Ashlyn hasn't spoken a word since the age of eight, and her heart's never felt more protected. But, when the confident and ever so charming Derek stumbles into her quiet little world, her emotions-and forbidden desires-have never been so loud.
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AUGUST - SIX MONTHS POST EPILOGUE Derek's POV
Lashes tickled against his palm, whispering secrets of charm and deception.
"Hey, no peeking," Derek scolded in good humor, his other hand at her elbow guiding her down the last step to the decking below.
"I'm not!" Ashlyn's laughter bubbled upon her lips, her eyelashes fluttering innocently with the shifting of her head.
"I know you, love, and what you're like with surprises—" He chuckled, recalling the night he'd caught her shaking her birthday presents on their wardrobe floor. "—and you. Are. Peeking."
He sealed each word with a kiss upon her collarbone, then her throat, and last, the corner of her jaw. The brine of the ocean tangled with the green apple soap which clung to her skin; the mark of his absence those last three days.
When he'd returned home well into the night before to find her fast asleep in their bed, bathed in green apple and the comfort of his favourite sweatshirt, he'd wanted nothing more than to shower her in kisses and whisper I love you until he saw that love reflected in those hazel doe eyes and the gentle contours of her smile. The same curvy smile he knew she wore now.
Derek's nose nuzzled against her cheek, the stubble he knew she loved following in its track, as Ashlyn squirmed away while her steady gaze very much peeked around the gaps in his fingertips. Derek's hand tightened over her eyes, blotting out any mid afternoon rays that dared lend light to the shadows she spied.
"You don't fight fair," she pouted, her bottom lip swelling against his.
"You being so damn irresistible isn't fair." His tongue traced the corner of her lips, supporting his point.
A shiver moved through Ashlyn, and he felt her gasp. Check and mate.
Derek's lips curled into a delicious smile against the corner of her mouth, and he stole another sweetened kiss.
God, he wanted her. He always wanted her.
As though he spoke of twin desires, Ashlyn turned her head and her mouth grazed against his, eliciting a groan that was desperate; unsated.
Before she'd even drawn the breath to ask, Derek's lips pressed against hers, his other hand snaking around her shoulders to cup her jaw, deepening his kiss. Lips coated with pawpaw balm parted for him, and Ashlyn's moan was all the encouragement Derek needed.
Like two parts cut from the same, her lips moulded perfectly to his. Two hearts, two souls, always beating as one.
His mouth turned up with another grin when Ashlyn reached up to grab his hand, pulling it away from her face. She turned in his arms to face him, her eyes drinking in the mariner and ocean views all around them.
