Page 28 of Stoker's Serenity

“My place is only a couple of blocks from here. I figured it might be nice for you to get out of the sun for a bit and…” he hesitated and I stopped my leisurely stroll.

“And?” I prompted. He squared off in front of my, casting me in shadow, his hands on my ribs, thumb smoothing over the velvet and mesh of my cover up.

“I want to love you.”

My heart stopped.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he murmured, “and I want you to myself for a little while. Don’t have to go all the way. If you’re not ready I totally get it, I just really want some you and me time.”

“Oh, okay,” I squeaked out, stunned.

Wow.

“Okay as in?” he asked, trailing off.

“I’ll go with you,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Right on. This way, my lady.”

“I should tell Linny.”

“I’d planned on it. You think she’ll be okay?”

I cast my gaze back in the direction of the easy-up and Linny was in a full-fledged game of Frisbee, girls versus boys.

“Looks like she’s already been adopted as one of their own,” I said, laughing.

“She moves fast,” Stoker agreed.

“That’s Linny,” I agreed.

I worried about what I was going to say. I didn’t want to announce to a crowd of people that Stoker and I were off to have sex, be back later, ta-ta for now! I wasn’t crass like that. But Stoker was already miles ahead of me.

“Hey, Ren’s getting taken in by the sun a little, we’re gonna head to my place and chillax for a bit, get her out of it.”

“Okay!” Linny called and winked at me behind everyone’s back.

“Hope you feel better,” Faith murmured and I smiled and gave a nod.

“Oh, I’m sure I will. I don’t know how I managed to draw the genetic short straw being so fair in Florida.” I laughed it off.

“Be back by four. Food’s on then,” Cutter called, unloading his super-soaker water gun at his girlfriend, who yelled out, “Hey!”

“This way, Ren,” Stoker murmured and I followed him up the steps and through the marina lot to the street. We walked around two blocks up and stopped at a crosswalk on the boulevard, crossed first one lane, paused at the cement pad in the center separating the lanes, and as soon as traffic was clear crossed the next lane.

“Place is a little run-down, my grandparents owned it. When they died, they left it to me. I decided rather than sell it to move in and fix it up, but it’s just me, so it’s pretty slow going. Outside looks better than the inside. Put a new roof on it after that hurricane a couple of years back and painted it just last summer.”

I listened to him talk and found myself surprised I wasn’t the least bit nervous. Now that it was just me and him, I was feeling calmer by leaps and bounds. I kept my fingers threaded through the spaces between his and we idly swung our conjoined hands between us as we walked. We were only two houses in from the corner off the boulevard and he stopped in front of a nice little white house trimmed in an aquamarine, the roof gray, the yard yellow and dying but neatly mowed, the flowerbeds mostly weeds, which made me a little sad and I had the desire to get my hands in the dirt.

“It’s adorable,” I said smiling. “You’ve done lovely out here.”

“Thanks, come on in out of the heat.” He opened the front door and I blinked.

“You don’t lock your door?”

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