8. Stay with me

EIGHT

STAY WITH ME

H er gaze goes from the amount of cleavage I have on display courtesy of the short towel, all the way to the toenails I painted black to match my fingernails.

Shockingly, she keeps her judgmental comments to herself.

"I couldn't sleep," Summer tells me. "Tyler said he would just go with Vee for, like, twenty minutes and be right back. That was an hour ago."

I blink, utterly confused. "Sorry. I missed something. Where did Tyler and Vee go?"

"It's okay, love. Summer was just telling me what happened. Did you know Vee swears she saw someone in the woods?"

My heart jolts. "Um. No. I didn't."

"It's why she was so pissed at me for messing around in the water. She thought there was someone watching us when we were in the lake. Me being a boneheaded idiot, I didn't realize she was staring at the trees for a reason. I just pulled her under for fun, and when she popped up again, they were supposedly gone."

No. No . "No one's supposed to be on the island. Aaron backed out. It's just the seven of us, and we were all in the water."

"That's what I told her," Summer says. "She's convinced there was someone there. When we got back to the cabins, she got all worked up again. Said she couldn't go to bed until she checked to make sure her idiot ex was trying to pull a prank on us."

Oh. I get it. "She thinks Aaron changed his mind and somehow convinced Mulligan to bring him here super late. We didn't know because we were at the lake, and he must've figured out we'd be there."

Summer shrugs. "Something like that, I guess. Doesn't matter. Madi and Chase wanted to go to sleep." The way she says ‘sleep' tells me that one of the cabins we booked will definitely be going empty tonight. There's six of them, perfect when we thought that me and Tommy would have one, Summer and Tyler, Vee, Chase, Madison, and Aaron all taking their own. But if Madison and Chase went to sleep together… "I wanted a shower. Tyler offered to go because of course he did. Always gotta be the knight in shining armor to someone." She blows out a breath of air. "Twenty minutes. That's what he said. But they're not back yet."

Okay. Knowing Vee and her Type-A personality, if she thinks Aaron is fucking with us by hiding on the island, she won't go to bed until she's searched every inch herself. Tyler will try to talk her down if possible.

I get all that. But why is Summer in our cabin?

"I was just seeing if Tommy wanted to help me find my husband. Vee can look all she wants, but I'm ready to go to bed and I'm not sleeping alone."

How nice. She doesn't want to sleep alone, so what is she trying to do? Take my bedmate with her.

"I'm sure they'll be back any minute now," I tell Summer. "It's almost, what? Two in the morning? Vee might be determined, but she needs sleep, too."

Summer huffs. "I'm not worried about Vee. I just want Tyler." She bats her lashes at Tommy. "Please? You know how bad my sense of direction is. If I go looking for my husband, I might end up on the other end of the island with no way to get back to the cabins."

I give her a thin-lipped smile. "The island's a circle. Eventually you'll find your way back."

"But what if there is someone out there?" she says softly. She looks imploringly up at Tommy. "What if it's not Aaron?"

It's not possible, but I know Tommy. The second she dropped her voice like that, sounding as vulnerable as she did? He'll help her.

Giving me an apologetic smile, he says, "Come with us?"

I've got a towel on and my hair soaked. I'm not going anywhere—and he knows it.

"I'm exhausted. I need to go to bed."

Stay with me.

I don't say the words. What's the point? If he does stay, I'm a controlling bitch who won't let him help a friend in need. If he doesn't, he'll feel guilty for refusing me. I have to let him make his own choices?—

"Get your rest, love." Tommy pats the front pocket of his jeans. "I've got the key to the cabin. I'll lock the door behind me. Don't wait up. I'll be back before you know it."

—even if I think it's the wrong one.

Call me contrary if you want, but when Tommy said not to wait up? I couldn't bring myself to be a good little girl and listen.

I brushed my hair, piling it on top of my head since I'm not the biggest fan of sleeping with wet hair, and for all the amenities the new owners of Halo Island provided, a hair dryer isn't one of them. I yanked on my sleep shirt, snorting in annoyance when I noticed that my boyfriend laid out the shirt and no panties.

Ha. He must've been expecting to get laid, only for Summer to cockblock him.

I didn't bother finding a pair to shimmy on myself. Instead, I laid on the bed, legs crossed, arms crossed, waiting for Tommy to return to the cabin like he promised.

I wasn't lying before, though. I am exhausted. Both physically and mentally. The light in the cabin started giving me a headache. I clicked it off, then curled up on my side, promising myself I wouldn't go to sleep until Tommy was with me again.

Since I get woken up to what feels like much later to a warm, naked chest at my back and a probing finger sliding through my folds, I obviously failed on that front.

He knows the moment I go from being fast asleep to partly awake. Pressing a kiss to the side of my neck, he gathers up some of the moisture on his fingertip, then dips it inside of me.

I arch my back, shoving my pussy against his hand. He's still wearing his jeans, though his shirt must be off. The denim material scratches my ass as I take his entire finger inside of my pussy.

He must've been fingering me longer than I thought. My body is already responding to him, lubing me up so that I take him easily. That's not that unusual. Since Tommy and I started to live together, there are times he wakes up in the middle of the night with a hard-on. I gave him permission to fuck my pussy whenever he wanted so long as he made sure I was wet and stretched out for him. If that meant using artificial lube or playing with me with his fingers first, that was fine. More often than not, I wake up to him doing it, then I get to enjoy my pleasure, too.

Like now.

He knows all of my erogenous zones. Between suckling on the side of my throat and sucking my earlobe into the warmth of his mouth, I'm both aroused and half-asleep.

Mumbling softly as he fucks me with his finger, I ask, "Tommy? Did you find them?"

"Mm," he says. He's scraping my earlobe with his teeth now, sending shivers down my spine at the sensation.

I'm going to take that answer as a yes anyway. If Tyler and Vee were still lost on the island somewhere, I can't imagine Tommy gave up the search just because he was horny and needed to get laid. Especially since Summer would probably just bat her lashes at him again, using Tommy's kind heart to get her way.

"I'm glad," I say, arching into him. Fuck. That finger feels amazing, but I need more . I'm ready for him, and now that I have him back in my bed where he belongs, it feels like he's just teasing me by not pulling his fingers out and shoving his cock in. Reaching behind me, I clutch his thigh through his jeans. "I missed you."

He releases my earlobe, using the edge of his teeth to trail the back of my neck instead.

I start to pant a little. "Stop teasing me," I say.

Warm breath washes over me as he chuckles huskily.

Fucking Tommy. There are times when he treats me like a pillow princess, doing everything he can to make sure I come first. Then there are those nights when he can't keep himself from fucking me, whether I'm awake or not. But, when I least expect it, his teasing takes on almost a punishing edge, making me wait for him like he waited so long for me to find my back into his arms.

I'm here now. I need him, and I whisper a plea. "I need you."

That usually does the trick. This time is no different. As soon as he says that, he pulls his finger out. Still stroking me, circling my clit, driving me wild with his possessive touch, the bed dips and I hear his jeans rustle.

Suddenly, something much thicker is prodding my entrance now. I'm so ready for him that he slips through the moisture gathered there. He grumbles, I suck in a breath, and I don't know what he's doing back there, but he shoves into me with one firm struck.

I groan.

God, maybe it's this position, or maybe he needed to use two fingers to stretch me out, because I'm suddenly super full.

I arch my back, getting comfortable as he seats himself inside of me. But when I try to move with him, he stills me by laying his hand on my hip before sliding it up, cupping my tit. He tucks his other arm beneath me, grabbing the other one.

"Like this," he whispers. "Let me hold you."

His voice sounds strange. Lower than normal. Because it's so late and he hasn't gone to bed yet? That happens to me sometimes. I use my voice too much that it becomes raspy and unfamiliar, just like Tommy's.

My body recognizes his, though. His touch makes it sing, and with a tit in each palm, caging me against him with his arms around me and his cock buried to the hilt inside of me, it's a fucking symphony of sensation.

He's tweaking my nipples, sending jolts of pleasure running through me. As he slowly starts to move his hips, taking leisurely thrusts that he punctuates with another tug on my tits, I throw my head back against him and moan.

It's been a long day. I wouldn't mind him taking his time, worshiping my body like he loves to do, but when his fucking takes on an urgency, like he's racing a clock somewhere, I'm grateful. A quickie and then a couple of more hours' sleep sounds perfect, and Tommy seems to be on the same page.

He knows me so well. My sounds change, becoming quicker, my moans louder the closer I get to climaxing. Right when I'm on the verge, he flicks my clit and the pressure building up inside of me explodes. I shriek, and Tommy bites down on my shoulder.

Now that I've come, he fucks me like, if he doesn't finish and now , he might just explode next.

I let him. I lay there and take it, and when he bucks up inside of me, filling me with his come, I stroke his thigh possessively even as my eyes begin to close again.

He holds me closer, whispering softly against my skin. "Love you, baby."

That shows just how boneless and relaxed the orgasm he gave me just made me. I don't even tense up or react when he uses Clay's pet name for me.

I just stay connected to him, letting him thrust gently into me as I pillow my head on my hands and drift back to unconsciousness.

I wake up to a little tenderness down below and my thighs sticking together.

Ah, crap. I'm usually so much better at remembering to get up, pee, and tidy up after sex. I was prone to getting UTIs when I first started sleeping with Tommy as a teen, and after the third one, my mother flat-out asked if we were sexually active. We were fifteen, young and stupid, and lucky that we never had a pregnancy scare since, even then, I knew I never wanted to have kids.

My mom was great. No judgment from her, though she helped me get on birth control almost immediately. I got the safe sex lecture, too—and a box of condoms that we tried our best to remember to use—plus some advice to keep the UTIs from coming back.

The amount of come slicking my legs closed tells me that Tommy didn't bother grabbing one of the condoms he promised he packed in his duffel bag. It happens. Sometimes he's so eager to get inside of me, we're already fucking before it hits me that he's bareback. I've never gone off birth control, though I rely on an IUD now, plus we're exclusive so it doesn't really bother me when he forgets to wrap up as long as I remember to clean up when we're done.

I didn't last night. There was something about how he fucked me in the dark of the cabin, an unfamiliar place, purposely thrusting up into me from behind. I didn't see his face. He barely spoke, except for panting my name and grunting as he came. In the haze that came from being half awake as he fucked me, I could fantasize that he was anyone.

My stomach goes uneasy as I remember the dreams that followed me after he banged me to sleep.

Clay. Once Tommy got me off, then came inside of me, he refused to let his cock slips out. I could sense how much he needed the connection, and the euphoria that slammed into me when he plucked my clit and I screamed faded so quickly, I drifted back into unconsciousness while warming his cock.

Obviously, he pulled away at some point in the night. Now he's sleeping next to me, deliciously shirtless, though he has his jeans on. The flies open, zipper down, his dick tucked inside of his pants. One arm is thrown over his face, shielding him against the sunlight streaming in through the window.

For a moment, I think about reaching into his pants and pulling him out. He banged some of my anxiousness out of me last night, and I've got the evidence of our mutual enjoyment still between my thighs. I'm in a much better mood today. Assuming he freshened up himself since he's redressed, I like the idea of taking care of his morning wood with my mouth.

Morning sex sounds good, too. I mean. I need to shower again anyway. Why not wait until we both get good and sweaty? And if I like the idea of waking up our cabin neighbors with the inevitable scream I let out? Can't help it. I'm a screamer, and when I have a partner who knows how to work my body like it belongs to him, I'm not shy about letting others know that.

Just before I scoot closer to him, it's another scream that rents through the air. An unholy scream, high-pitched and frantic, I freeze in place.

Did I hear that?

It rings out again, full of agony, and I know I didn't imagine it.

Tommy didn't rouse at the first scream? With the second? He jerks awake, slapping himself in the face. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he rubs his forehead, looking for me.

"Cyn?" He frowns. "What's going on?"

I have no fucking clue.

"I heard a scream. Two of them. It came from outside."

"Yeah. That's what I thought I heard, too. Kinda thought it was a dream, but… Wait." There's a nightstand on each side of the bed. Tommy's phone and the key to our cabin are sitting on top of his. He grabs the phone, tilting it to see the time. "It's almost ten."

Shit. We slept in that late? I mean, I know we didn't get back to the cabin until almost one. Then Vee and Tyler went searching for some bogeyman she thought she saw, followed by Summer and Tommy going searching for them . I don't know how late it was when Tommy came back and we had sex before falling asleep together.

So it's not as early as I thought. But that doesn't change anything.

Who's screaming?

I look at Tommy. He starts to climb out of the bed.

No longer in the mood for morning sex, I slide out of my side.

Tommy doesn't stop to grab a shirt. All I have on is my sleep shirt, but he's almost at the door. There's no time for me to throw on clothes. I just pad behind him, peeking around Tommy's lean back after he pushes the cabin door out.

Summer. Of course it has to be Summer.

She's standing with Tyler and Chase. Chase is pacing a few feet away from the married couple, and Tyler has his arms wrapped around his wife. She's shaking her head back and forth, looking like she's trying to claw her way out of Tyler's embrace.

Tommy dashes down the handful of stairs that lead to our porch.

I step out onto the porch itself, hovering there as Summer's head turns, finding our cabin.

"We have to tell Tommy," she yells at Tyler, shoving him away.

The big man releases her. Within seconds, she's fleeing toward my boyfriend, flinging her arms around him.

Jealousy rips through me, but when I see the tracks of tears running down Summer's cheeks, I go cold.

Screaming, I think. She was screaming.

Wait. Where's Madison? Where's V?—

"It's Vee… Tommy, it's Vee ."

He pats the back of her head while Tyler stands where he was, expression flat though his dark brown eyes seem even darker. Like they're all pupil.

Like he's inwardly panicking.

Chase is still pacing, biting down on his bottom lip, his hands in his pockets.

Everyone is dressed but Tommy and me. They all look like they've been through the wringer, too, and whatever Summer's about to say, I suddenly don't want to hear it.

But she can't find the words. Clinging to Tommy, openly sobbing now, the sounds she's making are indecipherable.

I inch my bare feet down the steps, moving past them so that I can address Tyler.

Of the group, he's the one I've spent the least amount of time with alone since I moved back to Gullhaven. I know that's because—as much as Summer still has a thing for my boyfriend—his wife is careful to keep me away from her husband. It is what it is, but I've never had a problem with Tyler. In my opinion, I question his taste since he always comes crawling back to Summer when she shakes her tits and crooks her fingers, but other than that, he's a simple kind of guy who doesn't like to fuck around.

"Ty?" I ask, knowing that I don't want to hear his answer—but accepting that I have to. "What happened to Vee?"

He gulps, hands hanging at his side helplessly. "She's fucking dead, Cyn. I found her. She's dead ."

What ?