They’ve wound their way down the path, so that they’re now only twenty metres or so up, waves crashing white against rock either side of them. The ocean is a glistening blue, and if Lissa didn’t know how dangerous it could be, she’d say it looked almost inviting.
‘You know,’ Ash says contemplatively, ‘I’m pretty sure this is a spot I read about when I looked the place up. You can jump from here.’
Lissa laughs, sure it’s a joke, but he grins at her, completely misreading her response. Grins at her in a way that for a moment makes her heart stutter with something that can only be fear.
He kicks off his shoes. He’s kidding. He’sgotto be kidding. His eyes are alight as he looks down at the water. ‘You only live once, right?’
And he jumps. He actually fucking dives off the cliff edge and into the sea below.
Lissa doesn’t even scream. Because already she is running, adrenaline flooding her system in a way that makes her feel sick. She looks frantically one way, then the other, searching for a path down to the beach.
Shit. Shit! What if he gets knocked unconscious? What if he needs help? She can’t swim. What the fuck is she supposed to do? She fumbles for her phone as she sees a narrow overgrown path and sprints for it. She stumbles, skidding down a few feet.
Her vision is blurring. She can feel the water as if it’s pouring into her own lungs.
Not again, not again, not again.
She reaches the shoreline to see him surfacing. He whoops, as if it’s a fucking game. There are rocks ten metres or so either side of him. He could have hit his head. He could havedied.
She’s breathing heavily, her hands literally shaking, while he strikes out in a front crawl towards her. He’s still wearing his clothes. He didn’t even bother to take the time to think of what might have happened.
He stands up, shaking his head like a dog. She is still trembling. But it’s not from fear any more.
Hot anger surges through her, so forceful it’s almost painful. She can feel her heartbeat pounding, urging her to do something. Tosmashsomething. Her muscles quiver as hegrinsat her. Then that grin falters, at whatever he sees in her expression.
‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ She doesn’t shout. She’s beyond that. Instead the words are tight, lethal. She doesn’t think she’s ever heard herself speak like this before.
‘I—’
But there is no justification he can give, so she holds her hand up. ‘If you ever do something like that again, Ash, I swear to God, I’m done with whatever the fuck this is.’
He moves a little closer to her, now only ankle-deep in the waves, his shorts sopping wet. She hopes it fucking hurts, walking on the pebbles barefoot.
‘It was safe, Liss,’ he says. His voice is soothing – it’s almost like he thinks she’s overreacting. Like he thinks it’s totally acceptable to quite literally jump off a fucking cliff.
‘You can’t possibly know that.’ She plants her legs wide, to stop her doing something stupid. What, she’s not quite sure. ‘Andyoumight not put any value on your life, butIdo.’
He moves closer to her, but she backs away. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset—’
‘Upset?’ She lets out a hysterical laugh. ‘I’m not upset. I amlivid.’ And it feelsgoodto feel this anger. To direct it outward. Because, she realises, she is so fucking angry. Angry at him, angry at herself. Angry at Chloe for climbing over the fence, for going into the pond that day.
Her breath is hot between her teeth, her skin crawling, adrenaline surging again. She turns, needing to work off the excess energy. He reaches for her hand, and she snatches it away. She can hear the crunch of pebbles beneath her trainers.
‘Lissa …’ His voice is placating.
‘Don’t,’ she snaps. She turns back to see him watching her. His skin is glistening, his eyes the colour of the ocean behind him.
She is still so angry. Still has all this energy, with nowhere to direct it. So she does the only thing she can think of. She strides towards him, fists her hands into the front of his T-shirt. And kisses him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It is not a gentle brush of lips this time. This time, when she kisses him, he captures her mouth with his, hot and hard and certain, his hands moving to her waist, fingers digging in. He tastes of salt and sea andhim, and God, the relief to finally have his mouth on hers. She moves her hands to his hair, angling his head down towards her. She is not cautious, not this time. She only wantsmore.
He mutters a soft oath against her lips as she pushes against him, feeling the wet of his clothes clinging to her. It’s not enough. She runs her hands down his back, nails lightly scraping against his shirt. His mouth moves to glide down her throat. She lets out a moan as she tilts her head to give him better access to her neck, her fingers tightening their hold on his back.
And then he lifts her, quite literally hoists her up, and she doesn’t even have time to gasp with the shock of it, because as she hooks her legs around his waist, he is kissing her again, moving to press her back against the rock. The feeling of him between her thighs sends a rush of heat to her core. She is practically clawing at him, hands coming to his front to run up under his T-shirt, feeling smooth, hard muscle. He shudders at her touch, bites her bottom lip softly and presses her back further against the cliff.
She can taste it, the same urgency in him, and wonders if that feeling is why he jumped in the first place. If this has been simmering underneath the whole time. Need stretches out in every direction as his tongue sweeps hers. She doesn’t think she’s ever felt like this – it’s overpowering, all-consuming.
