Page 7 of Carnal Desire (Sapphic Billionaire Club #1)

Sadie

M y head swiveled from side to side as the boat started moving away from the dock. It was a beautiful early summer day, the temperatures in the low eighties, and as we started to move a breeze kicked up, cooling us off a bit.

When Ariel suggested a ride on her sailboat, I thought it would be one of those little two people boats.

I imagined us working together to operate the sail and hoped I wouldn’t mess anything up.

But this was a huge boat, with an entire bedroom downstairs as well as a large deck.

I wasn’t sure if it qualified as a yacht, but it was definitely much larger than the average boat.

Plus most people didn’t have their own captain on standby.

We moved smoothly along the lakefront, the Chicago skyline to our right as we headed south.

I leaned back on my elbows, more relaxed than I’d been in a long, long time.

That solid twelve hours of sleep hadn’t hurt either.

Sleeping in Ariel’s guest room was like sleeping on a cloud or something.

Everything was soft and comfortable and apparently well insulated, because I hadn’t heard anything when Ariel got up.

“This is fun,” I said. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Ariel looked at me over the top of her sunglasses. Like me, she was wearing shorts and a tank top, but somehow she still managed to look sophisticated.

“I’m glad you came. We’d better put on some sunscreen though,” she said, rooting around in the tote bag she’d brought along. “My skin’s a little darker than yours but I’m still prone to burning.”

I pretended like I wasn’t watching as she slathered sunscreen on her arms, cleavage, and on both sides of her long legs.

“Can you get my back please?” she asked, lifting her dark brown hair and tucking it underneath the hat she was wearing.

That’s when I realized that her shirt was low cut in the back, the edge of the neckline just above her bra line.

“Sure,” I said, my voice rough as I moved behind her.

I spread some cream on my hand and tentatively moved my fingers along her back and the top of her shoulders.

Her skin was soft, the lightest of brown, like coffee that was mostly milk, and already turning the tiniest bit pink.

She sighed softly as I spread the cream over her back.

Meanwhile my mind was going off in weird directions, wondering how she’d react if I lowered my head and kissed my way along the long column of her neck.

“There you go,” I said huskily, stepping back.

“Now you,” she said, pointing to the chair. “Stand up. I’ll help.”

I strangled a groan. The more time I spent with Ariel, the more attracted to her I felt.

Having her hands on me was a very bad idea.

Nevertheless, I stood up, remaining still as Ariel slathered cream along my shoulders, upper back, and the back of my arms and legs.

Her touch was gentle and assured, yet somehow it felt arousing.

When she moved around to my front and started to crouch in front of me, I stepped back, afraid she’d be able to tell that my panties were damp with arousal. God help me, if she knelt in front of me there was no way I was going to be able to resist the urge to rub against her.

“I can get the front. Thank you.”

Avoiding Ariel’s gaze, I quickly applied sunscreen to the front of my body. Then I walked over to the railing and stared out at the water as the cream dried on my skin.

We chatted idly, punctuated by long periods of silence, until one thirty when Ricky came down with a large basket.

“Are you ready for lunch, Miss Fernandez?” he asked.

“Yes Ricky, thank you.”

Ricky walked over to a table with two chairs at the corner of what I thought they’d called the ‘bow’, the very front of the boat. We watched as he spread out a tablecloth, then took out several containers of food.

“I’ll be right back with the plates and drinks,” he promised.

“Are you hungry, Goldilocks?” Ariel asked me.

“Yeah, I think I am,” I said, surprised to find that it was true. “I know I ate a huge breakfast a few hours ago but I could definitely eat again.”

My poor body had been starved for nutrients for so long it was going to take any chance it could get to consume calories, apparently.

We walked to the table as Ricky brought plates and gave us bottles of water.

“Wine or sparkling cider?” he asked.

“Cider please,” I answered quickly, not wanting my defenses to be down more than they already were. Plus, I’d never been much of a drinker.

“Me too Ricky, thanks.”

Ricky poured our drinks and walked away, then Ariel opened the lids on the containers.

“We’ve got bread, cheese, pasta salad, potato salad, watermelon, sliced apples, grapes, and cookies,” she said as she checked out the offerings.

After we ate lunch we napped on the deck, waking up when we were on our way back to the pier. Being on a boat was surprisingly tiring, I realized. Maybe it was all the fresh air.

We bid Ricky goodbye and headed back to Ariel’s place.

“Found Family Dinner is at six,” she told me after we entered the condo.

“What is that, exactly?” I asked.

“Maeve and Grace and I started it years ago,” she explained.

“It’s grown since then with about twelve of us usually in attendance.

Once a month we take over the private room in the restaurant and have a huge carb-filled dinner, along with any friends, partners, or strays we have in our life at the time.

Then we go upstairs to the club and dance our asses off. ”

“So I’m one of your strays?” I laughed.

“Friend,” she emphasized. “As you know, not everyone is accepting of their queer family members so we wanted to create a space where we could celebrate our found family.”

“You’re not close to your parents?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I see them once every month or so and we text regularly, but my folks have never been super excited about both me and my sister ‘turning out gay’ as they put it. My mother is sure she did something wrong to make it happen.”

Ariel rolled her eyes at that.

“They’re also offended that I started my own company instead of becoming a lawyer and working for my father like they’d always planned. It’s not that there’s bad blood with them per se, we just don’t have too much in common.”

She didn’t seem particularly sad about it, but then again, I’d already realized that Ariel was very good at hiding her feelings.

“My mother never knew that I was a lesbian,” I told her.

“I started questioning in high school, but it wasn’t until I was with a woman my freshman year of college that I realized women were a much better fit for me.

I’d been planning to come out to her eventually, but she died before I got the chance. ”

Ariel cupped my shoulder with her hand, then rubbed her palm up and down my upper arm. It was meant to be comforting I was sure, but all it did was make my nipples ache and my breath quicken.

“Well, now you’ll have a Found Family with us.”

Her eyes were soft and warm as she studied me, her hand still gently stroking my arm. The air between us grew heated and I felt my body shift towards her, like drawn by a magnet. Ariel leaned forward until our lips were only a few inches apart.

Then her phone beeped with a message and we both jumped apart like we’d been caught doing something naughty. And we probably would have been, if not for the interruption.

Ariel glanced down at her phone and frowned.

“I need to talk to Theo and also return a few emails. But I’ll meet you here at six for dinner, okay?”

“Sure, but what should I wear?” I asked, not wanting to stick out like a sore thumb.

“Anything you want is fine,” Ariel shrugged. “Maybe one of the sundresses you got today?”

It was only after she walked away that I wondered how she knew that there were sundresses in those bags that Theo gave me.

I’d gone through the clothes in the privacy of my room.

Somehow everything he brought was the perfect size for me.

And for clothing that was supposedly second hand and going to charity drive, it all looked perfectly new and clean, not a stain or a wrinkle in sight.

I shrugged. It must be a rich people thing to take such good care of their clothes, I thought. I didn’t totally believe that, but it gave me an out to keep the clothes. And I really wanted to keep the clothes.