We cruised the islands and chose our anchoring spots based on weather, location, and what adventure we wanted to enjoy that day.
The first week was spent sunbathing on sugar soft sand, enjoying the facilities of five-star hotels, and drinking fruity cocktails.
The second week was spent wandering local townships—me walking as normal as I could with my booted ankle, and Pim evolving from brave girl to beautiful woman.
I only had to look at her to grow hard.
Keeping my distance grew more and more difficult, but with my body still suffering, I didn’t want to add sex to my list of complications just yet.
By the third week, I grew tired of the brace and against Michaels’s instruction, removed it completely.
The joint was weak.
It rolled at the slightest misstep and pounded enough to give me a headache from gritting my teeth. But I got on with it because no way in hell did I want to miss out on showing Pimlico the hidden jungles and waterfalls of the Caribbean.
By day, we explored untouched islands and used a jet ski to skim around the different atolls, choosing a spot for a picnic and walk.
By night, we ate a dinner on board—sometimes in the dining room and others informal on the deck.
For three weeks, we learned how to be together without panic attacks or revenge plots. We got to know each other all over again, and every day as we woke side by side and explored side by side and ate side by side and went to bed side by side, I fell all the more in love with her.
Every hour.
Every day.
All the goddamn time.
A simple smile, boom my heart exploded.
A barely there touch, crash my body crumpled.
A kiss beneath the stars, bang my soul was no longer mine but hers, through and through.
I wanted to stay here forever and forget about stressful reunions or obligations to a family who hated me, but I also wanted to right everything I’d done wrong so I no longer had to worry or condemn any future happiness.
Once I’d apologised and set my consciousness to rights, Pim and I could return here and never leave.
On our twenty-third night in paradise, I arranged the kitchen to prepare a local delicacy and sat down with Pim as if it were any other night.
But it wasn’t any other night.
I’d deliberately kept my distance from her sexually for the past month—letting my body heal until I could hold my own in stamina and ensure my stupid brain wouldn’t over focus.
I didn’t want to act like I had when Pim gave me the bath.
I’d taken from her that night.
Tonight, I wanted to give her everything.
We fell into companionable conversation about the journey to New York in the next few days. We chatted about tourist attractions and things she’d like to visit and experience.
My skin sizzled beside her. My heart raced inside me. I barely registered what I ate because all I could think about was her.
Dessert was a blur as Pim finally noticed my strange behaviour and instead of asking what was wrong, she understood wholeheartedly what I needed.
The chemistry that’d simmered for weeks while swimming naked at night or exploring local towns in skimpy vacation clothes ignited into an all-out blaze.
Electricity sparked and spat, reaching an entirely new level.
A level that crackled in my lungs and hissed in my fingertips.
I died to touch her.
I begged to kiss her.
And she knew.
How could she not?
I couldn’t stop touching her, feeding her, running my finger along her lip as she accepted vanilla ice cream from my spoon.
She knew what I wanted, and from the way she squirmed on her chair, she wanted me, too.
Halfway through dessert, I dropped the spoon to clatter against the plate and stood.
Her eyes widened as I held out my hand. “Please, Pim.”
She bit her lip, inserted her hand into mine, and followed me silently to my—our—quarters.
* * * * *
I loved Pim.
I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
Yet, for some stupid reason, until the moment we stood on the carpet beside my bed and Pim slowly undid the buttons of her loose-fitting shirt and shimmied from her shorts, I hadn’t ventured any further into the future than the next day or next week.
I was so used to living in the now—never having the luxury to believe I would be granted another tomorrow—let alone another year or decade.
But Pim…she made me believe I could have those things and if I could have them—if I’d earned them—then I had to do something to tie her to me for the rest of my life. Through any means necessary that wasn’t illegal or morally corrupt such as buying her and never letting her off the Phantom.
Marriage.
The idea whispered as she moved toward me, her eyes liquid heat, her body welcoming invitation.