Monday
Picture 2
AJ Silent Voice’s Choice: Picture 2
Title:
The scorching summer sun did nothing to warm the cold waters of the Pacific that poured onto the shore of First Beach. It didn’t matter, though; the cold water was something you got used to at the rez. Jake and his boys never let it stop them from horsing around or just relaxing on the sand during the lazy days they set aside. Sara had become no different. She’d spent so much time with them that it wouldn’t be a surprise if she turned just as tan as they were. And she was close.
Her legs kicked out of the water as Jake walked onto the sand, and he turned at the splash just in time to see her go under. He laughed and grabbed a towel, setting two out for them to lay on. He walked to the water with one in his hand and wrapped Sara in it as she stepped out of the water. He encased her in his arms and she laid her wet head against his solid chest.
Sun tinted her cheeks red and her skin had a seasonal glow that drove Jake crazy. He’d nuzzle his nose against her neck, breathing in the sunshine on her skin. The smell of coconut had become an aphrodisiac. The oil gave her just the right bronze coloring, and also allowed his hands to smooth across her form effortlessly. They laid down, Sara on her stomach, as Jake grabbed the bottle from her knapsack.
Sara hummed lazily as he rubbed down her back and shoulders. “I think you’re enjoying this too much,” Jake said.
Sara chuckled and nodded her head. Jake smiled and smoothed the remaining oil onto her shoulders and down her arms before flopping on his back next to her. Sara extended her arm across his chest and turned her head to him. “You need sunscreen.”
“Right, Sara. You’re telling me that as you sit here baking at 350 for twenty minutes?” She closed her eyes and smiled lazily back at him. Jake couldn’t look away from her blissful expression. Her long lashes looked so childlike, and her grin showed an innocence long forgotten. She’d never admit it, but he saw it every once in a while, and he was glad he could give that back to her.
“I’m not joking. You’re going to have to let me help you, too.” She slowly pulled herself to her knees, leaning over Jake to grab the sunscreen, causing her breasts sit provocatively on his chest. He huffed when she grazed them across his nipples. She kissed his chest as she popped the cap and squirted some lotion on her hands.
“Tease,” Jake whispered as she began to smooth the lotion onto his chest, down his abs, and back up again.
She worked slowly, savoring the feel of him under her fingertips. His body was strong and she drew security from being in his embrace. No one, besides her father, had ever held her like Jake did. Some nights after he’d gone home, she’d stay up and sit in her living room and remember each touch, each word they shared. She took nothing for granted.
She finished, rubbing the remaining lotion down the leg of his swim trunks as slowly as she could. He laughed and grabbed her hands away from their intended destination. He didn’t say anything, just wagged his finger at her. She faked a pout and he kissed her nose and laid back down.
She sat, cross-legged, beside him. Her eyes were pensive and her tone serious. “Jake, I was wondering if we could talk.”
Hearing the tone of her voice, he propped himself up on one elbow and turned towards her. “Sure. What’s up?”
A million things ran through his mind. What if she was breaking up with him? What if she was leaving? What if she’d found out what he was? What if she asked about the imprint? What if she was pregnant? At that thought, a warmth bloomed in his chest. The thought of Sara, round and glowing with his child, made something inside him leap for joy. He pushed that thought away and came back to the moment.
“I know...what you said...how you feel about me, and I want you to know that I...I...” She hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers and stared at each grain of sand. She wanted to say it; he needed to hear her say it, but he needed to understand a few things before that.
“I never told you what happened my parents, or to me, and you have to know that before I can say it. You gotta know because it’ll make more sense and you’ll understand how much I mean it. But I’m just not ready yet, Jake. You might not like what you hear.” Her shoulders slumped and she fought hard against the tears that threatened to fall.
He didn’t say anything, just reached out and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.
“There’s nothing you could tell me that would change anything, Sara. You have to know that,” Jake said. He meant it, too. The past was nothing more than a culmination of things that made Sara the person he loved, and nothing she’d share would make a bit of difference to him. She was his, and that’s all that mattered. Now came the task of making her believe that.
“So, what, do you have a third nipple or something? Were you parents Soviet spies for the USSR? Did you used to run a Mexican drug ring in California?” He smiled teasingly, trying to lighten Sara’s guilt over whatever information she was holding back. It seemed to work, a bit, and she snorted.
“No!” He picked her up and began turning her this way and that, checking her over. “Jake, stop! Stop! That tickles!”
“I’m looking for the slave brand on you, or the extra limb you have stuck in your itty-bitty, teeny-weeny bikini! Come on, where’s that nubbin!” By this time, she was in fits of laughter and he was pulling her into his lap, dangerously close to the wood in his shorts.
When she squirmed, she felt it against her ass and ground herself harder causing him to forget his tickling fingers and, instead, he gripped her hips.
“Oh, you’re not fighting fair...” His words dropped off as she placed her lips on the side of his neck, tasting the salt on his skin. She kissed her way up to his ear and sucked his earlobe into her mouth and quickly released it. He groaned and shifted her in his lap till she was straddling his hips.
She couldn’t look at him, so she kept her lips next to his ear and whispered, “I love you, Jake.”
Joy spread through his body like a shot of adrenaline and his mouth shot into the biggest grin. At that moment, his whole world dropped into place; every piece that had been missing was found in those three words. Every lonely night, every broken heart, was forgotten and totally insignificant next to the amazing thing she’d just told him. Tears pooled in his eyes, and he leaned close to her ear and, not bothering to control the emotion in his voice, he whispered as well, “Say it again.”
She giggled first, then whispered, “I love you.”
He pulled her against his chest, tucked her head under his chin and held her, feeling her breathing, feeling her heart beat close to his. She was his. And...she loved him. Kismet had smiled on him, and he clung to her tighter; he’d never be alone again. She’d never want for anything; he’d put her above himself, above everything, and make her the center of his world. Three little words were all it took. He needed to hear it from her again, so he bent close and placed a kiss on her cheek, “You love me?”
She spoke quietly into his chest, as if she were speaking directly into his heart, “I love you.”
“One more time, please baby.”
She lifted her head this time, finding his eyes misty and full of indescribable happiness. “I love you, Jake.”
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