Lux thought she knew exactly how this cruise would go: two weeks of awkward family dinners, no cell service, and way too much time to overthink the silence from the boy who stopped choosing her. She planned to keep her head down, her heart guarded...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Waking up felt like floating.
I didn't open my eyes at first. I didn't want to.
Colt's arms were wrapped around me tightly, his chest warm and steady against my back. One of his hands was resting on my stomach, fingers lightly splayed like he wanted to hold onto me even in his sleep. My legs were tangled with his beneath the covers, and his breath tickled the back of my neck in a slow, rhythmic cadence.
I stayed there, perfectly still, like if I didn't move, time wouldn't either. Like maybe the day wouldn't come. The day we had to say goodbye.
I knew it was stupid, but for a few minutes, I let myself pretend we weren't hours away from going our separate ways. That I didn't live in New York and he didn't live in California. That we weren't just a couple of strangers who met in the middle of nowhere on a floating hotel.
His grip tightened slightly, and then I felt it-a soft kiss, just under my ear, then another one, lower this time, pressed to the curve of my neck.
I shivered.
He didn't say anything. He just pulled my body closer to his, hips nestling against my backside. I could feel him, hard and warm through the thin sheets and less-than-existent space between us.
"Morning," he whispered, his lips brushing my skin.
Instead of answering, I reached down and laced my fingers with his where his hand still rested against my stomach. He hummed against my neck and began to trail his kisses lower, over my shoulder, down the line of my spine as he slowly eased me onto my back.
Our eyes met in the soft glow of morning light seeping through the curtains. He looked at me like he was seeing me for the last time-like he didn't want to forget a single inch of me.
He leaned down, kissing me gently, lips moving slow and deliberate against mine. I tangled my fingers in his hair as his hand slid beneath the sheet and found the curve of my thigh, his touch feather-light, teasing, like he had all the time in the world.
"I want to remember this," he murmured against my mouth.
"Then remember it," I whispered, lifting my hips slightly to meet him.
He moved over me, the heat of his skin pressing into mine, and I gasped when I felt him slide his fingers between my legs-slow and smooth, already knowing exactly how to touch me. My thighs parted for him without a second thought, the warmth pooling between them as his lips claimed mine again.
"God, you're perfect," he muttered, fingers circling in a way that made my breath hitch.
I arched into his touch, biting my bottom lip as the sensation built-wave after wave of it, sharp and soft at the same time. My nails dragged down his back when he slid two fingers inside me, curling them just right.
"Colt-" I whimpered, already on the edge.
His name on my lips seemed to light something in him. He kissed down my chest, his mouth wrapping around my nipple, his tongue flicking against it while his fingers moved faster, deeper. The pleasure bloomed so hard and fast it made my legs shake.
