Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
ISLA
If I’d learned one thing about Julius, it was how much he loved having his hands on me, and the addiction for his skin to touch mine was mutual.
“If you keep wiggling your hips like that, you’re going to find out real soon what I want to do to you.”
“You mean like this?” I purposely rocked on him, making my stomach flutter for entirely different reasons.
Before he could formulate his attack, I tried to get away.
“Come back here. I’m not done with you.”
As if on cue, my stomach did that somersault thing. However, this time it felt like it would never end, twisting and turning and flopping.
Never taking his eyes off mine, he leaned forward with a wicked grin, and I felt this jolt straight to my core. This sudden spark made my mouth dry and my face flush, with a burning sensation throughout my body.
He smiled, fully aware of what I was feeling, thinking, wanting. I thought he was going to kiss me, so when he backed away, I was breathless.
“It’s not nice to be teased, is it?” he baited as he swam away.
This was our dynamic for the rest of the day, and it seemed to roll by. My favorite was watching the sunset on the beach with his arms wrapped around me. I didn’t know where we went from there, but I knew I didn’t want it to end.
Although we sat there in a kind of silence, listening to soft music on his phone, there was a sudden tension in the air, as if we both knew our time together would end soon, and reality would hit like a stone.
He softly spoke, “It’s a full moon tonight.” He stood, pulling me with him.
The song “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak was playing on the speakers. He held me against his chest, slowly moving us in a circle to the beat of the music. I felt each lyric in the core of my being. We danced for a little while. Time stood still for us.
I shut my eyes, allowing the music to take over, wanting to live in this moment with him where nothing else mattered but being in his arms. I basked in his embrace, hoping this was only the beginning.
The next song changed to a sexier rhythm. Allowing the music to take control, I seductively spun around until my back was to his front. Swaying my hips side to side, I slid my hands slowly up my waist and then my head. I ran my fingers through my hair next, lifting it off my neck.
My pulse accelerated.
My heart pounded out of my chest.
Almost instantly, I was engulfed in his familiar, husky scent as his lips effortlessly glided along the crook of my neck.
“Fuck… I missed you,” he whispered into my ear, causing tingles to stir down my spine.
Wrapping his strong arm around my waist, he drew me closer to him. Close enough to where there was nothing between us, only the friction of our heady movements.
Desperately, I tried to shove away the guilt in my conscience, and as if reading my mind, he spun me to face him. His scent was intoxicating, luring me in with the strum of the tune still playing.
“Stop thinking. Just be with me. Right here. Right now. There is no Kraven.”
“Where does that leave us?”
“It leaves us here and now. We take it day by day.”
“What about Kraven?”
He gazed deep into my eyes. “You tell me.”
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer my question, so I waited for the other shoe to drop.
JULIUS
“Do you think you could sway your ass a little less? My dick would really appreciate it.”
Isla grinned. “Never bothered you before.”
I was at my wits’ end trying to figure out where we went from here. The thought of losing her consumed my mind, interfering with trying to stay in the present, where she was still mine.
“Isla, look at me.”
She did so with a worried expression. I narrowed my eyes at her, searching her face for answers I’d never find.
I couldn’t believe how much she’d changed over the last month.
It wasn’t only her face and body. It was also her personality.
It was as if I was looking at a different woman. One I didn’t know anymore.
The way she looked at me with such confusion pained me. I never thought I’d be on the receiving end of this. Just another worry in her life that had already been hard enough. I was at a loss, which had always been a common occurrence with her. I didn’t know where to go from there.
We both lost so much. There was nothing I could do to change the past. All that was left was the present and future, and I wouldn’t stop until she was back in my bed forever.
The way she just stood there, her presence comforting and afflicting at the same time. If only I could make things right. I could watch this woman all damn day, and it still wouldn’t be enough. The truth was…
I’d take her any way I could.
My mind spun with more thoughts and questions as I tried to find some clarity. Some truth within the haze of the lies she told herself. Her pain was evident all around me, radiating deep into my core.
I could see it.
Feel it.
Breathe it in.
Showing weakness was something I never thought I’d do, but it had always been different with her, and she knew it too. There was no thinking about the future without thinking about the past, and for the first time, I questioned how we would make it through this in the end.
Her breathing hitched, and her lips parted when my hand started lightly grazing her inner thigh.
“Julius…” she whimpered as my fingers inched higher and higher up her leg.
I deeply sighed, reeling in my anger. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay. Permanently.”
She sucked in a breath when my fingers skimmed over her pussy.
“Should I keep going, Mouse?”
“You mean as we continue to talk about your brother?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“You’re shameless.”
“At least I’m touching you again.”
She sucked in a breath, and I didn’t have to be told twice. I laid her down on the towel in the sand. We were alone, and no one was around.
Slowly, she slid her finger along the edge of my face, tracing my jawbone from one side to the other. Moving to my cheeks, she caressed the bridge of my nose up to my forehead. She touched ever so softly along my skin.
Our eyes stayed connected the entire time. She licked her lips as she swiped her finger to my chin and neck, stopping to stroke the front of my throat with her thumb.
As she made her way down to my chest, she broke eye contact to focus on my chest before tracing her fingers along it, hardly touching me at all. When she firmly placed the palm of her right hand against my heart, I saw a subtle smile appear on her face.
It was quick, but it was there.
She joined our left hands and brought them up to her heart, pressing her fingers on the backside of my hand to hold it in place. It beat a mile a minute, nothing compared to my steady beat. I waited for her next move, feeling her rapid heartbeat pounding against my hand as she leaned in to kiss me.
Slow.
Gentle.
She took her time to explore my mouth.
As if reading my mind, she sensed my hesitation, whispering, “Just be with me. Please…” So much sadness laced her tone.
Immense emotions coursed through my body, and I couldn’t find the words to speak. Her stare melted as she continued to kiss me. I could feel her thoughts raging a war in her mind when she wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Where’s my girl?” I rasped into her ear. “Where’s my Isla?”
“I’m right here.”
With her hands framing my face, she kissed me. “I want you,” she moaned.
Every blush of her face, every moan from her lips had my cock throbbing in pain, dying to be inside her.
Our connection.
Our friendship.
Our love.
She locked her arms around my neck, and we kissed, shutting out the whole world. It was just the two of us, and I never wanted to leave.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I growled. “Fuck… you feel good,” I groaned. “There’s my girl.”
Something took over me. This primal urge wreaked havoc in the agonizing rhythm of how we were kissing.
There was no holding back.
No fighting it.
We were making love with our mouths, and I knew right then and there… nothing would ever compare to her.
To us.
I spent most of my life trying to fill this void, this hole, this empty feeling inside me. Never realizing it was useless. She owned me, and I willingly gave my heart to her.
Not once asking for it back.