A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter Forty-One

10.13.2022

"Drop the towel." I say with a sly grin as Rylie emerges from the bathroom. "We don't cover up here. Especially with a body like yours." I raise an eyebrow and Rylie laughs.

"First off, I'd rather towel dry than air dry."

"I'd rather you air dry..." I murmur, and Rylie cuts me off, trying not to smile. That only makes me smile more.

"Second off!" She finally grins, gesturing to me. "I drop the towel if you drop the robe."

I narrow my eyes. She has a point.

"Fine." I say as I tug at the belt of the robe.

"Fine." Rylie smirks, dropping the towel.

Despite seeing Rylie's perfect body nearly every day, it would always feel like the first time. My eyes travel slowly over every inch of her exposed skin, lingering a little longer on certain areas as she moves closer to me.

"Better?" She asks with a raised eyebrow as she climbs onto the bed to straddle me.

"Much better." I reply as I rest my hands on her bare hips and lock my eyes with hers. "You're impossibly hot. And perfect. And so soft..." I trail off as I run my hands down her thighs slowly.

"Mmhm..." Rylie replies, running her right hand down my chest. "I've got a pretty good view too."

I feel the heat in my cheeks, and lower, and use my eyes to ask Rylie for what I wanted. She obliges instantly, pressing her lips to mine. I pull her closer to me, enjoying the taste of her on my lips. I bite her bottom lip gently before kissing her again and moving my hand closer to the sweet spot between her legs. Before I can make contact though, she pulls away.

"As much as I'd love to do this," Rylie says with a slow, burning look down my body. "We've got other plans."

"Rylie," I whine. "We can't stop now!"

"Baby, I really want to see the dock runners." Rylie pouts, and I groan.

"I'll show you YouTube videos of dock runners later!" I beg, but Rylie doesn't budge. Instead, she gives me puppy dog eyes, and there's no way I can say no to her. Anytime she gave me that look, or any similar look for that matter, there was nothing I wouldn't give her.

"Please? I'll make it up to you later." She whispers, sticking out her bottom lip that was still reddened from our heated kiss only moments ago.

"Oh, baby wait, please don't pout!" I plead, placing my hand on her cheek. "We can watch them." I say quickly. "We can do anything you want, my love. Just please don't be sad."

Rylie's face brightens instantly and she leans back down to kiss me before hopping off of me. Unfortunately.

"Yay! I love you." She grins, and I can't help but return her smile.

"I love you." I laugh as I sit up and re-tie my robe.

"Uh-uh." Rylie stops me. "Wear this, please." She smiles sweetly as she hands me a sundress. I laugh when I see that it's her favorite sundress of mine, mainly because of how little it covered and how accessible it was for her wandering hands. Not that I minded her wandering hands.

We change quickly before heading out onto our balcony, and I stand behind Rylie, slipping my arms around her as I breathe in her smell mixed with the salty Cozumel air.

"I really love this port." Rylie says as she leans back against me.

"Me too." I smile. Even if it completely exhausted me."