connection to the horrible feeling in my stomach. Regardless, my euphoric dream of floating in the Hawaiian shores with Xavier Xander was enough to fade it out.
Xavier playfully knocked me off my floating device and into the salty sea.
“Bastard!” I screamed, giggling.
“Sun’s getting more of your attention than I am. Swim with me.”
Threading my arms and legs, I grinned at him. His blond waves were golden under the sun, water droplets dancing from his eyelashes like tears. I loved him so much. I could feel it, as sure as I could feel my heart beating behind my rib cage that I was going to die with him. He would ask me to be his wife and I would say yes. I would have his kids. Twins. Spoiled blonde twins who would want for nothing because their Daddy was a millionaire and their Mommy a billionaire.
Maybe we’ll live in France, and Mick would still be around to tell them about the great Aline Acy.
We’d be perfect. We’d be happy. We’d be forever in love.
“What’s that look?” he asked, his smile blinding me.
“Tell me you love me,” I whispered above the waves.
Then I saw it. The dreadful gray fin poking out of the water, moving swiftly up behind him, and suddenly he was much farther away from me than he was a second ago.
I tried to swim after him, but I couldn’t. Something was holding me back, paralyzing me.
I tried to call out to him, to warn him, but nothing came. Silence.
Then, the attack happened. The water around my lover colored red. His piercing cry of pain filled the heavens with sorrow. The red sea parted us, forcing unbearable distance between us.
Then, she was there; standing on the shore. The redhead. Petite and perfect in a glowing white bikini. An angel.
She waited on the shore with a wheelchair, silently telling Xavier to choose. He looked between us, face contorted with pain. He was closer to the shore than he was to me.
He chose.
He chose the shore.
He propelled away from me, and when he crawled out of the water and to the shore, I understood why. One of his legs was gone. Chewed off by the sea creature.
The redheaded angel had a wheelchair. I had nothing but love, and sometimes love just wasn’t enough.
He reached out to her as if she was his savior. She helped him up, into the safety of the wheelchair.
As she wheeled him away, he didn’t look back. Leaving me behind to drown in his blood.
The horrible stomach feeling returned. Along with the thing, whatever it was, trying to crawl up my throat. Causing a sensation of wetness and complete dryness at the same time. Like gravel after the rain.
My body convulsed, my eyes snapped open, and in a second I was on my feet, tripping over shoes and clothes on the floor and shooting into the bathroom. Dropping to my knees in front of the toilet, I regurgitated all of last night’s mistake.
Uh-huh, today was going to be crappy as all hell.
Until my ribs hurt and my throat felt like chalk, I heaved. Somewhere mid-hurl, Davian came in and knelt behind me, looped his arms around my middle and rested his head on my back, riding it out with me.
Wrung dry, I rocked back into him, head hanging. That’s when I realized I was in nothing but my underwear set from the night before—black thong and a push-up bra.
“Did you undress me?”
I felt his nod against my back. “You asked me to. Said you were ‘hot’.”
Oh, God . “What else did I ask you to do?”
“Suck your nipples because they hurt.”
Mortification had me groaning. “Did you?”
“I’d never take advantage of you, Ally.”
I knew that. “Thanks for staying.”
He rose, taking me with him. “Take a shower. I made brunch.”
“Brunch?” Turning my head to the side, I tried to catch sight of him in my periphery. “What time is it?”
“Noon.” He kissed the back of my head and walked out.
I turned to watch him leave. In just his jeans from the night before. Hung real low on his hips. The musculature of his back a sight for hungover eyes.
I kept staring, hoping he would glance
Xavier playfully knocked me off my floating device and into the salty sea.
“Bastard!” I screamed, giggling.
“Sun’s getting more of your attention than I am. Swim with me.”
Threading my arms and legs, I grinned at him. His blond waves were golden under the sun, water droplets dancing from his eyelashes like tears. I loved him so much. I could feel it, as sure as I could feel my heart beating behind my rib cage that I was going to die with him. He would ask me to be his wife and I would say yes. I would have his kids. Twins. Spoiled blonde twins who would want for nothing because their Daddy was a millionaire and their Mommy a billionaire.
Maybe we’ll live in France, and Mick would still be around to tell them about the great Aline Acy.
We’d be perfect. We’d be happy. We’d be forever in love.
“What’s that look?” he asked, his smile blinding me.
“Tell me you love me,” I whispered above the waves.
Then I saw it. The dreadful gray fin poking out of the water, moving swiftly up behind him, and suddenly he was much farther away from me than he was a second ago.
I tried to swim after him, but I couldn’t. Something was holding me back, paralyzing me.
I tried to call out to him, to warn him, but nothing came. Silence.
Then, the attack happened. The water around my lover colored red. His piercing cry of pain filled the heavens with sorrow. The red sea parted us, forcing unbearable distance between us.
Then, she was there; standing on the shore. The redhead. Petite and perfect in a glowing white bikini. An angel.
She waited on the shore with a wheelchair, silently telling Xavier to choose. He looked between us, face contorted with pain. He was closer to the shore than he was to me.
He chose.
He chose the shore.
He propelled away from me, and when he crawled out of the water and to the shore, I understood why. One of his legs was gone. Chewed off by the sea creature.
The redheaded angel had a wheelchair. I had nothing but love, and sometimes love just wasn’t enough.
He reached out to her as if she was his savior. She helped him up, into the safety of the wheelchair.
As she wheeled him away, he didn’t look back. Leaving me behind to drown in his blood.
The horrible stomach feeling returned. Along with the thing, whatever it was, trying to crawl up my throat. Causing a sensation of wetness and complete dryness at the same time. Like gravel after the rain.
My body convulsed, my eyes snapped open, and in a second I was on my feet, tripping over shoes and clothes on the floor and shooting into the bathroom. Dropping to my knees in front of the toilet, I regurgitated all of last night’s mistake.
Uh-huh, today was going to be crappy as all hell.
Until my ribs hurt and my throat felt like chalk, I heaved. Somewhere mid-hurl, Davian came in and knelt behind me, looped his arms around my middle and rested his head on my back, riding it out with me.
Wrung dry, I rocked back into him, head hanging. That’s when I realized I was in nothing but my underwear set from the night before—black thong and a push-up bra.
“Did you undress me?”
I felt his nod against my back. “You asked me to. Said you were ‘hot’.”
Oh, God . “What else did I ask you to do?”
“Suck your nipples because they hurt.”
Mortification had me groaning. “Did you?”
“I’d never take advantage of you, Ally.”
I knew that. “Thanks for staying.”
He rose, taking me with him. “Take a shower. I made brunch.”
“Brunch?” Turning my head to the side, I tried to catch sight of him in my periphery. “What time is it?”
“Noon.” He kissed the back of my head and walked out.
I turned to watch him leave. In just his jeans from the night before. Hung real low on his hips. The musculature of his back a sight for hungover eyes.
I kept staring, hoping he would glance
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