The Summer of Us (Mission Cove #1) - Melanie Moreland Page 0,13

and we chose to respect one another’s boundaries.

I grabbed a fast shower, the cool water welcome on the heat of my skin. I shaved and shampooed, the whole time my stomach in knots.

Linc had told me he was a virgin as well. He’d promised he’d waited for me the same way I had waited for him and we’d discover it all together.

But what if I was awful at it?

What if it hurt as much as I had heard girls whisper in school? I had seen the size of his cock, and considering how small I was compared to him, I had no idea how I would fit that inside me.

I was still fretting when a soft knock on the cabin door made me look up. Linc was framed in the doorway, leaning on his shoulder, regarding me with a gentle expression.

“Hey.”

“May I come in?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Of course,” I babbled.

He stepped in. “I missed you at dinner.”

“Oh, well, ah, I had stuff. You know…I had to get ready, for, ah, later. Yeah, later.”

Wordlessly, he held out his hand. I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and walked to him, placing my hand in his.

He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Later is whatever we want it to be, Sunny. No pressure. I just want you and me alone.” He dropped another kiss to my skin. “I’ll wait for you. I’ll always wait for you.”

My nerves dissipated with his quiet declaration. I had to laugh at myself. It was Linc. My Linc. He would never do anything to hurt me.

I glanced up, lifting my shoulder. “Sorry, I’m being silly.”

He shook his head. “No. You’re being you.” He smiled. “And I adore everything about you. Silly or not.”

Our gazes held and I relaxed, all my worries gone. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “How about a walk? We can sit by the fire with everyone if you want after?”

“The walk sounds nice.” I picked up the bag I carried with me. It was full this time. “Maybe we could drop this off first?”

With a tender look, he took it from my hand. “Yeah, Sunny. We can do that.”

We walked along the shore, hearing the campers around the fire in the distance. The water swirled around our feet. Linc had his hand wrapped around mine, protective and warm. We sat on the rocks, watching the sun begin its descent in the distance, casting burnished rays on the water.

Linc lifted a strand of my hair. “Sunsets remind me of your hair. The muted reds and gold.”

I laughed quietly. “Being romantic, Linc?”

He chuckled. “Trying.”

“Shut your eyes.”

He did as I asked, and I fastened the thick, black, woven leather cuff I had seen in a secondhand shop while waiting for him to get one of the orders we were picking up. I had polished the silver clasp and cleaned the leather. I thought he would like how it looked.

“Okay,” I whispered.

He opened his eyes, looking at his wrist. He turned and admired the clasp. “I fucking love it. I’ll always wear it.”

I grinned in delight at his reaction, cuss word and all.

He winked, then slipped a small box into my hand. “My turn.”

I opened the box, a delicate necklace cushioned on black velvet making me gasp.

“It’s not much,” he whispered. “But I bought it with my own money, not his. Someday, I’ll buy you something better. It says what I can’t, though.” He huffed out a long breath of air. “My heart is yours, Sunny.”

I traced the two hearts woven together, the silver catching the last of the light.

I looked up at him, tears glimmering in my eyes. “I don’t need something better, Linc. This is perfect.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I turned, lifting my hair. “Put it on me?”

He slipped it around my neck, making me giggle as he cursed, trying to get it to catch. Finally, he brushed a kiss to the juncture of my neck. “Done.”

I faced him and slipped my hands around his neck. “Thank you.”

He kissed me, his lips tender against mine. I pulled him closer, sliding my tongue along his bottom lip, loving how he groaned and opened for me, slanting his mouth, and moving his tongue with mine in lazy strokes. I whimpered as his hand slid up my rib cage, cupping my breast and circling my nipple. He loved breasts. My breasts in particular, he informed me, although he referred to them as tits. I loved him touching them.

The kiss intensified, becoming hot, wet, and passionate.