Part 4 (1/2)

I grin. ”Just one.”

”I mean it, though,” he says, growing serious again. ”Being out here, looking up at this-it makes me feel like all the s.h.i.+t I've been worrying about doesn't matter in the long run, you know?”

All the s.h.i.+t he's been worrying about. His father? Me? What he's going to do now that he's given up his job?

But if I think about it, what he says is true-it's easy to forget about the mistakes I've made out here. It's easy to forget that I might have a warrant out for my arrest, or that I might have destroyed what little chance I had of reconciling with my brother. I'm just a speck on the sand. Ward and I could be washed away by the sea in the middle of the night and in the greater scheme of the universe, it wouldn't change a thing.

Depressing as that is, it's actually kind of freeing.

I roll over so that I'm leaning across Ward's chest.

”If you're allowed to say something cheesy,” I tell him, ”then I am, too.”

”Deal,” he says, twining his hands through my hair.

”Being out here...” I tilt my head back and gaze up at the moon. ”It reminds me that there are so many places I could go. So many things I could do. I guess... I guess that's the advantage of losing everything, you know? Your life becomes a blank slate. You get to rebuild everything from scratch.” Not that I'm doing a very good job at that so far, but still.

”Where do you want to go?” He's asked me the same question several times since we left the estate together, but I know it means something different this time.

I lean down until my lips are just above his. ”Everywhere.”

His hands tighten in my hair.

”Even Saturn,” I whisper with a smile. ”If we can find it.”

”That's a tall order,” he murmurs.

I slide my leg across him. ”Are you up to the task?”

”You bet your a.s.s I am.”

He yanks my face down against his. I fall completely against him, my body molding to every hard plane of his. I grip him by the shoulders and s.h.i.+ft my hips, straddling him properly. I want to keep kissing him forever, but I tear my mouth away.

”We could start somewhere closer,” I say, my voice breathy.

”Mm. Like Mars?” His mouth claims mine once more.

I kiss him for a moment longer before pulling away again. ”Or Antarctica. I'm sure you could keep me warm.”

He chuckles and kisses me again. His mouth is demanding, and when his teeth sc.r.a.pe my lips, I can feel it all the way down to my toes.

It's harder to pull away the next time. ”Maybe somewhere deep in the rainforest.” I prop myself up on his chest. ”Somewhere sweaty and-”

He groans, his hands sliding down my body to my hips. He's hard again, and his arousal is pressed against my leg.

I lean over to our pile of clothes and grab the plastic bag with our stash of condoms. I snag one, tear it open, and lean back just enough to be able to reach down and take him in my hand. He squeezes my thigh as I slide the condom down his length.

”We should travel all over,” he rasps. ”Have s.e.x on every continent.”

”Or steal a boat,” I say, straddling him again, ”and have s.e.x in every ocean.”

I look down at his face as I guide him into position. His eyes reflect back the moonlight. His hands move back up to my waist.

”Or just drive around,” he says, his voice rough as he slowly pulls me down the length of his c.o.c.k. ”Have s.e.x in every state.”

The last word is mostly a moan. I sink all the way down, taking him fully.

We don't have s.e.x like this often-with me on top, I mean-but I know exactly what to do. I move slowly, leaning forward slightly and bracing myself on his shoulders. His hands glide from my waist up my body. I rock slowly, and his fingers dance over my ribs. They move softly over each of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and he lets his palms skim across my nipples. Then he moves still upward. Chest, collarbone, neck.

I don't speak until his fingers rest gently against my throat, until I know he can feel my voice as much as hear it.

”I want you everywhere,” I say as I move slowly on top of him. ”I want you to take me everywhere.”

Take me everywhere. I know he doesn't miss the multiple meanings of that phrase, because he jerks his hips, driving himself up into me.

”Don't tempt me,” he says.

”But I like tempting you.” I sit up fully and begin to move in slow circles on top of him, letting him feel me completely. His hands drop to my hips once more, and this time his grip is firmer. He doesn't like letting me have all the power. His fingers dig into me, and though it should hurt, I feel nothing but pleasure. I like when he starts to lose control. When his need for me starts to take over, when his every touch expresses an urgency and a longing that I know only I can fill.

”f.u.c.k, Louisa,” he says, rocking himself up into me.

”Take me,” I tell him. ”Take me away.”

His grip is steel, his body hard and unrelenting beneath mine. We move together with abandon, with everything we have. My head falls back, and I look up at the stars as I ride him. As I give him everything. If I can't tell him I love him, then I can show him.

He releases one of my hips. I almost protest, almost beg him to grab me and curl his nails into my flesh again, but then he finds my c.l.i.t with his fingers. That's all it takes-one touch. One touch and I explode. I know I'm supposed to be quiet out here, but I can't control myself. I cry out as my body pulses and contracts. And Ward isn't far behind me. By the time I've collapsed on top of him, he's found his own release.

For a moment, I just lie there, my cheek pressed against his chest. His skin is sticky and covered in thousands of tiny particles of sand. I should probably sit up, or at least roll off of him, but my entire body is limp. I'm having trouble feeling my arms or legs. I'm fine just where I am, as close to him as physically possible.

He wraps his arms around me, holding me on top of him.

”Jesus, that was good,” he says. He gives a contented chuckle.

I smile and nuzzle his neck. ”Maybe I should be on top more often.”

”Fine by me,” he says. ”Though f.u.c.k, I like you the other way, too.” Before I realize what he's doing, he's flipped me over onto my back on the towel. He leans over me, and his head drops until his lips are right at my ear.

”Like this,” he murmurs. ”On your back, completely under my power. Or maybe...” His fingers graze the skin of my belly. ”Maybe on your stomach. Or on your hands and knees.” He reaches down further and touches my thigh. ”Or with your legs hooked over my shoulders.”

Every suggestion sends another tremor through my body. Yes. Yes to all of it.

”Every way,” I whisper in response. ”Everywhere.”

He kisses my ear, then my cheek, then my lips. Then he rolls over onto his side and holds me against him. I bury my face against the crook of his neck and breathe him in. He still smells like the ocean.

”We could do it, you know,” he says after a moment.