His voice faded out as he nipped my shoulder.
“Niklas, if your neighbors see us now, what will they think?”
Niklas’s deep laugh shook against me. “The way we were making noise back there? If any neighbors are watching, I think they know exactly what’s going on.”
I cringed.
“I hope I never meet them,” I said.
“Don’t worry.” His voice softened. “Any guy who sees you would understand why I’d try to coax you into swimming naked with me.”
He loosened his arms and turned me around to face him, his touch gentling.
“And any woman who saw us?” I said, not meeting his eyes.
I knew how people thought around here. Women weren’t supposed to want sex the way I wanted it with Niklas. Somehow I had gotten this message clearly, although growing up I had rarely spoken directly about sex with anyone.
Niklas kissed my forehead, wet from the swim. He stroked my hair and took a long, slow breath. “Frankly, Caroline, I don’t care what any other woman thinks.”
He slid his hands down my arms and laced his fingers with mine. Silently, we walked up onto the beach. He grabbed my dress from the blanket and handed it to me. He pulled on his boxer briefs, though he was clearly still aroused, and stepped into his jeans. We were both dripping wet, but I had a feeling the clothes wouldn’t stay on for long.
I was right. Niklas led me straight to the French doors of his bedroom. He peeled off his clothes first, then mine. He lay down on top of me in the enormous bed and rested his weight on his forearms, his biceps flexed and close enough to taste. He told me all the things he loved about me, how lucky he was, how beautiful and sexy he found me. He entered me slowly, drawing out both our pleasure in the quiet, moonlit room.
We stayed awake talking late into the night. Just as I had settled into the comfort of his arms, his large body against my back in the dark room, he whispered in my ear. “We can’t care about what other people think or say. We have to let that go.”
“I know, Niklas,” I said. “I’m trying.”
“I feel so good when I’m with you,” he said, kissing my neck. “Things are going to change a lot in the next week. We need to remember how this feels, right now.”
I nodded. “I want everything to stay just like this. Maybe we should have kept traveling and never come back.”
