AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Miri
Ineed to stretch my legs after sitting for so long. Even though the sun is already dipping in the afternoon sky, my body is demanding I go outside and get some fresh air. After Lena leaves, I throw on some warmer clothes that can hold up against the outside temperature. I tug on a heavy sweatshirt, some gloves, a stocking cap, and swap my sweats for some jeans. I really need to get a big puffy warm winter coat.
I don’t have a destination in mind as I walk, letting my mind wander and my feet take me where they will. Eventually I end up on the beach, which is easy to do on this island. With the sun setting, the day is quickly losing any warmth, and the breeze from the ocean whips against my cheeks until they’re ruddy. They’ll be chapped by the time I get home, but I don’t care. The air feels cleansing, like it’s sweeping over my soul and plucking out the worries that burden me.
My mind is so loaded with thoughts about everything that’s happened since I moved to town that the landscape barely registers. The odd light of twilight makes me think I’m seeing things as a massive shadow appears from the water. For the space of a heartbeat, I think there’s a monster rising from its depths. I blink away the confusing sight and realize it’s not a Titan drifting out of the ocean. It’s a man. One who makes my jaw drop and my stomach clench with need.
Davis.
Now that my brain has caught up, I devour the sight of him striding out of the surf like he’s Poseidon deigning to leave his domain for us mere mortals. My mouth goes dry and there’s an ache, an empty feeling inside me that longs for his touch. Davis is wearing a wetsuit, and he pulls down the zipper as he crosses the beach, revealing a perfectly sculpted chest with a dusting of hair on his pecs and a trail that leads from his belly button down to… below his wetsuit. All those tattoos adorn his flesh, and I want to know what they mean so badly. They’re another piece of the puzzle that I’m desperate to uncover.
Davis still hasn’t noticed me gaping at him as he crosses the sand, bending down to pick up a towel left waiting on a rock. With efficient movements, he scrubs it over his face and hair before he pulls the suit off to his waist. The move reminds me that Davis has the kind of body I didn’t think existed in real life. Every muscle is defined and pure strength. There is not an ounce of spare fat on his body. Seeing him in the dimming twilight shows what I couldn’t see in the dark of my room the other night. Heat sweeps over my skin and just like that, I’m not cold anymore.
Fucking hell. His hair is swept back from his face, the jaw-length strands dripping over his shoulders. Davis shakes his head almost like a dog and I laugh at the movement, startling Davis just as he’s about to pull the wetsuit down farther. Damn, I really want to follow those cut obliques down to see, in the light of day, what other surprises his body has to offer. But I manage to keep my lust in check.
“Davis,” I croak out, and he whips around with a snarl. The expression fades when his eyes land on me, but I’m struck dumb by the expanse of man chest on display before me and can’t get any other words out. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to lick a man from neck to navel, but damn if I don’t want to put my mouth on every inch of exposed skin in front of me.
“Miri? What are you doing out here?” Davis moves to push his wetsuit down again, and I tip my head back, trying to give him some semblance of privacy. On the beach.
Why am I bothering if he doesn’t care? God, he’s got me flustered.
A chuckle rumbling from deep in Davis’s chest has my head snapping back down in surprise, only to find him grinning at me. He’s laughing? And smiling? Did our little chat at the library end differently for him? Have I stepped into an alternative universe? I know. Davis froze his brain cells in the water, and he doesn’t remember all the shit that’s gone down between us.
My eyes have a mind of their own, scanning down Davis’s body and I’m relieved—and fine, a little disappointed—to find he has swim trunks on.
Shoving my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt so I don’t reach out and touch him, I try to keep my eyes level with his. They want to wander down his body, to take in every square inch of hard muscle. I want to find out which spots on his body are sensitive. If I stroke my hand over his chest, rasp my nails up his neck, if I press my lips beneath his ear, will he shiver and groan? God, I need to stop thinking about touching him. I’m going to have a wet spot on my pants.
“Are you shy now?” Davis’s deep, melodious voice works its way under my skin like the best kind of song. The type that gives you goosebumps and you play it on repeat endlessly.
“I’m out for a walk. Didn’t really expect to find anyone out for a swim.” I know I sound defensive, but, oh well.
I continue ogling Davis as he dries off his chest and briskly rubs the towel over his head to get the extra moisture out of his hair. He pulls a shirt out from a bag on the rock and tugs it on. Double damn, he even makes getting dressed sexy. The muscles of his torso flex and stretch as he puts on his shirt. I seriously have to stop staring. I’m getting pissed at myself. Do I really have so little self-control that I can’t just tell Davis to go choke on a dick and continue on my walk? I should be pissed at him. He’s been acting like a total ass every time we’ve been together. Sure, I get why he thinks it was a bad idea for me to move here, and I’m pretty sure that deep down he’s trying to protect me in a totally archaic, idiotic way. That does not make up for all of his asshole-ness. Now he’s being nice. Is he up to something?
“I like the cold. It helps me clear my head. Swimming calms me, settles me.” Davis angles his head so he can see me while he bends down to grab more clothes out of his bag. “No desire to take a dip in the ocean?”
Is he smiling at me? My eyes dart around the beach and the woods that butt up to the edge of the sand. Is someone going to jump out at me? Is he punking me?
“Maybe in the summer when it’s ninety degrees out. Not in February when it’s barely thirty degrees outside of the water. Actually, how do you not die swimming in this weather?” I frown as I look at Davis and then out at the water. I don’t know specifically what temperature is too cold to swim in, but I’ve been in some glacial lakes before, and my lungs had seized when I’d jumped in. There’s no way that was anywhere near as frosty as this water.
Davis drops his towel to the rock, and I’m surprised by how thoughtfully he’s considering my question. “I’ve always been able to tolerate the cold temps in the water.”
“That’s... weird,” I say, for lack of a better word. Davis barks out a laugh and I gape at him. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Actually, yeah, I am, I told you the water calms me.” A frown creases his brow, and I want to bring back the smile. “I never realized it before, but I think my magic might allow me to stay in the water when it’s this temperature without it hurting me.”
“I’ll leave that hobby to you.” I cringe, thinking about how cold the water is. How can Davis stand being in there long enough for a decent swim, even with magic? He shrugs on a sweatshirt and tugs on his stocking cap. He grabs a pair of sweats and his eyes dance over my body as he starts taking his shorts off. My head falls back as I stare up at the sky that’s just beginning to reveal the stars.
“Just right on the beach, huh?” I mutter more to myself, but Davis’s low laugh tells me he’s heard.
“There’s no one here.”
My head jerks back down. Sadly, not before Davis is shrugging up a pair of sweats that are still practically indecent. Hell, he’s going commando, isn’t he?
“Am I no one then?”
“No one else besides us.” Davis corrects, looking far too pleased with himself. “I didn’t take you as someone overly modest.”
“Just not used to people who continuously tell me to leave town dropping trow in front of me.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, both his attempts to get me to leave and the depantsing.
