I kissed the small coin shaped birthmark on his chest. “Thank you for keeping your promises.”
His arm tightened. “Always.”
I sank into relaxation, boneless and sated. “Always?”
He chuckled, the sound bouncing around my chest. “You think I’ll be able to leave you alone now? After that?” He looked at the stars through the canopy. “No way. I’ve been addicted to you since we got here. Now that I’ve been allowed to have you, there’s no way I’m letting you go.”
I shivered with happiness. I hadn’t allowed myself to notice just how deviously charismatic Galloway was. How his moods affected my moods. How his charm was dark and sharp but his will to please took over his own desires.
I love him.
So much.
Unable to hide the chasming depths of emotion, I teased, “It sounds like I’m going to be busy.”
He smirked. “Does that bother you?”
“Not at all.”
His knuckles brushed aside the hair stuck to my cheek. “I’ve been hard for you for so long, Estelle. Half-crazy, no, that’s a lie, totally crazy with wanting you.” His turbulent eyes turned a deeper darker blue. “I know I can’t lose control with you. That I’ll never come inside you. But being with you is the best place on earth for me.”
I removed his hand from my cheek, guiding him seductively down my body.
He sucked in breath as I splayed his touch over my breast.
He arched an eyebrow. “Again?”
I nodded.
My fingers explored between us, finding his warm cock. Already, he was semi-hard, reacting to my demands for a second course.
His lips twitched as he rolled my nipple. My hips rocked without my permission, seeking something, seeking him.
“Where have you been all my life?” He kissed me softly.
“Waiting.”
“Waiting?”
“Waiting for this.” Stretching, I gave him everything I was. “Waiting for you to find me.”
“And now that I’ve found you?”
“You’re mine.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
Chapter Forty-Six
...............................................
G A L L O W A Y
......
FEBRUARY
ESTELLE was a sorceress.
Pure and simple.
Being with her tamed the tempest in my soul, while life deleted my past and skewed all conception of normal.
What was conceived right, suddenly became wrong.
What was wrong, miraculously became right.
And where danger and death used to reign, now happiness and hope became stronger.
That was the island for us.
That was Estelle for me.
After the most insanely incredible night in the bamboo grove, life sped up. Without thinking, we all slotted into our place in this new world and stopped fighting it. And once we did...we no longer struggled as much.
Sure, there were days when loneliness became overwhelming.
When the drizzle became depressing.
When the constant heat became debilitating.
Some nights, we still stared out to sea, begging for a plane to pass. Some mornings, it was hard to get out of bed, faced with yet another day of momentous gathering, hunting, and island living.
But for every dark day, there were bright ones.
For every tear, there were smiles.
For every argument, there was laughter.
We used our time wisely, slowly increasing our skills and building bigger and better things. We educated ourselves not by text books and professors but through nature and trees. And slowly, our mental and physical capabilities adapted to our new place.
I would never admit out loud that I’d accepted this as my home, but in my heart, I couldn’t deny it.
This was my place. My safety. My chosen sanctuary.
And it filled my soul with gratefulness that I’d somehow found it.
After I’d admitted to Estelle that I needed her as much as we needed the rain to survive, and she’d admitted that she was in love with me, our sexual tension only increased rather than dispersed.
I took her often.
She took me often.
And in each other’s arms, we found paradise.
As my body slipped into hers, and her breath entered my lungs, and her kisses captured my lips, I healed more than I thought possible.
Somehow, she gave me the permission to release the hate for the past I’d suffered, she granted forgiveness for what I’d done and soothed every screwed-up emotion I had left from the trial.
My ankle might never heal completely but with Estelle in my world...I began to think my soul just might.
.............................
MARCH
The marine debris that’d blown into our lives, thanks to the major monsoon, slowly became fundamental to our existence.
We’d repaired the deck chair with sticks to replace its broken frame and the barnacles were chipped off to reveal a sad, rusted chair that was just as abandoned as us.