Page 67

TATE

I’m walking up the stairs when Talia appears from her bedroom, startling when she sees me.

“Oh. I thought you were asleep. I was just going to get some—” I hand one of the two glasses of water I’m carrying to her. “Water…Thank you.”

“I know you hate the taste of the bathroom water. Even though it comes from the same place.”

She purses her pouty lips. “It is different.”

“Sure, sure.”

We arrived home a few hours ago, both tired from hours in the sun, unloading our emotional baggage, and rule breaking. It was a small step in the right direction—finally.

Having her hump my dick into oblivion wasn’t part of the plan. It was an added bonus. The true purpose was to get away from the house and town, giving us the space to speak.

I’m spent, but I know my body is too amped up, and I’ll be wide awake well into the morning, replaying the way Talia’s tits bounced in my face and how her thighs clenched around my waist as she rode out her orgasm.

She didn’t verbalize any regret, but she’s too disciplined to slip up twice. This afternoon was a moment of weakness, an opportunity to release all the pent-up energy and desire crackling between us.

Her self-control is impeccable. I’m a pathetic mess.

“Make sure you get some aloe on those shoulders.” She stifles a yawn while edging toward her bedroom.

“You could rub it in for me?” I waggle my brows.

“Good night, Tate,” she drawls and disappears through the door.

I’m climbing into bed when I spot a fresh note next to my pill box. Don’t forget. Talia x. That scrawled little x makes me giddy, like a schoolgirl receiving a text from her crush.

See? Pathetic.

Somewhere, among the bags from the tour I’m yet to unpack, is a similar note, written long before any of this happened. Turns out I’m not the only one struggling to break old habits.

After checking there are no emails or texts from Vanessa, I plug in my phone to charge and shut my eyes. The sheets rub against my sun-kissed skin. I should apply some lotion, like she suggested. She’s always right. I quickly grab a bottle from the bathroom and dispense a hearty amount into my palms before smoothing it over my shoulders and the back of my neck.

Images of us in the shallows of the waterfall flood my brain, crystal droplets kissing the curves of her breasts and dips of her waist. Her diamond-hard nipples, ripe for the taking; dusty-pink, matching her O-shaped lips as her mouth dropped open with a cry.

A tent forms in my briefs, pleasure tingling up my spine. Desperate, I shove down my underwear, fisting my cock, hand still slick with lotion, making it easier to slide up and down my shaft. Tighter and tighter, I grip it. Imagining it’s Talia’s sweet cunt.

“This is what you do to me,” I grunt, as if she can hear me through the wall. “And you know it. Love how you drive me crazy.”

I kick the sheets off my body, digging my heels deeper into the mattress with every firm tug. Fuck, why did I take her to the falls knowing what seeing her in a tiny bikini would do to me?

I’d wanted to throw her down on the towel, bury myself into her.

Wanted to watch her alabaster skin flush before I painted it with my cum.

Wanted to lock eyes with her and see the moment she gave in to the constant hunger.

No. It wasn’t a want; it was a feral, urgent need.

I needed her as desperate as I am.

My orgasm blooms, drawing my balls up.

But just when I’m about to succumb to the carnal pleasure, a muffled noise next door breaks the spell.

I wait for it again, but after a minute of silence, I presume it was all in my head, and return my attention to my aching cock.