The Trapped Assassin
By SarahsSupplyCloset
Author's Note: Enjoy! Thanks for reading my story and for the reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own CHUCK. I don't make money writing CHUCK fan fiction.
"Bro, don't be like that. I mean, it isn't like we thought you and Sarah were playing Super Mario Bros all this time."
"Devon, stop," Ellie whispered, smacking him with the back of her hand. She gave Sarah specifically an apologetic look.
"What, it's funny. Isn't it funny, Sarah?"
Sarah looked back and forth between everybody, and then she took her chance in spite of the semi-teasing storm cloud look on Chuck's face. "It's pretty funny."
"See?" He reached over the picnic table to high five her and pointed. "I like you, Sarah."
She just grinned and shrugged with a wince at Chuck who sent her a faux glare.
Once she'd managed to crawl out of bed a few hours earlier, she got dressed and took Chuck's key with her to go to his suite where she would get the clothes he instructed her to get: shorts, a T-shirt, and boxers. He hadn't seemed all that worried about someone he'd only known for two weeks rifling through his things for clothes unaccompanied.
Trusting of him.
But when she'd gotten to his suite, Ellie had been walking down the hallway towards her. And not just Ellie but Devon as well. She'd stumbled through an explanation after greeting them, and then Devon had laughed, figured out the situation, or at least the sex part of it, did his "AWESOME", got elbowed for it, and she went in with Ellie and Devon in tow.
She'd had to let Ellie grab Chuck's clothes for him, assuming his sister knew better than she would. And then she'd left them behind again, accepting their invitation to dinner.
Chuck had been mortified when she explained what happened, and after putting up with the giggle-fit that finally caught up to her once they were locked away safely in her bedroom and she was out of the awkward situation, he texted Ellie a simple "Shut up" and tossed his phone away from him.
Now here they sat at dinner, with poor Chuck in the crosshairs.
Technically, thanks to her rambling earlier, all Ellie and Devon knew was that they'd gone swimming and when they got up to Sarah's suite, Chuck took a shower and only then realized he'd forgotten a clean outfit. Sarah's teasing with Chuck's phone aside, his family did not know about what Chuck had done to her while they were swimming.
However, the implication of sex at some point was clearly there and Sarah wondered if there was a way to change the subject. For Chuck's sake if for nothing else. He'd undergone enough teasing now, she thought.
"Let's change the subject! How 'bout that?" Ellie broke in then, and Chuck looked like he could hug his sister right then. Instead, he bit into his crab cake sandwich. "Chuck, you said something about wanting to talk to us. Plans you have or something."
"Mm! Yes!" He chewed a bit, nodding his head, and swallowed, taking a long sip of beer and clearing his throat. "This is super exciting, sis, so no super loud squealing, okay?"
She gave him a flat look. "Okay," she snarked.
He chuckled. "Remember my ol' pal Deacon?"
"That's the bankroller, right?" Devon asked.
"He owns a bank, Awesome," Chuck replied, shaking his head.
"Same diff."
Chuck sighed. "Well, he gave me a call earlier today because he heard I'm in Nice on vacation. And he wanted to offer me—us—the use of his private yacht he's got parked out there in the harbor."
Sarah watched as the other woman's jaw hit the table practically. "What?" she asked. "His private yacht?"
"Bro!"
"I know," Chuck said, nodding.
"No! Dude! Bro!" Devon boomed. And then he threw his arm around Ellie and laughed. "You're not fuckin' with us, are ya?"
"No. Why would I? Awesome, if I was fucking with you, it wouldn't be with a fake yacht. Come on. I'm more creative than that."
"That's true."
"A private yacht?" Ellie repeated, holding her soda up near her mouth as if she was going to take a sip. But it was like she was frozen. "Like, one of those big giant ones with the decks?"
"Yes, El."
"Oh my God, I've always wanted to do that. I've always…" She reached over the table and smacked Chuck's shoulder excitedly. "There are so many benefits to being your sister! I love you!"
Sarah found herself laughing at the brunette's antics.
Chuck set it up with his friend Deacon for the next night while they all walked leisurely back to the hotel, and Ellie even grabbed the phone from him at one point to talk to the banker herself. To her credit, she was charming in her effusiveness without it being overwhelming or manic. She really did have her head a little more squarely on her shoulders than her brother. They were a good pairing, a good team. She found herself understanding not just why they got along better than movies and TV made her think siblings got along, but also why they'd survived the suffering their parents and the world in general had put them through.
They were both really good at this whole life thing in a way she was afraid she wouldn't be. She hadn't had a lot of practice. Surviving bullets and explosions, going from mission to mission, having a path set for her since the time she was 16 or 17 years old hadn't really giving her many lessons on real life. Dealing with the small things the world threw at you. Bills and shitty customers rather than knives and bullets.
Sarah headed back to her room alone this time to shower and relax on her bed, trying to finish her book. But she was distracted. Distracted enough that she kept reading a page or two, then realizing she hadn't picked up a single word of it, before needing to go back and reread. It was like she was almost reading the damn book backwards, so she finally put it down and just laid there on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Her plan had been to just finish off this vacation, enjoy it for all it was worth, and then figure it out from there. She knew she had to find somewhere to settle down, get a job, make a life for herself. God, those words were scary. Settle down. But she wasn't unhappy with her decision. She still felt like this was right. And the CIA was wrong.
Settling down, though. Ugh.
Maybe she could travel for a while first. Get bit jobs here and there, enough to get an apartment for a few months, before jetting off somewhere else.
Then she'd figure out something more permanent if she wanted to. That'd be a nice transition, maybe.
And then she realized she wasn't following her own plan. Waiting until this vacation was over. Just enjoying the freaking vacation while she could.
The knock on her door roused her from a deep almost-worried trance of sorts, and she sat up with a frown at first. Then she smiled.
Apparently Chuck couldn't even spend a few hours apart from her at this point, and she wasn't exactly complaining.
She got up and went into the other room to open the door, just barely resisting the urge to have a certain look on her face so that when he saw her, he'd get the meaning immediately. She was glad she'd resisted, because it wasn't Chuck. It was Ellie.
Her first thought was, "Shit, did I leave the camera out or is it hidden?"
She'd just keep Ellie out of the bedroom of the suite.
"Hi. Sorry."
Sarah frowned and tilted her head, opening her door more for Ellie to come inside. "Why sorry?"
"It's, like, almost 11 at night and I just showed up out of the blue again." She came in and moved so that Sarah could shut the door behind her. "I just had a thought, you know? And I decided, well…I could just come up here and give you my thought, right? We're in the same hotel, I know where your room is…" She shrugged.
Sarah gestured for her to follow her over to the couch and she did. "That makes sense to me. What's, uh, what's your thought?"
She hid the nerves she felt at Ellie showing up at her door at this hour with "I had a thought" as an introduction.
"So, we're all going on this yacht tomorrow which…I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, it's so crazy to me. A yacht! An actual yacht! The things we walk past in Santa Monica harbor and Long Beach and stuff and we laugh at the super rich people with their dumb boat names. I mean, some of them have the roman numeral two next to it. Like that's their SECOND yacht. Like they had a yacht before this one and it…I dunno, sank in a hurricane or something? But they've had TWO YACHTS in their lifetime. Sorry. Sorry, I'm really losing the plot." Sarah laughed and plopped down on the couch next to where she sat. "My point is, I don't know when the hell I'm ever going to get to go on a yacht ever again. Like, ever in my life. And I want to do this right. I was kind of just going through my clothes I brought and I realized I definitely don't have yacht-wear."
Sarah giggled. "Why would you?"
"Well…exactly. Good point. Why would I? But, you know how you see women wearing those slinky fancy dresses so they can sit in the perfectly lit…cabin thingy with the sea breeze playing at their flirty curls…and they're there with their champagne and fancy finger foods? I can only imagine that's exactly what this is going to be, you know? And I have nothing like that."
Shrugging, Sarah shook her head a little. "It's…just four of us. And I guess a yacht pilot maybe? Cooks? I have no idea how that works," Sarah lied. She'd been on yachts before. She knew exactly how it worked. Ellie couldn't know that, though. "But just wear…what you have. If you want."
"No! Ugh. How do I explain this? I'm…" She huffed. "Okay, I'm going to be super honest right now. Prepare yourself." Sarah grabbed the edge of the couch cushion in both hands to humor Ellie and she saw that it worked, a flash of amusement in the woman's green eyes. "I haven't shopped for new clothes in what feels like years. I mean, I haven't had the time! When am I supposed to buy things between the 24 sometimes 48 hour shifts at the hospital? And then there's the planning the wedding stuff that's starting to ramp up. I mean, Devon's not the idiotic dude type who kicks up his heels and expects the woman to do all the planning, but even between the two of us, this is so much work, Sarah. And we work such crazy hours. When I get home sometimes I just want to sleep or watch crap TV. I realized I've got…some nice things. But nothing really, really nice. I don't go to balls or galas or whatever. I'm a neurosurgeon, not an A-List actress. I just feel like I don't have anything appropriate for this situation."
Sarah nodded. "I get what you mean. I didn't go to Nice expecting to step foot on a yacht." She came to Nice to blow a yacht up, more like. And to assassinate someone. "I've got bathing suits. I've got sundresses. Nice pants, I guess. But nothing really… for a yacht." That much was true, at least.
"Right? God. The guys can just throw on a suit and a wispy button up under it and they're fine."
Rolling her eyes, she snorted. "True."
"Hence why I came to you, though. I have an idea. Don't know if the boys will go along with it, but I thought I could maybe get you on my side…" Uh oh. "What if we all go shopping tomorrow? Before our date with Deacon's yacht. You and I can get outfits for the yacht and the guys can…be there if they want to. Or do guy stuff elsewhere. But I kind of want Devon's opinion." Sarah must've accidentally given the other woman a look because she threw her hands up in a dramatic shrug. "My future husband has really fantastic fashion sense. I've taken him shopping with me before to figure out what looks best on me and he just…knows."
"Was he a model or something?"
A proud look came over Ellie's face then. "No, but he really could be, huh? So hot." She made a quiet little mmm sound and Sarah laughed a bit. "I think he's just got a really good eye for it. I'm not terrible, but he's just…so stylish, that man of mine." She sighed. "It's a shame the two of us end up just wearing scrubs for 90% of our lives."
Sarah laughed harder this time and shook her head. "Well, if you want to go shopping and buy some stuff, I'm game. I could use yacht clothes, and…" She bit her lip. "I think it'd be fun. I don't really know Chuck super well yet, so I don't know if you can convince him to shop. Usually guys aren't into that."
"Devon's going to groan about it. Chuck might groan about it, too, though he was really chill when I'd drag him along for back to school outfits when he was in high school still." She winced. "I probably shouldn't tell you that. He'd kill me if he knew I'd just told you that."
Sarah cracked up. "It's okay, Ellie. I won't tell him you told me. Anyways, it's pretty cute his big sister took him back to school shopping."
"Didn't really have much of a choice," she said, and Sarah felt the gravity of her words suddenly. It was easy to forget these two had practically raised one another. "Anyways!" she chirped, clapping her hands. "I'll work on the guys. And then I'll have Chuck tell you what time to be ready. Worst comes to worst, it's just us. I…hope that's okay."
Not really thinking about the implications there, because she just liked Ellie and enjoyed the prospect of spending some time shopping with her, the way normal women shopped with their friends, Sarah nodded. "It's great. I can't wait."
The massive grin on Ellie's face was worth just about anything. And then the woman leaned forward and hugged her tight. "I'm so excited! Eeee! Okay, okay. Alright, I'm going to go and get to work. If you feel like maybe dropping Chuck a text to push the agenda… He'll go if you're going. That's just my guess." She winked and Sarah felt herself blushing.
Sarah walked her out and sent Chuck a text. "Your sister is heading towards you with a proposition. Shopping. Tomorrow. Act surprised. Also I'd like it if you went too. Just cuz."
"Oh crap thx for the warning," he sent back almost immediately. "I won't tell her you warned me. BUT SHOPPING? WHY?"
"We need nice things for a yacht."
"Just wear a bikini and a tshirt," he replied. She saw him typing for a few more seconds. "What else u need?"
Snorting, she typed back, "You know nothing at all, nerd."
"I need to be there for the shopping?"
"Who will zip me up if you aren't there?" She sent a wink to go along with it.
"Touche. I'll def be there."
She laughed and figured Ellie had arrived by then when he didn't say anything else for a few minutes.
This would be fun and certainly…interesting.
ooooooooooooo
"I can't believe they just ditched us like that."
Sarah giggled, glancing over the clothes rack at Chuck's sister. She shrugged. "I don't know them as well as you do, but guys ditching out on a shopping spree isn't that surprising to me."
Ellie snorted. "Maybe some guys. But my guys are usually different. Anyways, once Chuck found out there was a computer store in this place, I knew he was lost to us."
Smiling, Sarah pulled a revealing skirt with a slit well up the side of the left leg off of the rack and held it up. "Good point. How about this one? Show some leg."
"Ha! Maybe in the privacy of my bedroom with my fiancé. No weak-ass guys on the street will get to see me wearing that."
Sarah cracked up and put it back, turning to go to another rack. "Maybe the problem is that we're looking at sales racks. Not that I am personally against sales. I love saving money. But this all looks…"
"Raggedy?" Ellie provided, coming around the rack they'd both just been looking at to stand next to Sarah.
"That's the word, yes."
"Come on. We're on vacation."
"Are we splurging?"
"We're splurging."
She snorted and followed the brunette across the sales floor to the other side where the mannequins were posing with exactly the sort of thing Sarah thought Ellie was looking for. At least, it was what she'd always worn when invited onto a mark's yacht for a boat party. Semi-revealing, but tastefully, something that showed off her legs, a blouse with some dazzle to it. Or a slinky dress that ended no lower than halfway up her thighs so that her long tone legs were on full display. It helped her blend into the crowd on those boats, but still direct the right person's attention towards her. She was good at using clothes to control who saw her and how they saw her.
It was one of the secrets to her success as an assassin.
And she really needed to stop thinking of assassin things while she was shopping with this nice neurosurgeon.
"Okay, I do like green, but this is a little too Emerald City for a night on a yacht. What do you think?" Ellie held up a vibrant green shimmery dress that looked perfect for clubbing. And then she pressed it against her.
"Makes your eyes pop," Sarah said with a shrug. "But yeah, a little too bright for a yacht."
"Gaudy, kinda. Yeah…" She put it back. And then she gasped and tugged another dress out. She thrusted it at Sarah. "Look at the midnight blue color on this one, Sarah. Perfect for you. And the keyhole V-neck. The flirty hem at the bottom…"
Sarah took it and grinned. "I…actually like this." She looked at it harder, still smiling as she took it in. A silver hoop rounded the neck, the cloth connected to it at the front on either side. She turned it around and saw the zipper up the back of it as well. "Good find, Ellie."
"Thank you," the other woman chirped. "I can always find things for other people but struggle for myself," she giggled. "But that looks super yacht dress. Flirty but elegant, perfect for a boat. Can you imagine the sea breeze playing with the skirt on it?"
Sarah went to the rack and picked her correct size in the dress, and then continued to follow Ellie, looking for more.
She found two other dresses for herself, while Ellie had only managed to pick up one definitely good one and one maybe good one.
They shopped for a good hour, roaming the store, finding accessories, neither of them making their way to the dressing rooms yet. And in that time, the conversation was light, thank God. They talked mostly about the clothes, about their tastes, and then the discussion slipped into Ellie telling stories about Chuck.
Sarah listened closely, trying not to appear too interested, just in case. But she was interested. She learned more about him every moment, and she was relishing this opportunity.
"…So I told him I'd pitch in to help him get a suit, but only if he asked this girl out. Rita? Was that her name? Doesn't matter." She shook her head. "Anyways, Chuck bought the suit with his own money because he didn't want to ask Rita out."
"But he went to prom, then?"
"Yeah, he bought the suit so he really had to." She laughed. "That was right after the summer where he went from, like, 5 foot 8 to 6 feet tall. And then throughout that next 2 year period, the other 4 or 5 inches happened. Ridiculous. Think he still has that suit but he'd look hilarious if he put it on now."
Sarah laughed. "I'd pay money to see it."
"Maybe I can call him back over here and we can make him try on a suit that's too small for him. Have a good laugh." They laughed together.
"He probably wouldn't appreciate that so much."
"I don't knooow," Ellie drawled. "At this point, I'm not sure he wouldn't do just about anything if you asked him to."
Sarah didn't miss the wink the other woman sent her. She ducked her head shyly and tried to hide a smile, but she found she couldn't. "I don't know about that," she muttered, shrugging.
Thankfully, it seemed like Ellie was observant enough and had enough tact not to push the subject. Instead, they moved their way through the store, giggling over things with too many frills or that showed way too much skin.
Conversation continued.
"My brother has his moments, just like any guy, you know? But then there are these times where I don't even know where he came from. Like another planet maybe. He's just such a good guy."
Sarah smirked a little to herself. "I've noticed that."
"Even when he was a kid. When I was 16, I got that whole president's award thing for academic excellence, yadda yadda. And he went to the grocery store and bought me some flowers. He was freaking 12! Like, what 12 year old kid even does that? They're usually playing video games and skateboarding and just starting to see girls as not having cooties, right? There's my little kid brother buying me flowers for a trivial award I got. Unprompted, you know? He just walked over there from his bus stop after school and bought 'em. That's the kind of kid he was and I don't know where he even came from." She shook her head, looking almost emotional.
And in the meantime, Sarah felt her insides melt at the thought of a 12 year old version of Chuck being so proud of his sister that he walked to the store to buy her flowers. He seemed like that kind of guy—always wanting to make people feel good. But for a kid to have that kind of thoughtfulness? "You sure he's human?" Sarah asked. "He isn't some alien hybrid they snuck into your family to try to make the world a better place?"
Ellie cracked up and gave Sarah a wide-eyed look. "You're spending way too much time with him, coming up with something like that."
Sarah just laughed and shook her head, not taking offense to it. She knew Ellie didn't mean it offensively anyways.
"Oh. God, this one's gonna kill you. It killed me. Morgan—I don't know if he mentioned his best friend back home, Morgan." Sarah nodded and Ellie nodded back. "Well, he works at the Buy More—a superstore retail chain type place. He's assistant manager now, but this was when he was still just on the sales floor as a green shirt. He got an award from the area manager or whatever for his sales numbers. I think that was it. But he really had the hots for this girl and asked her to be his plus one at this nice gala they threw for award recipients. She stood the poor little guy up. Like he waited at the place she said she'd meet him and she didn't show up, didn't answer her phone."
"What the hell? That's fucked up," Sarah said, frowning, stopping her shopping for the time being as she listened.
"Right? I mean, I'm not his biggest fan. He's a freaking pest." She snorted and Sarah wondered if it was just a habit to tease about Chuck's best friend like that. "But I'd never do that to a guy. Well, he called Chuck all broken-hearted, embarrassed because he was going to show up without his plus one and the seat next to him would be empty and everyone would know he'd been jilted by his date. You know what that brother of mine did?"
Sarah shook her head.
"He put on one of our dad's old suits—not the nicest suit but he was just getting SOLO going and didn't have money—and he picked Morgan up at the bus stop and he went as his plus one to the awards dinner."
Her eyes were stinging, she found. Her chest aching. It must have showed, because Ellie nodded, swallowing hard.
"I know. I knooooow. The sweetest thing I think he's ever done, if I'm being honest." She sighed. "That's probably why the Beard is so insanely loyal to Chuck. They've been protecting each other since they were 5 years old or something, those two."
Sarah chuckled. "God, that's so sweet. I don't…" She stopped herself, then took a deep breath. "I don't have anything like that with anyone. Never really have. I would've killed for that."
Ellie gave her a long look and she had to divert her gaze, feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden. She shouldn't have said any of that. She wasn't searching for sympathy either. But instead of being pitying, the brunette just nodded. "A lot of us would've. It's what the kids would call 'goals'."
That made Sarah laugh as they finally reached the end of the racks, their arms piled with things to try on.
"So. Sarah. Tell me something. I have a bit of a personal question for y—"
"There they aaaaaaaare!"
Sarah spun on her heel with wide eyes and thought she'd just been thoroughly rescued by the appearance of Devon and Chuck. She really didn't want to answer any personal questions, and she knew she'd gotten seriously lucky going an hour and a half with just her and Ellie not having had to answer anything too personal. She'd have to decide between the truth, and the safer option of lying that might make her feel like a jerk.
"Oh no. How did you find this much stuff? Honey, I know we're surgeons, but we've got a wedding coming up and, uh, the flowers alone for the occasion are going to cost more than this Deacon guy's whole yacht."
Ellie made a face. "They're not THAT expensive, drama queen." Then she lifted what was in her arms. "I haven't even tried these on yet. I'm not buying all of them, just the best one. You know I have a specific method when I shop, babe."
"Try literally the whole store on?"
"I'm going to divorce you before we even get married—"
Sarah was focused on their conversation and didn't notice until belatedly that Chuck was surveying what she had draped over her arms. She slowly lifted her gaze to his. "May I help you?" she asked as Devon and Ellie conversed, moving a bit away from Chuck and Sarah to look at Ellie's choices together.
"Just lookin' at what ya got, that's all. Need help picking something out?" He grinned and she saw there was a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he stuck his hands in his pockets.
She raised her eyebrow and lowered her voice, leaning in close. "You gonna help me try these on?"
Chuck's jaw dropped, but before he could answer, Ellie interrupted.
"Sarah? Shall we try all of this on?"
She and Ellie took dressing rooms on opposite ends of the little corridor. Sarah tried a black number on that had interesting slits down the back. She would need to go without a bra for it to not look tacky, she realized, so she'd taken her bra off but then that did weird things to her breasts under the dress. She hung that one on the NO rack.
Then there was a coral colored dress with a white belt that cinched in close around her thin hips. She liked it enough to take a chance and walk down the small hallway to where Chuck and Devon sat waiting for them.
Devon turned from their conversation first and beamed when he saw her. "That's a good color on you, Sarah!"
Chuck spun, almost eagerly, and seemed to almost feast on her.
"What do you think?" she asked. "Devon, your fiancée said you're really good with fashion sense. This look good? Maybe with gold strap heels or something?"
The blonde stood up and narrowed his eyes, taking her in. He pinched his chin thoughtfully, swirling his finger in the air for her to turn and show him the back. She did, giving a teasing pose.
"Hmmmm….hmmm. Yes. Yes, I think this is a good one. How does it feel? Is it comfortable? That's the most important thing. A yacht is elegant and fancy, but it's also a boat out on the water. Gotta be comfy. Just in case we all drink too much champagne and pass out on those fancy benches yachts always have in movies." He broke character and chuckled. "Huh?" He nudged her shoulder.
Sarah giggled and shook her head. Then she turned her gaze to Chuck. "Chuck?"
"You…you look really good. In that." She could hear him gulp from where he sat. "In that color. I mean, and the shape. The…"
"The silhouette," Devon helped him.
"The silhouette," he repeated breathlessly. "Lovely."
She hated how easily he made her blush with his habit of genuinely losing the ability to speak because he found her attractive. She didn't get him. She didn't get any of this. And she certainly didn't get how all of it was affecting her.
"Thank you," she murmured.
Ellie came out then with only one of the dresses she'd taken in draped over her arm, and she stopped short. "How do you make everything look so good? Oh my God."
Sarah laughed. "I don't think I do. It's a nice dress."
"Sarah, that was one of your lower tier choices. It looked only okay on the hanger. You put it on, and you look like the thing was literally designed for you."
"Thanks." She smiled shyly. "I don't know about it." She gazed at herself in the mirror for a moment. Did she look okay in coral? She wasn't sure. And the hem went up a bit at the back of the dress and flashes a whole lot of the backs of her thighs. She liked the thin straps, she liked the belt. It was comfortable… "I think I'll try on the last one and see."
But then a phone rang and Devon dug in his pocket. He glanced at his phone. "Babe, it's Leslie. You mind if I take this, folks? It's our wedding planner."
"Not at all," Sarah said as Chuck shrugged.
Devon answered and moved out of the changing room area altogether. Not three seconds passed before he came back in, giving his wife a look. "Hey, she needs to talk to both of us…"
"I'm all done here. Let's go buy this and then Leslie can have both our ears." Ellie swept past both Chuck and Sarah. "That's okay with you guys, right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sarah replied. "I only have the one dress left to try on anyway." When they both left, she turned and glanced at Chuck. "I'll, um, just be a few minutes."
"Take your time. I'm at my leisure." He pulled up a French fashion magazine that was sitting on the small table next to his chair and wiggled it with a cheeky grin.
She snorted and shook her head, going back to her dressing room. It took awhile for her to get the coral dress off, a lot of moving parts, snaps and buttons and things that had to swoop over her head. That alone made it something she didn't want to be wearing tonight.
She gazed at the midnight blue mid-thigh length dress then, the flirty hem, the keyhole V-neck, and she smiled a little to herself. She just liked it. Which was ridiculous since it was the first thing Ellie had picked out for her and that was well over an hour earlier.
But once she slipped it on, she realized she couldn't close the hoop at the back of her neck, nor could she zip the back of the dress all the way. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. And she finally gave up and pushed the curtain aside. "Chuck?"
He appeared immediately, at the end of the corridor. "Yeah? Y'okay?"
"I'm fine. But could you just…" She tugged a bit at the zipper. "I'm usually fine doing all of this myself, but I need help with the back." She ducked back into the dressing room as he dutifully strode down the rows of curtains to step inside with her.
She turned so he could only see her back, moving her long blond hair out of the way for him, piling it up on top of her head. "The hoop at the back has a little hook or something that needs to be fastened. And then the zipper if you could?"
"On it," he muttered. And she felt the backs of his fingers brushing against the nape of her neck as he worked to hook the hoop. But then his fingertips traced the line of her shoulder blades, down the smooth expanse of her back exposed by the dress, and it felt very purposeful.
It was purposeful. Because she then felt his lips press against her neck very lightly, slowly. Sarah shivered as he eased the zipper up carefully, then fastened the button there as well. Even as he did so, he dotted kisses down her bare shoulder, up again to her neck, and back down to the other shoulder.
Sarah smirked to herself and then turned around to face him, giving him an arched eyebrow look. "I just asked you to help me fasten the back," she murmured quietly so only he could hear. There didn't seem to be anyone else even trying on clothes at the moment, and the music was on pretty loud in the dressing room. But she didn't want to take any chances anyways.
"That's what I did. It's all fastened." And then his eyes drifted down to the dress and she saw his jaw clench a little. "Wow…This one. Not the other one. This. This is the one."
"Oh, yeah?" she asked, turning to look in the 3 panel mirror. "Oh. Yeah. Wow. This fits like a dream."
"Is it comfy?"
"Yes!" She felt like she was wearing a cloud. She twisted her hips back and forth, watching as the material fluttered a bit over her thighs, then surveyed the way the dress showed a bit of her cleavage. It also had some support built into it so that she wouldn't have to worry about wearing her bra at all. Then she turned and took in the back of it. "This is the one."
And then she turned and took a step back from Chuck. "Proper yacht attire? I have black strap heels too. A black handbag. Hoop earrings. Maybe my hair up like…" She grabbed her hair up into her hands and piled it messily at the back of her head to keep it off of her neck. "What do you think?"
He licked his lips quietly, then reached behind him and slid the curtain shut. She gave him a wide-eyed look then as he ignored the warning in her face and wrapped his hands around her hips, pulling her in close.
His mouth fell to the juncture of her neck and shoulder as his arms wound around her torso. She sighed, an insane voice in her head wondering what they could get away with in here if only the music was just a little louder.
And then she pushed him until his back thumped against the front corner of the dressing room where nobody would be able to see their feet under the curtain and know exactly what was going on. She covered his lips with hers and held onto his face, pushing her fingers into his hair and yanking him in even closer.
They stayed there for a while, making out, and that insane voice told her that all he had to do was shift their clothes a bit, and they could pull something quick off. If they could just keep themselves quiet.
But then the sensible part of her kicked in and she stepped away from him, breaking the kiss, putting some distance there. Her fingers unconsciously moved up to press against her lips and she took a deep, calming breath. "This is nuts and it is not happening," she whispered.
Chuck shook himself a little and let out a loud huff, fixing his shirt she'd gotten halfway up his torso. Then he cleared his throat and nodded. "You're right. Holy crap. This…this is…"
"I know," she said, nodding vigorously. "I'm buying this one. You wait…out there," she insisted with a serious look, pointing back towards the chair towards the front of the dressing rooms.
"Good idea. That's a great idea."
She was still smirking as he ducked out and she began to change back into her clothes again.
oooooooooooooo
He couldn't keep his eyes off of her once they'd all swung by Sarah's room earlier to pick her up, during the short cab ride to the docks where Deacon's yacht was moored further out in the harbor, and even as they all climbed onto the sleek motorboat the pilot would take them to the yacht on.
The blue shade of the dress she'd bought at the mall earlier made her lighter blue eyes almost azure. She'd given herself a bit of a smokey cat-eye with her eyeliner to highlight them. The short length of the dress coupled with the black strap heels she'd chosen emphasized the length and tone of her legs. And then the cut of the halter-type dress at the top put her shoulders and arms on display.
Chuck's first reaction to seeing her all done up, and the way his eyes stayed on her for the rest of their journey, told her she'd made some good choices while getting ready.
To the point where Chuck had to be nudged by Devon at least twice for staring too hard.
But when they'd arrived at the dock where the banker's yacht captain and caretaker awaited with the sleek pilot boat that would take them to the yacht, she realized Chuck wasn't the only one who appreciated it. Henri, as he'd introduced himself with his lips lingering on her hand for longer than was necessary, had also paid her quite a bit of attention, directing most of his conversation to her, his eyes fastening on her in a way she knew was reserved just for her. It didn't make her uncomfortable, per se, but only because she knew how to handle herself.
A quick glance in Chuck's direction told her he had noticed the same extra attentions. His jaw was clenched, his fist that wasn't clinging to the side of the pilot boat balled in his lap.
"Mademoiselle," Henri chirped as he pulled up to the side of the yacht and jostled with Chuck for position to take her hand and help her onto the platform. He made it look graceful and seamless, innocent, as if he hadn't seen Chuck moving to take her hand and help her up. But Sarah knew men better than to believe the performance.
This would be interesting.
"Merci," she chirped back, smiling as she accepted his help. She didn't have much of a choice.
He helped Ellie onto the platform with less of a flourish, and Sarah noticed he didn't pay the brunette nearly as much attention even as he was welcoming and polite. Sarah had a feeling the man eyed the ring on Ellie's finger, and noticed her own lack of a ring. It was presumptuous, definitely, considering the fact that she'd walked up to the dock on Chuck's arm.
And she silently brainstormed how she'd put a stop to Henri's attentions, glancing over her shoulder to exchange a look with Ellie. So, Chuck's sister had noticed as well. She gave Sarah a very flat look, the kind of look women constantly shared with one another when men were being…well, men.
As they walked up the steps to the main covered deck of the yacht, Sarah heard Ellie gasp. She affected her own wonder at the place. It was certainly a lovely yacht, but Sarah couldn't help thinking "You seen one, you seen 'em all" as she looked around.
"Holy sh—wow," Devon filtered himself. "Chuck. Bro. I love your bankroller friend."
Chuck laughed. "Uh yeah, me too. This is amazing."
"Before we start the tour of the French Riviera, I want to make sure you all feel at home on our beautiful Annie. She is grand. A beauty. Full of grace. Please, might I give you a tour?"
Henri thrust his arm out towards Sarah, but she timed turning to look over the railing at the gorgeous Nice shoreline just perfectly to make it seem as if she merely didn't see his gesture, and she shifted closer to Chuck and wrapped her hands around his bicep.
She didn't look back until Henri took the lead of the pack and moved towards the steps leading belowdeck.
Sarah looked at Chuck's handsome profile out of the corner of her eye and saw him doing a poor job of hiding a smug smile. He'd picked up on what she'd done easily enough. It seemed to please him. Good.
The tour was short and sweet, and she had to admit, this was a clean, sleek, large yacht. It was well cared for. And, as Chuck had exclaimed, "Seriously tricked out".
As the sun finally set, lights going on over towards the shore, Henri flicked a switch that lit the lights on the yacht as well, giving the place an almost magical feeling.
"Okay, this is incredible," Ellie breathed.
Henri announced that they kept just a small amount of staff on for the night to cook and serve the dinner and drinks, but that he would take his place with his co-captain in the cabin to start the trek along the French Riviera shore. Two hours down, two hours back, he'd said.
Thankfully, he excused himself and disappeared, but not before telling them no area of the yacht was off-limits to them, and that he meant it when he said to make themselves at home.
The champagne flowed liberally, and when the appetizers were served for the two couples, it did a lot to tamper the buzz Sarah'd picked up. She leaned against the railing on the shore side of the yacht, just watching the way the buildings climbed up the gorgeous Nice hills.
Chuck leaned against the railing next to her and held his champagne flute out for her to clink hers against it. "Enjoying this?" he asked once she did.
"God, yes. It's incredible. Thanks for having connections," she teased, giving him a mischievous look.
"You're welcome." Then he paused for a long time, looking down at the water churning beside the yacht as it sliced through the dark depths. "I'm very glad you came tonight."
"Are you?" she asked, finishing the champagne in her glass.
"Definitely. I mean, with the lights and the cool breeze, and…well, that…" He gestured towards the shore. "This is all so magical and romantic. But sharing it with you? I dunno, it feels like some fantastical thing I've dreamed up or something. It doesn't feel real."
"It's real," she said. "But I get what you mean. This is seriously romantic. Thank you for asking me to come. I've never experienced anything like this before."
That was true, she thought to herself silently. For how many times she'd been on yachts for the job, it had never been romantic. She'd had a job to do. And she'd definitely never been on one with someone like Chuck.
The main course was enjoyed at a table on the top deck out in the open at the end of their journey down the coastline as Henri anchored the yacht again and joined them to chat for a bit.
He told them about his adventurous life. The man couldn't be older than his early to mid 30s, Sarah thought to herself. And he'd already seen and done so much. Even as an assassin who'd traveled the world 5 times over, Sarah found his lifestyle fascinating. And she realized belatedly how many questions she ended up asking him.
Because that had only meant he'd scooted his bench a bit closer to where she'd sat as she finished her meal.
And oops, that was not her intention.
Sarah noticed Chuck getting a little tense, but she also felt how unsure he was as she both glanced at him, and felt the tentative air of his movements, in his eyes. He was probably wondering if he could or should even do anything about the extra attentions Henri was paying her. She didn't belong to him, even if they had been seeing each other nearly every day for the last two weeks. And he had to think he'd look like an ass if he got possessive or showed he was jealous.
She knew he was jealous, however, and that hadn't done anything to dull her affection and desire for him.
The jealousy seemingly increased when Henri discovered she was a translator and he broke out both French and Portuguese. Fluent in French, and having a mostly workable grasp on Portuguese, she was able to converse with him, but it had clearly cut the other three out of the conversation, most notably Chuck who was viciously snapping crab legs with his bare hands at that point.
Ellie subtly reached out to grab his forearm, clearing her throat, but Sarah had noticed it all the same.
Henri excused himself to begin to trip back to Annie's home, but his eyes had lingered on Sarah. Everyone had noticed this time.
And Devon leaned in. "Can you believe that guy? Is it because he's French? Is that just a French thing? Or is he just kind of a dick?"
"Sh!" Ellie hissed, elbowing him. "We don't know how many staff are on this thing or where they are. We don't want our host thinking we aren't gracious or grateful."
The blonde shrugged. "He's undercutting my bro on purpose. It's messed up."
Chuck just shook his head. "Hey, it's cool. I'm cool. I'm cool, Sarah. Right? Totally…good."
Sarah just smirked at him. "I'm not usually into jealous guys, but it's pretty attractive on you, I'll be honest." They all laughed at the way he blushed as vibrantly as he did. But then she sought to ease his discomfort, squeezing his shoulder. "He's being a jerk and I don't know if it works on other women, but it's definitely not working on me."
"Good girl," Ellie said, leaning in to squeeze her hand.
Chuck was pleased by her response, even if he tried to hold back a little, and she let him sling his arm over her shoulders.
Both couples broke off to their own conversations then as the staff left them alone for over twenty minutes, and Chuck and Sarah wandered to the railing at the back of the yacht, watching the water churned up behind it.
"Is this the part where I climb up on here and yell, 'I'm the king of the wooooorld'?" Chuck asked, spreading his arms and leaning his front against the railing.
Sarah giggled and grabbed his arms, pressing them back down to his sides and wrapping him up in her embrace from behind, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "Please never ever ever ever do that."
"Noted."
But the night was a little too chilly out here with the wind whipping about them, so she led him back towards where they'd left Devon and Ellie. They turned the corner and saw Ellie half on Devon's lap, his face clutched in both of her hands as they made out. Really heavily.
Sarah saw that Chuck was about to…
She didn't know. Scream maybe? A blood curdling scream? And she didn't want to interrupt their romantic heated moment, so she clamped her hand over his mouth quickly and yanked him back out of sight.
"Sh!" she admonished as he gave her a miserable look. She took her hand off of his face. "Let them have their moment in peace."
"I'll never know peace again," he whined under his breath, and she giggled at his melodramatic response.
"Come on, let's go down below and see what's down there."
"We already got a tour," he said, smiling, his teasing misery over apparently. But he let her lead him towards the steps that led further into the belly of the yacht anyways.
"Right, but that was a tour with Henri. We're taking our own tour this time." She sent him a look over her shoulder that she was sure he couldn't misunderstand. "Just the two of us."
"Oh." He paused. "Oooooohhhh."
Biting her lip, she giggled, pulling him past where three crew members were cleaning up after dinner, turning the corner down another hallway and peeking into the different rooms. It looked like Deacon did a lot of diving and fishing with the gear he had, and there were a few guest rooms too, probably for anyone who came with him on his jaunts.
It was in a guest room all the way at the end of a hallway, as they poked around inside, looking at the books and strange pieces of art, that Sarah felt Chuck make a move on her. It was subtle, charming, and effective. He'd taken her hand, brought it to his lips, and when she turned back to face him, he'd looked her right in her eyes.
That was all he'd needed to do for her to reach around him and quietly shut and lock the door.
Maybe he hadn't realized his own power because he watched her do it and turned back to her with wide eyes, as if he was surprised.
"I don't know—"
"Shut up and kiss me."
It was what he'd wanted to do this whole night. She'd seen it, she'd felt it. She'd wanted it too. She'd gone through a lot of extra effort to look particularly seductive for him. She'd purposely done whatever she could think of to make sure she exuded sexuality. Granted, Henri the yacht captain had gotten swept up in it too.
That hadn't been her intention.
But as Chuck grinned and dove in to kiss her, Sarah hoped this would underscore for the SOLO founder that the captain's attentions were falling on deaf ears. For a few minutes, her body was going to be his for the taking.
Unfortunately, she knew it could only be a few minutes.
So she hurried things along.
Grabbing him by his waist, she backed away from the door towards the long twin bed, pulling him with her, and she didn't stop until the backs of her legs bumped the mattress.
She tugged his button-up out of his pants, then hurriedly pulled out of the kiss so that she could look down at what she was doing, unbuckling and undoing the front of his pants.
"Holy crap," he breathed. "This is crazy…"
"I've been waiting to do this all day…" she rushed.
"Since the dressing rooms at the mall?"
"Yes," she gasped, aware of the desperation in her own voice. She didn't care. Let him hear it.
The boat rocked beneath their feet as they made out beside the bed, pulling at clothes, trying to make room for one another, getting barriers out of the way. And then Chuck let out one of those growls of his that set her on fire, and he lifted her into his arms only to drop her on the end of the bed.
She giggled, adrenaline pumping through her as he laid himself out on top of her, his legs hanging over the end so he could brace his feet on the wooden floors of the guest room.
Sarah managed to sneak out of her panties and they ended up on the floor somewhere near his feet while he pushed his pants and boxers to tangle at his knees, and just like that, Chuck was inside of her. There was no foreplay, no easing their way into it.
The moment she felt him slip himself into her, she was ready for him…but not ready enough that she didn't cry out when he jerked his hips down until he was buried to the hilt. He continued the hard thrusts, their bodies lurching together on the bed, their sighs and whimpers interrupting the lapping of the waves outside of the small porthole.
Sarah clamped one hand down on his ass and squeezed hard, not noticing that she was using her nails to cling to him. He grabbed her other hand and pinned it up over her head, jerking himself into her even harder, her name a mantra on his lips, his breath hot against her jawline.
"Oh my God, Chuck. Hnnng!"
She felt the waves pushing and pulling the yacht beneath the bed, beneath her body, and his thrusts eased a little, almost in sync with the sea. It was the hottest thing she'd ever experienced in her life.
Her climax was approaching quickly, and she wrapped herself around him, just holding on and letting him have full control. He embraced her tightly with his arms rounding her body, thrusting faster, and she came with his name on her lips, ragged in his ear.
She wordlessly managed to get him to roll them over so that he was draped over the mattress then and she sat up, reaching back to grab onto his knees, before bucking on his lap.
Sarah went hard and fast, knowing they'd already spent too much time down here, nearly ten minutes, she guessed, and too much longer, it'd be obvious where they'd disappeared off to, and what they'd done while they were gone.
He groaned, craning his neck to glance down his body and watch her swinging thrusts.
She needed him to orgasm soon, as much as she wished she could make this all last. So she switched it up and braced her hands on his chest, bouncing hard on his cock.
Chuck's jaw fell open and he pushed himself up to lean on his elbows, his brow furrowed in awe, ecstasy in his face. He breathed a curse. "That's it, baby…"
Baby.
She climaxed again, her body shaking over his, and she strove to just keep going even as her orgasm sent delicious waves of pleasure through her. Why did that get her every single time? It was just a word, and yet, when he said it…
When Chuck grabbed her hips and flopped back onto the mattress, stopping her actions, she didn't quite know what to expect, but then he started bouncing his hips up into hers fast and hard.
Sarah opened her mouth wide and her head fell back, her body jerking with his hard, fast thrusts up into her. And then he thrusted against her one last time, holding her so tightly to his crotch as she felt the heat of his seed emptying inside of her.
They both moaned and she slumped against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his hair. They shook together, just holding on tightly, and then they laughed, both of them at the same time.
"Shhh, sh…" he admonished, still chuckling breathlessly. They met eyes and shared another hot kiss.
When they pulled back, Sarah brushed his nose with hers and muttered, "Feeling a little bit less jealous yet?"
He laughed and shook his head. "I don't even know how to answer that."
They quickly fixed their clothes back in place, Sarah finding her underpants and slipping them back up her legs under the dress.
But when they appeared back up on deck and announced they'd taken another tour, Sarah could tell by the looks on everyone's faces, most of all Henri's, that she'd maybe just done enough to make it clear to everyone on the boat that her attentions and affections wouldn't be veering away from Chuck anytime soon.
Henri seemed to take the hint, and as much as he still snuck looks, he begrudgingly behaved himself for the rest of the night.
Thank you for reading. Please review! And be safe please. Stay home.
SSC