Page 22 of Hunted
“I’m… Uh… I’m good right now,” I tell him, worried about what I’ll do in the water with them all looking so delicious.
“I’ll stay here. Reece, why don't you join them?” Kingsley asks, just as Mo-Mo jumps on my shoulder, nuzzling my neck.
Reece’s eyes flick between us before he nods. Then he proceeds to remove his own pants and shirt. I saw him like this last night, but it’d been really dark in the hut. Now I was seeing him for the first time in full daylight.
His body is lean and muscular and as my eyes scan over his back, he turns to face me. And that’s when I see it. The tattoo over his heart. I gasp, which startles Mo-Mo into jumping back to the trees and scampering away. But I don’t even look in his direction. No, my eyes are glued to the elegant cursive inked into Reece's chest.
I step towards him, my fingers reaching out to touch it. It feels just like the rest of his skin as I trace the letters of my own name -Darla.
“Why?” I whisper, confusion and awe surrounding me.
He reaches up, grabs my wrist, and places my palm over it. I turn my eyes up to his as he gives me what’s becoming his signature intense stare.
“You feel that?”
I take a moment to figure out what he means. “Your heart,” I whisper.
“It beats only for you, Darla.”
He releases my wrist, and I slowly drag my fingers down to look at it again. I can’t believe he did this. He permanently etched my name into his skin. I knew I meant something to him, but this… this solidifies what he’s been saying.
Slowly, I lean forward and press a soft kiss over my name, then turn my head to the side and wind my arms around his back, hugging him tightly. He instantly hugs me back and we stand there in silence, not needing any words to convey what we both feel right now.
After a few minutes, when I feel like I can stand on my own again, I pull back and give him a soft smile. Returning it, he strokes the back of his finger down my cheek, then silently turns and heads to join the other two in the ocean.
“Well, that was intense,” Kingsley says, reminding me that he’s still here.
I let out a deep breath as my mind wanders back to Reece’s tattoo. “Yeah, that was… I didn’t expect that.”
I turn to Kingsley, who’s still seated, staring at the guys in the ocean with what looks like an expression of longing on his face.
“Kingsley?”
“Hmm?” He turns his head to me in question.
“You can join them. I’ll be fine here on my own.”
His brows furrow a bit in confusion before he shakes his head. “That’s okay, I’m fine here.” He turns back to the ocean, the same expression returning to his face.
Does he think I need a babysitter or something? Unsure what’s wrong, but wanting to break him out of his mood, I grab a pear and step over to where he’s sitting.
“You want the last pear, Kingsley?” I ask, offering it out to him.
He glances at it then shakes his head, turning back to the ocean as he answers, “No, thanks.”
I drop my arm and frown down at him. Normally, his eyes are always seeking out mine. What’s changed? Is he upset that I slept with Bower after all? He said it was fine with it, but…
A sharp pang surges through my chest, and I drop the pear, pressing my hand there as if I could hold my heart in place.
Has he changed his mind about me?
Feeling confused and hurt, I reach into my bag to grab Steve, only to find it empty. I pull it open and look inside, my eyes wide with alarm. When did I last see him?
When you were bashing someone’s head in.
Shaking that gruesome image from my head, I run out onto the beach, my eyes searching everywhere. It’s hard to remember exactly where we had been, but I know it was this side of the fire.
“Darla?” I hear Kingsley call my name, but I ignore him. I don’t want to talk to him right now. I need Steve.
