CHAPTER TWELVE
DEACON
Lux walks in wearing one of my tees… and very little else. For a split second jealousy flares with the thought my brothers are seeing her like this, my Lux, but then I realize they left earlier and the green monster subsides.
I take the pan off the heat.
Lux slides up behind me, a hand down my pants softly stroking my cock. “Whatcha cooking?”
I place the pan back onto the heat. “The secret to incredible scrambled eggs is to take them on and off the element, cook them real slow-like.”
She gently rolls my balls in her fingers as I speak. “I do like it slow.”
“And how about the heat? Is it enough for you?”
She withdraws her hand from my pants, the tease, skipping to the front windows. “It doesn’t look particularly warm today, does it?”
I switch off the stove altogether, let the heat of the pan finish off the eggs. I join her by the window. Fuck me. Her ass looks incredible, the bare underswell of it peeking out from the hem of her shirt.
She’s right. The weather’s turned outside, the big low that’s been all over the news finally made its way to us. I can see murky streaks of rain out over the ocean. “What do you say? Morning lesson?”
She turns, holding the bottom of my shirt and twisting it in her hand. “In bed or in the water?”
I lean down and kiss her, savor the sweet candy of her lips always moist and plump. “Most things in life are better when wet.”
She rolls her eyes. “My god, I’m sleeping with a human pick-up line.”
I reach behind her and grip that peachy perfection, pull her tight to me until my cock’s an iron rod between us. “Didn’t hear you complaining last night.”
*
The low’s coming alright, but so far it’s only bringing rain and wind, not swell. We hit up Little Stern, a slight offshore turning the waves glassy. Thunder bellows in the distance as we paddle out, the rain creating tiny craters in the water around us. The boys aren’t out. They must have gone further down the coast. We’ve got this one all to ourselves.
I place us on the edge of the break, watch as the back-spray peels through the sky, a sun shower washing over us as the sun itself finally breaks through, everything golden and glistening. Fuck Copperfield. This is magic.
Sitting up on her board, smiling, I know Lux senses it too. We share the same connection to the ocean. I feel sad for those who never get to experience it like we do, who spend all day chained to a desk sucking their boss’s dick. Why would you do it? Life is too short. I know that better than anyone.
Lux turns and starts to paddle. “This one’s mine.”
I watch her fall away into the wave. Her form has improved in leaps and bounds over the last two weeks. A bit more time in the pool and she’ll be ready for another run at the Bluff. It’s strange, but I’m not worried about her any more. It’s starting to slip away—the past, my baggage, the bullshit. I can feel myself growing lighter, opening up to possibility.
About fucking time.
I hear a ‘Whoo!’ and see Lux crest over the back of a wave, paddling over. She flips her hair over her wetsuit, her tiny feet twisted together in the sky, ankles locked together just like they were last night against the small of my back.
I want to be with her, whatever it takes. I let myself mope and self- flagellate for too long now. It’s time to move on. I never thought it would be, never thought I’d love again like I did with… Never mind that, it’s just time.
“You okay?” she calls, paddling up to me and pressing herself into a sitting position. “You look like you’re deep in thought.”
“I am.”
“Do tell.” At the same time she says it the rain picks up, drumming against the surface of the water, causing it to vibrate and quiver as if suddenly electrified.
I look up to the sky, the sun falling behind the clouds once more. “Life.”
“What about it?”
I look back to her. “It’s pretty good at the moment.”
“Because of me?”
I smile, and it’s genuine. “Because of you.”
“You’re just saying that because I’ve got a great ass.”
I laugh. “It’s true, but give me more credit than that, please. Finding a great ass in Millertown was needle-in-a-haystack hard. Even in California…”
“Millertown?” she queries, seizing on it.
Fuck. I’m saying too much, didn’t even realize I said it.
I nod. What’s the harm? It’s not like she’s going to do anything about it. “Shitty little Midwest town I was in before we all came over. Long story.”
She nods back, satisfied. She speaks louder to be heard over the rain. “Tell me why you’re here, really.”
Should I? I can barely make sense of it myself.
“I, we, had to start fresh, keep low.”
“You were in trouble back home?”
I nod. “That’s an understatement, but yes.”
“You don’t think they’ll find you eventually, whoever is looking for you?”
I’ve thought about this from every angle. Eventually they will come, but I sure as fuck haven’t made it easy. We came over on a cargo ship, I stashed our passports and documents somewhere safe as soon as we set foot, gave us all new names and identities. The boys chose. Razor? I still can’t believe I let him call himself that.
We had friends back home, people we’ll never see again, but that’s the price that had to be paid for our freedom. I can’t imagine any way it would ever be safe enough to go back.
I take a deep breath, turning and lining up a wave, paddling away. “They will find us,” I reply, “but when they do, I’m ready”.
A wave rises up and I paddle hard, Lux disappearing. I take off, drop fast and deep into the pocket. My hand pushed through the face of the wave, all thought lost to the ocean.