My eyes wander over his face. He looks serene. He’s the ocean on a windless day, tranquil and still.
For a nanosecond I think of Drake and how he makes me feel. Despite how he betrayed me he made me feel wanted, desired, and sexy. This feeling I’m getting from Elliot, the deep blossoming desire that feels almost like an ache, starting at the pit of my stomach, and traveling through every part of me is not the same. It’s more. Much, much more. And I’m overwhelmed by it.
Elliot pulls me down into the sand with him. He hovers half on top of me and brushes a strand of hair off my cheek. I moan, filled up with a wicked ravenous pleasure that I hope never fades. Elliot leans in closer to my ear. He’s inches away. Then centimeters. His lips are so close, I feel the flick of his tongue against my earlobe. He breathes on me, panting. His hot breath trails down the nape of my neck and brings on a fresh array of goose bumps. Then he murmurs softly, into my ear, “I can’t say that I love you for sure, Robin. But I wish you’d let me try.”
Suddenly his lips are on mine, smothering the burning desire inside of me. Part of me wants to scream his name. Part of me wants to tell him that he has my mind, my heart, and my soul. He makes the infatuation I had with his brother seem silly and childish.
I know this sounds funny. I’m not in love with Elliot…yet, but I love everything about him if that makes any sense. I love how he can make any situation seem light-hearted and funny even if it’s serious. I love how he can twist my emotions from anger to happiness with one flash of his stellar smile. More than anything I love that he has depth and is not just a pretty face. And there’s so much more that I love about him, but if I’d said it all I feel like I could rattle on about his amazing qualities for hours. Maybe even days.
Elliot slides his arm underneath the curve in my back and clutches me tighter. He’s holding me delicately, kissing me strategically as he moves away from my mouth and kisses all the way down my neck. Then it hits me all once, the only place I want to be is in this moment, mentally and physically, wrapped in a passionate embrace, and so numbed by Elliot’s warm lips against my neck that I can’t think of anything else.
Most of all, I come to the realization that Drake was just an illusion of what I thought I wanted and that Elliot, well, he’s the real deal.
~24~
If I could wake up in your arms every day for the rest of my life, I’d be the happiest woman on earth.
I wake up to shouting. Not just random shouting. Several people shouting and they’re all shouting the same thing. “Robin!”
Shit. I open my eyes and the sun hasn’t come up over the horizon yet, but it’s definitely early morning and I realize I never came home. I’m still wrapped in Elliot’s arms and as I lift the right one he moans and opens his eyes. “Good morning,” I say with a smile.
His eyes are still closed, but he returns the smile. “Good morning.” Elliot doesn’t move from his spot and I try to pull away. I glance over my shoulder and I can see mom, dad, and Whit dashing toward me and the looks on their faces are anything but happy. Elliot tightens his grip on me and tries to get force me back down. “Lie back down, Robin. It’s still early and I was having a nice dream about you.”
I blush and flattered and thankful that his eyes are still closed. “That’s great, Elliot, but if you don’t get out of here I’m pretty sure that when my Dad gets closer he’s going to break at least one of your bones.”
Elliot bolts upright looks over his shoulder, eyes wide with panic as he catches a glimpse of my father. Oh, no Dad looks like he’s growling. Even when he’s mad he’s never like this. I’ve never seen his face so red.
This is bad. Really, really bad. In one swift motion, Elliot hops to his feet, kisses the top of my head and takes off running. I stand, facing my parents and Whit as they get closer and watch dad as he takes off, running after Elliot. “You get back here you little punk!” Dad screams. “What did you do with my daughter?”
“DAD! Stop!” I’m shriekin
g at the top of my lungs and I don’t care who hears me. During that moment I don’t care if I wake up the whole town. “He didn’t do anything!”
Mom and Whit stop in front of me and mom shakes her head, then walks over to me and clutches my elbow. “What were you thinking, Robin Sue?” She takes a deep breath and tugs me by the arm over to where Whit is standing.
“We were so worried!” Whit shouts and folds her arms across my chest. Mom nods and huffs in agreement and then Whit leans close to my ear, her jaw clenched, and whispers in a sing-song voice, “If you would have told me where you were going I would have covered for you.”
“Sorry,” I whisper back. “It was a heat of the moment kind of thing.”
All three of us watch Elliot as he puts more distance between himself and Dad.
Frustrated, Dad throws his arms up in the air and kicks up some sand with his right foot before stomping back over to Mom, Whit, and me. “If I ever see that kid again,” Dad shouts, pointing his finger at me. “He won’t have any arms to hug you with!”
I try to pull away from mom, but she grips my elbow tighter. “Dad! Stop overreacting! Nothing happened! And I’m eighteen years old! I’m going to be around boys and have relationships with them! There’s nothing you can do to stop it!”
“Not if I can help it! I’m not going to let some creep take advantage of my daughter!”
“He’s not a creep! And what part of nothing happened do you not understand?”
“I was a teenage boy once too, Robin,” dad growls now only a few feet away from me. “I know how they think.”
“Ugh, dad!” I shriek as a deep shade of scarlet takes up permanent residence in my cheeks. “T.M.I!”
I glance at Whit and I can tell by the look on her face that she has no idea what to do or say. In fact by the way her lips are bunched together almost into a pucker it looks like she’s trying to hold back her laughter. Or maybe she’s just as disgusted as I am about my dad’s teenage boy hormone confession.
“Did he at least use protection?” Mom eyes me with concern. “I know how irresponsible some boys can be about this sort of thing.”
Oh. My. God. Can this situation get any worse? I wonder if there’s like some sort of embarrassment meter hidden somewhere on the beach. It’s probably going off right about now. Ding. Ding. Ding. Robin Mason has hit her limit. I might as well just bury my head in a hole.