Reclaiming the Sand

Fly

“It’s important to put it back. If they don’t, the beach will disappear,” Fly

“You’re right,” I said softly, my words floating out on the wind.

We sat huddled together in the cooling air, watching as the boat returned the beach to where it belonged.

I sat there, the waves crashing in their soothing symphony and realized I was like the sea eating away at the beach. I had taken and destroyed heedlessly. I had grabbed Fly

And in the process I had washed away and lost myself.

But Fly

I wiped away the tears that were suddenly dripping down my face. I sniffled, trying not to draw attention to my blubbering.

Of course Fly

“You’re crying. Are you sad?” he asked, frowning. He reached out and wiped the tears from my face, rubbing the wetness between his fingers as he tried to work out what was wrong with me.

I scrubbed my face with my hands. “I’m not sad, Fly

“Don’t cuss, Ellie,” Fly

“Sorry,” I muttered, my lips quirking upwards into a smile.

“But I was. I was horrible. I treated you so badly, Fly

Fly

“Don’t cry. It makes me feel sad. Like I want to cry too,” Fly

I tried to stop. I really did. But it was like a dam had broken and years of repressed tears came flooding out.

“I’m so sorry, Fly

Fly

“I know you’re sorry, Ellie,” he said when I had calmed down.

“Huh?” I wasn’t sure I had heard him correctly.

“I know you’re sorry, Ellie. You weren’t very nice to me. You made me feel angry and sad and I cried a lot because of you. But now you make me smile. You laugh and I laugh and we have fun together. You want to be with me and I want to be with you. We belong together,” he said with complete conviction and an emotion I hadn’t heard in his voice before.

“You think we belong together?” I asked weakly.

Fly

“You make me feel good, Ellie. I make you laugh. We’re happy together. That’s all that matters.”

And he was right. That was all that mattered. We had each other.

I loved him. He had given me a life I never dreamed I could have. He had given me co

He had become my world.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek and he ducked his head bashfully.

“Can we go back to the hotel now? I want to get a shower. I’ve had enough sand,” Fly

“Let’s go,” I said, getting to my feet.

As I walked behind him, letting him lead us back to the stairs where we had left our shoes I knew that I would follow Fly

Fly

I had wiped Murphy down with a towel and patted his bed so he wouldn’t jump up on ours. He listened obediently; curling into a ball and promptly began snoring his big, doggie snores.

I opened my tattered suitcase and pulled out a pair of pajama shorts and tank top. I needed to shower. I was feeling pretty gross from the sand and salt. But I had to wait until Fly

I thought about him naked and wet only a few feet away and I felt myself flush and my body began to buzz. It had been a long time since I had sex. It wasn’t something I had ever spent a lot of time thinking about.

But now, as I fell deeper and deeper in love with Fly

What I wouldn’t give to open the door and climb into that shower behind him but I knew that was absolutely out of the question.

I looked over at the large bed that we would be sharing. We had slept in the same bed for weeks now and I had carefully kept a lid on my sexual desires. But it was becoming harder and harder to do that. Going slow had never been my strong suit. And I was starting to feel if I went any slower I’d be dead.

Sex had only ever been just sex. It had never meant anything. Sure when I was a kid I thought that by sleeping with Shane and a few other faceless guys that they would care about me. That I would matter.

Even when they had ultimately rejected me after getting what they wanted, my pride had been hurt more than anything else. Because I may have let them into my body but I had never let them into my heart.

But Fly

I wanted to give him my body. I wanted us to co

I needed it.

I craved it.

My mind started to go a million miles a minute, thinking about Fly

By the time he came out from his shower, steam billowing into the room, dressed in his fla

I turned on the shower a little cooler than was comfortable. I needed to calm down before I lost all sense of reason. Attraction and lust were powerful emotions. But love trumped them all. It was impossible to turn your back on that.

It claimed you.

My teeth were chattering by the time I got out of the shower, my skin pruning. But it worked. I wasn’t a raging ball of crazy physical desire anymore. And that was almost depressing.

When I came out of the bathroom, I found Fly

The waves matching the rhythm of my heart as I looked at the man who had come to be my everything.

I sat down beside him, brushing my side against his. He tensed for a moment but then relaxed.

We were quiet for a long time, which had quickly become our norm.

Fly

But I wouldn’t have to wait long to hear what was troubling him.

“I’ve never,” he said softly, his shoulders tense. I blinked in surprise by his strange statement.