I shake my head. “I can’t. It’s something I have to do.”

“It is about getting your life back?”

I nod again.

“You love him, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Inga will cook you an amazing dinner.”

I nod and give her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”


I walk to the great room window and look out at the ocean, so many thoughts going through my head, when Aiden leans his chin on my shoulder.

“You ditched me.”

“I was coming back for you.”

“You better always come back for me.”

I reach down and grasp his hand, giving it a squeeze and praying that will even be an option.

“So what’s on tap for today? We haven’t done yoga in the sand yet. Or built a sand village.”

“We’re surfing and snorkeling today,” I hear Damian say.

“And going to get tattoos,” Peyton adds.

“Tattoos, really?” Aiden says excitedly. I want a tattoo.”

“Really? What do you want?”

He grins at me. “I want a four leaf clover, right here.” He flips my hand over and shows me a spot on his wrist.

“That’s cool. What about you, Damian?”

“I’m getting the tribal tattoo I’ve always wanted around my bicep. So grab some food and let’s get out there. Did you see the waves this morning, Keats? They’re the best since we’ve been here.”

“Awesome,” I say, happy for something to keep my mind off the inevitable.


We surf and build a sand village, but decided to skip yoga and go snorkeling instead.

“Be sure to put lots of sunblock on before we leave,” I tell everyone when we’re in the toy shed getting flippers and snorkel masks.

Aiden grabs a can of sunblock and sprays our backs.

We swim out a ways and enjoy all the cool marine life for a couple hours.

Then we head back in for lunch.


In the kitchen, I notice Aiden’s back. “Oh, your back is pretty sunburned.”

“Yeah, it feels hot. I sprayed everyone else’s but forgot to do my own.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, giving him gentle hug.

He wraps me up tighter. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”

We all sit down, eat, and talk.

“The fish were so amazing!” Peyton says excitedly. “So many cool colors!”

“I loved the turtles we saw.”

“They were pretty cool, but I think those blue fish with the little yellow spots were my favorite,” Aiden says.

“I saw a shark,” Damian says coolly, “but I didn’t wanna freak you all out.”

We all laugh, knowing that Damian is teasing us.

“I’m thinking about getting shark tattoo, as a matter of fact.”

“No, you’re not,” I say. “You’ve never wanted a shark tattoo until just now. If you’re going to get a tattoo, it should mean something to you.”

“Yeah, like the band I’m getting means I’m a badass.”

“And my clover will bring me even more luck. You should get one too.”

“I already have a tattoo. What are you getting, Peyton?”

“I’m getting a butterfly. They symbolize transformation and this last week has sort of changed my life. You know, all that went on at school, what I’ve realized, and then coming here. I feel new and happy.”

“That’s amazing,” I tell her as Damian snuggles with her.


After lunch, Damian says, “Okay, everyone get cleaned up and then we’ll head into town for tattoos!”

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Aiden tells me.

“Okay, I’m gonna help Inga clean up and then I’ll be over to get ready too.”

Everyone leaves and Inga says, “I saw that boy’s back.” She drops a bag in my lap. “Here, this is aloe vera soap and some lotion. I want you to go over there while he’s in the shower and very carefully wash his back with this soap. Then gently pat the area dry and put a thin layer of lotion on it.”

I’m thinking about Aiden being naked in the shower and how I’m supposed to accomplish all this when she says, “Shoo.”


His official title.

2pm


I get to my room and peek around the corner at the shower.

The glass is starting to fog over, but I can still see Aiden’s naked outline.

I look at the soap in my hand and imagine sudsing up his entire body.

All of it.

I wonder if I should get naked?

Stop it. This is not about seduction. The poor man is probably in pain, and I’m here in a purely professional capacity.

I leave my swimsuit on, grab a washcloth off the towel rack, and open the shower door.

His back is turned to me.

And what a back it is.

His body looks like it is carved out of stone. The study of the perfect male form.

And his ass.

Oh my god. His naked, beautiful ass.

I’m reaching out to touch it when he turns around.

“Boots!” he says startled, automatically covering his private parts, but pulling me under the water with him and close enough to him so that I can’t see what I was hoping to see. “I’m glad you decided to join me.”

“I didn’t. Um, I brought you aloe soap for your back. Inga gave it to me. Told me it would help with your burn.”

“So you didn’t just want to see me naked?”

I squint my eyes at him. “This is my bathroom. You shouldn’t be taking a shower in here if you didn’t want to be seen naked. You were totally hoping I’d come in and catch a glimpse.” I hand him the washcloth. “Here, I even brought this so you can cover yourself up.”

He takes the washcloth, looks at it, and laughs. “It’s not big enough,” he says, but he still covers up with it. Then he looks down my bikini top and shakes his head. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What?”

“You have a severe case of reverse sunburn. See this part under your top? It didn’t get enough sun, so it needs this soap rubbed on it,” he says as he unties the strings of my bikini top, allowing it to fall to the tile.

He takes the soap out of my hand and washes my chest very slowly.

After a whole lot of sudsing, he rinses me off and then replaces the soap with his lips.

I'm trying to be good. I'm trying not to reach down and grab the washcloth. Rip it off of him.

But it's like the Titan is calling out to me.

And it’s like I now have two Keatyns sitting on my shoulders. Good angel Keatyn is telling me not to do it, but the horned and horny bad Keatyn is telling me that I need to do a whole lot more than touch it.

Good Keatyn screams, No! You can't sleep with a boy you're going to say goodbye to. 

Bad Keatyn says, And that's exactly why we should sleep with him. We may never get another chance.

Aiden drops the soap, so I bend down to pick it up.

As I start to stand back up, I see it.

The Titan is fully erect and mostly hidden under the washcloth. But the washcloth is wet, molding itself around it and allowing me to see its full outline.

My insides throb.

I also realize that I was very stupid to give him one of the Moran’s thick white washcloths. I totally should have given him a tissue.

But, still, something about the white cloth covering it looks very godlike. I halfway wish I had a little mini gold wreath to crown it with.

Lord Titan, God of the underworld.

God of Hammering, Nailing, and Screwing.

Yes. This is his official title.

I imagine my body as a Homecoming float. Aiden using his godly tool on me.

I drop the soap, wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard.

We kiss wildly. Passionately. Like people starved for each other.

“Do you want me to take these off?” he asks, tugging on my bottoms.

I shake my head no while running my hand across my chest. I think that was good Keatyn’s way of reminding me about my heart.

Aiden watches me intently, then backs away slightly. “God, that's hot.”

“What’s hot?”

“What you just did. Rubbing yourself. Do it again.”

I tilt my head back, close my eyes, and run the tips of my fingers from the base of my neck slowly down toward my cleavage and then down my stomach. Aiden moves so that he is standing behind me. He kisses my neck, then lays his hand on top of mine and guides it where he wants it to go.

Up to my boob, then slowly running circles around my nipple.

Up the side of my neck to where his lips are, our hands moving together from my neck to his stubbled cheek.

Then he guides my hand in a slow decent straight down to the throbbing spot between my legs. He pushes our fingers against the fabric of my bikini bottoms while he sucks on my neck.

The feel of his mouth on my neck, the water drizzling down my skin, and his hand between my legs makes me feel perfectly out of control.

He keeps kissing me and rubbing our hands with more intensity.

Wanting to maintain some level of attractiveness, I try to make cute, sweet little noises. They start out that way, until I don't give a shit what I sound like.

I move my hips in rhythm with our hands until I can't hold it in any longer. A deep oh leaves my lips as my body trembles and throbs and my legs start to feel weak.

Aiden growls something unintelligible in my ear, picks me up, and sets me on a tiled ledge that I thought was for shampoo, but now realize is the perfect height for this.

I wrap my legs around his waist as his lips land hard on mine, his tongue delving deeply in my mouth.

“I’m not telling you no again,” he says.

I so want him to rip my bottoms to shreds and plunge that beast inside of me, but that will just make tomorrow even harder.

Speaking of hard.

He pushes the Titan forcefully against my bottoms, which are straining to keep it out.