Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
EVERLY
I follow behind Hux silently. I don’t look back or question if I should have stayed with Nick. When Hux is in my orbit, it’s a magnetic pull I can’t ignore. We walk in the shadows of the night back up to the side of the house.
“Wait here, and I’ll let Alex know you’re coming home with me.”
I only nod my head, my throat dry, my heart pounding. I just want to be with him. I want him to touch me and make me forget my anxieties and hang-ups. And I desperately want to do this for him, as well. I want us to be lost in one another completely.
The scene on the dock helped sober me up, but that last beer I chugged went down way too fast and now is sitting in my stomach directly on top of the Jell-O shots. Everything spins slightly. I lean up against the side of the house and close my eyes.
The next thing I know, I am in warm arms being carried. I hear the door of a car shut softly behind me. I don’t open my eyes, the exhaustion is too overwhelming, but it’s quiet wherever I am. All I hear is the sound of peepers and the lapping of waves on the pebbly shore.
I should be concerned. I am a drunk girl way too far from home, being carried by what is clearly a strong man. But I know this smell. I recognize the sound of the breathing, and I can feel the electric current in all the places our bodies are touching. I can sense safety.
The slamming of a screen door followed by the happy taps of dog nails lets me know we are at Hux’s cabin. He places me gently on his bed, a bed I have now been in twice. The smell of him on his sheets beneath me and wrapped around me has my want for him intensifying.
I open my eyes as Hux slides underneath the covers beside me. “You must think I am a serious drunk. This is the second time you’ve had to rescue me.”
“Nah, I think you’re nineteen years old and enjoying your first summer away from home. It’s not a crime. Well, not in my book.”
“From the way you’ve acted toward me, I beg to differ.”
“You having a good time isn’t what makes me upset.” We both lie in silence, staring up at the ceiling.
“Who was she?” I ask, praying this time he will finally open up to me.
“Someone who turned my family’s life upside down in more ways than one.”
“I want to know; I want to understand you, Hux. I am so confused on where we stand, how you feel about me, about anything, honestly. Am I just some summer quest for you? Just a naive college girl to mess with a bit?”
“If that was the case, do you think I would have almost beat the living hell out of Nick for kissing you tonight? That all I can see is red every time this summer I have had to see his hands on you, or the way the two of you laugh?”
“I don’t… What happened, Hux?”
“He is who you should be with, Everly, or at least someone like him. You have the same path ahead of you. You’re nineteen with everything ahead of you.
This place is a fun summer stop for you, a nostalgic memory one day.
Me? I’m twenty-two, and my life is over.
This is where I stay, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, where I belong. ”
I am quiet as I stare at this beautiful man’s face.
He holds so much hurt, so much pain and anger for reasons I still don’t know, and yet I can tell his soul is good.
I might have questioned it in the beginning, wondering if he was like all the other beautiful, cocky boys I was tempted to fall for in the past, but it’s clear now.
I can confidently tell that’s not the case.
“Just let me in. That’s all I’m asking. Please?” Tears fill my eyes, and I involuntarily let out a small sob.
Hux pulls me to him, holding me tight. His chin resting hard on the top of my head. “Not tonight. I will, just not tonight.”
The tears continue to fall onto my cheeks as I nod into his chest. I lie there and listen to the steady beat of his heart until sometime later, the tears dry, and I fall asleep.
I wake before sunrise with a start. The room is dark except for that shade of blue that covers everything right before the sun appears.
Hux is no longer beside me, but the sheets are still warm. He must have just gotten up. I stand, stretching my arms over my head and shivering from the chilly early morning air. Thankfully, I feel fine; all symptoms of what I drank are gone, and I even feel somewhat rested after last night.
Grabbing the wool blanket at the end of the bed, I wrap it around my body and tiptoe over to the kitchen alcove, but there is still no sign of Hux.
I shuffle to the front windows, looking out over the lake, and that’s when I see him—sitting at the end of his dock.
Though I can’t see his face, he looks peaceful.
His feet are crossed and propped up on a small table while he sits in a forest-green Adirondack chair with his gaze toward the mountains, chin slightly lifted to the sky.
Barefoot, I step out into the fresh and frigid air.
No matter how many mornings I spend here, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fully describe the way the early morning air smells.
It’s heavenly and my favorite thing about going to work early in the mornings.
It almost makes me sad that this smell can never be recreated in the city. My time here is limited.
My time with him is limited.
The dock bounces slightly as I make my way to the matching chair beside Hux. He never turns to look at me, even when I sit beside him. Steam billows off the water, proving how chilly the Maine morning air is.
“This is my favorite time of day. Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful, but I love the moment right before the world wakes up. I always have since I was a kid.”
I smile at that, but I say nothing, just enjoying the stillness with him.
Hux stands, his blanket still wrapped around his body, and a cocky grin spreads across his face. The same cocky grin that has mostly infuriated me all summer, but the one that also makes my breathing hitch and my core tighten every time I see it. I’ve missed this look.
“Come for a swim with me.”
“What? It’s freezing out here, hence the wool blankets we are wrapped in! Plus, if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Aurora Lake never rises above hypothermia-inducing temperatures.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. This is actually the only time of the day the lake feels warm… currently, the water is warmer than the air.” He waves his hand out, gesturing at the steam.
“That’s your selling point? You need to brush up on your persuasion skills.”
“Come on, live a little.” He smirks, dropping his blanket to the ground, revealing that he is only dressed from the waist down in a worn pair of jeans.
He undoes his belt buckle and lets them fall to his ankles. I let out a gasp, but this time, it’s not from his sarcastic comment, it’s from the fact that Hux Anderson is standing in front of me, at the end of his dock, completely naked. His beautiful, toned body on complete display.
Suddenly, I am no longer cold. In fact, I am sweltering beneath this wool blanket.
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I slowly and unashamedly trail my eyes down every ridge and bulge.
There is no doubt he is absolutely beautiful.
The way my body responds to the sight of him naked is so intense I have to remind myself to breathe and swallow.
He doesn’t wait for my response before diving into the lake, which is good because, at this rate, my voice may never return. He cuts through the lake’s surface so swiftly that he barely makes a splash.
I hold my breath, waiting for him to resurface.
One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven…
I stand as my anxiety rises in my throat while I search the glassy water.
Then, there he is, running his fingers through his shaggy locks of hair, pushing it off his face.
His eyes lock with mine, and without any more hesitation, I drop my blanket to my feet.
I am still in the party dress from the night before, and I slowly pull each thin strap down from my shoulders.
I shimmy out of the dress until it pools at my feet.
Making eye contact with Hux, I swallow hard before unclasping my strapless bra.
My nipples pebble into hard peaks as the cold air engulfs me.
Goose bumps run up my back as I notice the tic of his jaw.
My fingers hook into either side of my underwear, but before I push them down my shaky legs, I close my eyes, willing myself not to chicken out now.
Slowly, I trail the soft fabric until it touches my ankles, prompting me to step out of them.
Only now, as I stand up straight again, do I dare open my eyes and return my gaze to the man standing in chest-high water below me.
Just as Hux did minutes before, I stand fully bare.
In the last few weeks, he has seen and touched a fair share of my body, but this feels different.
This is me fully surrendering to my feelings for him, me finally letting go of my past heartbreak and the insecurities it left.
This is seeing what I want in front of me and diving head first for it.
The water is piercing, but I have never felt something so purifying as my naked body lingers below the surface. I let it sink into every part of me, and just as my lungs begin to burn, I feel Hux’s warm hands graze my belly before wrapping them around my waist and pulling me to him.
When my head emerges, there is no time for air, his mouth is on mine.
I grant his tongue access, and he deepens the kiss while my soft curves push against his hard form.
I let myself explore his chest, defined jawline, and hair, running my hands through it, pushing it back as I have seen him do a hundred times, and always wondered what it would feel like.
I bury them there, pulling slightly as I push my body harder into his. I can’t get enough of him.
Hux cups my ass, lifting me higher, his fingers dangerously close to the spot I want them most. The heat of his chest combined with the bite of the cold water that swirls between us creates a friction that has my senses on overload.
I feel his need for me grow as one calloused hand climbs up the sensitive skin of my torso to palm my breast as our mouths continue to work overtime.
When I truly think we cannot survive another moment without oxygen, Hux breaks the sweet torture, slightly pulling back, his chest heaving.
I try to calm my own panting, but within seconds, Hux is back at it, this time his mouth on my neck, sucking and nibbling the sensitive skin.
A moan escapes my lips, as he starts below my ear, devouring every inch of skin down to my collarbone.
I involuntarily grin my center into the hard ridges of his lower abdomen.
He walks me backward, never taking his lips off my body until we are flush up against the end of the dock.
Our eyes meet, and I see my hunger for him reflected in his eyes.
He gently lifts my hands over my head, silently instructing me to hold on to the edge of the dock with my legs still wrapped around his waist.
Both of his hands are now free, and he roams the rest of my body.
My back arches, my goose bump-covered flesh offered to his skillful hands and mouth as he kneads and sucks my sensitive skin.
I feel the building of something intense in my core, knowing that I won’t be able to withstand his sweet torture much longer.
I want all of him.
My arms begin to quiver, my breathing becomes more rapid, and just as I think I am going to come undone from the beautiful skills this man possesses, Hux hoists me up onto the dock.
Quickly climbing up beside me, he spreads one of the wool blankets out and gently lays me down. Kneeling over me, he covers us with the other blanket and pulls the shiny foil pack from his discarded jeans that lay next to his chair .
“Awfully prepared for the fact the sun is barely up now, aren’t we?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been prepared and waiting for you since the moment you crashed into me that very first day.” He looks down at me, silently asking if I’m okay. I nod my head as he tears open the packaging.
In one swift move, he is gliding into me, filling my body with his slow but steady thrusts, and it’s everything I need.
The build of overwhelming ecstasy returns as he continues to slip in and out of me.
The sun begins to peek over the mountains, turning everything to shades of pink, orange, and gold as the tension continues to climb.
When the first rays of the sun make contact with the shoreline, everything around me shatters. I climax with a moan beneath him.
I take in the kaleidoscope of colors that dance around us and float weightlessly back down to reality, watching his face intently as he finds his own release, sinking deep within me.
Hux’s breathing is ragged and hot on my chest. Slowly, he extracts himself from between my legs, and I immediately miss his presence.
He lowers himself down beside me, panting heavily, and I tuck my face into his chest. There is too much emotion to speak. I breathe him in, inhaling this complicated, beautiful man who is broken in ways I don’t fully understand.