He doesn’t reply; he just stares at me, and in a moment of boldness, I get up while I know his eyes are still on me and give him a full show as strut towards my chair with my ass swaying back and forth with the yellow fabric snuggled between my cheeks. I hear a brief intake of air and when I sit down, I notice him staring at me out of my periphery. I grab the sunscreen and squeeze some into my hands before rubbing it slowly down my legs and over my arms. “Do you think you can get my back for me?” I toss him the sunscreen and he gets up and walks towards me.
“Stand up.” His voice is gruff and low as he approaches me and stands behind me. I’m expecting his hands along my back but instead, I feel his fingers tracing down my side.
“When did you get this?” he asks and I realize he must be looking at the tattoo just above my rib cage.
“A few months ago…” I wince. I’d been so good about keeping it covered and wearing dresses and tops that covered it up, but this bathing suit exposes a lot of skin and leaves practically nothing to the imagination.
“You are enough,” he whispers and rubs his fingers over the words. “You’re more than enough. You’re everything, beautiful. Who’s made you feel like you weren’t?” Beautiful. I melt under his words as he begins to rub the sunscreen into my skin.
I swallow and shake my head grateful that he can’t see my face. “I…no one.”
“Bullshit. Tell me.” His voice is gruff and I briefly consider giving in. I consider telling him that I got it in response to the abandonment issues that have plagued me my whole life. Now that Micah has resurfaced, I hate that I have something so permanent on my skin reminding me that I’ve spent too much time longing for his presence. Especially now that I’m not even sure how I feel about his recent reappearance.
“I…not now.”
He spins me around to look at him. “Do you not trust me?”
“Of course, I do…I just…” I trail off, not wanting to have this conversation now. “Want to get in the pool!” I giggle as I pull out of his grasp and dive into the deep end of our pool. When I resurface, he’s staring down at me with a smile on his face before he pulls his sunglasses off and follows suit.
He pops up next to me and I watch in fascination as the water clings to him. His hair. His eyelashes. His chest. The water trickles down him in rivulets and I watch in fascination as it does. My feet don’t touch the bottom so I move towards a shallower area when I feel his hand around my wrist and he hauls me towards him, safely above the water. On instinct, I clamber around him and climb onto his back, wrapping my legs around his waist. I feel my sex opening up and my clit clenches in response to the fact that it’s pressed up against his back. I squeeze my legs around him tighter and wrap my arms around his neck. “Thanks for the ride.” I giggle as he moves slowly around the pool.
“I’ll admit it bothered me that you invited him,” he starts as he wades slowly in the six feet waters. “I thought maybe…you were trying to fill a void that I couldn’t fill.” I gasp and go to speak up when he continues. “I know it’s selfish because you deserve the opportunity if you want it. I just…I’m being stupid. I was jealous.” I move from his back so that I can face him and wrap my legs around his front. I pull back slightly and grab his face to make our eyes lock.
“Listen to me,” I start. His arms lock around my back and in this moment, I’m not thinking about how sexual our position is. I’m only concerned with making him understand. “No one, not even the person responsible for half of my DNA, can take your place. You’re…” I turn my head to the side to avoid his deep penetrating gaze. He turns my chin slowly towards him so that I meet his eyes. He squints slightly due to the sun but I can still read the look in his crystal blue eyes almost perfectly. “You’re…you.”
He doesn’t say anything; he just continues to stare