‘What the hell was that?’ I whisper. My voice sounds tiny and scared.
‘I was carving my name into your heart.’
I look at him, the hottest man in every room. The man who already has a girlfriend. ‘What the fuck did you do that for?’
‘Because you’re the most beautiful fucking thing I have ever seen. And I was claiming you.’
I look at him. I’m being stitched up. I’m walking into a massive elephant trap. ‘How can you claim me when you’ve already got a girlfriend?’ I hate the whiny sound of my voice.
‘Sometimes things are not as they seem.’
Something small and fragile blooms in my heart. I want to be coolly sarcastic. Laugh and say something richly comic. But I can’t. I have to be true to the moment when our souls mingled.
‘What do you mean?’ I whisper.
‘One day, Billie. One day soon I’ll tell you. Now: are we going to this party or not?’
I take a deep breath and smile, intoxicated the way no drug or amount of alcohol has ever made me feel. ‘We are.’
We take the small, shallow boat. It has a huge headlight on it that lights the way through a long, deep water channel that belonged to an old salt company. It shows the way into the bay. I have never been on a boat at night and it is a-fucking-mazing. The water gleams dark and mysterious. The cool wind blows in my hair and face and the occasional sea spray that showers us is exhilarating. I love the sensation of my hand trailing in the water, which is still warm from the day’s sun. I urge Jaron to go fast and faster. The speed is addictive and the feeling of flying headlong into the darkness is crazy.
When we get to the mainland Jaron secures the boat and helps me out. My hair is a mess. He runs his fingers through it and smoothes it down. ‘I love the feel of your hair when you don’t use half a can of hairspray on it,’ he says.
‘Well, make the most of it. I love my hairspray. Just forgot to bring it.’
We walk along the beach. He holds my hand. It feels right. On our right, dark vegetation rises up like an impenetrable shadow. The sand is so soft it gets into my sandals so I take them off and carry them in my hands. The sand is cool on my feet. There is no moon. The only light is from the torch Jaron carries. Little transparent crabs scurry along the sand in front of us. There is the ever present sound of the insects in the trees and the faint sound of music.
In the distance we see the lights of the party. It is being held on the beach outside a wooden house. There are lanterns lit around it and a bonfire is going. Lana Del Ray’s Summertime Sadness starts playing on the loudspeakers and I feel a thrill of excitement run up my spine.
‘Come on,’ I urge excitedly, tugging Jaron’s hand. ‘I love this song. We have to dance to it.’
He looks down at me amused, but he nods, and like a pair of kids we run toward the party. There are many people there and most of them either call out to Jaron or wave at him. I drag Jaron to the middle of the throng of people dancing. This is one of my favorite songs. If I close my eyes I can actually see it like waves in the air. I find a gap in the crush and gyrate to the beat.
Jaron stands a foot away from my body and watches me. There is passion and possession in his eyes. Then I swagger closer to him and sinuously sliding my hands onto his shoulders rub my body all over his. I want him all over me and I am saying it in no uncertain terms. He grins, his eyes at half-mast, and moves his hips to match mine. It’s casual. And it’s damn sexy.
I pull his body so close I feel his erection. We gaze into each other’s eyes. The music changes and I don’t really notice. He ushers me around a corner and pushes me up against the wall of the house with his lips. The music is so loud it is rattling the wall of the house that I am pressed against.
‘Right now all I want to do is suck your wet cunt loudly and hungrily,’ he says. The thought is so fucking erotic I soak my knickers through there and then.
‘I didn’t know men loved eating pussy that much.’
‘I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t fucking get enough of yours. I dream of eating your pussy,’ he says, and claims my mouth in a hard kiss that takes my breath away.
‘Hey, lover,’ someone calls from behind us.
Jaron takes his time about releasing my lips. ‘Later,’ he promises, his hot breath mingling with mine. Jaron turns around and I see a man, his startling white teeth flashing in the darkness.
‘Look at you,’ the man says in a really cool accent. ‘You brought a sweetheart.’
‘This is Noel,’ Jaron introduces and then turning to Noel with a wry smile says, ‘And the sweetheart is Billie.’