Page 55 of Bound to You

“I’m supposed to leave in just over a month,” I say, almost reminding myself of the fact more than I’m reminding him. He nods slowly.

“I just,” I struggle to find the words. I don’t even really know what I’m trying to say myself. “I don’t want to start something that isn’t real, I don’t want some meaningless summer fling.”Every fiber of my being tells me that isn’t what Caio wants either, but that leaves me lost for what this would be between us.

He closes the distance between us, grabbing my hand and placing it on his chest. “Feel that?” It doesn’t take much concentration to notice the ferocity with which his heart is beating, it mirrors my own. “Does that feel real to you? Because that’s what happens to me every time you walk into a room.” His eyes pierce mine, my hand still on his chest, his heart a continuous quick and unsteady beat under my palm. I try to count them to steady my own, but I can’t keep up.

He’s right this feels real, too real and that’s what scares me. Every minute I spend with Caio my feelings for him grow, my heart just keeps expanding, blowing up more and more like bubblegum, and I’m just waiting for it to pop. It’s like a ticking time bomb.

“Every time you smile at me, or when you laugh for me, Isla,” he places his hand over mine still on his chest. “This is what I can feel, and it feels pretty real to me.”

I look up into his ocean eyes, staring at me with a burning intensity, and any reasoning for why I shouldn’t do this quickly melts away as I wrap my arms around his neck and bring his lips back to mine.

A low growl escapes his lips as he reaches under my ass picking me up with ease and pressing my back into the wall, our kisses more needy than before, more desperate. A clash of tongues swirling together with urgency. I sink my hands into his thick hair, pulling at the roots, making Caio groan into my mouth. I can feel a growing hardness pressed against me, and any throbbing that was earlier in my wrist, is now directed between my legs.

He kisses me with urgency, like he can’t get enough, and neither can I. I feel like I’m going to combust. I’ve never enjoyed kissing someone so much in my life. Never felt like I was burningfrom the inside out. He pulls my bottom lip between his teeth, forcing a moan out of me which just spurs him on. He grinds his hips into me as I claw at his back wanting to be closer than physically possible.

I hear the faint sound of someone clearing their throat in the distance, which I’m completely happy to ignore, but Caio freezes. His head snaps to look down the hall, and my eyes follow his gaze to where Marina stands at the end of the hall.

Oh shit.

I got so swept up that I completely forgot where we are, and by the look on Caio’s face, he did as well.

He hastily sets me down on my feet as Marina openly smirks looking between the two of us. “When you have a minute Isla, I could use you back out on the floor.” She turns on her heels heading back out.

I spare a look to Caio who’s doing his best to look casual. Bliss sparkles in his eyes, not a shadow of regret anywhere to be seen, warming up my insides. I flash him a small smile before following Marina out.

What the fuck did I just do.

When I come back to the bar, my friends and Nora and Vanessa are huddled together exchanging notes. I shake my head holding back a laugh, grabbing a tray of drinks.

Fuckers.

chapter twenty-two

CAIO

I runmy hand through my hair as I pace around my living room. I haven’t been able to sit still since I got home.

What the fuck was I thinking pushing that guy around? I couldn’t help myself. I’ve never felt quite so much rage flow through my veins, like a poison quickly spreading throughout my entire body. But watching him prey on Isla like she was a prize to take home…I clench my fists at the memory of it. I don’t have the right to feel so possessive over her, but I still do, nonetheless.

She drives me crazy; I can’t control my actions around her and it’s dangerous. I know that, but I can’t walk away. She’s an addiction, and I’m already having withdrawals.

I’ve never been able to stay away from her, not since I first locked eyes with her. But it’s not just attraction anymore, or maybe it never was.

She has an energy that pulls me in and holds me there, and I can’t do anything to stop it, not that I want to. Even when I knew she was trying to keep her distance from me, it only made me want to see her more.

God her vanilla scent was so intoxicating when I had her wrapped around me earlier. I silently curse Marina for interrupting us. I don’t know what would’ve happened, but I know I didn’t want it to stop. I finally got my hands on Isla, finally got to taste her, and god was she delicious.

It might’ve been the best kiss I’ve ever had.

She didn’t spare another glance my way after that though, she just carried on working like nothing happened, while I sat at the bar replaying the feel of her lips against mine until I couldn’t take it anymore, I couldn’t watch her act so indifferent, I had to leave.

I know she felt what I did. She wouldn’t have been climbing me like a pole otherwise, what I don’t know is if she regrets it.

I know she’s been hurt in the past, and I know that’s why she’s been doing her best to pretend this thing between us isn’t happening.

I can’t blame her, the knowledge that she is leaving at the end of the summer hovers at the edge of my mind, but it’s not enough to stop me from wanting her, I don’t think anything is.

I don’t want for much in my life, I know I have everything I could’ve wished for when I left my life behind at twenty-one. But I crave her, I want whatever this is between us to be more. I want to know everything there is to know about Isla Beckett. I want to ease her every worry, I want to be the person that she turns to first, that she can count on. Whatever this is between us, I need it. I need more.

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