Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 120326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
His words blindside me a little. I knew Robert had depth, but I hadn’t known the true extent of it until now. And it’s crazy, really, because his thoughts are almost like a mirror held up to my own.
We each stand on either side of that mirror.
At odds, yet reliant on one another.
Opposite, yet in sync.
How could I have walked away from such a connection, one that evolved over so many years? I’ve always told myself that I wouldn’t allow my illness to rule me, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing ever since I went into my coma. I can have Robert and I can have my health. It’s just going to take work, the same way Robert said kindness and love requires bravery.
Nothing worth having is easy. The same goes for people. The ones who take cold, hard guts to get inside of are the most worthy of all. The ones you have to fight for.
In our own ways, Robert and I have been fighting for each other our whole lives. We just didn’t know it.
Invigorated by this revelation, I jump to my feet. “Let’s go for a swim.”
A short burst of laughter erupts from him. “It’s the middle of October, Lana.”
“So what?”
One end of his mouth curls as he studies me, his dark eyes sexy under the moonlight.
“You’re right,” he answers, shaking his head. “So what — let’s go.”
Rising to his feet, he begins to strip off his clothes, and I stand there watching him, soaking up the sight of his beautiful skin. Catching myself, I shrug out of his coat and pull my dress up over my head in one fell swoop. I shiver pleasurably against the cold, my pale skin pimpling. Something’s gotten into me tonight. Things I would normally consider crazy seem incredibly appealing. I’m drunk on emotion, on the knowledge that I’m going to take a chance on this beautiful man.
And it’s my own decision; no one else is influencing me this time.
I stare down at my feet, wriggling them in the sand.
I look up, and Robert’s gazing at me. “You’re perfect.”
I laugh, whispering, “Shut up,” and then turn to run towards the sea. Despite the moderate weather, the freezing water hits me hard and I gasp loudly, wading in it up to my waist. Squeezing my eyes and my mouth closed tight to keep from getting salt in them, I drop my body under the water and then jump back up. Droplets trickle down my skin.
“What’s gotten into you?” Robert calls, nearing me as he navigates the cold sea.
Biting my lip, I reply, “I don’t know. You. Life. Everything.”
I twirl around in the water, splashing all about.
A laugh full of relief and joy sounds from him as he rushes to me, throwing his arms around me and pulling me back down into the water with him. He swims backwards, dragging me along, my head resting next to his chest, right over his heart again.
“I love you, you absolute nutter,” he growls, biting playfully at my neck.
“I love you, too,” I answer, twisting so I can kiss him long and deep. We’re out far enough now that we have to paddle to keep above the water. We touch and caress in the dark of the night, alone beneath the stars.
It’s so cold that I should want to leave, but the pleasure of being with Robert overrides everything else. I’d once thought that was a bad thing, but it’s not.
The alternative is far worse.
Finally, Robert manages to drag me from the sea, scooping me up into his arms and carrying me back to where we’d been sitting. We stand facing one another, smiling like maniacs and putting dry clothes onto our wet bodies.
It takes a while to get back to the houses because we keep stopping to kiss and touch like we’ve been starved of such things for centuries.
“Mum’s babysitting for my Uncle Rick tonight. She won’t be back. Want to stay over?” Robert asks naughtily in my ear.
Nodding, I push him into his front garden, and he rummages in his pocket for the keys. We burst through the doors like two kids breaking the rules, and he leads me to his bedroom. I type a quick message to Mum on my phone, telling her I won’t be back tonight.
Seconds later we’re both stripped naked. I allow my mouth to travel down his body, kissing and sucking as I go. The salty sea on his skin tastes incredible.
My thighs straddle his legs, and he stares down at me, adoration seeping from his every pore as he strokes my damp hair away from my face.
“You do realise this is one of my teenage dreams come true, right?”
I chuckle, flicking my tongue over his nipple and making him groan. “Whatever do you mean, Mr. Phillips?”
He grabs my face and pulls me up for a kiss. “I mean having you in my bed when we were younger was something I thought about a lot. Actually, scratch that — it’s something I thought about all the time.”
“Oh, really? And what did you think about doing to me?” I ask in a hot voice.
He flips us so he’s hovering above me, his warm hand finding its way between my legs and spreading them wide. He pulls my knickers down, the damp material dragging painfully across my skin. Then his hand is caressing my folds, coaxing them to get wetter.
“This,” he breathes, before plunging two fingers into me and pumping in and out.
I gasp and moan, shifting against him, wanting more.
“If you had done that to me back then, I probably would have died.”
Laughing affectionately, he draws a trail down my neck with his tongue, all the way to my breast, where he sucks my nipple into his mouth. The sensation of him nipping it with his teeth causes me to undulate beneath him, fumbling for his cock, wanting it inside me.
Seeming to know exactly what I need, he withdraws his fingers and thrusts himself into me, filling me completely. I grip his bed sheets, finding it oddly kinky to be making love in his old bedroom. It’s almost like we’ve come full circle, back in the house where it all began.