She cracked the tiniest of smiles as a breeze fluttered between us, lifting the gossamer-thin strands of her hair in front of her eyes.
“Dalton,” I said, leaning away and relaxing into the chair once again. “Name’s Dalton.”
“Dalton.” She echoed it back to me before saying something I hadn’t expected. “I like you.”
No sooner had I savored the last hint of her delicious beauty on my lips than Mack’s fucking comment resurfaced, detonating in my mind like an IED.
Jailbait.
She was young, all right.
Fucking twenty.
I wasn’t quite to the age where I’d consider this out of bounds, but it was close. Not only that, but after her spontaneous compliment, I couldn’t quite be sure if she’d had one too many. So far, I’d counted three. Probably not enough for her to be drunk, but more-than-slightly buzzed seemed like a certainty. While indecision sprayed in my gray matter like Afghani gunfire, my mind worked feverishly to find a rationalization for the decision my cock made hours earlier.
It’s only one night.
You’ll never see each other again.
Those tits, though…
And so it went.
“I like you.” She said it again, this time with a hum in her voice.
My gaze locked on her. She leaned forward, pinching her legs together at the knee and draping her forearms over them. Sparkle extended a finger, making a lazy trace of her nail along my quad. Her tender touch pulled me from the depths of my self-questioning and reignited my desire, my need to bed this beauty and take a memory from this place I’d carry with me no matter what the fates had in store.
I eyed her, caught her giving her bottom lip a tender pinch between her teeth. When our eyes met once more, hers gave me all the permission I needed. Now that my mission was clear, I had to get her off this beach - somewhere secluded and far from curious little Italian eyes. While I may have made her comfortable enough to share a tender moment under her friend’s watchful gaze, what I had in mind wasn’t for public consumption.
“Come on,” I said, extending a hand and grabbing two beach towels with my other. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere private.”
And those were the last words I said to her before we reached the spot where I’d first laid eyes on her hours before. We stood there, hand-in-hand, as she looked toward her friend.
“I’m just going to say goodbye to her.”
Her friend glanced our way with more concern in her eyes than before. I touched Sparkle on her lower back, knowing I had one more objection to overcome.
“Tell her I’ll make sure you get home safely.”
She snorted a giggle at me. “Yeah, right. Okay. I can get myself home. Don’t worry, I’ll tell her everything is fine.”
Her little dig brought a smile to my face. Sparkle let go of my hand, her fingertips grazing the inside of my palm as she walked away. While she did, I tried like hell not to stare at her perfect, candy apple ass. Light from the bonfire cast a tantalizing shadow around her hourglass figure and fired an involuntary twitch between my legs.
Christ.
I let out a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair.
She chatted with the diminutive Italian babe for a few minutes, occasionally gesturing my way. All the while they smiled and laughed. After a final exchange of hugs, Sparkle turned and walked toward me once again.
It wouldn’t be long now.
She approached, her beautiful mouth spreading wide and revealing a smile of brilliant white.
I didn’t need to say another word.
Neither of us did.
Instead, I offered her my hand, and we headed toward the sound of the ocean’s roar in search of that secluded lover’s hidey hole.
6
Moonlit (Taylor)
I can’t lie. It was half-thrilling, half-terrifying.
I’d never done anything like this in my life, which made me wonder how many times he had. I mean, he seemed so sure of himself. The number had to be countless. My stomach fluttered as I walked alongside of him, still topless and thinking I’d scarcely left much to the imagination. I guessed it probably didn’t matter - it’s not like he was boyfriend material or anything.
I’d already made the mistake of going down that rabbit hole on this trip and wasn’t about to do it again. This wasn’t about anything. Those first few steps I made myself a promise - I wouldn’t attach any meaning to what happened. I was living for the moment and nothing more. Whenever our time together ended, I wouldn’t give it a shred of importance in my mind.
“Fuck.” Dalton cursed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Condoms.” He turned and looked at me with a frown. “I don’t have them with me. They’re in my room. Come on, let’s…”
“It’s okay.”
His head drifted back as the realization dawned on him. “Pill or?”
“Mmm, hmm.”
He looked at me in silence. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but the longer he stared, saying nothing, it felt a little weird. Like I was lying about it or something.
“Something wrong?”
“No,” he replied quickly but quietly. “I guess not.”
I smiled faintly as he offered me his hand.
“Ready?”
I nodded and managed to put his reaction out of my mind as I slid my fingers into his palm.
We walked on and as the light from the bonfire faded, the bright glow of the moon overhead took its place, illuminating the path ahead. The way up meandered along the sheer face of a towering cliff and made it look as if we were climbing right up to the stars. For several minutes, we padded quietly along the sandy edge, steadily inching higher and higher.
“Careful,” Dalton said as he slowed, pointing to a narrow gap in the trail. “Wait, I’ll help you.”
I moved close to him, curling my hands around his arms as he lifted me over it. As he did, I glanced down to see the surf churning far beneath us, crashing with violence against the craggy shore.
“Where are we going?” I asked after he stepped across the divide.
Dalton’s eyes met mine as he pressed his palms flat against the rock wall behind my back, pinning me in place. Without a word, he kissed me. I melted into the heat of his lips and lightly touched my fingers against the flexing muscles of his chest. He separated his mouth from mine, nibbling and nipping along my neck before whispering the answer to the question I’d asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, leaning away with a soft blink. “Somewhere beautiful. Perfect.” He touched my cheek gently. “Just like you.”
I smiled and was about to thank him when another thought popped in my mind.
It wasn’t a pleasant one.
“Um, how do we know someone won’t show up?”
He answered me with an easy shrug. “We don’t.”
I mean, I guessed I would’ve been embarrassed if Antonia had followed us, you know, just to make sure I was safe or whatever. Or what about his six-packed partner in crime? I hadn’t seen him since before Dalton tracked me down on the beach.
I pinched my lip between my teeth. “What about your friend? What if he comes looking for you?”