Chapter 9 #3
At the campground, Whit instructed me to put on my bathing suit and get ready for some ocean fun.
I was game, ready for an adventure, even after he drove the Jeep off the dirt road at the end of the island and past the signs that said: “No Entry.” He helped me out of the vehicle and carried a backpack filled with lunch over the dunes and down to the completely deserted edge of the island.
It wasn’t long before he started talking me into getting in the water.
Thirty minutes passed and I’m only in up to my knees.
A wave comes at us, pushing cold water over my exposed stomach, I yelp and attempt to wiggle out of his grasp but he holds tight.
“It’s just a wave,” he says, hand lingering on my back. I know he’s right. It is just a wave. A wave filled with horrible sea monsters.
“Okay I think I can—,” the smile slides off his face and his eyes are over my shoulder, not on me. I turn to look and come face-to-face with a wave as tall as I am.
“Summer,” I hear him say just before the wall of water crashes over my head.
At first, his hands are all over me, but the force of the wave pushes us both backwards and he loses contact.
Water fills my mouth and nose and my heart jackhammers in my chest. I force myself to my feet, despite my fears of crabs and sand sharks.
I choke and spit out salty water, shouting, “Whit!” I see him but another wave is at his back so I scramble out of the knee-deep water to get back to safety.
His hands attempt to grab onto my hips as he tries to slow me down.
“Hold up,” he says, chasing after me, but I’ve made it to the beach. Once I’ve got solid ground beneath me, I fall to my knees on the hard-packed sand. I spit the salty water out of my mouth and adjust my bathing suit top from where the waves pushed it around.
“No way,” I tell him when he reaches me and sits down. He’s completely unfazed by the events that just happened. I look him in the eye. “I’m not going back out there.”
“Okay,” he says, brushing my wet hair over my shoulder. “I won’t make you, but tell me, why is the ocean so scary for you?”
“The water’s dark and I can’t see the bottom. Anything can be down there. The fish freak me out and seaweed wraps around my feet and just promise you’ll never make me do that again.”
“I won’t,” he says, pulling me into a hug. “Not ‘til you’re ready.”
“You may be waiting awhile.”
“I’m pretty patient,” he says in my ear and just like that, my heart is no longer racing due to the excitement in the water but because of the proximity of this man.
He dips his head and there’s a slight moment of hesitation, the one right before a guy makes his move.
I lift my chin and he kisses me, once soft and then again.
I kiss him back and he tugs me off the sand and onto his lap, until I’m straddling his waist. Adrenaline from the incident rushes through me and I feel a surge of energy.
Boldness. No one is around, and I feel hungry for the way his lips taste and the way his hands wander over my exposed back and down the sides of my breasts.
He’s hard beneath me and my mind and body war in conflict. Too fast or just right?
Unaware of my mental battle, Whit eases me over until I’m the one on my back, lying against the gritty sand.
He lies next to me and I reach my hand out and run it along his chin, brush the long strands of hair out of his face.
He leans over and licks my lip, tugging it gently with his teeth.
He kisses like the ocean itself, wild but dangerous. Taunting me with every touch.
We’re both breathing heavily when we part and I can’t help but notice the darkness lingering in his eyes. “I’m sorry if I upset you yesterday. With my comment about school.”
His jaw tightens briefly. “It wasn’t you. The Citadel is a sore spot for me.”
“You don’t want to go?” I remember what Pete said.
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” Pain flickers across his expression.
“It matters to me,” I say.
His thumbs run underneath the bottom edge of my bathing suit top. Sand rubs between us, scratching the skin on my stomach, and the heat of his body spreads an ache from my chest to my toes. He buries his face in my neck and I laugh, squirming in the sand.
With a glimmer in his eye, he captures my wrists and asks, “What do you want, Summer Barnes?”
“From you?” I reply. The laughter and lust make it hard to catch my breath.
“Yeah,” he says between kisses, each one deeper than the one before it. “From all of us.”
“This is pretty good,” I say, not wanting to give more. “Just having a bit of fun before the realities of life hit again, you know?”
He doesn’t reply but I know he gets it. I know they all do and I can think of worse ways to spend my summer than with hotties like Whit. We’ve all got something we’re trying to run away from. Hold off.
Whit stands suddenly, towering over me with his perfect body, covered in wet sand. He raises an eyebrow and offers me a hand.
“Don’t make me go back out there,” I say.
“Nothing dangerous, just fun,” he replies, lifting me into his arms and carrying me back in the water. My heart beats like a drum, racing with fear and excitement. I want to argue that what we’re doing isn’t dangerous, but for once I’m having too much fun to care.