“Fine, but we’re leaving in half an hour, no arguments.” He didn’t do scary and stern very well in my opinion, not even when he turned and tried to glare like Cillian did. I gave him a kiss for his efforts, though, and he sucked on my bottom lip, which had me worried about the ability of my borrowed shorts to keep my dick in check.
I glanced out at the water, regretting the loss of the day we’d had planned. There was a cooler in the car we hadn’t brought down to the beach yet, with food in it that Rowen had made for us. I’d been looking forward to it.
“Oh don’t be sad, please. I can’t stand it.” My heart leaped when he stepped in to kiss me, taking me by surprise.
“I’m not,” I whispered against his lips. “I was just really excited about our day. This is only my second date as an adult. My second real date.”
“And now ye’re upset I said we have to leave. That would be sad ye’re feeling, ye silly thing.”
“Oh well, then yeah, I guess I am a little.”
He puffed out his cheeks, which were starting to get pink despite the sunscreen we’d used. “We’ll stay for a while. Nothing’s happened yet. It’s possible Cillian’s being overly cautious.”
I didn’t like that he sounded as if he was talking himself into something, though, like in reality he thought whatever Cillian had told him on the phone was a true emergency and we were now ignoring it. Unease slithered through me, but Iwantedto stay at the beach. I waded out until the cool water was at my thighs and flopped forward with a laugh, then swam along the edge of the shore for a few minutes. I loved stretching my arms and cutting through the water because I was okay at it. Swimming was nearly as good as running for burning off energy.
Rowen shook his head at me from his spot firmly on the sand and laughed when I came back and took a lap past him. I did that for a while, losing myself in the strokes of my arms and the water until I was tired and stopped near him, coming back to land. Gravity was awful when I stood and dug my toes into the sand. I shook myself all over, and Rowen held out his hands to ward me off.
“Ye’re like a giant dog. Knock it off,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m cold, warm me up!” I chased after him. He ran. We spent a few minutes with him tearing along the beach faster than me, but eventually I caught him, and he let out a shriek that seemed like genuine shock as I wrapped my cold arms around him. He groaned as I held him close and burrowed my face against his neck.
“I didn’t know ye were like this or I would’ve left ye in the ocean.” He poked my stomach lightly.
I laughed, and he turned and hugged me. “Come into the water,” I begged.
He sighed. “Not too far. I’m not fond of it.”
Impatiently I waited while he set his phone down next to mine. It made me happy to see our electronics touching, almost like everything in my life was friends with all the stuff in his. He grabbed my hand and we went in until the waves hit Rowen’s knees. He pulled me to a halt with his arms around my waist and dragged me in for a kiss, and I froze, thinking about another very different kiss I’d had last night—namely Cillian tonguing my ass.
“Angel, what’s wrong?” he asked, leaning back.
“Last night, while you were asleep... Cillian had sex with me. In the living room. In front of Aspen.” I knew we’d discussed me being with Cillian, but it had seemed undecided to me because he hadn’t been there when Rowen and I had talked.
“Not a shock. More surprised Aspen kept his hands off ye.” He rubbed low on my back, not pushing me away or accusing me of doing anything wrong the way I’d half expected.
Guilt gnawed at me. “He didn’t have sex with me,” I said and couldn’t miss the way Rowen’s eyes narrowed. The wind lifted his hair and I reached up to smooth it down again.
“Just tell me what happened.”
I glanced out at the boats, and he hooked my chin with his fingers and turned my face back to him. “Aspen watched me while Cillian was inside me. Fucking me,” I murmured.
Rowen didn’t say anything, only stared at me for a moment and sloshed nearer so our bellies pressed together. Our knees bumped. His grip on me tightened.
“Are you angry?”
“Did ye enjoy it?” he asked, and there was something in his tone I didn’t like.Fuck, he is mad.
“Yes.”
He let out a long breath but didn’t shove me away. “If ye’d’ve thought to lie to me and say no, I might feel a sort of way about Aspen watching ye, a bad one. But ye never do lie to me. I’m not angry about it, so long as ye were good with it. Didn’t feel pushed into it, did ye?”
“Not at all.”
Rowen slid his hand up the back of my neck and urged me forward. The tension that had sent my stomach into freefall without me realizing vanished as he kissed me, just as nicely as he did earlier. I moaned and chased after his tongue with mine until I was teasing my way into his mouth. His hands drifted lower. Any more and we would be inappropriate in public, and the idea gave me a thrill.
The ringtone from Rowen’s phone broke us apart. He sighed and marched back over to our towels to get it. I followed him, and by the time he picked up his phone it was ringing again. “Aye? We’re feckin’ fine,” he answered.
There was angry shouting on the other end that I could hear as I shuffled closer, and I thought maybe it was Cillian. Rowen grabbed my hand and pulled me flush against his side. “All right, we’re moving.”
