Page 29 of The Rhythm of their Souls

From the bits of information she gave me during our conversation the other night, I quickly gathered that she has been through unimaginable things, starting as young as a child.

Which breaks my fucking heart. You have people out here in the world, spoiled since birth. They grow up filled with greed and hate in their heart, competing for luxury. Then you have Olive, a beautifully broken human searching for peace. She deserves the goddamn world. And I have this deep desire to provide her with everything the world offers.

But how do I tell the girl I just met weeks ago that I want to fill the missing pieces of her heart with pieces of mine? How do I explain that when our eyes found one another, I knew my life would never be whole without her? I know she feels something for me, but will she let me in? I don’t blame her for guarding her heart; she has every reason to.

And I will do everything I can to earn her trust and heal the wounds I didn’t cause because that’s what you do when you love someone. Holy shit, that’s deep. Never did I think I’d fall for someone like this.

Olive stands and brushes the back of her dress before heading to the shore. I carefully watch her enter the water, inching further in. I quickly stand and move towards the water’s edge. “What the hell are you doing?” I say with slight concern.

She slowly looks back at me, her hair blowing perfectly around her petite face. A testy grin appears. “Get in with me.”

I immediately cross my arms and retort, “You’re not supposed to swim in the ocean in the middle of the night. Get out of the water.”

Now her arms are crossed, and she’s laughing at me. “Are you worried you’ll get caught, Theo?” She’s waist-deep now, and before I can respond, she slowly removes her dress from her shoulders, revealing nothing but her lace bra.

I’m speechless now; all I can do is keep my eyes on her. She pulls it down past her stomach. There’s no way she’s about to take her dress completely off. As the thought crosses my mind, Olive tosses her drenched dress onto the shore beside my feet.

She is in nothing but a bra now—my spicy little criminal.

She’s testing me, and I don’t think she understands the thrill I get from bending the rules.

One thing about me is that I’m a rule breaker; the feeling of almost getting caught is exhilarating. And the thought of breaking one with her is causing my dick to twitch in my shorts right now.

Without breaking eye contact, I remove my shirt and shorts, quickly throwing them beside her dress.

I watch as Olive scans me up and down, shaking her head. “You realize I have nothing on but a bra, right?” she says teasingly. She’s feisty tonight, and I fucking love it.

I stop in my tracks, looking down at my boxers. I confidently chime back, “And you realize I’m only in boxers, right?”

She scoffs at me.

I can’t help but laugh. “If you expect me to get fully unclothed, I expect the same from you, ma’am.” I see her hesitate with my question; honestly, I expect her to brush it off.

She brings her eyes back to mine, and I hungrily watch as she unclasps her bra and throws it to shore. Whoa, her breasts are perfect. I clench my fist tight on either side of me.

The moon is our only light source; thankfully, it’s enough to see how beautifully shaped she is.

She pulls her lips into her mouth before chiming, “Is that better, sir?”

I run my tongue along my top teeth. She likes this between us, and just the thought of that makes my dick throb for her even more.

She wants to play a dangerous game with me, and I’m ready to deal the cards. In one quick movement, my boxers are at my feet.

I slowly edge into the water, keeping her in my clear view. Holy shit, the water is cold. I do my best to hold my composure and let nothing show on my face but curiosity. Her stare moves up and down my body. I watch as her eyes finally focus on my dick, her mouth parting open.

I hope she likes what she sees. I’ve replayed in my head over and over what it would feel like to be inside her. I can only imagine how good it would feel the way she wrapped around my fingers so tightly, but I refuse to rush anything or expect her to want that with me. If that day were to come, I’d like it to be special and private for our first time.

After what happened between us earlier, I can’t get the intimate thoughts out of my head. Never have I experienced something so natural with someone before. Nothing will ever be the same for me again, not after meeting her.

And I swear, her reaction to my touch told me she’s never experienced touch affectionately. How has she not had men begging for her attention? It infuriates me but also gives me a sense of relief. I don’t want to picture another man near her. I want to be the only one close to her, touching every inch of her body and making her call out my name. I don’t care how crazy it sounds; I will indent a mother fucker’s face if they even think about touching her.

I’ve never felt territorial over a woman, but Olive brings out a side of me I never knew existed, like a lion protecting his mate. I know her natural beauty has something to do with it, but it’s much deeper than that.

She’s strong, and her walls are sturdy. She’s bandaged her invisible scars all by herself. And most people turn cold after experiencing hurt. Not her, though; she carries the world’s weight and still finds beauty in everything. I hope she can see the beauty from within herself. She makes me want to be a better person, but she also makes me want to rip anyone’s head off who tries to place harm in her direction.

I stop in front of her and crouch down into the blistering, salty water to be at eye level with her. Olive gives me a devilish grin. “Is that thing tamed?” she blurts out.

I squint my eyes at her in confusion. “Is what ta..?” Okay, so now she’s a little comedian. Two can play this game. I lightly chuckle at her playfulness, then quickly retort, “Only if you want it to be.”