The Soul That Redeems Me (The Forever Mine Series Book 3)

by H. J. Marshall

  “We can sleep wherever you want but we may get bitten by mosquitos if we don’t sleep in the tent. I have a two-person sleeping bag, two singles, or we have the bed inside.” He explained.

  “Tent, outside, two-person sleeping bag. I want to spend the night in your arms under the stars,” I said into his smiling face.

  “I love you, Emily.”

  “I love you too, Josh.”

  He got up and began to set up the tent, insisting he didn’t need any help. Finally conceding it was too dark, he turned the generator back on and had the tent erected in no time at all. I pulled the sleeping bags out from inside and zipped them together, meaning what I said about being in his arms all night.

  Turning the generator back off, we were cast into the silence, the sounds of the waves breaking on shore could be heard from where we were. He placed the giant sleeping bag inside the tent using the two singles as padding against the sand and hard ground.

  We sat around the fire for a little while longer before a yawn overtook me and I found myself suddenly sleepy. We made our way into the tent and looked at each other shyly before I took the plunge and removed my shirt and pants, leaving me in a tank top and my panties. Josh stripped off his shirt and shorts, his boxers tented from his erection. This was the most undressed I had ever witnessed Josh and I was excited and scared at the possibilities

  We crawled into bed and I curled into his chest, his strong arm wrapped around me as we were lulled to sleep to the sound of the ocean waves. Jake, my faithful guard dog, asleep at our feet.

  Waking up to the salt air and early morning sunrise is invigorating. I laid there, watching the tent slowly fill with the morning light, holding a peacefully sleeping Emily in my arms. She had snuggled into my chest last night and once she fell asleep, she never moved a muscle.

  I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head and exhaled a slow breath, allowing a serene feeling to overtake me. Since I had realized that real love existed, I’d envied anyone who had what I yearned for. Having Emily in my life was beyond an answer to prayer. The reason I was put on this earth was to love her and protect her.

  Not wanting to wake her, I stayed still and quiet so she would continue to rest. I allowed the conversation I’d had with Jason yesterday morning to play through my head since I first woke up. I didn’t want to ignore the potential she was being followed, and I didn’t want to overreact if it was an innocuous reaction to the stress of the day.

  How do I explain my protective behaviors to her without letting her know that the monster who hurt her wants his freedom? I worry about how my family will react if it comes out that Jason and I knew of the proceedings and never let them know. Hopefully, Andrew and Lucas will understand why we kept it from them, needing their focus to be on their growing families, and not causing worry for a problem that may not exist.

  I had allowed myself to think back to the conversations she and I’d had about her attack, not wanting to dwell on it, but feeling like there was something I was missing in the events she had described. I had a persistent nagging there was something she knew that would be valuable information to persuade a judge to deny his appeal or refuse his request for a new trial.

  I just couldn’t remember what.

  I felt her small hand drift across my chest and her leg curled slightly over mine as she began to stir in her sleep. Her hands were slowly exploring my body without her usual hesitation and fear, and I didn’t want her to stop. Placing another kiss on the top of her head, I felt her head lift up, her hazel eyes looking into mine.

  “Good morning,” My voice was thick with arousal as her hands kept rubbing my chest and abs.

  “Good morning,” she sheepishly replied as she tried to retract her exploring hand from my stomach, my morning erection straining against my boxers for her touch.

  I delicately grab her wrist and placed it back on my stomach, my cock jumping against my boxers, a silent plea for her to touch me as I released her hand and left the next step up to her. With an agonizingly slow movement, her tiny hands wrapped around my length, the silk from my boxers offering a softness that had a shiver racing up my spine.

  A small squeeze from her hands had my pelvis rocking up as I silently willed her to grip me harder and stroke me. Her hand grasp tightened and she tentatively began to move her hand up and down my throbbing cock. I wished I could feel her soft hand against my steel length but my boxers offered her a layer of protection she needed and I was okay with that.

  “Am I doing it right?” Her voice was tentative, and I placed my hand over her wrist and stilled her movements.

  “If you want to stop, we stop right now. I don’t want you to think I expect anything from you. I only want you to do something because you want to do it. Understand?”

  “I want to. I just don’t know how. Will you show me, Josh? Show me how to give you pleasure?” Her voice was husky, her hard nipples pebbled under her shirt, fighting to get free.

  I moved my hand to place it over hers and tightened my grip, showing her how to squeeze me the way I liked it. With longer strokes, I worked her hand up and over the crown before working to the base, twisting slightly, and jerking back toward the tip. After a few strokes, I felt her hand tighten and I released my hold on her to watch as she worked my cock up and down, my boxers soaked with pre-come.

  The sight of my large cock in her tiny hand, the perfect rub of the silk over the piercings adorning the head and upper shaft, and her increasing speed had my hips thrusting up and down. I was carefully fucking her hand as she kept her beautiful eyes on my manhood and I kept my eyes on her.

  “Please, oh baby, keep going. Please, baby,” I chanted as she moved faster, the head peeking out of the top, her soft hand grazing it as I felt the tingle growing in the base of my spine. I wanted to reach down and save her from the impending eruption I was about to have when I felt her lean over and place a small lick on the tip, tasting my pre-come.

  “Oh fuck!” I groaned as I pulled her back with one hand and placed my other on top of hers as I began to come all over my stomach, her tiny hand milking the tip, using each pulse as lubrication to stroke me again.

  I shuddered a few times as she slowed her movements and reached up to place a kiss on my lips. I rolled her onto her back and leaned over her kissing her with an urgency I had never experienced before. Rolling onto my back, I allowed myself a minute to catch my breath before looking over at Emily who had an enormous smile on her face.

  “Good Morning.” She kissed me again and went toward the zipper to let Jake out.

  I took off my ruined boxers and used them to clean myself up before I exited the tent. I found Emily drinking an iced coffee from the cooler and walking over to me to place another kiss on my lips. She tasted liked hazelnut coffee, and it was quickly becoming a new favorite flavor.

  Walking over, she stoked the fire and tossed another log, the flames slowly beginning to grow again as she settled into her chair and leaned back, allowing the sun to shine on her face. She looked relaxed and I was glad she was unwinding some. I expected her to be a little timid after her bold moves this morning, but she appeared to be happy.

  “What do you want to do today?” I asked her as I took the chair next to her and linked my hand with hers.

  Shrugging her shoulders, she glanced over at me with a smile, “Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I’m just glad we get some time alone. No cars, no people, no worries.” She sighed as she leaned back in the chair again.

  “How about I make us some bacon and eggs for breakfast and we can head into Panama City for a few hours. Grab something for dinner tonight, maybe do a few tourist things. Sound good?” I asked her.

  “Truthfully, not really. I would rather grab a pole and find a dock. We can catch our dinner and get some sun in the process. Panama City is too… just, too much.” She glanced at me, a look of worry on her face.

  I leaned over, unable to keep from kissing her. “That sounds perfect. I was thinking you
would enjoy Panama City but I prefer the quiet here. I just don’t want you to be surrounded by all this,” his hand sweeping to show the destruction surrounding us, “and think you are missing out on something.”

  “I would be missing out on having a peaceful afternoon with my boyfriend, fishing for our dinner, and enjoying a little solitude. Besides, we never got a chance to go swimming yesterday. Maybe we can sneak in some water activities today.” A grin broke out on her face.

  The thought of her in that tiny blue bikini she wore to Lucas lake house earlier this year had my dick growing in my shorts. The way the water cascaded down her small frame, her nipples poking through the top, just begging for me to sweep it to the side so I can tongue and suck her pert nubs.

  “Yes. Let’s stay here.” I laughed as I went inside to grab breakfast. The quicker I got her fed, the faster I could get her into that bikini.

  We found an area where a few feet of a dock still stood, pieces of busted boards and debris all around us. There wasn’t an area for us to sit and fish so we opted to use a few small crab pots from the fishing gear my Dad had packed in the travel trailer. After baiting the traps and securing them, we walked back to the lot and gathered our towels and some snacks, walking the couple of blocks to the beach.

  The large piles of wreckage were pushed close to the road so there was an area for us to be able to sunbathe outside the high tide water line. Looking in each direction there wasn’t another living soul visible, and it was slightly unnerving being so alone on a public beach.

  I had packed Emily’s e-reader and I’d picked up a new paperback before we left the apartment. I had hoped we would have some time to be able to enjoy the sand and surf, and knowing us the way I do, neither of us likes to go without reading for too long.

  After we set up the pop-up tent, I spread our towels out and looked out into the water. The crystal-clear waters of the Gulf, the water whose power destroyed the small town I was standing in, reflected back its hypotonic call to enter the cool waters and enjoy the peace it could provide.

  “Do you want to get in the water?” I asked Emily as she began to pull off her t-shirt and remove the shorts covering her tiny swimsuit.

  “God, yes. It’s hotter than I was expecting and it looks so refreshing.” She exhaled as her slim body came into focus and I willed my cock to stay down.

  I didn’t want her to think I had a perpetual hard-on around her, but that was the exact truth. Any time I was near her, my body reacted with the desire to touch her, to mark her as mine. I fought the caveman tendencies with her from the first moment I touched her, knowing she needed a gentler touch than I was used to with women.

  I linked our hands together and guided her toward the water crashing at the shore, leaving Jake to nap on the blanket. The first splash of water on her ankles had her jumping backward trying to avoid the cold. I threw her over my shoulder and charged into the waves, diving under the surface with Emily still attached to my body. Her shriek as she broke the surface was comical. She reemerged with a smile as she pushed her wet hair off her forehead and laughed at the silliness of the whole situation.

  “You could have given me a warning.” She joked as she tread water, droplets rolling off her face, making her hazel eyes shine in the afternoon sun.

  “I didn’t want to give you the chance to back out. The water is only cold for a second then it feels good.” I splashed water at her and dove under to tug on her foot.

  Breaking the surface, I saw Emily push onto her back and begin to float on the soft rolling water, her arms stretched out at her side. She looked like an angel floating next to me. The Gulf waters can be turbulent, but we seemed to be experiencing a calm sea today, the water cradling her body like a baby in a bassinet. I swam the short distance to her and blew a raspberry on her stomach, causing her to jackknife up from her relaxed position.

  I took the opportunity to pull her body against mine me and her legs automatically wrapped around my waist, her breasts molded to my chest. I could feel her nipples poking through her suit, the two hard points rubbing against me. She linked her hands behind my neck as her body got closer to mine in the water, her heat evident against my swim shorts.

  Placing my hand behind her neck, I pulled her into a kiss, my tongue breaching her mouth as the cool water caused us to bob at the surface. I groaned at the taste of her, as I felt her feet dig into my lower back and her pussy start to grind on my dick slowly. I kept the kiss forceful for a moment, wanting her out of her mind with lust, but backed away so she could catch her breath and focus on how far she was willing to let this go.

  Looking into my eyes, she reflected lust and need that I was happy to see. Emily had begun to open herself up to me more and more, and with each new hurdle she overcame, the more she blossomed. I wouldn’t allow our first time to be in the ocean, but if she wanted me to make her come, I was more than happy to oblige.

  I felt her rubbing against me as her hands began to trace the tattoos around my chest and shoulders, a fascination she recently admitted to me. Slowly, I moved my hands from her waist to her pert tits and slowly ran my index finger under the edge of her overflowing bikini top, grazing her pebbled nipple and eliciting a groan from Emily. With a small nod of her head, I pulled the bikini top to the sides, allowing her pert breast to float in the water, their fullness evident, her arousal growing.

  I continued the slow undulation of my hips against her silky center, while my hands massaged her heavy breasts and my fingers plucked her hardened nipples. Leaning in, I began to kiss on Emily’s neck, her head falling to the side to give me more exposure. I leisurely moved my mouth with slow nips and kisses, finding that sweet spot behind her ear that had her pushing harder against my cock before withdrawing her hips slightly.

  I worked my mouth down her neck, nipping and biting the skin while my hands kept kneading her breasts. My kisses moved across her shoulder and I worked my mouth toward her perky breasts. Using the water, I pulled her body further up mine and encouraged her to wrap her legs around my ribs so I had her beautiful tits at mouth level and her head was slightly above mine.

  With extreme care, I slowly licked and tugged on her harden nubs, her crotch rubbing against my abs, her need to come growing with each flick of my tongue. I allowed her body to slide down mine until our pelvises were in alignment again, the result was my shorts had gotten pushed down, my hard cock bobbing above the waistband. I reached down to pull my shorts up when Emily’s hand stopped me.

  With a heated gaze and no visible tremors in her hands, she reached down and untied one side of her bikini, her pussy exposed to the water. I felt her reposition herself, the warmth and slickness of her pushed against my cock, as we both groaned against each other’s open mouths. She kept her eyes locked with mine as my cock slipped through her lips, my piercings bumping against her hardened clit.

  I placed my hands on her ass and used her buoyancy to slide up her and down my rigid thickness, never allowing the head to breach her opening. Up and down I guided her as she rocked and pulsed against me, her pebbled nipples rubbed against my chest as her moist pussy lips massaged my hard cock. I kissed her the way I wanted to make love to her. Slow and gentle.

  I moved us so no one would see her topless and began to pump my hips faster, rubbing my cock up and down, her breath becoming choppy, and her nipples getting impossibly harder against my chest. I leaned down and tongued the salty peaks as I used the Jacob’s ladder piercing to stimulate her clit. Three more thrusts and I felt her body began to shake in my arms. I rocked faster, wanting to see her come undone in my arms and was rewarded with her moans of pleasure, my name chanted over and over as I finally allowed myself release. I spilled myself against her slick lips, the evidence of our pleasure being washed away with the tide.

  I held her in my arms, her soft body molded to mine, her fingers stroking my back, relaxing me. The sound of Jake’s bark at the shoreline brought my attention to him as I turned my head to see what the commotion was. There was a couple
walking a great distance from us, coming in our direction. I looked at Emily and kissed her on the nose before righting her bikini top as she tied her bottoms in place.

  We turned and began to walk toward the shore, the sun getting hotter on our skin the farther out of the water we got. Taking her hand in mine, we ‘surfed’ through the waves until we were on dry land, Jake jumping and running in circles around us. Walking up to the blanket, I observed Emily had more of a sway in her hips, her confidence in herself growing.

  I knew it wasn’t me or even the sexual act that she was gaining confidence in. Emily was finally trusting herself and her ability to control her life. The uncertainty she’d experienced made her live her life guarded and afraid. Getting past the physical blockers she placed in her life is allowing her to get past the metaphorical ones in her mind.

  We spent the next few hours sunbathing, swimming, and dozing in the warm Autumn sun. We took turns throwing the ball for Jake, him all too happy to return it for another toss into the open beach. Looking at my cell phone, I realized we had been out here for nearly six hours. The sun had done both of us good, our skin kissed bronze, but it was time to check on our dinner and settle in before the sun went down.

  We left the tent on the beach, no fear of it being stolen, and walked hand-in-hand to the damaged dock where I hoped there was blue crab for dinner in the small crab traps we had strung up. Pulling them from the water, one was completely empty and I was fearful we would have to eat tomorrows breakfast tonight and go to a store in the morning on our way home.

  “It’s not looking good for crab dinner.” I explained as I emptied the trap of bait meat and carried it to the other location we had chosen.

  Pulling the second trap, I was astonished at the number of crabs inside. In this one, Emily suggested we use cocktail sausages as bait. I had reasoned with her that frozen fish was better, and we’d wagered kitchen duties on who was right.