Agony (6 page)

Word vomit. Oh God, here it comes.

“Then why do you?” I asked him quietly.

Arsen gave me a sidelong glance. He was searching my face for judgment of some sort, but I had already promised Addie that I would do my best to tuck that away.

“I didn’t have any plans of doing this, if that’s what you’re thinking. I was out with some friends one night and Max was in the bar. He approached us because he needed someone to fill in a spot and he pulled me aside. He asked me if I wanted to do it, told me how much it paid, and I agreed. I planned on it being a onetime deal, but the movie was a hit and he asked me if I wanted to keep working for him. I was fresh out of college and I didn’t have a job at the time so I said yes. I just kind of kept doing it to pay the bills. It’s not like I have sex every single day of the week. Hell sometimes, I don’t have to shoot for months because the money is so good,” he said, picking up a hand full of sand and tossing it.

“Does it make it hard to have a relationship?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know honestly. I never tried to be serious with anyone, because I don’t think many women would understand or appreciate what I do,” he replied with a shrug.

“Doesn’t that get lonely?” I asked.

“Yeah sometimes. That’s usually when I ask Max if he has anything for me.”

I nodded and looked over at Addie who was playing tackle football in the water with about three guys. It was so easy for her and that always made me a little jealous.

I looked over at Arsen who was also watching the “football game” and moved a little closer to him.

He scooped up another handful of sand and I moved closer. I wasn’t exactly sure what the hell I was planning on doing, but if I didn’t think of something, pretty soon I’d be sitting on his lap.

Suddenly, Arsen put an arm around my waist and pulled me against him. I looked at him with wide eyes and he smiled.

“I was getting tired of you taking your time,” he replied.

I smiled and my heart began to race when his beautiful, blue gray eyes wandered down to my lips.

“Hi,” he said softly looking into my eyes.

“Hi,” I replied shyly.

“You’re so pretty,” he said pushing my loose bangs off of my forehead.

“So are you.”

He smiled.

I smiled.

Arsen slowly began to move his face toward me. I took a deep breath, trying to keep from shaking. Because he had his arm around me and my hands were on his chest, I knew he was able to feel my trembling body. His lips were a breath away from mine and he hovered for a moment, before finally pressing them to mine. I froze at first. I couldn’t help it; I had never kissed anyone as gorgeous as him before. He pulled his lips away from mine, leaning his forehead on mine.

“I’ll need a little participation here,” he said with a chuckle.

Alrighty then
, I thought to myself.

I slid my hand around his neck and pulled him close. I pressed my lips to his. His arm tightened around my waist when I gently parted his lips with my tongue.

“You guys look way too serious,” Addie said suddenly appearing in front of us.

I gave her a dirty look. She had just interrupted the best daydream I ever had.

“We were just having a conversation,” Arsen said, letting go of the second handful of sand. He put his hands over his eyebrows to shield the sun so he could look at her.

“You can talk later. Water. Now,” she said, pulling me to my feet.

Arsen laughed and got to his feet. He put an arm around my shoulders as we followed Adesynne back to her man harem. Addie introduced us to everyone and I noticed that one of the guys was giving me a very approving look. Arsen must have noticed too, because he moved behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a possessive way.

“Arsen!” a familiar voice yelled.

We all turned to see Jess jogging down the beach toward the water.

I reached up and clenched Arsen’s hands. He wasn’t the only one who suddenly felt possessive.

“Hey Jess,” he greeted her.

“Hey! Hi Neve!” she said brightly to me.

“Hey,” I replied as kindly as I could.

There was nothing wrong with Jess. She had been nice to me from the very beginning. The only fault I could find with her was what she did for a living.

“This is my cousin, Adesynne. Addie this is Jess, she um, works with Arsen,” I said.

“Nice to meet you!” Addie said with a smile.

“Yeah, same!” Jess said. She pushed her long, blonde hair behind her shoulders and put her hands on her tiny waist. “So what are you all doing?”

“Just kind of standing here at the moment,” Arsen replied.

“Neve? I forgot something on my beach towel. Come with me,” Addie said, prying me away from Arsen.

She looped an arm in mine and practically dragged me up the beach.

“What did you forget?” I asked her when we reached the towels.

“Nothing. I just want to see how they interact,” she said, sitting down and turning her full attention to Jess and Arsen.

“Why?” I asked her.

“I’ll tell you later. Just sit down,” she said.

We watched Arsen and Jess; looking for signs of ... I wasn’t sure what. He had his hands crossed over his chest and she had her hands on her hips while they talked.

Finally, after another ten minutes of mindless chatter, Jess waved good-bye to Arsen and made her way back to the part of the beach she had come from. He looked around for us and when he saw us sitting on the towels, he left the water and walked over to us.

“Find what you were looking for?” he asked Addie.

“Actually, I did,” she replied giving me a secretive look.

“Cool,” he replied with a smile, sitting down next to me.

I looked toward the water and burst into laughter. Addie’s harem was wandering around looking completely confused.

“I think your fans miss you,” I teased her.

“A girl’s work is never done!” she said with a labored sigh.

I just shook my head and laughed. I wrapped my arms around my legs and watched Addie play with her harem. She was so good at being flirtatious without looking like a slut. Not that she was a slut, I just ... I admired her in a lot of ways.

“Hey you wanna go to dinner tonight? Just the two of us?” Arsen asked suddenly.

“Depends on if Addie has plans or not,” I replied. “Only because she did fly all this way to see me; I don’t want to just leave her at home alone, you know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he answered.

We were quite for a few moments. I was desperately trying to think of something to say while he seemed to just be happy sitting there.

“So. Did you ever shoot anything with Jess?” I asked curiously.

“Do you really want to talk about that right now?” he asked giving me an odd look.

“No. But this silence is getting awkward,” I admitted.

He smiled and turned his attention back to the water.

“So, have you?” I prompted.

“Yup.”

“Oh.”

I moved away from him a little bit. I didn’t know how to react. I mean I still liked Jess and everything, but ...

“Now it’s awkward,” he said.

“Not completely,” I lied.

“Hmph.”

Suddenly he got to his feet and stretched. He looked down at me and held a hand out. I took it and let him pull me off the towel. He intertwined his fingers in mine and we started to walk down toward the water. Instead of rejoining Addie and her boys, he turned and we just walked down the shoreline silently.

It was actually quite nice; walking along quietly with someone like Arsen. When we reached the rocks, he put his hands on my waist and lifted me up. I stood on the rock and Arsen pulled himself up behind me and took my hand in his again.

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously.

“I wanna show you something,” he replied with a mysterious smile.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed. We carefully walked over the rocks until we reached the lighthouse that was sitting alone. Arsen walked up to the door and pulled it open.

“Come on,” he said, pulling me in and closing the door behind us.

We walked up the winding staircase to the top door that he pushed open. He climbed up and reached down for me, easily pulling me up behind him.

“What do you think?” he asked leaning on one of the rails.

“It’s ... beautiful,” I breathed.

It really was. The beach looked so different from where we were and the ocean looked even more massive from up here.

I put my hands on the railing and smiled as the breeze went by. The air even smelled crisper up here.

Arsen left his spot and moved behind me. He leaned against me and put a hand on either side of mine on the railing.

“Like it?” he asked softly.

“Yes. Thank you for bringing me.”

“You’re welcome.”

I watched one of his hands leave the railing, and then felt it brush my hair off of my shoulder. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply when he put his head on my shoulder.

His other hand left the railing and wrapped around my waist, pulling me back tightly against him. He shifted his head on my shoulder and grazed his lips against my neck.

I felt the oddest most amazing sensation from that simple action. I opened my eyes and turned myself around. It amazed me how big Arsen truly was and it also amused me that I only came up to his chest.

“Look at me, baby doll,” he said lifting my chin with his hand.

I looked up into his eyes and he smiled. I instantly returned his smile and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“Arsen,” I said softly.

“Hmm?” he asked, pushing my hair away from my neck.

“How is that you’re so friendly?”

He shrugged, “It’s just how I’ve always been, I guess. I mean I don’t go on first night sleepovers with just anyone.”

I laughed.

He grinned.

By the time my laughter had subsided, his grin had slowly faded away.

“Neve?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?” he asked in a whisper.

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, he immediately brought his full, soft lips to mine and held me tightly. I ran my fingers through his hair as he opened his mouth slightly. I felt his tongue as he gently pried my lips apart. Our tongues touched softly at first. My body felt like it caught fire as our tongues danced together.

When he finally pulled away, I was left gasping for air. I looked up into his eyes and smiled. He returned the smile and put his forehead against mine.

I pushed myself onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his. I wanted another kiss. Another body melting kiss that seemed to stop time itself. Arsen didn’t disappoint. His hands gently moved up and down my back while still holding me close. We explored each other’s mouths like it was our first kiss all over again only more passionate.

“Wow,” I whispered when we broke apart.

“Seriously,” he agreed with a chuckle.

“I think we should get back,” I said to him.

“I think we need to, honestly. Being up here alone with you... Kissing you, watching the wind blow through your hair, holding your perfect body so close ... I’m not going to be able to keep ... myself to myself, if we don’t get back down to civilization,” he replied seriously.

Interesting.

“Lead the way then!” I said cheerfully.

Arsen smiled and leaned down for the hatch door and hopped down. Then he raised his hands up to catch me. Grabbing my hand, we walked quickly down the spiral staircase and out of the lighthouse. He pushed the door shut firmly and we made our way carefully, but quickly back across the rocks toward the beach.

I could see Adesynne in the distance with her hands on her hips looking around in frustration.

“There you two are!” she yelled when she saw us approaching. “Where did you guys go?”

“Lighthouse,” Arsen replied.

Addie looked at him suspiciously before she turned her attention to me. She pulled us away from each other and turned me around to inspect me. I felt her hands go into the back of my bathing suit top before she pushed me forward a little, no doubt inspecting my bottoms.

“Just checking,” she said.

“For what?” Arsen asked curiously.

“Signs of sex. I mean if you guys are gonna do it, I would hope it would be in a way better place than a lighthouse,” she replied.

“What’s wrong with the lighthouse?” Arsen asked.

“Nothing! I just hope that her first time is in an actual bed,” Addie replied.

“Maybe I like the view up there better,” Arsen said.

“But you guys didn’t have sex because I don’t see any blood.”

“Maybe we washed her up.”

“But she’s walking just fine.”

“Maybe I carried her.”

“But ... But ... Oh my God, Neve!” Addie said looking completely alarmed.

I raised my arms to stop them from going back and forth, “The barrier is still in place. You can calm down and
you
,” I said to Arsen, giving him a playful shove, “are not helping!”

“I couldn’t help it!” he replied laughing. “Lighten up, Addie. If we ever go to that point, it won’t be outside in a lighthouse. I mean I’d like to be in a relationship with her first, you know?”

“Um, I’m standing right here,” I said to him.

“I know,” he replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“So what are you saying then?” I asked putting my hands on my hips.

“Wanna be my girl?” he asked with a nervous laugh.

“Yes! She does!” Addie shouted.

I looked at her and laughed; so did Arsen.

“Answer him!” she insisted.

“Well, it’s been only two days really,” I said thoughtfully.

“And I was just kidding,” he said with a laugh.

Addie looked completely deflated.

Arsen laughed and pulled me over to him giving me a tight hug. I hugged him back and stuck my tongue out at Adesynne.

“Hey Addie, would it be alright with you if I took her out to dinner tonight? Just the two of us?” he asked over my head.

“Yeah that’s fine. I was going to go out with the boys anyway,” she replied breezily.

“No way! You’re not going out alone with seven guys,” I said, pulling away from Arsen and giving her an incredulous look.