"This is for you." As I had come to expect, she placed a shell in my hand.
Mrs. Jacobs had put a crystal bowl on the patio table, and it was already half full of the gifts Jamie's tribe had been bestowing on me—on the both of us. Mrs. Jacobs had explained the shells were well wishes and meant to bring Jamie and I luck and prosperity. I had never seen such a variety of shells, many of them vastly different from the common shells that washed up on the shore here. The one Quinn placed in my hand was a turban shell nearly the size of my palm in a beautiful shade of salmon pink with a marbling of gold.
"It's beautiful.” I carefully placed it inside the crystal bowl, adding it to my growing collection.
"Just be careful," she whispered. "Some of these guys think it's funny to bring shells that aren't vacant. You'll know in a couple of days when it starts to stink, or you feel something crawling up your leg."
"Thanks for the warning," I said, admiring the variety of shapes and colors of the shells while checking for signs of spindling legs tucked inside the cavities.
Seeing no evidence of any unwanted inhabitants, I lifted my head at the slight disturbance in the air, a heaviness growing as though a storm were approaching. The sky, though, was filling with stars against an indigo backdrop. A shadow stalked out of the darkening twilight, coming up the path from the beach.
Someone yelled a greeting as Sol Kelley stepped onto the patio. He was shirtless and his long hair coiled over his shoulders, dripping on the ends, the drops catching on his skin and sliding down his lean torso. He wasn't as bulky as Jamie, but his muscles were no less defined, and I had to concede, physically he was quite stunning. It was his haughtiness that bothered me, as if behind those dark eyes he were laughing at the whole world.
"Noah." Sol bobbed his head before his gaze fell on Donovan. He snorted derisively, as though he found Donovan's presence a nuisance he had no choice but to endure.
"What's up," Noah said, his tone less than inviting.
"I didn't want to miss the big day." Sol's dark gaze floated to me. "Congratulations." He leaned in and kissed my cheek lightly. When he drew away, he took my hand and placed a warm, delicate object in my palm. Curious, I looked down and gasped.
"Careful. It's fragile," he said.
It was as if he'd pulled a star from the night sky and placed it in my hand—the shell so delicate it was nearly translucent and it glowed with a pure white light, radiating a subtle heat I could feel on my skin. I knew without having to ask this gift was special. The light from the shell cast a spectral mood over the patio, garnering everyone's attention.
"It's a sea star," he said with an awed lilt in his voice, as though he too were affected by the star's glow.
"Cool," Noah had risen from his chair and admired the sea star from over my shoulder. "I haven't seen one of those in months."
Donovan kept his place at the table, eyeing the sea star with decided calculation as if he expected it to detonate any second.
"Sol," Mrs. Jacobs said, coming onto the porch. "Wherever did you find that?" She paused to look, her pale eyes reflecting the sea star's glow.
"Got lucky," he said with a casual tilt of his well-defined shoulders, looking smugly pleased with himself.
"Sol always finds the best stuff." Quinn's tone matched her trance-like stare. The shell was rather hypnotizing.
"Well, it's beautiful," Mrs. Jacobs said and then turning to me added, "Don't put it with the others. We wouldn't want it to break."
I laid the star on the table beside the bowl of shells, averse to the idea of letting it go. Like Jamie's pearl, holding the star was like holding magic, and as it sat on the table the light seemed to grow brighter.
"You'll have to let it go back into the Deep," Sol instructed, "otherwise the light will die, but it's worth a few days enjoyment."
"It’s beautiful," I said, the word wholly inadequate. It was spellbinding and oddly soothing. "Thank you."
His lips curled in a smile that looked more like a smirk, and he reached out to finger the end of my ponytail. "I guess you'll do."
Donovan scoffed from his spot at the patio table. He lifted his beer and took a drink, narrowing his gaze on Sol.
Sol leaned closer like we were the kind of friends to share secrets. His whisper was loud. "Meathead over there doesn't like me much. He likes you though."
Donovan leaned forward in his chair and Sol angled his head, cutting his eyes at him over a sneer. There was a sudden shift in the air, the sprouting of a heated energy that seemed to radiate off Sol.
"Cut it out, Sol," Noah said.
Sol laughed, his gaze still focused on Donovan like he was issuing a dare. "Is he filling your head with all this hero bullshit?"
"It's really none of your business," Noah said.
"Isn't it?" Sol faced Noah, his muscles tensing. "You gonna jump ship too?"
"Will you give it a rest." Noah stepped forward, nearly bumping Sol's chest with his. They stood toe-to-toe, eyes locked. I wasn't sure what they were referring to, but in usual Noah-style it looked like he was about to get punched. Though if Sol punched him, at least he could punch back.
"Congratulations, Jamie." Sol took a slight step away from Noah, his chest deflating as the back door slid open and Jamie appeared. Sol averted his attention to Jamie, who had come to stand behind me. "She's not bad for a lander."
"I appreciate you stopping by," Jamie said and though he sounded cordial enough, there was an underlying threat in his tone. And an obvious dismissal.
Sol didn't appear offended. He simply acted like this was all a big joke to him and it made me wonder why he'd come over at all.
"He won't always be here to have your back, you know," Sol said to Noah as he walked by, bumping his shoulder in the process.
"Would one of you kick that guy's ass for me." This from Donovan as his eyes focused on Sol's lazy departure. Sol must have heard because without turning around, he flipped Donovan the finger over his shoulder, his laughter riding the wind.
I angled my face to Jamie's, eyebrows raised, not sure if I should consider Sol friend or foe, because it wasn't clear whether Jamie considered him friend or foe.
"Every tribe has one," he said on a sigh. "He's ours."
"Well, he brought the sea star so that's something," I said.
"A distraction so no one will look at him too close." Jamie's tone held an odd note, the way he watched Sol disappear into the darkness, studied.
I turned, intending to wrap my arms around Jamie's waist until I saw the plate he was holding.
"You brought me cake." My mouth watered at the sight of the most beautiful man in the world—who also happened to be my husband now—holding the most delicious looking chocolate cake I'd ever seen. I wasn't sure which I wanted to devour first.
"I'm out of here too. Some of us don't get the weekend off." Donovan pushed from his chair and made his way over to me and kissed my cheek. I'd lost count of how many people had kissed me over the course of the afternoon and evening. "He's a good guy, Erin. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me," I said.
"See ya, Noah," Donovan said, fist bumping him on his way to go find Tate and Lassiter. "And don't forget, anytime you want to train with us, you're more than welcome."
"Thanks, man. I will."
"I'll walk you out and say goodbye to the guys." Jamie put his hand on Donovan's shoulder, eager to get rid of the last of his friends. The look he shot me was pointed and full of unspoken intent. I placed the cake on the table without taking the first bite. Jamie. I definitely wanted to devour Jamie.
"Tell Quinn thanks," I called after him. She had gone back inside and a very attentive Tate was busy chatting her up.
Once Donovan and Jamie were gone, I sided up next to Noah and he wrapped his arm around me. My eyes kept falling to the sea star on the table and its soothing glow.
"It's really beautiful." My hand floated over the light and my palm infused with warmth.
"Yeah, I look
ed for one to give you. It's good luck to have received one. I kind of hate it was Sol who gave it to you."
"I'll pretend it was from you." A feeling of sadness washed over me, as though I were in the process of losing something important. "Whoever steals your heart will be one lucky girl."
He dipped his chin, a flush rising on his cheeks before his mouth broke in a crooked grin.
"What?"
“Brother-in-law? How weird is that?”
“Pretty weird,” I agreed. “But in a good way. Now we’re family.”
“I’ve always wanted a little sister.” He tugged on my hair.
I looked up into his face, all teasing aside. “Just promise me nothing is going to change between us."
“Nothing’s going to change our friendship,” he said. “Not even my brother.”
“Good.” I snuggled closer. Now that the sun had fully set, it had grown chilly, but I wasn’t ready to give up my time with Noah and go back inside. “What were you talking about with my dad?”
I’d seen them deep in conversation earlier while he'd been helping my dad grill the shrimp. My dad had been in that mildly animated mode he only achieved when he talked about work.
“He thinks I can be more badass than Jamie.” Noah pulled away and winked then his gaze flicked behind me when someone opened the back door. My spine tingled and my heart leaped in response. Without having to look, I knew it was Jamie.
“You have to finish high school first.” Jamie closed in on my other side. He’d brought me a sweater and he draped it over my shoulders, leaning close to my ear. “It’s been almost three hours. Remember what I said about this dress?”
“I'm pretty sure I don’t want to hear this.” Noah reached around me and thumped Jamie on the back. “Congratulations, big brother. If you don’t take care of Erin and my niece, I will kick your ass.”
Jamie tugged me toward the door. “If I don’t care take of them, you’d better.”
* * *
"We're spending the weekend here?" I couldn't contain my excitement as the departing headlights of the Bronco flashed across the beach house. My hand was tucked in Jamie's big one and I laid my head against his shoulder.
Finally, we were alone.
Jeb had acted as our chauffeur and my senses had been so overwhelmed with Jamie's presence while I sat with him in the backseat of the Bronco, I hadn't been paying much attention to where we were going. It had been hard to concentrate on anything with Jamie's rich smell filling my nose and the feel of his thumb as it had stroked the pad of my hand, evoking a response in me that had me squirming in the seat. He'd said he couldn't wait to get me out of this dress. Well, I couldn't wait either, and my free hand roamed over the hardness of his thigh under his pants, finding a passage underneath his shirt to run my fingers over the indents of his abdomen. Jamie had sucked in a breath and sat unmoving except for the continual caress of his thumb and the tense set of his muscles as I'd all but crawled onto his lap.
So when Jeb had pulled into the driveway of the beach house, I'd been dazed, my head buzzing—high on Jamie.
The coastline was lined with beautiful homes; mansions looming ostentatiously over quaint beach cottages. Everyone had their favorites—their dream homes—and we stood on the threshold of mine. Modest in size, it had the look and feel of an exotic, faraway place like India or Morocco with its open-aired porches and long flowing drapes that billowed in the wind. A fire blazed in the pit on the over-sized, wrap-around porch and another burned in the fireplace in the living room. Candles had been lit and placed strategically around the room, creating an intimately romantic atmosphere. Flowers scented the air and white petals were strewn across the bamboo floors like a path into an enchanted world.
Jamie whisked me off my feet and carried me through the door.
"This is amazing," I whispered breathlessly. "How did you manage this?"
"I know people," he said as he followed the trail of flower petals into the master bedroom. It had its own private balcony behind a wall of soaring windows, and the Gulf gleamed under the array of stars, the roll of the surf faint beyond the stretch of white sand. Jamie set me down, his hand coasting over my shoulders and down my back.
"This is beautiful." And it was, more than I had hoped for.
"Not as beautiful as you," he said, pulling me around to face him and pressing his lips to mine. My arms circled his neck, my fingers sliding through his hair and I melted into him.
"Do you want something to eat? To drink?"
I almost laughed. I only wanted him.
"No," I said and started in on the buttons of his shirt. He watched my fingers work while I watched his face, an ache building in my chest, my feelings for him so strong I was afraid there was no way my body could contain them. My heart was so full of thunderous anticipation I was sure he heard it. He had to feel it.
I pushed the shirt over his shoulders, my fingers stroking his rounded deltoids and curling around his biceps as the shirt fell to the floor. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen and he was all mine.
"How do I do this?" His eyes raced over my body, his hands eager to rid me of my dress.
I reached for the hem of the dress and his hands joined mine in pulling it over my head. It puddled on the floor beside his shirt, leaving me in a white lace bra and matching thong. He stepped back slowly, the rise and fall of his chest pronounced as he took me in with a thorough sweep of his eyes. His heated gaze set a fire under my skin everywhere it touched. I thought he might be shaking, and after I reached behind my back and unclasped my bra, I knew he was.
"Erin," his voice was needy and strained and the hand that reached for me trembled. He threaded his finger under the thin strip of lace arching over my hip. He tugged once and the fabric tore at the seam and the thong fell to the floor. "I didn't mean to do that." He laughed huskily. "Glad I did though."
"Your pants," I said, desperate to see all of him.
"What?" He shook his head as though his brain were trapped in a fog.
"Take them off."
He divested them quickly along with his boxers, and he was standing in front of me wearing only the pearl at his neck and my whole body ached with the need to touch him. I stepped forward and pressed against him because for some reason he seemed timid and shy, and that was so unlike Jamie. I trailed a line of open-mouth kisses over his chest. My hands slid around his hips and cupped over the curve of his ass, fitting him closer. "This is perfect." Him. His ass. This day. Our life.
"Yeah," he said. "Perfect."
And then we were kissing and our hands were everywhere until my knees threatened to buckle. I clung to his arms for support. He lifted his mouth and I chased it, nipping at his bottom lip. I never wanted him to stop kissing me.
"I can't believe you're mine," he said, pressing his mouth to my forehead, kissing the end of my nose. "Say you'll be mine forever."
"Forever," I said and any coherent thoughts were lost on his tongue. Cradling my back with one arm, he guided me to the bed. I fell back, pulling him with me, greedy to feel him moving over me and in me. It had been a month since we'd been together and I'd missed his closeness. His hands skimmed up my arms and he lay them over my head, our fingers entwining.
I opened for him. He sank into me.
“Jamie.” I strained for closer. I strained for more. We were as close as two people could get, and it still wasn’t enough. A wedding night couldn't be more perfect than this. There was no shyness or pain or embarrassment, only a pleasure that reached soul-deep.
Jamie stilled over me, his eyes intent on my face." I hope those are happy tears.”
I felt my face heat. I hadn’t even known I was crying.
When I assured him they were, he started moving again, a slow sensual rhythm that carried me away to a place so good and right that I thought I might never find earth again.
Chapter Twenty-One
"Earth to Erin."
Noah's voice intruded on my thoughts. Thoughts filled with images
of Jamie's green eyes and his bare skin and the way he'd absolutely consumed me for the last thirty-six hours.
"What?" I blinked, not wanting to let those images go just yet.
"Never mind. You haven't heard a thing I've said."
"I'm sorry." I was sitting in the passenger seat of the Bronco, and my head lolled to the side, my mouth lifting at the corners. Noah had one hand on the wheel, and a few strands of his hair had escaped the confines of his ponytail and blew on the breeze.
I hadn't been ignoring him on purpose. I was understandably distracted. I was coming off of my honeymoon for goodness sake—a perfectly dreamy honeymoon. A dream I’d groggily awoken from this Monday morning and been forced back into the real world. For a second, with the morning sun shining weakly through the open windows, Jamie's arms had tightened around me, and I'd thought about quitting school. But I was determined not to become any more of a statistic by adding high school dropout to my resume. If Jamie disapproved, he hadn't shown it, but he couldn’t hide his apprehension when he’d kissed me goodbye earlier. He'd wanted to drive me to school himself, but I seriously doubted I could make myself get out of the car if Jamie were in it. And maybe I was a little apprehensive too. Though I had been expecting things to feel different at school, I remained hopefully optimistic about the reception I would get from my classmates. I was pregnant. I was married.
Big whoop, right?
Ally had asked if she could post a few pictures from the wedding on her Instagram and I’d said yes. After seeing the two hundred and thirty-nine likes her collage had generated, which included of a close-up of her bouquet and one of Jamie and I kissing, I'd assumed that meant people genuinely liked it.
Once Noah and I pulled into the parking lot, I wasn’t so sure. The change was subtle. The smiles cast my way had a different slant, and there was almost a sarcasm attached to the well wishes that came from my classmates.
Summer's Last Breath (The Emerald Series) Page 17