Page 80 of Monster

25

Charlotte

Sand slidbetween my toes as I watched Teo emerge from the waters. His bathing suit trunks hung desperately low on his hips, giving me an eyeful of those decadent lines my tongue ached to trace. My heart hurt more than I could stand. More than ever, I wanted a distraction. Something to take my mind off my current predicament so I could breathe a little easier, if only for a few seconds.

And the moment Teo looked at me, all thoughts of my mother fell away from my mind.

“I knew you’d fill out a bikini just fine, but you are on a completely different level with that color,” he said.

I looked down. “You know, I’ve never been a big green fan. But, this might just win me over.”

He grinned. “Come. Let’s go take a dip.”

He held his hand out for me and I took it without a second thought. He led me into the cool waters as the sun beat against our backs, trying to get one last lick or two in before setting beyond the watery horizon. I sighed with relief as the waves sloshed against me. I walked all the way out to my chest with Teo’s hand in mine. The waves bobbed us around, crashing us into one another before his arms found his way around my waist.

And my legs found their way around his hips.

“Talk to me,” he said.

I sighed. “It won’t do me any good. I just want to forget about things for a while.”

“Well, let’s talk, and then that can be arranged.”

“Teo, plea—”

His face hardened. “Talk.”

I shook my head slowly. “Do you really think my mother doesn’t care about me? At all?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “If that’s really what’s going on, then it’s her loss.”

My eyes watered. “I just—I’ve already revered my mother. I wanted to be just like her growing up. It’s why I went to law school. It’s why I went to work for her. It’s why I wanted to prove to her that I could take over her firm when she decides to finally retire. I wanted to be the woman I always thought she was when I was a little girl. So, what does that say about me?”

He cupped my cheek. “It says that you’re a woman who’s thinking through things on her own now, trying to separate truth from childhood dreams.”

I sniffled. “How could she just leave me here, Teo? Her own daughter?”

He gripped my chin. “You aren’t the only child not valued by your parents, Char.”

I gazed into his eyes. “You feel the same way about yours, don’t you?”

He slid his fingers through my hair. “We understand more about one another than we like to think. But, what I need you to hear next is very important. Are you listening?”

I nodded softly. “Yeah. I’m listening.”

His face came closer to mine. So close I could feel every puff of his breath against my lips.

“You are, without a shadow of a doubt, a remarkable woman. And if your own mother can’t see that? Then, she’s got bigger issues than discarding some ransom note for her daughter.”

In that moment, I didn’t think. I didn’t compare, or rationalize, or draw up a mental ‘pros and cons’ list. All I did was react. I closed the distance between us and captured his lips with my own, forcing my tongue into his mouth. I wanted to taste him. I wanted to enjoy him. I wanted his words to pour over me like a waterfall as I stood beneath them, soaking up as much of it as possible.

And when his hands gripped the globes of my ass, I felt him walking us toward the shoreline.

As the sun set behind us, he carried me into the house. I cupped his cheeks and rocked against him as he growled down the back of my throat. He walked us all the way up to my bedroom at the top floor without so much as breaking a sweat. And when our wet bodies tumbled into my bed, he broke our kiss.

Hovering above me as his eyes danced between mine.

“What?” I asked breathlessly.

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