Page 96 of Somebody's Watching Me
Another blast of air whooshed past, and the clouds churning around them transformed the once blue sky into shades of purple. Rain would arrive any second, making them drenched from head to toe.
“The sand will help our feet,” he said, trying not to let his teeth chatter. “It’ll create a protective layer as we walk back.
Annabeth ceased her cold dance. “I think he would have liked you.”
“Who?”
“My dad.” She came closer, her hands sliding to his biceps. “He was a scientist. Well, a science teacher. He always wanted to learn and share what he knew with others.” Her eyes grew distant like they had in the squeaky sand. “I’ve blocked out so much after that night, and it’s hard to recall exact memories, but I think he would have liked you.”
Rowan didn’t know what to say. She never discussed the night her father died, only telling him of the nightmares where she relived the whole thing. Curiosity had gotten the better of him once, and he unearthed the police reports, reading how Devon Howard’s body had fallen on his daughter, trapping her face down in the mud. Notes from the responding medical teams remarked on the curled state of her hands and the amount of dirt caked under her nails from when she had tried to crawl to safety.
“Rowan?” She licked her lips, adorably nervous. “Will you kiss me?”
A shot of electricity tingled through his nervous system, and he would have sworn lightning had struck him where he stood. This was it. No more walls. No more barriers.
“Once this starts, there’s no stopping,” he told her, surprised at how calm he sounded. The level of adrenaline currently pumping through him equated to the time he jumped out of an airplane and the chute malfunctioned for a hot second. “Do you understand?”
She smiled, dazzling him right down to his very soul. “I understand.”
Bending slightly, he cupped the back of her head, and standing in the water, freezing their asses off with a storm threatening above, Rowan McIntyre kissed Annabeth Howard for the first time.
And it was glorious.
Telling himself to go slow, he allowed her to take the lead, and his girl did not disappoint. Bringing her hands to his jaw, she parted her lips, letting him explore with his tongue.
But at the first exquisite taste, the control Rowan thought he held snapped like a twig, and he snatched her to him with a growl. Water splashed, soaking them more, but who the hell cared? He was kissing Annabeth, her body warm and perfect against his.
She moaned as the kiss continued, and he committed it to memory, the sound sealing her fate as if it weren’t already decided. “Mine,” he whispered. “You’re mine, woman.”
Hooking an arm low around her thighs, he hoisted her up, and when she wrapped her legs around his waist, their lips crashed together again. Never would he be able to extinguish this fiery need. Never in a hundred thousand years would she ever be able to give enough of herself to where he wouldn’t forever fall to his knees and beg for more.
The rain made its entrance, first in droplets and then in sheets falling over the beach. With Annabeth anchored around him, Rowan ended the kiss to trudge to the sand and jog his way back as the downpour increased. He bypassed their shoes laying haphazardly at the base of the dunes. The storm would only last a minute, and they couldgrab them once it passed.
Under the bookshop’s awning, he lowered her to stand and shook the water out of his hair. God, she was fucking cute when she giggled.
“So,” he said, casually as if his whole life hadn’t just changed. “What were we talking about?”
“Surfing, I think?”
Taking the bottom of his shirt, he twisted it to wring the water out. “Want me to teach you how?”
Annabeth’s gaze dipped low, taking in the flash of his stomach. As if hypnotized, she nodded absently. “Oh, yes. Please.”
To have her look at him like that was a sure fire way to get sidetracked, and they needed to return soon. “Once you get a feel for it, we can go down to my old haunt at Surfside and get some good practice in.”
“Surfside?”
“It’s west of Galveston. The beach isn’t as nice as the one here, but the waves are better and an ideal place to learn.”
He could see it. As the words crossed his lips, he could actually see the spell cast by their kiss crumble into dust. Texas. Why would he say that? She couldn’t go into a Texaco gas station, let alone Texas.
Not yet, at least. Hope would always remain. Even if she regressed and they spent their lives locked inside Haven House, his faith in her would never waver.
“Galveston?” Hugging herself from the cold, Annabeth turned away to sit on a patio chair. The wet strands of her hair dripped onto the planked flooring. Theplop, plop, plop, filling the silence. “As in Texas?”
“Uh, yeah.” The burner phone rang in his pocket. The only person who had the number was Liam, and Rowan held up a finger as he answered. “What’s up?”
“Shit. Fan. Here. Now.”
