Page 54 of Dreaming at Seaside
“Sorry for zoning out.” She rolled onto her side and ran her hand along the muscles that flanked his broad back.
“Don’t be. I’ll take it as a compliment.” He leaned over and kissed her.
“Your kisses blew my mind.” She smiled and gazed into his eyes. She could lie right there beside him all day long and be perfectly content.Happy, she corrected herself.Perfectly happy.
“Can’t ask for more than that.” He set down his book. “Do you want to rent a boat?”
“Sure.”
They walked down the beach hand in hand, and for the first time in a very long time, Bella felt like she was part of a real couple. She’d never felt very connected to Jay, so he’d always felt a little like a friend with benefits. Even with the other guys she’d dated throughout the years, she’d never felt the same deep connection she felt with Caden. Holding his hand wasn’t high school exciting. It wasn’t a precursor to sex. It was so much more than those things. Holding Caden’s hand felt like their lives were joining together and becoming one. She could see herself years from now sitting on the beach reading beside him; she could picture him graying around the temples with crow’s feet around his beautiful dark eyes. None of those thoughts were part of her summertime plan, and yet they were there, as real and as present as the man who instilled them.
Caden rowed them out to the middle of the lake. Children’s voices drifted farther into the distance, birds flapped as they landed on the water, and Bella soaked in the peaceful moment.
“I kind of like this whole setup.” She leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her, wiggling her toes between Caden’s bare feet. “You can row me around anytime you want. You know, if you get bored one day and just feel like being a sexy, shirtless water taxi.”
He shook his head, but his smile reached his eyes. “Can I?”
“Uh-huh. I mean, I wouldn’t fight it or anything.”
Bella spread her towel out on the metal seat and lay horizontally, dangling her toes in the water. Her arms fell limply to her sides, and she closed her eyes. It had been a perfect morning, and now, as the boat moved swiftly through the water, the comfortable silence that had become familiar no longer surprised her.
From behind closed lids, a shadow darkened the sky and the air cooled as, Bella assumed, they passed beneath the bridge. When her closed lids were struck by the blazing sun again, she knew they’d passed through to the other side. The lake was large, and in all the years Bella had been going there, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen people go beyond the bridge. She kept her eyes closed and listened for sounds of others. She liked drifting along without knowing exactly where she was, letting Caden make the decisions of where they were headed. She trusted him, and that thought nestled into her heart like a bear bedding down for a long, cold winter.
She heard the sweeping of the oars in the water cease and felt the boat drifting slower. She heard Caden sigh. He sounded as relaxed as she felt, and she wondered what he was doing, but the moment was so blissfully peaceful that she didn’t dare open her eyes. The boat rocked, and she sensed Caden’s closeness before she felt his mouth on hers. She opened her lips and welcomed his warm, loving kiss. Keeping her eyes closed, she relished in the anticipation of not knowing what might come next. He kissed her like he was making love to her mouth, and her mind drifted far, far away.
“No one’s around. I promise.”
She trusted him completely. The risk heightened the excitement, and she hoped he was feeling the same thrill as she was. She reached for him, eyes still closed, and felt his hip, then followed the line of it to his firm butt.
He whispered against her lips. “I swear I love more about you than your body. I really do.”
He kissed her softly, and she tried to deepen the kiss, but he drew back, teasing her once again. Every sensation magnified with each hot breath as he whispered against her ear, “But I want to make love to you.”
She fisted her hand in the fabric of his shorts and licked her lips.
“You know that drives me crazy.” He kissed her again, and she opened her mouth wider, trying to take more of him.
His hands gripped her hips and held on tight as he brought his mouth down to her belly. “I love how you tremble when I touch you.”
Tremble. Touch. More.
His hands left a hot trail as they slid up. He nibbled the edge of her jaw, bringing her nerves to the surface of her skin. She sensed his face over hers, and forced her eyes open.
His gaze slid to the water, and the edge of his lips curved up. “Up for a swim?”
Yes!Her mouth still wasn’t working. He sank to his knees beside her and drew her close.
“I don’t have a condom,” he whispered.
Her heart was beating so hard she was sure he could feel it. She forced herself to speak. “I really am on the pill. I’m not a college girl just looking for sex, or someone who forgets to take the pill religiously and willing to risk a pregnancy.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “I know, Bella.”
She quieted, letting him make the decision. She wanted to be close to him, to be with him in every sense, and as he contemplated the situation, she was hit with a thought so powerful that it drew her back. She could see herself having a child with him.
“I haven’t risked this since Caty.” He pressed his hands to her cheeks and gazed into her eyes with the most serious look she’d ever seen on him. Her pulse quickened from the uncertainty of what it meant. His jaw clenched, and his eyebrows drew together. His eyes swept over the empty lake. They were alone, so very alone. It felt like they were the only people on earth.
“We don’t have to…” she offered.
