Page 104 of Pandora's Pleasure

“Really?” She brightened. “Because it feels like we’re being super rebellious.”

Right…of all the things that made me a rebel this wasn’t even in the same realm.

Feeling like my life was back on track after having found Pandora safe, I led her out of the store and along the pathway, looking for any sign of the security team tasked with protecting us. If they were here, they were discreet. They should have read my panic and approached me. Though I had given them strict orders tostay the fuck away, so, there was that.

Being a bastard was hazardous, apparently.

Inside the ice cream store we picked up two chocolate cones and enjoyed them as we made our way back to the cottage. I found the sweetness of the creamy treat soothing.

Beyond, the twinkling beach reflected the rising sun; the clear blue ocean spreading out and sparkling.

Pausing, I took in the view. “We should go for a walk along the sand.”

“We’re allowed?”

“Of course.” I paused, taking a few more seconds to watch her lap her chocolate cone. It was purely erotic and she was so devastatingly unaware of it.

She seemed more herself, her usual stuck-up demeanor replaced with a naturalness as though her defenses had come down. I felt like she was finally letting me in.

I was letting her in, too.

She shrugged. “I’ve never been in the ocean.”

“What?”

She reached up and wiped cream from the corner of my mouth, and the small gesture moved me beyond ordinary feelings. I dabbed my face with the napkin before throwing it into the trash.

She crunched on the last of her cone. “We can dip our feet in.”

The beach was deserted except for us; we’d have all the privacy we needed.

“We can do better than that.” I reached over and slipped a finger beneath an extra strap on her shoulder. “You have your bikini on?”

“Yes.”

Sweeping her up in my arms, I carried her along the pathway and over the white sand, feeling it squish between my toes. She squealed with delight in my arms and kicked her legs playfully. We would seem like two lovers with no cares or troubles.

Once near the lapping shore, I set Pandora down and grabbed her dress by the hem and eased it up over her head, dropping it on the sand. Kicking off my shoes, I pulled off my shorts and T-shirt until I was only wearing my swimming trunks.

I picked her up again and carried her toward the shoreline, wading all the way in until I was chest deep with her still in my arms, enjoying her laughter.

I let her down slowly.

She sank into the water and her face lit up. “It’s so warm.”

“Let’s swim out a bit.” I waited for her to catch her stride.

She swam easily beside me, the ocean buffering us with small waves and the sun shining down on the clearness of the ocean.

“We found it,” she said, her voice full of awe. “Damien, we found paradise.”

I threw my head back in a laugh. “I suppose we did.”

Or maybe paradise was wherever Pandora was.

My throat grew tight again as I thought about what I’d put her through, having to be seen as mine, for having to endure my world and all its flaws. It was like my heart had cracked open, leaving me vulnerable.

A tremor ran through me as I suddenly realized I had let myself fall in love with her.