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Elise shoots to her feet in a flurry of sand, all but running back to the water and diving in. I don’t know why what I said was her breaking point, but I need to room the breath, too. Her silent fleeing tells me everything I need to know. I offered her the serious relationship that I want with her, and she was mute, dismissing me with her silence. It can mean nothing else except that Johan is still important to her, and she hasn't made her decision yet. I just can’t accept that.
Elise’s phone pings in her beach bag, distracting me from my thoughts. I can sit up enough to see her sitting in the water, deep enough that it covers her up to her shoulders, but she has her back to me. On a whim, I grab the phone where it’s sitting on top of her towels.
It’s Johan calling, and while my instinct is to just silence the call, I look back out at Elise again and decide to answer. Why should I be ashamed of being out here with her?
When I greet him, Johan is shocked enough that he sputters before he gets any words out. “Dan? Why are you answering Elise’s phone? And where are you guys?”
“Elise wanted to leave the villa and go somewhere quieter so I just went with her. Why, what’s going on?”
“…Can I join you guys, by any chance? Andries is sleeping off his hangover, Roxanne is nowhere to be found, and Lili and Robin just left to go to town. I’m pretty bored here.”
I’m momentarily thrown by the odd question. “Uh, let me ask El. Hold on for a few minutes.”
I mute the phone, unsure of what to do. Elise is still out in the water, oblivious to the call I’m on, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want Johan here with us since I went to all this trouble of bringing us to this private place. Then again, he must be bored to tears there alone, and it’s not his fault everyone else is tense with each other. But… what’s the point of being in this secluded place with Elise if she doesn’t love me? It’s not like I can force her to change her emotions, and she has to choose who the best man for her really is, even if that means her being with Johan for good. The idea pisses me off, terrifies me, and makes me sick to my stomach, but it simply isn’t my call to make.
With a heavy sigh, I stand and walk the phone over to Elise, who looks up at me in surprise. “It’s Johan. He wants to join us.”
Elise looks utterly confused. “Doesn’t he have my brother to keep him company?”
“Apparently Andries is still dozing off and Roxanne isn’t around. Everyone else left to go downtown.”
She watches me to see if I will give her any indication of whether I want us to be alone or not, but when I refuse to rise to her bait, she just waves her hand in the air. “Fine. Tell him to come, then.”
I unmute the phone, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice as I tell Johan to come over and join us. He sounds so relieved to be invited that it almost makes me feel bad. Almost, but not really.
“I truly appreciate it, man,” Johan says, his tone honest and warm. “Thank you so much.”
With the conversation over, and Elise ignoring me again, I head back to my beach towel and lay down once more, tucking Elise’s phone back into her bag and ruminating on what I’ve just done. How much of a pushover am I to be the one to invite Johan here with us? Loving Elise has made me so soft that I don’t even recognize myself. It’s almost laughable. Elise, of course, manages to notice the second that I’m relaxed again and comes out of the water to torment me once more. I hear her settle on the towel next to me, silent for the moment.
“Your ex is on his way,” I tell her, not bothering to open my eyes. “I gave him our location. He should be here in twenty minutes.”
Elise just looms for a minute or so more, but then she stretches out on the towel next to me, and my heart rate kicks up in response to how close she is.
“Thanks for everything, Dan,” she tells me, her voice low. Then, she plants her lips softly on my shoulder, and before I can comprehend that, she’s already kissing my cheek.
I grab her shoulder and hold her in place. “Okay, enough, El.”
Elise grabs my hand where it’s holding her, prying it off and kissing a path from the palm of my hand back to my shoulder again. My brain is shorting out at the things she’s making me feel, but I have to stay centered and not give in. If I let Elise know that she has this kind of power over me, she’ll never leave me be.
In one swift movement, I throw my leg over her hips and roll her onto her back, using her shock to grab her wrists in my hands and pin them above her head before she can get her bearings. Elise gasps, eyes flying open wide as she looks up at me, all stretched out and vulnerable. My knees are on the blanket on either side of her body, and again, I’m all too aware of how little clothing separates us––just my swim briefs and her bikini. I smirk down at her, enjoying that I’ve been able to get over on her.
“I said enough,” I growl, making her shiver beneath me.
“Or else what?” she snaps back in a dare.
Elise thinks she has power over me right now, even though I have her pinned down this way. I can see it in her eyes, and in the smug way her mouth is pulling up at the corners. Suddenly I’m annoyed with how no matter what I do, she never feels like I’m the one in control, and her trying to be all seductive right now while Johan is on his way is just more manipulation. How can one woman be so irresistible yet so infuriating, all at the same time?
I want Johan as far from my mind as possible with Elise beneath me like this, but then an idea strikes me that is almost too nefarious to enact. Not nefarious enough, though, that I won’t go through with it.
Johan is a good lad and hasn’t done anything that I can really take offense to, but the fact that he is still leaving the idea of pursuing Elise open means that he doesn’t see me as the threat that I really am. If I want Elise, I can have her, at least physically, and it’s about time that I prove it to Johan.
I’ll fuck Elise, right now, until Johan arrives and sees us. I just know he’ll be too mortified to stay and flee back to the villa. It’s a malefic, but brilliant plan, and it will prove once and for all that I am not someone to be fucked with. Too many people are playing with my heart and my friendship lately, and I’ve had more than enough.
I release one wrist and grab her perfect face in my hand. “Or else I’ll fuck you senseless.”
She must assume that this is an invitation, because while I’m still working out my plan in my mind, Elise closes the gap between her and me, slanting her mouth against mine with enough gusto that I have no doubt whether she’s still playing with me or not. My eyes could almost roll back in my head, it feels so good to be kissing her again, and Elise is pulling out all the stops now that she thinks she has me in her snare. I can’t help but enjoy the hell out of it; her tongue dancing against mine, the way she nips at my lip when she pulls away, and the small noises she gives me while we make out. Her mouth tastes so good, but not as good as another part of her body that I plan to explore as soon as possible.
Even though I know that I’m fucking her for my own reasons, there’s no denying that she affects me in a devastating way. I’m as hard as iron, rubbing against the soft skin of her belly through my briefs, and her clever tongue has my head buzzing.
