“Isla, look at me.”
She did so with a worried expression. I narrowed my eyes at her, searching her face for answers I’d never find. I couldn’t believe how much she’d changed over the last month. It wasn’t only her face and body. It was also her personality. It was as if I was looking at a different woman. One I didn’t know anymore.
The way she looked at me with such confusion pained me. I never thought I’d be on the receiving end of this. Just another worry in her life that had already been hard enough. I was at a loss, which had always been a common occurrence with her. I didn’t know where to go from there.
We both lost so much. There was nothing I could do to change the past. All that was left was the present and future, and I wouldn’t stop until she was back in my bed forever.
The way she just stood there, her presence comforting and afflicting at the same time. If only I could make things right. I could watch this woman all damn day, and it still wouldn’t be enough. The truth was…
I’d take her any way I could.
My mind spun with more thoughts and questions as I tried to find some clarity. Some truth within the haze of the lies she told herself. Her pain was evident all around me, radiating deep into my core.
I could see it.
Feel it.
Breathe it in.
Showing weakness was something I never thought I’d do, but it had always been different with her, and she knew it too. There was no thinking about the future without thinking about the past, and for the first time, I questioned how we would make it through this in the end.
Her breathing hitched, and her lips parted when my hand started lightly grazing her inner thigh.
“Julius…” she whimpered as my fingers inched higher and higher up her leg.
I deeply sighed, reeling in my anger. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay. Permanently.”
She sucked in a breath when my fingers skimmed over her pussy.
“Should I keep going, Mouse?”
“You mean as we continue to talk about your brother?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“You’re shameless.”
“At least I’m touching you again.”
She sucked in a breath, and I didn’t have to be told twice. I laid her down on the towel in the sand. We were alone, and no one was around.
Slowly, she slid her finger along the edge of my face, tracing my jawbone from one side to the other. Moving to my cheeks, she caressed the bridge of my nose up to my forehead. She touched ever so softly along my skin.
Our eyes stayed connected the entire time. She licked her lips as she swiped her finger to my chin and neck, stopping to stroke the front of my throat with her thumb.
As she made her way down to my chest, she broke eye contact to focus on my chest before tracing her fingers along it, hardly touching me at all. When she firmly placed the palm of her right hand against my heart, I saw a subtle smile appear on her face.
It was quick, but it was there.
She joined our left hands and brought them up to her heart, pressing her fingers on the backside of my hand to hold it in place. It beat a mile a minute, nothing compared to my steady beat. I waited for her next move, feeling her rapid heartbeat pounding against my hand as she leaned in to kiss me.
Slow.
Gentle.
She took her time to explore my mouth.
As if reading my mind, she sensed my hesitation, whispering, “Just be with me. Please…” So much sadness laced her tone.
