Swim Deep - Page 31

At one point, I spotted something high up on a cliff of limestone boulders. I started to scale them.

“Anna?” Evan called out sharply.

But I was determined, and didn’t stop. He followed me up to a small cave inset into the rocks.

“Anna, there might be bats or some other animal inside,” he warned when I ducked and entered the dark space. I looked around, delighted with my find, seeing no scary animals, only smooth, pale stone. Even the air was fresh instead of musty. The cave grew darker. I knew Evan had followed me in and was blocking the light. I put my hand back, and he took it.

He was far too tall for the cramped space, so at my urging, we sat side by side. We stared out at the sparkling, color-soaked view just feet away from where we sat in the darkness. The scene took on an extra vitality viewing it from the cave.

I laughed, strangely delighted by the moment. I mimed daintily drinking from a teacup and saucer. I really did feel like the queen of a kingdom up in that hidden place, with him by my side. Evan’s rich laughter reverberated against the stone walls. He cupped my jaw with one hand.

His kiss at that moment struck me as exquisite: secret and sweet. Sacred.

By the time we reached the private, secluded sand beach and azure water, we were hot and dusty, and more than ready for a swim. We stripped to our skin and plunged into the crisp, cold water, me stumbling and squealing at the feeling of the small stones mixed in with the rough sand on my bare feet. I wasn’t used to it. By contrast, the sand at the calm little beach at Les Jumeaux was smooth as silk.

Evan finally pulled me down into the water, more than likely tired of my yelps. I splashed enough to scare away all fish within a mile radius. I surfaced, laughing and spitting water out of my mouth, reaching for him blindly. When I pried open my eyelids, I saw that he was laughing, too, the image of his unguarded expression, light-infused gray-golden eyes, and wide smile slicing straight into me.

Later, he led me to the beach and spread a blanket. I’ll never forget how he looked when he laid down next to me, and his gaze traveled over my naked body. His eyes narrowed on my breasts as he touched me with warm fingertips.

“You’re different,” he murmured. I heard the awe in his tone, and was confused and enthralled at once.

“How do you mean I’m different? I’m getting a good tan, that’s all.”

I sank my fingers into his thick, wet hair. He lifted his hand from my breast and grasped my wrist. Deliberately, he placed my arm on the blanket next to me. I realized I’d been partially blocking his vision of me.

Again, his stare scored me. He cupped a breast and leaned down to run his lips over a nipple. I shivered uncontrollably, clamping my thighs together.

“Evan?” I asked, unsure of what was unfolding at that moment, but fully in the grip of it nevertheless.

“I’ve never seen you in full sunlight. You’re so beautiful, Anna,” he said, sounding preoccupied as he kissed and then licked lightly at my beading nipple. Pleasure flickered inside me, and then swelled like a wave.

It was then that I realized—however fleetingly—that until that moment, he’d only made love to me in shadows.

Or pitch-blackness.

After we made love, we lay entwined, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around me while he idly stroked my shoulder. The soughing sound of the light surf and Evan’s caressing fingers held me in a sublime trance. The light wind felt delicious skimming along my perspiration-damp skin.

“Would you consider going off the pill?”

I blinked, my awareness going from a blissful stupor to sharp disbelief in a fraction of a second. I lifted my head to examine his face. He merely stared back at me with that Evan-like calm that sometimes drove me crazy.

“You want to have a baby?” I asked shrilly. “Now?”

A smile broke over his face. Despite my sudden anxiety, I found myself smiling, too. Laughing, in fact. His stroking fingers turned into a deep massage of my shoulder and back muscles, as though he wanted to soothe me.

“I wasn’t saying I wanted to now. I was just bringing up the topic. Do you ever think about it?”

“Having a baby with you?”

Upon hearing my own words, all amusement vanished.

Of course I’d thought about it. I was insanely in love with him. The very thought of sharing something so beautiful, so deeply intimate with him, took my breath away. It seemed to me like it would be a revelation, and a deepening of the mystery all at once.

“I’ve thought about it, but not in any…” I faltered for the right words.

“Don’t worry about it, Anna,” he said, a smile ghosting his lips. “I didn’t bring it up to make you anxious.”

“I know,” I rushed to say, concerned he’d think I thought the idea reprehensible. “I love you, Evan. I want to have a family with you. Of course I do. I just didn’t think that you were ready—or even thinking—about that yet.”

Tags: Beth Kery Romance
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