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“I beat you. By a few seconds, sure, but I got here first.” I smiled while he stared at me blankly.
“I didn’t realize you were ... racing,” he said, shifting his gaze to the steps leading out of the water.
I splashed water at him. “You need to have more fun in life. Maybe I can teach you how.”
His lips curled up in a hesitant smile.
It hit me that he was going to leave as soon as he dropped me off. Whatever had just transpired between us—whatever that kiss was—it didn’t share the same meaning to him. For me it meant possibility. For him, perhaps it was goodbye. If he was tasked with finding me against his will, I could understand not wanting to stick around, even with last night, but an emptiness settled in me at the knowledge that I probably wouldn’t see him again.
I’d known him for all of three days, but I felt so deeply that he was a part of me somehow.
I didn’t dare say that. I sounded like a lovesick lunatic.
Hey, we barely know each other, but I actually like you, and for some reason, you’re stuck in my mind like you belong there and always have, so I’d really like it if you stayed with me.
I shook my head and almost laughed at myself.
No, those words wouldn’t be coming out of my mouth.
I swam to the steps and got out of the water with Pan, standing beside him. I shuddered slightly, and he glanced at me.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Just nervous.”
“Do you feel anything ... off?”
I instinctively looked down at my tattered, wet shirt. “I mean, if you’re talking about my nipples sticking out through the shirt, yeah, I feel that. Not much can be done, I’m afraid. Unless you were talking about something else?” I angled my head to look at my backside and make sure I didn’t have a gaping hole in the tiny cutoffs I wore. When I saw nothing, I faced him again. He looked lost for words, but a surprised grin washed over his face.
“You aren’t what I expected.” The melancholy in his tone was in stark contrast to the sparkle in his eyes, and it tugged at my heart. “For what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed our time together.”
My brows furrowed. His goodbye was real. He really had no intention of seeing me again. I’d be lying if I’d said that didn’t hurt. I’d had a teensy bit of hope that maybe he felt a connection to me too. All I could do was press my lips together in a forced smile and dip my chin.
As we took our first steps up the stairs, my heart began racing with anticipation.
Twelve steps left.
Nine.
Seven.
Three.
I stopped, reaching over to grab Pan’s hand before we finished our climb. Before we met anyone and I lost the opportunity to say something to him in private.
As our skin made contact, electricity shot through me again. My entire body lit up like a Christmas tree. I felt it in my core. Between my legs. At my fingertips. I inhaled sharply, and my lips parted when I saw his pupils blown wide and his jaw clenched. He’d felt it too. It wasn’t just me.
I stood there staring at him for a moment, not speaking, taking in my new realization.
“Pan,” I started, trying to find the right words. “I wanted to say thank you for bringing me here. I’m sorry my family took Flora and Fauna from you. That you had to go through all this.” When he started to speak, I cut him off so I could finish what I needed to say. “But I’m not sorry it was you that had to find me. I’m glad I got to be with you. I just ... I just wish it could have been a little longer.” I felt my voice quiver, and I cleared my throat. We’d kissed twice now. He brought me to release enough times that it quite literally knocked me out. We’d shared stolen touches and lingering gazes, but it wasn’t enough. Something inside me yearned for more. Something inside me didn’t want to leave his side. Acting on impulse, I pushed up on my toes and reached around his neck to pull him to me.
Our lips met in an impassioned kiss, and I inhaled sharply as he reciprocated instantly. His tongue traced my lips as I parted them, allowing him access to taste me further. His fingers laced through my hair, his other hand splaying across my lower back to keep me close. My body pressed against him, and I struggled for air. I’d been kissed before, but the intensity with which devoured me was going to make me see stars.
I moaned into his mouth, my tongue massaging his as I deepened the embrace. I pulled away too soon, grazing my teeth over his bottom lip, and kissing the corner of his mouth.
He pressed his forehead to mind, his eyes closed.
“Adora ... we ...” he started, trailing off. The way he was subtly pulling away from me stung, more than I ever wanted to admit after yesterday. I didn’t understand it. One moment he was holding me to him, and the next he was putting up another barrier.
