His lips part again and he sucks on my neck, his tongue savoring the taste of skin and the edge of his teeth gently grazing it. My head distractedly falls to the side because it feels so good and my fingers dip downward, gripping onto him and trying to keep my legs from giving out. His mouth starts to progress upward to the arch of my neck, to the spot where my pulse throbs, then to the line of my jaw, the corner of my mouth. His moist lips dampen my skin and knock the breath out of my chest in ravenous gasps of air.

It’s like we’re locked in a box, protected from the world and our fears. We can’t keep our hands off each other. There are so many problems around us but all I can’t think about is him. When our lips join, he turns us to the side and backs us toward the bed.

Maybe it’s crazy, with everything going on, to be so absorbed in each other, instead of working on our problems. Maybe one day we’ll look back and wonder what we were thinking. Or maybe we’ll just remember the day we decided to escape the pain in the arms of each other.

We collapse onto the bed, our legs twined together like a snug vine. He’s on top of me, his shirt is still off, and I trace my fingers along his firm chest, feeling the warmth of his skin and the dance of his heart beneath his chest. He scoots between my legs and the shirt I’m wearing rides up over my stomach. His fingers caress my skin right below my belly button and it tickles but it feels so overwhelmingly good at the same time. My knees lift upward as heat spirals downward between my thighs and I contemplate how far I’ve come in just a short while and how much I’m enjoying him touching me.

His fingers hook the top of my panties, and he starts to guide them down my knees. I’m still sore from the other times we’ve had sex in the last twenty-four hours, but there’s no way I’m going to stop him. It’s completely worth the pain. When my panties reach my feet, I kick them off and then his hands glide down my arms and he pulls me so I’m sitting up. With one rapid tug, he jerks the shirt over my head and throws it on the floor.

My lungs heave wildly as I take the moment in. I’m naked in front of him. Again. Me. Callie Lawrence. Every time I think about it, it gets to me. I start to lie back down while he takes his boxers off, but he quickly grabs my wrists and pulls me toward him. Then he sits down and picks me up by the waist. I gasp as he lies down and sets me on top of him, so one of my legs is on each side of his hips. Before I can respond to the abruptness, his fingers spread around to my back and he’s drawing my breast to his mouth. He sucks on it repeatedly until I cry out and my legs press against him, and then his mouth leaves my breast and he lowers himself back onto the bed with this content, hungry look in his eyes that makes my skin swelter. He thrust his hips upward and he enters me. I cry out again, biting my lip as my hands search for something to grab onto. Like he reads my mind, he takes hold of my hand and steers it to his shoulder where I grip forcefully and hold onto him as he rocks inside me again and again until I think I’m going to explode.

Then he presses the palm of his hand to my back and pulls me down to his lips. With one last thrust, he slips his tongue inside my mouth and kisses me passionately as every thought in my head leaves me and my body spins out of control, soaring away before returning again.

When I come back down from the high, panting and sweaty, I think about how good it feels. And not just the sex. The connection. The contact. The fact that I’m here. With him. And I’m fine. More than fine. I think it might be time to tell. To get my freedom back. Because I deserve to have it. I deserve to be here in this moment.

Kayden “If you could have one wish, what would it be?” Callie asks, tracing a finger in circular motions along the palm of my hand.

It’s late and the sun is up and beaming into the room. Seth and Luke haven’t woken up yet; at least that’s what I’ve determined by the silence in the house. Her head is relaxed on my arm, her leg is hitched over my stomach, and her hand is resting over my heart.

“That we could stay just like this forever,” I answer truthfully.

Her head tips up and she meets my eyes. “That’s really what you’d wish for?”

I nod, running my fingers through her soft hair that smells like strawberries. “Absolutely. It’s peaceful.”

Her cheeks start to flush and I wonder what she’s thinking.

“What would we do if we stayed here forever?”

It’s fucking cute as hell that her dirty thoughts are making her blush. “Whatever you want,” I say with a hint of laughter in my voice.

She angles her face down against my chest and gives my skin a kiss, sliding her tongue out. “I’d want to stay just like this.”

I chuckle underneath my breath and it hurts my lungs because my muscles have been immovable for the past month. “Is that all you’d want to do? Because your pink cheeks are suggesting otherwise.” I trail my finger across her cheek and she shudders. I love that she does, and yet I hate it at the same time because it shows how much I affect her. “Or did you have something else in mind?”

She’s quiet for a while and then she finally looks up at me, her blue eyes large. Her cheeks are still pink and her hair frames her face and her shoulders. “I didn’t have anything else in mind,”

she says. “I was just wondering.”

She’s lying, but I let her off the hook. Gathering some of her hair out of her face, I move it behind her ear. I’m about to tell her we should probably get up when there’s a knock on the door.

“Um… I’ve been waiting as long as I can,” Seth says through the door. “But at some point I have to come in there and get my stuff.”

Callie pushes up from me and starts to kneel, with the sheet pressed against her chest. I grab ahold of the edge of the sheet and tug it down, then brush my finger over her nipple. She shivers and I feel gratified as she gives a shy smile, backing off the bed, naked.

She searches for her clothes, trying to cover her body with her hands. She is so small, thin, fragile. I can’t help but think about how she said she made herself throw up and how I think maybe we need to talk about it, since we’ve been talking about my problems so much.

“Callie, please,” Seth begs, sounding hoarse and hung over. “I really need to get my stuff.”

“Just a second.” Callie grabs a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from one of the bags Seth was carrying yesterday. She gives me another reserved smile before retreating toward the bathroom.

“Will you let him in when you’re dressed?” she asks, as I slip my boxers back on.

I eye her over. “What are you doing?”

She combs her fingers through her hair. “I’m going to take a shower. I have sand in my hair from last night.”

A slow smile spreads across my lips. I know I’ve been kind of intense with her and she’s probably sore as hell, but I can’t help it.

As images of her in the shower, the hot water dripping down her body, hair, nipples, appear in my head, I decide I need to take a shower with her. Besides, everything is perfect right now and I want to drag it along for as long as I can before we have to return to real life and our problems. “Yeah, me too.” I stand up from the bed and she pulls a perplexed look from the doorway of the bathroom. She doesn’t get what I’m saying and I don’t expect her too. She’s innocent and sweet and her mind doesn’t instantly wander to the gutter like Daisy’s would.

I walk toward her, loving that she’s biting her lip. “You look lost,” I say as I reach for her arm.

Her gaze skims to my chest and for a second I feel self-conscious. “That’s because I am. Do you want to take a shower first? I can wait if you need to?”

I smile and it’s real, not plastered on. Touching my fingertip to her bottom lip, I bring my other hand up to her bare hip. “I’m saying I’ll take a shower with you.”

She lets out a startled gasp and I’m worried I’ve pushed her a little too far. Then her cheeks turn pink as her eyes quickly roam over my body and she chews on her bottom lip. She doesn’t say anything when she meets my eyes and I can tell she’s curious.

“Don’t worry.” I lower my finger from her lip. “It’ll be fun. All soapy and wet and slippery.” Her eyes enlarge as my fingers envelop around her hips and I scoop her up. She lets out a giggle and I smile as I back us into the bathroom.

“Wait a minute,” she says right as I’m about to kiss her. “We need to let Seth in. He’s going to get upset.”

Begrudgingly, I walk back to the bedroom door and unlatch the lock. Then I hurry back to the bathroom, still carrying Callie, who keeps giggling every time my fingers touch her stomach. As I’m kicking the bathroom door closed, I call out, “Seth, you can come in.” Then I seal my lips to hers and kiss her until we run out of air. Then we part, breathing ragged, and her fingers are brushing the nape of my neck.

I glance around, ready to turn the shower on. “Wait, where’s the shower?”

She points over her shoulder at the corner of the wall that’s framed with a narrow doorway. “I think it’s back there.”

“That’s not a closet?”

She shrugs. “I don’t think so. If it is…” Her eyes wander around to the sink, the toilet, and the towel rack. “Then I’m thinking there’s not one.”

Cupping her ass to hold her weight, I walk around to the doorway and round the corner. There’s a small section that dips back with empty rods and shelves. I veer to the left because it’s the only place to go and the room opens up. There are frosted glass windows on the wall and the ocean is right outside. There’s also a massive oval tub in the corner that is raised up on a rectangular podium that is framed by tile steps.

Callie frowns. “There’s no shower?” She tries not to smile.

“That sucks. I was seriously warming up to the idea of it.”

I give her a gentle pinch on the back of her leg and she squeals and clutches onto me. I make my way back to the tub without setting her down and turn the faucet on.

“What are you doing?” she asks, watching the water stream out as I stick my hand in and check the temperature.

“Taking a bath.” I secretly love the fact that there’s only a tub and no shower. The possibilities of what we could do in this big bathtub are endless.

She fidgets nervously, her body stiffening as she warily eyes the water filling up the tub. “We’re going to take a bath together?”

Her nose scrunches up and I’m about to tell her that we don’t have to if she doesn’t want to when she says, “Then we’d be, like, sitting in each other’s filth.”

I sputter a laugh and then step up onto the stair. “How dirty do you think I am?”

Every once in a while she’ll get this conniving look in her eyes and it’s appearing in full form. “I don’t know.” She scales up my body. “Guys are known for their filthiness, aren’t they?”

I pinch the back of her leg again and she jumps, letting out a squealing laugh. The movement sends me forward and I stumble into the bathtub, slipping on the bottom. I try to land as gently as I can so she won’t get hurt and I end up slamming my elbow into the corner of the tub and water splashes everywhere. She’s laughing as I struggle to sit up in the water, with her straddling me.