Cocktails on the Beach

by Helen Hardt

  I shift my gaze toward the other side of the beach.

  Darkness has fallen, and a lone woman wanders barefoot, right at the shoreline. She’s dressed all in white—a sundress—dark hair falling down her back.

  An angel.

  A fucking angel on the beach.

  I absently drop my s’more in the sand and begin walking.

  11

  Emily

  I feel safer in the dark.

  Silly, I know.

  If Lucifer wants to find me—and he does—he will. Eventually. Buck will do what he can to throw him off my trail, but in the end…

  He’ll find me.

  You’re mine, Emily. You’ll never escape me.

  This is the edge of the colonists’ beach. A fire burns in the distance. I inhale. Mmm. Smells like campfire and roasted marshmallows. S’mores.

  I haven’t had a s’more since I was a little girl. I used to be a Girl Scout. Emily Moreno was a good girl. She was always prepared—the Girl Scout motto. She earned good grades and never got into trouble.

  Never.

  Until she met Lucifer Raven.

  I’m an accessory to myriad crimes, now. Not by my choice, but that won’t matter to the people who want to bring down Lucifer and his underground syndicate.

  I know too much, as well.

  Which is why Lucifer can’t let me go.

  Security here on the island is top notch, according to Buck. He should know. He’s been in the Wolfes’ employ since he left the Navy. He and his friend Leif are two of the Wolfes’ hired guns, so to speak. They’re jacks of all trades with a SEAL background. I don’t even want to think about some of the stuff my brother most likely did when the Wolfes were all suspects in their father’s murder.

  Thankfully, that’s all over now. Turned out Derek Wolfe had led a double life. He was a bigamist, a kidnapper, a rapist, and a psychopath.

  Nice guy.

  The ocean pushes toward me, tickling my bare toes.

  I let out a sigh.

  I’m in paradise.

  Paradise.

  And earlier today, I met a man. A nice man who seemed interested in me. Wanted to know why I’m running. Why I’m hiding. Sure, he’s a bartending beach bum, but I liked him. I wanted to get to know him.

  Wanted…

  Wanted to feel his strong arms around me.

  But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to him, when I belong to someone else.

  Except I don’t belong to someone else. Damn. Lucifer’s words haunt me to the point where I actually believe them sometimes.

  No. I do not belong to Lucifer Raven.

  I belong only to me.

  But he will come for me.

  And I can’t bear the thought of Scotty being in his way. If Scotty got hurt because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

  The water meets my toes once more, this time more forceful, and the water flows up to my ankles, burying the gold anklet. Then just as quickly, the water flows back out to sea, leaving my feet buried in the wet sand.

  Buried.

  I’m like my feet, in a way. Buried. I so want to climb out of Lucifer’s grasp, but I know my time here on Wolfe Island is only a temporary respite.

  He’s coming.

  I can feel it.

  “Hey, pretty girl.”

  I jolt at the words and look up. Scotty’s walking toward me carrying two red plastic cups. He hands me one.

  “Brought you a drink.”

  I look into the cup and sniff. “Beer?”

  “You too good for beer, pretty girl?”

  “No. It’s just been…a long time since I’ve had a beer.” I take a drink, letting the cold maltiness coat my mouth and throat. I swallow. “It’s good.”

  “It’s basic Bud Light. The stuff of frat parties.”

  “Still, it’s good. Refreshing.”

  He takes a swallow. “It is that. Nothing like the Scotty special, though, right?”

  I smile. “That was in a class by itself.”

  “You come up with a name yet?”

  “Not yet.” I take another sip of beer.

  “We’ve got time.”

  “I suppose.” Except he’s wrong. There’s an invisible timer around my neck. I’m just not sure when it’s set to expire.

  “You want to come to a party?”

  “Your bonfire?”

  “Yeah. It’s a staff party, but I bet they’ll let you in.” He points. “That’s our beach over there. For staff use only. It’s really nice.”

  “If it’s for staff use only, I shouldn’t go over there. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

  “You won’t, but I get it.” He smiles and pushes a lock of hair out of my eye. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know. I may not leave my hut.”

  “Emily,” he says.

  And I listen. I listen because he’s never called me Emily before. Either pretty girl or Em.

  Never Emily.

  “…you’re on a beautiful island. You can paint to your heart’s content. That’s why you’re here. But I’m not going to let you waste your time here by sitting alone in your hut every day until you leave.

  “I—”

  “Look.” He grabs both my hands.

  Tingles shoot through me.

  “I won’t force you to do anything. I don’t have that power over you and I don’t want it. But whatever you’re hiding from, it won’t find you here. I promise you.”

  I can’t help it. I shake my head and let out a scoffing laugh. “You just don’t know.”

  “I’ll know if you tell me.”

  I meet his gorgeous gaze. “Nice try.”

  “You don’t have to tell me anything. In fact, we don’t have to go back to the staff party. We can walk along the shoreline, as you’ve been doing. Or I can leave you here. You can walk alone. It’s safe.”

  “I don’t want to keep you from your party.”

  “I’d much rather have your company. May I walk with you?”

  I nod. He drops one of my hands and we begin walking, hand in hand, in the opposite direction, away from the staffer beach and his party.

  Toward the colony, the bar, the restaurants. We walk past the people who are out painting in the dark, past the couples chatting intimately, past the night lifeguard on duty, past the surf and rent shop.

  Past everything, until the shoreline and the moon are our only company.

  And my hand is still in his.

  And I like the way it feels.

  I like it very much.

  I almost feel…safe.

  12

  Scotty

  I’m a bartender, which means I’m a talker. It also means I can recognize when a customer doesn’t want to talk. If I talk too much to someone who doesn’t want it, I don’t get a tip—at least at bars where tipping is allowed. It’s all about reading people.

  I’m reading Em now. She doesn’t want to talk.

  That’s okay.

  Sure, I want to know more about her. Man, I want to know everything about her, but in her time.

  I don’t know how long she’s booked here on the island. I could check with Manual, but does it matter?

  I’m a live-for-the-day kind of guy. Carpe diem and all that. I always have been, and today’s no different.

  Perhaps Emily will leave tomorrow. Perhaps she’ll stay a couple months.

  All that matters is this moment. Right now.

  And although I won’t deny that I’d love to get her between the sheets, I’m content, in this moment, to walk along the shoreline with her and simply hold her hand.

  So I’m surprised when she stops walking and turns to face the ocean.

  “It’s so vast,” she says. “I can see so far just in the moonlight.”

  “The moon doesn’t actually make any light,” I say. “It’s a reflection from the sun.”

  She smiles. “You learned that as a psychology major?”

  “No, I learned that in seventh-grade earth s
cience.”

  She laughs. Just a slight laugh, but it’s beautiful. It’s joyous. It makes a grin split my face.

  “You’re something, Emily Moreno.”

  “Am I?” Her tone is slightly flirtatious.

  I trail a finger over her soft cheek, down her neck. “You definitely are.” I lean in and give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

  I pull back, but shock rolls through me as Em wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a clench, crushing our mouths together.

  Unexpected…and awesome.

  Her soft lips slide against mine, her tongue probes mine.

  Em is taking charge of this kiss. Very different from our previous kisses, and I’m loving it. Really loving it.

  I glide one hand down her shoulder to her breasts, resisting the urge to cup one. Instead, I slide my hand down her waist to her hips and around to one of her ass cheeks. I pull her toward me, let her feel my hard cock against her belly.

  Then she unclenches herself from my grasp.

  I’m sorry. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to say them. I’m not sorry. Not sorry at all.

  I want more kisses. I want more than kisses. I want to make love to Em, hard and fast, and then slowly and passionately.

  But I won’t pressure her.

  “I’m sorry.” The words I considered saying come from her lips instead of mine.

  “Don’t be,” I say. “Never be sorry. If you’re not feeling what I’m feeling—”

  She shakes her rapidly. “I am. I’m feeling exactly what you’re feeling, Scotty. I swear it.”

  I inhale. I love the smell of the beach at night. Sand and saltwater and shells, but tonight, I get a waft of Emily’s citrusy perfume, her coconutty hair, her…sultry musk.

  Yeah, I can smell her need. Her ache. Her want.

  It mirrors my own.

  Should I ask her if she wants to go to my hut?

  No. She stopped the kiss. She wants me and I want her, but she stopped me from going any further.

  “You want to walk back?” I ask.

  She breathes in and reaches both arms out, as if sizing up her wingspan. She faces the ocean, closes her eyes, inhales again. “This place makes me think anything is possible.”

  I want so badly to touch her, to kiss her, just to grab her hand even.

  But I don’t.

  I can’t.

  I can’t disturb the picture she makes as she faces the sea, her eyes closed, her arms stretched out, her hair curtaining down her back, and her white dress flowing around her body in the soft evening breeze.

  So I watch her. Take in the perfect embodiment of beauty before my eyes.

  And I’m not sure I’ll ever tire of gazing at her.

  13

  Emily

  The breeze on my flesh, the oceanic fragrance, the warmth of Scotty’s body… We’re not touching, but still, his presence invades me even as my eyes are closed. The flimsy fabric of my dress grazes my bare legs, the water tickles my toes.

  And if I open my eyes, I’ll see the moonlight streaming onto the midnight blue sea.

  So lovely.

  I expect Scotty to say something. Or to touch me. Kiss me.

  But he doesn’t.

  He lets me be. Simply be.

  Which comforts me.

  He said I was safe here.

  He’s wrong, but I am at least safe for this moment.

  I open my eyes, turn to face him.

  He’s gorgeous in the moonlight. It glints off his dark hair, creates a black veil over most of the colors in his clothing, but not his eyes. Not those olive-gold orbs that nearly seduced me the first time I gazed into them.

  The darkness doesn’t affect them at all.

  “You’re beautiful,” he says, his low voice even lower than normal.

  I take a step toward him, my feet sinking in the sand. “So are you.”

  He smiles. A wide smile that shows his sparkling white teeth against the dark of night.

  “Will you do something for me?” I ask.

  “Anything.”

  “Take me somewhere. Take me somewhere on this island where you’ve never taken another woman.”

  He widens his eyes, and for a moment, I fear a place like that doesn’t exist on the island.

  I try to hide my frown.

  He grabs hold of my left hand, entwines my fingers through his. “I know just the place. Are you up for a little danger?”

  I hold back a scoff. I’m in danger just by existing. “What kind of danger?”

  “There’s a cliff about a mile up the beach. It’s off limits to colonists and staffers. My buddies and I visited it once.”

  “What’s so dangerous about it? Is it high?”

  “No. Not at all. But parts of it are covered in coral, which can cut you up pretty badly, and neither of us is wearing shoes. But I’m not suggesting we actually get on the cliff.”

  “Why are you suggesting it, then?”

  “Because right before we get to the cliff is a gorgeous stretch of beach. The sand is snow white, and the sunsets and sunrises are glorious.”

  “So you’ve been there with your friends…”

  “I have. Nemo and Lyle. My suitemates.” He smiles. “But I’ve never taken a woman there.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve never wanted to.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. You went there with guys, and you say it’s a gorgeous stretch of beach, but you never went back with a woman?”

  “I never did.”

  “Why?” I can’t help asking.

  “It’s too special,” he says. “I never wanted to share it with a woman. Until now.”

  His words melt the last layer of ice around my heart. Lucifer Raven disappears, and for this moment, I’m safe.

  Safe with Scotty.

  And I want to share this with him.

  “Let’s go,” I say.

  We walk another mile or so until I see the cliff he’s talking about in the distance. “Beyond the cliff is the other side of the island. There’s a retreat center there, and beyond that, the Wolfes are building a huge resort.”

  I nod. “My brother told me all about it.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. He works for the Wolfes.”

  Scotty nods. “I may apply for a job at the resort. Resorters are allowed to tip.”

  I laugh. “You’re hardly living in poverty here.”

  “Not at all. But a guy’s got to plan for the future.”

  I widen my eyes. Scotty is so much more than a beach bum. He’s thinking about his future. I like that.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  “For what?”

  “For thinking you were a beach bum with no goals.”

  He stops walking. “That’s what you thought?”

  “Well, if it looks like a duck…”

  “Hey.” He cups my cheek. “I live day to day. I pull each sliver of happiness I can out of each minute of my day. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about the future. In fact…”

  “In fact…what?”

  “In fact, I’ve been thinking more about the future during the last twelve hours than I have in a long time.”

  I don’t reply. Does he mean me? Silly to even think that. We hardly know each other.

  Still, his words warm me. Soothe me. Comfort me.

  And, of course, turn me on.

  The night is warm, and the ocean breeze cushions us. This tiny stretch of beach is isolated, pure white sand. What must a sunrise look like from here? A sunset?

  I need to come back here with my paints.

  But for now…

  “Scotty?”

  “Hmm?” He plays with my fingers.

  “Kiss me. Please.”

  14

  Scotty

  I press my lips to hers gently. Oh, I’m raring to go. I’ll gladly kiss her into tomorrow, but I get the impression she needs slow tonight.

  So I gently pry her lips open with my tong
ue, delve between them, explore her mouth languidly.

  She kisses me back, and then, to my surprise, she takes the lead.

  She deepens the kiss, exploring my mouth this time, and tiny little groans vibrate from her throat into me, fueling my desire even more.

  I grab a fist full of her long glorious hair and give it a sharp tug. She responds by grabbing my ass and pulling me closer to her.

  The kiss, the beach, the world… It’s all perfect.

  I want her so badly. I haven’t wanted a woman this badly in a long time, perhaps not ever.

  She breaks the kiss and gasps in a breath. I inhale as well, trailing kisses across her cheek to her ear.

  “You’re so beautiful, Em,” I whisper.

  She shudders beneath my touch. “I wish…” she says.

  “You wish what?”

  “I wish we could stay here. Just you and me. Where there aren’t any other cares in the world.”

  “We can.” I nip at the outer shell of her soft ear.

  “Mmm…we can’t. The carriage will turn into a pumpkin eventually.”

  “But we don’t have to think about that right now.”

  “But…” She sighs, trailing her fingers up my arms. “But…it always happens. It’s inevitable.”

  “Shhhh,” I say. “It won’t happen tonight.”

  I ease her onto the soft sand until she’s lying on her back, her dark eyes glowing in the moonlight. I’ve never seen anything lovelier. We’re close to the shoreline but still on dry sand.

  I kiss her again, deeply, our tongues tangling, our lips sliding, and then I work a strap of her white flowing dress.

  She doesn’t stop me.

  Soon her breasts are bare, and my God, in the moonlight, I swear she’s a goddess. Aphrodite herself. So beautiful and perfect, her nipples brown and hard and tight. I brush my fingers over one and then the other.

  Then I lean down and take one between my lips.

  She moans softly, so I suck harder, gripping the hard nub with my teeth and biting gently.

  “Mmmm… Good, Scotty.”

  Very good from where I am as well. I cup the other breast and lightly thumb the nipple. I could spend hours on these gorgeous tits alone, but there’s a certain heaven between her legs that calls me.