We kicked our feet in the shallows as we waded in, and I splashed and sprayed her playfully.
By the time we were up to our waists, she was close enough for me to gather up in my arms and pull into the water with me. She squealed delightedly and draped her arms over my shoulders as I held onto her, and then she hooked her legs around my waist and held herself to me.
She gave me a sweet, fruity kiss.
“Have you been eating pineapple?” I asked.
She licked her lips. “Yes. It’s so good here.”
“I like how it tastes on your tongue.”
“Oh?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. “Perhaps you should kiss me more, then.”
That was an easy request to grant.
I kissed her deeply, marveling in the sweetness of her tongue and the softness of her lips. Not to mention the fact that we were even here in the first place.
Together. And safe.
She ran her fingers through my hair. “What are you thinking about?”
“How much has changed.”
She smiled and nodded. “Everything has changed.”
“Not everything,” I said, squeezing her ass.
She laughed. “Of course. You’re still a horn dog.”
“And you’re still stubborn as hell.”
“Damn straight.”
I put her back to the sun so she didn’t have to squint against the brightness. It framed her silhouette, and I couldn’t help but think she looked like an angel.
Violet placed a couple more kisses on my lips. “Where do we go next?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “We have endless options. Where would you like to go?”
She bit her bottom lip. “It doesn’t matter to me. So long as you’re there I’ll be happy.”
I ran my hands up her sides to slip them under her bikini top. Her breasts filled my palms and I ran my thumbs over her nipples. “You’re not getting rid of me ever again, Violet. You’re all mine.”
She squeezed my hips with her thighs. My cock twitched in my swim shorts and she reached down to rub me through the thin fabric. “I would never want to get rid of you.”
“You’re sure?” I challenged, giving her breasts a firm squeeze.
She let out a soft gasp. “Positive.”
I pulled the string of her bikini apart. She reached for it, trying to scoop it up out of the water as I pulled it free, but she was too slow. I grinned and held it behind my back as she covered her breasts with her arms.
“Xavier,” she scolded.
“There’s no one around. This beach is all ours. And I want to enjoy it properly before we have to move to the next spot.”
“We can stay,” she offered.
I shook my head. “No. We should stay on the move. Just in case.”
I didn’t want to lose this. I would do anything to keep Violet safe. And that meant we had to move from place to place fairly frequently. There was always a chance that the Shades or her father might decide to come after us. We had to stay vigilant. We had to expect the worst.
But that didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy the moments of sheer paradise we had.
Like this one.
I tugged at the strings of her bikini bottoms next. They floated off and I snatched them up to tuck them in my pockets. She still had her legs hooked around my waist and she looked from my lips to my eyes.
Then her gaze wandered to my shoulder and the pink scar that had formed over the scab. She ran her fingers over it.
“Does it still hurt?”
“No,” I said.
She ran her fingers down my side and over my ribs, pausing at the place where the other bullet was wedged in my side. “And this one?”
“It’s like it isn’t even there.”
“Let’s go somewhere where they don’t allow guns,” she said.
I chuckled. “So Australia?”
“It’s close.”
“It is.”
She licked her lips. “So that settles it? Australia?”
I squeezed her bare ass under the water. “I will go wherever you go.”
Violet ran her fingers up the back of my neck and leaned in to rest her forehead against mine. She closed her eyes. I did the same. And then I stood there with her in my arms listening to the sounds of her breathing and the lapping of the water against our skin.
Yes. I would go wherever she went.
“Xavier?”
I opened my eyes. Hers were still closed. So I admired her dark lashes and her wild eyebrows which pointed every which way from the salt water. I traced her freckles and ended with the one that was slightly bigger than the rest under her right eye. “Yes?”
“Do you promise?”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Do you promise to stay with me?”
“For as long as you want me. Yes. I promise.”
Violet opened her eyes and settled her green stare on me. “Who could have imagined I would fall in love with the man who was sent to kill me?”
Cupping her cheek in one hand, I kissed her. Deeply. She moaned softly into my mouth and sank her fingers into my hair, tightening them into fists.
When we parted I was breathless. “I don’t know. But I’m glad you did. You saved me, Violet.”
It was true. She’d plucked me from the fire and guided me back to the right path. She was like a beacon for me. A lighthouse and a compass and an arrow that always shot straight and true.
I cupped her cheek. “I love you too, Violet.”
“Show me,” she whispered, leaning in to seal her mouth over mine. Her kiss was hot and needy, and her tongue pushed between my teeth with urgency. I tasted the lingering sweetness of pineapple mixed with salt water on her tongue and I lost myself in the tastes of her. The smells. The softness of her skin and the tenderness of her touch.
I would show her.
Every damn day I would show her just how much I loved her.
Even if we were still on the run.
* * *
I hope you loved Xavier & Violet’s wild & edgy journey to HEA. Thank you for joining me along the way!
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About the Author
Delilah Taylor likes her stories just as dark as her coffee. Edgy, dangerous heroes who collide with women who blow their expectations to pieces is her jam.
Dark Lover: Sins of the Night Page 15