Page 61 of Sin

I don’t like the sound of “for now” on her lips. I want her to tell me that she’s mine forever. I want to be the one she leans on, the one she trusts, the one she can’t imagine her life without.

It’s crazy. She doesn’t even want to get married. That alone should be my sign from God that Lily and I are doomed.

“Great,” I say to clear my head. “Let’s go to the beach.”

She sighs. “Well, I’ll be skipping painting studio, and I need to get something done. Why don’t you let me sketch you?” Her smile grows mischievous. “I can make you the subject of my final project. My classmates will recognize you, and they’ll think I’ve become one of Ethan Harrington’s many groupies. They’ll pity me, thinking I could never land the golden boy. Oh God, I love it.”

Warmth spreads through my chest. Fuck, she’s adorable. I love how unselfconsciously silly she is. “I can’t imagine loving being the subject of ridicule, but I’m happy to lend myself to your cause.”

“I love it because we’re keeping a secret.” A wicked glint appears in her eyes. “It’s like we have our own little world, just the two of us. No one else gets to see this side of you. Just me.”

Possessiveness crashes over me like a tidal wave. Maybe she does feel the same way I do.

She’s mine. Only mine.

And I belong to her.

“Right there, Ethan. Perfect.”

Lily’s eyes sparkle as she takes out a notebook from her woven bag. She’s been in her element since we started scouting locations for her sketches. I’ve never seen her so serious, so authoritative. When I plop down on the sand, her gaze narrows on my face. She sets the charcoal pencil to paper.

She moves quickly, each stroke on the pad fluid and featherlight. Her brow pinches ever so slightly as she glances back and forth between me and the paper. Whenever she looks at my face, her gaze is so intent, so probing, it makes my cock stir.

“Fuck, Lily. I don’t think I can sit like this for long with you staring at me. I want to throw you back on the sand and have my way with you.”

She frowns, picks up a scoop of sand, and tosses it in my direction. “You’re insatiable. I’m actually sore from last night.”

My pulse starts to pound. “Oh shit, really? I didn’t mean to… You should have told me. I wouldn’t have kept going if I knew?—”

“Stop, Ethan.” She rolls her eyes. “You’re the sweetest, most considerate man I’ve ever met. I am sore, but it’s not a bad thing. In fact, it turns me on. Especially the pain on my ass. It reminds me of everything we did last night.”

Electricity shoots into my gut as visceral memories flood through my senses—the slapping sound of her skin as she bounced on my lap, the sight of her plump ass red with the print of my hand.

Fuck, I want her now.

“You’re looking at me like you’re ready to eat me,” she says.

I groan. “I am ready to eat you. It sucks having to just sit here and not touch you. How about we take a quick break?” I pat my thigh. “I only need a few kisses. Maybe somewhere a little more exotic than your pretty mouth…”

She laughs, and it’s a sweet musical sound. “I can’t believe you. We’re in public.”

I glance over my shoulder at the beach. A lone jogger strides across the wet sand near the water. “We’re alone. Mostly.”

She shakes her head, sketching what looks like the shape of my jaw. “I’m a bad influence on you. You’re becoming a degenerate. Imagine what would happen if we were caught having sex in public. It would probably end up on the news.”

I shake my head. “I’m too competitive. I’d make it my mission to make you come without getting caught.”

Her eyes grow huge. “Stop. I need to get this sketch done. It’s technically your job to help me improve my grades, Mr. Harrington. What would Noah think if he knew my accountability partner fucked my brains out last night?” She winces. “Sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel guilty.”

Strangely, she didn’t. Not only has God abandoned me, but so has my loyalty to Noah.

I don’t even know myself.

“I don’t feel guilty, by the way,” Lily says. “Noah’s rule that no teammates can touch his sister is gross. It feels like you were always meant to touch me.”

“Me too. Somehow it feels like…” I twist around and stare out at the ocean. The afternoon sun is like diamonds over the water. A deep, soothing tranquility settles over me. “I don’t know. I wanted you for years, and now…all is finally right with the world. Does that make any sense?”

Her pencil drops to the sand. When I glance up, her gray eyes are fixed on my face. “What do you mean years?” Her voice is quiet.

---