Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
I knock softly. “Evie? Are you okay?”
Retching. She’s getting sick.
Clearly she’s not okay. I don’t think she’s come down with a bug. The food the staff served was fine or we’d all be puking.
“Just give me a minute, please,” she chokes out.
“Of course.”
I sit on her bed, but then jerk upward.
Evangeline is in her bathroom heaving while her computer is in the other room…and she’s online.
I scurry back to make sure the screen hasn’t gone blank.
“Yes!” I say out loud and then berate myself.
Keep quiet, Seb. Keep fucking quiet.
I don’t bother sitting, just read her emails—specifically the most recent one, sent within the last five minutes.
From Misty Holmes.
God, I shouldn’t. But I do.
Fun night, Ev. But remember, I get River, so I want Rachel out of the running. June too. It’s non-negotiable. You owe me.
EPISODE 23
REMEMBERING WHO YOU ARE
Ariel
“Brett, please.” My voice is breathy as I gasp, coming down from my third orgasm while lying on the sand.
He smiles between my legs, his chin glistening in the moonlight. “Please what?”
“I need you. Inside me. Please.”
His shirt is beneath me on the sand, but he’s still wearing his jeans. He crawls up my body, his bulge grazing my clit in just the right place, and shoves his tongue into my mouth.
God, his kiss… More perfect than before, and I taste my own juices on his tongue. I slide my lips against his, twirl my tongue with his, moan into his mouth…
Until he breaks the kiss, rolls over, and sits on the sand, his bronze chest sprinkled with starlight.
“Brett?”
“God, Ariel… You have no idea how much I want to fuck you right now.”
“No one’s stopping you. Except you, of course. You’ll have to take off your pants.”
“Damn.” He pushes his hair off his forehead. “If I…”
“If you what?”
“Come here.” He moves the skirt of my sundress back over my legs and then pulls me into his lap so I’m straddling him. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I tilt my head. “Did I do something wrong?”
He trails one long finger over my cheek, around my jawline. “Of course not.”
“Then…why won’t you…”
“Fuck you?” He shakes his head. “It’s not because I don’t want to.”
“If I want it too, what’s the harm?”
He pulls me forward and brushes his lips over mine. “It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
I jerk my head backward. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. I would never kid about that.”
“You just gave me the best orgasms I’ve ever had. I want to give you one in return.”
He traces my lower lip. “This mouth. So sexy. I’d love to feel it on my cock.”
I begin to rise, but he pulls me back down.
“I didn’t mean now.”
“Why not? I’m happy to return the…” The what? The orgasm? The oral? The excruciating pleasure? I finally settle on, “the favor.”
That gets a chuckle out of him. “I wasn’t doing you a favor, Ariel.”
“I know. I mean—”
He touches his finger to my lips once more. “I know what you meant. And I meant it when I said I wanted to fuck you. But I also meant it when I said it wouldn’t be fair to you. I’d be taking advantage of you.”
“I’m giving you the advantage.”
“I know, and that means a lot to me. But I made a promise to myself when the guys and I decided to do this event.”
“What promise?”
He kisses my lips again. “I promised I wouldn’t have sex with any of you until I was sure.”
“Sure about…”
“Sure that I’d found my match. That I’d fallen in love.”
I drop my gaze. “Oh.”
He tips my chin so I’m looking into his surfer-god blue eyes again. “I like you a lot, Ariel. You’re the first woman I was drawn to. I love your innocence, your sweetness, your girl-next-door quality. And of course you’re gorgeous. But I’d be lying if I said I was in love with you.”
Crack.
I can almost hear the fracture in my heart.
Innocence? That was taken from me long ago.
Sweetness? Sweet girls don’t beg a man for a fuck.
Girl next door? That’s a polite way of saying a woman isn’t sophisticated.
Gorgeous? That’s nice, but I’m more than my looks.
Still, he meant his affirming words to be kind…but he said nothing about my intelligence.
Why should he? It’s non-existent compared to the other women.
I rise and look around the sand for my panties.
“Ariel…”
“It’s okay. I understand. It’s better this way. You’re right.”
Inside, I’m berating myself. I was so determined to prove I wasn’t easy, and what’s the first thing I did? I begged Brett Dawson to fuck me.
Not a good look.
I’ve royally screwed up.
This is not who I am. In fact, I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve uttered the phrase “I’m giving you the advantage.” Of course, I’ve never had someone as luscious as Brett Dawson show me any interest.
My panties lie a few feet away, a white flag of surrender sitting on the sand. I grab them and scrunch them in my hand. I pick up Brett’s shirt and hand it to him as he stands.