Page 42 of Hush Darling

“Yeah, plenty of times.”

She debated. She’d never done drugs before, but maybe that was her problem. “Will it help me loosen up?”

“Absolutely.”

She wasn’t sure what to do. “I don’t know.”

“How about if I promise to stay sober and watch over you? I’ll make sure you behave.”

She wondered if she could trust him. “You won’t drink?”

“Not a drop.” When she still hesitated, he said, “Look, it only lasts a couple of hours. I promise to watch over you the whole time.”

Wendy chewed her lip. Maybe this was exactly what she needed—a little push to knock her inhibitions down. “Okay.”

He grinned and snapped the capsule in half, dumping the powdered contents into the seawater. “Bottoms up, darling.”

Chapter 8

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

The silver powder shimmered with an unnatural gleam, floating on the surface of her beverage like a small galaxy of stars. She swirled it into the seawater with her finger and took a sip.

“Ugh.” She grimaced at the bitter, metallic taste. “It’s like licking the edge of a blade.”

“Just get it down.”

She hoped this wasn’t a mistake. Keeping her eyes on Cassian, she guzzled the sour contents, swallow after bitter swallow, and gasped when it was finally empty.

“Gross. How long before it?—”

Her words cut off as the world shifted. Waves thrummed in the distance as shadows formed in the swells.

“Whoa. Everything’s moving.”

Cass caught her arm as she wobbled. “Is it hitting you already?”

Colors melted, bleeding together in hues so bright they vibrated. “The beach is breathing.”

Cassian’s laughter echoed as if a million miles away, but only as loud as a whisper. “Let’s find a place to sit down.”

He led her toward a cabana bed. Various groping couples groaned along the way, and she stared at the way they touched each other. “Are they all doing this? Is that why they’re so free?”

Cassian’s mouth moved as he answered, but she could only hear the vibrating colors and moans of people having sex. She smiled at him as her skin began to hum, every nerve in her body a live wire unraveling like silk from a spool.

“I feel amazing,” she confessed, swaying from his muscular arm.

“Oh, boy. Maybe I should have given you half a dose.”

“No, silly,” she laughed, falling onto an empty cabana bed. “I feel incredible—as if I’m floating on air and made of mist.”

He lounged beside her, resting on his elbow as he stared into her eyes.

The air thickened around her like velvet and honey, and she licked the sweetness off her lips. “Do you taste that?”

“Taste what?”

She stared up at the stars. “My lips.”