“Where are you going with that?” My lips were hot and inflamed from his kisses. I wanted more.
“In here.” He ducked into a cavern—the remains of a house carved out of the stone. Cave houses were common in the area. This one looked like it had been built and abandoned a long time ago.
Spreading the towel on the ground, Alex patted the spot beside him. It was dark inside, which accentuated the colors bursting in the sky. Viewing the sunset through the circular entrance of the cave house was like looking into a kaleidoscope of changing light and color. Golden hues turned to violet as the sun tilted deeper into the sea. It retreated slowly, getting smaller and smaller, until it was a glittering dot where all the colors met. A white haze settled in the thin line where the sea met the sky. My hand inched toward Alex’s as we held our breath, waiting for the inevitable darkness to erase the boundary. Our fingers touched, tip to tip. Then his hand claimed mine.
If hands made sounds, mine would have purred. It was happy. Perfectly content, even though the man holding it was missing an extra thumb. In fact, it was a very bad hand for feeling so right in Alex’s warm grip. It was a hand in need of obedience training. It reached out and traced the fading sliver of light along Alex’s cheekbone. His breath caught and his eyes turned to mine, a wild flickering in their depths. When his lips grazed soft kisses across my palm, my entire body hummed in response.
This man. His touch. His taste. His gaze.
He watched the play of emotions across my face as his tongue blazed a wet trail along my palm. Nothing soft or chaste about his kiss now. I felt it all the way between the junction of my thighs.
Fuck. The gloves are off. We aren’t on the boat. He’s not crew. I’m not client. Alex isn’t holding back anymore.
It would be so easy to get swept away, to give in to the wild heat that burned for his touch.
He tiptoed two fingers up my arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps. Up, up, past my shoulders, my neck, my jaw.
“So many thoughts.” He tapped the center of my forehead softly. “What’s going on in there?”
“You won’t understand.”
“You’ve decided? Without giving me a chance?”
Our eyes appraised each other: his strong and steady, mine scanning for all the imprecise, nameless things that guide hearts.
“Sometimes,” I said. “I think if I do the wrong thing, my mother will die.” It was a loaded confession, absurd even, but saying it out loud made it easier to breathe. Saying it made the chains around my chest loosen their hold.
Alex tilted his head. “Explain.”
I broke away from him and stared at the indigo sky. “You already know part of the story. The lady who interpreted my natal chart told Dolly my true love would have three thumbs. She said I’d meet him by the water, but I’d also die in the water. And if I married someone other than my true love, my mother would die within seven days.”
Alex didn’t respond, but at least he wasn’t laughing at me. I could feel him putting together pieces of the puzzle. “That’s an awfully big responsibility to be walking around with.” He wrapped his arm around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. We watched the lights come on, one by one, on the distant shore. “And you’ve been carrying it with you since you were born?”
My eyes welled up with unshed emotions, but I blinked them back. The moment was too pretty to be blurred. I wanted to remember it exactly like it was. Sharp and colored. The sea. The sky. The man sitting beside me.
Most people would’ve tried to make me see how ridiculous Ma Anga’s prediction was. Hell, I’d tried to reason myself out of it too. But Alex seemed to understand. Our fears aren’t always logical. They justare.
“It makes sense now.” His voice rumbled through his chest, where my cheek had claimed a spot. “What your grandmother said, about your mother only allowing you to be with someone with three thumbs. Is that what’s stopping you from being with me? Is that why you’re going after Nikos? What doyouwant, Moti?”
In my heart, I knew. I wanted Alex. Undeniably, irrefutably Alex. “It’s easy here. Removed from everything.” I gestured to the colors darkening outside the cavern, the villages sparkling with warm, silver lights.
“But Nikos is the easier choice.” His fingers stroked my hair.
I almost wished he’d try to sway me, but the truth is no one can battle your demons for you. Your doubts and fears are your own to feed or to slay.
Being with Alex meant turning my back on Dolly. What if choosing Alex over Nikos—a summer fling over a long-ordained sign—led to more? What if a seemingly innocuous path, step by step, ended up leading to Dolly’s death?
“See that light over there?” Alex pointed to an island in the distance, its dark outline reflected in the water. “That one’s mine. My place by the sea. Fresh fish, tomatoes as sweet as candy apples, string lights on the patio, little tables under gnarled trees.” He sat back, leaning on his hands. “Yep. Totally claiming that one.”
“I want that one.” I pointed to a star. “It would take Dolly forever to get there.”
We laughed, and I thought, once again, how much I liked the little groove in his cheek.
“What I wouldn’t give to have a moment with my mother.” He looked at the sky, as if he might find her among the stars, pinned to the heavens like a sparkling memory.
I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my chin on them. I wanted the kind of relationship with Dolly that Alex had had with his mother. I wanted to remember her with a smile after she was gone, not regret. If someone tells you they don’t care what their mother thinks of them, they’re lying—if not to you, then to themselves. Deep down, we all want to be loved by the woman who gave us life. Doesn’t matter if you’re six or sixty.
“What was your mother’s name?” I asked.
