Page 113 of Fated

“It’s not a damn word. It’s me,” I say, touching my finger to the dark stubble on his jaw.

“So you’re the one tying me up, confusing me, making me question everything.” It’s not a question, it’s a statement.

He strides across the sand, following the sunlight toward the cool crystal waters.

“Where are you going?” I ask, looking at the determined glint in his eye.

“Into the water, where I can think.”

“You think best in the water?”

“It’ll cool me off.”

Then the water is splashing around his ankles, and the sandy slope edges down. I cling to Aaron, the hard planes of his abdomen pressed to my breasts. I clutch his shoulders as he strides further into the sea, the tropical fish darting around him, diving into the crags of the limestone and the protective embrace of the coral.

“Why do you need cooling off?” I ask, as the seawater licks at my thighs, then drenches my cotton cover-up. The water is soft, cool, as light as a cloud. It strokes over my skin and laps against me in gentle waves, until it’s up to my shoulders, and I’m nearly submerged.

I press myself tighter to Aaron, wrapping around his heat. Letting the gentle current rock us together.

His eyes flare at the movement of my hips against his.

“Because,” he says, his voice rough, “I want to drop you to the sand, strip off this dress, that red bikini, and make love to you all morning long. I wouldn’t care who came along. I wouldn’t care if the world was ending. That’s how much I want you. I’d make love while this whole island was sinking into the sea and I wouldn’t give a damn. When you say those things, when you look at me like that, I want to make love to you like it’s the first time. That’s why I need cooling off.” He bites out the last, his cheeks flushed, fingers curling into my thighs.

I realize something that I didn’t before. If I make love with Aaron, if we make love, I’ll never, ever love anyone else. Even if it’s a dream, even if it isn’t real, he’ll entwine himself so firmly around my heart that it’ll crack open and let him in. Not just let him in but invite him in and build a home for him, where he’ll stay for the rest of my life. A deep, desperate love, residing in my heart. Not just in my dreams but everywhere.

“You want to make love?” I ask, my heart pounding against his chest.

“No,” he says, watching my mouth. “I’m trying not to.”

“Why?”

“Because I know you’ll regret it. When we make love, I want to know you’ll never regret it.”

“I wouldn’t,” I say, but we both know that’s not true.

He shakes his head, a sad smile at the corners of his lips. The soft current flows around us, tugging at my cover-up and the cotton of his shirt.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

I raise my hand to his cheek, watch a rainbow of waterdrops fall back to the sea. I set my fingers to his mouth. “I may be scared, but I won’t ever regret loving you. I’m sorry if I leave. If I hurt you.”

“Then don’t leave,” he says. “Stay in the water with me.”

I watch his mouth pressing against my fingertips. I wish I could, but, “I can’t. You don’t understand, but it’s just a dream.”

“Then stay in the dream with me. I’ll dream a dream of you, and you can dream a dream of me, and that’s where we’ll meet.”

“All right,” I whisper, my throat aching, the sun reflecting off the bright blue sea. “You’ll stay here? You won’t leave?”

“I’ll stay,” he promises.

A wave rolls over us and I rock against him. Aaron closes his eyes as I move over him, my legs wrapped tight around him. The coolness of the water is gone, replaced by a soft blue warmth. I’m floating, weightless, in Aaron’s arms.

Sparks—the sparks of dreams—travel up my legs, over my thighs, and pool like air bubbles floating through the water to settle effervescent wherever Aaron and I touch. I feel suddenly as if I’m a star, floating in the sea of the sky.

“Will you kiss me?” I ask, and something in my voice makes Aaron’s eyes turn a darker shade.

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