I raised my eyebrows at his reaction. “Why do you think I came here?”
The blanket moved—Elias’s easy shrug. “I—I don’t know.” The words came out a croaked whisper.
“Elias, for someone who is so wise about so many aspects of life, you really are clueless when it comes to relationships.” I couldn’t prevent the sharp edge of my tone. “What were you thinking?”
He grunted. “I’m a forty-five-year-old bachelor, Lena,” he said dryly. “I wasn’t thinking. I was freaking out.”
I snorted, my mouth forming into a reluctant smile as I shook my head. “Fair enough. But I trusted you, and I thought you trusted me. You should have talked to me instead of pulling that stunt.”
“I thought I was losing you. You wouldn’t talk to me. I was desperate.”
“I just needed time.” I thought back to my dream and my grandma’s advice. “Time to trust myself. Time to trust my instincts. They were telling me not to give up on you.” I shifted my weight and squeezed his hand under the blanket. “And now I’ve had that time. Sing to me, Elias.”
“What?”
“Sing to me.”
He swallowed, and his eyes glistened with tears of gratitude, maybe, or hope. Hope that I’d forgiven him. Hope that we had another chance.
“Are—are you sure?”
“I’ve never been so sure of anyone than I am of you right now. Sing to me.”
He smiled, one of his genuine, wide smiles that lit up any space. And under the rising moon, his eyes brightened as the first notes escaped his lips.
Pleasures be waiting by the sea
With a smile for all the world to see
His voice wrapped around me like a lover’s embrace, and I opened my heart to its call. His eyes glowed a clear, penetrating blue, his siren’s power pouring out through the dulcet notes. I leaned closer, wrapping both my hands around his neck, and his voice grew stronger.
Diamond waves through sunglass days go by
So beautiful to be here and alive
On the last word of the phrase he’d sung to me that first night at Shelter Cove, the phrase that had started my journey out of depression, I couldn’t control my emotions any longer. My feelings for Elias spilled out of the crack in my heart, and I took his face in my hands and kissed him. Desperately and with all the longing and hope that had built up since that first night, I kissed him. With understanding and forgiveness, I kissed him.
His arms emerged from under the blanket, and he pulled me onto his lap as if that single kiss had broken a spell and given him back a measure of strength. He wrapped his arms around me, and I tangled my fingers in his hair as he kissed me with a desperation that matched my own.
Slowly, he gained strength. His hand pressed firmly into my back, and he moved his other arm beneath my knees. He pulled back from the kiss, and in a single, fluid motion that would have been impossible only minutes before, he stood and lifted me into his arms. His skin had started to brighten back to its normal healthy glow, the bags under his eyes fading, and he looked at me with that same carefree smile he usually reserved for the ocean and life’s unending pleasures.
I ran the back of my fingers against his stubbled jaw. “It worked,” I said, my words breathless with awe. “You’re better. Your singing worked.”
“It wasn’t my singing, Lena. It’s you. I’m better because you’re in my life.”
My heart swelled with affection, and I wound my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder.
He took long, hurried strides toward the house and kicked open the door. Niko stood in the kitchen in swim trunks holding a half-eaten sandwich, mouth hanging open. I laughed and shoved my face back into Elias’s shoulder. He jostled me in his grip and bounded up the stairs to the second floor of the beach house.
“Put me down!” I squealed.
“No way. Now that I have you, I’m never letting go.” He carried me into a room and slammed the door.
French doors opened onto a balcony overlooking the beach. The warm ocean breeze fluttered sheer curtains under the romantic glow of moonlight, and waves crashed their rhythmic beat.
He set me on my feet but kept an arm around my waist looming over me. He pushed his hand into my hair, tipped my head back, and ravished me with his mouth. His tongue danced with mine in perfect synergy as though they’d been waiting for this moment to connect. We had been waiting for this moment to connect.
He slid his hand up the back of my shirt, found my bra, and with a flick of his fingers, undid the clasp. He pulled away long enough to drag my shirt and bra over my head and toss them aside before taking my mouth again and thumbing my nipple.
