Emily shakes her head, eyes dark and glassy in the low light. “Stop talking, Jaxon.” She kisses me harder, backing me toward a shadowed stretch of dunes where the boardwalk lights don’t reach. Her hands slide under my shirt, nails scraping down my abs. Every apology dies in my throat as she pushes me down onto the cool sand.
I groan when she straddles me, and her hands fumble with the buttons of my shirt, popping them open one by one while her mouth stays locked on mine. “I need your hands all over me,” she breathes between kisses, voice husky with need. “Touch me everywhere, Jaxon."
I shrug the shirt off my shoulders but leave it hanging on my arms. My palms slide under her T-shirt, gripping her waist asI pull her closer. “Fuck, you’re burning up,” I growl, squeezing her hips. I can't believe this is happening again. This isn't why I came here. I thought she was so mad she'd never speak to me again, but here we are having a romp in the sand like we're teenagers again.
She yanks my belt open, then the button and zipper of my jeans. The second my fly is down she reaches in and pulls my hard dick out, wrapping her warm fingers around the thick shaft. “God, I missed you,” she moans, stroking me slowly from base to tip. “I've missed this too…"
I growl and flip us so she’s on her back and my mouth claims hers again as I work her jeans open. She lifts her hips eagerly while I drag her jeans and panties down her legs together and toss them aside. Naked from the waist down, she spreads her thighs wide for me, moonlight gleaming on her slick folds.
“Touch me,” she begs, guiding my hand between her legs. I slide two thick fingers through her wet slit, circling her swollen clit before pushing them deep inside her. "Yes," she groans, though I can feel granules of sand in the mess she's made. It adds a certain texture to the friction she seems to love as her head rocks back and her belly arches upward.
I pump my fingers in and out, curling them against that spot that makes her hips jerk. My thumb rubs circles on her clit while she strokes my exposed cock faster. “God you’re soaked."
Emily whimpers, squeezing my shaft harder. On every upstroke she twists her wrist, thumb swiping over my leaking head, spreading the precum, and I add a third finger, stretching her, thrusting harder while my mouth moves to her neck. “You feel so tight around my fingers." My hips rock into her fist, fucking her hand as she pumps me.
“Faster—” she gasps, legs shaking. “God, yes…"
Emily whimpers again, hips bucking against my fingers. “I need more, Jax…"
I pull my fingers out slowly, watching her slick arousal coat them. She doesn’t wait—she reaches down, grabs my throbbing dick, and lines me up at her entrance. “Fuck me,” she demands with a breathy voice. “I want to feel every inch.”
I push forward, sinking into her tight, wet entrance in one long thrust. We both groan loudly. “Fuck, Em… you’re so goddamn tight,” I rasp, bottoming out inside her. Her walls clench around me as I savor it, then start moving.
“Yes… just like that,” she moans, wrapping her legs tighter around my waist. “Deeper."
I brace my hands in the sand on either side of her head and drive into her harder, hips snapping forward. Sand shifts beneath us with every thrust and when the breeze picks it up, pelting my heated skin, I feel her shudder.
“God, you feel so good,” I growl, picking up speed. “God I missed you."
“Yes — harder!” she whimpers, nails digging into my back.
I give her exactly what she wants, thrusting harder and grinding against her with every stroke. Then I reach between us and rub her clit with my thumb while I hammer into her.
“Fuck,” she gasps, her body starting to tremble. “Yes!"
I feel her start to pulse around me, her pussy squeezing my dick rhythmically. “Oh shit, that's hot," I growl as her body snaps and everything tenses.
Her back arches hard as she comes, walls fluttering and clamping down on me. The sensation of her convulsions and twitching pushes me over the edge. The pressure is too high; my balls feel like they’ll explode, and then they do.
“Fuck—I’m coming,” I groan, my hips jerking as I spill inside her in hot pulses. I stay buried deep, grinding through it, filling her while she milks every drop from me.
We stay locked together, panting, her body still fluttering around me as the last waves of pleasure fade. The ocean crashes nearby, and Emily’s hands loosen on my back. She doesn’t push me away or whisper that this was a mistake like last time. Instead, she cups my face, and I can see how serious she looks when she gazes up at me.
“Jaxon… that was intense,” she says quietly, voice a little shaky, “but I need time. We have so much shit between us—Mercy, the years you were gone, everything you just told me. I can’t figure any of this out right now.” She searches my face. “You get that, right?”
I swallow hard and nod, even though it feels like a knife twisting in my chest. “Yeah. I get it.”
She kisses me again slowly then gently pushes me back. I slip out of her and sit up while she finds her jeans and panties in the sand. She dresses quickly, brushing sand from her thighs as I tuck myself away and button my shirt with numb fingers.
But she leans over once dressed to press a kiss to my cheek before she stands, shoes in hand again. “I’ll text you tomorrow. Just… give me some space tonight.” She turns and walks back toward the boardwalk, her silhouette getting smaller against the distant lights.
I watch her go until she disappears, feeling completely defeated. Shame burns in my gut. I’ve never told another soul I killed people other than my brothers in arms, and now the woman I love knows.
Will she ever look at me like a man she can trust again? Like a father for Mercy? Or just some violent stranger who showed up after eight years?
It's a lot for anyone to take in, but I still struggle with it. And if I'm struggling, then what if Emily struggles with it too, reconciling the boy she used to love with the man who's taken lives?
My phone rings in my pocket, jolting me, and I pull it out to see Mike's name lighting up my screen. I swipe to answer, wondering what on earth he'd need this time of night.
