As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I spy an oversized towel neatly folded on a lounger I had used earlier this afternoon for a dip in the pool. As soon as the idea enters my head, I don’t bother trying to talk myself out of it. I slip the heels from my feet and drop them next to the cushioned chaise before grabbing the towel and padding to the little spot at the back of the property I’ve claimed as my own.
As I traverse the lawn, the noise of the party fades into the background until it’s nothing more than an annoying buzz. I shake out the towel before arranging it on the grass and lowering myself to the ground, mindful not to stain or wrinkle the satin fabric. With a sigh of relief, I stretch out, stacking my hands behind my head as I relax onto the thick cotton material and stare at the black stretch of canvas overhead. My body loses its rigidity as I pick out constellations.
I always begin with the North Star. Then the Little Dipper before moving on to the Big Dipper. With each familiar cluster of lights, my unease dissipates.
There’s Cygnus which looks like a giant cross or maybe a bird flying through the sky. It’s one of my favorites. I shift my gaze, continuing to search for arrangements. There’s Delphinus, which means dolphin. To me, it looks more like a trapezoid or kite with a tail.
Now that everything has calmed, I have even less desire to return to the party. Would my parents really miss me if I stayed out here for the rest of the night? With so many people squashed in there, they probably won’t realize I’ve slipped away.
The atmosphere changes, becoming charged and I sense his presence long before I see him walking across the lawn. I twist my head until my gaze can rake over him in the darkness. Even with the suit jacket thrown over his shoulder, he’s still ridiculously handsome in his starched white button-down and perfectly pressed black pants.
Kingsley Rothchild is much too attractive for his own good.
Mine as well.
Without a word, he drops beside me before lifting his hand and gently tracing his index finger over my lower lip. That’s all it takes for a shiver of need to arrow through me before settling in my core.
“Do you have an answer for me?”
Chapter Thirty
My breath hitches as his body shifts, stretching over my torso before he places one hand beside my head so I’m caged in. His face looms closer until his lips can dip to mine. Back and forth he brushes them without making contact.
It’s sweet torture that leaves me whimpering for more. If I want to feel his mouth roving over mine, all I’d have to do is close the distance that separates us. There’s no point in being coy and pretending that I’m not addicted to the way his lips feel sweeping across mine.
“I need a decision,” he repeats, gruffer this time.
The intoxication of his breath is almost too much to bear. Not only do I crave his touch, I need it.
“Summer,” he groans, as if I somehow affect him the same way.
“Yes. The answer is yes.”
His tongue darts out to swipe over the plump flesh of my lower lip. The caress has my eyelids feathering closed.
“Are you sure?” He presses an opened mouth kiss along the curve of my jaw, and I tilt my head, baring my neck for his touch. “Once you’re mine, I will never let you go.” He searches my eyes. “Do you understand what that means?”
His words send a sharp thrill shooting through me.
“Yes,” I moan.
He bites my lip before his tongue darts out to soothe the pain he’s inflicted.
The truth of the matter is that I can’t imagine not being his. I can’t imagine anyone else stirring these kinds of feelings inside me. Maybe Kingsley’s words should frighten me. The finality of them. The possessiveness that weaves its way through them. When it comes down to it, we’re still in high school and haven’t known each other very long.
But still…
There is something inside him that calls to me. I felt it on the beach that first morning. And then the next day on the boat. A tentative bond as delicate as a thread has been created between us. No matter how many times I’ve tried to destroy it, it remains intact.
“Then it’s done. You belong to me.”
His words stir a feeling of pleasure inside me. One of rightness. It’s not something I need to question.
He pulls away, putting enough distance between us so that his gaze can rove over the length of my body. The heat of his stare feels very much like a physical caress. From the hair gathered at the top of my head, to the blue skirt fanned out around my thighs, before falling to my bare toes.