by Liz Matis
“Why architecture engineering? And what’s the difference?”
Relieved to be talking about something else, I delved into my answer. “It’s more than the design of a building, it’s about the materials, and the surroundings of the site. My focus is on creating new sustainable communities.”
“Ambitious.”
“I wasn’t raised to be a Southern Belle. Being a Marine’s daughter, I know how to change a flat, know the basic self-defense moves, in addition to baking a mean pecan pie.”
“Pie. I like pie.” His hand drifted up my soapy thigh.
He was so cocky and sure of himself. Of me. I gripped his hand to stop his progress. “Say pretty please.” I gave his wrist a little twist to show off one of those self-defense moves.
The light in his eyes turned to blue fire. “May, I please touch your pretty pussy?” he asked in a rough whisper.
I melted at the low desperate timber of his voice. I let go surrendering to him and to the fact that I had no self-defenses when it came to Sean, whether it was my body or my heart. None at all.
He moved forward to position himself between my legs. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub.
“Um, Sean, we’re going to the flood the floor.”
“Not a problem.” Sean flipped the toggle of the drain to the down position and the water started to recede, the sound of it in stark contrast to the romantic music in the background. “Just you, me and the bubbles, babe.”
Chapter 18
Sean
My departure loomed over us like the tropical storm bearing down on the East Coast. The day had been sunny and hot with no indication of the upcoming storm, but the ocean knew, as it always did. The rough surf kept the swimmers out of the water but not away from the beach, making it a busy day of whistle blowing.
Night had fallen, but the temperatures hadn’t. Even though Storme had given us free reign of the house, Kelsey and I gravitated to our favorite spot. In the dunes, under the cover of darkness, we pretended that time stood still.
A gust of wind ruffled the blanket as we spread it out on the sand. We laughed as we pinned it down with our bodies. Our gazes met when we rolled to face each other. The laughter faded. I think she was about to cry. Or maybe I was.
In a week, I’d be gone. All summer I had tried to convince myself I could walk away unscathed, but I was a fool. Kelsey had stolen my heart, along with pieces of my soul, and that was the painful truth. Thing was, I didn’t want any of it back. What use would I have for a heart?
“Make love to me, Sean.”
Make love? Though she only whispered it, the words echoed inside me as if she’d shouted it at the top of her lungs, down into the emptiness of my being. It was the closest we’d come to saying it, though I had admitted it to myself countless times. I never had the balls to tell her. What good would it do? She had made up her mind and I wouldn’t be the cause of any more pain for her.
I undressed her like I was unwrapping a precious gift. Every day we had left would be. Kelsey returned the favor, shedding my shirt and shorts with a purposeful slowness. And then we were skin to skin. Softness and hardness.
Running her fingers down my six-pack, her touch seared as much as it soothed. I wanted to throw her onto her back and ravage her but I remembered her plea to make love.
I swept my hand possessively along the curves of her body. For now, she belonged to me. In my heart, she always would.
I kissed her sweet lips, imprinting the feel and the taste of them in my soul. Gathering each moment into a memory that would last me in the years to come without her.
Her body pressed against mine, searching for more. I would give her everything. Give her all of me. I didn’t need daylight to map out each freckle with a lick of my tongue. I knew every inch of her.
Just when I was getting to the best part, licking Kelsey’s red velvet pussy to a wet nirvana, she sat up and pushed me onto my back. “I can’t wait. I need you inside me now.”
So. Fucking. Hot.
When Kelsey took the lead I was in for it good. And I loved every second of it. But this time, after rolling on the condom, Kelsey slid down my rigid cock oh-so slow. Taking me inch by inch, until her hot pussy consumed every inch of me.
She massaged her breasts as she moved her shapely hips back and forth in a rocking motion that rocked my world then turned it upside down.
So. Fucking. Hot.
Any minute I was going to come without her. I placed my thumb on her clit, applying a gentle pressure.
Her sweet moans echoed in the night. “Oh, Sean.”
Moonbeams spilled across her body and the ethereal creature that was pleasuring herself with my cock enthralled me. I feared that in time this would become only a dream. It wouldn’t even be a memory, just a myth I’d created. That it never really happened. Because how could something so beautiful have ever happened to me? To any man?
Did it matter? Whether memories or dreams, her erotic moans would haunt me for the rest of my days.
Chapter 19
Kelsey
My body had come to need him in the same way I needed air. Not just the sex or his handsome face, but also the masculine feel of him, the smell of sun on his skin, and the sound of his voice whispering my name. Everything. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Oh, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, you had it so right.
His thumb pressed against my clit, scorching my already heated skin. His cock, big and hard, filled me with pleasure, but I didn’t want either of us to come, not yet. I wasn’t ready to lose the connection of our bodies joined as one.
I didn’t know how I would let Sean go. I only knew that it would happen. And there was nothing I could do about it. Emotions swirled inside my head. Joy. Sadness. Ecstasy. Pain. Loss. Love. My movements became desperate. Hot tears stung my cheeks.
“It’s okay, babe,” whispered Sean as he gently rolled me onto my back, his cock never leaving my body as he did so. “I know.”
His thrusts were deep and true. Reaching a part of me I never knew existed. A slow steady rush of bliss coursed through my veins, until it had nowhere to go and then pooled and built up inside me.
“Kelsey, I can feel you. That’s it, babe. Make me come with you.”
Then I was there. A breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t inhale or exhale as I crested with each wave of intense pleasure and yes, pain. Sean’s name ripped from my throat out into the night. Over and over I sobbed his name, as I completely lost myself to him.
The release cleansed me of all the conflicting emotions and all that was left behind was the love that I couldn’t express.
Sean lifted his head away from my neck. His breath, hot and heavy mingled with mine. His skin slicked with sweat blended with mine. We were a beautiful mess.
He stretched out beside me. In the sweet hush of the aftermath of our loving-making, I wanted to stay there forever looking up at the stars with his hand stroking the curve of my hip. I don’t know how long we stayed like that. A minute. An hour? A lifetime? The stillness of the night ended as the wind kicked up.
“The weather is turning, we better get inside.” Sean’s voice was filled with regret.
So much for forever. Fearing if I spoke I’d blurt out that I loved him, I put my clothes back on in silence, remembering how he’d slipped off each piece with a reverence reserved for holy ceremonies.
Sean had gone mute too. Did he think I was a lunatic female for crying during sex? As the summer waned, my love for Sean had not, it had only grown with each passing day and night. I had become unhinged at the thought of him leaving me, of him going to war.
Clothed, I turned to him. He’d been watching me. Maybe it’s the moonlight shining in his eyes, but I saw love there, though he’d never told me. I didn’t want him to. Yes, you do.
He reached out and stroked my cheek with his thumb. Had a tear left a track of wetness? Leaning into the caress, I asked, “Will you stay with me tonight?”
Sean palmed my cheek. “Yes, and
every night until I—”
Leave. The unspoken word hung between us like a dark shadow. Sean kissed me with a tenderness that shattered my heart as if he’d taken a sledgehammer to it instead. How could he kiss me like that and leave me?
Without warning, he froze, and then pulled away. Sean tilted his head, his brows furrowed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shhh!”
I didn’t take offense to his sharp, annoyed shushing. He’d heard something. Was someone coming down the path? Had someone heard us making love? Straining my ears, I listened too. A faraway cry of help carried on the wind.
Sean leapt up. “Bring our phones.” He bolted to the walkway and took the turn that led to the beach.
Startled, it took me a moment to spring into action. I grabbed my purse along with the blanket and raced after him. Ahead of me, Sean had angled off on the sand and ran to the water about twenty feet from Storme’s part of the beach. Breathless, I joined him at the shoreline. Sean had already stripped his shirt off and had his hands up to his forehead in a V shape to scan the ocean.
“Where is she?”
I didn’t think he was even talking to me, but I asked, “Who?” All I saw were huge thunderous waves, crashing to the shore.
“There.” Sean pointed.
I barely made out the slight form in water. To my untrained eye it could have been a piece of driftwood.
“Call 911.” Sean instructed. “Stay on shore.”
He didn’t wait for a response, diving into the treacherous waves with no hesitation or concern for his own safety. My heart clutched in fear for the girl and for Sean. My hands shook as I pulled my phone out of my purse and pushed the buttons for 9-1-1, while I tried to track Sean’s progress at the same time. I didn’t want to lose sight of him or I might just lose myself.
“911, what is your emergency?”
In a rush I explained the situation, thinking the faster I spoke, the faster they’d get here.
“Miss, please slow down.”
Slow down? It’s an emergency! I took a deep breath. I spoke again, this time slower, so my accent wasn’t hindering the dispatcher’s understanding. Somehow, I remembered Storme’s address.
“Help is on the way. Stay on the line, Miss. Do not hang up.”
If only someone could throw Sean a line. I wished I could do more. I wished I were a mermaid. But my swimming skills were no match for the turbulent water. I would only hinder Sean’s efforts and I needed to stay on shore in case…in case…please, God help them both.
Chapter 20
Sean
The Hamptons had seen its fair share of hurricanes and tropical storms. I had made plenty of ocean rescues before, but never at night, never without the backup of another lifeguard and never without any safety equipment.
Huge barrel waves rolled in without mercy. Past the breakers, the ocean was turbulent and angry, like it was looking for a sacrifice. Between the incoming storm, the high tide and the full moon, everything was working against me. Except, I had Kelsey on shore to call 911 and direct any rescue crews to where I was.
Breaking the surface, I didn’t see the girl. Fuck! She was there just seconds ago. Panic ricocheted inside my chest. Where is she?
I took deep breath in an effort to calm myself. Then two feet in front of me, right where she was supposed to be, the little girl popped up and bobbed in the water like a rag doll.
I jerked out my hand and pulled her to me before she was lost to me again. “I got you,” I said as I placed her in a classic lifeguard’s hold. She whimpered but her breathing was shallow. Too shallow.
I guessed her age to be about ten years old. What the hell was she doing out here dressed in a one-piece bathing suit like it was a sunny day at the beach? “I won’t let go.”
“Promise,” she mumbled.
“I promise,” I swore as I looked back to the beach.
There was no easy way in. No path of least resistance. I had to get us back to shore now. I couldn’t wait for a break in the waves or for help to arrive. The weather was deteriorating fast. By the way the water swirled to the left of us, I suspected a rip current. I doubled checked my hold on the girl, and then kicked to the right with all the strength I possessed. A huge wave took us under, violently spinning us until I had no idea which way is up. My lungs burned for air. But I wouldn’t let her go. I’d promised.
If the sea drowned us, it would be with my arms clutched around her. She would not die alone. Her little body went limp. A bad sign. Had I crushed her? Had water filled her lungs? There was nothing I could do but hold on. My back hit the bottom with a thud and I almost lost my grip from the force of the blow. Sand and shells scraped my body as I was dragged along and then we were tumbling again. Defenseless against the raw power of the ocean, it was only by some miracle the wave released us and spit us out onto the shore like a rocket.
Adrenaline pumped through my body, giving me the strength to carry the non-responsive figure in my arms to the dry sand. “She’s not breathing.”
Still on the phone, a tearful Kelsey updated 911.
I placed the cold body on the blanket that Kelsey had laid out. Putting the heel of my right hand on the small fragile chest, I began compressions.
“Yes, Sean’s beginning CPR now.”
Thirty compressions. Two breaths.
“They’re five minutes out.” Kelsey powered up the flashlight app on her phone to provide me with light. Smart chick.
Thirty compressions. Two breaths.
I repeated the procedure again and again, until it stopped being a procedure and became a prayer.
Thirty compressions. Two breaths.
Fuck! She wasn’t responding. Please God. The phone’s light cast an eerie glow over the girl. With all my training, I didn’t panic. Not yet. But I couldn’t lose this little one. No way.
Thirty compressions. Two breaths.
“Come on baby, breathe,” Kelsey half yelled, half cried.
Thirty compressions. Two breaths.
Then the sweetest music to a lifeguard’s ears sounded. A cough, followed by a gurgling sputter, then water spewed out of the girl’s mouth.
“It’s okay.” I rolled her to her side and gently patted her back, but I didn’t know if I’d said the words for the little girl or for myself. “It’s okay.”
Chapter 21
Kelsey
Sean had saved a little girl’s life. Pulled her from the ocean like a man possessed and performed CPR as if his own life depended on it. The unbearable weight pressing against my chest lifted. It was like now that she could breathe, I could too.
After the girl spit out the last of the water, I wrapped the sides of the blanket around her shivering body and held her close to me.
“I want my Mommy,” she croaked.
“I know you do, sweetie.” Where were her parents? How did she leave her house and get down to the beach without them knowing it? She shivered again, despite the muggy air. “What’s your name?”
“B..b..bonnie.”
“Bonnie? That’s such a pretty name,” I soothed.
Over the head of the girl, my tearful gaze met Sean’s. His face was a mask of relief and exhaustion. The need to protect was so engrained in him that he didn’t realize he was a hero. But I did.
Isn’t that the type of man I should want?
Isn’t that the type of man that any woman would be lucky to have?
Why was I fighting my feelings? Denying them? I was such a hypocrite to tell Storme and Leigh to follow their hearts when I’d run in the opposite direction from mine. Away from Sean. He wasn’t anything like any of the college boys I’d dated. Not even close. Sean was a man. A good man. Everything a man should be.
And I’d almost lost him.
In that moment, I finally understood my mother’s sacrifice. And why she said she’d do it all over again. Even after losing my father.
And why I would do the same for Sean. For myself. For the two of us.
I lov
e him. That’s what it came down to. It was so simple. There was no choice to be made. There never had been. I love him and I didn’t want to live a life without him. I’d take each goodbye knowing each homecoming would be worth it all.
I may be a daddy’s girl but I was more like my mother than I’d thought. I could be strong like her. I now realized her strength was more powerful than any army’s. Still, to reveal one’s heart took a different kind of courage.
I had to tell him I wanted forever. “Sean, I—”
I heard the sirens before I saw the lights. Sean grabbed my phone and waved it in the air as a beacon for the ambulance that was racing down the beach to our location.
The EMTs jumped out and I released a reluctant Bonnie to them. Sean gave them a rundown as they immediately assessed the girl’s condition. Several ocean rescue trucks and a police SUV arrived on the scene seconds later. I stayed in the background as Sean repeated the information to someone who looked in charge. I recognized some of the other rescuers and Blake, who tossed a blanket over Sean’s shoulders. The respect and admiration they all had for him was clear from the way they hung on his every word.
The EMTs were preparing the girl for transport to the hospital for further evaluation when a man and woman raced down the walkway from the house next to Storme’s, shouting. “Bonnie! Bonnie!”
I directed them over to the ambulance just as they were about to shut the doors. “Bonnie. Oh, my God. What happened?”
“I just wanted to go swimming.” The girl’s big blue eyes filled with enough tears to flood the Hamptons.
As the girl’s parents hugged and scolded their daughter at the same time, I turned to Sean who watched the scene with a smile. If Sean and I hadn’t met, if we hadn’t made love on the beach tonight, if Sean hadn’t been skilled, if he hadn’t been brave, if the ocean had been any worse, they would have lost their child. So many ifs had to line up to save Bonnie. Life offered no guarantees. The only thing you could do was embrace life in the here and now.
Done with the authorities, Sean walked over to me. My heart cracked opened from the love filling into it. There was nothing left to do but share that love with him.
