Caught in the Devil's Sheets (24 page)

Chapter 22
Bound in the Captain’s Chamber

It’s bright outside and Odin is lying on the bed next to me, kissing my bare shoulders. I stretch and turn to face him. His hair is wet. He must have showered. He’s not wearing any shirt, but he has put his dirty jeans back on. His bare feet hang off the bed.

“Morning,” he says, smiling at me.

“Morning,” I say, wiping the makeup and sleep from under my eyes.

“Sleep well?”

“Extremely,” I indulge with a giant grin.

Odin gives me his devilish smile and I reach a hand up into his hair. The swelling in his eye has gone down, but it’s quite the shiner. Dark blue skin circles his baby blue eye. I hope Rick looks worse. I cringe when I imagine what the fight between them must have been like.

“Did you win?” I had never thought to ask before.

Odin looks confused for a moment, then realizes what I’m talking about. “Rick gave me his word he’d stay away from you.”

I guess that’s a yes, although, Rick’s word is pretty unreliable.

“How ’bout breakfast?” he asks, changing the subject.

“I have no food, but I made coffee last night!” I say on the bright side.

“How about a cup of coffee then?” he smiles, and I’m so glad I have no plans today.

“Sure, I just need a shower first.” I’m apprehensive about coming out from under the covers in the daylight. I feel vulnerable. Odin leaves me in privacy, ducking under my doorway. I will never get over how tall he is.

The warm water is soothing to my aching muscles. I scrub the entirety of my body, reluctant to wash Odin’s scent off. But there is dried blood on my chest and my stomach. I decide on wearing a short dress that looks like an overly long tank top. It has a big Iron Maiden album cover plastered on the front and reaches about halfway down to my knees. I shake my hair out in the towel a few times and let it fall in wet tendrils around my shoulders, pinning one side back with a red rose. Odin is sitting at the dining table having coffee. The cream and sugar has been placed out on the table for me. He smiles up at me as I stop in the entryway, taking him in. He gestures for me to take the seat across him. I grab a mug from the cupboard and fill it with hot coffee, then take a seat.

“How was your trip?” Odin asks with a genuine smile that says he really wants to know.

“Relaxing.”

“Where’d you go?”

“I just stayed in a hotel.”

“Nice.” Odin doesn’t press any further into questioning my whereabouts, respecting my boundaries. “Get a chance to think about what things would be like, if we tried living my way?”

Coffee and proposals, are we there already? “I’m definitely flirting with the idea.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” he says smiling, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I’m open to trying new things sexually,” I say clasping both hands around my mug, trying to find the inner confidence to talk to him straight out. “But, I don’t want to be just some plaything. I need a chance to experience freedom, now that I’m finally free of Jaime.” I put my reservations out on the table openly.

“I understand,” Odin says through a glazed over expression. We both sip our coffee quietly for a few minutes and I stare into my cup. “How do you feel about other people knowing about us?” Odin asks, and I’m almost too shocked to answer.

“Knowing what about us exactly?”

“Knowing that we are seeing each other.”

“Are we seeing each other?” I’m curious of the boundaries Odin has yet to lay out.

“I’m seeing you right now.”

“Are you going to tell them that I’m your girlfriend?”

“Is that what you want me to tell them?”

Jeez! I’m not getting any answers here. I take a sip of coffee, not sure how to answer that. No quirky counter questions come to mind.

“I don’t know how I feel about being the slut that leaves her husband for another member of the same club. It’s likely to cause some ugly controversy geared toward me.” Honesty will have to do.

“Is that what’s holding you back?” Odin raises an eyebrow like this is a ridiculous, insignificant reason for not accepting his proposal.

I don’t say anything, casting a glance toward the fridge, afraid to own up to it.

“Lila, if this is going to work there’s one thing you have to realize. When we are together, other people’s opinions of you need no longer concern you. The only opinion in which you should care about is mine.”

I never was one to care about others opinions. Kelli and I used to live by the code of doing whatever we wanted regardless of other people’s opinions. But this is different. We’re talking about everyone we know, our friends, not just people in general.

“Aren’t you afraid of your own brothers hating you?” I refer to all of the other members of the club.

“My
brothers,
” he says, referring to his real brothers, Cole, Nathan, Damien, and perhaps even Micah and Eli, “don’t give a shit who I fuck. They think Jaime is just as much of a pussy as I do and they’d be happy to see you and I get together.”

“They would?” I ask, shyly and surprised.

“Yes. They would. Why do you think Micah was willing to use Sergio’s information as leverage against Jaime? He knows I have a thing for you.”

“A thing?” I ask casting a bratty stare at Odin. “What kind of thing?”

“Don’t tease me!” he warns, and suddenly it isn’t funny anymore. His stare makes me sit straighter.

“Sorry,” I say, afraid I’ve upset him.

“Don’t be sorry,” he says in a more gentle voice, making me feel better. Still I sit quietly drinking my coffee. “I like you, Lila. I like that you’re loyal despite being treated poorly. It says a lot about you.”

“That I’m stupid?” I interrupt.

“That you are strong willed. I want the chance to treat you like you should be treated. I want you to give
me
your loyalty. The sex between us is beyond amazing already and I want nothing more than to take it to the next level.”

My heart is pounding as Odin talks. I’m relieved to know that I’m not the only one who thinks the sex is phenomenal.

His eyes lock with mine in an intense stare. “I want to dominate you, Delilah. I want you to surrender to me, knowing that I will always have your back and I will never let anything or anyone hurt you. I want to keep you safe always and be the one you look to for everything you need. I want to possess you, pleasure you, and fuck you whenever I want to. I want you to be mine!” His eyes pierce holes through me.

A strong, unknown emotion grips my heart when he uses the word “mine.” A good portion of me wants to jump across the table and show him how “his” I can be, but there is a lot to talk about before I get too distracted.

“Are there rules?”

“Yes, but most of them are negotiable.”

We’ve moved on to negotiating. “Will it hurt?”

“You’ll have to be the judge of that. So long as you obey me, it will be mostly pleasure.”

“What are the rules?” Curiosity killed the cat right?

“Are you serious about wanting to try?”

“That depends on the rules. They could be a deal breaker.”

“I’m not prepared to let this deal go south,” he says, standing and walking to the sink to wash his cup. “Come on, I wanna take you out. We’ll talk about it more later.”

I grab my purse and pack it with a few things, not sure what I will need or even when I’ll be home again. Right now I’m just along for the ride. I don’t bother putting makeup on before we leave. Odin opens the door of his Chevy for me, and I toss my things into the middle seat then climb in. I assume we are going to his house because we are headed that way and he’s still not wearing a shirt. Being in construction has done his body good. The cuts on his chest are scabbed over, all but one gash on his stomach. It looks like Rick might have pulled a knife on him.

I admire Odin’s golden tan and his thick, outlined muscles in his chest and arms. I notice that he has some blonde stubble on his face and it gives him a rustic sexy look, with his hair falling forward, just shy of his eyes. It’s shorter in the back, making it look like messy is the style he’s going for, and he pulls it off almost too well!

We get off on Odin’s exit, but we head west toward the beach instead of up the mountain to his house. Odin takes us down to the harbor and uses a card from his wallet to get us into the private docks security gate. We drive a ways down the parking lot before he chooses a spot. It’s a bit windier down here, but the sun is still hot. I take my things and hop down from the Chevy, shutting the door behind me. Odin puts an arm around my waist, leading the way down one of the docks. There is about 10 boats parked on either side of the dock and we stop near the end at a white sailboat. It’s big for a sailboat, even with the sails down. I imagine one could comfortably fit 20 people on the deck.

“Is this yours?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Odin grins.

We walk down the side dock to the stairs and Odin swings himself on deck, holding a hand out for me.

“Ma’ lady!” He has a huge boyish grin that makes it hard not to fall in love with him. He’s obviously quite excited about showing off his boat.

I take his hand and he helps me on board. Odin shows me the captain’s station, and the seating area. It’s complete with a mini bar and a great sounding stereo set up. We duck down the stairs into the galley.

“Would you like a drink?” Odin asks, pulling the fridge open.

“What do you have?”

“Pink wine, beer, water, or lemonade.”

“Lemonade please.”

Odin pulls out a cold can of Minute Maid and opens it for me.

“Wanna take her out for the afternoon?” Odin looks hopeful that I’ll say yes.

“Only if you promise to make me lunch once we’re out!” I’m already getting hungry.

“Of course,” Odin says with his huge enthusiastic grin.

I follow him back on deck and sit on the bow with my Minute Maid, as Odin hoists the sails and unties the boat from the dock. He starts the engine from behind the ship wheel and glides us slowly out into the harbor. Before we’ve even made it past the jetties, I spot two bottlenose dolphins.

“Look!” I direct his attention, and turn to see if he’s looking.

Odin smiles and nods, he obviously sees dolphins a lot more than I do. I miss being out on the water.

As soon as we’re out in the open ocean, Odin puts the sailboat into a higher gear, and we begin racing over through the waves, water splashing at the sides of the boat. Dolphins swim right alongside us, and I get up and stand over the port side to watch, hanging on to the railing.

We are about six or seven miles out when Odin turns off the engine and the wind catches our sails. We slow down, but continue moving south down the coast. Odin turns on the radio and
Summertime Sadness
plays over the surround sound speakers. It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon. There is a cool sea breeze but the sun beats down on my skin, warming me. Odin strolls over to me and takes a stand behind me, holding onto the railing next to my hands. I lean back against his chest and he lays a kiss on the top of my head. I realize this is just way too good to be true. Things this perfect never last. At some point things are bound to come crashing down on me. I promise myself to enjoy it as much as I can while it lasts.

I tilt my head so that I’m looking up at Odin. His eyes shine blue as they look down at me with anticipation. We kiss and one of his hands leaves the railing and he wraps his arm around me, using it to turn me so that I’m facing him. With my back against the railing, I wrap my arms up around his neck. Odin puts his forehead on mine, peering down at me as if he’s looking into my soul. Before he is able to explore it, I distract him with soft kisses.

Gently he puts a hand in my hair, careful not to let go of the rail with the other as the boat pitches over the water. His hand slowly grazes down my hair and onto my neck and he uses it to pull me into him. His tongue winds around mine, slowly and softly. My eyes are closed as I’m sucked into this sweet and passionate moment. Odin lays my head on his shoulder, and I move my arms down around his waist. He smells as sexy as he looks. My face is pressed against his bare chest and I’m looking out over the ocean. The sun glares off the top of the water as waves roll underneath us. Odin’s hand returns to my hair, holding my head in place against him.

I feel safe and strangely like I belong here. I could stay here feeling this way forever. I hope he feels the same.

“How about lunch?” Odin finally breaks the silence.

“Sounds good,” I say leaning my head back and looking up at him.

He kisses me again before letting go of the rail. Taking my hand, he leads me to the captain’s station. He pulls a lever that releases the rudder from being locked in place and the wheel begins to spin. He puts my hands on it and helps me steer it back into the right direction again.

“Hold her steady. I’ll go make lunch,” he tells me.

“Got it.” I smile, keeping a broad eye on the horizon.

Odin makes his way into the galley. I hold the wheel, letting us drift from side to side a bit. I can see other boats, but not for a while in the distance. Lana Del Rey continues singing over the speakers and I can hear the wind rippling through our sails. I feel the sun scorching my back in a warm and welcome way, and I’m so happy that summer is just around the corner. I can hardly wait to lay out and tan.

After a while, Odin makes his way out of the galley, carefully carrying a tray of food. He sets it down on the table in the lounge on deck and comes over to me. He drops the anchor and pulls the sails down. The boat comes to a graceful stop, swaying back and forth in the same spot. I take a seat on the couch. On the tray there is sliced cheese and crackers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sliced apples, and a bowl of green olives.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Odin asks standing behind the mini bar.

“Sure, surprise me.”

He walks around to the couch holding a bottle of champagne and two glasses and takes the seat across from me. He puts the glasses on the table then turns around, popping the cork on the champagne behind him. Foam overflows the top of the bottle onto the deck. Then he turns back around and pours us both a glass, placing the bottle in a cup holder on the table. He raises his glass.