Page 69 of The Summer that Changed Everything
Ford didn’t know where it fell, nor did he care. His eyes were riveted to what she’d revealed. If it was possible, she was even more beautiful today.
The moment his hands cupped her breasts, he could feel her nipples harden beneath his palms and bent his head to kiss her again, this time with more authority, since he’d been invited.
A few minutes later, he slid her bikini bottoms down and when she kicked them off, he caught them and threw them as far as he could up the beach. He didn’t want to cause her to lose them like she might her top. But if she couldn’t find them later, he’d buy her as many swimsuits as she wanted.
Lifting her up, he felt her legs lock around his hips as he carried her into the water.
20
Lucy was going against everything she’d told herself she needed to do. This wasnotplaying it safe; she wasnotkeeping her distance from Ford. But he seemed to be everywhere in her life since she’d come back to North Hampton Beach. She couldn’t wall him out, not now that he was helping her. They talked to each other and saw each other too often. She was even staying at his house. There was no way she was going to be able to resist the urge to touch him again, especially with weeks and weeks of the summer still ahead of them.
So it suddenly seemed pointless to resist. Why not give in to the longing that kept her on edge all the time if they were going to make love before she left this place, anyway? It wasn’t as if she had to worry about getting pregnant. Fortunately, she was on the pill; her doctor had prescribed them to help regulate her periods.
Ford didn’t remove his shorts. He seemed hesitant to go that far. Instead, he held her and kissed her with his hands pressed firmly to her bare back as he paused briefly now and them to lick the salt water from her neck and breasts.
Lucy had never felt quite so desired. There was that, she supposed. He acted as if he’d missed her as badly as she’d missed him, so at least she’d have the memories of this moment, of being wanted by him, too. She wasn’t putting too much store in it, since he’d discarded her so easily before, but the fact that he seemed to think that maybe he shouldn’t have left her behind somehow felt like a victory.
Problem was, they were creating expectations her body demanded to have fulfilled.
Eager to take their lovemaking to the next level, she finally undid his shorts. It’d been fifteen years, but one more day, one more hour, one more minute was not acceptable.
“Wait.” He caught her hands. “I need to get a condom first.”
He already had one baby on the way; she certainly couldn’t blame him. “I’m on the pill.”
“Oh, thank God.” He rested his forehead against hers as he laughed. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to ask you to go inside with me ever since this started, but I was afraid if I opened my big mouth, you’d change your mind.”
She didn’t say so, but she couldn’t have bailed out. She wanted him too much—had never really stopped. So she just laughed with him.
Once he’d been reassured that he didn’t have to worry about another pregnancy, he let go of her long enough to remove his shorts, which he threw in the general direction of shore. The beach was now farther away, but he didn’t seem any more concerned with losing them than she’d been with losing her bikini.
A swell lifted them both off the seafloor by several inches as he pulled her back into his arms, but he found his footing again as she wrapped her legs around his hips and guided himself inside her.
Lucy threw her head back, enjoying the intimacy—and remembering that night on this very same beach when she gave him her virginity. But instead of starting to move, he paused.
“Is something wrong?” she murmured.
“My legs have turned to rubber,” he said, laughing again. “My whole body’s gone weak. It’s having you in my arms again. I can’t believe it. Just give me a second and I’ll be okay.”
She was touched that he seemed so sincerely affected. She’d always believed that what she’d felt for him was far more powerful than anything he’d ever feel for her. But she didn’t have long to think about it. True to his word, he recovered almost right away, and they made love in the water for several minutes.
It wasn’t until he managed to maneuver them closer to shore, however, and they dropped onto the wet, sandy beach that he was able to roll her beneath him and finish what they’d started.
The waves foamed up at their feet, barely reaching them, as Lucy caught hold of his firm, round buttocks, so carried away by all the wonderful physical sensations she was experiencing that she was finally able to block every last bit of the worry that’d plagued her since she arrived here and simply let go, feel, enjoy.
“Lucy!” The raspy urgency with which he said her name a few moments later told her he could no longer hold himself back. He was warning her that he might climax too soon.
But she’d reached the same pinnacle. The tension broke with his next thrust, and the most exquisite pleasure surged through her, starting deep in her core before moving through the rest of her body.
When she gasped, she felt his body jerk. Then he collapsed over her, supporting the bulk of his weight with his elbows while he recovered.
She felt him kiss her neck one last time, then brush his lips against hers before he rolled onto his back where, like her, he gazed up at the stars.
As their breathing slowly evened out, she was afraid he might say something—something that would ruin everything. She didn’t expect a commitment, so she didn’t want to be treatedto a discourse on why she shouldn’t take what’d just happened too seriously.
She almost got up to gather her swimsuit, if she could find it, and run to the house. Maybe when they saw each other in the morning, they’d be able to pretend this never happened.
But he didn’t speak. He just reached over and took her hand.
