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“I don’t understand how not one of these flowers has bloomed. It’s almost summer!”

Folding the paper, I place it on the glass patio table, kicking my ankle up over my knee. “Maybe you got a bad batch of seeds.”

She shakes her head. “That isn’t a thing, Kallum.”

My name rolling so easily from her lips makes my chest pinch tight, and I get to my feet, walking over to the pile of dirt. She’s not wrong; none of the flowers have even sprouted through, the soil as brown and neat as it was when we laid it.

“It’s not a big deal,” I say, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “When you don’t succeed in one thing, you don’t pitch your towel and stop trying. You move on to the next, until you find what you’re great at.”

She makes a face. “I already know what I’m good at, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Pulling away, she bends down, sifting her fingers through the dirt, as if searching for a single sign of life. I cross my arms over my chest, watching.

“Then why is this garden so important to you?”

Pausing, she glances up over her shoulder, hands clumping in the soil. “I wanted something at the Asphodel that felt like mine. My balcony back home was covered in all sorts of plants, and I’d go out and read, surrounded by the fresh flowers, and just feel at peace. I thought... maybe if I tried to recreate that feeling, I wouldn’t be so lonely here.”

Again, that pinch flares in my chest, like thorns embedding themselves in my muscles and poisoning me. She looks away, wiping beneath her right eye with her index finger, and I’m reminded of my mission here.

That she’s a pawn in the grand scheme of things. An unwilling participant in a game much larger than she even understands. Means to an end.

Though, that doesn’t stop me from telling her to follow me, as I glide through the back yard in quick strides, eating up the distance to the padlocked gate bordering the beach. She scrambles to her feet after me, curiosity more powerful than self-pity, sticking close to my side.

Pushing open the old gate, a long strip of worn black stone splits the stretch of golden sand in half, leading a path down to the dilapidated dock. Before the sand, right where it meets the grass, bloom the brightest wild beach roses, painting the area in beautiful hues of pink and purple.

“Consider this your... Elysium, my little Persephone.”

Elena beams, sweeping her gaze over the flowers, a genuine smile pulling at her lips. “It’s beautiful.”

My eyes fall to her, appreciating the view. “Yeah,” I say, and when she glances up, her smile falters, cheeks morphing to match the flowers.

She looks at the blue water, then grips the hem of her T-shirt between her fingers. “How much of this beach is secluded?”

“There isn’t another house for miles.” It’s the only reason I feel comfortable letting her beyond the property I can see from the house.

Pouting dramatically, Elena whips her shirt up over her head, baring the swell of her naked breasts and that little pomegranate tattoo. Immediately, my cock stirs to attention, my tongue eager to run over the line work I’ve practically memorized at this point.

“Bummer,” she says, hooking her thumbs in the elastic waist of her white cotton shorts, shoving them down over her hips. Untying her hair from the loose bun it’s in, she shakes the dark locks free, completely naked as she backs away from me. “Guess we’ll have to find another way to make it more interesting.”

I swallow, my tongue thick inside my mouth. “Make what more interesting?”

“Skinny dipping.”

Turning on her heels, she bounds out toward the water, completely unabashed in the way the sea air collides with every plane and crevice of her body.

I stand on the shore, watching as she wades in to her knees, spinning to look at me. “Well? Aren’t you coming?”

She wiggles her eyebrows, and I swallow again, a knot lodging hard in my throat.

No one’s ever seen me naked.

I don’t even like glimpsing the scarred topography of my body, vivid reminders of a life thrust upon me before I knew what I was agreeing to.

The longer Elena stands in the water, waiting patiently, the more uncomfortable I feel about her perusal. Already, I’m far too concerned with the way she looks at me, and there’s a niggling thought catching in the back of my mind that maybe this will be what turns her off from me.

Maybe she’ll finally see I’m the monster everyone always warned her about.

“I don’t bite,” she calls, drifting farther back into the water, cupping her hands over her breasts, deepening her cleavage. “Well, I do, but you like it.”

Snorting in spite of myself, I shake my head slightly, my dick straining against the confines of my pants. It throbs, desperate to reconnect with her, and finally I exhale, remembering how she said she’s lonely.

How, in the entire time we’ve been on Aplana, this is the first time I’ve seen her look something other than miserable, barring sexual activities.

And so, even though it feels like I’m skinning myself alive as I begin popping open the buttons on my shirt, I do it anyway.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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