Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Her body convulses under mine, her pussy walls clenching tight around me as she cries out. The rawness of her voice sends me spiraling over the edge after her. I slam into her one last time before my own release rips through me.
I press my forehead to hers as the tremors slowly subside. She’s panting beneath me, a soft smile playing on her lips.
“You’re so good at this,” she murmurs, running a hand lazily up and down my back.
I chuckle and press a soft kiss to her forehead before pulling out of her.
Then she rises, walks to the water, and immerses herself up to her shoulders.
I lie in the sand staring at the blue sky above and listening to the waves crash against the shore.
And I wonder what the fuck I’m doing here.
“Join me?” June calls over the crashing sound of the waves. Her voice is light, beckoning.
I rise. The cool water is a welcome relief as it laps against my heated skin, dislodging grains of sand from places they have no place being.
June looks gorgeous, of course, her hair plastered against her shoulders, the sun catching on the droplets of water meandering over her.
This was a wonderful respite—and one I needed—but my thoughts slide back to my sleepless night. To the phone call with Shelley. To everything else.
“Hey,” June says softly, “what’s going on in that mind of yours?”
I blink. “Nothing.”
She swims to me and wraps her arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her closer. The water is a barrier against the rest of the world. It’s just us here, in this moment.
“Sebastian,” June begins, “tell me. Do you think you’ll find love here? With one of us?”
The sincerity in her voice makes me pause. She truly wants to know.
Heather. Ariel. Emily. And now June.
I like them all.
But love?
“I don’t know.” I run my hands up and down her sides, enjoying the feel of her against me. “It’s not something you can force.”
“You’ve been hurt, haven’t you?” she says.
God, the truth of her words...
I have been hurt.
But not by a woman.
By a different kind of love.
The love and camaraderie of boyhood friends.
Love...and loss.
“Who hasn’t?” I say with a short laugh, but there’s no humor in it.
“We all have our scars,” June murmurs. “But they make us who we are.”
“And who are we, June?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper as I look into her eyes.
“We are survivors, Sebastian. We carry the weight of our pasts, yes, but we don’t let it define us. We move forward.”
Survivors.
The word resonates with me. It’s the perfect definition for what I—and Brett, Alex, and Riv—have been doing all these years.
We’ve been doing it in luxury, no doubt, while building billion-dollar fortunes, but we’ve still been surviving.
We know it, and that’s the reason why we chose to put together this event.
To find love. To find family. To make our lives about more than just surviving a past that still haunts us all.
“I want more than just survival,” I admit, my words blending with the sound of the crashing waves.
“And what is it that you want, Sebastian?” she asks, her eyes meeting mine again.
“Freedom,” I say after a moment. “Freedom from the ghosts that haunt me.”
She laughs then. An odd response. “Don’t we all?” she says before diving under the waves.
But I’m not laughing.
I walk toward the shore.
“Sebastian?” June calls after me.
But I don’t look back.
EPISODE 158
RIVER TAKES OFF
River
I clear my throat.
Emily stands before me, still looking beautiful, the white sheet puddled around her naked body. Her porcelain skin is flushed, her pink lips parted slightly. Her nipples are hard and ready.
How easy it would be to take her. Fuck her. Lose myself in her body like I’ve done so many times before.
She’d let me. She’s in love with me. She’s admitted it.
And honestly, whether she had an ulterior motive for coming here or not, I’m in love with her as well.
She’s not who I thought I’d fall for. When I imagined the mother of my children, I pictured someone completely different.
But damn, I love her.
I want to fix things for her. I want to pummel whoever stole her designs, whoever is putting her through this hell.
For now, I’ll pay the money to get her designs back.
But before I confess my love...
Before I do anything else...
I have to take care of something I should have done long ago.
“I feel like I’m a pot calling the kettle black,” I say, “because I’ve been holding something in for so long. Keeping it from Brett, Seb, and Alex. And Emily, I don’t think I can take it much longer.”
Her eyebrows rise. “What do you mean?”
I shake my head. “I can’t tell you.”
She opens her mouth to reply, but I gesture for her to stay quiet.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, Emily. It’s just...” I sigh. “In the safe. I have some stuff in the safe. Things I keep with me all the time. To remind me...”