He traces over my lips, then hooks my mouth open with his thumb. Slowly, reverently, he spits into it. I shiver, struck by the magnitude of it, the wordless intimacy. He massages my throat as I swallow.
“I need you to be mine.” He whispers it, near desperate, a man washed ashore after a storm. “Mine, Poppy. Only mine.”
“I am.” I repeat it half a dozen times, full to bursting with emotion. “Only yours.”
He gives in to his release. I come from that alone, a deeper kind of climax. Our bodies slide together wetly; not his seed, but more slick from me, enough to soak the coarse hair at the base of his length. In any other circumstance, I’d blush, I’d deflect, I’d wait for it to be too fucking much—but not Jack. He looks at me with near awe, as if I’ve given him a gift.
We seal it with a kiss.
Chapter 43
Cinnamon
Poppy
By some miracle, I wake before Jack.
I wiggle out of his arms slowly, holding my breath when he stirs.
I can still feel him between my thighs, bruising in his affection. My soul feels bruised, too, but in the tender way that makes you want to press on it to feel the ache.
That future he spoke about—I want it. I want it as much as I’ve ever wanted anything.
And as I step onto the deck, squinting in the midday sun, I realize something else.
I don’t want to leave this place.
Today is one of the first cooler days I can recall since my arrival. My body has apparently acclimated to the hot weather, because it feels chilly enough to me that I grab a sweatshirt before walking down the dock. A heron, snow-white, flies over my head, and the line of palms on the shore wave in the breeze like flags.
It’s beautiful here. Beautiful enough to make your heart ache, when you catch the sun at the right angle, or look at the jewel-toned ocean. I understand that Jack felt unwanted, unloved, by the revolving door of foster homes in this town, but this is the first place I’ve felt at peace. It’s possibly the only place I’ve truly felt like myself. Socializing with our guests at last night’s event made it clear that Inever fit in with that crowd. I didn’t miss the way my life used to be, and today, I still don’t.
But it only works with Jack.
My phone lights up with an incoming call. Kiara.
“Hey,” I say as I answer.
“Are you still on the way?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I slept late.” I twirl a piece of hair around my finger. “Jack’s still asleep, actually.”
“I’ll send Chester his way while we’re at brunch.”
Ten minutes later, Kiara and I are sitting at a table on the deck of a cute waterfront restaurant, Kimmy’s. It’s one of many places I had no idea existed in Diamond Bay when I first arrived, but according to Kiara, they make a delicious mimosa, and I could use the pick-me-up. I order a caramel latte as well, crossing my legs.
“A sweatshirt in seventy-five-degree weather?” Kiara asks, after we’ve put in our food orders. French toast for me, an omelet for her. “You’re becoming a real Floridian.”
“It’s chilly!”
“It is,” she agrees, pulling her jacket tighter. “It always feels like this after the long stretch of hot days.” She leans in a little, eyes full of concern. “Are you and Jack good?”
I grimace. “Could you tell we...”
“Jack looked about ready to bite someone’s head off.”
“We worked it out.” I smile a bit as I think about it, which I’m sure Kiara doesn’t want to read too much into, considering the fact he’s basically her big brother.
True to form, she wrinkles her nose. I bite back a huff of laughter, and she shakes her head ruefully. “Last night was intense.” She grins. “And really fun. You two were amazing.”
