Breeze of Life (18 page)

“Have you been here before?” The thought suddenly occurred that Harper knew about this place. Had he brought other girls here? My body tensed with that familiar sense of jealousy I had had when I thought of Harper with other girls.

“One of the guys on the tour told me about it. He brought his wife here for their honeymoon.” His words combined with his soothing hands on my back eased the tension immediately.

“Where’s the Southern Cross?” I asked rolling to my back to observe the bright stars. The stars here were plentiful, unlike back at home where the bright lights of the city dulled their glow. Harper helped me find the Southern Cross, which wasn’t as obvious and easy to find as one would think. Then we located Orion and finally my favorite, Perseus, my hero. He was hard to make out and if I were to be perfectly honest I couldn’t see a man in that constellation at all, but I loved the idea of Perseus. Perhaps it came from my love of romance novels and my adoration of Greek mythology. The two together had led me to Acheron, my favorite book and my number one book boyfriend. In Greek mythology, Perseus became the hero who slew Medusa. He later used her head to rescue the princess Andromeda from the monster Cetus. I sighed, how romantic. Harsh and violent, but nevertheless romantic.

“You never told me if you were coming to Hawaii.” Harper’s voice carried me away from ancient Greece and back to reality. He hadn’t posed it as a question but I knew it was. The thought of travelling with him on the tour would have once made me skittish and nervous, now it made me thrum with an excitement I never knew existed.

“My doctor’s appointment is on the third. I guess if he says it’s okay to travel, I’ll come with you, is that going to be too late of a notice?

“I’m sure we’ll still get you on a flight and if I have to change mine so we’re together so be it. But, just so you know, if you don’t come, I don’t go and that’s not some sort of childish protest. If the doctor says you aren’t well enough to fly or if anything else is wrong, I won’t go. I want to be here for you.” I began to wonder just how I got through the last eight months without Harper Somerville. “Really, Breeze, surfing is like a religion for me. Every time I am out there on the waves it’s like I am in a spiritual place. Mother Nature is my god, the waves her creation and me her disciple. Even though it means that much to me, there was always something missing, and I know now it was you, Breeze. I can’t do it without you anymore and I simply refuse to.” I pulled myself up to look down at him, his blue eyes pulled me into his unblinking gaze. I couldn’t believe that he was mine, that he wanted me, and that he loved me. Harper was a piece of male perfection, he was caring, he was honest and demanding, possessive even and I adored every little piece of him. It scared me to think what would happen to him if I died, but I needed to know that he had at least considered it.

“Harper, when I spoke to Mia she told me how worried she was about her family, that if she dies how will they cope. I had never really thought of that aspect of death. Now it scares me, the thought of leaving George behind, and you...” My words disappeared as sadness threatened to overcome me.

“Baby, I’m not going to lie. If this fucking cancer beats you, I will be crushed. Physically and emotionally beaten, but I promise you, I’ll be beaten but not down. I’ll go on, a big damn piece of me will be missing, you’ll take my heart with you and no other person will ever touch it. I’ll live for you, Breeze, until I see you again.” Not a damn thing could hold back the silent tear that fell down my cheek. Harper rolled me until his body was poised above me. His fingers were quick to wipe away the existence of my tears. “No more crying, Breeze. Only smiles from here on out.” He swooped down for a kiss and I held nothing back. Since Harper had returned from Portugal he had concentrated on pulling me from the darkness and helping me live again. Now, here under the stars on this beach in his sacred place, he was helping awaken another part of me. That inner woman who had sparked to life under Harper’s touch was back, stretching and yawning as if awakened from a deep dark slumber. Harper’s hands ran a course from my cheek, down my ribs, hip and finally thigh. He reached under my leg and silently encouraged me to wrap it around him. His lips ravished mine, licking and sucking with a barely contained hunger as his hips pushed and ground against my tender core. He was rock-hard and the feel of him almost sent me into a ravenous attack. I wanted him, now. Quickly he pushed my singlet top up and tugged with impatience, dragging it over my head and tossing it aside. The sudden feeling of vulnerability, being bare and naked like this outdoors shadowed the moment.

“What if someone comes along Harper,” I whispered between kisses.

“It’s late, dark and we are back in the shelter of the rocks. No one is going to come along and even if they do I’ll make sure they don’t see us. Trust me, Breeze.” He grinned that all too familiar cheeky grin. “I need to cross off a never,” he whispered. He tugged at the button of my shorts and I let him pull them down my legs, knickers and all, leaving me completely exposed to his gaze. “Damn, baby girl, you are stunning,” he growled as his weight crashed back down on me. My hands found the bottom of his shirt and he helped me drag it over his head. Skin to skin his breathtaking body against mine was hot and hard. My hips rolled against his with a reckless unabashed assault that I had never experienced before. My body ached for Harper, my heart pounded for him, to say I wanted him was simply ridiculous; I needed him like I needed the air to breathe. His lips left mine and fell straight to one nipple, sucking with an enthusiasm I could only describe as famished desire. One hand slid its way down the inside of my thigh and on its return trip it almost grazed the bare lips between my legs—so close, yet not close enough. Again his hand slid down and up, this time his finger slid through me and I arched off the ground, my breast thrust forward into his eager mouth. He continued to rub and pet me, moaning with approval as I responded to his hungry touch. He wasn’t gentle but I didn’t need gentle. This greedy onslaught was years of pent up desire and unacknowledged need. This love Harper had for me and my punished body was what I needed right now. I needed to feel alive, I needed to feel loved.

The cool air suddenly invaded my senses as Harper disappeared from over me. I opened my eyes to watch him kneel and push his shorts off his lean hips, his rock hard cock stood painfully out from his body. I arched a brow.

“No underwear?” He grinned as he crawled back up the length of my body, kissing and lapping spots that had never felt such tenderness. When he reached my lips he kissed me again.

“Way I see it, Breeze, I already spend half my life in the ocean, the other half I intend to spend inside you so there is barely a need for clothes let alone underwear.” The hot length of his cock rubbed at my core, I was embarrassingly wet and more than ready for him. “Tell me if you want to stop, baby, cause in the next five seconds it’s gonna be out of my hands.”

“I’ve waited a long time for this, Harper, don’t you dare ruin it by stopping,” I whispered between a kiss and following a quiet chuckle Harper thrust forward invading my body. I could feel him everywhere, in me, on me, around me but nothing compared to the feeling of him in my heart. Harper possessed me on every level. A few long slow thrusts quickly became many long hard thrusts and I held on for the ride of my life. Gripping his arms, my legs wrapped around his hips, my back arched as all thought left my body and only feeling was left—the feeling of Harper.  He quickly covered my mouth with his to absorb a loud moan, his body still moving with unwavering demand. The explosive feeling of being complete began to creep up on me and as my muscles began to clamp down on Harper, he groaned loudly.

“Damn, baby,” he murmured as he thrusts became shallow and wild. Hot on the heels of my orgasm, Harper quickly followed until completely spent and sated; he collapsed on top of me. “Am I too heavy,” he breathed heavily in my ear.

“No,” I managed behind a gasping breath. When we had finally gathered some coherency Harper lifted himself and slid out of my body. He didn’t move far though, lying right beside me with his arms still protectively wrapped around my waist.

“You still owe me a story today,” he whispered in my ear. I wasn’t sure I would be able to string a rational sentence together, nevertheless, I thought of a story.

“I was fifteen and I was dating your friend Robert.” Harper sighed loudly.

“Happy memory, Breeze.”

“Shhh, don’t interrupt. So, I was dating Robert and I found out he had been cheating on me with his old girlfriend Savanna. Apparently she put out and I didn’t.” I snorted with disdain. “She was a whore. Anyway, you and Sean were having a party and Robert turned up with Savanna while I assumed we were still together and I cried. So you hit him and Sean threw him out the front door and in an attempt to cheer me, you jumped off the roof into the pool and fractured your ankle. We spent the rest of the night in the emergency room.”

“Please tell me how on earth that made your happy memory list?”

“Because that’s the first time I realized you cared about me more than a friend.” Harper shifted so he could see me better.

“I wanted you as more than a friend long before then,” he whispered.

I shrugged. “Well, that’s when I realized it. I denied it pretty much every day following that until just recently, but that night you were prepared to end a friendship over me and willing to risk your crazy life for me by jumping off that damn roof. Then at the hospital, my head was on your shoulder and I think you thought I was asleep.”

“You weren’t asleep?” he almost yelled. I shook my head.

“No, and you told me you loved me.” Harper took a long deep breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me you heard me?”

“I guess I wasn’t sure how to respond. I wanted you to feel that way for me so badly, but I thought maybe you meant it like in a best friend only way, or a brotherly way.” Harper pulled me closer and pressed a kiss to my neck.

“Well, I loved you then, I loved you when I told you in March, I loved you when I told you yesterday and I love you right now. I always have and always will and I hope to fuck you realize that now because I’m not sure what else I can do to prove it.” I rolled into Harper’s chest and took a deep breath, inhaling the clean natural scent of him.

“You’ve already proven it so many times I’ve lost count. And I’ve loved you since I was ten even though I’ve never said it before.” Harper sighed, his entire body seeming to relax under me.

“Breeze, that right there just completed me. It’s you and me forever now, baby girl.”

Chapter 17

The Perfect Set

A group of waves, usually large that come from the “outside”

Harper was still fast asleep when I woke in the unfamiliar yet incredibly comfortable bed in our beach front cabin. I rolled out careful not to wake him. I knew he was tired. Hell I should be too and I certainly shouldn’t be able to move after the amount of times he made love to me throughout the night. From the dresser the worn leather cover of my notebook caught my eye and I ran my fingers reverently over it for just a moment. An idea whispered through my mind and I found myself crawling into a recliner by the window, my pen drawn to a blank page. Once finished I stared at the words before me for the longest time before carefully tearing the page out, folding it neatly and slipping it to the bottom of Harper’s backpack. He could find it today, tomorrow, next week or even a month from now. Somehow my heart knew he would find it when he needed to. It wasn’t something that he needed to see this very moment.

After a quick shower I closed the bedroom door and pattered on bare feet into the kitchen and began fumbling through the two bags of groceries on the counter. In the cupboards I found sugar and flour, I had everything I needed to make pancakes. Switching on my iPod, Pink’s
Bad Influence
filled the small kitchenette and I danced around the room with a careless freedom I hadn’t felt in a long time. I loved this song. It represented something I never was. I didn’t really go out and party hard, I didn’t play jokes, there was no underwear showing up anywhere when I was around, no, that was all on Harper. As my hip tapped closed a drawer a firm hand grasped my waist and a hard body pressed against my back urging me forward to the bench top. My body immediately responded to Harper’s demanding attention.

“You know, every morning I’ve woken to a sight much like this I’ve wanted to do something.” His hands slipped under my shirt, cupping my breasts which were so insignificant I hadn’t bothered with a bra. His other hand dipped beneath the waistband of my shorts and quickly found their mark. Harper then proceeded to make that kitchen bench completely unsanitary to eat off and after he had finished with me and helped me right my clothes I finished making the pancakes.

***

“Did you know Sean broke up with Evie?” Harper’s voice brought my attention out of the novel I was in and back to reality. He had been flicking through one channel after another on the TV while I lay on the opposite couch completely absorbed in the fictional world of tumultuous erotica. I had felt quite bold and a little bit naughty reading the stimulating scenes before me with Harper so close.

“No, what happened?” I wasn’t surprised to hear Sean was single again, his revolving door of girlfriends was hard to keep track of.

“She cheated on him.” That surprised me. Typically it was Sean who couldn’t get used to the idea of monogamy, but I know he was pretty taken with Evie. They had been together almost a year, that was a relationship record for Sean. “I know what you’re thinking and maybe a taste of his own medicine is a good thing. He was pretty cut up over it though.”

“I liked Evie. That sucks.” Regardless of Sean’s bed swapping antics, he had been as good as a brother to me and I didn’t want to see him hurt. He had been pretty taken with Evie, he had curbed his ways for her. Harper flicked the TV off and collapsed back onto the couch.

“When do we have to leave?” I asked.