Passionate Tides (3 page)

Jake continued his exploration of her body, skimming the side of her breast, causing goose bumps to break out of her skin. His touch was gentle, caressing in his reconnaissance of her every curve. She studied his face, memorizing every line and crease, hoping not to see disgust written there. Her ex had told her more than once that she was too soft and needed to lose weight, but the way Jake looked at her made her feel beautiful.

“Oh Paisley, you make me forget myself, you feel so good under my hands”

She couldn’t speak, her thoughts lost to the feel of his touch and the warmth of his breath on her neck.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her ear as the sounds of kids playing brought her out of her reverie. “So, you want ice cream? Then let’s go. I’ll drive.” He offered her a hand to pull her to her feet. She could feel the heat from his gaze as he watched her dust the sand from her clothes, his eyes tracking her hands while they moved across her body had her wishing they were headed to the privacy of the house instead of heading for one of the busiest hangouts on the beach.

* * *

They arrived at Island Sweet Treats just as the lunch crowd made its way out for the day. They ordered their ice cream from the teenager behind the counter and retreated to the seats farthest from the other patrons to wait. Sitting beside the genie machine that always reminded her of the Zoltar from the movie Big, and the juke box playing old forty-fives, she felt comfortable for the first time since she found her husband screwing around on her.

They sat and talked as if they had known each other longer than the few short days she had been on the island. The conversation with him came easily and after the ice cream was gone he drove them out to the Surf City pier. Walking to the end of the swaying structure, they found a bench between two fishing poles that had most likely been set there for the evening by some fisherman hoping to catch more than a fish tale about the one that got away.

“So, tell me about yourself, what’s it like in West Virginia?” She couldn’t help but look away at his question, setting her gaze on a ship that looked like a grain of rice against the horizon. She didn’t want to tell him that she was losing everything she had ever worked for. Vince and her home were becoming distant memories to her and she wanted to keep it that way. The time she had spent with Jake on the island was helping to heal the wounds that had left her hurting. For the first time since her world had crashed, she was starting to pick up the pieces and look toward her future.

“There’s really not much to tell. It’s quiet and peaceful, but so different from the island. Here you can see forever, like the edge of the world is just over the horizon. But at home, it’s not like that. The mountains are beautiful and obscure the world from peeking in on your own private piece of Heaven. In the summer, the trees are lush and green, and in the fall they look like they are covered in a fiery dance of color. They are as different as moonshine and Malibu.” Her thoughts trailed back to memories of hiking the mountains and playing tag as a child. Lost in thought, she only came out of her daydream when Jake placed his hands on hers and squeezed.

“Tiffany is the only family I have left and my house is listed for sale.” She tried to make light of her problem and dance around the real issues she was facing. “I miss West Virginia but this is a nice escape from the everyday life back home.” She tried to divert the conversation away from herself. “Enough about me, Jake, what made you decide to move here?”

“I needed a change of scenery and Topsail seemed like a good place to start over. When I met Tiffany and James, I spent some time hanging out with them on the beach and at the house and by the time they left for West Virginia I felt more like a part of their family than I ever did with mine. When they showed me the apartment, I was sold. My dad owned his own construction company back in Tennessee, so I knew how to swing a hammer. With all the construction on the island, I knew I could find work. I moved in, and I’ve been here ever since.” She could see sadness in his eyes when he talked about his home and she hoped that someday he would feel comfortable enough to share with her his real reasons for leaving.

They sat and talked until the sun dropped low in the sky. He told her about his friends back home and the championship football game in which he fumbled the winning touchdown. They laughed at stories about Tiffany and her as children running up and down the sand. His laughed warmed her even as the cold evening wind chilled her skin. The lights of the pier signaled the end of the tourist and the beginning of night fishing. When the fisherman came to check on their poles, they knew it was time to leave, but she wasn’t ready for the night to end.

She wanted to spend as much time learning about him and his life as she could, but she didn’t want to press him and make him feel obligated. Every minute that she spent with Jake was like time spent with an old friend. The problem was that this friend was gorgeous and she could feel her healing heart slip away with each small gentle touch. They reached the end of the pier and she watched him as he led the way to his truck. She wasn’t ready to call it a day. She looked out over the pinking sky and an idea to drag out the evening struck.

“Why don’t we walk the south end of the island? I haven’t been out there for years and I’d love to see the sun set over the sound.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” His response was almost instant and his boyish smile brought waves of desire that the cool evening air couldn’t compete with. When he brushed her leg with his hand while helping her into the truck, she swore she could hear her heart skip a beat.

At little over twenty miles long, most of the island was covered by homes and businesses, but not the south end. It was a bird sanctuary and was undeveloped, leaving miles of untouched sand and surf to explore. Jake pulled in and parked his truck at a public access and after removing their shoes; Jake reached across her seat to grab a small backpack from the backseat and threw it over his shoulder, making the muscles in his chest bunch. Handing Paisley a small flashlight, they started on the long walk that would take them from the ocean side to the sound side of the island.

At first, neither said a word, but there was no strain in the silence between them and that was unusual for Paisley. She always felt like she needed to fill the void that was between her and Vince when they were alone, but with Jake she was okay with just being beside him and listening to the water as it tried to push closer to their feet. This went on for several minutes until she realized she wanted to share more of herself with him.

The view of the sun dropping behind the horizon had them stopping at a nearby dune. Sitting in the sand, they watched the brilliant colors dance over the waves, making it look like a moving rainbow. She looked out over the darkening ocean and took a deep breath of the salty air. She didn’t understand why she felt the need to tell him about her past, but the urgency was so strong that she couldn’t have stopped the words if she tried. It was like Sunday in church, the need to confess so strong that it tore the words from her throat. “I love this part of the island. When we were little, we would come down here and walk for hours, collecting shells, and playing in the tide pools. It seems like such a distant memory, almost like it never happened. My dad would carry me on his shoulders when my feet became tired and I could barley hold my eyes open, while my mom told me stories about the pirates that used to hide in the sound. She once told me there was a ship there,” she pointed off into the water, the lights of Wilmington twinkling in the distance beyond the sound. “She said that a storm rolled the ship while it was trying to make safe passage from the British Armada. She said that the waves took the ship down to the ocean floor and lost with it was thousands of silver pirate coins and precious treasures.”

She played with the sand, shifting it though her fingers, her childhood memories playing though her mind like a movie. Her mother had been so happy, smiling as she buried plastic coins and diamonds in the sand so when her dad put her down, she could dig and find her own buried treasure. “I’m not sure if the story is true, but the memories mean more to mean than any silver or gold coins.”

“What happened to them Paisley”

“The coins? I have no idea, that was years ago”

He took her hand, still filled with sand and played in the grains held tight in her grasp. “No sweetie, your parents. How did you lose them?”

“Oh, it was a car accident when I was eighteen. It was raining and Dad lost control of the car. They hit a moving truck head on.”

“I am so sorry, Paisley. I don’t know what to say to make the pain better.”

“It was a long time ago and though the pain is there, it’s had time to fade. I don’t think it will ever go away, but remembering about the times we spent here on the beach makes it a little easier to bear. Sometimes, we forget the good times and only remember the bad. We allow the grief to override everything and we dwell on the what ifs. I just hope that someday I find what they had. My father looked at my mother like she was the moon and stars and when she looked at him; it was if life would end without him. It was a love like in your romance book, minus the whips and chains”

She couldn’t help but laugh when he tackled her to the sand, the dune soft under her back, his strong, full lips capturing hers. He stopped her teasing with the press of his lips against hers, and she felt scorched from the searing heat of his kiss. His tongue exploring her mouth was a delicious mix of sweet and salty. The taste of ice cream still lingered, with the hint of the sea. It became a dance of teeth and tongues that had her wanting more. In one touch he had turned her trip down memory lane into a journey of his body. This time he left her hands lose and she took advantage, using them to roam over the hard planes of his back. She started at the crook of his shoulders and followed the trail of his spine until she came to the edge of his shorts. She stroked the skin at the base of his hips, pulling his shirt up to expose more of his skin to her wandering hands as they migrated up his naked flesh.

Jake deepened the kiss as a groan escaped his throat, his hips grinding into her pressing his hard length into her pelvis. The cadence of her heart had tripled its beat and her breasts felt heavy with need to be touched. She didn’t want to stop this time. Even here in the open, she wanted nothing more than to rip the thin layers of fabric between them away and let him fill her. Her body was saying yes, oh God yes, but her mind knew the lack of privacy was wrong. With one last thrust of his hips, he wiped away any red flags her mind threw up. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached her hands around and released the button on his shorts, freeing him from their tight confines. His long length filled her hand, his skin soft against her palm as she closed her fist around him. His sharp intake of breath had him breaking their kiss.

“Paisley, if you keep that up I’m going to lose what’s left of my control and you’ll have sand in places you don’t want it to be” His words said that he was willing to stop until they were in a more private setting, but the slight thrust of his hips, pushing himself deeper into her hold, let her know his body wanted nothing more than to continue their carnal dance.

* * *

“Awe Jake, don’t stop, I don’t want to stop.” Giving him permission, his hands pulled her tank out of her shorts and over her head, exposing her lace bra to the night air. The sun had receded beyond view, washing the night in a dark moonless night, hiding them in their pleasure cove from prying eyes Jake scooted down her body, until he straddled her on the sand. He freed her from the confines of her shorts and stared. When he had her body bare to him he watched her face change, the look of a women in rapture flowed into a shy girl, her hands coming up to cover her body from his gaze. “Don’t, Paisley, don’t try to hide from me, you are a beautiful woman.” He traced her ribs under her soft flesh, down to the thin fabric of her panties. “I want you Paisley.” He pulled at the strap of lace, exposing the soft curls between her legs. When she was free of everything but her bra, he seated himself between her thighs. Digging through his backpack, he came up with a small foil packet from his wallet. He slipped the condom on his swollen shaft, rubbing the latex covered tip against her entrance, spreading her cream with his erection. When he probed her entrance, she welcomed him, wrapping her legs around his waist, granting him access.

His slow thrust was painful, as he wanted to go fast and hard, to be buried deep within her luscious body, but he didn’t want to scare her away. She was skittish to his touch earlier, but now she opened to him, giving him everything. Her body felt so warm wrapped around him, her hold on him so tight, that he knew he wouldn’t last long. She took all of his precious control away.

Her feet pressing on his back let him know she was ready to take more of him and he took one last push to burry himself deep inside of her. Her walls contracted, squeezing him and he marveled in the ecstasy. Digging his feet deep into the sand, he rested his hands under the globes of her ass and angled her to take him deeper and rocked his body, pulling in and out of her soft embrace until stars exploded in her eyes.  The pain from her nails digging into his back allowed him to hold onto his climax until hers peaked. Her spine arched, her head thrown back as she screamed his name to the stars. Only then did he allow his own climax to capture him, making him close his eyes and lose the beautiful view of her face in rapture.