Page 121 of Lost Paradise

“You haven’t got any shoes!” she exclaims, worry etched on herface.

“I’ll live.”

“I could try and piggyback you,” she offers earnestly.

I huff a laugh, and her serious expression only makes me chuckle more. I grab her face, cupping it gently, and lean down to kiss her lips. “You’re fucking awesome, Princess.”

“I’m serious,” she insists, her eyes fierce with determination.

“That’s what makes it even better, luv.”

I run up the beach and collect her clothes and shoes, bringing them back to her. Her concern and willingness to help touches me in ways I can’t fully express.

“What about you?” she asks, worry still evident in her voice.

“I’m happy never to put on clothes again,” I say with a grin.

“Then I’ll do the same,” she insists.

“You’d live like me? As a savage?”

“You have no idea how much I admire your carefree ability to cast everything off and not give a shit,” she says, her eyes shining with admiration.

For a moment, I’m struck by the sincerity in her gaze. This girl, who could have anything and anyone, chooses me, to share in my world, to see beyond the scars and the rough edges. I pull her close again, my heart swelling with a mix of emotions I can’t quite name.

“You don’t have to be like me, Eve. Just be you. That’s more than enough.” I whisper, my voice rough with emotion.

She smiles, a soft, radiant smile that lights up the darkness around us. “Being with you makes me feel like I can be myself.”

I reach for her clothes and offer them to her. “Let me help you get dressed.”

She hesitates, her eyes glinting mischievously. “As long as you plan to get dressed, otherwise, I want to be a naked savage with you.”

I chuckle softly. “I don’t think the others would appreciate you and me parading around naked. Scratch that, I’m sure they’d love you, but my cock offends them.”

She grins, her eyes sparkling with playful defiance. “I think you have an amazing, large, and wonderful cock.”

I smirk, shaking my head. “That’s exactly why they don’t want me parading it around them.”

She laughs, the sound light and infectious, easing the tension from earlier. As I help her slip back into her clothes, I can’t help but marvel at how quickly she can turn my world upside down and make everything seem brighter.

Once dressed, she stands before me, looking both confident and vulnerable. Her eyes hold mine with an intensity that sends a thrill through me. “You know,” she says softly, “you don’t have to be anyone else but you. That’s all I want.”

I pull her into my arms, holding her close, feeling the warmth of her body against mine. “And you don’t have to change for anyone, either. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

She tilts her head up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Thank you,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “For everything.”

I kiss her forehead gently, feeling the softness of her skin beneath my lips.

She’s thanking me, yet she’s the light to my darkness. Every moment with her, every touch, every word, chips away at the shadows that have clung to me for so long.

We stand there for a moment, wrapped in each other’s arms, the world around us fading into insignificance. The night is still, the only sound is the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore. It feels like we’re the only two people in the universe, bound together by a connection that transcends everything.

Finally, I pull back slightly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “Come on,” I say softly. “Let’s head back to the camp. Foster will probably send out the troops to look for you soon.”

She giggles.

“Laugh now, but you have no idea the panic he was in when you didn’t turn up last night. Jack and I, too, but we thought we would have to restrain him from going on a mission in the middle of the night to look for you. Just don’t let him know I told you. You know, big bossy alpha losing his cool on his missing alpha queen isn’t a good look for him.”

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