CAN'T IMAGINE

CHAPTER 6 - "I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME"

"I'm exhausted, so I'm turning in," she said, and with that, she sashayed out the door, leaving him with his mouth agape. He sat for a moment in front of his almost empty plate and then he stood decisively, leaving the plate where it was, and followed her. He was pretty sure he knew her destination but when he walked into the empty bedroom, he felt his heart dive with disappointment. And then he saw her. She stood just outside the open doors of the bedroom, her arms above her head, her long hair flowing out behind her in the evening breeze, like Aphrodite arisen from the sea. She had ditched the t-shirt and now he saw the lacy scraps he had spied earlier were part of an extremely sexy lace bodysuit. She turned as she heard him enter and when their eyes met it was like an electric charge. Without dropping her gaze, he walked towards her, pulling off his t-shirt as he walked, leaving him in the soft jersey shorts and nothing else. She flicked a glance downward and her lips parted. The fabric didn't hide the reaction she was having on him.

He stood in front of her, barely a handspan apart.

"You look incredible," he whispered.

She stepped toward him and slid her arms around his neck. "Two weeks, it's not long."

He knew what she meant, he felt the looming deadline with a sense of panic, when it should be relief that they could go home.

"I don't want to waste a moment," she said, her voice breaking a little. He pulled her close, his hands on her waist.

"I don't want to either." He bent his head and kissed her, gently at first then with increasing passion, plunging his tongue into her mouth which she opened willingly. He moved his hands to hold her face then slid them into her hair, twisting the long fall of dark tresses in his fist and pulling her head back to bare her throat to his lips. She moaned as he kissed his way down to the space between her breasts. He felt a sense of desperation, but he dampened it down, choosing to take a more leisurely approach, yet there was still a tinge of urgency.

"What is this thing?" he murmured, sliding his fingers under the shoulder straps.

"I found it in a bag of things in the closet, it still had the tags on. I don't think it fit her."

"It fits you, perfectly," he breathed as he slid the lace to her waist. "You look incredible."

"Thank you," she spoke in barely a whisper, her breath catching has his hands explored the skin bared by as he slowly removed the lingerie.

By the time he led her to the bed, she was a mass of nerve-endings. The hours that followed were filled with giving each other pleasure, some sleeping, some murmuring words of love and when the sun came up they lay face to face, joined from their lips to their hips, moving in a dance so intimate that they both came simultaneously and afterwards he kissed the tears that slid down her cheeks. He might not be crying, but he felt the same as she did, such an intense and overwhelming love, and a fear for the inevitable end of this time together and the encroachment of the real world.

"I don't want to go home," she sobbed. "But I do. You know? I mean, I miss my family, my dogs, our home, my fans....but, this....it's so beautiful, and perfect....I don't want it to end."

He pushed damp strands of hair behind her ear. "Me either. I know exactly what you mean...I'm afraid when I find out what happened...when we have to go back...it's going to be different. We're going to be different."

She began to cry in earnest and he held her, feeling helpless because he didn't remember what she was crying about, but he knew it was going to change things, and he hoped he never remembered. He hoped the owners never came back.

***

There was a lot to keep them busy. They worked in the garden, clearing the jungle and using the gardening guide to prune and fertilise or whatever was required. They found the caretakers house on a little walk. It was literally just in a clearing above the adjacent beach, and it was nice. Two bedroom, modern, with it's own solar energy. They looked around but didn't turn anything on. Like the main house, everything was covered, but Camila peeked beneath, finding a photo frame. She was staring at it when Shawn found her.