Hey everyone!
Enduring Light releases in just 2 weeks! Here's a teaser for those Liam fans out there!
Calvin left, leaving me with
an empty feeling. I unrolled my sleeves, tired of having the fabric bunched up
on my arms. I heard a splash and looked over to see that Henry and Liam had
jumped into the river.
Alarmed, I sat up and yelled, “What
are you doing?”
“We’re cooling off and washing off the sand.”
Liam smiled. “Care to join us?” He pulled off his shirt, rinsed it, and tossed
it onto the sand.
Henry did the same thing. I
wasn’t surprised when they moved onto their pants. I was glad Henry had picked
up on our custom of underwear. Seeing him naked wasn’t something I had any
interest in.
The offer to join them was one
that seemed almost too good to pass up. Hot, sandy, and sticky, I could picture
how amazing the water would feel. Still, unlike the guys, I couldn’t just swim
in underwear.
Liam seemed to read my
thoughts. “Come on, Char. You wear bikinis, don’t you? Your bra isn’t any
worse.”
Henry nudged him. “I think
Calvin might have a different opinion.”
“And Calvin isn’t here. She’s
hot and wants to clean off.”
The water looked so cool, and
all the sand was starting to get uncomfortable. After another moment’s
hesitation, I gave in to the sheer need for relief. “Can you guys turn around?”
“Sure.” They both turned away.
Liam was right about the
bikini thing, but that felt different. A bikini was supposed to be worn in
public. A white cotton bra—not so much.
“No peeking.” I slipped off my
boots then stripped off my shirt and pants. I brought my clothes down to the
edge of the water to rinse them out.
Henry laughed. “No offense,
Charlotte, but I have no desire to see you naked, or to deal with Calvin if I
did.”
“I’m not naked!” I quickly
submerged myself in the river. The water immediately cooled me off.
Liam turned. “Not completely.”
His eyes zeroed in on what he could see of my chest above the water line.
“Swimming in my clothes would
defeat the purpose of cleaning up.”
Liam smiled. “I don’t have a
problem with it.” He joked around a lot but not usually about my lack of
clothing. He treaded water next to me. “So you never told us, what did the
message from Ruth say?”
“What do you mean I never told
you? I told you we had to look in the swamps.”
“That’s all she said?” Liam
asked skeptically. “That would be a really short message.”
“Some things should stay
between Essences.”
Henry grinned. “Yeah, I am certain
that is what happened.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve
gotten mighty sure of yourself since I first met you, Henry Ashwell. Don’t
forget I have powers.”
“Powers you cannot use right
now.”
“It would be easy to do—”
Liam swam over closer to me. “Are
you threatening us?”
“Me? Would I ever threaten
someone?”
Henry splashed me. “You
threaten Kevin all the time.”
I splashed him back before
pulling the leather tie out of my hair. I leaned back to get my hair wet.
“That’s because he’s my brother. You and I are not related.”
Liam moved behind me. “Do you
need help?”
“Help with what?”
“Your hair. You have a lot of
sand in it.” Without waiting for an answer, he took my hair in his hands and
started to wash out some of the sand.
There was something so
intimate about the action that it made me nervous. I jerked away slightly. “I
can do it myself.”
“There’s no reason to.” His
voice was soft, almost like a whisper.
“Thanks.” I couldn’t deny that
it felt good to have Liam so close. What was wrong with me? I turned to pull
away from him “You have to stop.”
As soon as the words left my
mouth, his lips claimed mine. His kiss was demanding, passionate, and needy. I
needed to break the contact, but I couldn’t. It was almost like our first
kiss—supernatural—but twisted up in it was desire that neither of us could control.
The kiss got more intense, and even though my brain yelled at me, the power was
too strong.
