touching, but only a little. "Finished."

She rolled over, sat up, and smiled at me. "Thank you."

"The pleasure was mine, I assure you."

Her smile became playful as she rose to her feet in the pilot area and then relaxed into the pilot seat at the other wheel. She'd warned me off as I smeared her with lotion, but that smile suggested her warning had been more of a test than an actual objection, and she was teasing me with what could be. As she watched, I hoisted the sails and skippered the boat the rest of the way to Bimini, about fifty nautical miles East of Miami.

Sailboats were like women. Each one had her own personality, and the short run to Bimini was perfect for me to get a feel for The Winds. Where Hedging My Bet liked a firm hand and responded best with slightly rough treatment, Trade Winds was more refined and responded best to a light hand and a smooth, gentle touch. While The Winds could do about nine knots in perfect conditions, we didn't have perfect conditions, and it took more than seven hours to cover the fifty miles.

Chloe was a quick study, watching what I did with the rigging and asking questions. After a couple of hours, she began to handle the ropes under my direction to adjust the trim of the boat. The winds had eased with the heating of the day and we were inching along at three to five knots, perfect conditions for learning to sail, with enough breeze to keep up moving, but light enough that the boat wasn't difficult to handle. She was nowhere near ready to solo, but she wasn't totally incompetent either.

It was nearly dark as we rounded the south end of Bimini Island. The winds were light and variable, making for slow progress, but I was enjoying the slow cruise, reading the ocean and teasing the boat into motion.

When the marina was in sight, I furled the sails and we switched to engine power. I allowed her to pilot the boat until we reached the edge of the marina, where I took over. I trusted her out in open water, but she wasn't ready to conn the boat in the tight confines of a marina.

Having a bow thruster made easing The Winds into her berth a snap, and Chloe was hanging bumpers as I nestled the boat up to the dock. As I cut power, she scampered to the dock and tied us off using the over under motion on the cleat I'd shown her. The bow secured, I did the same to the stern, and we were docked.

She stretched and smiled. "My inner ear thinks we're still on the ocean."

"The land moving?" I teased.

"A little. What's the plan?"

"Dinner at Cheryl's. I eat there every time I come here. The seafood's fantastic."

"I need to change."

"No you don't. This is Alice Town. I'm going like this. Throw on a shirt and you'll fit right in."

She hesitated and then smiled. "I'm liking this place better all the time. Give me a couple of minutes." She disappeared below and returned a moment later with a light and breezy wrap around her waist that complimented her swimsuit. "So, how do we get there?"

"We walk."

"Walk? How far is it?"

"Other side of the island. Ten minutes or so."

"The other side of the island is a ten-minute walk?"

I grinned. "Yeah. The whole island is only seven miles long and about five hundred feet wide. You could walk around the entire island in about eight hours." I could tell she wasn't sure she believed me. "If you don't believe me, we can do it tomorrow, so you can see for yourself."

She shook her head. "No, I believe you. It's just hard to wrap my head around the idea that people live on such a small sliver of land."

"All part of the Bahamas," I said, leading her off the boat. "I forget how many islands make up the Bahamas, but it's at least five or six hundred, I think. We'll see a lot of them before we go back to Miami."

I led her to Cheryl's, and though they were busy, we quickly had a table on the patio.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's hard to believe it was forty-eight degrees and raining when I left Nashville, and now I'm sitting outside in my bathing suit."

"I love it here."

"Isn't it hot in the summer?"

"Not on the ocean."

"You go out often?"

"As often as I can."

She leaned back in her chair. "Sounds wonderful. It seems like all I do is work."

"Same here, but I love what I do, so it's not really like work."

"I feel the same, but I can't do what I do from the deck of a boat like you can."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah... but then I can't save some guy's eyesight, either. There are tradeoffs."

"Seems like there should be a balance, though."

"So take some time for yourself," I suggested.

"Easier said than done. If some little kid comes in with a BB in his eye, I can't simple say, 'Sorry kid. I have vacation scheduled.'"

I paused as food was placed in front of us. I'd suggested she try the fried conch, but I wouldn't tell what it was. She looked at the food on her plate dubiously.

"Try it before you turn up your nose. If you don't like it, I'll trade you my fish for it."

She took a tentative bite, her eyes opening wider as she chewed. "No, I'll keep this, thanks."

I smiled. "I thought you'd like it. I get it a lot," I said as I pointed at her plate with my fork. I paused as I cut my fish. "You're here now," I said, returning to our earlier subject. "You just have to make the time. Surely you aren't the only surgeon at... wherever you said you work."

"Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, or VCH as we call it. No, and I'm not even the only ocular surgeon. Doctor Wescott is also there, but..." She shrugged.

"But what?"

She looked at her plate. "I don't know. I feel guilty when I'm away."

"You feel guilty now?"

She seemed to slump. "I didn't, not while we were on the boat, but thinking about it now, yeah, a little."

"Then stop. Everyone deserves a break. Hell, even I take breaks."

"Like today?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Twenty minutes on the phone, that's not so bad. It keeps me in the loop, and my people can reach me anytime if there's an emergency."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I can't do that."

"I know, which is why when you're away, you need to get away. If you don't, you're going to burn out, and then what use are you going to be to anyone?" She stared at her plate, pushing her conch around with her fork. "You're a big girl, and I don't mean to lecture, but what's going to happen to all those people that need you if you snap?"

"I'm holding it together."

"Are you? I've only known you for a day, but you're not the same person right now you were just three hours ago, when we were out on the boat. You need to leave all that shit in Nashville. It'll be there when you get back."

"Easier said than done."

"Maybe," I said with a smile, "but you've got a month to practice."

She sniffed out a slightly sad laugh. "I guess."

We finished our meal and walked along the beach, talking about whatever came up, before turning to cross the island and return to The Winds. Her troubles were still weighing on her. I worked hard, and I expected my people to work hard, but I didn't expect them to work all the time. Company policy said every employee had to take at least ten days of vacation a year, otherwise some of my people would be like Chloe and never take a day off. That wasn't healthy, and considering how much money I was throwing around, I needed my people at the top of their game all the time.

We returned to The Winds, and we spent a long time simply talking while sipping a dessert wine. She was a truly dedicated professional, usually working seven days a week. I could hear a sadness in her voice. She was burning out, and I suspected it would soon begin to affect her performance in the surgical suite.

I admired her dedication, but I'd seen friends and colleagues go through what she was starting to go through. In the high stress world of investing, a lot of people burned out early, sometimes spectacularly so. When I was still working for a brokerage firm, one of the partners swallowed a shotgun shell. That was an eye opener for me. I might check in every day I was out on the water, but the rest of the time was for me.

"Thank you," she said softly through a yawn.

"For what?"

"For talking to me. It's nice to get someone else's perspective."

I shrugged. "My opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it, but you do need to think about it. It sounds like you have an amazing career ahead of you... if you don't destroy yourself in the process."

"Maybe I just need to buy a sailboat," she said with a slightly sad smile.

"Maybe you do. Nothing like trying to read the wind and waves to take your mind off work."

She yawned again. "I think I'm ready for bed. Good night," she said softly as she slid out from behind the table.

I rose with her. "Good night," I murmured as I gently pulled her close. Like when I was smearing her with lotion, she didn't object, so I kissed her slowly.

I pulled back from the kiss, watching her face as she slowly opened her eyes. She made no move to disengage, so I kissed her again, more fully this time. She responded, pressing herself more firmly against me as the kiss came alive. I devoured her, the kiss deepening as she offered me her tongue. I took it, our tongues engaging in an erotic dance. I cupped her breast, and she moaned softly into my mouth before pulling slowly back. I was crushed with disappointment. I held her close, resisting her gentle push, silently coaxing her to continue, but as she pushed harder, I let her go.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, licking her lips as she back slowly away. "I'm sorry," she repeated, as if she were debating with herself, standing just out of reach. She looked at her feet. "I'll see you in the morning," she murmured before she turned and walked away.

I watched until she disappeared into her berth, pausing at the door to watch me before shutting it slowly. "Fuck," I sneered quietly so she wouldn't hear my frustration and disappointment.

I turned for my own cabin. I had a raging hard on from the kiss, but by the time I tumbled into bed, I'd softened considerably. She'd wanted me, I could sense it, and I'd damned sure wanted her. I heaved a sigh. Maybe tomorrow.

It took a while, the kiss playing in my mind like looped movie, but I finally drifted into the darkness of sleep. It felt like I'd just dropped off when there was a tickle at my lips. I wiped at my face, but the tickle returned, and I opened my eyes. Chloe was standing at the side of my bed. I could tell she was wearing a sheer nothingness, but in the dimness of the cabin, I couldn't tell what it looked like.

"Chloe? Is everything alright?"

She kissed me again, her lips brushing mine with gossamer lightness. "Permission to come aboard, Captain," she whispered.

I smiled and glanced at the clock as I moved over to make room. It was 1:03. Technically it was morning. "Permission granted," I murmured as I flipped the sheet back in invitation.

Lying on the swimming deck, I smiled at the sun as Trade Winds surged through the water. I had never been so relaxed in my life. It had been a week since I'd visited Heston, Duck as I'd started calling him, in his berth. After our talk that first night, I'd gone to my cabin and cried into my pillow so he wouldn't hear me. I'd wept for what I'd missed, was missing, and would miss if my life continued on the same path. I loved my job, and I wouldn't trade what I did for anything in the world, but Duck's words had cut open something inside me and all the unhappiness, regrets, and frustrations had to go somewhere.

After I'd cried myself out, I hadn't been able to sleep. I wanted him so badly. I'd brought Buzz, my toyfriend, but I didn't want him. I wanted Duck. Hell, at that moment, I'd have taken any halfway decent guy that would fuck me until I slept and who would hold me until I woke up again. Heston was more than decent. Not only was he heart stopping, panty dropping, handsome, but he also was understanding. He seemed to comprehend and appreciate my dedication, admitting he was as committed to his career as I was to mine, but he'd found a balance, a work/life, balance that had eluded me.

I felt the boat roll as Duck jibed. I sighed. Over the past week, the hot Caribbean sun had burned away my troubles and was slowly turning my pale white skin to a golden, sun-kissed brown. Between the sun during the day and Duck at night... My smile spread.

The first night, when I joined Duck in his cabin, I'd come aboard alright. I'd ridden his mast off and on, and in various positions, for almost an hour. When he wasn't fucking me, he was eating me, and I had three orgasms. I was a quiet fuck, so there was no screaming, but my God, the orgasms that man had given me. The Winds' air conditioning was off, with the windows open to allow in the fresh sea air, but when he'd finally orgasmed, we were dripping with sweat. I'd never worked up a sweat fucking before, and it was the most erotic thing I'd ever done.

We'd slept after that, but I woke him the next morning with his cock in my mouth, and we'd had a rematch. I'd only come once that time, but that was okay, because after a short nap, he'd fucked me to another orgasm in the tiny shower.

The stall was barely big enough for both of us to squeeze in there, but that suited me just fine. I'd pinned his ass against the wall with his cock inside my womanhood, squirming my ass against him until he came, causing him to grunt and buck as I continued to fuck him. I thought I'd finally bested him until he took over the fucking with a growl, pinning me to the wall as he pounded the shit out of me while muttering in my ear about how hard he was going to make me come. He'd been right, and I'd come so hard my legs had weakened. Had he not pinned to the wall with his body, his breath hot and harsh in my ear, I'm certain I would have fallen.

I rolled my head to my left and watched Duck for a moment. He was at the helm, guiding the boat, shirtless, wearing only a bathing suit. My smile widened as I closed my eyes and turned my face to the sky again. I'd been all but dripping with desire ever since. We fucked at least twice a day, once in the morning after we woke up and again at night before we went to sleep. Sometimes we'd throw in another one or two romps during the day just because we could.

"Where are we?" I asked without looking at him.

"Approaching Ship Channel Cay."

I smiled. I didn't know why I bothered to ask the question. Even after he answered I still didn't know where we were. We were, as he called it, island hopping. We'd sail to some deserted outcropping of land, find a sheltered cove, and spend the night on the boat. The Winds was taking good care of us. We hadn't been in port in three days, and I was in no hurry to change that.

"We stopping here?" I asked as I rolled to my feet and sauntered up behind him.