Page 89 of Lilies from Hell

Alek interlaces our fingers and leads us into a fairly spacious room with large windows overlooking the beach. I gaze in awe at the vegetation surrounding the sand and the crystal-clear sea. Everything is so clean that it’s as if no one has ever set foot on the sand. It’s strange that there’s no one else here but the two of us, but it’s not something I’m complaining about.

The soles of my sandals sink into the sand, the sea breeze ruffling my hair as we walk towards a Balinese bed. I smile when I see the red petals on the mattress and cushions. In the middle is a tray of appetizers next to a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket.

“I guess we’re a little far from the city,” I say as I sit down on the soft mattress.

He tilts the corner of his lips and puts his arm around my shoulders, resting my head on his chest.

“We’re on an island.”

“Island?” He nods, resting his head on mine.

“Where are the others?”

“It’s just the two of us, lyubov’. It’s private. Ours,” he explains simply. My nose wrinkles at his statement and my insides seem to turn upside down.

“Ours…?” I murmur, still processing his words.

“Do you not like it?” His eyes look at me anxiously.

“Yes! It’s beautiful. A little exaggerated, perhaps. That we’re here alone, I mean… On your island…”

“Ours,” he hastens to correct, frowning. “And it’s not exaggerated. I want your whole attention.”

“You already have it, you don’t need to bring me to a desert island,” I say with a sly smile. He shakes his head slowly before grabbing my waist and pulling me onto his lap.

“I always want more of you,” he murmurs, our breath mingling as he speaks.

He ends up joining our mouths in a desperate, suffocating kiss. My lungs can barely recover when he pulls away enough to let me breathe.

“I know it sounds stupid, but I feel like you’ve gotten under my skin and I can’t get you out.” His hands touch the bare skin of my lower back. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I don’t think I could live without you. Doing so would be like having every drop of blood drained from my body.”

“I believe you,” I say, trying to ignore the twinges in my lower abdomen. Because even though I wouldn’t admit it, and as stupid as it was, I was starting to feel that way too.

We both melt into a kiss that lasts until we start to lose control, and he pulls away with his heart beating wildly in his chest. Just like mine.

“We should open this before it gets warm,” he murmurs, opening the bottle with somewhat clumsy fingers.

“Thank you,” I whisper as he pours me some champagne into a tall glass encrusted with diamonds. He pours some into his glass too, and I smile a little when I see him take a small sip. “I thought you didn’t drink.”

“With you, I do,” he replies without a hint of doubt in his voice.

The rest of the time I’m too distracted in his arms, talking while he pays close attention to everything that comes out of my mouth to notice the warm colours that now dominate the sky. Disappointment grips my gut as I realize what that means.

“We have to go back.”

“Everything is fine with your parents.”

“What do you mean, everything’s fine?”

“I want us to spend the night together.” My stomach clenches. “If you want to, of course. We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he adds, stumbling over his words. I smile as I watch his cheeks turn red. I’ve been waiting years for this, and he’s still hesitating.

“I do,” I reply with a smile, interrupting whatever he was about to say.

It doesn’t take him long to get up with me wrapped around his body. Lately, I find it impossible to be more than two minutes away from his skin, but I don’t think that’s a problem for him.

The tension is unbearable when my hands fiercely grab his neck. My throat tightens with the desire to have his lips between my teeth again as I surrender to the sparkle in his eyes and his almost unreal features. When he puts me down and goes to open the refrigerator, my skin protests at the loss of his touch.

“What would you like to eat?”