21. Ellis

21

Ellis

I love the beach. Maybe it's egotistical of me to love a place that smells so much like me, but whenever I'm here, it feels like coming home. The sand under my feet, the roar of the ocean in my ears, the salty taste on my tongue. It soothes me. But nothing can soothe the ache I'm feeling right now.

"Cut it out." Em jabs me in the ribs with her elbow and laughs. "You're staring so hard your eyes are gonna pop out."

"I'm just watching the game."

Meggie and the guys are playing a makeshift game of water polo in the surf, but it's turning into a game of tag more than anything else. We haven't all spent the day together like this in a long time. Just having fun. Hanging out. Laughing.

Meggie's a magnet pulling us all towards her and towards each other.

I haven't joined them because there's no way I would be able to avoid the excuse to tackle Meggie into the surf. Dreaming about getting my arms around her has taken up way too much of my mental energy lately.

"You know," Em drops her voice, "It would be okay if you wanted to go for it with Meggie. I mean, I would be okay with it."

My head swings towards her. "You wouldn't care if I dated your best friend? Seriously? What if things didn't work out?"

She studies me for a long beat before saying, "It'd work out."

"You know how Dante is about betas."

"Trust me, Ellis. It would work out." She gives a mysterious little smile, takes my drink, and finishes it in one long gulp.

"Hey! That was mine."

A shrug lifts one shoulder. "I'm giving my blessing for you to pursue my best friend. I think you can share your soda with me."

The source of my obsession comes running up the beach and grabs a towel, dragging it over her wet body. I've seen her in a swimsuit plenty of times before, but the one she has on today is nothing like the ones she wears to practice. It's a bikini with a little triangle top that barely covers her breasts and doesn't have any padding to hide the way her nipples pucker from the air hitting her wet skin. I want to drag my tongue down her chest all the way to her bikini bottoms, slung so low I can see her hip bones.

Meggie gingerly touches her shoulders. "I think I'm getting burned. Can you do my back?"

She holds the sunscreen out to Em, but my sister doesn't take it.

"Have Ellis do it. You know I hate the feel of sunscreen on my hands." Emily doesn't give either of us a chance to argue before she runs off towards the waves, leaving Meggie and me alone.

Cheeks flushed, she tosses the bottle to me. "Do you mind?"

Putting sunscreen on is innocent enough, right? Maybe, but the way my cock responds at just the thought of spreading lotion on her warm, tan skin proves otherwise. Fuck!

I've been trying to be good, but there's only so much a man can take. Especially now that I know Em is okay with this.

My eyes dart to Dante in the water, and I find him looking back at me. Water glistens on his dark skin, and he rubs a hand over his shaved head. I wave. He waves back. I feel his curiosity through the bond, a tinge of something like jealousy, followed by lust.

Meggie turns around and pulls her long hair up, looking over her shoulder at me, waiting. It's just sunscreen. Perfectly fine. I squeeze some onto my hand.

When I bring my palm to her back, she sucks in a breath, and I barely hold back a moan. She's so soft, so deliciously soft.

Her shoulders melt as I slowly rub the sunscreen over her.

"Can you…?" Keeping her hair up with one hand, she uses her other to pull the strap around her neck away from her skin.

The riptide of longing in my gut has fully taken over. Nothing could drag my hands away from this woman now. I put some more sunscreen on my palms and rub up her neck, under the halter top tie, then down her back. My fingers dip under the string that ties at her ribs. "Is this okay?"

The littlest nod of her head is followed by a panting breath. I move my hands to her lower back, rubbing up and down my Meggie's spine.

My Meggie?

I pause for half a second as the thought hits me. Yeah, my Meggie. I try to hide my smile, but I'm too damn pleased.

"And this?" I drag the tips of my fingers just under the edge of her bikini bottoms. Her back arches slightly, and the softest, most beautiful little gasp slips past her lips. The sunscreen is already thoroughly rubbed in, but I don't want to stop touching her. I drag my hands along the top of her swimsuit bottoms and up her sides repeatedly.

"Mind doing me next?" Dante's voice startles me, but it gets a full jump out of Meggie. She's two feet away before I can exhale.

"I… um… thanks." She darts down the beach to where Emily is walking in the shallow waves before I can respond.

"You've got it bad." Dante watches Meggie.

I sink into one of the beach chairs, feeling chastised and confused.

"I'm trying, D." My head drops into my hands. "I just can't seem to…"

"Come on." He takes my hand and drags me out of the chair and towards the water. "You need to cool off."

We wade into the surf, still holding hands. The waves pummel us until we get past the crest, and then we rise and fall together with each oncoming swell.

"She's ours, babr." I squeeze his hand and pull him a little closer. "I know you don't want a beta before we find an omega. And I understand why, but… she's ours. I can't explain it. I just know."

He watches the shore, his eyes unfocused. I need him to understand. I wrap my arms around his neck, our legs tangling as we tread water. "It's how it was with you, babr. I just knew."

He looks at me then and kisses me. "Okay." Another kiss, salty and sweet. "Okay. If that's how you feel, I believe you."

Tension radiates through the bond. His conflicting feelings. His fear. His uncertainty. But also his trust in me. And under it all, his desire for Meggie, hidden, but there.

"Make her ours," he whispers.

I kiss the bond mark on his arm with a smile. "I will."