“I thought you might need to cool down your thoughts a little.”
“Cool them down?!”
“You looked like you were burning up.”
Casey glares at me, before pacing quickly towards me and launching herself at me. I lose my balance, falling backwards into the sea, bringing her with me – we both end up with our heads under the water.
“Fucking hell!” I gasp, screaming. “It’s freezing!”
“Oh, really?” she says, still hurling herself against me.
She throws her arms around my neck, her legs wrapping around my waist. Our soaking wet clothes and the freezing water stop us from fighting, calming us both down immediately – but we stay like that, clinging to each other.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
I laugh, my teeth chattering. “I wanted to see you all wet.”
Casey flares up again, trying flimsily to push me under by my shoulders – but it’s no use. I grab her waist, slowly sliding her body against mine. I can feel her skin, merging into my own.
The night; the cold air; the water surrounding us.
Our eyes, calling each other.
Our breathing, growing shallower.
Our bodies, overflowing with longing.
The memory of that night hits me unexpectedly, quickly taking over my thoughts and all my instincts.
I glance at her just for a second – but it’s enough time to see all my desires reflected in her, letting the flame inside me start to set her ablaze.
Her mouth is the first to give in. Our lips push and pull at each other, starved with longing, and overwhelmed by the strength of their battle. I can taste her – my mind recognises her instantly – mixed with the salty water, with passion. With madness.
Withus.
I can still taste us both on her lips. My tongue, desperate to taste her inside me, darts fiercely into her mouth, seeking out her own.
My hands slide over her top, her erect nipples calling me through the layers of wet fabric. I lift it up, trying to pull it over her head – when it falls into the water, I turn my attention back to her, taking her breasts in my hands. I squeeze them; I want to feel them in my fingers, to kiss them, lick them and torture them until I can trace back my own movements across her skin. I bend down, pushing aside the material of her bra, and suck excitedly at her nipple, spurred on by the taste of salt, as her hands grip at my hair, forcing my face against her body, scratching her, biting her.
One taste isn’t enough for her; and it’s not enough for me, either.
I lift my gaze and search out her eyes. They’re filled with confusion, with desire; with impatience.
“Casey…” I say, breathlessly.
She stops me with her mouth, pushing her hips against me, preventing me from saying another word. And I let myself be eaten up by the flames of her own personal hell, giving her what little heaven I have left in me; a heaven that, years ago, she gave to me. Now, it’s time to return it to its rightful owner.
37
Casey
His mouth on my breasts, his hands roaming all over me; the water lapping against our bodies, trying to pull us apart. It’s almost as if it knows that I’m making a huge mistake. But not even the force of the sea – or the cold, or the fact that we’re out in the open, in a public place – could tame my uncontrollable desire to have him; toreallyhave him, for the first time.
Nick is suddenly impatient, trying to unbutton my jeans and pull them away, but it’s almost impossible. They’re like a second skin by now, glued to my body by the water; there’s no way of getting them off. He growls frustratedly, lifting me up and carrying me over to the beach.
I pant breathlessly – from desire, from the effort of trying to stay afloat, from the anxiety pressing down on my chest – as Nick paces towards the beach. But not to the same spot we were sitting at before. This time, he heads towards the rocks: a dark, secluded space. When he lays me down on the sand, his weight falling on top of me, I realise that this is really happening; this time, Nick really wants me. And this time, he won’t run away.
His face leans slowly into mine, as if he wants to capture my reaction to every one of his movements; he stops just a breath away from my mouth. Droplets of water slide down his face, falling onto my lips; instinctively, I part them, wanting to taste the salt, but Nick licks them away, sucking at them as if they were the last drops of water in the desert.
