WILD WAVES EXCERPT - CHAPTER 2

           The gym was on deck nine and instead of taking the elevator, she jogged up three floors. The strain on her muscles felt good, so good in fact that she wasn't paying attention and ran into a hard body that didn’t budge an inch. She bounced back as strong arms reached out to steady her. “What are you doing here, Red?” Thomas asked with an annoyed smirk on his face.
           “I’m going to exercise,” she informed him. “What are you doing here?’
           “Self-guided physical therapy,” he stated. “And since when does 'the princess' exercise?”
           “Did you look at my body last night?” she asked him quietly, returning his annoyed smirk. “You should remember that ‘the princess’ wasn't born with all this.”
           Thomas sighed. “I remember that you’ve always been gorgeous, exercise or not, and I definitely looked at that body last night. And I kept seeing it over and over again until I woke up this morning.”
           “You dreamed about me?” she whispered, stepping closer to him, running a finger back and forth across his chest. “Come exercise with me and I guarantee you'll see my body all night long again tonight.

            Thomas groaned. “Yeah, it my nightmares maybe,” he mumbled.
            Vanessa grabbed his hand and pulled him into the gym. “Entertain me while I exercise and I'll help you with your therapy.”
            He rolled his eyes. “How about you do your thing and I do mine?"
            “What would the fun be in that?” she pouted.
            Thomas sighed, resigned to his fate and followed her to the bank of exercise bikes. “Well look at this, two bikes side by side. I can get some therapy time in while keeping you entertained.”
            Vanessa turned her special smile on him. The one she knew, through years of experience, would make him quiver. "Well damn, I was going to have you stand in front of me and do all sorts of obscene looking stretches so I could get my fill.” She ran her hand up his thigh.
           “Jesus Nessa, were you always such a damn tease?” he asked, starting to pedal. “Never mind, don't answer that. Just get on your bike.”
           She removed her hand from his thigh. “Killjoy,” she mumbled.
           Thomas watched her swing one long, perfect leg over the bike. He couldn't help but wish, for a moment, that he was that particular piece of exercise equipment.
           “What? You actually like what you see?” she asked when she noticed him watching her every move.
           “Never said I didn’t like what I saw,” Thomas mumbled, concentrating on the rhythm he'd established.
           “I'll show you more,” she teased. “Anytime you want.”
           Thomas abruptly stopped pedaling. “I think I'm going to finish my therapy over there,” he informed her, pointing across the gym. “Much safer that way.” He winked at her and walked away.
           Vanessa kept riding the bike and her eyes never left Thomas until he moved to another machine out of her line of sight. Just as the pedals came to a stop beneath her feet, she felt something brush up against her side. She knew immediately who it was, and felt her whole body shiver in anticipation.
           “You sure seem to like riding that bike,” Thomas whispered in her ear. "Wouldn't you rather be riding me?”
            Vanessa moaned and dropped her head forward to rest on the bike's handlebars.
            “Meet me in the shower in my cabin. If you can figure out how to get in.”