Page 52 of Love Thief

I smile, his voice, bringing me instant peace and calm. It’s like a woolley blanket on a cold day. Total comfort and security. I also know he understands me, because even if it was 2 a.m. he would have said the same thing.

We pull into the garages at breakneck speed and I jump out of the car before it’s even fully stopped. The sun hasn’t set yet, and I’m moving like the devil is in the sunset and I can outrun him. “Come on, Tommy, let’s go.” I want to get to the beach headland before it goes down.

I skid to a halt when I see Kellen and Xan on two quads, and James, nearest to me, on my motorbike.

“Jump on, Mum. I’m the best driver here,” James says. “And this is faster than that old thing.” He hands me my goggles and I put them on.

Kellen starts shouting at me to get on his quad. “That bike is not safe, Evie. Get on here, you dare, you better not.” He’s coming for me so I vault on behind James.

“Go, baby,” I shriek, and he sets off at full throttle, the tires skidding round in a big arc. We’re laughing like maniacs as we fly past the men. Marshall is laughing, and Nikki and Gerald have come out to see the commotion.

“She’s back then,” shouts Nikki as we whiz past him. I wave at them as we head for the cliffs and the setting sun.

James and I have the wind whipping at us and it’s full speed towards the clifftops. He’s smiling, and I know I have the exact same smile on my face. Hearing the quads behind me, I turn and see them coming at a slower pace. They’ll be cursing us, I’m sure.

I wave my hands near James’s head, and point to the sun, shouting in his ear, “Gun it James, it’s going.” He totally floors the throttle, and we get to the headland, jump off and run for the slope down to the beach.

“Fucking crazies,” I hear Kellen shout behind us.

We’re going full pelt down the hill, and land on the beach running towards the water. James looks at me, and we’re both stripping off as we go. He’s seen the wetsuit under my clothes, wrestled on like a contortionist in the car, and he has his on as Marshall tipped him off.

We both run hell for leather into the sea and I hear Xander shout as we dive into the waves. I look around and find Kell and Xan standing on the beach, watching us watch the sunset while holding each other in the water.

“Never change, Mum. I love it.” My son holds me up out of the water and brushes my hair from my face. “Love you.” He smiles at me as I cling onto him.

“I love you, James, always.” We make our way back to the beach holding hands, looking at Kellen and Xander standing together on the beach with our clothes.

“Fuck me, you two are crazy. You could kill yourselves,” Kellen says as he grabs me and kisses me. “Not even a kiss, just straight past us to the beach.” He's looking from one to another, smiling at us, shaking his head.

Xander, who I think is standing watching the sun go totally down, says, “It’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.” But he isn't watching the horizon, he's looking at us—James and Kell and me.

I move towards him. “Hey, Xander.” I kiss his cheek. “I don’t want to wet either of you. Let’s get back and get dry.”

“Ahoy, there,” comes a shout from the cliff tops. I look up to see Marshall, Gerald, and Bucky all waving towels and flasks.

“I bet there’s whiskey in that flask,” says Xander. “Race you up, James.” He hits James on his bare torso, the smack reverberating in the air as he’s dropped his wetsuit top, and they set off at a run towards the climb back up to the top.

I pop my T-shirt over my head and drop my wetsuit top, looking up to see Kellen smiling widely at me.

“You’re back five minutes and carnage erupts. Fucking amazing carnage, but carnage none the less.” He pulls me to him.

“Don’t get wet and cold, I’ll be strung up by everyone,” I tell him.

“Who gives a fuck.” He holds the back of my head and kisses me deeply. “Let’s stay on the beach, let everyone go.” His voice is so low and full of desire, it's practically a growl.

I shake my head at him. “We can’t. Nikki cooked for me. You have to share me a bit, you know.”

He growls into my mouth, “I’m not staying up late for anyone. I need to be buried deep in you as soon as possible. My balls are blue.” He drags me towards the headland and we climb and take drinks of hot chocolate and dry off with the towels and clothes Marshall brought.

Bucky grabs me. “I wish I was there for that chase. Gerald said you and James left them for dead. I’m glad you’re here before we go to Cornwall. It’s so quiet without you.”

“I’m hardly a loud person, Bucky.” The words are barely out of my mouth before everyone starts to laugh.

“You jumped out of that car like the devil was chasing you, and I thought James was going to lose control of that bike. He was throttling it so much with you screaming at him to go faster from the back. So quiet, so, so, quiet,” Xander says.

We set off back for home at a more sedate pace. I get on the back of Bucky’s bike, he’s desperate to have me on it.

“Fucking kids,” moans Kellen as Bucky drags me off his quad laughing.

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