“I love you so much,” he grinned down at me, his eyes full of tenderness. Thankfully, my thoughts were swept away as soon as his soft lips met mine. The thunder continued to rumble around us as we became lost in each other. Each touch, each movement fueled the flames that threatened to engulf me. I could think of nothing else other than Finn. I wanted to be closer - I needed to be closer.
Deciding that I couldn’t ignore the ache inside me any longer, I clumsily rid Finn of his boxers as he attempted to do the same for me.
“Stasia,” he breathed into my neck; his voice husky with passion. “I’ve never…” The sudden intensity in his eyes sent ripples of every emotion through my body at once. Beneath the overwhelming passion and unmistakable desire was a layer of uncertainty, a side to him no one was allowed to see. A side of him I’d seen only once before. His innocence. It shone so brightly in his eyes, that my heart melted and ran down into the sand, mixing with the rain.
“Me either,” I whispered back. I felt his body tense unexpectedly as a crushing disappointment fell over his face.
“I don’t have…anything,” he stumbled, looking away from me in shame. “I didn’t know…I..”
“It’s okay,” I rubbed his face to comfort him, utterly touched and silently thanking my adopted mother. “I’m on the pill.”
His body relaxed and he closed his eyes, relief washing over him. I pulled him back down on top of me as his touch became more urgent, his kisses more desperate. I had never felt a need so strong. It was crushing in its intensity and urgency. I no longer heard the banter of the rain or the rumbling of the thunder. The storm was now raging inside of me, releasing entirely new and powerful feelings. Waves of heat rolled over me as we became one, and I willingly embraced this entirely new and profound level of love. Time faded away and the outside world disappeared into oblivion, leaving only me, Finn, and the perfect storm.
Chapter 19
“Time to wake up, sleeping beauty.” A light, feathery touch along my arm roused me from a dreamless sleep, as the musical sounds of crashing waves filled my ears. I kept my eyes closed, but couldn’t stop the sloppy smile from dripping across my face. I had a bad feeling that getting rid of said sloppy smile would take some effort. I knew that it would take Carmen all of two seconds to figure out what I’d done if she caught a glimpse of it. Finn’s touch trailed down my arm and onto my trace, as he took my hand and kissed it softly. The light of day burned against my eyelids as I blissfully replayed last night over and over in my head.
“Turn off the lights, it bright out here.”
“It’s called the sun,” he chuckled. “I’m afraid there’s no off switch.”
“Damn.” Before I could say more, a loud squeal and subsequent laughter jolted me wide awake. I took in the throngs of early morning beach goers and tourists snapping pictures of the rocky shore, Aphrodite’s Rock, and the sea. Shock and horror rushed over me when I remembered that I was lounging around in public, sporting nothing but my birthday suit.
“Oh my god!” I instinctively curled up into a big red ball of absolute humiliation, until I realized that move had only succeeded in baring my backside to the entire world. I moved to huddle up against Finn, when I noticed his pious smirk and the unmistakable glint in his deep blue eyes as he watched me with amusement.
“Where are my clothes?” I demanded with a hitch in my voice. I searched the surrounding sand in a desperate hunt for something - anything – that resembled my bra and underwear. Finn snorted and proceeded to antagonize me further by showing off the clothes he was clutching in his hands. Before I could beat him senseless, I discovered we were sparkling. I let out an exasperated sigh and collapsed back onto the sand.
“I hate you,” I declared plainly. As he hid his laugh behind a poorly executed cough, I glared at his pearly whites and fought the smile that played across my own lips.
“I notice you keep saying that,” he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Although I’ve done nothing to warrant such harsh words…”
Feeling increasingly exposed (which doesn’t take much when you’re standing naked on a beach full of people), I lunged at him unsuccessfully. He stood his ground and held them just out of my reach with a smile. Not surprisingly, no amount of jumping did me any good. Instead I was forced to watch in horror as he walked down the beach with a satisfied lightness in his step. I scrambled to my feet and chased after him, nearly tripping over a small toddler counting rocks near the water’s edge; his unsuspecting mother beaming with pride. The possibility that Finn’s cloak would disappear at any given moment was enough to send my legs into overdrive. I had no idea how far away from him I could be, and still remain invisible. The burning heat of my cheeks spread to the rest of my body as I chased him past a sweet older couple holding hands. To my relief, he turned on his heel and headed out into the waves instead of farther down the beach. I swam after him as hard as I could, and finally caught up with him after about a mile.
“Give me my clothes!” I shouted at him. He whirled around with a look of pleasant surprise masking his underlying merriment.
“What clothes?” he asked innocently, while pulling on his own jeans and shirt. I came within inches of latching onto him, when he twisted out of my reach and continued to swim. Realizing that I had to ‘up’ my game if I wanted my clothes back, it dawned on me that I had many more non-traditional options at my disposal, rather than chasing him all over the Mediterranean Sea. I still wasn’t exactly sure what all my abilities allowed me to do, so I used my imagination and prayed it would work. I held my arms out toward Finn and easily anchored my energy.
“Stop him,” I commanded quietly. A swarm of energy flew outward and through the water toward him. Mere seconds later, that same energy had doubled in strength and raced its way back toward me, in the form of a powerful current. The water flowed past me but didn’t take me with it.
Instead, I watched with giddiness as the now-struggling Finn was forced backwards. In an effort to understand what was happening, he twisted around and met my smiling eyes with surprise. As the current brought him back to me, I concentrated more energy on a patch of seaweed below, and pictured it sprouting up to take him captive. To my delight and surprise, the seaweed shot up and wrapped around him tightly, just as I had a pictured it in my mind.
Undaunted and enjoying my newfound potential, I sent more energy to a nearby group of crabs that were scurrying across the sea floor. I pictured them wrenching my clothes out of Finn’s hands and returning them to their rightful owner. They must have gotten the message, because they veered off course and headed straight for him. He twisted and struggled against the seaweed as the pale, white crabs’ claws snipped at his hands; forcing him to let go of my clothes. The obedient crabs expertly retrieved my sinking clothes and laid them at my bare feet.
“Why, thank you,” I thanked them formally with a curtsy. They performed a gleeful dance for me and then scurried off again. I watched a helpless and defeated Finn as I tugged my clothes back on with chagrin. If you’ve ever tried to dress underwater, you’ll know it’s no easy task. After several shaky attempts, my clothes were back on and I swam over to the “Finn burrito”; laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
“I’m glad I could provide some comic relief for your morning entertainment,” he replied dryly with a crooked grin. I released my energy on the seaweed and it snapped back down to its former length like a rubber band. As he made a big show of checking himself for bruises or cuts, I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him.
“I see what you mean about attacking seaweed,” he poked fun at me with heavy sarcasm.
“They’re absolutely ruthless!”
“You sure you don’t want to keep it up?” I asked seriously, “I could really use the practice.”
“Tempting…” he cut those swirling blue eyes at me, “but no thanks.”
“You’re no fun…” I teased him with a wink. In response, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, gently kissing me on the lips. I’d always heard horror stories about relationships that went south after the couple slept together, or that just turned weird afterwards - but I experienced none of that with Finn. It could have something to do with the fact that those stories had come out of Laura Beth’s mouth, so the validity was always suspect. But in an odd way, I actually felt
