They arrived at a large boat, and one of the crew members handed them each a glass of wine as the boat set out. Another of the staff started speaking and Sierra was mesmerized. She loved the rich deep timber of his accent, and to make it even better, he was a humorous and knowledgeable guide.
“The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, and the biggest single structure made up entirely by living organisms. It’s composed of over twenty-nine-hundred individual reefs, and nine-hundred islands. The total area is over a hundred-and-thirty thousand square miles. Several years back the cable news network named it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.”
“I’m actually seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World?” Sierra asked, elated at the thought.
“I can take you to see them all,” Damien said, his eyes intense as he looked at her. Sierra smiled, knowing it wasn’t a promise, but that he was caught up in the heat of the moment. Still, the thought of traveling the world excited her.
“I’ve never gotten to travel. My father didn’t see it as necessary, so I plan on making up for lost time. This is amazing.”
“You haven’t traveled anywhere?” he asked, his voice radiating disbelief.
“No. I’ve never left the country,” she said, understanding his shock. Bree had been around the world and back a few times, and Sierra had been stuck at home. Come to think of it, she had no clue how Damien had managed to secure her visa so quickly for her trip to Australia. Before she had time to ask him about it, the guide continued speaking.
“The reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. There are a limited amount of people allowed on it, so it’s protected from human consumption. Only a small amount of tourism and fishing is allowed. Recent studies have shown that the reef has already lost more than half its coral cover and we’re trying to prevent more disaster to this natural wonder.”
“Is there a possibility of it being completely destroyed?” Sierra asked.
“I guess the best answer to that would be, anything’s possible,” the man said. It was outlandish for Sierra to imagine something so incredible being destroyed.
“If you both want to go downstairs now, you can view the reef from our protected observatory.”
Sierra didn’t need any more prompting than that. She followed the man down a set of stairs, and then stopped, causing Damien to bump into her. It was amazing. There were seats lined up, and she had a clear view of the underwater reefs. Sea animals were swimming past, the colors of the reef, the animals, the plants – all of it was remarkable.
She sat down with Damien quickly joining her and just took it all in. They chatted as the boat slowly toured the area and Sierra was sure this was the best day she’d ever experienced. When the guide came down and told them they were stopping, she wanted to refuse to leave.
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty more,” Damien reassured her. She reluctantly got up and followed him up top.
“Are we leaving already?”
“No, we’re going snorkeling,” he said with a smile.
Sierra didn’t hold back this time as she threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss. It took him only half a second to return it with enthusiasm. The guide, loudly clearing his throat, was the only thing that stopped Sierra from dragging Damien back downstairs to make love below the surface of the water. She put that on her to-do list.
They spent the rest of the beautiful afternoon swimming in the warm water, Sierra seeing marine life she didn’t even know existed. By the time Damien took her back to the hotel, she was barely able to stand on her feet, but the exhaustion was well worth it.
“Are you ready for your bath?”
Sierra turned, her weariness evaporating at the hungry look in his eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d waited so many years to experience love-making. Her body hummed with anticipation of what was to come.
“More than ready,” she answered. After spending the entire day flirting with him, sneaking kisses when they came up for air, and having him touch her body in every intimate spot, she had no worries.
She pulled her shirt over her head, encouraged by the fire lighting in his eyes. She started backing up toward the bathroom as she reached her arms behind her back and unhooked her bra, letting it hang on a moment as his eyes devoured her nearly naked br**sts.
When she let it drop to the floor, Damien quickly stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, his lips capturing hers in a kiss of hunger. Her ni**les ached as her br**sts pressed boldly against the material of his polo shirt.
“I’ve wanted you all day. How do you feel?” he asked as his lips trailed down her jaw.
“I feel like I need you inside me,” she said, shocked by her brashness. One night of love-making and she was turning into a nympho. She’d much rather be that than the locked up prude she’d been for the first twenty-five years of her life.
Damien lifted her and carried her the rest of the way to the bathroom. He set her down long enough to start the tub, then finished undressing her, his hands sliding along each inch of skin he exposed.
By the time he stripped and set a row of three condoms on the side of the tub, Sierra was practically dripping wet without having set foot in the tub.
They didn’t climb out until the water was almost cold.
Chapter Fourteen
Damien lay there and watched the sunlight sneak through the mostly closed blinds. It was too early for Sierra to wake considering they hadn’t fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning for the second day in a row.
He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. She was stunning, and he found himself enjoying their time together. The need to let her tour the island had started out of guilt for taking her virginity, especially so roughly, but as he’d spent the day with her, his guilt had ended and he found himself enjoying her company.
She had such childlike wonder over everything she saw, causing him to see it for the first time through her eyes. He’d had this image in his mind of her, and she was smashing that visual to pieces. She wasn’t at all who he’d expected her to be.
She mumbled something and he stilled his hand that was brushing a piece of her hair from her eyes. She turned, her arms stretching out as if seeking something, then she settled back down into the pillows with a frown marring her features, before finally she relaxed and her deep breathing started again.