Page 72 of Forsaken Oath

“And over there,” Beau continues, his finger moving slightly to the left, “that’s Canis Major, Orion’s loyal hunting dog. The brightest star is Sirius, the dog star.”

I hum softly, enjoying the rumble of his voice and the solid warmth of his body next to mine. “Show me more,” I murmur, my fingers interlacing with his beneath the rippling surface of the water.

Beau’s lips curve into a smile against my temple before he gently guides us to our backs, the warm water cradling our bodies as we float together beneath the endless expanse of the night sky. My hair fans out around me, the strands swirling and dancing in the gentle current.

“There’s something different about stargazing out here,” Beau murmurs, his deep voice resonating through the quiet night. “It’s like you’re suspended between two universes. The depths below and the heavens above.”

I reach for him, lacing our fingers together as he points out every star we can see and even the ones we can’t.

I lose track of how long we drift there, suspended between the warm embrace of the water and the glittering expanse of stars above. Beau’s steady presence anchors me, his thumb rubbing soothing circles over my knuckles as he murmurs stories of the constellations, his voice a deep, hypnotic rumble that settles into my bones.

In this moment, floating weightless and untethered from the rest of the world, I feel something shift inside me. A lock clicking open, a wall crumbling, some inner barrier falling away.

It’s the most peaceful I’ve ever felt in my life.

The realization is startling. My chest aches in the most bittersweet way. I can’t remember ever feeling like this, not just in someone else’s presence, but in my own skin.

Is this what tranquility feels like?

It’s as if all the scattered, jagged pieces of myself have finally settled into place, if only for this stolen pocket of time.

My eyes water, and my soul aches. It feels profoundly unfair that I had to wait so long to experience such a wonderful feeling.

My breath hitches with overwhelming emotion, evoked by such a simple thing.

Holding hands, floating in a pool, looking at the stars.

In five years, ten, even twenty, I’ll look back on this moment with fondness. A pivotal moment, and I’m not going to waste it.

I let my feet hit the bottom just as he turns toward me. The water laps gently around us, the only sound in the still night air. His eyes find mine, dark and intense in the moonlight, and the breath catches in my throat.

“Beau,” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my own heart.

The words stick in my throat, tangled up with a thousand feelings I’m not quite ready to name. But in this moment,suspended in the warm water with the stars stretched endlessly above us, I feel vulnerable and brave.

“Peach,” he murmurs, his gaze roaming my face, his brows dipping low.

His hand comes up to cradle my cheek, his thumb brushing feather-light over my cheekbone. The touch is so tender, so achingly gentle, that it steals the breath from my lungs. He leans in slowly, his nose brushing against mine, his lips hovering a hairsbreadth from my own.

“It’s alright, baby,” he whispers, his breath warm against my skin.

And then he’s kissing me with a reverence I’ve never felt before. His lips are soft and gentle as they mold to mine. Tender and unhurried, like we have all the time in the world.

He tastes like promises and possibilities, like a future I never dared to dream of until this moment. His kiss is a revelation, a whispered secret shared between us in the hush of the night.

I melt into him, my hands sliding up his bare chest to loop around his neck, pulling him closer. The water swirls around us, a gentle caress against our skin as we lose ourselves in each other.

When we finally part, I’m breathless and dizzy, my heart racing in my chest. Beau rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his breath coming in soft pants.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, baby.”

“That sounds terrible,” I whisper with a soft laugh.

“Nah, it’s the only way to go,” he says with a wide grin, dimples popping. “Death by Eloise’s sweet peach.”

“Oh my god, that was such a line.Eloise’s sweet peach,” I mimic his deep voice through laughter.

His laugh rumbles through his chest, the sound warm and rich in the quiet night. “Oh, is that funny, hm?”

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