Island of Secrets and Scars

Could they?

Ultimately, they’d both be better off if Cameron pushed him away now, before they could somehow become more to each other than they already were. Ridiculous. Ian was already everything to her. She’d been stupid not to believe she’d been everything to him too.

Tenderly, he cupped her cheek with his rough hand. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and savoring. When his lips brushed hers, she opened for him, reaching out to loop her arms around his neck and hold him to her.

“Cam,” he whispered against her lips, as if unable to believe he really held her.

Pulling away, she smoothed a hand over the growth of beard on his handsome face.

“I love you,” he whispered, “so much.”

The walls she’d tried so desperately to build around her heart concerning Ian were no match for the desperation in his gaze or the absolute certainty in his voice.

“And I love you,” she confessed. What was the use of not admitting what he already knew?

His mouth split into a wide grin, dimples framing his plump lips, before he shook his head. “I know. Even when you left, I knew you loved me. It’s why I was sure you were dead. I couldn’t figure out why you hadn’t come back to me yet.”

Not for the first time tonight, she wished she could share her secrets with him. Confessing the truth about why she’d stayed away and why she couldn’t come back now would allay some of his worries. But she couldn’t take the risk.

He kissed her again, making her forget her want to ease his fears. Instead, she became consumed with a new yearning. One fueled by physical need. As he gripped her hips, holding her tight against the hard proof of his desire for her, she forgot why she should stay away from him. Instead, she allowed his nearness to consume and overtake her. She crushed her mouth to his. She didn’t bother with slow, leisurely sips of him. If Ian was only here for a short time, she wanted to gorge on him. Maybe if he filled her to bursting now, she could survive the emptiness when he left.

When she slipped her hand between them, cupping and squeezing him, a moan escaped his parted lips. “Cam, there are people here,” he whispered against her lips.

He didn’t fool her though. He couldn’t care less who knew they were together or what anyone heard. If he had his way, he’d probably tell everyone on the island she belonged to him. And she did: heart, body, soul. She was Ian’s.

“Well, I hope you can be quiet,” she warned him, then sank to her knees.