Love Song Lyrics

“Danny?”

“You are Chris, right? And you are playing a trick on me.” Danny visibly trembled as she spoke.

“Danny it’s me, Kit.” 

Danny shook her head in response, her now long hair flying over her head, covering her face. “They said you were dead. Chris-,”

And just as if the at the sound of his name he had been summoned, Chris angrily burst into the room. Kit waited for the happy, excited welcoming hug, but didn’t get it. Instead, Chris snarled at him, walked over to where Danny was, pulled her to her feet with her arm and dragged her out the room.

“What the hell?” Kit yelled. He pulled on his trousers and followed them out. But by the time he got outside all he saw were taillights as the car skidded off.

Kit jumped when he felt a warm hand on his arm. He turned to see Sarah, a concerned look on her face. 

“I guess, she didn’t tell you. She’s marrying him the day after tomorrow.”

Numb, that was the only word Kit knew to describe what he felt. He waited for betrayal and anger to set in but it never did. On the drive to the airport, Sarah explained to Kit everything that Danny had been going through the past year. He couldn’t help but blame himself for it. If only he hadn’t stayed away for so long. If he had at least given her a call and told her that he was alive. What he didn’t understand was his twin brother’s reaction at finding him alive. It was as if he already knew.

What he also didn’t understand was why Reno had gone out of his way to hide his sister away days before her wedding. But what concerned him more was that Danny had gone back to drinking and Chris wasn’t doing anything about it to stop her. Kit was well versed in Chris and his antics to control people who rebelled against him. Kit just hoped that letting Danny drink wasn’t Chris’ way to keep her by his side because no one else would let her.

Kit had gone to the house and after twenty minutes of calming down a shocked housekeeper, he was able to get the location of the engagement dinner. He didn’t think about anyone else’s reaction when he went to the restaurant. He only had one thing on his mind and that was to take back what belonged to him. 

He hadn’t prepared himself for the reaction his family would have to his back to life routine. He barged into the room, two waiters trying their best to dissuade him but failing. When he walked in, they were all sat together like one big happy family. The gasps, the cries and his name being called out as they hugged him didn’t distract Kit from his target. Everyone but Chris and Danny were on their feet congratulating him for being alive again.

Chris had his hand over Danny’s and she had her fingers curled around a glass of brandy. One look at Reno and DJ and Kit could see that they were slowly defeated and just about to give up. But then when they looked at him, he saw hope, as if their sister’s salvation had just walked it. Kit pushed his parents aside and with three strides got to where Danny sat. Chris stood up blocking his path.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked.

“You don’t seem too happy to see me, considering I just came back from the dead.”

“You weren’t dead. You were in Brementon playing nursemaid to other injured soldiers,” Chris smirked.

“You knew!” Danny screamed.

It was obvious that she had already drunk one too many. Kit grabbed the glass in her hand and threw it against the wall. “What are you doing?”

“You knew he was alive and didn’t say anything,” this time it was their mother who asked.

Kit’s eyes were glued to Danny, she sat, her back straight and her eyes glued to the wall in front of her. This was the moment that worried Kit most about Danny when she was silent. He was yet to figure out everything that went on in her head.

“The only reason I found where Reno had hidden Danny was because I was tracking Kit,” Chris said to their mother nonchalantly.

Kit’s gaze didn’t waver, not even when he heard the sharp sound of flesh hitting flesh when their mother hit Chris. “Danny,” he called out to her.

“Danny and I are getting married,” Chris announced to the room, but Kit knew it was directed at him.

“You can’t,” Kit said.

“Why, because you said so?”

“No, because she’s my wife.”

Kit felt the air shift as the whole room went silent and still. For a moment he thought that the battle was over, that it was time to take his wife home.

“There is no baby, there never was,” Danny mumbled. “You didn’t give me a chance to explain. And you were so willing to marry me-,”

“I don’t care,” Kit blurted out. Kit had wondered where their child was when they were back in Hawaii. Sarah had explained that too. He felt like an idiot for not confirming the pregnancy before dragging her to the justice of the peace. But the marriage was now in his favor. “Let’s go home.”

“I care,” Danny stood up, and angrily pushed him. “I care that I almost died thinking that you were gone. I care that you decided to stay away instead of being with me. I care that once again the Marine code came before me.”

“She doesn’t want you,” Chris said as he put his arm around Danny.

Danny shook him off and stepped up to Kit. Kit saw it all now, what he had put her through. What he saw at the beach didn’t hurt as much as the look in Danny’s eyes did right now. Betrayal.

“Christian, my Kit,” Kit cupped her cheek and caught her tear with his thumb. “My Kit, I love him, I still love him,” hope swelled in his chest only to have a pin stuck into it. “But he keeps leaving me.”

Danny was mad that he was alive. After hearing what she went through, he too was a little mad. If he was dead then there would have been an actual point to all the pain she went through. Kit thought of giving her a chance to fall in love with Chris, just as her brother had requested. But that was too hard for him. She was the reason he came back to life and he wasn’t willing to let go. He was just about to reject Chris’ request when Danny said something he never thought he would hear in his entire life.

“I’m leaving with Chris.”

***

I’m leaving with Chris.

“I must be stupid,” Danny mumbled to herself once she was in her room in Chris’ apartment. She was just so mad. How could he stay away for so long when he knew she was desperate to see him? Danny had decided to leave with Chris as a way to punish Kit, but instead, she felt like she was punishing herself. 

“What are you doing here? You are a married woman.” Danny grabbed her purse and slipped on her sneakers. She was impulsive and irresponsible. It was something Kit had grown to know about her. Turning up at his house hours after she had rejected him wouldn’t be surprising to him at all. Danny got to the front door and froze, her hand over the handle.

“…I went to Hawaii for some time off, a boys’ trip. Do you think I expected to meet the only woman I would love?” here she was her father’s daughter uttering the same words that he had almost eight years ago to her mother. However, she couldn’t lie. Danny loved Chris in her way. As Kit’s brother. He was there when she needed Kit the most. His resemblance to the man she was in love with gave her comfort. But now, Christian, her Kit was back. She couldn’t go on using Chris the way she had been doing for the past year.

“Danny, where are you going?”

Danny froze at the sound of Chris’ voice. He caught her trying to sneak out of their apartment again. What excuse was she supposed to use now? “I’m going to see my niece and nephew. I want to help Eve out. It’s the first night with the little Dennis home.” 

“Are you sure?” Chris walked out of the light of the bedroom and into the darkness of the living room. He looked so intimidating. “It’s ten o’clock at night. You are going to see my brother, aren’t you?”

Yes. “I don’t want to argue Chris. I told you this before we got together in the first place. I will always love Kit.”

“I got that. Your outburst during our engagement dinner, ‘I love him, I still love him.’” He mocked. “It was ridiculous and embarrassing considering everyone heard you.”

“I thought the love of my life was dead. Then in true Eve fashion, he walks in during our engagement dinner. You were trying to keep me from him.”

“You left with him that night. You had sex with him, am I right?” Danny didn’t say a word. She knew it was better to be quiet when Christopher got this riled up. “Why won’t you have sex with me? I have been patient for a whole year.”

“Me too.” Danny shook her head, not quite sure what she was doing with Christopher or why the wedding was still on. Their mothers had decided that they couldn’t take the embarrassment of disinviting everyone. She wondered if their shame would survive when she was being carted off to prison for bigamy. “I couldn’t be with you because I couldn’t cheat on my husband.”

“What!”

“Kit and I…we are married. I have to be with him.”

Danny’s phone shrieked from her purse. She wasn’t going to be rude and pick it up just as she was ripping Chris’ heart into shreds. Although she wanted to. She intended to take any opportunity that would help her escape the tension in the room.

“Answer it. It’s probably your husband.”

“Hello?”

“Miss Kent?”

“Yes?”

“I have been trying to reach your father and your brothers, but I can’t seem to get through. I have some news. I found your sister.”

“Oh, God?”

“What is it?” Chris asked.

“They found Rayne.” Danny hugged him, her joy superseding her sensibilities. “I have to go see my brothers.”

“We can take the train. I’ll take you.”

“Are you sure?”

She looked up in the night sky and a star winked at her, she swore it was her father. Known to most as a soldier who fought for his country, but to her he was Daddy. Death was the only thing that kept them apart. On nights like this she missed him, his reassuring smile, and his comforting hugs. He was the greatest part of her and now he was gone.

The darkness of death is like the evening twilight; it makes all objects appear lovelier to the dying. Jean Paul said that, and Jada wondered if the man had ever met her father.

Jada listened to the waves as they crushed against each other. Her head gently dancing along to the melody and the song lyrics that only she could hear. It sounded like a Lord Huron song heavy on the emotion, mind-blowing messages and heartbreaking desire. Her toes sank deeper into the sand grains, sometimes she wished she could just disappear in them. Maybe her life would be better, somehow, she would have her freedom and control of her life.

“All of you, most of you, some of you and now none of you,” she said in an astonished whisper. All she had to do was replace you with me and those lyrics were her biography.

Jada Williams, she was the floated all the while still on her feet. That was how her dancing had been described. At sixteen years old she decided to give ballet a shot. Her older sister Nina was already a recognized prodigy. But when Jada had risen to pointe for the first time on that audition stage, she pirouettes into a dance company faster than her sister did.

That was the problem. Jada had taken to things too quickly and once she did, she wasn’t just good at it, she became a master. One too many times Jada had risen the ranks in her classes faster than other girls older than her. Nina hated that her little sister who she often referred to as a gangly horse was regarded as a swan.

Taking away Nina’s spotlight in what Nina liked to refer to as her world had given her older sister carte blanche on anything and everything that Jada had considered hers. It didn’t matter how hard she had worked on it, or how dear it was to her, Nina had to have it. It was Nina’s world and Jada was only there to help her live it.

Jada had earned respect and her talent had secured her a starring part in The Swan Lake. She was going to make her debut at just eighteen on the stage of the New York Ballet Theatre, two years after she had slipped on her first pair of slippers. Jada had worked hard to get to that stage, but the most gratifying part of it was that people were going to see her.

Nina was beautiful, long straight black hair. Brandy colored eyes that popped against her brown skin. Her fifty kilograms carried curves in all the right places. She was a black Barbie doll while Jada was more of a rag doll. 

A rag doll that had worked her way to become a swan.

And that was what killed Nina and Jada’s career.

Nina looked like her mother and was just as capricious. To Helena, one could not get any better than her firstborn and her biggest regret was that Jada wasn’t another copy. Jada was darker, her hair kinkier than it was curly. Her eyes were the part her mother hated the most about her. Jada had Heterochromia Iridis. Her eyes were brown with bright shade of blue little specks in them. Helene hated them so much that she had Jada wear brown contacts ever since she was eight years old. 

However, fixing that offensive part of her daughter didn’t make her mother love Jada anymore. Nothing Jada did made her mother proud. It only bred envy with Nina and resentment in Helena.

Jada had been shocked when she went to the theatre to find her understudy rehearsing her part with her leading man. Helena had called ahead and told the directors that Jada had injured her ankle. Jada’s ballet career ended the night it was meant to begin. For the next ten years that was the story of her life. Just as she was about to achieve something, Helena and Nina would take it away.

To make sure that Jada didn’t dream of going back to the stage, Helena had arm-twisted her father into moving out of the city and to Southold, Suffolk County. The only good thing about it was the beach, because in that town, Nina was once again the jewel everyone loved, while she was the flawed girl hiding behind her brown contact lenses. Her father was a sweet man but he never stood a chance against her mother. Once he died it became Jada’s responsibility to make sure that the queen and her princess lived their life in comfort, even if she had to break her back.

Jada went to community college a great sin against her Valedictorian honor in high school, but exactly where she deserved to be according to her mother. She was now a bank teller at the local bank. She had a good job that paid the rent, put food on the table and designer labels on her mother and sister’s backs. 

Once upon a time she even had a fiancé. It had been just two months ago when she was getting ready to be Mrs. Darrell Scott, wife to the bank’s branch manager and free of her overbearing mother and sister. 

But Nina wouldn’t let her have that.

Nina had taken away her groom and her wedding. 

It wasn’t that Nina couldn’t get a man of her own, she just couldn’t find a man who could afford her and who wanted Jada. Darrell ticked two of Nina’s most important criteria when it came to picking a husband.

As Jada sat on the beach on her own, enjoying the cool night air and the sound of the water. Nina on the other hand was having a bachelorette party on the eve of the wedding day that was meant to be hers. There was something her mother said that Jada couldn’t get out of her head. Nina and Darrell had walked into the kitchen where Jada was making dinner for the family, announced that they were in love and getting married and Helena said, “Jada you need to be considerate of other people’s happiness.”

“Other’s people’s happiness,” Jada chuckled, those turned into uncontrollable roars of laughter that quickly transitioned to sobs. Apparently, according to her mother, everyone else’s happiness was more important than hers.

All Jada wanted was to exist in a world where it was all about her, even if it meant that she was the only person existing in that world.

“Can you keep it down, or at least share the not so funny joke.” A deep baritone rolled through the night air and caressed her ears. He sounded beautiful. Usually, those low tones carried a bit of menace in them. But his- ufff- it was like a soft echo that belonged in a melody.

The moon and the tiny stars surrounding it lit up the night sky. She could easily see his facial features, but what pulled her in was the blue-gray swirl of his eyes. So much like the heavenly body that sat above them.

Hallelujah! 

What else was she supposed to say above the remarkable sight?

****

They had stared at each other with eyes and expressions so identical to each other. The only difference between them now was that Kit had let his beard grow out. Chris wasn’t sure if it was an attempt to hide the scar that ran down his face or because he liked the look. 

His twin brother had tracked him down. Chris wasn’t exactly surprised. The man found terrorists in the desert, plus the abundance of the Henry resources, the only thing that could have stopped Kit was death.

Chris had been pretending to be dead for a while that he had slowly got used to not existing to his family and an extent to himself. He was Luke Evans here. Wasn’t it strange? That even though he had run away from his family to punish them for taking Kit’s side, he was using his own middle name as his first and Kit’s as his last.

He needed Danny, or he wanted her. Whatever it was, his family should not have sided with Kit. Yes, his twin had married her but when he was supposedly dead, Chris and Danny were about to begin a life together. So, what Kit came back from the dead, why should his happiness trump Chris’?

So what they were married?

So what that they were in love with each other?

So what Danny didn’t love him?

So what?

Chris was punishing them, they owed him and their grief was his payback. They would mourn him, ask themselves why they hadn’t let him have Danny and they would resent both Kit and Danny. It was the perfect plan until Kit turned up, forcing him to move from the tiny town of Cold Spring to Southold, Suffolk County. There were more people there, but a better chance of him blending in.

Now Chris didn’t know what bothered him more, the fact that his secret was out or that he would have to return to New York sooner than he wanted. It was different being in Southold. He was Luke Evans, the only man with his face, he had his reputation as well. He didn’t interact with more than ten people, but to them he was singular. He should blame himself; Chris had been using funds from his private account. But Kit would never- Duke. It was Duke who found him and Kit tracked him down. He should have known his big brother wouldn’t move on until he was sure that Chris was dead. It annoyed him a little that it had taken them that long to seek him out more than the fact that they found him.

He had enjoyed a kind of a simple life away from the weight of his family name and expectation. He had a cottage by the water, he read books in the morning and went out for drinks at the bar. Then around midnight he sat at the beach and took it all in, wondering why he couldn’t have everything he ever desired.

What did it mean to have everything though?

Laughter ripped through the night air, followed by sob like sounds. He felt a zing of awareness zip through his body as the sounds she was making rippled through him like a caress. He didn’t like how it stirred his desires to life. 

She was sitting not too far away from him, Chris wondered why he hadn’t noticed her sit down. Or was she here before him? This was his spot, and he had never seen her before, he would have remembered. Her chocolate brown skin shone under the moonlight; her hair curled out of a scarf that she had wrapped around her head. Her smile was beautiful even when she frowned when she began to sob. She pouted, her lips forming a beautiful little rosebud. That is if roses took the color of dark rich burnt sienna. He couldn’t see her eyes but he guessed that they were as beautiful as the rest of her.

“Can you keep it down, or at least share the not so funny joke,” he said. That earned him a yelled that was later followed by an ufff sound.

They were beautiful, her eyes. Extraordinary. It wasn’t a color he had seen before, so much like staring into the galaxy. She scrambled to her feet unfolding the length of her like a gift that Chris itched to unwrap. From the top of her curly head down to the toes that sank in the sand, Chris appreciated her beautiful curves. Involuntarily, he licked his lips and swallowed hard. 

She had a white knitted crop top and skirt on. Underneath was a pair of white shorts and a bralette. Yes, he most definitely would like to unwrap her. Nubian Goddess, a cliché term to describe a black woman, but what other was there. She was so perfect that his fingers itched to touch. Chris buried his hands in the sand in an attempt to gain back self-control, but that didn’t stop his eyes from looking and his mouth from speaking.

“Your waist is-,” he swallowed the rest of his statement and exhaled. What he would do to wrap his arms around that hourglass figure.

“What about my waist?” she asked.

The question surprised Chris. He expected something else. Chris was waiting for her to kick sand in his eyes or at least slap him for undressing her with his eyes. Instead, she stood in front of him perfectly still, her eyes filled with expectations. Confused, he studied her face for a moment. She did expect him to finish his statement. 

Let’s see where this will take us.

“It’s beautiful, like the rest of you.”

“Oh!” She seemed disappointed. What exactly was she expecting him to say?

There were a lot of words he could have used to describe her but this was the politest one he could master. There was absolutely no reason to let a stranger, one that looked like a pretty dear, to know the deepest, lustful and debauched crevices of his mind. He would stick with beautiful and if they had a chance to spend the rest of the night together, she would find out exactly what he thought of her body, of her lips, her hair and her eyes. 

But right now, he would stick with polite words.

“Would you sleep with me?”

That made him choke on his drool.

***

His smoky eyes widened; his mouth fell open then closed again. Her head leaned to the left as it automatically did when he wondered about something. She teased the bottom of her lip between her teeth. He had turned from an Adonis to a fish just because of what she asked.

This was the first brave, yet the admittedly stupid thing that she had said since her birth. But one of the excuses that Darrell had given her when he ditched her for her sister was that he wasn’t sexually attracted to her. 

Okay, fine that was his opinion. 

Jada was going for an unbiased and uninfluenced position.

Jada had always felt inferior to her sister Nina when it came to her sexual attraction. Having her ex-fiancé use that as a reason to be with Nina instead of her, did make her doubt her physical attractiveness even more. 

Her self-appointed judge wasn’t saying anything. He combed his fingers through his sandy blonde hair and Jada wondered how that would feel like. Jada locked her gaze to his and when he stood her head lifted following. Her head tipped back as far as it could go before, she felt a muscle twitch at the back of her head. Jada wasn’t short by female standards, five foot six, but this man in front of her had to be well over six feet. The man carried an indefinable aura of wealth and power.

A tourist, she thought. Good, then she wouldn’t have to see him ever again after their night's encounter. Whatever that would be.

“Would you sleep with me?” She asked again.

“Yeah…sure,” the rough tumble of his voice sounded nervous and unsure.

He was being polite. Jada swallowed the bile burning at the back of her throat and tried to ignore the disappointment that sat heavy at the pit of her stomach. Maybe she was matronly, even dressed like this. It wasn’t her sexiest outfit, but it was her favorite. It brought out all the curves she wanted to show and hinted at the ones she covered up. She thought it as the perfect combination of voila and mystery.

“Thanks anyway,” she said as she dragged her feet past him.

Jada barely walked past him when he grabbed her arm and spun her towards him. Jada crushed into his body hardened by well-toned muscles. Her hands lay flat on his chest, it took everything in her not to let them wander around, not to succumb to the warmth that welled up inside her belly and pooled between her thighs. 

Jada pushed back, but his hands that had fallen on her waist held her in place. She stared at his chest as she tried to control the rapid beat of her heat that tattooed her throat.

“What’s your name?” his voice was deep velvet as it seduced something out of her. Like a snake charmer with his flute.

“Jada,” her voice was nothing more than an astonished whisper.

His fingers caressed her cheek, slid down her jaw and settled at her chin. He pushed her face up to face him and what Jada saw made her already fleeting breath hitch in her throat.

Sparks flew in his eyes as lust burnt bright behind what was once cool blue-grey eyes. Quiet settled as quiet does as they stared into each other’s eyes. The current of her blood `burned beneath her skin as her need left her nearly breathless. Was it normal to feel such a strong desire towards a stranger?

“Does Jada have a last name?”

“Williams.”

“Jada Williams, would you like to have a drink with me? Some questions are better answered once you get well acquainted.”

She nodded.

“I’m Luke Evans, by the way.”

Jada nodded.

He-Luke Evans took her hand and weaved his fingers through her own. He dropped his gaze and slid it over her in a quick lick of heat that ended with her toes curling. She, in turn, raked her eyes over him from top to toe and held his gaze with an intent look. Jada didn’t know what she had got herself into but she refused to let him see her as timid. She had started this and she was determined to hold her own and finish it. 

The burning trail of his eyes still touched her like warm flesh and when he smiled at her, Jada realized that she was out of her league. 

“You are beautiful.” The embers that were now at a simmer flared to rage at the softness of his voice.

Jada shook her head, reason finally coming back to her. He was more than she could handle. 

“You asked, all I want to do is give you an answer that won’t disappoint you again,” he smiled.

Luke Evans started walking pulling her along with him. Jada studied his back, his shoulders, and his butt. She didn’t care if she had just joined hands with the devil, or a Charles Manson reborn. She was determined to see this night through. Hopefully, by morning she would have lost two things that Darrell despised, her virginity and her timidity.

***

He was playing a character for so long why not tonight. He was going to be Luke Evans the mild-mannered stranger whose secret was an insatiable sexual hunger. She would be Jada Williams a woman so unsure of her own charms she needed a stranger to validate it for her. 

First things first, a walk on the beach under the moonlight. Wasn’t that something all girls dreamed of doing? He looked over his shoulder and she was watching him with a steady gaze that bore no suspicion, no fear or thought. It was like she was a rag doll he was dragging along with him. 

He stopped and she stopped.

“A walk together means you walking in step with me,” he said. She leaned her head to the left bit on her lower lip before taking a few steps forward. He wished he could ready her mind, just to know what thoughts were making laps in there.

They remained silent for a few more minutes and honestly, he enjoyed it. The warmth of her hand in his and the presence of her body by his side was companionship he never knew he craved until this moment. It was such a simple act that seemed to satisfy all the desires he had. He never felt like this with Danny, other than the need to have her, he realized he didn’t feel much for his brother’s wife.

“Where are we going?”

The sound of her voice pulled him out of his fog, “There is a small bar at the end of this stretch. I thought we could have a few drinks first.”

“Then what?”

Was she starting to think things through? 

“How about we take this moment by moment. First, let’s get to know each other a little then we’ll see how things develop.”

“You want to chat?” the surprise in her tone was hard to miss. Did he disappoint her again?

“Something like that,” he responded.

“Okay.”

Okay.

Chris wasn’t sure what Jada needed from this night, it might be selfish of him but he knew exactly what he wanted and what he intended to get. Being selfish was the core of Chris’ nature. It had been said to him a couple of times and he knew it to be true. He was always there for numero uno. 

To be honest the rush of the flow of blood through his body increased. He was excited at what this night would bring. He just hoped that Jada didn’t expect more than what he could offer and give at this moment. Did he care though?

About her expectations of the night and her attitude tomorrow morning, honestly, he did, just a little though. Other than the physical contact that she wanted from him, he hoped that there were no emotional expectations.

Would you sleep with me?

She had asked that.

It wasn’t rhetorical and it sure as hell didn’t need any physical proof. But somewhere in between that innocent question-probably asked to boost her self-confidence- and him leading her to the bar on the beach, there had been an unspoken understanding that they would have sex that night.

It was obvious that she was less experienced than any of the women he had slept with here in Southold and New York, actually anywhere on this God’s earth. If the innocent thing was just an act to attract men, it got him hooked. That was something he would find out later though.

His night conquests were usually forward with what they expected and wanted. He saw it as a transaction, he would buy them a trinket the next morning with a promise of future liaisons and he would have a booty call list on standby. 

Danny had destabilized that. She was the first woman to not only reject him but pick his brother, Kit. The fact that she preferred the Boy Scout over the rakish playboy had left him stunned and in denial. So, he enticed her with her former vices and lured her demons back into the light. He gave her everything everyone else was denying her and that was how he was able to be with her. Their short-lived relationship was more like a love triangle, Kit not included. 

It was Chris, Danny and her addiction of choice. 

Then she turned out to be like all the other girls, one who was with him because he had something to give. 

Would Jada be like that too?

Why not?

Chris’ gaze dropped to where their fingers were laced to each other. Such an intimate way of holding hands for two strangers who just met. 

As if in slow motion, a movie reel played in his head as if it were a memory and not something that was happening before his eyes at that exact moment. Jada’s eyes were locked to the shuffle of her feet, her hand came up to her neck and played with the stray hairs that peeked out of her scarf at the back of her head and then ever so slowly her head lifted, her gaze rose and met his. Her lips pulled into a faint smile and her tongue peeked out the corner of her mouth before retreating inside. She looked ahead and they continued walking in silence.

***

Let’s fall in love for the night and forget in the morning….

Would it even be possible?

There were so many songs about falling in love but this was the one that came to mind. Maybe because it had an ending, the morning. 

She sighed.

Her eyes were stuck on where their hands joined and she wondered when he would let it go. 

Did she care?

Unfortunately, yes.

Jada stared at the side of Luke’s head and noticed the stubble of his chin. She wondered what that would feel like against her skin. It wasn’t the only sexual thing that had come to her mind since he took her hand and pulled her alongside him. 

His hands, his lips, his back muscles, his thighs, his…

Jada wondered about all of them. For some inexplicable reason, she had gone from wanting a few minutes to clear her mind, to prepare herself for the day to come to wondering how a stranger would feel between her silky thighs. She had wild thoughts about how his lips would pleasure her, how his hands would caress her and how his large member would thrust inside her.

Obviously, it would hurt at first, but she was looking forward to the pleasure she expected to come after.

Jada was staring at the thick veins that were so pronounced in his muscled arms and that added fuel to her arousal. She quickly drew in a gasping breath and swallowed her drool. Darrell had always bugged her about sex but she had always wanted it to be something special that they shared on their wedding night. He didn’t think so. The giving of one’s body to the person you love was something that she had romanticized as well as idolized. The meaning of it, the giving, the vulnerability and the trust you placed into a man’s hands to take care of your body, heart, and soul.

But that was just her.

Jada wondered what Luke thought about sex. She also wondered how someone as plain as she had managed to pick up this rugged, physically adept Adonis and convince him to be her lover-even if it was just for the night. 

The night before her wedding.

This wasn’t how she had planned to lose her virginity but at least it was on her terms. 

Jada was drawn out of her clouded mind by voices and a jazz melody. They were here, the beach bar he was talking about. This was just the first stop, she wondered how many more there were before they got to their final destination.

Luke led her to an outside table, opting for the night air over the cloud of smoke that filled the dimly lit place. It was a cute matchbox of a place with vinyl covering the wall as décor. Fairy lights ran from one side of the room to the other as the only source of light besides the moon and the stars. It wasn’t a romantic atmosphere, but instead gave off an air of secrecy. As if all its patrons had come to hide from the world outside those bamboo doors and twinkle lights.

“Do you like the place?” Luke’s voice called to her attention.

Jada shrugged, “Not particularly. It’s a beach bar.”

Luke chuckled, the sound of it rolling through her and sitting atop her building desire. 

“You’re cute,” he said.

In response, she cupped her cheeks in her palms and fluttered her eyes. That earned her a laugh and a chance to see a side to him that she hadn’t seen that night. His hooded, guarded eyes were now bright and wide. 

Luke looked at her, really looked at her. His gaze swept over her face for what felt like an eternity. Her cheeks burned as she became so shy. She had never seen so much admiration in anyone’s eyes as they looked at her. Suddenly conscious of everything that was wrong with her and anything his diligent studying would discover, Jada lowered her head and tried to retreat into her shell. Luke didn’t let her. He lifted her chin with his finger, his head leaning to the left as if to question her.

She didn’t have any answers, so instead, she asked for a drink.

It was an hour to sunrise. The patrons were staggering out of the bar as the little fairy lights were turned off. Jada had both her hands cradling her unfinished beer. The alcohol was supposed to settle the swarm of bees making themselves busy in her belly. But instead, it made her feel more aware of what was about to happen. Luke took her hand and she looked up from the bottle into his eyes. He signaled for her to stand up and follow and she did. They walked a few feet away from the bar towards the row of villas along the beach.

They got to a secluded spot somewhere between the villas and the bar. The oceans crashing waves rolled now. Luke led her towards some rocks, and in between two of them was a little spot. Hidden from the prying eyes of others but still in full view of the moon and soon the sunrise. 

She couldn’t control how hard her heartbeat of how her chest heaved. Anticipation, fear or was it excitement? She couldn’t figure out what was what. All she felt was Luke’s warm touch as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. His palm cupped her jaw and lifted her face to greet his kiss. He kissed her and when she didn’t immediately respond he gently bit and tugged on her lower lip. The little yelp in response seemed to amuse him. His blue-grey eyes twinkled with mischief.

Luke placed a firm hand on the small of her back and pulled her into him, pressing her belly against his arousal. Jada swallowed hard, she knew what the bulge was, but this was the first time she allowed herself to truly feel it. Jada had always found an excuse to escape Darrell’s request for intimacy those verbally expressed or physically. 

Jada wrapped her arms around Luke’s waist, got up on her tiptoes and leaned into Luke deepening his kiss. She didn’t want him to be gentle, or to approach this encounter with any type of caution. Today was the day she was throwing caution to the wind and taking what she wanted. At that moment her lust needed Luke to kiss her deeper, her body was so tightly strung she was afraid she would snap if she wasn’t satisfied.

Hoping to move things along much faster, she began to unbutton his white shirt, never breaking from the kiss. Her impatience earned her a chuckle and an immediate response. Luke relieved her of her skirt and top in one swoop that showed experience. Before she could react to the loss of her clothes, she felt the familiar relief of her breast as they were set free of her bralette. His hands caressed her back, smoothing down to her waist. His fingers slipping in between her boy shorts and her skin. He eased that off as well.

Luke took a step back and admired her. Jada had never seen such lust burn in a man’s eyes for her. She felt shy and immediately wanted to cover herself, but she balled her fists and stuck them to her sides. She was going through with this, her reservations be dammed. Luke closed the gap between them and held her against his naked chest. The little gesture of a simple hug before diving into the throws of desire was comforting. The warmth of their bodies reassured her a little. 

He laid her back on the soft wet sand and covered her tiny body with his massive one. Luke stared into her eyes, the side of his mouth pulled back not quite into a smile, then he kissed her.