‘But it’s an engagement ring.’
‘Yeah.’ He shrugged and scratched his chest. ‘You know when I asked you to marry me and you said yes? That.’
‘You mean when you jokingly asked me to marry you and I jokingly said yes and then you gave me a joke plastic ring, which I wore as a joke?’
‘Well, I was half joking. Then when you said yes and wore the ring, I discovered I really wasn’t joking at all. But if that’s lazy, then I’ll propose properly. Or if you’re not ready then we’ll wait. Or if you don’t want to at all, then that’s okay too. I don’t want to force you into anything.’ He took a deep breath and looked away. ‘Shit. I feel like a creepy control freak now. I just wanted to surprise you.’
‘You certainly surprised me.’
‘Freaked you out more like.’
I was still staring at the ring. My heart was beating erratically and my breath caught in my throat.
‘I love it,’ I said.
‘You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better, you know. It’s a big deal and it’s fine to say no.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t want to say no. I just didn’t realise you actually meant it. I only wore the ring to freak you out.’
‘Well, that backfired.’ He smiled. ‘Do you want me to propose again?’
‘No.’
‘You’re not going to throw it back at me every time we have an argument, are you?’
‘Throw what back at you?’
‘That I never proposed properly.’
‘Well, you got down on bended knee in a crowded bar.’ I was still looking at the ring on my finger. The diamond glinted in the sunlight.
‘Elena…’ He tucked my hair behind my ear and I looked up at him. His eyes were on mine and he looked completely serious. ‘I’m in love with you. I want to grow old with you. Please, will you marry me?’
‘Yes.’ I smiled down at him, ‘Yes, I will.’
He leaned over and kissed me. ‘Now, any time you want to play that cello, I’m all ears.’ He laughed and kissed me again.
‘You only want me for my cello.’
‘I think you know that’s not true.’
He passed me my cup of tea. In the bay below, the sea sparkled azure blue beneath a cloudless sky. I watched a fishing boat in the distance as birds hovered above. It was so peaceful here; I loved it. Daniel went to the loo and I got up and crossed to the chair by the window, picking up my cello as I went. If he wanted me to play naked, then I would play naked. But I wanted to arrange myself as elegantly as possible before he came back.
Was it cheating to use my hair to cover my breasts? I didn’t think so.
Daniel’s face was a picture when he came back into the room. He sat down on the bed and looked at me, his lips slightly parted. I watched his throat move as he swallowed, his tongue move over his bottom lip. I stretched my leg out and his eyes followed. I felt sexy. I always felt sexy with Daniel, but sitting here naked with just a cello between my legs was a serious turn-on. Shooting him a naughty smile, I began to play and the soft, sweet notes of Elgar rang through the room.
Daniel was entranced. I could see him, taking in each and every detail of me and it made me feel powerful and bewitching. I hadn’t been playing for long when I rested the cello against the windowsill and set the bow down carefully next to it. I walked towards Daniel and stood in front of him, naked and unashamed. He stared up at me like I was some kind of goddess and my heart physically jolted in my chest. I ran a finger over his cheekbone and down, until it rested on his bottom lip. He caught my wrist in his hand and gently sucked my finger into his mouth. My breath quickened and I knelt astride him on the bed, stroking back his hair. His stubble grazed my nipple and he moved his chin gently round and round before taking the pink peak into his mouth. His eyes didn’t leave mine as I lowered myself down on top of him. It was so intense, it was almost painful. I ground myself against him as waves of pleasure built inside, shaking, gasping, sweating, until we reached our sweet release.
Daniel laid me gently on my side, smoothing back my hair as he kissed my face. ‘Elena,’ he whispered. ‘I love saying your name, Elena.’ He kissed my neck, running a hand down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. ‘Elena…’ He kissed the base of my throat, his warm tongue in the hollow space. ‘I adore you, Elena,’ he whispered, trailing his tongue lower towards my breast. I watched, entranced as my nipple disappeared into his mouth. He released it and then nudged it with his nose, circling it as the nipple puckered into a hard, hungry peak. ‘Elena,’ he said again, moving south. His breath scorched my stomach and his tongue dipped inside of my belly button. My pelvis arched towards him, my legs parting. ‘Elenaaaa,’ he growled. I felt his breath in my pubic hair, his tongue hot and wet, and came again. Daniel rested his head on my damp stomach and I tangled my fingers in his hair.
‘How many more dreams are you going to bring true today, Elena Green?’ he said eventually, raising his head to look at me.
‘I could say the same to you.’ I smiled down at him sleepily. ‘Shall we have a bath?’
‘Sounds good.’
We sat in the big corner bath side by side, bubbles foaming around us. ‘I don’t know why we’re in here now,’ Daniel said. ‘We should be swimming in the sea.’
‘The sea? The sea’s freezing?’ I squirted some shampoo into my hand and rubbed it into his hair, being careful not to catch his cut. ‘Come here,’ I said, putting my arm around his shoulder. He moved so he was between my legs, leaning back against my body. I massaged his head, teasing his soapy hair into spikes, before taking a glass from the side and gently washing out the soap. Then, squirting body wash onto my hands, I soaped up his chest, enjoying the feel of his firm, slippery skin, watching my hands slide across his pecs, over his shoulders, down his biceps and muscular forearms until I reached his hands. My small, pale fingers entwined with his big, brown ones, and I watched, fascinated by the way they fitted together, slipping and sliding through. My hands slid over his palms, back up to his shoulders, then down over his chest towards his hard, ridged stomach, tracing the edge of his belly button, round and round. His heart was beating fast, his breathing ragged. I ran my tongue over the edge of his ear and he twisted round to face me, water slopping over the sides of the bath.
‘Naughty,’ I whispered. ‘We’re meant to be getting clean.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
We ate breakfast outside on the patio. The sun was so warm it felt like the middle of summer. A sea breeze carried the throaty roar of a power boat out at sea. I sat back on the wooden seat and chewed contentedly.
‘Is it a private beach?’ I asked, ripping off a slice of croissant and looking down at the crashing waves below.
‘Yeah.’
‘Wow.’ I smeared jam and butter on my croissant and popped it into my mouth. I was ravenous. Daniel pushed his sunglasses up his nose and took a sip of coffee. He was sitting low down in his chair, one leg bent, the other stretched out. Blue jeans, white T-shirt, brown arms. My stomach curdled just looking at him. If I hadn’t been so hungry for food, I’d have jumped on him by now. I poured myself more coffee from the jug and offered to top him up. He accepted, and I swirled in the cream. ‘This is delicious.’
‘You’re delicious.’ He leant an arm on the table and leaned towards me, looking over the top of his dark glasses. ‘Elena.’
‘Stop it,’ I told him. ‘I’m trying to eat.’
‘What, can’t I say your name now?’
‘Not after before, no.’ I blushed and ripped off more croissant. Daniel laughed silently and rubbed his shoulder.
‘I love you, Elena.’
‘I love you too, Daniel.’
‘Ooh, say that again…’
Scrunching up a napkin, I threw it at him. ‘Are we going for a walk along the beach later?’
‘We’re going for a swim, darlin’.’
‘We are not!’
‘
Oh yes, we are.’ He grinned at me, and sipped his coffee again. I gave him a look.
‘Have you got a wetsuit?’
‘You won’t need a wetsuit.’
‘Well, I haven’t got a swimming costume.’
‘You won’t need a swimming costume. We’re going skinny-dipping.’
‘Oh marvellous! Skinny-dipping in the Irish sea in May. Just what I want to do.’
‘It’ll be fun.’
‘It won’t be fun, I’m not going in!’
Daniel laughed. ‘Well, I’ll go in then and you can watch.’
I sighed and shook my head. ‘Why would you want to go in the sea? I really don’t understand it! You shouldn’t even be doing stuff like that with those stitches in your head.’
Daniel smiled and got up from the table. ‘Best hurry up,’ he said. ‘It’s clouding over. I don’t want to be swimming in the rain.’
Rolling my eyes, I popped the last of my croissant in my mouth and finished my coffee. I could hear Daniel boiling the kettle in the kitchen. Hoping he’d changed his mind, I gathered up the remains of the breakfast plates and went in to see what he was doing.
‘A flask?’ I frowned at him, incredulous.
‘Yep, hot drink after a cold swim. And blankets.’ He nodded at two wool blankets on the side. ‘I’m going to build a fire too.’ He bent his head and kissed me.
‘I’ll get a jumper,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to get chilly while I watch.’
We walked down to the beach. He carried the blankets, I carried the flask. It was colder and windier on the beach and the sun had disappeared behind a cloud. I shivered, looking up at the sky while Daniel collected driftwood for the fire. Once it was lit, he pulled off his trainers, slipped his T-shirt over his head and started to unbutton his jeans. I should have had enough of seeing his body by now, but it was still a turn-on to see him strip off like that.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘don’t make me go in on my own.’
‘No one’s making you go in there at all, Daniel.’
‘Oh, they are. It’s family tradition, this. We have to have a swim every time we come, regardless of the weather or time of year. You should thank your lucky stars it’s not November.’ He kicked the jeans off, leaving them on the stony sand, and stood in just his boxers, looking at me. I licked my lips.
‘How about you just come over here instead?’ I raised my eyebrows.
He put his hands on his hips. ‘Take your clothes off and I might just consider it.’
I knew it was a trick. I could see it in his eyes. Still, I peeled off my pink hoodie and eased off my trainers with my toes.
‘C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,’ he whispered. He narrowed his eyes, his bottom lip between his teeth.
I pulled my T-shirt over my head, goosebumps prickling across my flesh, and quickly removed my jeans.
‘And the rest,’ he said.
‘You first.’ I pointed.
‘Together then.’
I rolled my eyes and removed my bra, hoping that fishermen on a faraway boat weren’t watching through binoculars. Daniel waited until I was ready to remove my pants before removing his boxers – as though he was shy, which he really wasn’t – and then he grabbed my hand and we ran down to the sea together.
The stones grazed my feet and the water was freezing. I squealed as soon as it touched my toes. I tried to backtrack, but Daniel kept hold of my hand and pulled me on, laughing as I squealed and protested.
‘No, no, no!’
‘Come on, it’ll be amazing. I promise you.’ I looked at him, wide-eyed and frozen. ‘The quicker you get in, the easier it is. Come on.’ He pulled on my hand and I took a few more steps into the foaming surf. ‘No point standing around naked, is there?’
He had a point. Besides, standing in the breakers was probably worse than going further out into the swell. The water slapped into my knees and splashed up over my body. Bracing myself, I looked at Daniel and nodded.
‘Okay? On three, we go. One, two, three…’ And then we were running into the waves, shrieking and squealing and laughing as the water splashed up and over us. It wasn’t quite so bad once I was fully submerged and had lost all feeling in my body. I swam a little through the waves, and floated on my back, staring up at the grey clouds above.
‘See, it’s lovely, isn’t it?’ His face was stretched wide with delight. I couldn’t help but smile back.
‘You should know, if I catch pneumonia and die, I’m going to haunt you for ever.’
‘Good.’ He swam over and put his arms around me. ‘If you die, I’ll die too, and then we can walk the earth together for ever.’
I laughed and kissed him. ‘What if that’s not true? What if we’re trapped on separate planes or whatever and have to roam the earth separately?’
‘Elena…’ He put his hands on either side of my face and pressed his nose to mine. ‘Neither of us is going to die.’
‘Okay.’ I sucked his salty bottom lip into my mouth. ‘But if I do, I’m still haunting you.’
He let go of me, laughing, and swam off. I swam after him. The shore seemed rather far away all of a sudden and I started to worry about getting back. ‘Can I get out now?’ I called.
‘Yeah.’ He swam back to me and took my hand, and we waded back to the beach. Shivering and wrapped in blankets, we huddled next to the fire. Daniel poured coffee from the flask, and I sipped it gratefully. Droplets of water trickled from Daniel’s wet hair, and I leaned against his arm, staring into the flames of the fire.
It was quite surreal when the dog walker appeared. An old man with a flat cap and bushy white sideburns. He looked delighted to see us on the beach, and engaged Daniel in a long conversation about the cottage up on the cliff. He told us he lived in a neighbouring bungalow and walked his dog on the beach twice a day. I smiled and nodded and pretended I wasn’t naked beneath the huge, scratchy blanket, and that his Jack Russell terrier wasn’t actually sniffing at my discarded pants. I pulled the blanket closer and sipped my drink, willing him to be on his way.
In the end, big spots of rain started to fall and he excused himself and hurried off. I watched in dismay as the dog ran off with my knickers in its mouth. There was no way I was about to chase it, and the thought of alerting the man and watching him wrestle them out of the dog’s mouth before handing them back was too much to bear. Daniel started to laugh and I elbowed him angrily, but that only made him laugh more until he was lying back on the beach, crying with laughter.
‘Look on the bright side,’ he said, once he could speak again. I was on my feet now, wearing my hoodie and trying to drag jeans up my damp, sandy legs. ‘At least he didn’t come round half an hour earlier.’
‘Well, that is something to be grateful for, yes,’ I hissed. ‘I thought this bloody beach was private.’
Daniel got to his feet and shrugged. ‘I’ve never seen anyone on it before, that’s for sure.’ He dressed quickly before kicking sand over the flames to extinguish the fire. I gathered up my bra and T-shirt and we carried the blankets and flask back up the hill.
‘You’re not mad at me, are you?’ he asked, as I stomped on ahead. ‘Think what a beautiful story we’ll have to tell our grandchildren in the future.’
‘You know, I don’t think they’re going to want to hear about old people shagging.’
‘We’ll give them the clean version. Besides, we weren’t shagging. We were swimming.’
I stopped and turned to look at him, exasperated, and he smiled hopefully. My heart melted.
Grudgingly, I smiled back. ‘I’m not swimming again tomorrow!’ I told him.
‘Okay,’ he shrugged. ‘It’s a shame though. I love a good swim in the sea.’
The rain started falling faster. Daniel caught my hand and we ran the rest of the way up to the cottage. Daniel fumbled for the key and we fell through the front door together. Dropping the blankets, he slammed the door and put his arms around me, lifting me up. ‘You�
��re amazing,’ he said. ‘Thank you for coming in the water.’
I smiled and smoothed back his wet hair. He had sand on his cheek and I brushed it away with my fingertips. ‘This family tradition of yours? You’re not all naked, are you?’
‘No!’ he said. ‘We always wear swimsuits. What do you think we are? Perverts?’ He laughed at me and I slapped him playfully on the shoulder.
‘Remind me to bring my swimsuit next time then.’
‘But skinny-dipping’s more romantic.’
‘Not when you lose your pants!’
‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ Daniel slipped a hand down the back of my jeans and my breath caught. His eyes burned with desire. ‘Knowing you have no pants on under those jeans is quite arousing.’ He caught my lip between his teeth and pressed me up against the wall.
We didn’t make it upstairs to the bedroom. We made love on the stairs while the rain pattered on the roof. I ended up with a carpet burn on my back, and Daniel kissed it tenderly.
‘I’m going to make a fire,’ he said, pulling his jeans back up.
‘Good, I’m freezing.’
‘Have another bath then.’
‘I might do actually.’ Gathering up my discarded clothes, I took them upstairs. I couldn’t believe I’d been swimming in the sea. I’d never felt this alive before. Everything felt vibrant and new. Technicoloured. It was hard to believe that, less than a month ago, I’d been living a grey, dull existence with Alex. I hoped he’d found happiness with his new woman. I hoped he was as happy as me.
I went to run a bath. My hair smelt of wood smoke from the fire on the beach and I wound it around my hand and breathed it in. Daniel was right. We were making memories here. Stories to tell our children. I wondered how many more we’d create as we grew old together.
The bubbly water filled the tub, steam rising. I slid beneath it, sighing with relief. It felt so nice after the cold sea. Daniel appeared in the bathroom doorway, pulling off his T-shirt and slipping off his jeans.
Stuck With You Page 23
