A blush creeped to her face at her erotic daydream. She shot a glance at him. If Ignacio noticed her change of color, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he hummed a tune as he folded her clothes and handed them to her.
When they were finished, they walked outside together into the night. Ignacio led her to some fashionable shops that were still lively, even at night. He walked her into one store with clothes that looked almost as expensive as her old house. She knew people in Spain were fashionable, but geez.
Colors, textures and fabrics of all sorts surrounded her. Silks, lace, wool, cotton, linen and more she couldn’t even name. The store was huge, with fluorescent lights illuminating the area. Mannequins were draped in clothes and shimmering scarves, dresses, jackets, and skirts. It was overwhelming and reminded her of the time when she had begun her transformation into high society.
Hunter had dragged her along with him to the most expensive stores, where she had been poked and prodded, measured, and forced to try on item after item. She’d been taken to a salon and been forced to cut her hair in waves. Then gel had been rubbed into it. She’d undergone a facial, manicure, pedicure and various other things she didn’t care to remember.
She hoped this wouldn’t be a similar situation.
Ignacio walked straight to the summer section where swimsuits were strewn in a big bucket and others hung neatly on racks. He looked through the men’s section for swim trunks. Katheryn did the same with the women’s suits, searching the piles first. The materials were flimsy in her fingers, and there were so many options to choose from—a camouflaged one-piece, a two-piece set that was all string and couldn’t possibly have covered anything. She picked up a metallic-blue two-piece that was somewhat decent but probably cost a fortune.
She turned abruptly to Ignacio. “This all seems so impractical.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, still sorting through the men’s options.
“I mean, this store is way too pricey. Can’t we go somewhere else? Like to a thrift shop?”
Ignacio stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. “A thrift shop?”
Katheryn bit her lip and nodded. This was all too familiar. Was she going to be assaulted with nonsense about how she deserved the best and most expensive clothing money could buy, no matter how unnecessary?
Instead of saying anything Hunter-like, Ignacio threw back his head and laughed.
“Is that why you look so serious, love?” he asked. “Do you think shopping will hurt my wallet?”
He walked over to her, took the swimsuit she held and set it down before lifting her hands to his lips and kissed them softly. “Katheryn, this isn’t an expensive store, although it looks high-end. Everything here is a knock-off.”
Katheryn felt herself blush. She looked down at the sign on the swimsuits, noting the prices. The swimsuits were pretty cheap, even though they looked quite expensive.
“Oh,” she said a little lamely.
Ignacio laughed and pushed a strand of hair back from her face. “I was afraid you’d be appalled I’d brought you to a bargain store. I simply thought it to be more practical than spending thousands for a couple scraps of cloth.”
A smile touched her face as well as her heart. “Of course, I’m not appalled.” She let out a small breath. “It actually makes me like you more.” Then she winked at his shocked expression then dug back into the barrel, picking up the metallic blue swimwear again. She looked it over, indecisively.
The simple two-piece shimmered in the store lights. It was deep blue, like a sky. There were glints of light blue in it, too, but the trimmings and strings were a dark shade of midnight.
“The color compliments your eyes,” Ignacio said. “It would look nice on you.”
“Do you think so?” she smiled tentatively.
“I know so.”
Katheryn didn’t need any more time to decide. She smiled, suddenly excited about going to the beach and wearing the swimsuit for Ignacio.
She hoped she’d look as sexy as Ignacio made her feel. She’d love watching his eyes widen at the sight of her bare skin clad in nothing but this shimmering blue fabric.
She smiled to herself as they walked to the checkout line.
Yes, she thought, I plan to have loads of fun at the beach.
The next night, Katheryn waited on the curb outside of her hotel with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Ignacio would arrive soon to take her to the beach. The night was warm, and a slight breeze felt good against her sweaty neck. She stretched her legs, assuming it would be a long drive. She wanted all the fresh air she could get before cramming into a car.
Katheryn wore a simple white T-Shirt and pale yellow running shorts. Underneath she wore her swimsuit so she wouldn’t have to change when they got there. The dark suit was obvious against the thin, see through shirt.
Her nerves were in a frenzy. She and Ignacio would spend the night at the beach. Of course, that could have meant a ton of things, but the ones Katheryn thought of involved sex.
She envisioned him making love to her in the depths of the ocean, the waves pushing against their bodies, the wetness slick between them. She wondered if that’s what he’d also had in mind, when he’d said they’d spend the night.
Then again, maybe his thoughts were perfectly innocent, and she was just assuming something that wouldn't happen.
He had never once insinuated he was going to take her to bed or that he even wanted to do so for that matter. What if he didn’t want to? Was that why he hadn’t really kissed her since that day? Had he gotten to know her and not liked what he’d seen? What if he wasn’t interested in kissing or romance or sex?
Perish the thought.
A sudden honk had her look up the street. Ignacio was at the wheel of a small, blue car. The windows were rolled down, and he looked at her with a smile. Katheryn eagerly rushed to the car when it stopped and hopped in the front seat. She tossed her bag on the floor and turned to Ignacio.
His brown hair was a windblown mess, and he wore the floral-print swim trunks he’d bought the night before. He wore a white T-shirt, too. The fabric stretched tightly against the bulge of his strong chest and arms. His biceps flexed invitingly as he gripped at the steering wheel. Her mouth instantly went dry at the sight of him.
“Let’s go!” she demanded. “I’m suddenly excited.”
The excitement vibrated through her whole body. She wanted to see his muscles without the strain of a shirt against them, wanted to see the water of the ocean roll in droplets off of his body.
Her nipples puckered at the thought. Ignacio seemed to notice her body’s response, because his gaze traveled to her shirt where she was sure he noticed them through the thin fabric of her clothes.
He licked his lips.
“Should I leave, so you two can have your way with each other here in the car?”
The annoying voice that interrupted her thoughts had Katheryn’s gaze snapping to the backseat. Antonio lounged casually there, watching with a bemused expression, one eyebrow raised.
His black curls were pushed back with an elastic band revealing the square shape of his forehead. His black eyes looked wider and even more sarcastic than when they’d first met. His lips quirked in a sneer, and Katheryn wanted nothing more than to smack the look off his face.
“What are you doing here?” Katheryn demanded.
Antonio scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m going to the beach with you guys. But you two can keep mentally having sex. I’ll make myself scarce.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said in clipped, embarrassed tones.
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, you don’t.”
Katheryn contemplated jumping out and running back to her hotel, but Ignacio suddenly started the car and drove off. Tension had Katheryn clenching her hands and staring out the window. She hadn’t realized Antonio would join them. It made the ride all the more awkward.
“Why didn’t you bring a date?” she asked, trying to fill
the silence. Usually, when Antonio accompanied them, it was a double date. It was strange he’d come with them as a third wheel. “I’m sure you had plenty of girls to choose from, so why come alone?”
“The girls I date aren’t all that exciting.” Antonio shrugged. “Not worth bringing to the beach.”
“Then why do you date them all, if you don’t even like them?”
He shot her a sly grin, and she read between the lines. He laughed then said, “I have to find some way to pass the time.”
“Then take up origami.”
Antonio leaned forward in his seat. Considering his height and the small space in the vehicle, he only had to lean forward a couple inches to invade Katheryn’s personal space.
“You don’t like me, do you?” he asked in an amused tone. “You think I’m a scandalous, womanizing rebel, don’t you?”
Katheryn crossed her arms against her chest. “That’s one way to put what I was thinking, although my mind didn’t quite conjure it up in such a nice manner.”
“Oh? So what did your mind conjure up?”
“Just that you’re a little—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Ignacio interrupted before Katheryn could finish. He gave her a sideways warning glance before focusing his gaze on the road again.
“I’m offended, Katheryn,” Antonio said, pressing a hand to his chest in feign hurt. “I’m an exemplary young man. Any mother would and should be proud to have me escort their daughter around town.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.
He laughed. “You know you’d be happy to have me as a boyfriend to your daughter.”
“By the time I have a daughter old enough to date, you’ll be an old man and if you dated her, that’d be considered pedophilia, so I’d have to kick your ass before calling the cops.”
“If you say so,” he chuckled before sitting back then lapsed into a long, uncomfortable silence.
After a while, he spoke again. “I’m sorry I had to rain on your parade, you know.”
He sounded so genuinely sorry Katheryn glanced back at him, gauging his expression. His lips formed a thin line and his eyes were distant.
“I wouldn’t have bothered if it weren’t serious, but I really couldn’t stand to be at home anymore.”
Katheryn chewed her bottom lip and wondered if he was being abused by someone. She decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask. “What’s going on at home?”
Antonio shrugged. “Carlos, my older brother, ran away again. My mother worries herself to a frenzy, which isn’t good for the baby. My father is always lecturing about responsibility, and my brother, Damien, broods and is being more depressing than usual. I had to get out before I suffocated.”
Katheryn shot a look toward Ignacio. He eyed her back and shrugged his shoulders lightly. His eyes were sad, but unapologetic, and she couldn’t blame him. If she had a friend, who was like a younger brother or sister, and they were having trouble at home, she would have taken them along as well. Third wheel or not.
She turned back to Antonio. She decided to fill the silence and make him feel welcome. “How many siblings do you have?”
“Carlos is the oldest by two years. He’s eighteen, so technically, he didn’t really run away. Next, are me and my twin brother, Damien.”
“You have a twin?” She was startled. She could barely stand one Antonio and couldn’t imagine the presence of another.
He nodded. “We’re opposite in every way. We may look alike, but he’s a depressed sap who locks himself in his room all day. He has no motivation in life—other than to suck up to our father.” Antonio sighed. “My mom’s expecting another baby, but we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. She wants it to be a surprise. She’s due any day now.”
The rest of the way, Antonio talked about his family. Apparently, Carlos seemed to hate the family most of the time and would leave for weeks at a time. He’d come back with wild stories to tell about how he traveled to a different state or country. Damien was the suck-up of the family. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and catered to his every whim, shutting out his siblings in the process. Antonio, though he didn’t admit it, had a touch of rebelliousness like Carlos, but still felt the need to remain close to his family like his brother Damien did. If he didn’t, he would have run away like his older brother.
The most curious fact about his family, Katheryn mused, was that Antonio stated his parents were soul mates.
“Soul mates?” she asked curiously.
He nodded. “They are meant for each other. That’s what the term ‘Soul Mates’ means. Their souls are intertwined, destined one for the other. Don’t you believe in Soul Mates?” He seemed to eye her curiously then his gaze shot to Ignacio in the mirror.
Katheryn thought of her parents. They loved each other, but was theirs a soul mate connection? Was that even a real thing? That one soul was destined for another? Did she believe in soul mates? Her gaze traveled to Ignacio, but she shook her head.
“Do you think you could have a Soul Mate?” Antonio leaned forward, hugging the back of her seat. His onyx eyes twinkled with mischief. “Someone the universe created specifically for you? Someone you’re meant to share everything with—secrets, thoughts, love? Do you think such a thing exists, and there is someone out there for you?”
Goosebumps rose over Katheryn’s flesh at his words. Someone to share everything with. At one time, she’d thought Hunter was her soul mate, the one meant for her. But thinking back, she knew it had been a foolish, childish notion. Soul mates didn’t exist, and if they did, only a select few were lucky enough to find them.
“If he’s out there, I hope I’m lucky enough to find him,” Katheryn whispered before turning in her seat. Had she imagined it, or had Ignacio’s gaze fallen on her, flashing brightly.
“We’re here,” Ignacio announced as he put the car in park.
Katheryn jolted up and looked out the front window. The night was dark, and the people were few. Most of them were packing up belongings to leave, jumping into their cars to drive off. Beyond the darkness, she saw the empty sand and beyond that, the angry black waves, crashing against the shore.
“There’s hardly anyone here anymore,” Katheryn said. “Why do we always go places at night?”
Antonio leaned forward. “Because that’s when all the fun begins.”
Before she could ask what he meant, he was out of the car, pulling his own duffel bag with him. Katheryn snorted and opened her car door. She hopped out with her bag over her shoulder and stretched her legs. The drive hadn’t been a long one, but her legs had still been cramped up in the small car. After stretching, she took a moment to inhale the salty aroma of the Spanish sea and savor the brisk night wind.
“Well, kiddies, as I said, I’m gonna make myself scarce. You two have fun,” Antonio called before rushing away, his bag bouncing between his shoulder blades.
“He’s a good kid,” Katheryn said, watching him leave. “He just needs to work on shutting that damn mouth a time or two.”
Ignacio burst into laughter beside her. “Antonio does tend to talk more than desired but...” He shrugged. “He’s a good kid. He has a kind soul.”
“He’s not the only one.” She turned to him, her voice softening with affection. “You basically took him in to help him get away from problems at home.”
Ignacio shrugged and turned his head away, but not before she noticed the faint blush creep to his cheeks. “Anyone would have done the same.”
She placed her hand gently on his bicep. “No, they wouldn’t have,” she assured him, thinking of Hunter’s selfishness. Not everyone had a kind heart, and those who did deserved to be cherished and recognized.
His voice was hoarse when he abruptly pulled from her and said, “Shall we go down to the beach, then?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, merely walked away leaving Katheryn to follow and wonder, as she stared at his backside, what she had done to make him turn away from her. The fire was still in his
touch whenever they brushed skin-to-skin, but she had gotten used to it. Over the past few weeks, she’d come to enjoy his touch.
“Ignacio—” she started. She suddenly ran smack into his muscular back. “Ow!”
She stepped back and stared questioningly at him when he turned.
“Where would you like to set up camp?”
Katheryn had been so lost in thought she hadn’t realized her sandaled feet were sunk in the prickly grains of sand. Just beyond them, the waves sloshed against the shore. She looked around at the few people that were still lying on blankets, seemingly asleep. She gasped.
Each one of them was naked. As naked as the day they were born.
The sight made her face flame. Why was everyone naked? She averted her eyes from them and turned to Ignacio, only to blush more when he pulled off his shirt. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him. The brown of his skin rippled, and his perfectly chiseled muscles flexed as he pulled the shirt over his head. His hair stood up, and he ran a hand through it.
Katheryn stared at his naked chest. For some reason, it excited her even more this time than it had the first time they had met. Then, he had been glistening in sweat. Now, he was bare of everything. His chest was wide and delectable, his brown nipples erect. The six-pack he was sported wasn’t so bad either. The bumps and crevices of it invited her gaze down to his bellybutton, where light brown, crisp hair circled his navel, then trailed down into his swim trunks. She stared at his lower region as it suddenly expanded to a bulge.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up at him. His eyes and nostrils flared as he stared at her body’s reaction to him. She felt wetness pool beneath her legs and her nipples pucker.
“You brought me to a nude beach.” Even getting the words out cost her dearly. She had to suck in more oxygen, focus on his face, forget about the perfection standing in front of her, forget about his incredibly well-endowed body and focus on her words. But her mind betrayed her, and so did her eyes as her gaze travelled to his chest again.
“Most of the beaches in Europe allow nudity,” Ignacio stated matter-of-factly. Unlike her, his voice and manner were calm, and he betrayed no hint of discomposure. If anything, he stared at her with amusement.
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