"It's incredible," she whispers, trailing behind me in the moonlit sand. "Like a fairytale."A small, grudging smile stirs my lips. "Always the romance with you. For someone so stubbornly dug in against love, you certainly have an obsession with it."She blushes deeply, rose coloring her cheeks even in the nighttime darkness. She wears shorts and a hoodie, her long hair loose and flowing. What is she thinking, I wonder? Does she know what's coming? Does she know I have no choice but to send her away? My resentment grows every day. The sex, though I crave it, has slowed.Because it's not enough, and the realization terrifies me. I want more than just her body and her pleasure. I want...Her.She turns her face to the water, the ghost of a smile on her lips. I could see her here forever, the mistress of my island, the benevolent, soft-edged queen of my empire.Marriage. A thought that only recently filled me with disgust and loathing, But looking at her, this strange woman who has adapt
His touch is impossibly tender.He enters me as though I'm made of glass, his rhythm easy and slow and deep. I let him pin my arms above my head, moaning as the cold tide rushes over my ankles and his, his body an inferno against mine, a protective flame in the cool night.His free hand braces against my hip, palm burning against my skin as he does as I asked — as he makes love to me. My cries fill the night, my body lit and electric, every nerve awake and alive like they've never been. He presses his mouth to my neck, his breath burning, his tongue branding.When he finally releases my hands, I slide them into his curls, meeting his dark, moonlit eyes as our pleasure begins to mount in tandem. He deepens his thrusts, every inch of him igniting every inch of me.The words leave my lips as the orgasm catches me like a slow, unstoppable riptide. "I love you,"I gasp, the desperate sound of my voice lost to the velvet roar of the Ocean, to the groan of his pleasure as he comes inside of
Lewis's familiar silhouette is framed by the floor-to-ceiling windows. His shoulders are a rigid line, hands buried in the pockets of his nice navy suit. His auburn hair, duller than Georgina's, is slicked back stylishly.Thunder sounds over the ocean, seeming to quake the island, rain lashing in violent strokes against the glass."You must have flown all night," I say, as mildly as I can manage.Lewis turns stiffly, eyes narrowed and black with rage. "You son of a bitch."Damn. I sigh, sitting on the edge of the sofa. "So. You know.""I had one fucking request.""Your sister is a grown woman," I say, any guilt I may feel eclipsed by annoyance. "I did nothing untoward.""Untoward? You're fucking your assistant!""Lewis."We both turn to find Georgina, dressed but still obviously sleep-mussed, framed in the parlor doorway. Her face is pink, full of contrition."Pack your things," Lewisorders her. "You're coming back to San Francisco."Georgina sighs softly, as though disappointed. "Lew
The flight feels eternal. Rain streaks the small aircraft windows. The beautiful blue sea is steel-grey, the island cloaked in cloud. Like a daydream, something too fantastical to be anything but imagined."I warned you," is all my brother says, his nose swollen, one eye black. "I warned you about him.""You were right," I say, pulling my crumpled suit jacket closer, resigning myself to the foolish grief rising high, threatening to choke me.In the end, Lewis was right.Richard sent me away. Used me, made me fall for him, and then let me go.Cast me off like a line.Tears streak my face silently as we fly across the sea. Lewis was right, and Richard was dangerous. But I'm the one who fell in love with him.I'm the girl who thought she was a princess, and in the end, was nobody.—The work is steady. No — better than steady. I have more jobs lined up than ever, word that I survived Richard Platton for longer than any one PR assistant in his history. Better, many of the firms and client
The months pass slowly. Every day feels longer than the last.I throw myself into my work what else is there to do? Her absence is felt in every room. She's infiltrated Villa Bijou and Saint-Égaré. Her ghost is everywhere.Every instant I'm not elbow-deep in work, I'm working out, hard, blindingly one-minded. I sail too. I spend days on the water, gliding, ignoring the island. Ignoring the memory of her laugh, her shy dark eyes, her cool hand in mine. My wall flower. Mine.No — never mine. If Georgina felt anything for me, it was destroyed the day I attacked her brother and cast her off like a forgotten line. Did I ever truly possess her, for how badly I wanted to?Work is worse than unfulfilling. It's vacant and cold, and the only time I begin to feel something again is when I remember her work — the philanthropy. I picture Georgina in the jungle, in the mountains of some cold foreign country, camera against her eye, shy smile on her lips. This was what she cared about. Charity and d
"It's Christmas," Lewis says, dejected. "What the fuck, Georgina? We live in the same city. Why don't you want to see me?"I stroke my swelling belly, attacking the expanding stretch marks with meticulous scoops of shea butter. "It's the pandemic," I say. A weak excuse, but how else can I possibly hide the pregnancy from Lewis if I see him in person? It's been hard enough over the phone. I'm due in three months, and I'm showing much more than I thought I'd be.Probably due to the fact that there isn't just one little life growing inside of me - but three."I just want to be as safe as possible."Lewis grunts in irritation. I hear all the things he doesn't say. We've spent every Christmas together since we were kids.After Mom's death, Lewis became the arbiter of all things family. He's really the only reason we have any traditions at all. But it's not a good enough reason to break my pact with myself - that I won't tell Lewis until I'm going into labor. My intense, extremely overprote
"Well," I say, straightening. "Isn't this a surprise?"Lewis Felton exhibits none of his usual pomp and circumstance. In fact, his nice jacket is rumpled, his button-down rolled to the elbow.His auburn hair is windblown, sweat wetting his temples. In fact, he looks like he ran here."The meeting is over," I inform him coldly, packing up my briefcase. "Your proxy should have your notes prepared for you."Lewis says nothing, only stares at me in the vast, empty conference room. Outside, San Francisco buzzes vividly. When the board requested I fly in for a few weeks after the New Year, I did so without question. It wasn't a difficult decision. Saint-Égaré has felt empty since August. It's felt like hell.Every inch of it makes me think of Georgina Felton, and while San Francisco is her home, at least my version of it is untouched by her laugh, her dark eyes. It doesn't stop me though, from halting on the street now and then when a banner of red-black hair swoops by. My heart catches eve
Impossible.He's a fever dream. An hallucination. Brought into real, beautiful, corporeal being by my deepest, more desperate wishes."Richard," I croak, trembling. The contractions are ravaging. In moments, the doctor says well begin pushing in earnest. A terror I didn't know would come has me around the throat, and it's good I'm lying down when I see him, or I'm sure I'd collapse. "What are you doing here?"He rushes from the doorway, catching and gripping my hand as he leans beside me. "Pregnant? Really, Ms. Felton?"I laugh, despite myself. My body is quivering with anticipation, bracing for the fight of its life. "I didn't mean to keep it from you. I mean I did, but...God, Richard, it's been so hard."Tears roll down my cheeks. I turn away to hide them, but Richard catches my cheek in his palm, turning my eyes to his."I'm here now," he whispers, and those words, the ones I've wanted and yearned for and dreamed of — those fairytale words break my heart all over again. "Georgina."