Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Cole
Ella walks ahead of me, and it’s taking everything I have not to grab her and drag her into the shade and make her mine. Her cute little dress clings to the curve of her ass, damp from sweat, teasing me with every step. Her skin glows under the sun—golden, smooth, untouchable.
She’s right there, and it’s driving me half-insane. I want my hands on her hips. My mouth on her neck. I want to mark her so anyone who sees her knows she belongs to someone — me.
We saw the last of civilization about ten minutes back. The sun beats down on us, hot and oppressive. It’s the kind of heat you can feel in your lungs.
The view is beautiful, as I knew it would be. Pale sand stretches wide and clean under our feet. The ocean rolls in with a sure rhythm, its hues shifting under the light, reflecting off the sun.
However, I would rather watch beads of sweat roll down Ella’s sun-kissed shoulders.
I could watch that for hours.
“Ugh,” she says, fanning herself. “It is way too hot out here.”
My cock is being choked right now. Almost to the point of pain. An ache has settled there, growing thicker and thicker with each step we travel away from the beaten path.
“I hope you know where you’re going,” I say. “I’ve got to get you back to your father in one piece.”
“Don’t worry about that.” She doesn’t turn to look at me. “I always tell my dad where I’m going. And he knows all of my hiding spots.”
I clench my jaw as a breath rumbles out of me. I don’t want her father to watch over her anymore. I want that to be my job. I want her to be mine. Under my protection.
Mine.
“I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news,” I mutter, mostly to myself.
“What do you mean?”
Yeah. What do I mean?
Good news, because I know she’ll be safe as long as she’s accounted for, or bad news because her father might show up and kill me.
“Nothing,” I say, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
I just need to keep myself together.
She pauses, squinting at the horizon, then nods toward a curve in the dunes ahead. “There’s a little inlet over there. No one comes this far down. Too much seaweed, not enough parking.”
We keep walking—barefoot now, her sandals dangling from two fingers, my camera slung around her neck.
We reach a cluster of scrubby palms and twisted mangroves.
The path narrows, almost hidden, then opens up again to a pocket of beach completely shielded from the main shoreline.
A salt-worn log lies half-buried in the sand.
A tangle of driftwood and sea grape bushes gives the illusion of privacy, of shelter.
The breeze is quieter here. Even the sound of the waves seems hushed.
“Is here okay?” she asks, a little breathless, the sun glinting in her hair.
I nod once, looking around the beach and taking in a deep breath. Total seclusion
“Yes. This is perfect.”
I mean it. There’s no one here to see her but me. No one to interrupt. No one to remind me I shouldn’t want her like this.
She drops her bag on the white sand, lays out a towel, and starts unbuttoning her light blue dress.
“Ella, what the hell?” I say, taking a few frantic steps toward her. I’m about to take the shirt off my back and throw it around her.
“I have my swimsuit on underneath,” she says, her brows twisted. “Jesus, what the hell did you think I was doing?”
I don’t know. I don’t fucking know.
And she seems to be woefully, blissfully unaware of the effect she’s having on me.
“Nude beaches aren’t my thing,” she says, “so you don’t have to worry.”
I swallow thickly. It’s like I’ve been punched squarely in the throat. I don’t know what I would do in a situation like that. The idea of it makes my blood burn inside my veins.
She goes back to work undoing her buttons until she’s shrugging the dress off and letting it fall from her shoulders, pooling on the white sand below her. She looks like a goddess who’s just stepped out of a blue lagoon. She unhooks the camera strap from her neck and hands it to me.
That…is not a swimsuit.
It’s not something you’d wear to go swimming. It would slide right off her, coaxed along by her curves skimming against the fabric. It’s not that revealing, but the way it hugs her curves is making me go halfway out of my mind.
“Is something wrong?” she says.
I can feel my heart thrumming in my chest. My eyes feel wild and frenzied.
“Yes.” My jaw tenses. “Something is very wrong.”
Her cheeks flush and she lets out a groan, tipping her head toward the sky.
“Oh god, you hate it.” She picks up her dress from the sand and shakes it out. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I’m so embarrassed.”
“What do you think I hate?” I say as she passes me. “The swimsuit?”
She turns back to me.
“It’s not that,” she says. “I thought I was bringing you to a cool spot, but you hate it.”
“No, Ella.” I take a step toward her. “The only thing wrong is that you’re not in my arms.”
Her long, elegant throat moves as she swallows.
Her cheeks explode with heat. It makes her look so cute, but there’s a fire in her eyes that overtakes how pretty she is.
I shouldn’t want her, and I should march back to the hotel and resume my life as usual, but I can’t.
Nothing about my life will ever be “usual” again.
I have her in my sights now, and it’s time to make her mine.
Her gaze flutters across my face, landing on my eyes, and then my lips. She sucks her lower lip between her teeth, ever so slightly.
“You are the most stunning creature I’ve ever seen. I’m in a daze and I don’t know how the hell to snap out of it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to. I am going out of my goddamn mind.”
“So you don’t hate it here?” she says.
“No,” I say, huffing out a laugh. The idea that she could do anything I’d be even slightly unhappy about is absurd.
“But you didn’t need to bring me here to see something new and beautiful, because you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
You’re perfect.” I take another step closer and reach out to touch her tanned, pink-tinged cheek. “Absolutely fucking perfect.”
We both take a step forward, as though connected by some invisible forcefield.
“I want you so fucking badly that it hurts. And if you want me to stop, you’d better say so now.
” I suck in a sharp breath, the scent of coconut sunscreen mixing with the scent of her arousal drifting around us.
“You’re not going to be some passing thrill for me.
Some little bullshit fling on a layover. If you let me in, you’re mine.”
“I want you too,” she says. Her voice is deep, smooth, and raspy. It’s sensual, dirty, provocative. Fucking womanly. Divine. It’s like music. How fucking lucky am I that the one girl I’ve ever wanted, feels the same way?
She’s my best friend’s daughter, but I don’t give a fuck. Is this wrong? Maybe it is. But maybe it isn’t. It doesn’t matter. She’s mine. And I’m not going to stand around waiting for my best friend to come kill me. I’m not waiting a second longer.
I pull her toward me and put my lips on hers.
My questions have been answered. This isn’t wrong. It’s the first thing I’ve ever done right.
“This means no more of these bikinis out in public. You wear these for me, and me alone.” I slide my hand down her back and give her ass a hearty smack, the sound of my hand against her soft skin cracking through the dense, humid air.
She laughs and bites her lip.
“I’ve never worn anything like this before,” she says, her cheeks blushing brightly. “I bought it knowing I’d save it for a special occasion.”
God, what the hell does that mean? My cock lurches, which I know she can feel against her stomach. Her lips pull into a surprised half-smile as her eyes widen.
“Have you saved…anything else?”
She parts her lips and nods up and down slowly. Her face is serious, but there is a sparkle in her eyes.
I press my lips to hers, and I swear I feel something that I’ve never felt before.
She tastes so sweet. Her lips are like candy. Her little moans are like music. What the hell am I doing? This is my oldest friend’s daughter. She’s nearly half my age.
I don’t give a fuck. No one is getting in the way of this. I won’t let them.
I want to do things to her that she’s never even imagined. Things that are truly forbidden. Truly, truly off the deep end.
The most important thing will be claiming her soft body raw so she’ll be with me forever. I want everyone to know. I want everyone to see.
Then, my life will be complete. I won’t have to search anymore. I’ve spent my life chasing one sunset after another. Now with her in my life, I’ll never be in the darkness again. Every day will be sunny. Every ray of light splashed across her skin will be the most beautiful thing in the world.
I bend down and grab my camera, kneeling in front of her for a moment. Her eyes widen as she looks down at me.
“Cole,” she gasps, her breathing going shallow as she looks around. “What are you doing??”
I look up at her. I might be crazy, but my brain instantly zooms to an image of her on a yacht and me down on one knee, giving her a ring.
“You want to see photos of the most beautiful thing on earth?” I grab my camera, standing up to meet her eyes. “Then go lay down and do exactly as I say.”