Ashton sat beside me and held one of the coconuts out to me. “It’s a cocktail. This one is called sex on the beach,” he replied.
I raised one eyebrow, holding my laugh at bay. “Seriously?” I took the drink, swishing the orangey-red liquid around with my straw.
“Yep.”
I giggled. “Well, I think I’m gonna like these.”
One of his eyebrows rose as he nodded and let his eyes slip down to the V at the front of my dress. “Me too.”
Trying to hide the blush that I could feel creeping over my cheeks, I took a sip. The sweetness of it made my taste buds tingle and my eyes widen in shock. It was delicious. “Holy crap, that’s good! Has it got alcohol in it?” I asked, taking another mouthful.
Ashton nodded and laughed, pulling the straw from between my lips. “Yeah, so slow down. There’s quite a lot of alcohol in it.”
While we ate, I pressed against his side and looked out over the sea as the sun started to set even though it was still very early evening. The sunset was so romantic and breathtaking that it made my heart throb. The dazzling colours in the sky were reflected in the ocean making it twice as spectacular. The whole time, Ashton’s arm was wrapped around me tightly.
Once the stars started to make their appearance, tinkering, tinny music caught my attention; the beautiful sounds floating down the beach towards us. I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
“Want to go check out that band?” he offered.
“Sure.” Without another word, he eased my head off his shoulder and pushed himself to his feet, holding his hands down to me. I smiled up at him, slipping my hands into his. “You’re so damn romantic, Ashton. Are you sure you’ve never had a girlfriend before?”
He grinned. “You’re my first and only,” he answered, looking into my eyes, making my heart melt.
We held hands as we walked to the largest building that Kyle had pointed out as being the hub of the resort. The reception was beautiful, rustic and entirely made of wood. The music was luring us in from the back, and we followed a couple of other guests through the reception to a door at the back signposted as the lounge. I gasped as I stepped outside. It was unlike any lounge I’d ever been in before; in fact, how it could be classed as a lounge when it was outside was beyond me. It was essentially a clearing in the trees large enough to fit about twenty candle lit tables. A little wooden staging area had been constructed off to the right, and a steel band were currently playing some gentle melody that brought a smile to my face. People swayed to the music on a makeshift dance floor that was made of decking. The whole place was lit by gas lamps that hung from the trees and fairy lights that had been wrapped around tree trunks. A little hut with a straw roof served as a makeshift bar, and I could see people sipping on coconut cocktails like the one I’d had earlier.
“Wow. This place is beautiful,” I murmured.
Ashton’s hands cupped my face gently before his lips claimed mine in a kiss that was so heartfelt and special that it even made the magical place fade into insignificance. “It’s incredible,” he confirmed. “In fact, the only thing I’ve ever seen that is more beautiful than this place, is you.” My heart melted at his words, and I bit my lip so I didn’t let my confession of love accidentally tumble from my lips. “Let’s dance,” he whispered, tugging me forward gently as he pulled me flush against him.
I beamed up at him, wrapping my arms around his neck as we stepped up onto the decking and started swaying to the beat of the music. His arms were looped around my waist the whole night, holding me tightly against him. His eyes seemed to have me hypnotised because, while we danced, everything else and everyone seemed to disappear, leaving only us in our own little island paradise. In Ashton’s arms, nothing else was important, and I knew it would feel that way for me forever.
The disappointment I felt when the band played their last song was so overwhelming that I felt the pout slip onto my face as we all applauded. Ashton smiled down at me before nodding over his shoulder at the door that led back to the reception area. “We should really get going, it’s pretty late.”
I sighed and nodded. “Where did the time go?” I mused.
He shrugged, brushing one finger across my cheek gently. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
I smiled at that statement. “Did you have fun?”
He grinned. “I had the time of my life, Mrs Taylor.” The sound of the name made my heart clench. Now that I knew how I felt about him, I desperately wanted a future with him – and for him to possibly give me his name one day – but it would never be able to happen because of Carter. Anger settled into the pit of my stomach because even now, after three years, I still wasn’t free to live my life. Ashton’s hand slid down my arm before getting to my hand and threading his fingers through mine, snapping me out of my train of thought. “Come on, Baby Girl, let’s go.” I nodded reluctantly, silently hoping that the rest of the vacation wouldn’t fly past as quickly as our first night had. As we walked back through the reception, Ashton looked over at the store and then stopped walking. “Wow, the store’s still open. They certainly cater to their guests here, huh?” he joked. “I just need to get something.” Without explaining what it was that he wanted, I was gently tugged in that direction. “Wait here. I’ll just be one minute,” he instructed. His face had turned serious, so I knew that was a bodyguard order and not just a general ‘I’ll be right back’ remark.
I grinned and nodded. “Yes, sir!”
A lustful expression crossed his face before he shook his head and rushed off to speak to the guy behind the counter. They both disappeared from sight for a minute, and then Ashton was back at the register, paying for whatever it was that he’d bought. I didn’t see what it was that he’d purchased because whatever it was, it was small, and he slipped it into his pocket. When he got to my side, he held out a single red rose to me. “They didn’t have white,” he said, almost apologetically.
I sighed dreamily at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you, I love it,” I cooed, smelling the rose as we walked back to our villa, hand in hand. When we got back to our apartment, I pushed the bloom into the vase of flowers that sat on the table. The terrace and the stars beyond caught my attention. “Let’s go sit outside for a bit,” I suggested. On the way out of the door, I grabbed two bottles of water from the mini fridge that was in our room, and then headed out to the nearest sun lounger, settling down and then scooting over so we could share it.
Ashton stretched himself out on it next to me, pressing against my side and pushing one of his arms under my body as he pulled me even closer. A satisfied, euphoric smile crept onto my face as I rested my chin on his chest and looked up at him. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Neither of us spoke, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence by any means; in fact, it was almost as if words were unnecessary.
In the moonlight, he looked devastatingly beautiful. His eyes were shining, his black hair had a faint blue hue from the reflections of the moon, and his smile made my whole body ache. I wanted so incredibly much to say those three little words, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk him not wanting to be in my life now. I’d never been this happy, and it was all down to this boy at my side.
Unable to fight my desire any longer, I raised myself up, leaning over him and kissed his lips. He responded immediately, pulling me down on top of him as his hands slid down my back and cupped my ass. His hands roamed further down, and slowly, oh so slowly, my dress was lifted. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to stop him or something. I smiled against his lips knowingly. I wouldn’t be stopping him for this whole vacation, but clearly he was still unaware of that fact.
I pulled back, looking down at him as I unbuttoned his shirt, giving him the clear go ahead. One side of his mouth pulled up into a predatory grin, and before I had time to react, he’d grabbed me and flipped us so that I was now trapped underneath his body. I giggled breathlessly as he looked down at me and shoved his hand into his pocket, producing a
box of twenty condoms.
I gasped. “That’s what you just bought?” I inquired, giggling at his guilty expression. “Were you expecting to get some tonight, Ashton?” I teased.
He winced and shook his head. “No, not expecting. Just hoping,” he replied, looking slightly embarrassed about it.
I grinned and raised one hand, gripping it into the back of his hair. “Well, I’ll let you into a little secret, Pretty Boy,” I purred, pulling his mouth closer to mine so that our lips brushed together as I spoke. “If you want, you can get a lot of action on this trip.”
His whole body tensed on top of mine. “Oh yeah, I definitely I want that,” he growled, nodding enthusiastically as he bent his head and kissed me, ending the conversation.
After he had made love to me under the stars, he carried me into the bedroom and we started all over again on the bed covered in rose petals.
I woke in the morning with my whole body aching from our physical endeavours. Ashton’s deep rumbling growl-like snore was coming from behind me, so I knew that he was still fast asleep. A quick glance at the clock told me it was almost ten in the morning. My overused muscles protested as I rolled slowly in his arms so we were facing each other. I smiled at the sight of him. His hair was sticking out in all directions where I had been running my hands through it last night, and his lips were slightly swollen from all of the kissing. Dark, short stubble lined his jaw, and I couldn’t help but reach out and run the pad of my finger over it, smiling at the slight scratch.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as a rush of emotion made my heart speed up. It was an unfamiliar sensation to me, but I knew what it was. It was love.
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. It terrified me, being in love again. I didn’t like it. Most people would say that being in love was the best feeling in the world, and to some degree, I would agree with them, but not when all you could think about was losing it or watching something awful happen so that your heart shatters into a thousand tiny, jagged little pieces. No, being in love was more frightening than gratifying.
As I looked away from him, my gaze settled on the wall of glass opposite the bed. Looking out over the ocean that sparkled like a thousand diamonds sat just below the surface, I realised that as magnificent as the view was to wake up to, it actually had nothing on waking and seeing Ashton.
His arms tightened on me in his sleep as he fidgeted, let out a rather loud, nasal snore, and then licked his lips a couple of times, blissfully unaware that I was awake and panicking about being in love with him.
As I lay in Ashton’s arms, my thoughts turned to Jack. I had never thought I would have someone in my life again after him, in fact, I thought he was it. My one true love. But maybe, as a silly immature sixteen year old girl, maybe I didn’t have any idea of what true love really was back then. This felt different with Ashton, I felt different. Maybe this was a different kind of love than what I had for Jack. Somehow, it felt deeper. I loved Jack so incredibly much, but I was in love with Ashton. To me, there was a gulf of a difference. Ashton was just special, he was the one I needed and the one that understood me and accepted the messed up girl that I was now. He was the one that I felt totally and utterly at home with. He was everything that was good in my world. If I had to choose a cliché term, I would say that Ashton Taylor was my soul mate, and the one that was designed to be my other half.
After almost half an hour of just lying there, worrying about things, going over things and realising that I had no control over my emotions anymore, I decided that the best thing I could do now was to try and ignore it and to order him some breakfast – after all, the way to his heart was certainly through his stomach.
Getting out of bed without him noticing was always a tricky affair, and it took a lot of wriggling and slow movements. As I finally managed to worm my way out of his arms, I shoved my pillow back into my place, watching as his arms immediately hugged the pillow to his chest, completely unaware that it wasn’t me.
I slipped on his shirt from the previous night and then padded into the lounge, finding the menus for the little café that apparently delivered the food straight to your villa. After scanning it for a few seconds, I picked up the phone and ordered what I guessed he would want.
The food didn’t take long to arrive, and the waiter guy carried in a large tray, setting it on the table for me. Once he was gone, I made sure to lock the door, just like Ashton would want me to, and then I carried the heavy tray into the bedroom. He was still asleep, hugging the pillow to his chest affectionately.
“Ashton?” I whispered.
His arms tightened on the pillow. “Mmm?” he mumbled with his eyes closed.
“Pretty Boy, wake up. I ordered breakfast,” I cooed, stopping at the foot of the bed.
His eyes snapped open at the mention of food, and he looked straight down at the pillow in his arms, clearly confused because it wasn’t me. I chuckled wickedly at his bemused expression and finally his sleepy eyes settled on me. “Hey,” he rasped.
I grinned, nodding at the pillow as he dropped it back onto the bed and sat up. “Who’s your friend?” I joked.
He laughed and swung his legs out of the bed, throwing off the white sheet that covered his body. My eyes widened and I seemed to lose control of them as they immediately flitted down his body, taking in every glorious, naked inch of him.
“Pervert,” he scolded playfully.
I shrugged unashamedly. “So arrest me,” I replied breathlessly, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip as I imagined running my tongue across the V line at his hips and following it all the way down…
The tray was taken out of my hands and set on the bed, and then strong, tanned arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against his hard body. “Good morning,” he whispered, bending his head and capturing my lips in the first kiss of the day.
I sighed dreamily and nodded. “It is now.”
He grinned boyishly and pulled back. “So where shall we eat?” he asked, pulling on a pair of shorts from the drawer, thwarting my inappropriate examination of his body.
I gulped, snapping out of my little fantasy and forced my eyes back to his again. “Terrace?” Any place with him would be fine with me.
He nodded, picking up the tray and we both made our way out to the terrace, sitting on the little table. I clipped up the umbrella to provide some shade while we ate so that we didn’t burn. As Ashton lifted the two silver lids from the plates, he moaned in appreciation at the pile of French toast that sat there for him. It was his favourite by far, and something I usually only made for him at the weekends.
As he poured two cups of coffee, his hand suddenly stilled and he frowned over at me. “Wait, where the hell did you get this food from?”
“Room service?” I answered, unsure what I’d done to spark his angry expression.
His mouth popped open as he shook his head in disbelief. “You ordered room service and answered the door while I was still asleep?” he asked incredulously.
I smiled sarcastically. “Well, duh, that’s how room service usually works.”
He snorted and put the coffee pot down forcefully, still frowning at me. “Anna, you don’t do that! Something could have happened, you can’t answer the door like that,” he scolded.
I sighed because he hadn’t relaxed at all. “Ashton, seriously, chill out. You really think someone’s gonna jump me posing as a waiter?” I giggled and shook my head at his overprotectiveness.
He didn’t look amused at all. “Miss Spencer, you can’t-”
I held up my hand and interrupted him.
“Er, Mrs Taylor, if you please,” I corrected, knowing it would ease some of his tension.
His face softened for a fraction of a second before he put his stern face back on. “Fine, Mrs Taylor, you don’t do that again. I’ll answer the door,” he barked, using his SWAT Agent voice on me.
I rolled my eyes. Maybe in a couple of days he’ll relax. “Okay, Mr Overprotective,” I stuck out my tongue.
He sighed and took my hand. “Look, I’m sorry. I hate telling you that you can’t do things, but it’s my job, okay? If we were home, you wouldn’t answer the door to someone who you didn’t know,” he explained, looking at me apologetically.
I shrugged. “I guess, but no one knows I’m here.”
He frowned down at his plate. “I still need to do my job. I need you safe.”
I nodded, seeing that this conversation was making him uncomfortable. He was right, he genuinely didn’t like to tell me no, I already knew that. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again,” I agreed. “Do you want some of my pancakes?” I offered, changing the subject.
Our day was spent on the beach, snorkelling, sunbathing, and generally fooling around and laughing. The cocktails that the beach bar served were delicious, though we both opted for virgin ones this time. Ashton was snacking on the free cupcakes and doughnuts the whole day, claiming that he needed a sugar boost because I was wearing him out.
That night we dined in the more upmarket restaurant that was located just off the reception. The food was so incredible that I actually ended up eating three desserts. Afterwards, we went to the little lounge clearing in the woods where we went last night. Instead of steel drums, there was a pianist this time. The whole night, Ashton and I chatted and laughed while holding hands, or danced. It was perfection.
At closing time, Ashton suggested that we walk a little way up the beach before returning to our villa. As I slipped off my shoes, he took them out of my hand. The sand was nice and cool now. The moonlight reflected off the sea, sparkling and shimmering. I internally swooned at how romantic it all was. The beauty and tranquillity of it was astounding.
“It’s nice here, huh?” Ashton stated when we stopped and threw a couple of seashells into the water.
I laughed at his choice of word. “Just nice? Are we at the same place?”
“Okay yeah, it’s incredible,” he amended, laughing.
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