by Anna Katmore
His laugh came closer to my ear this time. He looped his arm around my waist to help me over a few rocks on our way. Scared of a fatal fall to the bottom of the cliff, I tensed, but enjoyed his firm body pressed to my side nonetheless.
He released me as soon as I’d successfully climbed over the difficult passage, but kept a strong hold on my hand. And by successfully I mean I only slipped halfway out of my shoe once and didn’t break an arm, leg or my precious neck.
“Don’t you ever tie your boots? It would help a lot, you know.”
“I can’t. One of the laces is ragged.” I carefully scooted on. “Honestly, how stupid would I look with only one shoe tied?”
“Oh, you mean besides the hole in your jeans and the stained shirts you used to wear?”
Pebbles bounced down the path when I stopped abruptly to scowl at him. But Julian’s tantalizing wink didn’t fail to curve my lips. Shielding my eyes from the sun with my free hand, I slowly shoved forward until my soles sank securely into the sandy beach next to the basket Julian had brought down before.
A deep, relieved breath filled my head with a scent heavy with warm wind and sea.
So familiar.
My gaze snapped to him. Julian’s eyes were closed. He sucked in a breath himself. Why would this man, who smelled like a gorgeous day on the beach, look like he’d just returned home?
His eyes slid open and he cast me a sideways look. “Come on, let’s find a place over there.”
The towels spread in the shade of two palm trees provided a place for us to sit. Kicking off my boots, I couldn’t wait till the soft white sand touched my bare feet.
As I galloped toward the foaming waves, rolling laughter erupted from my chest. The first wave brushing my calves sent me leaping back out of the water. Strong arms wrapped around my waist when I bounced into Julian behind me.
I shuddered. “It’s arse-cold.”
“Once you get used to it, the cold isn’t all that bad.” He grabbed my hand. My hair danced in the wind as he pirouetted me in the sand like a ballerina. “Want to go for a walk?”
“Mm-hm.”
Julian led the way. He was right about the cold water. My toes sinking into the soaking sand at each step created the illusion of walking on clouds. The seagulls above performed a concert of cries to accompany our stroll.
Drops of saltwater glinted in the sun as I shoved my feet against the oncoming waves. Julian flinched next to me as an unanticipated wave soaked into the hem of his knee-length shorts.
“It is cold, all right,” he said through clenched teeth.
It didn’t stop me from splashing water all around me. “These little sprinkles wouldn’t hurt a tough guy like you, would they?” Scooping water in my cupped hands, I doused his entire front.
A menacing growl rumbled in his chest. It might have scared me, if his warm eyes hadn’t raked me with something different than anger.
Mischief.
Uh-oh.
With one swift tug, he pulled his shirt over his head. Strong pecs twitched underneath his skin as he tossed it to the sand. He granted me a couple seconds to stare at his perfectly shaped body, my mouth watering for a feel of it. Then he charged toward me with a grin that meant no good and swept me up in his arms.
My girlish squeal and his cheerful laughter mixed in the soft wind.
With my hands in a death-grip at the back of his neck, he tromped farther into the sea. I pressed against him, dreading the moment he would let go and I’d drop into the cold water.
“Don’t you dare!” I held on even tighter. A wave brushed my bum and drenched my shorts. “I have no change of clothes!”
“Then you better pray these aren’t made of sugar,” he chided and lowered me farther into the cold sea.
Chills ran wreaked havoc all over my body, and not only as a result of being dipped. His arms around me and his hands in places where he’d never touched me before ignited an unfamiliar heat in spite of the cold soaking through my clothes.
“You’re dead, Julian!” The sound of the wild ocean muffled my cry. “My arse is totally wet. Now let me go, goddammit.”
I regretted my words the moment I’d spoken them.
He grinned. “As you wish.”
A wave swallowed me whole a second later.
Me and my bloody mouth.
Fighting to get on my feet again in the twirling water, I sputtered and wheezed as I broke through the surface. I rubbed the water from my face and caught a glimpse of Julian wading back to the shore, casting me a grin over his shoulder.
I shoved my soaked bangs from my forehead and laughed. “You just wait till I get you!”
Crystal clear water tempted me to stop on my way back and bend to retrieve one half of a shell from the sandy bed. Sunlight glistened inside it, playing out all the colors of the rainbow. Frozen, I ran my fingertip over the smooth texture, feeling every rise and fall of the beautiful shape.
Julian, who had already stepped out of the water, bent to pick up his shirt and returned to our makeshift oasis under the palms. Parallel to the shore, I strolled through the knee-deep water, collecting more of pretty shells in various shapes on the way.
Some looked like the wings of a butterfly, others resembled circular pyramids. Totally absorbed in the amusement, I waded up and down this private little piece of heaven while the sun dried my t-shirt and warmed my back.
In one sea shell that appeared amazingly similar to a cone, I even found an inhabitant. But as the small crab stuck its head out of the opening, I dropped the piece with a low shriek and it plummeted back into the ocean. An oncoming wave washed a layer of sand over it.
The bright white reflection of light on the surface hurt my eyes after a while. I peeked upward with my hand shading my face and found the sun had already moved a good deal across the sky. It had to be the middle of the afternoon.
Julian still rested in the shade with his back against the tree. The sight of him sent little snakes of tickles down my arms and into my belly.
His left arm propped on his bent knee, he watched me.
Out of the water, I loped to him, more sand pasting onto my wet feet with every stride. Julian’s eyes followed my moves as I drew nearer, but it was as if he didn’t see me all. Like he gazed right through me.
Or rather, into me.
He appeared lost in thought. I’d have given an entire day of my life to get a sneak peek at those thoughts. It made me slow my pace and approach him with my head angled. In front of him, I dropped to my knees and sat on my heels with my hands braced on my thighs as I studied his face. “What’s on your mind?”
His eyes twitched, and I knew now he’d gotten the first real glimpse of me. He caressed my cheek. “You,” he breathed.
That one word blasted my mind blank. His fingers cupped my neck, his thumb brushing along my jaw. I swallowed against a dry throat. Staring deep into my eyes, he gave me a moment to recap the situation and make a decision. Pull back from his hold or face what would follow.
I didn’t budge.
And then the world slowed down. Julian pulled me gently closer, my breath speeding up with anticipation.
Guided by his hold on my neck, my eyes fluttered shut, and I savored the moment with all my senses. As his mouth pressed against mine, it felt soft like cotton. A rush of ecstatic explosions inside me kept my skin tingling.
Bracing my hands on the sand, I leaned in without resistance. Julian angled his head, captured my lips time and again with feather soft kisses. His tongue delved into my mouth to start a playful game, while his fingers curled tenderly in my hair. Long, even breaths through his nose brushed my skin.
The rush of the waves toward the shore seemed to have eased into an unhurried stroll, the cry of the seagulls appeared uncommonly long and far away. Even the wind took it down a gear and tenderly caressed my skin. Time was not the same anymore.
I drowned in Julian’s kiss. Fully and irrevocably.
He gave my bottom lip a soft nip and eased the passion. I took the ch
ance to draw back an inch and study his face. “What, does this mean we’re past complicated now?”
“Complicated…” He paused to skim his fingers over my temple and cheekbone. “Begins now.”
I didn’t understand the sadness in his eyes when he regarded me. But before I could ask what he’d meant, he delivered another tender kiss.
Then he took both my hands into his and looped my arms around myself so that I would twist and rest against his chest with my back, both our arms folded over my stomach. He held me so tight I got the impression he feared someone or something was going to rip me out of his embrace any moment.
“I’m not running away. You can ease the grip,” I mocked over my shoulder.
His dark sigh at my neck hurt my soul for no obvious reason. Nuzzling my temple, he spoke softly into my ear. “You promise?”
Yes, I do.
No place in the world could have lured me away from Julian. For the first time since I’d come to France and my aunt’s house, I knew with an overwhelming clarity that I wanted to stay until the end.
The following four weeks I would enjoy living one room away from him, spending as much time with him as possible. I could, hands down, no longer fight the feeling, and denying it only made me long for him more.
Even after my nod, it took another heartbeat until he relaxed. Our fingers laced, I gazed over the swaying sea. I should have gone rigid in his arms. Paralyzed with the excitement of finally being so close, so intimate with him. But I didn’t. Nothing of the kind at all.
Calmness seeped into me through Julian’s tender hug. Thinking of nothing but the beauty of this moment, I dipped my head to his shoulder and enjoyed his breaths brushing the hair on my forehead.
Julian protested when I slid my fingers out of his. But when I started exploring his hand, the tension in his wrist eased. Running my fingertips in circles, I felt every bit of his soft palm, stroked his slender fingers, bent and unrolled them in a tender game.
My palm pressed against Julian’s, his fingers overlapped mine by an inch. There was something in them I couldn’t grasp. My fingers tickled in his cupped hand like they were pleasantly electrified. Stimulated.
“I like your hands,” I whispered.
“I noticed that.” The tip of his nose caressed the side of my face. His breath tingled on the soft spot behind my ear where it ignited a spiral of shivers up and down my neck.
Threatening to get lost in this stunning sensation, I fought to stay focused. “They feel like they’re charged, or loaded.”
“Loaded?” Julian pressed a mellow kiss to my jawbone while he cupped my other cheek with his free hand. His fingers skimmed along the side of my throat. “With what?”
Energy.
“I don’t know,” I lied, since it felt insane to tell him. Instead, I surrendered to his touch. Butterflies took a ride on a roller coaster in my stomach at his continued stroking.
With his thumb under my jaw and his fingers splayed over my cheek, he tilted my head toward him. The flames of a sensual hunger licked at my skin through the depths of his demanding eyes.
Julian brought his mouth over mine to still this longing. The tip of his tongue traced my lips.
I half twisted in his arms and braced myself against his naked chest. The warmth of his skin seeping through my palms caused me to curl my fingers and skim my nails gently over his twitching pecs. He hugged me tighter, deepening the kiss.
The racing sensations in my chest barely gave me a chance to breathe. Carried away on a ship of affection, it felt as if I had melted into Julian—body and mind.
A hot, wet trail remained on my lips when Julian drew back. It took a couple of seconds until my eyes would open again. His crooked smile, which I deemed my favorite, adorned his face.
“You look like you’re enjoying this,” he teased and brushed a wisp of hair behind my ear.
He had no idea just how much.
“Kiss me again,” I said dreamily, already dipping forward to catch his lips once more.
This time he took my mouth like a scoundrel, his hands stroking down my shoulders and arms. Then he grabbed my middle and pulled me on top of him. I straddled his hips. My shirt no longer a barrier between his fingers and my skin, he caressed my back, my sides, the small crook right above my bottom. The roughish game of his tongue coaxed a moan from me, but he stilled it with his mouth.
His grip settled on my waist, tightening. “Jona, you need to get—” He got no chance to finish, not when I silenced him with a fierce kiss, dying for more of this sweet taste of him.
My fingers buried into his soft silk hair and I reveled in his touch and scent. Although he gently shoved against my hips, trying to move me away from him, he met each of my claiming kisses.
“Could you sto—? Ah, please!” His croak sounded desperate, but I wouldn’t hear him out.
The kiss broke, his abs flexed against my core. And suddenly I was trapped underneath him. He’d rolled us both over so fast that I hardly had time to close my mouth before my back hit the sand.
Breathing hard, he staked me with a stare of relish from only a few inches above. “We really need to stop this before I do something—stupid.”
Hands still resting on his chest, I rolled my head slightly to the side, gazing at him from the corner of my eye. “I won’t regret anything.”
The tip of Julian’s nose nudged mine, then he planted a tender kiss to my neck. “I’m afraid you just might.”
A CALL FROM THE POLICE
THE MIDSUMMER rustled the palm leaves over my head. The warm air carried a note of sea and sand. I lay on my back and wondered why Julian had left me alone. I would have taken the chance to do whatever had followed his sensual kisses that I just might regret. But he’d refused.
The sensational tingle inside me took a while to cease, but finally my breaths calmed, and I got on my feet, dusting sand off my butt.
His hands tucked into his pockets, Julian gazed at the sea, seemingly lost in his thoughts. My feet sank into the soft sand as I ambled toward him. But I stopped a few steps behind, somehow not daring to interrupt him.
“Do you miss London?” he asked after a long moment, without breaking his gaze on the horizon. The light wind played with his hair.
Putting a reluctant foot in front, I closed the distance between us. “Right now? Not one bit.” And with all of today’s perfection, why would I? I was away from my mother’s prying, with the loveliest man in the world, who’d kissed me amidst scenery that caused my heart to soar.
Bliss enclosed me in a bubble.
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive your mother?”
Strange, why would he bring this up right now? But for once it seemed okay to speak about Charlene. “Honestly, I don’t see it happening.”
I traced the flight path of a seagull with my eyes, surprised how calm and disengaged I sounded. The usual anger when I thought or spoke of my mother had left me. “There is so much I don’t understand about Charlene. She hurt me a great deal and she never cared what became of me. How could I ever get over something like that?”
The cold waves hardly brushed his toes when they crushed on the shore, yet a thin coating of gooseflesh covered his back. Skimming my fingers over his arm, I circled him. He kept staring out at the sea.
“Would you want me to forgive her?” Not that it mattered, because I never would, but his thoughts on the subject interested me.
His gaze moved to meet mine. “In moments like this one, I hope you never do.” Deep affection laced his tone—and a hint of something else. A sorrow that made my throat burn and my body ache to hold him.
But his words were the last thing I’d expected. “I don’t understand.”
He tucked my sun-dried locks behind my ear and cupped my cheek. “And you don’t have to.”
“But why—”
His thumb brushed across my bottom lip, cutting off my words. Julian shook his head slightly. He reached for my hand, placed it into the crook of his bent elbow, a
nd walked me back to our picnic oasis. “Time to grab some food or we’ll be taking the full basket back home with us.”
It irritated me how he left me burning with intrigue, but my stomach also growled with hunger, so for once, I wasn’t going to contradict him.
In the car on the way back, we hardly spoke, but once or twice Julian reached over to lace his fingers with mine for a while, until he needed to shift gears. I studied the fine features of his solemn face as he drove.
The corner of his lips tugged up. “Are you watching me?”
“Mm-hm. Do you mind?”
His sweet laughter made my heart jolt. “Not if you like what you see.”
“I do.”
“Then you’re allowed to keep watching.”
But somehow watching wasn’t enough anymore. A longing to kiss him again gripped me, to feel his protective arms wrapped around me. That would be a better way to end our beautiful day together than to attend my aunt and uncle’s party in the evening. Come to think of it…
“I think I’m getting a headache.”
Julian glanced at me sideways. Playing my role perfectly, I rubbed my temples and pulled my brows deep into my eyes.
“If this is your attempt to wiggle out of attending the party, let me tell you, it’s not working.”
I dropped my hands from my forehead and straightened in the seat. “How do you do that?”
His grin grew wider. “Do what?”
“How do you snoop around my thoughts?” This was hardly the first time he’d read my mind, and it made me feel more than just uncomfortable. I felt exposed.
“I’m not snooping. You’re just a lousy actor.” Something in his calm voice told me he wasn’t speaking the entire truth. “I think you’ll have fun at the party if you just allow yourself to be happy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you shouldn’t decide you won’t have a good time before you give it a try. I’ve gotten to know you quite a bit the last couple weeks, Jona. And I can tell when you flip the switch inside your head that turns off the fun factor just because of your mother.”
“That is not true!” I folded my arms over my stomach. And how in the world could he have figured me out so quickly?
