Page 73 of Beacon

My shoulders sank in relief and I leaned back against his warmth, finding solace in the rhythmic beating of his heart against my cheek and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. The position became even more comforting as his arms wound back around me to hold me close. Silence settled back around us, all while he continued to hold me. With all our pretending and fake engagement, he’d never held me quite likethisbefore.

Eventually, he spoke again, as if his curiosity simply couldn’t be contained for long. “How long has it been since you last…?”

I held up ten fingers. His eyes rounded.

“Adecade? Was today your first word?” Wonder settled over him at my nod. “And it was my name…”

A blush swallowed my cheeks as I burrowed myself back against him to avoid looking at him. He was silent a long moment before his arms slowly came back around me to cradle me close. He nestled his cheek against my hair.

“Why…did you say my name?”

I was reluctant to pull away from him, but showing him was the best way to explain now that my words had been buried once more. I led him across the rocks, retracing the path he’d ventured moments before, and paused several feet from the hidden drop. The arrangement of the rocks made it difficult to see, so it took Owen a moment to understand, but once he did…

He gasped. “I almost—” For a moment he could only gape at the hidden drop before he glanced sideways towards me. “You saw I was about to be hurt and wanted to protect me…but because you were too far away you were forced to speak.”

I lowered my gaze, suddenly feeling shy. My skin tingled as his fingers caressed my chin, urging me to meet his gentle expression.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed. I’m so grateful you saved me…again. This is getting to become a habit with us. Thank you.”

The way he looked at me was so different from how he had before. I felt something pass between us. Without thought I reached up to brush away some of the sand lingering on his cheek. He leaned against my fingers, his look not just soft but somehow deeper.

“Marisa…” His tone caused heat to spread through my chest, creating a sensation so different from the times our charade had forced us in close proximity. This feeling grew and expanded, and with it came the desire to speak his name again, especially considering how right it’d felt passing my lips.

His eyes pleaded for me to speak again, as if he sensed my struggle and wanted my voice to come out conqueror…something I wasn’t strong enough to allow to happen.

“Won’t you speak?”

In an instant, the tender moment was ruined. Though I would never regret saving him, his rescue had come at a cost, creating a pressure that hadn’t existed between us before: now that he knew Icouldspeak, would he expect it? Would his previous patience for my silence falter now that he realized it was no longer needed?

The thought caused my voice to recede deeper into my soul. I flinched away, forcing him to drop his hand. He was instantly remorseful. “I’m sorry, I—”

I turned to head back up the beach. Why was he pressuring me to speak? I thought he not only understood me but accepted me even with my silence. His words had ripped away the safety I usually experienced with him, leaving me vulnerable as well as guilty that I’d mislead him into misbelieving the reasons I couldn’t speak.

I ignored him as he called my name and didn’t slow until he’d caught up to me and seized my wrist. “Wait, Marisa. Please.”

I obediently stilled but refused to look at him. He took a wavering breath.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—I spoke without thinking. I’m sorry.”

I said nothing, only continued to stare at the waves rolling across the shore.

“I behaved insensitively. Of course you wouldn’t wish to speak of your silence, especially when there’s undoubtedly a good reason for it.”

Wasthere? I was no longer entirely certain. In this moment there were so many things I yearned to say even as I desired to bury my voice so deeply that it never need emerge again.

Yet mingling with these feelings was a deep sense of gratitude that my voice hadn’t been completely stolen so that I could use it when I’d desperately needed to speak. If I hadn’t retrieved it from the ocean or been brave enough to accept it once more, it would have been impossible to speak Owen’s name and save him for danger.

I tried not to remember what it’d felt like to have his name be the first word to pass my lips in a decade. No matter how strong the desire to speak it again, I couldn’t act on it…even if it meant I had to once more lock my voice away. Regret mingled with my accompanying relief, but it was nothing to what I felt having Owen safe.

“Marisa?” His gentle voice pierced my thoughts, beckoning me to look at him…and once I did, I couldn’t look away, neither from him nor the regret filling his deep blue eyes. “I’m truly sorry.”

It wasn’t fair for him to need to apologize—it wasn’t his fault he hadn’t known the entire story. I rested my hands over my heart and lowered my head in remorse, my own apology, which he accepted. Even after securing one another’s forgiveness, Owen didn’t pull away. Instead he returned to the moment we’d enjoyed before my hurt had interrupted it. He lifted his hand, his movements slow and methodical. Tingles followed the heated trail of his touch as his fingers caressed my cheek, intensifying the energy filling the spaces between us. I’d only spoken a single word, yet somehow it’d been enough to bring us closer.

“You’re so brave to overcome your silence in order to protect me.”

With each word he stepped closer and I instinctively leaned towards him, drawn to him in spite of my fear that this man, more than anyone else, might be the key to unlocking my hidden voice despite my previous longings to keep it trapped forever.

“I’m so grateful we’ve had this time together. To think of our first interaction at your lighthouse, it’s amazing how much has changed since then.”

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