Sunshine Kisses

‘Does that mean you want to tie me up?’ Her question was cautious. Curious. Willing him to say yes, and unsure how she would respond if he did.

His low voice was steady when he answered, her favourite sound now so perfectly suited for quiet conversations about pleasure in the near-dark. ‘There’s not a lot I don’t want to do with you, Abby. I’ve had plenty of time to think about it.’

Heat built in her body at every spot they were pressed together. ‘I’d like to try it. All of it. I’ve never been brave enough to explore the more…adventurous things on my list. But everything feels a little easier with you.’

Erik’s eyes were soft, even as his lips quirked into a cheeky grin. ‘You might want to see what’s on my list before you make any promises, Sunshine.’

‘You mean to tell me that all these years everyone has thought you’re so sweet and respectful and upstanding, you’ve just been a pervy, kinky little shit?’

‘I contain multitudes.’ His grin spread wider. ‘I can want to tie you up and still be very sweet to you. And I’ll have you know I mostly had respectfully horny thoughts when we were teenagers. It’s not like I was staring at your tits. I was just a little obsessed with your neck. Particularly this spot right here.’ He pressed his thumb into the space below her jaw. ‘I wanted to kiss you there really badly.’

He leaned over to show her just how much, only stopping when he had her giggles turning to gasps and sighs beneath him.

Chapter 25

Summertime – My Chemical Romance

A

walk along the beach followed by a picnic breakfast would ordinarily be an appealing way to end a seaside holiday. But the frosty greeting they had received from Abby’s parents that morning had dampened the mood slightly. She lingered at least a hundred metres behind them at all times, hand in hand with Erik as they trod over rocky shoreline.

Unused to the silent treatment, he seemed even more discomfited than she was. Though they hadn’t been expecting a warm welcome, Erik was used to addressing things head on, and the waves of passive aggression rolling off Susan and Andrew had to be killing him. He would want to talk things out, but that wasn’t the Briar way. It was far easier to endure weeks of uncomfortable silence until the issue went away by itself. And since they only had a few more hours together, Abby had assumed they would ride out the awkwardness.

But it seemed for once, her parents’ sense of justice won out over their desire to ignore the problem.

‘Are you planning to apologise?’ Her mother’s high voice broke through the silence as she angrily unpacked the hotel-supplied picnic basket. Even Nora, never normally one to allow dead air, had barely said a word all morning.

Erik stiffened, immediately on the defensive in a way Abby had never seen him. ‘For what, exactly? Reminding you that your daughter is a grown woman allowed to make her own decisions?’

‘Of course she’s allowed—’

‘Oh please,’ Abby scoffed, surprising even herself. Maybe it was the warm, steady hand at the base of her spine, feeding her strength and confidence. Maybe she’d just had enough of her parents saying one thing and acting entirely differently. ‘It’s been ten years since I told you I didn’t want to be a doctor, and you’ve never been happy about it.’

‘We just wanted what was best for you, darling.’ Her mother looked shocked. After that one big fight, Abby hadn’t spoken to them so directly since.

‘And you decided what that was before I was even born,’ Abby spat. ‘You wanted what was best for me? Why didn’t you ever ask what I wanted for my life? Instead, the minute I stopped following your perfect plan, you lost all interest.’

Nora’s eyes flicked between her friend, her son, Abby, and her husband, eyes widening at the latter, as if willing him to step in. He shook his head slightly, angling his body to watch the sea crash against the rocks.

‘What little interest you had, anyway,’ Abby continued, a lifetime of upset bubbling to the surface. ‘You missed half of my childhood, always too busy working to get to know me or what I cared about, and then you were surprised when I wasn’t the person you’d banked on me becoming.’

‘You’re behaving as if we neglected you. It wasn’t as if you ever wanted for anything,’ her father finally said. ‘You went to excellent schools. We always made sure you were being looked after when we were on call.’

‘And we loved having you around, dear.’ Nora seemed relieved to have something to contribute to the conversation.

Abby ignored her. ‘Sure,’ she said with a bitter laugh. ‘I had everything I needed, except my parents.’

‘You never needed us, Abigail.’ Her father’s voice turned soft, a loaded look exchanged with her mother. ‘As long as you had Erik, you were always happy.’

The hand that had been stroking her back stilled, then resumed with slightly heavier pressure. Erik’s mouth twisted as they locked eyes.

In her periphery, she could see Peter begin to pick at the neglected spread of food.

‘You know some of the stories,’ her mother cut in. ‘That just after you were born’—she nodded at Abby—‘Nora came to visit and put Erik in your crib. Within a minute, you had grabbed each other’s tiny hands. You know that you two screamed blue murder if we tried to separate you for travel. But for each thing you’ve heard, there are ten more you haven’t. Did you know that he was the first person you smiled at? You were such a frowny little baby, but once you started smiling at him, you never stopped.’

‘We took you to the park to learn to ride your bike and you fell and scraped your knee. You ran past your mother and straight to Erik. He had to stay with you while I patched you up, holding your hand all the while. When you got chicken pox, you were almost delirious with fever. You didn’t want to eat. You wouldn’t sleep until you passed out from exhaustion. You wouldn’t talk to us except to beg for Erik. When he caught it at school too, we decided we’d let you two convalesce together. As soon as he came to see you, you calmed down.’ Her father sounded tired. ‘It was convenient for us that you always wanted to be with Erik, and maybe we took advantage of that, but it was easy to justify when you were so much happier to spend time with him than with us.’

Erik shifted behind her, adjusting his posture so his chest pressed against her back, letting his warmth and bulk soothe her. He’d remained silent since she’d started talking, knowing she would need to do this herself, but reminding her he was right there, in case she needed him. She supposed it proved the point being made: she had always reached for Erik before anyone else.