I struggled to sleep last night. The anticipation of my day hanging out with Seven kept me tossing and turning all night.
At seven I got out of bed. By eight I was showered and picking through various outfit choices and by nine I was completely ready, pacing around my small living room waiting for Seven's arrival.
I didn't know the things he had planned for us to do today, so because of that I chose to wear a pretty simple outfit. Opting for a rusted orange blouse with white polka dots over it. And a pair of acid washed Mum jeans and sneakers. While getting dressed I wondered what kind of clothes Seven will be wearing. Was he going to be in a hoodie and jeans like last night or his usual business attire? Which ever it is I'm excited to see it. I'm excited to see him.
It's super sunny today and I consider changing into something a little more summery but a knock at the door stops me from getting the chance to change. I skip a little too quickly to the front door, grabbing the handle and pausing for a few beats before opening it to give the illusion I hadn't been waiting for his arrival all morning.
I count slowly to five in my head before turning the handle. Seven stands patiently in my doorway, a plain white t-shirt hugs his broad shoulders and tucks messily into the black trousers he's wearing.
"Hi." Seven greets me, his eyes covered by those black sunglasses I recognise from when he offered me a job in the liquor store.
"Hey." I smile at him.
"You ready?" He asks and I nod, grabbing my bag before leaving with him.
"So what are we doing today?" I ask Seven as he opens the passenger side of his large SUV for me.
"I had a couple things in mind." He says simply before shutting the door.
I watch as he walks around the front of the car to the drivers side. God he's so attractive in white. I can see the tattoos on his stomach through the thin material. The ones scattered over his arms are on full display with the t-shirt. His left arm is almost completely covered in a patchwork of random tattoos over his tanned skin, where as his right only has a few.
"Are you going to tell me?" I ask Seven as he gets in. He smirks at me as he starts the car.
"You'll just have to wait and see." He replies and my stomach knots in excitement.
Seven blasts the air conditioning in his car, I'm not usually a fan of it but today is incredibly hot and I'm already apprehensive about today with Seven - enough for perspiration to gather in the lines of my palms. So I hold them in my lap in a way that the cool air blowing from the vents can dry them out without Seven noticing.
A song quietly plays through his car connected to his phone. I lean forward to turn up the music so I can listen to it better. It's an older song, I recognise it but I don't know the tune by name.
"Now Playing: Blue Monday by New Order." The screen on his dash reads. The old techno beat bounces out of the speakers and I glance over at Seven tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. He knows the tune well as he taps along perfectly to the song.
I watch out the window as Seven drives through the city. He glances over at me every now and then but still doesn't give away any hints as to where he's taking me. When the city scape starts to dwindle as we continue to drive I realise we're going out of the city.
"Where are we going?" I ask Seven, slightly panicked.
"I wanna show you a secret place." Seven reveals.
"Where is it?"
"If I told you exactly it wouldn't really be a secret place would it?" He smirks and pulls his black sun glasses down to look over them at me.
"I have work this afternoon remember." I remind him and Seven shakes his head.
"It's not that far. We're almost there. I'll have you back in time for your shift at the store." He assures me, pushing his sun glasses back up his nose.
I fidget with a loose fray from my top anxiously. Where the hell could he be taking me? I can't deny I'm a little on edge but I'm also pretty excited about today.
When I feel the car pull off the sealed tarmac and onto a gravel road I look up from my frayed top. Seven drives us down the makeshift road, following the small dusty tire tracks that are lead through an open field with overgrown dry grass. We drive through the unkept paddock for a few minutes till Seven slows the car to a stop by a few trees.
"What are we doing here?" I ask him confused.
"You'll see." Seven smiles and turns the car off.
"You've not brought me out here to kill me have you?" I try joke but Seven's smile drops and he frowns at me through his sun glasses.
"No, of course not." He says, his tone serious and it takes me a second to realise in Seven's world bringing someone out to a deserted field and killing them is highly probable and not something he jokes about.
"I would never hurt you, Lilianna." Seven says quietly, I think I may have hurt his feelings with the insinuation of the joke.
"No, sorry, I know you wouldn't hurt me. I-I was just trying to make a joke." I explain quickly and Seven's mouth sets in a line before he gets out the car. He folds his arms and looks up at the sky for a second.
Fuck sake Lily, just shut up my subconscious begs of me. I hope I haven't ruined this.
I pull the leaver on the door and get out to join Seven, he pulls a black backpack out from the backseat before walking over to the ridge of trees and I follow him.
It's so quiet out here, I can't even hear the highway or any noise from civilisation. All I can hear are singing tunes from the birds in the trees and the chirps of cicadas hidden in the dry grass. It's so hot out here, the air is warm and there's zero breeze. I'm beginning to regret wearing jeans on a day like today. I can't imagine how hot Seven must be in his black trousers.
He turns his head to make sure I'm following him as he walks into the small forest of trees and vegetation.
"It's just a little walk down this hill and then we're there." Seven says over his shoulder.
"Okay." I follow him through the trees, watching him sling the backpack over his shoulder. I wonder what's in there? It looks rather full.
We walk for about a minute or two through the shelter of the trees before I see the sparkling blue of the water. We're up a little higher than it and I follow Seven to the edge of the small forest that tapers off onto the rocky shoreline.
There's a set of stone steps carved into the side of the small cliff edge we're standing on that leads down to a concreted platform right by the waters edge.
"Where are we?" I ask Seven in awe, staring down at the cerulean waters below us.
"This is my little secret spot." Seven turns to me and smiles.
"Your secret spot?" I ask him.
"Yeah. When I first learnt to drive, I use to rip skids in the field back there and then stumbled upon this." He gestures down to the sparkling waters.
"I had no idea the city was this close to the sea." I admit and Seven nods.
"Yeah it's no sandy beach but it's still pretty nice." He shrugs.
"Come on." Seven reaches out and takes my hand to lead me down to the stone steps. His large hand completely engulfs mine and I admire the small cross tattooed near his thumb. I wonder if he's religious, he has this tattoo and always wears the same gold cross necklace.
Seven continues to hold my hand as he helps me down the uneven steps down to the concreted platform. Dropping it only when I'm sufficiently on the platform.
"It's so beautiful. The water looks amazing." I'm actually stunned at how pretty this place is. The water looks so tropical and bright, it's so clear I can see the rocks at the bottom. There's still no wind even down here, causing the water to be completely still and calm.
Seven shrugs off the black backpack and places it down by the steps before he kicks off his shoes. He takes off his sun glasses, tucking them into his shoe before grabbing the bottom of his white t-shirt, lifting it up and over his head.
"W-What are you doing?" I ask him, watching as his hands go to the front of his trousers to undo the button.
"Getting undressed." He looks at me like I'm stupid for asking him such an obvious question.
"Yes, I see that but why?" I stare at Seven, my eyes glued to his hands as he unbuttons the front of his trousers before pulling the zip down.
"We're going swimming." Seven nods to the water with a mischievous smile before grabbing the waistband of his trousers on either side of his hips and pulls them down his legs methodically. I feel like I should be looking away but I can't drag my eyes from his actions. I've never seen Seven this unclothed before, his skin is slightly tan and his muscles toned. His body really is beautiful, tattoos and all. I notice he has two symmetrical tattoos just above his knees and a large tiger face tattooed on his thigh. He has really nice legs. I need to stop staring. Stop staring Lily.
"I um, I didn't bring a bathing suit to swim in." I point out to Seven and he shrugs.
"Neither did I. Just swim in your underwear." He says casually, stepping out of his trousers and throwing them into a messy pile with his t-shirt and shoes.
I look down at my clothes and then back up to Seven, deliberating what to do. He stands in his black briefs, his hands on his hips and nods at me. Encouraging me to strip off.
"Come on then." Seven says, waiting for me to join him in only my underwear. I don't know what to do, I hadn't really planned on going swimming but the water looks so nice and inviting. But I don't have any swimmers, I don't have a towel, I don't want to have to wear my clothes with soaking underwear all day. I frown, torn by a decision. Seven looks so good in his boxer shorts and I'd love to go swimming with him.
"What's wrong?" He asks of my hesitation.
"I just, I don't have a towel or anything to change into." I groan and Seven reaches down to pull out a towel from the backpack he's brought and throws it at me. The soft towel hits me in the face and falls to my feet, causing him to laugh.
"There's your towel. Now come on!" Seven encourages and runs towards the water. I watch in astonishment as Seven reaches the end of the concreted platform and launches himself off it, diving into the water without hesitation. I watch him swim under the crystal clear waters before he resurfaces to look at me. Seven shakes his mops of curls, now much darker due to being wet and smiles at me.
"Hurry up Lilianna. Stop overthinking shit." He smiles and pushes his damp curls off his forehead.
"Fine! Fine, okay!" I give in to him and start kicking off my own shoes, peeling off my socks before I glance at him with a hold on my polka dot top. Seven makes no attempt to divert his eyes, he's intent on watching me undress. His boldness causes my stomach to flutter with butterflies as I lift my top up over my stomach. I fight the blush wanting to creep over my cheeks and pull the top over my head, letting it fall to the concrete. Seven's eyes are audacious as he studies me undressing in front of him. I watch him watch me as I unbutton my jeans and let the fabric fall down my legs, his mouth parts slightly at the sight of me now only in my underwear. I could give myself a high five right now for at least wearing a matching set even if they are just plain black underwear. It's nothing fancy but from the way Seven is staring at me you'd think I was wearing one of my lingerie sets he's seen.
"Is something wrong?" I ask him, looking down at myself worried he's maybe staring at something erroneous about my body.
"No, no. You're just..." He lingers off not finishing his sentence and I frown at him as I get to the platform edge.
"I'm just what?" I push for his answer and sit down on the platform, dangling my legs into the surprisingly warm water. Seven swims up to me, his hands cupping the backs of my calves as he looks up at me.
I notice his nervous gulp before he speaks, his fingers giving my calves a slight squeeze.
"You're just beautiful." He admits shyly as his cheeks flush. Seeing Seven shy is such a rarity but I think it's one of my favourite looks on him. His rosy cheeks, the unsure look on his face, the vulnerability in his green eyes. He's not use to feeling like this and I don't know if I'll ever get use to seeing him like this. But I like it all the same.
I smile at him, unable to fight the cheesy grin his words create. I lean my hands down onto his shoulders as he helps lift me down off the platform and into the water. Seven's hands glide along my legs under the water, fingertips running under my knees and up the backs of my thighs before cupping just under my bum. He guides my legs to wrap around his waist as my arms move to hold around the back of his neck. The water is warm around me but my body is now ten times hotter due to the intimate way I'm clinging to Seven's body. His hands don't let go from the backs of my thighs and I feel his touch slowly moving up under the water to cup my bum. My heart is hammering as I look up at him, his face is so close our noses are almost touching.
"I think you're beautiful too." I whisper to him as he guides us deeper into the water.
Seven's eyes shift between mine as the corner of his mouth lifts slightly at my words.
I'm conscious of my legs wrapped around his hips and the feeling of our skin touching each other in various places. My stomach is literally squirming at the feeling of his hands on my bum and the sight of our fronts pressed against each other in nothing but our underwear. The warm water feels slightly cooler the deeper Seven takes us out, when the water is up to his chest his grip on my behind loosens and I unlock my arms and legs from around him so we can swim.
"This place is amazing. I can't believe it's not packed on a day like this." I begin to wade in the water now that it's too deep to stand.
"It's private property so no one really comes here." Seven reveals and my eyes widen slightly.
"We're trespassing?" I gape at him and look around back at the shore as if someone may be on their way to kick us out.
"No, I own the land. Well my father did, but now it's mine." He shrugs casually.
"Do you...do you own a lot of land?" I ask intrigued.
"I suppose. Not just land though, my father owned heaps of real estate and so does the gang. Victor took ownership of the gang estates after my father died. I don't even know how many business and buildings there are. Possibly hundreds. But my father left me the properties he had for himself." Seven swims around me, circling me like a shark as he talks.
"How many properties did he leave you?"
"A lot." Seven shrugs.
"I sold most of them since I had no use for them. I got myself a house of my own and kept a few apartments around the country, some businesses and some properties overseas. I kept this place though. It felt special to me, I don't know why. I don't know why my father even brought it or what his intentions were for it. But it's peaceful out here, I think it may have been his little escape from the city. Like it is for me now." Seven reveals.
"So are you like crazy rich or something?" I question and Seven laughs his quiet chuckle.
"I mean I suppose so." He shrugs, still swimming in circles around me.
"And it's all illegal money? From the gang?" I press and Seven shrugs.
"Yes, majority of it." He admits.
"And the minority of it?" I question.
"From the legal business we own." Seven smiles presumptuously, his dimple flexes in his cheek as he does.
"What-" I begin to ask another question but am interrupted by a splash of water hitting my face. I cough out the salt water from my mouth and blink it out of my eyes as Seven's laugh erupts over the quiet scenery.
I wipe the sting from my eyes to admire Seven's hearty laugh. His head is thrown back, mouth open, eyes scrunched as his belly laugh echos over the still water, hitting me right in the chest. Seeing him like this does something to me inside, it makes me feel warm and I can't help but laugh with him. This is definitely my favourite look on Seven. He looks so magical in a sea of sapphire, tanned skin glistening, his face void of the hardness it usually holds. God he really is beautiful.
While he laughs I take the opportunity to splash him back. Giving my all into shoving two hands into the waters at him, sending an aggressive rain of droplets to crash against his face. Seven stops laughing to grin mischievously at me before submerging himself into the water. A nervous laugh leaves me and I immediately begin to swimming away. I attempt to swim back to the concrete platform but am stopped with a tug to my leg and I shriek.
Seven's hands grab up my legs and pull me back towards him under the water making me squeal again. Seven rises from the blue behind me, his hands now holding my waists as he laughs again at my squeals. I feel the pressure on my sides as Seven grips me under the water and then lifts me, throwing me forward into the water and I giggle in between squeals. I land back in the water with a splash and turn to face Seven quickly as he approaches to do it again. His hands take my waist again to throw me but I hook my legs and arms around him like before so he can't throw me. Our collected laughter dies down as we take in our closeness again.
My heart picks up to a nervous beat and I worry he can feel it with my chest pressed against his. Seven's tongue darts out to lick the drops of salt water off them, his eyes darting between mine yet again before glancing down at my own lips.
"I-I..." Seven frowns as he stutters, his face twists in trepidation.
"What?" I whisper quietly in encouragement.
Seven's eyes are tortured as he looks at me.
"I can't do this." He exhales and let's go of his hold on my waist. I untangle myself from his body as he does.
"What do you mean?" I ask as we wade in the water, staring at each other.
"I tried to stay away from you but I failed. I tried to just be friends with you but I'm failing at that too." Seven sounds upset with himself as he talks. He begins to swim away from me, back to the platform and lifts himself out the water to sit on the edge. His palms press into his eyes in frustration and I swim back to the platform, lifting myself out to sit next to him.
"If you don't want to be friends we don't have to be." I say quietly after a moment of silence between us.
"It's not that I don't want to be, it's that it's incredibly difficult. I want you more than a friend Lilianna." Seven admits staring out at the water. His confession makes my stomach flutter for the hundredth time today.
"I want you more than a friend too." I assure him and he looks over at me, perplexed by my mutual interest before he composes himself.
"I've never felt like this about anyone before. I want you so bad. But I care about you too much to give in to my selfish desires. You don't know what Victor will do, to you and to me and I don't want to risk it. You've become too important to me." He admits.
"But what about what you want? Doesn't that matter for something? What about what I want? Victor doesn't know we're here, together right now. Why can't we just keep it between us? No one would have to know." I question him.
"Someone would find out. They'd tell Victor the first chance they got." Seven argues.
"Curby already knows. He hasn't told Victor anything. He has a loyalty to you, so will others." I remind him and Seven shakes his head.
"Loyalty is but a flower in the wind of fear and temptation." Seven recites and I frown at his pessimism.
"For the right price, with the right kind of threat Victor could make anyone talk." Seven disagrees.
"Well then what are we doing? I can't keep doing this with you Seven. You can't keep drawing me in then closing me out. Either you want me or you don't, there's no in between for us." I shake my head at him.
"Of course I want you, I've never wanted anything so fucking much in my life! All I think about is you! All I dream about is you!" Seven's vein in his neck protrudes as he runs his hand through his hair frustrated.
"Then do something about it!" My voice is getting louder to match his.
"I can't!" He yells back.
"Yes! You can!" I contend and Seven shakes his head.
"You don't get it." He looks away from me shaking his head.
"No, I really don't." I confirm. If he wants me I'm here for him to take. I want whatever he wants with me, I'm his and I have been since the moment I stepped into that strip club.
"I had one person, Lilianna, one person I ever cared about in my life and he was taken away from me. I never want to feel that pain ever again, I never want to care about anyone ever again. But now that's all changed. I care about you, I care about you so much it makes me sick - literally sick." Seven turns to me.
"Victor is a dangerous man. I've met some twisted people in my life but I've never met anyone like my uncle. He takes pleasure in seeing others pain, in creating misery. I can't bare the thought of him doing something to you to get back at me for going against his rules. I can't go through losing the one person I care about again." Seven lifts his hand to my cheek, brushing his thumb over it tenderly as he has a few times before.
"You can't live like this Seven. You shouldn't have to deny yourself of people you care about." I disagree and Seven shakes his head, not wanting to listen and drops his touch from my cheek.
"Do you know that story about the Russian cosmonaut?" I ask him and he looks at me confused before answering.
"No."
"So he goes up in this big spaceship. And he's got this portal window, and he's looking out of it and he sees the curvature of the Earth for the first time. And all of a sudden, there's this strange ticking." I explain and begin to tap my hand on the concrete in a rhythmic ticking.
"And it's coming out of the dashboard. But he can't find it, he can't stop it. He keeps going, a few hours into this it feels like torture. But what's he gonna do? He's up in space!"
"What are you getting at here?" Seven asks confused.
"So the cosmonaut decides, the only way to save his sanity is to fall in love with this sound." I conclude, still tapping on the concrete.
"You need to be the cosmonaut, Seven. Your situation may not be ideal but you decided how it impacts you. You can go insane over the things you can't control or you can surrender yourself to them to seek a happiness for yourself." I explain and he stares at me, taking in my words.
I stare back at him, watching him as I wait for his answer. His green eyes are turning darker as his pupils begin to dilate drastically as he looks at me. Almost completely black, Seven's gaze flicks down to my lips.
He leans forward slowly, his head turns slightly as he does. For a second I think he's finally going to kiss me, but instead his lips press against my cheek softly. He pulls away only an inch before pressing another kiss a littler lower on my cheek. Then pulls away again to move his lips to kiss my jaw. Seven begins trailing soft kisses to my jaw, down my neck and my eyes flutter closed as he does.
I can't help the small moan that escapes my lips as he kisses at the side of my neck, his kisses quickly becoming needy and rushed at the sound of my moans. I feel his hands reach out for me, slinking around my hips as he pulls me to straddle his lap as his mouth attacks my neck with a groan of relief.
Seven sucks at a spot at the base of my neck, his teeth graze over it harshly before his tongue swipes soothingly over it. I moan a little louder at the feeling, it feels incredible. His fingers dig into my hips as he continues to suck at my neck - it's harsh enough that I know it's going to bruise.
I thread my fingers through his brown locks, fisting the soft damp curls at the nape of his neck. With the grip I have on his hair I pull his face away from my neck to look down at him. Seven looks up to me, his eyes black in lust, his lips already red and slightly swollen from kissing my neck.
I lean down to connect our lips but Seven moves his face so I can't. He rests his forehead on my heaving chest as he pants.
"We shouldn't." Seven says into my chest.
"Why not?" I ask between shallow breaths.
"Because I won't be able to stop." Seven leans back, dropping his hands from my hips to lean back and rest on them. I shift on his lap and he sucks in a sharp breath, for a second I'm almost worried I've hurt him somehow but when I glance down at where our hips meet I notice the obvious bulge in his wet boxers. They cling to him, outlining his significant size that I've just grazed over.
Embarrassed, I clamber off Seven's lap. Slightly hurt by his rejection of not kissing me but I swallow my ego and focus on slowing my breath. It's comforting to hear he is also fighting for air from the brief but intense moment. Seven and I sit in the baking sun quietly for a few minutes as we let our heated moment cool down. He makes an inaudible noise in the back of his throat as he stares out at the sparkling water. Clearly annoyed at something.
"What is it?" I turn to him in question. Seven sighs, avoiding my eye contact. He frowns and chews on his bottom lip for a moment before releasing it to speak.
"I like you, Lilianna."
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