Page 35 of Destined For Forever

“You’re beautiful, Lily. So bloody beautiful.”

Something flickered across her face. In the lamplight, he could see the golden glimmers in her brown irises, and all the other intricate, minute details of her. The small moles dotting her shoulders and arms, the tiny scar that intersected the end of one eyebrow, the faint silvery stretch marks on her upper thighs and hips from when she’d had a growth spurt one summer.

Things which some might wrongly label as imperfections, but that he saw as the humanity of her. The realness of her.

“I haven’t felt beautiful in a long time,” she replied.

Now why had she told him that?

Tonight wasn’t about baring her soul. It wasn’t about sharing her vulnerabilities. Or her insecurities. It was about physical pleasure. Blowing off steam. Indulgence and basic human need. It was about giving in to feelings she’d held for a very long time.

Because, before tonight, she’d felt so emotionally bruised. So battered. So heart-weary.

“That jerk doesn’t deserve to crush your confidence.” Sean cupped her face.

“If only it was one opinion.” She lowered her eyes. “Over the last month I’ve heard nothing but how I wasn’t good enough for him.”

“They don’t know you like I do. You’ve got the heart of a lion and the soul of an artist.” He wrapped his arm around her naked body. “And beauty wouldn’t be worth a thing if you didn’t have the insides to match. But you do, Lily. You do.”

He brought his lips down to hers and she slipped her arms around his neck, needing his strength and his confidence and his ability to just… be. Lord, how she needed it. She blinked, finding her eyes filled with tears. Horrified at the thought of crying when she was supposed to be getting it on, she blinked them away.

“When did you get so good with words, Sean Hutcherson?”

“It’s been a while,” he replied with a roguish smile. “I grew up.”

She looked up into his pale eyes and the heavy brows that gave his face resonance. “You sure did.”

He kissed her again, and this time he walked her back to the bed. She wanted nothing more than to feel the weight of him pressing her into the soft mattress and to lose herself in the slide of his palms over her body. She wanted to forget who she was when she’d boarded that plane out of LA and remember the woman who’d packed her bags and left home with hope glowing like sunshine.

She wanted to be that woman again. Desperately.

Her hands slid to the buttons on his shirt, popping them free, one by one. As they parted, she caught sight of the tattoos hiding underneath. There was an intricate design decorating one side of his chest and another on his right bicep. She pushed the shirt to the floor and traced the ink with her fingertip.

“Wow, these are gorgeous.”

They were high-quality pieces. Art. The design on his chest was all black and featured foamy waves with a fin poking out.

“It’s an orca fin,” he explained. “Orcas are known for their strong family bonds. It’s rare for one to separate from their pod for longer than a few hours. They look after one another and stay together for life.”

“Just like you and Zoey,” she said.

“Yeah.”

Lily had been the one to leave her family behind—five years she’d been head down on the other side of the world, losing her sense of time and space while she worked and worked and worked. She would lose weeks at a time, forgetting to call home, missing birthdays, sacrificing so much.

Was it worth it?

“Got any more?” she asked with a cheeky smile, trying to focus on the present and not the past. Not on all her mistakes.

“Nope.” He grinned. “Just the ones you see.”

“I should probably double check,” she replied, her fingertip tugging on the waistband of his jeans so she could peek inside. “It pays to be thorough, right?”

Amusement sparkled in his expression as they undressed. Bending over, she unzipped her boots and removed them. Then she peeled her thigh-high stockings down, one at a time, her eyes never leaving his. The way he looked at her… his gaze could start a fire. It warmed her up, fuelled her. Soothed her.

She dropped the wispy stockings to the floor, and let a wicked smile curve her lips. Whatever line she might cross tonight, she was going to have fun. She needed a little more of that in her life!

Hooking her thumbs into the waistband of her underwear, she peeled the fabric slowly over her hips and down her thighs. There was something cathartic about it—like she was a snake shedding its skin. Unburdening herself. Letting go of the past.

---