Chapter 2 #2
We rush to the villa that sits on the edge of the cliffs, with a balcony that opens over the ocean.
By the time the sky goes deep indigo, Livianna’s warm from a bath and wrapped in the hotel’s oversized robe.
Her damp hair is loose around her shoulders, and she’s standing at the glass door, staring at the beach below.
I come up behind her and rest my chin on the top of her head, my arms folding around her waist.
“I could live here,” she murmurs.
“Say the word.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
I find the curve of her neck with my lips and plant small kisses and love bites on her skin. Her breath shifts.
“Callum.” She leans back against me. “You know how much I love you, right?”
“I know.” I turn her gently to face me and tip her chin up. “Lily, I’ve got you and love you. Tonight and every night after.”
Her eyes search mine for a moment. It’s like she’s making sure I’m real. Her hands slide up my bare chest, and the world narrows down to just her. The robe slips from her shoulder.
She smiles with a shine in her gaze. “You’re staring.”
“I’m allowed.” I drag my thumb along her jaw.
She reaches up and pulls me down to her mouth. The kiss starts slowly. It’s the kind that has no destination and no hurry attached.
Her lips are warm and taste like the wine she drank before her bath. She sighs against me as if she’s been holding that breath since the beach.
I slide my hands around her waist, beneath the robe. Her skin is so soft.
“Callum, please.”
“I know, love. I guide her backward toward the bed.
She sits at the edge and draws me down with her. Her fingers thread through my hair, and there’s nothing frantic in any of it. There’s no urgency, no desperation. Just the two of us, finally somewhere the world can’t reach.
She pulls back and studies my face in the low light. “Tell me something.”
“Anything.”
“Tell me this is real.” There’s a vulnerability in her voice. “Tell me we’re actually here.”
“Lily.” I press my forehead to hers. “We’re here, and this is real. All of it.”
She exhales, and the energy around her settles. That’s all it takes for me to know I can show her how much I love her now.
I kiss her hard. She returns the favor, giving as much as she takes. Her hands move across my shoulders.
She presses into me as if she’s been waiting, and this is exactly where she intended to land all along. It undoes me.
She giggles against my neck because that’s what she does. She laughs when she’s happiest. The sound of it does something to my heart that I’ll never have the right words for.
Outside, the waves crash against the sand. In here, the room fills with nothing but our sound.
Her robe falls open, pooling at her elbows like a secret finally revealed. I drink her in, every curve, every freckle kissed by the sun, her skin glowing in the lamplight that dances with shadows. The ocean roars its approval below, a rhythmic pulse that matches the quickening beat of my heart.
I ease the robe from her arms, letting it whisper to the mattress. She’s bare before me, unashamed, her nipples hardening in the cool air drifting in from the sea.
I trace her sides with my hands, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. She shivers, and not from being cold, but from that spark we both experience every time we’re together this way.
“Callum,” she breathes.
Her nails graze my abdomen. I capture her mouth again. Deeper this time, tongues dancing slow and loving, tasting wine and sweetness. Her palms roam over my back, pulling me closer until our bodies align, skin to skin.
I lead her back onto the bed, the sheets cool against her warmth. Kneeling between her thighs, I kiss a path down her throat, lingering at the hollow of her collarbone, then lower.
My lips close around one nipple, tongue flicking gently. She arches, a soft moan escaping like sea foam. Her fingers tangle in my hair, guiding without demand.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmur against her skin, moving to the other breast, sucking while I slide my hand down her belly.
Her legs part instinctively, welcoming me. I drag my fingers down her inner thigh. The heat radiates from her core. She’s slick already. When my fingers part her folds, she gasps, hips lifting toward my touch.
I circle her clit with a gentle slowness while taking every part of her. With half-closed eyes and parted lips, a flush is visible on her chest.
“More,” she whispers.
I oblige, slipping one finger inside her, then two, curling them just right. She clenches around me, wet and velvet-soft. Her breath comes in waves that sync with mine.
“Please, Callum. I need you.” Her voice is raw, pleading in a way that undoes me every time.
I shed my boxer briefs, roll a condom on, and position myself at her entrance. Our gazes lock as I push in, inch by inch, savoring the stretch.
The way she envelops me, like she was made for this—for us, is enough to blow my mind. She’s tight, hot, and pulls me deeper until I’m buried to the hilt. We both still, breathing each other in.
Then I move. Slow thrusts at first. Her walls flutter around me, and her nails dig into my back. She wraps her legs around my waist, urging me on.
I angle my hips, hitting that spot inside her. She cries out, the sound muffled against me.
Faster now, but still tender, our rhythm builds like the tide. Sweat slicks our skin, and the air is thick with her scent: musk and ocean salt. She meets every thrust, grinding against me, her clit rubbing my pelvis.
“I’m close,” she pants.
I reach between us, thumbing her bud in a tight massage.
“Come for me, Lily.” My voice is gravel, strained with the effort to hold back.
She shatters first, body convulsing, inner muscles milking me in pulses that drag me over the edge. I follow with a guttural groan, spilling deep inside her, wave after wave crashing through me.
We collapse together, tangled and spent, my weight a welcome anchor. Her heartbeat thuds against my chest, slowing in tandem. Outside, the Pacific whispers on, but here, it’s just us, sated and whole.
“I love you.” She squeezes me tight.
“I love you, too. Forever.” I kiss her temple, holding her as the night deepens around us.
Afterward, she lies across my chest with her hair fanned out and her ring catching the light. She’s gonna be my wife, which gives me an idea.
“Lily?”
“Hmm.” She peeks up at me.
“How would you feel about not using a condom next time?”
She freezes. Then she finds my gaze. Whatever she finds there makes her eyes go glassy at the edges.
“Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”