Page 99 of Blue in the Deep Blue Sea

He looked at me.

“Are you afraid of us out there?” he asked, then answered his own question before I could speak.

“We’ll have to leave one day. Tomorrow, in a month, or in a year. But you never, ever have to be afraid for us somewhereelse, because the way I feel about you now is the same way I’ll feel whether we’re here, in the middle of the ocean, across it, or in London.” He drew a slow breath and let it out.

“Feelings don’t change because of a location. They change when people decide to change them.”

“Are you saying you have the same feelings I do?” My eyes lit up as I read between his words.

“Yes, Blue.” He sighed. “There isn’t a storm wild enough or an ocean deep enough to keep me away from you. And I hate you for that, because I can’t fucking live without you.”

He leaned over me, easing me down onto the rocks beneath us. “I would rather die in a world with you than live in a world without you.”

His knee slipped between my legs, gently parting them as his hand glided slowly over my thigh. His eyes never left mine.

“You saved me from myself,” he whispered. “But let me hate you a little more, because this… this is too good for it to end.”

25

SQUALO

Ihave fallen in love with Gabriella De Luca.

I admitted it to myself.

I hadn’t fallen for her beautiful face, or her body, or the way she thought or spoke. It was something deeper. Somehow, my soul had tied itself to hers, and she made me feel at peace. While I was drowning in a sea of regrets, she became the lifeboat that saved me.

I just wished I had a time machine. I wished I could turn back time, erase all the stupid things I’d done, and give us more time together. I wished I’d been this version of myself all along. But I guess we have to fall before we learn, and I've learned that life isn’t just hopes and dreams. Sometimes it’s about who you choose to share it with.

And my life’s dream had a color.Blue.

Near the rocks beside the lighthouse, the sea was shallow, scattered with smooth pebbles that formed a small beach. But beyond that stretch lay an underwater shelf of rock, marking where the sea suddenly dropped away into deeper water.

I carried her in my arms. The sun beat down on us, warming our skin, and the afternoon felt almost too perfect to be real. Earlier, I’d taken off my trousers and stood in nothing but my boxers. I held her as I waded into the sea until the water rose above my hips. Her arms circled my neck, her nails pressing into my skin. I knew going any farther would bring her fear rushing back.

I lowered her gently into the water and turned her to face me. I stood over her, the sea rippling around us.

“Scared?”

She nodded, nervously biting her lip.

I clenched my jaw and slowly lowered my face to hers. One hand rested on her waist, holding her close, while the other cupped her cheek. I ran my tongue over my lips, catching my bottom lip between my teeth for a second before I pressed my mouth to hers.

This time, she kissed me first.

Her tongue slipped between my lips, gliding beneath my teeth until it found mine. It tangled with it, circling slowly as her mouth moved against mine. This time, she was the one consuming me.

I slipped her shirt from her shoulders and let it drift across the water around us.

My hand glided over her ass before traveling down to her thigh. I grabbed her leg, lifted her up, and locked her against my hip. As soon as I held her there, she lifted her other leg and wrapped both around me.

She parted her lips from mine just enough to whisper, “Not scared anymore,” before pulling me back into an intoxicating kiss that stole the breath from my lungs and left my cock hard between us.

My hand slid lower, slipping between her thighs to my boxers before pulling out my throbbing cock. I held it in my hand untilthe tip hovered at her entrance. The moment it brushed against her, she lowered herself onto me, taking me deeper and deeper until a loud moan tore from my lips at how tightly she held me.

I lowered both hands to her ass, spreading her just enough while her arms rested around my neck, keeping me close as her tongue tangled with mine in a kiss that refused to end.

And I didn’t want it to.