There was a time where I thought I’d never see the light of day again. Feel the breeze on my face. Inhale the air. They were all things I took for granted before.
Before I was kidnapped, all I thought about was getting through school, and one day finding my Prince Charming. Life was simple then. In one moment it became anything but. My only desires became about survival when I watched my old life completely disappear.
And then one day something switched in me.
Survival wasn’t so important anymore.
It was freedom.
Whether that freedom was found in my death, I’d have been okay with that. I knew I couldn’t live the way I had any longer.
“I love you,” I whispered to him beneath the rising sun.
A new day. A new beginning.
His lips quirked up. “I love you too.”
I wasn’t supposed to stay. I, most definitely, wasn’t supposed to fall in love.
But I did, and I couldn’t regret it.
The happiness, even if it was only fleeting, was completely worth it.
In the back of my mind the fear of Blaise still lingered. It always would. But it wasn’t as strong. If he hadn’t found me by then, he probably wouldn’t, and maybe he wasn’t even looking at all.
“Come here," Liam’s voice broke me from my thoughts and he scooted back on the board.
I turned around and stretched my legs out, laying my back against his chest.
Content. Whole. Happy.
Those were the things I felt and the things I cherished most.
We sat on the board until the sun had fully risen and then Liam paddled us back to shore.
I hopped off the board into the water and Liam did the same, towing the board the rest of the way. He left the board on the sand and took my hand, guiding me down the beach.
“Are you feeling nervous?” I asked him. I looked down at my feet, watching my toes sink into the wet sand as we walked.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I hope I don’t fuck up tomorrow.”
“You’ll do great.” I meant it, too. I didn’t know much about surfing, but I could see that Liam was fantastic. He’d have to be or his career wouldn’t have taken off the way it did. But he was too hard on himself and couldn’t see how amazing he was. All he saw were his flaws. I guessed most people were like that. It was so much easier to see what was wrong than what was right. “What time are your parents arriving?”
“Eleven,” he replied, spinning me around.
I giggled as his hands wrapped around my waist, holding me close.
I gazed up into his impossibly light eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck.
Without saying anything at all, a thousand words were exchanged between us in one look.
I lifted on my toes, pressing my lips to his.
The kiss started out soft, but like a slow-burning fire it quickly built to an inferno. His hands skimmed up the bare expanse of my back and his tongue tangled with mine.
Every nerve ending in my body seemed to hum and vibrate with a barely-contained energy.
I let out a soft moan and he growled in response.