“Don’t move,” I whisper into her ear. I can hear the guys getting off their ATVs down on the beach as I press Kaylee tight against the sand. “Stay still.”

She stares at me with wide eyes but nods. I move my hand off her mouth and she takes a breath. I scared the shit out of her but that’s fine, at least I think they didn’t see her.

I can’t hear what they’re saying, but they don’t stay long. They talk briefly before getting back on their ATVs and driving off in opposite directions again.

I sneak up to the crest of the dune and look over. I can’t really make out what they’re wearing, but there’s no doubt in my mind that they’re Hunter’s guys. They must be patrolling the beach every night and I bet someone spotted Kaylee and called her in. Or maybe someone from the damn bar called us both in, and these guys are just out searching every inch of the beach while they can.

Either way, they nearly fucking got her.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She nods a little, lying on her back. “Shit. That was close.”

We’re in a little valley between the main dune and the smaller dune separating us from the houses that line the beach. Nobody comes back here, since the dunes are supposed to be off-limits, and we’re basically invisible to anyone in the houses or anyone walking past. That’s why I chose to follow her and watched her from this spot, which was pretty fortunate, since she ran right to me.

“Was that them?”

I nod, sighing and rolling onto my back. She’s right next to me, shoulder to shoulder on the dune.

“I’m pretty sure, at least.” I sit up on an elbow and glare at her. “You ran away again.”

“Yeah,” she says softly. “I did.”

I loom over her, eyes staring at her lips, her body. “Why do you think you can keep doing that?” I whisper. “You never seem to get away.”

“No, I don’t.” She squirms under my gaze. “I just had to think.”

“Did you figure it all out?” I let myself give her a small smirk.

“Maybe,” she says. “Maybe not.”

I reach out and take her hair in my hand. She gasps a little, bites her lip. “I’m not the one you want to run from.”

“You can be pretty scary.”

“Maybe.” I lean closer to her, my lips against her skin. “But you like my kind of scary.”

“You think you know me so well.”

“I do know you.” I kiss her neck and she lets out a little groan. “I know everything about you, little Kaylee. You want to start over now that you’re sober, but you don’t know how. You’re afraid I’m going to drag you back down with me, back down into whatever pit I came from.” I laugh softly as her eyes go wide. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t know what I want,” she says softly. “But maybe you’re right.”

I grasp her hair tighter, pulling it toward me. She gasps and I kiss her, full and sweet. She tastes so fucking good, especially when she’s angry, especially when she thinks she hates me.

Especially when she’s afraid of me.

I luxuriate in that kiss before slowly breaking it off. “You don’t have to keep lying to yourself, trying to pretend you’re something you’re not.”

“What am I, Julian?”

“I told you before. Broken, beautiful, perfect.” I kiss her again and reach down to unbutton her jean shorts as I move over on top of her.

She groans and lets me tug them off. Her panties are small and purple as I kiss her, hands roaming her skin. I tug her panties off, her skin glowing pale beauty in the moonlight.

She pushes me onto my back and rolls over. I help her get my jeans off, and my cock’s already hard as she pulls my boxer briefs off. I wrap my fingers in her hair as she slowly takes my cock in her mouth. I reach down with my other hand to find her pussy dripping wet, glistening in the dark. I slide my fingers along her slit, teasing her clit before pushing them inside her.

I love that she moans with my cock in her throat. It’s the fucking sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. She sucks me faster as I rub her wet little pussy, making her gasps and moans come muted, stifled, wet with my cock. She moves faster, faster, pleasure sliding all through my skin.

I pull her hair back, pulling her off my cock. She moans and gasps as my fingers sink inside her pussy.

I grab her hips, rolling her toward me. She straddles my hips and slides her ass back, slowly moving down my shaft. She groans as I fill her, deep inside her wet, hot little cunt. I wrap my arms around her body and slowly fuck her like that, the moon bright and full.

We’re in our own little world, out alone on the dune. The ocean’s loud not far away, down at the other end of the beach. There are silent houses nearby, big dark sentinels, probably full of sleeping people. Neither of us cares about them. She rides me, slow and deep at first, and I pull her shirt up over her head. Her breasts are beautiful and full as she pushes back, each time my cock slides deeper she lets out a sexy little grunt.

I slap her ass, wanting her to fuck me faster, but she’s taking her time. I want to taste salt on her skin, sand in her hair. I slap her ass again, and again, and thrust inside her. She groans, burying her face against my shoulder.

I grab her hair and hold it tight as I thrust inside of her. She lets me fuck her like that, breasts swaying to the rhythm, her big ass riding along with her hips. I love every inch of her skin, every fold of her muscles. I sink my teeth into her shoulder and she gasps at the pain but it only makes her hips move faster. I run my hands down her muscular back, feeling the effort as she works along my shaft.

It feels so fucking good to let her ride my cock like this. I can smell the ocean and her skin mingling together, her gasps and grunts in my ear mixing with the breaking of the waves. I taste her lips and tongue, and I can taste salt and sand. She’s pure for me, incredible for me, sexual in an almost primitive way. I want every inch of her pressed against every inch of me, and I want this intense pleasure to keep blooming inside of me.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper to her. “Don’t slow down. I want to feel it.”

“Yes,” she gasps. I’m sweating, and I can taste it on her, too.

“This is how you get better,” I whisper. “You let this happen. You give yourself completely, your whole body, everything. You let me fuck you, fill you, make you come so hard you can’t remember your own name.”

“Julian,” she whispers, tone lost in the miasma of rolling bliss. “Oh, fuck, Julian. I won’t run away.”

“I know you won’t.” I pull her hair tight, fuck her pussy harder, thrusting up inside of her. She’s so fucking sexy as she leans back, her hands on my legs, hips writhing. I support her back and hips, releasing her hair, and I fuck her like that, pushing up inside of her.

She’s moaning with wild abandon now and I know she’s not far. I keep one hand on her lower back and my other thumb finds her clit. I rub it softly as she runs her hips faster, voice carrying across the sand, desperate and intense.

I push her down and rub her clit, let her ride me, her whole body writhing and sweating and her face lit in ecstasy. There are just our bodies, the moon, the ocean, the sand. We’re in our own valley between dunes, lost to the world, and I can’t feel anything but her.

She comes first, her muscles tensing. She grabs onto my legs hard as it overwhelms her. I take over, thrusting up inside her pussy, fucking her hard through it. I love watching her come, love the faces she makes, the noises, the way her pussy tightens around my cock. It pushes me over the edge, tips me over into the beautiful abyss, and I’m coming before I realize it.

I explode deep into her pussy. We come together, writhing in a pleasurable agony, neither of us totally aware of anything in that moment. It doesn’t last long, but it also lasts forever, and feels too good to deny. Slowly we finish, and she moves back up toward me. I pull her tight against my body, cock still buried in her. We stay like that, intertwined in the dunes, until the wind picks up and the night gets too cool to stay naked.

We dress in silence, and walk back down off the dunes together. I hold her hand until we get back to the sidewalk, and I only let it go before we have a lot of walking to do. She smiles at me, and I smile back.

Nothing’s resolved. Nothing’s fixed. That doesn’t matter right now.