I jumped when a boogie board drifted over and hit us on the ankles, chased by a boy in swim trunks. Kaidan picked it up and handed it back. We moved through the surf without talking, giving me a chance to calm. We ended up at the pier with its Ferris wheel painted in a faded rainbow of colors. It was afternoon and the sun was hot and bright when we left the sand and walked on the wooden boardwalk. Families milled about with ice cream cones, and a group of young skater boys loitered around the carnival entrance, smoking cigarettes and attempting trick moves. Kaidan led us past them into the carnival where smells of fried dough drifted along the air.
“Ever been on a Ferris wheel?” he asked me. I shook my head as we walked toward it, passing game stands with grumpy-looking attendants.
“Let me find a restroom first,” I said.
“Loos are by the entrance. I’ll meet you back here.”
It took a few minutes, but I found it. On my way back to the Ferris wheel I caught sight of Kaidan talking to a girl in front of a game booth. I stopped to watch as he handed over some money and was given three balls. The girl, a short and curvy Latina with satiny black hair, leaned over the booth to watch. A lacy black thong peeked out of the back of her hip-hugging shorts. I had to give Kaidan props for not ogling. He tossed the balls one after another, hitting the nearly impossible targets with ease, much to the dismay of the old man attendant. The girl cheered and pointed to a pink teddy bear, which the attendant pulled down and handed to her with a frown.
They turned away from the booth and Kaidan stopped, seeing me.
“Es tu novia?” the girl asked him.
“Er, I’m sorry, I don’t know much Spanish,” he answered. I was decent at Spanish, having taken five years, so I knew she’d just asked if I was his girlfriend. I also knew he had Spanish skills as well, so he’d been avoiding the question.
“Thank you,” she told him, giving me one last glance before walking away, snuggling the pink bundle with pride.
I started moving toward the Ferris wheel when he approached.
“She came up to see if I could win that for her.”
“That was nice of you,” I said. I thought it was cute how he felt the need to explain.
Nobody was in line at the Ferris wheel, so we were let on the rickety contraption right away. An iron bar pressed loosely across our laps.
As the ride lifted, a nervous discomfort nagged me. I gripped the bar.
“Afraid of heights?” he asked. I gave a tight nod and he chuckled. Yeah, I know, I know. I’m a big chicken. He leaned forward to look down, which made the car rock back and forth. I gasped, grabbing the bar harder and squeezing my eyes shut. Maybe if I hadn’t looked so closely at the rusty bolts that held the thing together, my brain wouldn’t be envisioning malfunction.
“Relax.” He laughed. “Have a look.”
I pried my eyes open to look at the amazing view of the sun glimmering off the ocean. I relaxed back into the hard seat. Everything was fine. We were nearly to the top when the ride stopped to let someone else on. I turned my head to Kaidan and bit my lip. He was gazing at me. There was no other word for it. Gone was the hardness.
What was going on in that mind of his?
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. We started moving again, up, up, until stopping at the very top. We were high. Really high. It was bright and breezy, making us squint. Distant voices below sounded like a rowdy group was waiting to get on the ride, maybe the skater boys. But everything felt so far away from us at that moment, like we were floating miles above it all.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” I whispered back.
He cupped a hand over my forehead to shield the sun.
“We should have worn our sunglasses,” he murmured. He was so close I could feel his breath and see the dried sea salt in his hair. My skin became hot. He leaned closer, so close, and breathed in.
“God, you smell nice,” he whispered. “I’ve missed that smell. I’ve missed everything about you, little Ann.”
My heart neared bursting when he looked straight into me. We were alone. So alone up here. As if gravity weighed all the heavy stuff down and we’d risen above it. Jealousies and insecurities couldn’t exist this high off the ground.
Kaidan moved his head to the side of my face as if to whisper something, but instead his soft lips grazed the sensitive spot beneath my ear. I stilled. The hand that had been blocking the sun slipped beneath my hair in a caress. His mouth moved down my neck, slow, like a playful whisper. At the base of my throat I felt his warm tongue tasting me. I wove my fingers into his hair. When he raised his face to mine, our quickened breaths mingled. I took in the sweetness of citrusy pheromones, lifted off him by the breeze. Even sitting, it made me dizzy.
I tried to pull him, to close the gap between us, but he resisted.
“Tell me you want it,” he whispered against my mouth, transforming me into a puddle of desire. He groaned, a deep sound of pleasure and need, probably smelling the pheromones my own body expelled.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “I want it.”
“Look at me when you say it.”
My eyes drifted open and his hands gripped me, one at my waist and the other still behind my neck. I looked straight into his ocean eyes. “I want it, Kai.”
Moving closer, with his tongue he ran a warm path across my bottom lip and my whole body tingled. A whimpering sound escaped, revealing my desperation for him to end this teasing torment. I was about to burn up from the anticipation.